I founded the pioneering onedotzero digital film festival in 1996, with the first full festival taking place in 1997, as a natural outgrowth of my interests in digital media and film. I continued directing it until the start of 2002 (with the help of a co-director from late-1997). In that time it grow from a weekend event to encompass five full festivals, numerous international ‘capsule festivals’ & touring events, and spin-off projects (including television series, DVD label, audiovisual tours, and digital film/art productions).
onedotzero was envisioned as a nexus and catalyst for new moving image forms, and a showcase for work which was soon to become known as ‘motion graphics’. From the outset it was important for me to establish a framework whereby it would act as a vehicle to commission and produce work that proactively moved the experimental and cutting-edge digital film fields forward. It focussed on digital film, animation, music video, VJing, generative video, and audiovisual experimentation. To sum up all this activity I came up with the festival tagline Adventures in moving image.
In the days before video sharing websites these compilation programmes were often the only opportunity to see an international selection of bleeding edge moving image work. The original line up of conceived programmes in the early years were:
- wow + flutter: original motion graphics and experimental animation.
- wavelength: the most original and adventurous music videos.
- j-star: the best experimental moving image from Japan.
- extended play: digitally-inflected short films with a narrative bias.
The onedotzero home venue where these programmes were premiered was the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London. It soon became a ten day digital film festival - the world’s largest - that encompassed cinema screenings, live audiovisual events, panels, and installations. Early audiovisual events included a rare performance by legendary cross-media group, Antirom, as well as the Light Surgeons, Eboman, Prince Tongha, and Hexstatic. Early panels included far-sighted creative entities such as Miles Murray Sorrell Fuel, Hammer & Tongs and Deep End.
onedotzero capsule events lasting typically from one to three days first started taking place in Barcelona, Prague, Berlin, and Sapporo, followed by a steady outgrowth to venues throughout the world.
onedotzero has helped inspire as well as facilitate the work of numerous talented groups and individuals in creative fields touching on digital moving image.