About Matthew Cuzner

Matthew Cuzner graduated in Drama, Applied Theatre and Education at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, the United Kingdom. Originating from a predominantly theatre-based background, Cuzner has performed and facilitated many workshops for young people. Currently, Cuzner specifically works on the Doc Next Network activities on behalf of the BFI (British Film Institute).   ROLE: facilitator.

Author Archives: Matthew Cuzner

About Matthew Cuzner

Remapping Europe: case study in international and inter-institutional collaboration.

Collaboration across Europe benefits from some key ingredients, which need to be at the root of our working processes. We must cross and indeed break-down borders on many physical and metaphysical levels. Collaboration enhances the ‘spaces in-between’, the intersections between, people, organisations and ideas. In our complicated (but very rich) 21st century, the intersections are not of two spheres converging, but of many – layered, interconnected – and made even more complex by the digital opportunities that envelop us.

The artists of European Souvenirs (left to right): Karol Rakowski (Poland), Bariş Gürsel (Turkey), Farah Rahman (Netherlands), Malaventura (Spain), Noriko Okaku (Japan / UK).

This paper considers a thought provoking project through several lenses, through several intersections. The two year experimental project Remapping Europe – a Remix was initiated by Doc Next Network, a network instigated by the Youth and Media Programme of the European Cultural Foundation. The project launched in De Balie, Amsterdam in October 2012 with a live cinema performance by five young multimedia artists from different corners of Europe called European Souvenirs. Continue reading →

Next stop: Planete + Doc in Poland.

The festival season has started and the first stop for Doc Next Network is the Polish Planete + Doc Film Festival!

With more than 30,000 visitors, Planete + Doc is the biggest documentary festival in Poland and one of the most important festivals of its kind in Europe. On 16 May 2013, you can attend a screening, show and workshop in the framework of Remapping Europe, a project by Doc Next Network. In the films that are programmed, young documentary makers look at the present image of migrants in Europe and tell their stories in a remix form. Among them are an art student from Iran, a Pole born in France, a reporter of Belsat and an independent Belarusian television journalist. They live in Poland, the UK, Turkey and Spain, and their stories draw a new map of contemporary Europe.

As well as Remapping Europe you can also watch an unusual Live Cinema Show, during which, in the rhythm of live music and image mixes, the authors will once again touch upon the subject of borders.

The 10th edition of the Planete + Doc Film Festival festival will be held from 10 – 19 May 2013 in Warsaw and 12 – 19 May 2013 in Wroclaw. The European Souvenirs show is on 16 May 2013 at 21:00 in Cafe Kulturalna (in the famous Palace of Culture and Sciences) in Warsaw. Entrance is free!

Please note this show is modified version of the original show, with local artists.

Yes We Cannes!

Doc Next films will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival this year! How about that?!?!

-2×2 – Iza Kiszczak, PL (2013)
-Rollercoaster Poets – Tara Manandhar, UK (2012)
-Murciegalo – Rocia Garcia Martinez, ES (2012)
-Astronauts – Jaha Browne & Tara Manandhar, UK (2012)
-Comforting Austerity – Gary McQuiggin & Onyeka Igwe (2012)
-The Lights of Flushing – Anna Snowball, UK (2013)
-Life in Tarlabasi – Busra Ornek, TR (2012)
-Refika – Ozge Deniz Ozker, TR (2012)
-Doctor Loco – Matthew Kay & Anna Snowball, UK (2012)
-Unbounded: Wildfire in the Aegean – Sena Basoz, TR (2012)
-Tea House – Jan Mencwel, PL (2013)
-On Site – Matthew Kay, UK (2012)

Thanks to Doc Next partner BFI, Doc Next films are screened in the UK Film tent in Cannes. You can also view the selection online in this group on Vimeo here. (At the moment we are working on getting all films in the group.)

Presentation at The Forum for European Journalism Students.

Today, we are presenting Doc Next and Remapping Europe to more than 100 student journalists form all over Europe!

The 2013 Annual Congress (AC) is organized by the Forum for European Journalism Students, together with partners Evens Foundation and Café Babel in the Netherlands (25th to the 30th of April).

The topic of this year’s AC is ‘Imagine Europe: The remainder of the European Dream beyond the economic markets – is there a European society of culture, values, narratives and solidarity?’

The Dutch Organising Committee wants to portray a broad picture of the non-economic Europe. “Now that Barroso, Verhofstadt and Van Rompuy are daydreaming out loud about a European federation, we want to offer the young journalists sufficient and in-depth insights into that other Europe, the one of the narratives and diversity. The aim will be less on journalism than in other years, but it will not be forgotten – the editorial board of El País will be with us, NRC Handelsblad will be involved, and quite some lectures and workshops will be dedicated to our profession. However, we believe that each journalist needs up-to-date knowledge of high quality to be able to report at the same level of quality. Therefore, we have invited about twenty Dutch and international high profiled speakers, to give lectures and workshops and to participate in debates and a panel discussion.

