Festival showcases top short films and videos
Feb. 11, 2003
KALAMAZOO -- The Western Film Society at Western Michigan University presents the first annual Kalamazoo Shorts Film & Video Festival, Friday through Sunday, Feb. 14-16.
The first event of its kind in Kalamazoo, the festival will be held in the University's Little Theatre on the corner of Oliver Drive and Oakland Street. Showcasing the best in short narrative, short documentary and short experimental films, Kalamazoo Shorts Film & Video Festival is dedicated to the memory of John Murphy, a professor of film at WMU and a long-time supporter of the art of the cinema.
Entries for the festival were received from all over the country. The final 28 films chosen for competition come from as far away as California, New York, Florida and South Carolina. Many outstanding entries also were received from Kalamazoo and from throughout Michigan.
General admission is $5 per program, or $25 for a festival pass to all programs. Admission to individual programs is $3 for students, or $15 for an all-weekend festival pass. Tickets must be purchased in person--no telephone reservations--at the Little Theatre Box Office, which opens two hours prior to each program.
Friday, Feb. 14
7 p.m. -- The festival opens Friday with the Short Documentary program, showcasing five documentaries, including "Abductees," a documentary spoof about alien sightings in Kalamazoo with a soundtrack by local band Blue Dahlia. Other titles in the program are "Armor of God," "Edmund's Island," "June 7, 1948 - August 4, 1998" and "Nathan's Story."
9:30 p.m. -- The second program on Friday is a screening of the Feature Documentary "Questions of Protest," preceded by the animated short "French Fry Love."
Saturday, Feb. 15
2 p.m. -- On Saturday, the festival continues with Short Narrative program featuring seven shorts that are alternately hilarious and chilling. Titles include "Developments," Interns," I'm With Stupid," Johnny White's Instructional Basketball Video," "Lunch Date" and others.
4 p.m. -- The Short Experimental program begins with 10 imaginative and inventive shorts. Titles include "Synagogues on Fire," "Composition in Red and Yellow," Construction for Disaster," "Mental Dreams," "States of Matter," Wrong Imaginations" and more.
6 p.m. -- The evening program features the area debut of "The Freezer Jesus," based on a short story by John Dusfresne, who will be a visiting writer at WMU next year, and the animated short "Fun Days with Jake."
8 p.m. -- The final competitive screening introduces the animated short "The Hills are Alive" and "Swarm & Destroy," a documentary chronicling the history of the Moped Army.
Sunday, Feb. 16
5 p.m. -- The Kalamazoo Shorts Film & Video Festival concludes on Sunday with the Festival Awards program. Awards will be given for Short Documentary, Short Narrative, Short Experimental, Spirit Award, Audience Award and the Best of Show. Each of the award-winning films or videos will be screened during the ceremony.
Kalamazoo Shorts Film & Video Festival is sponsored in part by WMU's Campus Activities Board, Chiro & Serafino Properties LLC, Kalamazoo Film Society, Pirate Filmmaking, Prudential West Michigan Realtors and The Space.
For more information and film times, call the movie line at (269) 387-8221. For information about Western Film Society, visit their Web site at <www.wmich.edu/films>. For festival-related questions, call Miller Auditorium (269) 387-2311.
Media contact: Bethany Gibson, 269 387-2245, bethany.gibson@wmich.edu