Images in Conflict: Critical Short Film Education for a Democratic Public
VIDC - kulturen in bewegung
Austria
Media shape our perception of social & political reality. Audiovisual formats wield strong suggestive power: they mold emotions, steer interpretations & construct realities. In today’s crisis-laden, constantly-online society, this influence is especially consequential. Developed in coop. with VIENNA SHORTS, the 2-part workshop empowers youth workers, arts educators, and NGO facilitators to spot these dynamics, reflect on digital habits, practice focused watching to counter fragmented attention & deploy short film in their work to strengthen diversity-sensitive, democratic perspectives.
‘Images in Conflict’ is a two-part workshop by kulturen in bewegung and VIENNA SHORTS, unpacking how the attention economy and social media fuel polarization and fragment dialogue. Designed for youth workers, arts educators, and NGO facilitators, it harnesses short film, a medium responsive to current issues, to dissect critical image production, algorithmic bias, and the effects of digital overload's toll on attention and empathy.
Part 1 introduces critical image analysis and the attention economy’s psycho-social impacts. Part 2 dives into short films from the festival’s 2026 ‘Attention!’ edition, dissecting aesthetic strategies (e.g., editing, unresolved narratives) that create space for ambiguity and mutual recognition—countering polarized media’s simplifications. Part 2 includes dialogue with a film maker.
The workshop equips multipliers to facilitate film-based encounters, fostering democratic dialogue through complexity and genuine attention.