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The Heroines of Handcrafted Cinema
July 6, 2013 at 8pm
The BeBe Theater
20 Commerce Street, Asheville, NC
$5 Suggested Donation (No one turned away)

Mechanical Eye will present “The Heroines of Handcrafted Cinema” at the BeBe Theater, as part of this year’s Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts (ILSSA) conference taking place July 5-7th. For this program, we’re teaming up with filmmaker Kelly Gallagher, the curating genius of Philadelphia, to present films by women who labor for their art impractically.

Film line-up:
Altitude Zero – Lauren Cook
Removed – Naomi Uman
Peeks – Jo Dery
The Body Besieged – Kelly Sears
Yard Work is Hard Work – Jodie Mack
Nothing’s Wrong – Charlotte Taylor
Ceallaigh at Kilmainham – Kelly Gallagher
L’eye – Xander Marro
Quick and Easy – Lauren Gregory
Night Hunter – Stacey Steers
Arbor – Janie Geiser
Myth Labs – Martha colburn
Like a Lantern – Lille Carré

The heroines of “handcrafted” cinema animate moving images that are literally and tangibly created by their own hands — images that are crafted, painted, torn up, spit up, chewed out, glittered up, collaged, drawn, painted, puppeteered, sewn, hand-processed, bleached, scratched, made with love, made with hate, and made with everything in between.

This cinematic exploration is political on two explicit levels: the politics of “handcrafting” a film and the political topics that each piece explores. These exuberant heroines create cinema that is richly political, often times militant, sometimes comedic, other times serious, yet *always* colorful and as strong and varied as their different tools and weapons of *craft!!!*

No Cameras, Lots of Projectors

Filmmakers Roger Beebe, Robert Edmondson, and Nick Mendez in person!

Friday, June 7th: 6pm-7pm
at the Asheville Art Museum
$5 Art Museum Members/ $6 Non-members plus admission to museum
Filmmaker Roger Beebe will present his multi-projector performance “Films for 1 to 8 Projectors.” Beebe will be running as many as 8 projectors simultaneously, projecting short films made and projected in a variety of formats (video, 16mm, and Super-8). The films combine found footage and Beebe’s own striking handmade images. This work can only be screened with the filmmaker actually running the projectors, and running from projector to projector.  Florida filmmakers Robert Edmondson and Nick Mendez will also be projecting cameraless films, both projecting originals — which means no other copy of this work exists!

Cameraless Film Screenings

Saturday, June 8th: 12pm-1pm and 2pm-3pm
Sunday, June 9th: 1pm-2pm and 3pm-4pm
$5 Art Museum Members/ $6 Non-members plus admission to museum
Cameraless films and videos by Jodie Mack, Ben Popp, Scott Fitzpatrick, Kelly Gallagher, Joshua Solondz, Devon Damonte, Gregg Biermann, Matt Gossett, Lauren Cook, and others! With a special showing of Madame Winger Makes a Film!

We are proud to co-sponsor the 20th Annual Twin Rivers Media Festival. The festival will feature  50 selections that include world premier feature films, shorts drama, documentary and animated films

20th Annual Twin Rivers Media Festival
May 17-24, 2013
The Phil Mechanic Building
109 Roberts Street, Asheville
FREE

Local films are well represented this year with a short called “Over Home” featuring WNC musicians and Asheville filmmaker LisAnna will be presenting her short film “Orphan.”

Short drama and feature films vary from some set on the streets of India, Moscow, Mexico City or Tokyo, to one smuggled out of Iran. The US entries provide dramatic looks at injustice against the Japanese Americans during World War II, and range from comic to tragic looks at society’s misfits and dysfunctional families. The award winning short film this year is Mousse, a comic look at robbery and justice.

Documentary films range from films examining a massacre in Afghanistan to dancing in the Appalachian Mountains. The Animation and Experimental film categories are also well represented.

For the full schedule: http://www.twinriversmediafestival.com/

Upcoming Events:

May 17-19
Twin Rivers Media Festival

June 8 & 9
Handmade animation screening and workshop at the Asheville Art Museum

July 5-7
Hand-processed film screening at Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts (ILSSA) Conference

Labor Day Weekend
Wobblies Historical Films

 Wednesday, April 24, 2013 at 8pm

Courtyard Gallery
Phil Mechanic Building
109 Roberts Street, Asheville

$5 (No one turned away for lack of funds)

What’s not to love about Portland, Oregon – mountains, trees, tons of musicians, filmmakers and other creatives, and donuts. Portland is also a hotbed of experimental film. We’re proud to share some selections of great Portland filmmakers with you. The line-up is still percolating, but we know you’ll love these cool films blowing in from the Northwest. Line-up will include films by Matt McCormick, Ben Popp, and more.

Best of Rural Route Films
with Festival Director Alan Webber

Saturday, March 9th at 8pm
Phil Mechanic Studios
Courtyard Gallery
109 Roberts Street, Asheville
$5 (No one turned away for lack of funds)

The Rural Route Film Festival was created to highlight works that deal with rural people and places.

The creators of Rural Route Film Festival leave it up to the film and video artists to express their unique definitions of “rural”  – whether it be a documentary about an organic turnip farm in West Virginia or a fictional backpacking drama set in Peru.

