Microcinema at Images
Friday, January 9th
5:30 pm
Independent Exposure Compilation, All Animation 2003
Admission:
Appropriate for ages 17 and up (for sexual content)
Independent Exposure Compilation, All Animation 2003 is an hour-long program that offers cutting-edge animation work you're unlikely to see anywhere else, by artists from all over the world. It is comprised of thirteen animated works that range from two to eight minutes in length, about subjects that include the O.J. Simpson trial, how to dance ska, growing up with a schizophrenic parent, and love and sex. Animation methods range from claymation to stop action, to painting directly on film.
Microcinema, a term first coined in 1991, alternately refers to the genre of low-budget filmmaking mostly done using video, and the exhibition space used for presenting such low-budget and underground film. Wired.com refers to microcinema as "a flexible term that can cover anything - animated shorts, bizarrely impressionistic video manipulations, hard-hitting documentaries, and garage-born feature-length movies. A classic microcinema offering is a film that probably would not exist if new technology hadn't allowed its creators to cut costs or inspired them to try something different." Join us at Images Cinema to try something different.
Images Cinema
50 Spring Street
PO Box 283
Williamstown, Massachussetts
01267
USA
Images Cinema, a non-profit community movie theater, presents a wide range of independent, foreign and classic films which impact filmmaking and our culture. Images Cinema is dedicated to the exploration of film as an art form, a source of entertainment and an educational tool.
History
On November 30, 1916, the Walden Theatre first opened its doors. The theater’s grand entrance on Spring Street welcomed patrons into the impressive 400-seat house. This momentous event brought Williamstown to the cultural forefront of the Berkshires. In the early 20s, an eager audience was treated to silent film performances by Billie Burke, Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops. The late 20s brought talkies to the screen. From the romantic detectives of the 40s to Westerns of the 50s to the pop culture movies of the 70s, Images Cinema has featured the latest and greatest of the film world. Unlike the Mohawk, the Opera House and the Colonial Theatre, for more than 80 extraordinary years, Images Cinema has survived the challenges of an ever-changing culture.
As an independent cinema, Images Cinema struggles to carve out a space in an industry overwhelmed by multiplexes. Acquiring films from distributors is difficult for a small, hometown theater without the clout of a large corporation. Images not only competes with other cinemas, it rivals television, video and the internet for attention. Independent film — a film not financed by a major Hollywood studio — is free to be an _expression of ideas and creative photography. The films Images Cinema features are movies that have, and will continue to have, an effect on filmmaking for years to come, allowing movie-goers a chance to experience the very best in the art of film.
One of the few remaining single-screen, independent theaters still in operation, Images Cinema is an historic part of the Northern Berkshires offering an exceptional variety of independent, foreign and classic films year-round. Images Cinema was an early pioneer in creating Berkshire County’s reputation for world-class culture and not many small communities can boast the sophistication to support this legendary cinema. It's been called "A metropolitan-quality art house" and "A permanent film festival" by The Berkshire Eagle and remains a vital institution in this region.
