Productions by internationally renowned media artists and the innovative works of new masters from the academies will be presented at the 22nd European Media Art Festival. The EMAF is one of the most influential forums of international Media Art. As a meeting point for artists, curators, distributors, gallery owners and an audience of specialists, the festival has a great impact on the topic and aesthetics of Media Art. Each year the festival offers its visitors a current overview of new experimental films, performances, lectures, an exhibition and the Media Campus. Around 250 current contributions will be selected this year for the festival from a total of 2400 submitted works, offering a comprehensive insight into the latest tendencies in Media Art. An international jury will present the "EMAF Award" for a trend-setting work in Media Art and the "Dialogpreis" of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the promotion of intercultural exchange. Furthermore, the jury of the German Federal Association of Film Journalists will award the prize for the best German experimental film of the year.

The exhibition entitled "Image Battles - 2000 years of news from the war" shows new and unusual perspectives of war reporting from the ancient world to the present. Cooperation between the European Media Art Festival, the Museum Industriekultur Osnabrück (Museum for Industrial Heritage), the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Centre and the Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche (Dominican Church Art Hall) enables a composition of exhibits from the areas of technology - media - art to be shown for the very first time. How have technological developments altered the image of war? Why are war reports such successful consumer goods? The international artists selected by the European Media Art Festival encounter the published truths from the war with grave doubts. They explore the allegedly authentic media reports controversially and wilfully. The exhibition shows that "image battles" tend to develop in the mind of the viewer rather than "images of battles".
The exhibition, consisting of three parts, will be shown in the Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, the Museum Industriekultur and the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Centre in Osnabrück from 22 April to 4 October. Artistic, technical and historical exhibits are assembled in each of the three establishments. Historical documents, technical exhibits, films and photographs demonstrate how the images of war have changed in line with the development of the media. Installations, collages, sculptures and interactive works will be shown from the world of art.
The historic development shows that the need for images of battles and war reporting has always enhanced the spread of new media. Even printing took root at the end of the Middle Ages due to the demand for images of battles. Photography was significantly advanced in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. The war in Vietnam became the first military conflict that viewers were able to follow on their screens. Thanks to the 1991 Gulf War, CNN was able to win global recognition. Hermann Noering, member of Artistic Board of the European Media Art Festival: "It is difficult to explain why there is such fascination with the spectacle of war - whether in games, Hollywood films or magazines - by voyeurism alone."
The perception of war was, and is, determined by the media. In the 21st century, all eye witnesses have the possibility to create images of war on their camera phones and to distribute them on the web. War reporting is therefore democratised, since it seems to be removed from the control of the military. At the same time, however, it has become impossible to verify the authenticity. Despite the progress of information technology, however, it was and is not possible to create an authentic portrayal of the reality of war, because "realism in the cinema would constitute a hand grenade exploding in the auditorium," commented the Vietnam veteran William D. Ehrhardt in 1998.

Lida Abdul ("In Transit"), KP Brehmer ("Stukas, 2x täglich Zähneputzen"), Christoph Büchel ("PSYOP - Capture their minds and their hearts will follow"), Christoph Draeger ("Dear Old Battleground, Mean Old Killing Fields (War is History)"), Harun Farocki ("Auge Maschine III"), Regina José Galindo ("Confession"), David Hahlbrock ("FeldGenerator2"), Lynn Hershman ("America's Finest"), Jan Hoeft ("Field Strip"), Christoph Wachter & Mathias Jud ("Zone*Interdite"), Markus Kison ("Touched Echo"), Mischa Kuball ("CNN"), Andree Korpys/Markus Löffler("Nuclear Football"), Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle ("The Radio" + "Phantom Truck"), Bjørn Melhus ("Still Men Out There"), Jens Pecho ("Slow Motion For Charly"), Evelina Rajca ("Lockvogel"), Gerhard Richter ("Bridge 14 Feb 45"), Johanna Reich ("Front"), Martha Rosler ("Bringing The War Home"), Ruth Schnell ("All Targets Defined"), Christoph Schlingensief ("Lager ohne Grenzen"), Aleksandra Signer ("Schlotterbeck"), RothStauffenberg ("Untitled Characters"), Oliver van den Berg ("Kameras"), Wolf Vostell ("So leben wir Abend für Abend vor dem Fernsehschirm"), Harry Walter ("Eichmann Fleischmann Neckermann").

In Cooperation with COLOSSAL (Kunst Fakt Fiktion. Künstlerische Leitung: Jan Hoet. Ein Projekt des Landschaftsverbandes Osnabrücker Land e.V. 2009 bis 2011):
Wilfried Hagebölling ("Abu Ghureib 2003/2004"), Dennis Oppenheim ("Battle Drums").

In four sessions from the beginning of January, the Film and Video Committee has viewed around 2400 films and videos that were registered for international selection. The amazing thing about the viewings was that many of the artists deal with the search for their origin and family/geographic roots. In so doing, artistic self-reflection has given way to a more socially differentiated contemplation. All in all, there are many crossover works that combine documentary elements with experimental and narrative forms of expression.

This weekend, the Viewing Committee, comprising Katja Albers, Nadine Bors, Katrin Mundt and Ralf Sausmikat, will start to create an interesting and lively programme from around 250 selected works, according to content-related and formal framework criteria.

This year, the International Student Forum will be extended for the first time by the MEDIA CAMPUS. Three higher education institutions will present themselves at the MEDIA CAMPUS: students from the University of Arts Bremen will exhibit their installations in the Bürgergehorsam Tower under the heading "Der Hund, der tritt die Treppe krumm." Ingo Petzke from the Department of Design of University of Applied Sciences in Wurzburg will present a retrospective of cinematic works from the past 20 years. School of Art and Design Cardiff will also be represented with a performance programme.