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Independent Exposure FotoFest 2004
Curatorial Statement
This exhibition is based on a call for works for short form media that in some way represent the subject of water.
To program an Independent Exposure series based on a thematic call for works posed an exciting challenge to the established curatorial mission and methods of Microcinema International – a mission that has evolved through hundreds of screening programs over the last nine years. Microcinema typically selects films and videos from its ongoing call which have no thematic restrictions – only a time limit of fifteen minutes maximum. So, it was with a great deal of curiosity that we viewed over 100 submissions from around the world to see how the artists would interpret the subject of water.
In 1996, we created the Independent Exposure screening series to provide a venue for artists whose filmmaking approach pushed the boundaries of the medium. These artists experiment with new electronic technologies and use existing analog techniques in novel ways. At the same time, the Internet enabled us to discover and communicate with artists and curators throughout the world. The nexus of our activity was the venue; a small, alternative space such as a cafe, gallery, warehouse, or church. While the “film industry” was busy co-opting the “independent filmmaker,” a new culture of truly independent artists was emerging. Out of necessity and equipped with new technology, these artists tackled the art of filmmaking on a highly personal level. Enthusiastic audiences quickly developed to support these artists and the microcinema movement was born.
To produce this exhibition, we followed our typical curatorial mission: to produce a program that entertains and challenges the viewer with an eclectic mix of international works. We look for quality works that contextualize the vibrant and constantly evolving art forms of film and video and works that present the oftentimes deeply personal expressions of artists working within the Microcinema movement. The thirteen works presented in this special water-themed program represent the breadth and scope of the challenging works being created by today’s moving image artists.
Many of the artists presented in this program bridge the gap between the moving image arts and the visual, photographic arts. They use water as an artistic medium itself. Netherlands-based Ingeberg Verleisdonk, opens the compilation with a simple, short, yet powerful piece symbolizing our interactions with water. England’s Patricia Townsend transforms the everyday occurrence of draining water into a beautiful and thought provoking study. Seattle artist Mark O’Connell concludes the program with his impressionistic vision of snow falling outside the window of his production studio.
Water also is used as a powerful vehicle to convey social, political, and personal messages. Michigan artist Dylan Seuss Brakeman uses the literal imagery of a river to tell the story of a death of a friend. Portland, Oregon-based filmmaker Chel White’s Passage pits the poetic against the pathetic in a visual poem utilizing water “portraits”. Virginia Valdez experiments with the imagery of a sunken ship to portray our endless struggle against the current of life.
As water flows through all of us and everything around us, this program will satisfy your thirst for discovery while exposing you to yet more un-chartered territory.
Patrick Kwiatkowski
March 2004
All films in a printable format
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Invocation
directed by Ingeborg Verleisdonk
Netherlands,
Experimental,
2003,
mini-DV,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:01:00
A human hand creates and enchanting flow of reflections on the bottom of a swimming pool.
... more info
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Dive, The
directed by Kia Simon
USA,
Music,
2003,
DV,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:04:45
An impressionistic music video exploring love, loss, and transcendence into the afterlife. Hand painted frame by frame from live action video, “The Dive” brings to life the haunting sounds of San Francisco br... more info
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This is for Betsy Hall
directed by Hope Hall
USA,
Documentary,
1999,
16mm,
Color,
Optical Monaural,
00:06:30
A construction in picture and sound of my mother, this is a personal film created as a gift for her. I did not grow up with her, and the phone has been our primary contact. She has been mentally ill and eat... more info
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Primarypostrouble Dreamanalyse v1
directed by Didier Oustrie
France,
Experimental,
2003,
DV,
Color,
00:01:39
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Drowning Room, The
directed by Reynold Reynolds
USA,
Experimental,
2000,
16mm,
B&W,
Optical Monaural,
00:10:00
In collaboration with Patrick Jolley
A sequence of domestic vignettes from the sunken suburbs filmed in a submerged house. The inhabitants try to carry on as normal but beyond the borders of asphyxi... more info
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Full Circle
directed by Patricia Townsend
United Kingdom,
Experimental,
2003,
mini DV,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:03:00
Using a fixed camera position, water was recorded spiraling down a plughole. Alterations in speed and direction are used to create a continuous loop in which water rhythmically rises and falls, enters and eme... more info
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River Took Him, The
directed by Dylan Seuss-Brakeman
USA,
Experimental,
2003,
Hi-8,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:01:30
A woman discerns the continuity of life when she follows her dead friend's instructions on how to scatter his ashes into a river.
... more info
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Passage
directed by Chel White
USA,
Experimental,
2001,
35 mm,
Color,
Dolby Digital,
00:11:00
Passage deals with the poetic and the terrible, with innocence and corruption. Haunting underwater portraits of people are juxtaposed with archival films of war and atrocities to create a film that is part c... more info
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Primarypostrouble Dreamanalyse v8
directed by Didier Oustrie
France,
Experimental,
2003,
Color,
00:01:30
Lave linge. The laundry.... more info
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Thirst for Revenge
directed by Mehmet Ozcelik
Denmark,
Narrative,
2002,
Digital Video,
Color,
Dolby SR,
00:08:45
A short film about being hurt and wanting revenge. But does revenge pay off in the end...?
DCIFF GRAND JURY AWARD - DC Independent Film Festival, Washington, 2003
... more info
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Submerged
directed by Virginia Valdes
USA,
Experimental,
2002,
DV,
Color,
00:02:53
An empty ship forges ahead towards a blurry horizon. Apparitions from the past lead the way to a lost city. Post apocalyptic dream. We are fighting the currrent, drowning in history. Submerged.... more info
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Harboring Wells
directed by Norma V Toraya
USA,
Animation,
2004,
DV,
Color,
other,
00:06:00
There is a sudden crash of a flying vehicle and two individuals end up landing in a lagoon of a green heavily natural landscape. It is quiet and the pair are alone, floating around in this small lagoon - unab... more info
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Snow Seen from Warm Window
directed by Mark O'Connell
USA,
Experimental,
2000,
Digital,
Color,
Magnetic Stereo,
00:02:00
Last winter's snow seen from Mark's window.... more info
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