BFI London Film Festival - curation of film programme Experimenta, one of 9 programming strands

film programme curation
Since 2001 Webber has been commissioned to curate the experimental film component of the BFI London Film Festival, a well established and received annual event.

For 2007 event a weekend (28 – 30 October) of screenings was organised and presented at the National Film Theatre, the ICA, the BFI and through touring and events at other venues. It focused on artists’ moving image and non-narrative filmmaking to foreground films from across the world that are equally significant in film and art contexts.

The loose theme of 2007 Experimenta was poetic journeys and unexpected insights stemming from intense experiences. Both historical works were shown such as Carolee Schneemann’s Fuses (recently preserved by Anthology Film Archives) 1964-67, modern works including Marina Abramović’s Seven Easy Pieces, 2005, and new pieces ranging from Sandy Ding’s Mysterious Emulsion, 2007 and, from the same year, Peter Hutton’s At Sea.

The research comprised selecting the loose theme, compiling a programme that would combine significance with breadth, organising presentations that were part of Experimenta such as David Gatten’s workshop (25 October 2007) and external events Peter Hutton’s presentation of his early work at Tate Modern (29 October 2007).

A feature of Webber’s curation is to bring the audience in contact with (often legendary) filmmakers. Since 2001 these have included Kenneth Anger, Peter Kubelka, Michael Snow, Robert Beavers and Nathaniel Dorsky. For the latter, Webber facilitated a programme of events at Tate Modern, Georges Pompidou Centre, Amsterdam de Balie and Zurich Filmpodium.
Webber regularly participates in other film festivals, for example Lucca in 2007 where he presented works from the 1960s by Aldo Tambellini and the screening of Hollis Frampton’s Magellan from the 1970s at the National Maritime Museum. (www.lff.org.uk)