Stage on Screen/Screen on Stage - International Festival of Performing Arts&Media Ludwigsburg

SOS – the abbreviated title of our new festival may initially cause some surprise, after all the initials stand for "Save Our Souls", a maritime distress signal. However this association is not as odd as it may seem, for one thing that the SOS Festival should have is soul.

This unique festival is an interface between theatre, music and media. It will be held every two years, each time with a different focus. In 2010 the focus was on music. Following the Motto "Music on Screen" filmmakers, media representatives, musicians, theatre people and directors as well as students and interested non-professionals have consider this complex subject in all its diversity in workshops, podium and panel discussions.

The evening events in the Akademiehof (free entry) were a highlight – a feast for eyes and ears. For example the opening gala which, thanks to the audio-visual performance "Moments of Sound and Motion", gave the Academy courtyard a special flair or the unconventional audio-visual presentations created by students from the ADK and the Film Academy especially for the SOS. A glamorous film music gala in honour of Irmin Schmidt was a particular highlight. Irmin Schmidt has made a name for himself as one of the founding members of the German Electronic rock band Can, composing music for both the band and directors such as Wim Wenders, Michael Verhoeven or Hans W. Geißendörfer. The director Wim Wenders made a laudatory speech.

With Stage on Screen/Screen on Stage – International Festival of Performing Arts & Media Ludwigsburg, we are – to use another nautical term – setting sail for new horizons. And perhaps just as in Shakespeare’s tempest, we will land on an island full of wonder and magic.

Stage on Screen/Screen on Stage – International Festival of Performing Arts & Media Ludwigsburg, as this three-day event is officially called, has been initiated by the Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Academy for Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg ADK, the Ludwigsburg Schlossfestspiele and the Film- und Medienfestival gGmbH.

We extend our thanks to the Baden-Wuerttemberg Stiftung (foundation) for its financial support.