Author: Mechanical Eye Microcinema

Fierce Flix is back for a 2023 summer film camp! Join us as we change the future of gender equality on and behind the camera!

Camp Dates: June 19-23, 2023 // 9am-4pm

Camp Location: Omega Middle School (Rainbow Community School) in West Asheville

Camp Location: Omega Middle School (Rainbow Community School) in West Asheville

Join us for a week of music video making! Camper registration is now open – sliding scale tuition, lunch & snacks provided! No prior experience necessary.

Over the course of a week, campers work together to write, direct, film, and edit music videos for local bands, while also taking workshops on film HERstory/THEIRstory, social justice, self care and mindfulness, zine making, and more!

Check out our new website: www.fierceflix.org for more details!

Grassroots Artist Project: VISITING ARTIST SERIES: Arpita Kumar

Hi Friends!

Our third and final GAP supported visiting artist, Arpita Kumar, will be here the last weekend in January to show her films, talk about her work, and teach a workshop on her practice! We couldn’t be more excited!

Arpita Kumar grew up in India and works as a filmmaker and professor in California. She has worked internationally on films in Cuba, the U.K., Peru, Bolivia, India, and the U.S. Her award – winning films have screened internationally at numerous film festivals and venues including the Mill Valley Film Festival, PBS online film festival, Atlanta International Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, amongst others. Arpita is one of the three winning writers to work on the New Normal anthology series with Project Greenlight Digital Studios, Color Creative TV, Issa Rae, and Adaptive Studios. She was also selected for Film Independent’s Project:Involve fellowship. As a part of the fellowship, Arpita wrote and directed a short narrative film, My Dear Americans. The film won the PBS People’s Choice Award. Arpita was also selected for the Reykjavik Transatlantic Talent Lab during the Reykjavik Film Festival and was nominated for the Gold Egg Award at the festival. She has a MFA in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts, an MA in Comparative Literature from The University of Iowa and a BA in Film/Literature from Hampshire College. Arpita’s achievements and films have been covered by innumerable prestigious media outlets including NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, Black Public Media, Indiewire,BuzzFeed, USA today,India Today, the Indian Express, the Hindu, and DNA India. Arpita worked under Kirby Dick on the Oscar nominated and Sundance Audience Award winning documentary, The Invisible War, which exposed the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military.

“I am drawn to the complex relationships that construct the identity of Americans. The works attempt to delight through constructed narratives, but at the core, is the exposition of loneliness and isolation.” – Arpita Kumar

Women Between Worlds: The Films of Arpita Kumar

Saturday, March 4th, 7pm
North Asheville Public Library
1030 Merrimon Ave

The Spaces Between Us
Thursday, February 16th / 7pm
Grail Moviehouse
45 S French Broad, Asheville

 

Hi friends!

Come over to Grail Moviehouse this week for a program of experimental films by southern filmmakers about space!

The Spaces Between Us

Including:
Relieving the American Dream – Charlotte Taylor & Robert Edmondson
Frontier Journals 01 – Georg Koszulinski
Ceibas: Beneath the Pressure of the Sky – Evan Meaney
Lowcountry – Simon Tarr
Burn Out the Day – Sasha Waters Freyer
Sunshine State – Chris Harris
Beneath a Glass Floor Lobby – Lisa Danker
Underbelly Up – Josh Yates

See you there?

Tickets $5, but no one turned away due to lack of funds!

DUE TO A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, ARPITA’S VISIT, SCREENING, AND WORKSHOP ARE POSTPONED. WE EXPECT TO RESCHEDULE FOR A WEEKEND IN MID FEBRUARY AND WILL HAVE DETAILS FOR YOU AS SOON AS THE NEW DATES ARE SET. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR UNDERSTANDING!

Grassroots Artist Project: VISITING ARTIST SERIES: Arpita Kumar

Hi Friends!

Our third and final GAP supported visiting artist, Arpita Kumar, will be here the last weekend in January to show her films, talk about her work, and teach a workshop on her practice! We couldn’t be more excited!

