The first Cinergy’s guest in 2018 will be Kevin B. Lee, internationally renowned filmmaker, journalist and video essayist. Lee, who has been named “the king of video essays” by The New York Times, frequently writes for Sight & Sound, Slate and Indiewire. He is also the founding editor and chief video essayist at fandor.com. He has made over 360 essays exploring film and media – he examines various aspects of filmmaking and specific trails of each director’s style. His renowned videos includes an examination of “Lynchian style”, counting of all the murders in Tarantino’s films or a meditative poem created from 123 shots in Tarkovski’s Nostalgia. 

Lee’s has received critical acclaim for his unique “desktop documentary” Transformers: The Premake, which combines 355 videos shot by amateurs who happened to come across the shoot of Transformers 4. Lee critically reflects on international blockbuster film production and examines how internet influences our perception of reality. The documentary has been screened at various film festivals including Berlinale in 2014. 

Lee will introduce the video essay format during his master class, he will also show short examples of his work. The master class will be hosted by the film journalist Pavel Sladký. The entry is free.

The visit of Kevin B. Lee is being organized by the educational film platform Cinergy. Besides the public master class, Lee will also conduct a three-day workshop with the students of FAMU. Students will be creating an essay examining Milos Forman’s “The Firemen's Ball” under his supervision.