ShortsFest

Details:

Short films take center stage this spring. Over three evenings in May, Block Cinema celebrates the short films, beginning with Lunchfilm: Film Before Food, part of an ongoing series of micro-budget films commissioned by Sundance programmer Mike Plante. We’ll also spotlight several brand new films that made a splash on the festival circuit in the program Pioneers: New Festival Shorts. Finally, Block Cinema and the Film and Projection Society present the annual NU Student Film Festival, which features short films produced and directed by talented Northwestern undergraduates.

 

Lunchfilm: Film Before Food

Thursday, May 5, 2011 7:00 PM
(Approximate running time is 85 minutes. )

Co-presented with the Department of Radio/Television/Film, Northwestern University Sundance short film programmer Mike Plante got the idea for his Lunchfilm project several years ago after treating a filmmaker friend to a meal. Instead of paying him back, Plante challenged the friend to make a film for the cost of lunch. Since then, Plante has commissioned 50 short films, each featuring its own micro-budget and whimsical production constraints. As Plante explains, “Truly independent films are made from the gut,” making lunch an obvious source of inspiration. This program includes 13 films made for a total cost of $449.03.

Lineup of Films: 

• Whiskeypriest (Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin, 2009, 16 min.) $27.73 
• Clear Glasses (Sam Green, 2008, 4 min.) $20.28
• Springtime Wound Motor (Mike Gibisser, 2009, 6 min.) $22.07
• Letters Real/Names Not (Aza Jacobs, 2009, 10 min.) 110 zloty
• A Protected Witness: Clarkson v. Maxson (Eileen Maxson, 2006, 2 min.) $17.00
• Home Movie (Braden King, 2009, 14 min.) $35.00
• Pardon My Downfall (The Zellner Brothers, 2000/2006, 5 min.) $26.14
• All Day All Night (Sarah Soquel Morhaim, 2008, 4 min.) $48.96 
• Friends (James Graham, 2009, 3 min.) $67.50 
• Weird Carolers (Brent Green, 2009, 4 min.) $43.05
• Tin Woodman’s Home Movie #2 (Naomi Uman and Lee Lynch, 2008, 5 min.) $41.32 
• Goldthwait Family Home Movies (Anniversary Ed.) (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2008, 7 min.) $26.79 
• Offshore Bank (Tom Barndt, 2008, 4 min.) $43.19 

In person: Sundance short film programmer Mike Plante

 

Pioneers: New Festival Shorts

Friday, May 20, 2011 7:00 PM
(Approximate running time is 90 minutes.)

This program includes some of the best shorts featured at recent film festivals, from South by Southwest to Sundance. Short but intense, these films compensate for brevity with tales of heightened experience, both fantastic and real. Jonathan Caouette’s All Flowers in Time is a striking examination of childhood fears. In the mesmerizing Pioneer, Will Oldham turns a bedtime story into a gripping narrative about the bond between fathers and sons. In The Wind is Blowing on My Street a young Iranian woman finds herself locked out of her apartment without her headscarf. We’re Leaving explores the recession’s impact on an unusual family: husband, wife, and pet alligator. And the Oscar-winning God of Love, directed by NU grad Luke Matheny, shows us that even Brooklyn hipsters still believe in true love. 

 

The Film and Projection Society presents: The NU Student Film Festival

Friday, May 27, 2011 7:00 PM FREE
(Approximate running time is 90 minutes.)

Join us at Block Cinema for the annual celebration of recent films by Northwestern students from all disciplines. The NU Student Film Festival is a competitive showcase that brings together the best of Northwestern student achievements in filmmaking from the past year. Tonight’s program will feature the competition award winners. 

Lineup of films:

• These Photographs (Crystal Kim, 2011)
• CATSLEEVES (Harrison Atkins, 2010)
• ExamiNation (Judy Suh, 2011) 
• You Might Have a Moustache (Dana Pavisich, 2011)
• Glass Half Full (Jon Fraaza, 2011)
• Fishf*@ker (Brandon Daley, Daniel Johnson, 2011)
• La Mortadella (Sky Dylan-Robbins, 2010)
• Lentes de Plata: Los Niños del Cerro Rico (Rebecca Montag, 2011)
• Boy (Andrew Van Beek, 2011)

Contact The Block Museum of Art for more information: (847) 491-4000 or email us at block-museum@northwestern.edu