Chanel Sponsors M+ Festival for Asian Avant-Garde Cinema

The third edition of the M+ Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival (AAGFF), supported by CHANEL, concluded on May 31st. The three-day event showcased film, music, and performance, with a central theme exploring space as both an artistic principle and a geopolitical subject. Highlights included the world premiere of ‘Lamya Gargash × Vivian Wang: Tracking Nomadism (Live)’, a new live cinema collaboration commissioned and supported by Chanel. The festival also featured Rirkrit Tiravanija’s interactive ping-pong installation and screenings of significant works by artists Nam June Paik and Xu Bing. Now in its third year, the AAGFF has established itself as a key platform for experimental film and moving image art in Asia, bringing together independent filmmakers, artists, and creative communities from across the region. This year's theme built upon the previous year's focus on time, shifting to an examination of space. This exploration encompassed its role in artistic composition and perspective, the advancements in lens-based technologies, and the current geopolitical landscapes influencing the world. Silke Schmickl, CHANEL Senior Curator and Head of Moving Image at M+ in Hong Kong, reflected on the festival's programming. Schmickl noted that "Space is a critical principle of artmaking in all media and particularly interesting in lens-based media where artists have challenged the frame through expanded cinema and now ‘frameless’ immersion." The festival's title, “Space Enter Shift,” was designed as an invitation for audiences to engage with the festival space and experience a shift in perspective. The title also playfully references essential keyboard keys: ‘space’ for character insertion, ‘enter’ for confirmation or new lines, and ‘shift’ for modifying other keys, acknowledging the role of technology in creating and experiencing time-based art forms.