movie world

The Ann Arbor Film Festival became a reality in 1963 and continues to run experimental and independent films through to this day and age which makes it the longest running festival of its variety. The selection is often widely varied and demonstrates the diversity of the film-makers who bring their work to the festival to share with others. This DVD release represents a selection of some of the short films and combines both live-action and animated pieces together into one unique showcase.

This collection of short films from the 48th Ann Arbor Film Festival represents a sampling of works that are all largely experimental and abstract.
Award-winning and select short films from Spain, England, Germany, Norway and the U.S.

DVD5 | NTSC | 106 min | 3.97 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none
Genre: Experimental

FILMS INCLUDED:

Black Rain - Semiconductor | Brighton, England | 3 minutes
Working with STEREO satellite scientists, Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt) collected all the HI (Heliospheric Imager) image data to date, revealing the journey of the satellites from their initial orientation, to their current tracing of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Solar wind, CME's, passing planets and comets orbiting the sun can be seen as background stars and the milky way pass by

Attack of the Robots from Nebula-5 - Chema Garcia Ibarra | Elche, SPAIN | 7 minutes
[Prix DeVarti for Funniest Film 48th AAFF]
"Almost everybody is going to die very soon." - CGI

From the Archives of an Inventor - Stephen Wetzel | Milwaukee, WI | 20 minutes
[Jury Award 48th AAFF]
Invention and America seem inseparable. The country has a restless image of itself as a work in progress; and the character at its core is the inventor — equal parts entrepreneur and crackpot, path-setter and outsider. Wetzel's piece is a found-footage exploration of one such character, a Midwestern inventor whose house has been transformed into a playful model of the future with mechanized armchairs and a domestic robot.

Please Say Something - David OReilly | Berlin, Germany | 10 minutes
[Best Animated Film Award 48th AAFF]
A troubled relationship between a Cat and Mouse set in the distant Future. 23 episodes of exactly 25 seconds each.

Travelling Fields - Inger Lise Hansen | Oslo, Norway | 9 minutes
[Most Technically Innovative Film 48th AAFF]
Moving between different topographies and locations in the Kola Peninsula, Northern Russia, this film explores sections of the landscape by moving the camera upside/down, one frame at the time, along a track. The work focuses on a particular phenomenon occurring through a change of perspective and animated camera movements, as a way of redefining a place and its geography.

The Presentation Theme - Jim Trainor | Chicago, IL | 14 minutes
[The Stan Brakhage Film at Wit's End Award]
A Peruvian prisoner of war finds himself outmaneuvered by a hematophagous priestess. Based on a true story. - J.T.

Vineland - Laura Kraning | Altadena, CA | 10 minutes
[Jury Award 48th AAFF]
At the last drive-in movie theater in Los Angeles, dislocated Hollywood images filled with apocalyptic angst float within the desolate nocturnal landscape of the City of Industry. In this border zone, re-framed and mirrored projections collide with the displaced radio broadcast soundtrack, revealing overlapping realities at the intersection of nostalgia and alienation.

Sleeping Bear - Jack Cronin | Ann Arbor, MI | 11 minutes
[Best Michigan Filmmaker Award 48th AAFF]
Filmed at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern Michigan over the course of three years, this work, which loosely follows the cycle of seasons, is a study of the landscape and an attempt to represent the unique character of this region.

Beauty Plus Pity - Duke & Battersby | Syracuse, NY | 14 minutes
[Best of Festival Award 48th AAFF]
Presented in seven parts, Beauty Plus Pity considers the potential for goodness amidst the troubled relations between God, humanity, animals, parents and children...(it) contemplates the shame and beauty of existence; it is part apologia, part call to arms.