Circulating, distributing, smuggling: the power of the small file

Dive into the potential of the small file within the context of digital culture and documentary art during this collaborative evening between The Hmm and Het Documentaire Paviljoen. What does the small file offer us in terms of the circulation, exchange, or even smuggling of information? How does working with small formats open up the possibilities within constraint—creating and celebrating a new kind of small file aesthetics?

In the last years there has been a huge increase in streaming, data hoarding, and the training and use of generative AI. The ecological burdens of these shifts in how we are using the internet and digital technologies are becoming ever more visible. Demands for data—which require cheap electricity, high bandwidth, and seemingly infinite digital storage—are starkly political—creating a divide between what are often called “data rich” and “data poor” countries. This digital divide can determine who has access to what, where, and when; creating an asymmetrical sharing of data like video, texts, and images.

This evening brings together 5 short films that were selected by The Hmm during the 2024 Small File Media Festival (SFMF). These films are not just short, but also small: not more than 1.44MB per minute, the storage capacity of a floppy disk. As the SFMF writes “Small files are media for the whole world. Traveling easily on 2G networks, they arrive intact in lightly infrastructured regions (that is, where most folks in the world live) and where networks are threatened by war and siege.”

Filmmaker Minoo Iranpour Mobarakeh and artist and scholar Radek Przedpełski will join in conversation about the creative and political uses and potentialities of the small file.

🍿Short film line-up
Restore — Minoo Iranpour Mobarakeh
Is Every Republic Constructed on Flat Earth? — Clint Sleeper
Walking through a Nile Codex — Mena El Shazly and Omnia Sabry
THE RIVER — Anabela Costa
I do not have enough money to buy new underwear — Jayson Sloan

Founded in 2020, the SFMF aims to raise awareness of the high carbon footprint of streaming media, and proposes alternative solutions for media practice, as well as creating new modes of thinking. These films, ranging from humorous animations to politically censored content that was damaged and then restored, encompass the power and possibilities of the small image.

📅 Date: Wednesday 26 March 2025
🕗 Time: 20.00 – 21.30 CET
📍 Location: Het Documentaire Paviljoen, De Spiegel; Vondelpark 3, Amsterdam🎟 Tickets: €12 regular, €6,50 student, Cineville; available via Het Documentaire Paviljoen