#Books-On-Film: Ellen Harrington, Head of the Frankfurt Book Fair Advisory ...

The Film Advisory Board at the Frankfurt Book Fair was founded in 2016 and consists of nine international film and media experts who advise the Book Fair on current and emerging film activities, act as ambassadors of the Fair’s many film activities and support the Fair’s President in selecting the winner of the Frankfurter Buchmesse Film Award (pausing in 2021 because of Covid).

Dear Ellen, Canada is guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2020/21. During the last round of Frankfurter Buchmesse Film Awards, a special mention went to "Antigone" by Sophie Deraspe. The Canadian drama is a loose adaptation of the Sophocles play and also won Best Canadian Film at its TIFF world premiere. What garnered the film a special mention from the jury you head in the context of literary adaptations?
In the midst of the pandemic, the Frankfurt Book Fair awarded its 2020 prizes during a virtual ceremony that was comically marred by technical crashes, the travel regulation induced absence of its television star host, and the last-minute substitution of me as presenter for the entire slate of film and television awards. The Film Awards Jury was pleased to honor Canadian filmmaker and cinematographer Sophie Deraspe with a Special Mention for her timely reinterpretation of ancient material within a contemporary context; she brilliantly presents a woman’s quest for justice inside the immigrant communities of present-day Montreal, with an almost theatrical production, the camera always moving and focused on her protagonists.

From your vantage point, what sets the Canadian film and media arts market apart, what do you see as Canada's Unique Value Proposition? And why should the North American media industry come to the Fair?
Canada is a rich cultural landscape, with a diverse and inclusive community of creators and audiences, one that embraces risky work, strong points of view and outsider art. Some of the most challenging and rewarding film and media being created is coming from Canada, and they deserve to be on the world stage. The Frankfurt Book Fair is of course the world’s biggest content marketplace, but it is also rich with debate, exchange of ideas, and chances to hear unique, independent writers and artists who have something meaningful to say. There is no better place to meet the voices of the future.

As your day job at the German Film Museum proves, moving images have long gone beyond the cinema and our personal screens. The Frankfurt Book Fair has long-standing partnerships with your own organization and the B3 Moving Image Forum, celebrating digital storytelling in myriad new forms. Between NFTs and fun AR filters, what’s the next sonic wall to break through for the moving image?
Moving images are everywhere, and screens are moving into public spaces at an ever-increasing pace – we aren’t far from ‘Bladerunner’ territory in some places. Film heritage institutions such as ours are focused on some big tasks – ensuring that the cinematic experience survives, and that through digital archiving and curation the authenticity of the original moving image object survives in the best possible quality. We are a medium for storytellers after all, and our aim is to keep those stories alive by serving as the bridge from the analog past to the digital future.

As you won’t get to don your Frankfurt Book Fair Film Award jury hat this year and while the Academy Award nominations are rolling in, what is your prediction (or hope) for Best International Film Oscar 2022?
That’s always a tough one at this point in the year, when not every country has submitted its nomination yet (the deadline is November 1st). But based on the festival energy, the top contenders are coming from some past winners: Pedro Almodovar/Spain with Parallel Mothers, Asghar Farhadi/Iran with A Hero and Paolo Sorrentino/Italy with The Hand of God. Julia Ducournau/France with Titane has a chance at the top 5 if France submits her film over the controversial Annette by Leos Carax. I am excited to see Germany’s possible entry, I’m Your Man, by Maria Schrader, with Dan Stevens speaking pretty good German.

Your favourite Canadian book, film or book-on-film or book you would like to see on screen next:
Books by some of my favorite Canadian writers are already frequently adapted for the screen, including Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro, Yann Martel, Mordecai Richler, Emma Donoghue, Bryan Lee O’Malley and Margaret Atwood. I was going to suggest Washington Black by Esi Edugyan, but I just learned that this is already in production with Sterling K. Brown producing. A work that would be both inspiring and challenging to adapt would be Leonard Cohen’s early novel Beautiful Losers. Though of course he is known everywhere for his music, Cohen’s surrealistic, erotic and transcendent writing could make for a fascinating film.

Right after the Frankfurt Book Fair I will …:
...launch our Vision2025 initiative, which aims at institutional transformation through an open examination of our public programs, exhibitions, collections, education and digital offerings, staffing and audience development strategies, with an eye towards ensuring that we can emerge from the pandemic with the broadest, most empathic, sustainable, diverse and inclusionary approaches possible to our core mission. We are located in Frankfurt, one of the world’s most diverse cities, with strong traditions of tolerance and open discourse, and we are excited to bring even more viewpoints to the table through our chosen medium of film.

interview by @JuttaBrendemuhl

photo: Sophie Schüler, source: DFF