SALON DU MONTAGE: Editing is a matter of life or death

Organised by World Cinema Alliance e.V. with the support of silent green and Welt Film: SALON DU MONTAGE is a four-day gathering dedicated to editing as a critical, political, and cultural practice. More than a discussion on the future of editing, the Salon proposes editing as a way of reorganising reality itself.

“Editing is no longer a technical stage.
Editing is a matter of survival.” 
 

The World ist already filmed

More than five billion smartphones are recording daily life.
More than one billion surveillance cameras are watching. The problem is no longer filming. The problem is meaning.

“We are drowning in images.
We are starving for meaning.”

There are more videos than one lifetime can watch. Editing becomes an act of selection, responsibility, and orientation.
 

What does it mean to edit?

This question lies at the core of the Salon.
From Eisenstein to Godard, from Kluge to contemporary practices, cinema has always thought through montage.
Today, montage extends beyond cinema. It edits history, identity, cities, power, and the future.

“Algorithms edit us.
Institutions edit us.
Who edits back?”
 

Three days of thinking and cutting

Across three days, SALON DU MONTAGE unfolds through working sessions, debates, demonstrations, and screenings, addressing themes including:

• Lifetime vs Film Time

• Critical Montage
• The Director–Editor Relationship
• Editing Without End
• Human vs AI Editing
• Editing as Political Act
• Social Media and Algorithmic Montage

• Archives, Excess Images, and Re-cut Cinema

   

“The problem is no longer filming.
The problem is what we do with all this.”

A working Salon

SALON DU MONTAGE is not a showcase or a market.
It is conceived as an open working space where participants bring unfinished films, raw footage, archives, phone videos, bad cuts, and unresolved questions.

“Bring work.
Bring friction.
Bring thought in motion.”

The Salon places human attention back at the centre of the editorial process, in a context increasingly shaped by software and artificial intelligence.
 

Beyond Berlin 

All sessions are recorded and extended online.
The Salon exists both on site and as a living digital archive.

“Cinema Without a Camera does not stop.”

Registration

Participation is free, but only possible with prior registration. Places are limited. Please register by message to info@salondumontage.com.

More information via www.salondumontage.com

Saturday, February 14 until
Monday, February 18
Atelier 1