Black Maria Film & Video Festival, playing at Cornell Cinema

introduced by Cornell Cinema Director and Black Maria Juror Mary Fessenden

Named for Thomas Edison's 1893 experimental motion picture studio, this touring festival features cutting edge films from prominent avant-garde, documentary and animation film and videomakers world-wide. One of this year’s jurors was Cornell Cinema director Mary Fessenden, who will introduce the program. more at blackmariafilmfestival.org

Program

5 Cents a Peek
6.5 min. by Vanessa Woods, San Francisco, CA Juror's Citation
5 Cents a Peek is a poetic interpretation of a verse by Sharon Olds. The circus is the stage for a woman's performance in, and for, the world. Animation, archival circus footage and distortions of the female form allude to the male gaze and spectatorship in this haunting work.
Antigenic Drift
17 min. by Lewis Klahr, Los Angeles, CA Director's Choice
Made by cut and paste animation master Lewis Klahr, whose previous work has all been on film. "Klahr's artistry has to do with the unique collision of textures, surfaces and hues he uses to invoke not mere nostalgia but all-encompassing psychic states, alluding to particular historical moments while hovering in a non-time all their own. His newest work, Antigenic Drift, moves these concerns into the realm of video. The piece's title refers to mutations a virus undergoes to remain viable against increased immunity. This partly explains a sense of atmospheric quarantine, in particular an almost 2D Joseph Cornell propensity for pinning mobile objects down, sealing them under translucent blankets of rubber and plastic, giving hints of eminent travel but curtailing free movement at almost every turn." (Michael Sicinski)
Dig
2.5 min. by Robert Todd, Boston, MA Juror's Choice
This frenetic, almost Cubist film explores kinetic and textural variations based on Dig-Safe Markers run amok on Any Street USA. It is a constricted frame in agitation, with the sweet music of jackhammers ringing throughout.
L'eau Life
3 min. by Jeff Scher, Brooklyn, NY Juror's Citation
Jeff Scher returns to the festival with the animated short L'eau Life, "a celebration of summer and water" that is literally a watercolor painting come to life. In keeping with this theme, Scher's animation is marked by its fluidity and an exuberantly psychedelic aesthetic.
Energie
5 min. by Thorsten Fleisch, Berlin, Germany Juror's Choice
A visual tour de force, Energie is crackling with the sound and phosphorescence of a lightening storm. The tempest's rolling thunder, claps and sparks create a spellbinding work of raw power that captures the primal force of nature.
Hyperplasm
3.45 min. by Van McElwee, Kirkwood, MO Juror's Citation
Real-world objects are turned inside-out, imploding into unnatural spaces, becoming a single substance of endless forms.
I Left My Silent House
9 min. by Seounguo Cho, Elmhurst, NY Best of Festival Experimental
In this, the noted video artist's most recent work, Mr. Cho captures a pulsing, kinetic, abstract impression of city subways. The video's power resides not only in its strong rhythmic drive but also in an elegant compositional sensibility. These abstract yet tactile elements play against an elusive human presence.
Know the Customer
6 min. by Marc Inman, Salt Lake City, UT Director's Choice
In this wacky comedy, a masked man she's certain she recognizes as a former high school chum robs a very talkative convenience store clerk. The loony protagonist continues her free association chatter, in a verbal avalanche, which denies her antagonist his rightful place as a would-be felon.
Number One
10.5 min. by Leighton Pierce, Iowa City, Iowa Juror's Choice
The evergreen experimental filmmaker, Leighton Pierce, once again engages viewers with a richly textured, highly sensual, and impressionistic meditation on the body, water, and time.
Ode to a Steeltown
12 min. by Tony Buba, Pittsburgh, PA Juror's Citation
This work continues a lifelong commitment by the noted filmmaker to document the fate of his hometown, Braddock, PA. Tony Buba puts this question to the residents of his blighted rustbelt town in western Pennsylvania, interspersing footage of their answers with contrasting images of Braddock as it is now and its former prosperity. Buba and the people of Braddock resist an outsider's likely answer to his question, that the poetry of Braddock is an elegy. Today the people find pride in their past and in their continuing sense of community.Ê Ode to a Steeltown is a lively work, which has relevance to the current debate around free trade concerns, and its impact on blue collar America.
On the Representation of Absent Things
6.5 min. by Donna Golden, Newhall, CA Director's Choice
The filmmaker has created a mixed form piece using the image of JosŽ Padilla, also known as Abdullah al-Muhajir, A.K.A. Muhajir Abdulla (the U.S. citizen convicted of aiding terrorists) as a metaphor for the dislocation of post 9/11 America. The maker reframes the political, philosophical, intellectual, moral and psychological shrinkage of our space, of our experience, posited as just one of the consequences of our silent "forgetfulness" in the face of brutality. Using a rich combination of rotoscoping/stenciling, live-action footage, archival audio, and photo-transfers of historical/iconic imagery, the film explores the woeful impact of erasure.
Phoenix Dance 11 min. by Karina Epperlein by Nicole Johnson, C/O Fanlight, Boston, MA Best of Festival Documentary
An extraordinary film about the one-legged dancer Homer Avila, who discovered in March, 2001, that the pain in his hip was due to cancer. A month later, his right leg and much of his hip were amputated. But the dancer heroically troops on in a journey of artistic transformation.
Rehearsals for Retirement
11 min. Phil Solomon, Broomfield, CO Juror's Choice
A mysterious film about time, life, death, and passage, seen through the private mindscape of the noted filmmaker, assembled entirely from imagery from the video game "Grand Theft Auto."
A Trip to Prague
4.5 min. by Neil Ira Needleman, Katonah, NY Director's Choice
A Trip to Prague is a witty, whimsical and engaging story told with sketchbook images possibly made during a bachelor's vacation trip to Prague. There's a twist at the end, which results in an unexpected outcome.
Uncle Ma'An
4 min. by Sahar Alsawaf, Valencia, CA Juror's Citation
Experimental animated film about family living in the current war situation in Iraq. This film is a glimpse of Uncle Ma'An's daily activities surrounded by the tensions of war. Conceived as a cinematic tale for the people of Iraq, Uncle Ma'An is a rich collage consisting of multi-layered drawings, cutouts, and Arabic text accompanied by youthful voices and Middle Eastern music. An Iraqi father and a European mother have had blonde daughters with green eyes generating conflicting emotions that resonate deeply.

approx. running time 2 hours