Archiving Audio Visual_Interview with Julia van Mourik, the Director of The One Minutes Foundation

Interview/Writer：Hsiang-Yun Huang
Part of the project Theory and Practice of Archiving Audiovisual Media Archives and Institutions in the Netherlands led by Ruby Hsieh I Hsuan

The Backstory of The One Minutes Foundation

The concept of compiling a series of one-minute videos from different creators started in 1999 by a group of students at Sandberg Instituut in the Netherlands. At that time, the director of Sandberg Instituut had an opportunity to create a show for one hour airtime on local Amsterdam television between 12 o'clock midnight and 1 o'clock midnight which is a time when nobody watches TV actually. He gave this time to different students monthly. One of the groups didn't know what to do, and they decided to invite their friends and family to help them by asking everyone to make a one-minute video, so they could have 60 minutes to fill that one hour of airtime. The format represents a collective approach to filmmaking, coinciding with the availability of consumer cameras to the general public. This trend reflects a shift towards a more democratic and less hierarchical film production landscape, where individuals can create films independently, without the need for a full professional crew. And this participatory format enabling multiple perspectives has become the essence of The One Minutes Foundation, which is currently an internationally known organization.

The Spirit of Community-Driven and Socially-Engaged Art Projects

“There are lots of boundaries in the world such as cultural differences and we might not understand each other, but it is easier to understand each other through films. I believe that film is a language that crosses boundaries. And through the format of short videos, we  want to contribute to creating spaces for free expression, collective imagination, and global solidarity in our different, yet deeply interconnected realities.”

said Julia van Mourik, the director of The One Minutes Foundation. Following the above-mentioned core values, The One Minutes Foundation collaborated with art organizations and NGOs internationally through conducting educational workshops and curating film series.

In 2023, The One Minutes Foundation collaborated with UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) and co-created workshops for 15 Rohingya young people in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh led by Lyuba Matyunina, Misha de ridder and Wouter Stroet.

Credit: Video still Home, Nur Kolima, 2023, Bangladesh (© the artist, courtesy by The One Minutes Foundation); Trailer: https://theoneminutes.org/series/a-shelter-is-not-a-home

It was a time when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya escaped Rakhine amidst violence and the destruction of their villages, leading to an unparalleled migration to Bangladesh. In a matter of weeks, around half a million individuals sought refuge and protection upon crossing the border. Presently, there are 860,000 Rohingya residing in Cox's Bazar refugee camps, with more than half of them being young people. During the workshop, video artists teach young people basic camera and film making skills. This process creates a space for the them to express their stories from their unique perspectives through one-minute long videos.

In 2016 and 2017, The One Minutes Foundation conducted multiple workshops in Ukraine with young people to cocreate videos exploring themes such as the influence of war on daily life in Ukraine, their experience in growing up in a conflict zone, and their fear and dreams for the future. These films were later screened at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen in 2022 during the war between Russia and Ukraine. Unlike the specific journalist aestheticization of war on the news, the format of one-minute video transforms our experiences of distant suffering when browsing daily news into a more intimate embodiment of genuine personal stories.

Credit: The One Minutes Jr. at 66th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen; Video link: https://player.eyefilm.nl/en/films/the-one-minutes-jr-ukraine

In the interview with Julia van Mourik, she further articulated the power of the one-minute video. She said that the format gives voices to different points of view and different mediums. This way of making film also makes the film really personal, unfiltered and genuine. The short amount of the time also persuades the audience to watch something that they normally might not watch but would be willing to try otherwise because it’s only a minute.

The One Minutes Foundation at Documenta 15, 2022

Sharing with a similar underlying principle of Documenta 15, which was the “lumbung practice” enabling an alternative economy of collectivity, shared resource building, and equitable distribution,  The One Minutes Foundation decided to  invite its network to participate in this current development by creating a program focused on solidarity, collectivity and equal allocation, called Voices to be heard, aiming is to amplify diverse voices.  By collaborating with different collectives and inviting them to curate series and send out open calls, The One Minutes Foundation gave a voice to these collectives and expanded their communites. For instance, later the foundation collaborated with the collective at Documenta 15, Party Office, and they curated a series called“REST HARD: an act of doing nothing in a safe company” which was about queer kinship and marginalized bodies for The One Minutes Foundation (Trailer of the series: https://theoneminutes.org/series/rest-hard-an-act-of-doing-nothing-in-a-safe-company )

Conclusion: The Politics of Particularity

From the historical democratization of filmic technology to the paradigm shift manifested in Documenta 15 where the contemporary art world started to embrace a new form of community-based curation, The One Minutes Foundation has developed a participatory model of film production. This model connects Euro-centered resources and presentation oppurtunities to other regions while being aware of cultural imperialism through its consciousness of the politics of particularity and emphasis on multiple localities.