Arpita Kumar grew up in India and works as a filmmaker and professor in California. She has worked internationally on films in Cuba, the U.K., Peru, Bolivia, India, and the U.S. Her award – winning films have screened internationally at numerous film festivals and venues including the Mill Valley Film Festival, PBS online film festival, Atlanta International Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, amongst others. Arpita is one of the three winning writers to work on the New Normal anthology series with Project Greenlight Digital Studios, Color Creative TV, Issa Rae, and Adaptive Studios. She was also selected for Film Independent’s Project:Involve fellowship. As a part of the fellowship, Arpita wrote and directed a short narrative film, My Dear Americans. The film won the PBS People’s Choice Award. Arpita was also selected for the Reykjavik Transatlantic Talent Lab during the Reykjavik Film Festival and was nominated for the Gold Egg Award at the festival. She has a MFA in Film/Video from California Institute of the Arts, an MA in Comparative Literature from The University of Iowa and a BA in Film/Literature from Hampshire College. Arpita’s achievements and films have been covered by innumerable prestigious media outlets including NPR, Huffington Post, PBS, Black Public Media, Indiewire,BuzzFeed, USA today,India Today, the Indian Express, the Hindu, and DNA India. Arpita worked under Kirby Dick on the Oscar nominated and Sundance Audience Award winning documentary, The Invisible War, which exposed the epidemic of rape in the U.S. military.

“I am drawn to the complex relationships that construct the identity of Americans. The works attempt to delight through constructed narratives, but at the core, is the exposition of loneliness and isolation.” – Arpita Kumar

Women Between Worlds: The Films of Arpita Kumar

Saturday, January 28th / 7pm Postponed!
North Asheville Public Library
1030 Merrimon Ave

Wreck & Salvage: POTUSes
Thursday, January 18th / 7pm
Grail Moviehouse
45 S French Broad, Asheville

BIG NEWS FILM FRIENDS!

We’ve got such incredible news for you, movie lovers! Mechanical Eye was awarded the Grassroots Arts Program Subgrant by the Asheville Area Arts Council and North Carolina Arts Council to bring THREE visiting filmmakers to Asheville to show their work, talk about their practice, and share with you their skills! We are thrilled to announce that Wenhua Shi, Monte Patterson, and Arpita Kumar will be here in November/December to present programs of their work!

Water Walk

10 Years of Video Work by Wenhua Shi
7pm, Friday, November 11, 2016
The Refinery Creator Space
207 Coxe Avenue, Asheville
$5 Suggested Donation

Projection Mapping Workshop

Want to learn projection mapping (for your installation) but don’t know where to start? We will teach you! The workshop will show participants the essential design fundamentals of video projecting and mapping. Projection mapping is a technique of projecting animation/video onto a three dimensional surface. Participants will learn the basics of video mapping software.

This workshop is intended for anyone who wants to learn how to develop projection mapping projects for future events, art installations, and performances.

11am-3pm, Saturday, November 12, 2016
Mechanical Eye Microcinema
207 Coxe Avenue, Asheville
Cost: $60 (sponsorships available – email us if cost is a barrier to your participation)
Registration: https://goo.gl/forms/Y2k3NYBBZrZKGlTK2

Wenhua Shi is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at UMass Boston. Originally trained as a doctor in China, Wenhua departed from the medical field and began working in radio and TV in his hometown of Wuhan. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Art in Film from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 2009 he graduated with an MFA from Art Practice at the University of California at Berkeley.

His works have been screened or exhibited at Pacific Film Archive, Black Maria Film Festival, Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art, and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, The National Museum of Film, Photography and Television (UK), Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, Denver Contemporary Museum of Art, Beijing Film Academy, Berlin International Directors Lounge, The Jack Kerouac School of Naropa University, and dozens of international film festivals, including Rotterdam, Hamburg, Bradford, and Mexico City. West Bund 2013: a Biennale of Architecture and Contemporary art, Shanghai, Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism, International Arte Laguna Prize, Finalists Exhibition, The Arsenale of Venice in Italy.

