It seems to me that many visual artists are ideas-led and will achieve their aims by any medium necessary. Experimental film-makers seem to have a more intimate, historical and material relationship to the medium and a higher level of engagement in the craft of filmmaking. I did see Eija-Liisa Ahtila piece in both the cinema and gallery context and was struck by how different the experience was. I think we bring more meaning to a context than we realise and that affects our own interpretation of work. The traditions of experimental film and to an extend video art have been to address process and form primarily.
Visual artist tend to prioritise concept.
Furthermore some of these differences are often driven by markets and not necessarily by artists or filmmakers themselves. It is possible that visual artists and curators could do well to watch the brilliant work of the US and British avant-garde in film and video just as experimentalists in film and video might do worse than make a paradigm shift when encountering film and video in a gallery or fine art context. Although there are many differences in these two worlds which should be respected, a process of intervention can foster dialogue and productive cross fertilisation.