This year's Audiovisual Days an online success

In the past, the Audiovisual Days event has been held in the autumn, but because of the pandemic, it was moved to the spring of 2021. Like many other public events at the moment, it was staged in digital form with the activities on all three days taking place online.

Previously the Film & TV program at Lindholmen Science Park had hosted the event, but this year the Medier & Demokrati program, Visual Arena and AI Sweden also acted as co-organizers.

– The rapid developments in the digital world and an exciting and growing audiovisual landscape are what bring us together," says Gunnar Eriksson, project developer for Film & TV. "Regardless of whether we are involved in film, radio, newspapers, TV, or other media, we work in a digital environment with similar opportunities and challenges. That's something we wanted to highlight at this year's event. Our aim was to identify the many common denominators in our industry and to understand how we can develop and grow together, most importantly with the help of modern visualization techniques and data- and AI-based technologies.

Three days packed with up-to-the-minute topics

This year's online Audiovisual Days event offered a busy program of wide-ranging activities covering all the latest topics across the entire audiovisual spectrum. The three days got off to a flying start with a panel discussion on the subject of "Truth or lies?" moderated by Anders Thoresson from Medier & Demokrati which looked at how AI-based technology can transcribe audio files extremely quickly. This is very useful in many industries, such as TV, film, and games, but also a warning signal: Can we really rely on everything we hear?

A panel made up of Stefan Eklund, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Borås Tidning, Mikael Kowalski from Filmpedagogerna, a non-profit organization providing film and media education, and Anette Novak, director of the Swedish Media Council discussed the spectrum from opportunities to risks.

In line with tradition, media analyst Johanna Koljonen provided an excellent summary of the 8th Nostradamus Report "Transforming Storytelling Together", which was followed by a conversation with Kristina Börjeson, the newly appointed production manager of the regional film fund Film i Väst. This is a role that many people regard as being among the most influential in the Swedish film industry.

On Wednesday, the visitors had the opportunity to meet the creators of one of this year's most-hyped Swedish TV series "Snabba Cash", which premiered on Netflix on 7 April. Also present during the day were the screenwriters Niclas Ekström, Jessika Jankert and Lovisa Löwhagen from Manusfabriken, a resource centre for scriptwriters in Gothenburg, who reported on the work behind the two Viaplay series "Lyckoviken" and "Maskineriet".

In addition, the event put the spotlight on the highly interesting and rapidly developing podcast landscape, with production company Just Stories describing the work involved in the true-crime podcast "En mörk historia" and explaining how to set up a successful podcast company from scratch.

– Audio and moving images are becoming more widespread in the world of news journalism. It's very valuable and interesting for us at Medier & Demokrati to take part in the event, says program manager Martin Holmberg.

Finally, comedian and actor Åsa Gustafsson came together with the Malmö-based comedy duo Dilan and Moa to discuss creativity and working across different audiovisual platforms, such as TV, radio, podcasts, and the stage.

On Thursday, half of the day was devoted to VR and new technologies in the field of moving images. The host for the day, Gorki Glaser-Müller, presented this year's participants in the Narrative VR Lab. This was followed by an exclusive masterclass held by the well-known VR pioneer Liz Rosenthal on the subject of The ground-breaking virtual reporting technology.

Online event reached a wide audience

For the first time, the Audiovisual Days were held entirely in digital form with the various program items being broadcast directly via smartphones or computers. Although the event has always been an important meeting place and networking opportunity, this year it was much more accessible and reached a significantly wider audience than in the past.

Project leader Harry Gerd confirms that a wider range of visitors attended the online version of the event:

– The accessibility of the digital event enabled far more people to experience all or part of the content. I am certain that this type of event is here to stay, even when the pandemic is over.

Finally, the team behind the Audiovisual Days would like to thank everyone who took part in this year's event.

Facts about the Audiovisual Days 2021

 •   Took place from 13 to 15 April.
•    Organised by Lindholmen Film & TV, Medier & Demokrati, Visual Arena and AI Sweden at Lindholmen Science Park. 
•    The main external funding came from Region Västra Götaland. Other partners in the event included Gothenburg Film Festival, Kulturakademin, City of Gothenburg/Film Office, Manusfabriken and the Swedish Centre for Dramatic Writing.

PHOTOS: Margot Roegiers / Harry Gerd