Cold Open · Essay · dec 8, 2023

Future Frames: A Conversation With Bram Ruiter

Closing the Future Frames series: Bram Ruiter is a filmmaker for whom the mechanics of cinema are the subject of cinema. Not interested in traditional narrative structures, he experiments with the elements of film itself — taking them apart to see how they work, and what happens when they work differently. For this edition of Future Frames, Bram discusses the inner life of the moving image with Elliot: what it means to be obsessed with the form itself rather than the stories it typically tells.

By Elliot Bloom

Film Journalist · Celebrating Cinema

For this edition of Future Frames, you can hear from our rising filmmakers who we’ll be screening at Volk’s Hotel Sunday Shorts on 10th Dec. You can buy tickets here.

Bram Ruiter is a filmmaker of a different kind. He has a unique ability to extract the poetry of the mundane, experimenting as much as he can within the realms of the moving-image. Not tied to traditional narrative structures, Bram’s obsessed with the inner-mechanics of filmmaking, taking film elements apart and seeing how they work – often breaking the ‘rules’ to do so.

But strangely it’s the mechanics of big blockbusters he finds beauty in, citing Steven Spielberg and Tony Scott as heavy inspirations. But how does this influence a non-narrative filmmaker who’s much more experimental with their films? Bram shares how he’s led by the practical process of filmmaking in creating his films.

From the use of digital, analogue, phones & video games to the scratching and experiments with film emulsions – Bram takes us down a rabbit-hole of a whole other realm of filmmaking.

You can watch his tender film Here & Elsewhere at Volks Sunday Shorts or visit his website to discover more.

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