Call for Submissions: Reimagining the Experimental

Pleasure Dome welcomes submissions of experimental, time-based media work by Canadian and international artists for our 2022-2023 programming year.

The deadline for submissions is April 5, 2023.

THERE ARE TWO OPEN CALLS:

(1) “Re-imagining the Experimental”

(2) “New Toronto Works.”

WHEN YOU SUBMIT, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SELECTED THE CORRECT CATEGORY.

For the first time ever, we have shifted our open call to a themed call: “Re-imagining the Experimental.” Before submitting your work, we ask you to consider whether and how your film work or moving image work or new media work constitutes a novel approach to re-imagining “the experimental,” whether this be formally, conceptually, politically, culturally, and so on. Consider, for example, whose work has been considered “experimental” historically, and whom this category has left out.

Pleasure Dome is committed to equitable programming by prioritizing work by women artists, Black artists, Indigenous artists, artists of colour, artists with disabilities, artists who are neurodivergent, artists who are self-taught or working outside of academia, artists from marginalized faith backgrounds, and 2SLGBTQIA+ artists. However, everyone is welcome and encouraged to apply.

We are committed to our organization’s history of considering political and subversive artworks, as well as artworks that collapse artistic categories and might find difficulty being placed elsewhere. But, please be advised that “Reimagining the Experimental” seeks to open up the very definitions of “subversive,” “radical,” “political,” and “experimental” from fresh vantage points.

We accept single-channel films as well as multi-channel or expanded cinema projects, installation, and performance. If the form of your project is not well suited to single-channel streaming, please include relevant links to additional materials in the project description or notes. We can accommodate 35mm, Regular / Super 8, 16mm, VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray, and Digital files. Please incorporate keywords in your synopsis to help support our volunteer programmers.

For more information about our year-round programming, see https://pdome.org/about/programming-process-and-policy

While we appreciate the breadth and prolific nature of your practice, please apply with only ONE proposed work that is most aligned with our mandate. We will only accept one work per person.

Our submissions operate on a Pay-What-You-Can-Basis: $2.50 or $5.00. Your entry fee contributes to the intellectual and critical understanding of experimental media through writing, discussions, screenings, essays, and interviews through Pleasure Dome. Our organization operates on very limited funding, and the submission fees allow us to humbly remunerate our volunteer vetters.

We thank you for your support.