[Reader-list] Pad.ma Update: Call For Fellowships, deadline extended to 6th August

[rohitrellan at aol.in]

PAD.MA - is an          online archive of densely text-annotated video material,          primarily footage and not films. The entire collection is          searchable and viewable online, and is free to download for          non- commercial use. We see PAD.MA as a way of          opening up a set of images, intentions and effects present in          video footage, that conventions of video- making, editing and          spectatorship  have tended to suppress.           
This is our first call for fellowships and we would like to            connect with people from diverse backgrounds and interests,            who like to work creatively on video, film, digital and            offline archives or collections.  We are offering two types            of fellowships.  
          
The first is a call to work with online video, writing              about video and film, and creative combinations of the              two. The second is a call for those interested in              research and writing on early film histories in India.
          
Please distribute these fellowship calls widely.
          
________
          
1. Pad.ma Fellowship for Experiments with Video Archives               
          
Over the last 4 years, through many contributions from            groups and individuals, Pad.ma has built a growing            collection of documentary footage, contemporary art video,            cinema, performing and classical arts, lectures, long            interviews and so on. We now want to open the archive up to            collaborations, video contributions from surprising and            disparate sources, experiments in writing about, displaying            and sharing video. 
          
We invite proposals for fellowships with Pad.ma, especially            those interested in working with video and archives in the            following ways
          
-        Writing on existing footage in the archive: Many            essays on Pad.ma are a commentary on a set of videos, or            link disparate videos in collections.  See examples at http://essays.pad.ma
          
-        Contribution of an existing collection of videos            to Pad.ma: The contribution can be of a specific set of            videos that are linked thematically, or sourced from a            project such as documentary films or existing archives. An            example of this is Kolar Gold Fields footage sourced from            the film 'After the Gold'(J.Nair). See https://pad.ma/grid/title/project==Kolar%20Gold%20Fields%20and%20Mines            The project proposal must include transcription and            annotation of videos, where possible extended to a written            essay. 
          
-        Software development: Pad.ma is always looking for            programmers - amateurs or professionals - who are interested            in extending the software behind Pad.ma (http://pan.do/ra), or who            might want to use the Pad.ma API (http:/pad.ma/api)            to build interesting applications. 
          
          
-        Pad.ma also invites general scholarship on            material from early film archives, the Internet Archive's            moving image library, and other offline sources. We also            encourage research and exploratory writing on popular and            mass cultures online, that culls from Youtube and other            online video platforms. These materials can be drawn            together from diverse sources - an example in Pad.ma is the            collection of the Radia tapes that are recordings of            conversations between power brokers and media houses that            were leaked to the public. The collection can be used for            analysis, investigative journalism, but also as a script for            a play or film. See https://pad.ma/grid/title/list==zi:The%20Radia%20Tap%28e%29s
          
Duration of Fellowship: 6 Months
              Remuneration: 15,000 per month over 6 months, to be            disbursed in 3 installments
          
The fellowship will commence in September, 2012 and will            culminate in a seminar-workshop in February, 2013 for the            Pad.ma fellows. Maximum number of fellows chosen will be 8.
          
Please apply with a statement of your research interest (1            page or 500 word outline) and plan for the fellowship and a            copy of your CV. You can also send a writing sample and            additional links to videos, images and other files, using            host services such as http://hostb.org.            We may require a meeting in Mumbai or Bengaluru before final            decision on the proposals.
          
Applicants can be of any educational or disciplinary            background.
          
Last date of submission of proposals: 6th August, 2012
            Date for deciding proposals: 24th August, 2012
            Write to Namita A. Malhotra: n at pad.ma 
          

          
          
2. Pad.ma Research Fellowship in Film Histories
          
While the focus of Pad.ma thus far has primarily been on            footage, we would like to open Pad.ma out to an exploration            of film studies, history and technology. Technology does not            merely change the way films are made or seen, but also the            way that it is studied, and film studies has travelled a            long way from the time that one had to make notes in the            dark to the control over the temporal flow of the film            brought by video. Through this fellowship  we are interested            in exploring the possible futures of film studies when it            meets new technologies and the internet which allows for            different ways in which we can categorize, retrieve and            write about the moving image.
          
Celebrating forty years of copyright-free cinema in (1952            being the current threshold) amidst the hundred years of            Indian cinema this year, we intend to upload pre-1952 films            on to Pad.ma  and open them out to future collaborations            with film historians and scholars. Fellows are encouraged to            apply with a statement of their research interests, the            films that they would like to work with on pad.ma and the kind of            materials around the film that they would bring into            conversation with the film.
          
Duration of Fellowship: 6 Months (with a possible            extension to a year subject to future funding)
              Remuneration: 15,000 per month over 6 months, to be            disbursed in 3 installments
          
Maximum number of fellows chosen will be 4. There will be            additional fellowships administered via Jadavpur University            Media Lab, and the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal            Nehru University. 
          
There will be a board of mentors including leading film            scholars who will guide the independent fellows. There will            also be a workshop at the beginning and the end of the            fellowship period. 
          
Please apply with a statement of your research interest and            plan for the fellowship, a copy of your CV and one sample            piece of writing. You can also send a writing sample and            additional links to videos, images and other files, using            host services such as http://hostb.org.            We may require a meeting in Mumbai or Bengaluru before a            final decision on the proposals.
          
 Last date of submission of proposals: 6th August, 2012
            Date for deciding proposals: 24th August, 2012
            Write to Lawrence Liang: lawrence at altlawforum.org