Based in New York, this film festival takes place in the summer and tours the country during the rest of the year. We’re excited to host this “best of” program for Asheville audiences!

SALT (*)
Dir. Robert Gardner. 2.5 minutes. 1968/2011. Dallol, Ethiopia
One of legendary ethnographic filmmaker Robert Gardner’s filmic interests in Ethiopia was to see and film the salt trade between the Highlands and the Dallol Depression, a wondrous environment of unbearable heat and intense color. He managed a start only and these are the bits that emerged.

Painting John
Dir. Audrey Hall. 10 minutes. 2011. Documentary. Livingston, Montana
Hugh Wilson left his career on Wall Street in exchange for the pursuit of his passion – conveying the human condition through art. He paints entirely from life, inspired by the intimate and authentic relationship between artist and subject. The son of Norwegian immigrants, John Holland has lived alone in a rustic Montana cabin his entire adult life devoted to his cattle and family ranch. writer/director, Peter Templeman.

Crosshairs
Dir. Mike Hoath, 12 min. 2011. Narrative. Gidgegannup, Western Australia.
Two brothers from rural Western Australian are caught poaching a lamb on a neighboring property. When Beau refuses to go quietly his younger sibling becomes a pawn in a violent showdown. Script by award-winning writer/director Peter Templeman.

Compound Eyes #1
Dir. Paul Clipson. 6 min. 2011. Experimental. Golden Gate Botanical Gardens, CA.
A macro-menagerie of natural lifeforms are introduced in a forest’s tapestry of earth, water and air: Spiders, slugs, flies, bees, and ants navigate their lives in darkness and light. Filmed in Super-8 with sound collage/music by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma.

The Water’s Edge
Dir. Chris Thomas. 14 min. Narrative. 2011. Snowdonia, North Wales.
In the aftermath of an alien occupation of Britain, a lone man devotes his life solely to a myth that sal- vation can be found in the water. However, he must avoid the threats that surround him.

George Thompson: Street Cleaner
Prod. Mountain Community Television/Appalshop. 2.5 min. Archival. 1977. Norton, VA
In addition to being “the best street sweeper they ever had in the city of Norton,” Thompson was an accomplished, self-taught guitarist. MCTV was a cable access television project that aired locally in the coal mining region of southwestern Virginia from 1972-78. Programs featured homegrown craftspeople, musicians, events, and profiles of local citizens.

Sacha the Bear
Dir. Henri Desaunay. 12 min. 2012. Narrative. Saint-Michel-Des-Andaines, Normadie, France.
A bear finds refuge from a hunter by a pretty girl who lives in the woods. This fun and well- crafted film utilizes archetypal fairytale char- acters, but their well-ordered world lapses into confusion, as the naïve girl starts acting like a seductive woman, the lord starts acting like a beast, and the beast seems surprisingly human.

A Short Film About Ice Fishing
Dir. Jason Shahinfar. 8 min. Narrative. 2011. Barnard, SD.
Two friends devote a winter afternoon in South Dakota to ice fishing, cold beers, friendly chat- ter, man’s best friend, guns, dynamite…all on a frozen lake.

Un Buen Hijo
Dir. Juan Gil Garcia. 20 min. Narrative. 2011. La Mision, Baja, Mexico.
A young man from rural Mexico with secret aspirations of being a drag performer is forced to choose between helping his hard-working farm parents and running for his dreams.

The Hunter
Dir. Marieka Walsh. 6 min. Sand Animation. 2012. Australia.
A boy goes missing in the snow-covered wilderness, feared taken by wolves. A hunter undertakes a journey to find the him, but as he tracks the boy into the mountains, he discovers that his instincts can no longer be trusted. The hunTer is an elegant & surprising stop-motion sand animation that tells a new timeless tale.

It Could Be Good, It Could Be Bad
Dir. Robert Gardner. 6 min. 1997/2011. Chilean Andes.
A breathtaking flight over the Chilean Patagonian Andes in a small craft piloted by filmmaker Robert Fulton.

Line-up of films:

Thursday, February 14th at 8pm
The BeBe Theater
20 Commerce Street, Asheville, NC
$5 (No one turned away for lack of funds)

Shorts Program: Love and Heartbreak

Join us for a shorts program of sweet/sad films about love/heartbreak. These films are a mix of handmade, animated, collage, cut-paper animation, live action, and even a glitched video game. Films will be shown on video and 16mm. Come prepared for beauty, humor, cuteness, romance, strange, and a little bit of sad, and if you’re good, you might even get some chocolate with your films.

Film line-up (not in order):

Jodie Mack – The Saddest Song in the World

Evan Meaney – Ceibes: Epilogue: The Well of Representation

Jamie Olson – Broccoli and Carrots

Chris Renaud – Two by One

Ben Popp – Laszlo Lassu

Drake Arnold – Aphrodite

Penny Lane – The Voyagers

Helen Hill – Tunnel of Love

Joe Lachajczyk – I Love (St.) Louis

Natalie Abshez – 3 Kisses

Casey Swoyer – Court

Alex Ingersoll – condiment