Wenhua Shi is a 2015 Fellow in Interdisciplinary Work from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

http://shiwenhua.net/

The Films of Monté Patterson

 

Arpita Kumar

Speculation Nation
Thursday, October 20th / 7pm
Grail Moviehouse
45 S French Broad, Asheville

Home Movie Day
Saturday, October 15th
12-2pm
Grail Moviehouse
45 S French Broad, Asheville, NC 28801
Free and Open to the Public!

“There’s no such thing as a bad home movie. These mini-underground opuses are revealing, scary, joyous, always flawed, filled with accidental art and shout outs from attics and closets all over the world to be seen again.”  – John Waters

Dust off your old home movies and bring them to the West Asheville Public Library for HOME MOVIE DAY!

“Home movies provide invaluable records of our families and our communities: they document vanished storefronts, questionable fashions, adorable pets, long-departed loved ones, and neighborhoods in transition. Many people still possess these old reels or tapes, passed down from generation to generation, but lack the projection equipment to view them properly and safely,” stated Skip Elsheimer, president of the Center for Home Movies.  “That’s where Home Movie Day comes in: the public brings the films, and volunteers inspect them, project them, and offer tips on storage, preservation, and video transfer—and free of charge, in most cities. And best of all, you get to watch them with an enthusiastic audience, equally hungry for local history.”

Home Movie Day is a celebration of amateur films and filmmaking held annually at dozens of local venues worldwide, providing the opportunity for individuals and families to discover how best to care for their films and get a rare chance to view examples of home movies. Traditionally held on the third Saturday in October (October 17th in 2015), dates for individual events will take place in October and November. Home Movie Day has grown each year from its initial slate of two dozen locations across the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Japan in 2003.

HOME MOVIE DAY FAQ

What film formats can I bring to Home Movie Day?

Volunteers will inspect and project 16mm, 8mm, and Super 8 film. We will also project DVDs, VHS, & VHS-C. If you have any other oddball formats (28mm, 9.5mm, etc.), HMD representatives can help you find a safe, cost-effective way to view these prints.

Do I need to bring a home movie?

Nope. You’re welcome to stop by and just watch other people’s home movies. This isn’t a film screening where you need to stay silent. The more the audience contributes, the more fun it is. Your commentary will be much appreciated!

I have a whole box of ’em! Can we watch ’em all?

Nobody likes a home movie hog. Bring as many films as you’d like, but we’ll be screening one reel (3-5mins) from each participant until everyone has had a chance to see their home movies. After that, second helpings are totally fine–especially in Kodachrome.

My home movies are very personal. Why would I want to watch them with a bunch of voyeurs?

Home movies often commemorate scenes of enormous personal importance: weddings, graduations, birthdays, family reunions. Though home movies often begin as family records with deeply private meaning, the passage of years makes them compelling to people far beyond your immediate family. They serve as authentic records of our neighborhoods, traditions, and communities. You’ll enjoy sharing them–really.

Will you take my home movies and never give them back? They’re incredibly precious to me!

Nope. We’ll just inspect and project your home movies and return them to you in comparable condition. If there are broken perforations or cracked frames, we’ll fix those and return the films in better condition! Keep in mind that decades-old films are fragile and there’s an inherent (though slight) risk of damage during any projection. If we do not feel that the film can be safely projected, we will not screen it.

This sounds amazing! How much will this expert consultation set me back?

Home Movie Day is free, but donations are always welcome to defray costs.

For more information about Home Movie Days around the world: [http://www.centerforhomemovies.org/hmd/]

The Artist Is Present
Friday, October 7th / 5:30pm
Asheville Art Museum
2 S Pack Square, Asheville

and Mechanical Eye Microcinema Birthday Bash!
Thursday, September 29th / 5-8pm
The Refinery
207 Coxe Ave, Asheville