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The 10th-annual Reel Artists Film Festival presents a selection of international feature-length and short documentaries that address challenges and questions raised by artists both in front of and behind the camera. Through these films, subjects are revealed, experimental processes unfold, and events are staged. It is with these three categories in mind—subject, process, event—that we celebrate RAFF’s anniversary and anticipate its future.

We begin our anniversary year revisiting the legendary art collectors Herbert and Dorothy Vogel in a special excerpted version of Megumi Sasaki’s new film HERB & DOROTHY 50X50. Next in the program is Jef Cornelis’ Documenta 5 from 1972, a film essay covering this seminal event in contemporary art history, which gave new perspective on the idea of exhibition as spectacle.

In line with RAFF’s tradition of presenting films that document the lives and works of contemporary artists, 2013’s lineup offers a glimpse into the complex personalities of, among others, David Altmejd, Valérie Blass, Damien Hirst and Mickalene Thomas. These films reveal the singular inspirations, experiments and techniques of some of the world’s most compelling artists.

Contemporary-art practices often transcend cultural and disciplinary boundaries, forging new relationships between objects and subjects, spaces and time. Artists who play with the idea of documentary show how cross- disciplinary connections can revitalize the medium, reigniting its creative potential. Simon Starling does this engagingly in two RAFF offerings, Black Drop and Project for a Masquerade (Hiroshima).

Like contemporary art, the documentary presents, constructs and reshapes reality—the very meaning of which changes through our encounter with it. In this way, a documentary can be a work of art. Films such as Picasso in Palestine, Tea and Somewhere to Disappear tell us about actual events, and provide an aesthetic perspective through which to view them. The film itself becomes the event.

It is with great pleasure that we present these films alongside a special program of talks by international and local filmmakers, artists, curators, critics and collectors that will generate an expanded public engagement with 21st-century art and artists.

Ann Webb
Executive Director, Canadian Art Foundation
Publisher, Canadian Art magazine
Founder and Organizer, RAFF

Rachael Watson
RAFF Coordinator

Christine Shaw
Program and Outreach Manager

The Reel Artists Film Festival is presented by the Canadian Art Foundation. Our mission is to promote the understanding and appreciation of the visual arts in Canada. Since its establishment in 1991, the Canadian Art Foundation has grown to deliver numerous educational programs in addition to the publication of Canadian Art magazine. This diversity now makes the Canadian Art Foundation the ultimate portal for the exposure of visual arts in Canada. All our efforts are dedicated to providing a destination for artists and art enthusiasts to connect to and be inspired by art, in turn creating greater local, national and global visibility for the extraordinary artistic talent in Canada.

For more information about our programs, please visit:
canadianart.ca/foundation.

CANADIAN ART FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kim Bozak, Co-chair
Margaret McNee, Co-chair
Robin T. Anthony
James Eaton
Stacy Francis
Ron Graham
Jane Humphreys
Jane Irwin
Adrienne Kirby
Robert Lamb
Desmond Lee
Peter Ross
Eleanor Shen
Anne Ullman