A new time, a new place, a changed VideoFest. Rather than stick with approaches that proved successful in the past, we want to be as creative as the medium of video itself. This year's VideoFest has more to offer than ever before. On the one hand, we offer a Core Program and Nightflight of the usual high quality (although with Nightflight repeats throughout, by the way). On the other hand, we can now boast greater space for all activities – the program, installations, market, conferences, special showings, and so forth.

And – "La puissance de la création." In our previous INFO-SERIES (may the erasing head preserve its blessed memory!), we presented individual institutions of the video scene from various countries. This year, our new program ACCENTS will sketch the video culture of an entire country: France. It includes a symposium with the most important personalities of the French scene and also a number of special showings.

For this reason, we would have preferred to make our catalogue tri-lingual (i.e., including French texts), but unfortunately, we just didn’t have the means.

Plus: expanded coverage of Latin America, the new "video continent"; a retrospective of outsider Jem Cohen from the US; and “birthday parties” celebrating 21 years of Electronic Arts Intermix, New York, and Le Vidéographe, Montreal. Also included: one special program with unusual Brazilian TV productions, and another featuring potentially addictive transnational TV projects from Latin America. Lots of video.

But it was a stony path. This year, we were not able to realize our planned encounter of different artistic disciplines under the motto “Time – Image – Guiding Image.” Ironically, we didn’t have enough time to prepare. We had to make an unexpected move to a different location, cope organizationally with a last-minute shift in the Film Festival schedule, and finally – who would've expected anything different in these German-German times? – overcome unforeseen financial problems. All this for purposes of explanation, not complaint.

Otherwise: we'll be awarding eight cash prizes with a total value of 15,000 DM – five of them from the television broadcaster PREMIERE, which will also be purchasing the broadcast rights to the videos it shows. There will also be a prize from Koppstudio in Berlin: high-tech post-production services valued at 10,000 DM.

Video full up. Different from film, different from television. Better informed and better entertained. Sometimes irritated – but never bored.

We wish you plenty of mental turbulence.

Micky Kwella, Hartmut Horst VideoFest / MedienOperative

MedienOperative Hartmut Horst Direction

VideoFest Micky Kwella Artistic Direction Rudolf Frieling, Knut Gerwers, Micky Kwella Program Rudolf Frieling Video Installations/Press Cäcilia Krämer Research/Program-Assistant France Manuela Harbig-Falke, Andrea Kaden, Armgard Meyer Office Hanah Gräfe, Julia Lazarus, Vera Ritter Assistants Klaus Meier EDP Matthias Behrens (responsible), Jochen Fingerhut, Ewald Henze, Jan Jaksiewicz Technical Support

Catalog Johannes Lenz- Hawliczek Editor Knut Gerwers Picture Editor Knut Gerwers, Micky Kwella (tapes), Rudolf Frieling (installations) Texts Christian Caryl, Rudolf Frieling, Johannes Lenz-Hawliczek, Klaus Meier, Tom Morrison Translation Peter Rathmann Layout Peter Rathmann, Bert Wrede Typesetting MedienOperative e.V. Publisher Druckhaus A. Schlaeger, Peine Printer

Main funders: Senator für Kultuerelle Angelegenheiten, Association Française d'Action Artisque Ministére des Affaires Etrangères, Kulturabteilung der Französischen Botschaft, Institut Français, Berlin, The British Council Our Sponsors: JVC Professional Products GMBH, der Philip Morris Light American Minister for Tomorrow, VideoVox Further Sponsors: PREMIERE, Koppfilm, Sven Boeck, Katrin Willem, Video Sehen Was Spas Macht! Thank you to these institutions and individuals Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Berliner Filmfestspiele internationales forum des jungen films, Caloi en su tinta, Buenos Aires, Deutsch-Paraguayisches Kulturinstitut, Asuncion, Gisela von Thümen, Documento Especial (SBT), Rio de Janeiro, Nelson Hoineff, Electronic Arts Intermix, New York, Lori Zippay, Elektronisches Studio der TU Berlin, Goethe-Institut Buenos Aires, Gabriela Massuh, Goethe-Institut Montevideo, Martin Schumacher, Gudula Meinzold, Berlin, Werkstatt Berlin, Ars Electrónica, Linz, Musée d'Orsay Paris, Laurence Madeline, Kunst-Werke, Berlin, Le Vidéographe, Montreal, Marie-Anne Raulet, Radio Energy, Berlin, Video Data Bank, Chicago, Mindy Faber, Video Positive Liverpool, Eddie Berg, Volksbühne, Berlin, Dirk Nawrocki Special thanks to those who helped or supported us for the France focus: Anne-Marie Duguet, Paris; Arcanal, Paris, Reine Prat; Canal+, Paris, Alain Burosse; Ex Nihilo, Paris, Marie Balducchi; Fearless, Paris, Dominik, Barbier, Cathy Vogan; Gaumont, Paris, Gilles Venhard; Grand Canal, Paris, Dominique Belloir, Christian Boustani; Heure Exquise!, Monsen-Baroeul; Institut National de l'Audiovisuél (INA), Paris, ORF, Wien