Subjects which we will discuss are, among others: Until where do the borders of Eastern Europe reach in terms of culture, geography, religion, linguistics and political values? Does a common European culture actually exist or is there even a creatable esprit européen, and if not, is that amiss? Should Europe have its own army, be upfront globally in terms of environment policy or human rights, by means of soft power? What does the art of painting tell us about Europe, what is the status of active European citizenship, a public space – which role is there to play by journalism? In what way is the European novel binding, amazing and educating us?”

For the Doc Next Network presentation the students visit Amsterdam.

European Souvenirs at The Mapping Festival and DOKUFEST.

After shows in Vienna, Amsterdam, Bilbao and Seville, European Souvenirs will be staged at the renowned Mapping Festival for VISUAL AUDIO & DEVIANT ELECTRONICS (Geneva, 2-12 May 2013). Then we are off to DOKUFEST in Kosovo!

European Souvenirs is Doc Next’s live cinema performance. Delving into audiovisual materials from leading European archives, Doc Next Network brings you European Souvenirs that offer a trip down memory lane. Remixing music, photography and film, the European Souvenirs artistic group re-examines the prevailing imagery of immigrants across European communities and re-maps Europe visually, geographically and conceptually. European Souvenirs is a major live-cinema performance by artists Karol Rakowski (PL), Barış Gürsel (TR), Farah Rahman (NL), Malaventura (ES) and Noriko Okaku (JP/UK). Continue reading →

BFI’s Doc Next Media Lab open for entries.

Aged 21 to 25? Have experience making films? Read on…

BFI is looking for 10 filmmakers to become a part of our Doc Next Media Lab. As part of the Lab you’ll receive a £750 bursary, technical film training from professionals, tutoring on different documentary styles, methods and ideas, and the chance to develop and hone your art into something special. Continue reading →

Remapping Europe Atelier Seville

Within Remapping Europe, a Remix project, we organize international Ateliers in Warsaw, Istanbul, Seville and London. An Atelier is a safe place for young people with migrant backgrounds to reflect on the existing imagery in Europe and to contribute to this imagery with their own remix-ed media works.
Artistic remix performances (scheduled for 2013 and 2013) are connected to the process, the participants and the outcomes of the ateliers. Continue reading →

Expanded Education – The English Edition

Somewhere between a fork and a spin-off, the notebook Expanded Education – The English Edition compiles a series of materials that revolve around the notion of expanded education and are related to the book that Doc Next Network hub partner ZEMOS98 published on the subject.

Click to download

Education has always been one of the core themes of the ZEMOS98 project. Not just any old education, but the kind of education that is inseparably bound up with communication and that connects to and networks with other concepts such as audio-visuals, art and experimentation. Education as an element of on-going personal growth, that is not limited to one particular stage of life. Education as play, a way of unravelling the media theatre. Education as an open source operating system that turns us into critical citizens. Education as a game played by all individuals, from all eras. Education as a utopia for a culture-sharing society. When we talk about expanded education, we are not talking about a new concept or something that has just popped out of the blue. Continue reading →

Download report ‘Learning To See’.

How is the function of film/photography changing and their working methods?
How to use the visual tools in a conscious, critical and thoughtful manner?
How to follow the technological change wisely for the sake of promoting social change?
How to apply pictures in social and cultural projects?

Questions like the above made us organise a Visual Seminar – an opportunity to meet for persons working with pictures, practices of looking and the contemporary culture in the broad sense: practitioners (animators/educators, authors) and theoreticians (anthropologists, sociologists, researchers) operating within the field of visual culture. Continue reading →

Doc Next screening in Bucharest.

Doc Next Network aduce documentare scurte, proaspat realizate de tineri cineaști amatori din Europa. Felul in care aceste filme prezinta eroi de zi cu zi dezvaluie actiuni simpatice, locale si mici, dar care reusesc sa aiba un mare impact. Despre pasiunea pentru povestiri, dans, cafea, obiecte personale, amintiri si gradini…. Care sunt imaginile despre Europa pe care le dezvaluie?

Doc Next Network este o miscare unica de realizatori media, educatori, programatori, cercetatori si inovatori care captureaza viziunile tinerilor producatori media europeni pentru a redefini documentarul in acest cadru dinamic. Reteaua cuprinde lucrari ale producatorilor media din generatia DIY intr-o arhiva care este accesibila publicului pe Vimeo. Gasirea de noi talente si prezentarea lor la fesivale majore, la radio si televizor este unul din scopurile lor. Continue reading →

hier wil ik de inhoud van simple user listing