Event Recap: Subversive to Sublime - 25 Years of Dallas VideoFest
© The Flash List | September 15, 2012
The Video Association of Dallas celebrates the 25th anniversary of VideoFest!
Film makers and film viewers gathered on Friday night to begin celebrating the 25th anniversary of the upcoming VideoFest at an opening party dubbed “Subversive to Sublime” hosted by the festival’s artistic director Bart Weiss and held at the studios of AMS Pictures, a Texas-based creative media company founded by Andy Streitfeld.
Attending guests enjoyed drinks, appetizers from Blue Mesa, a mini-festival of video screenings in three of the studio’s theaters, a DVF poster and photography exhibition, a silent auction featuring unusual items, as well as a “Program” of works emceed by comedian and "improvisateur" Mark Fickert. The evening featured a panel of speakers who shared clips from their favorite DVF programs including media critic Ed Bark (whose choice was Kovacs, a montage of scenes showcasing American comedian Ernie Kovacs), video artist Carolyn Sortor (who elaborated on the intricacies of Patti Smith's remake of the popular anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit), arts journalist Manny Mendoza (offering thoughts on the first film of the Dekalog series), former DVF program coordinator Katie Gimenez (with the satirical Mondo Ford which proposes some pretty far-fetched JFK conspiracy theories), and filmmaker Mark Birnbaum (whose humorous introduction to the provocative documentary Dick Talk was rife with euphemism since the film was all about … well, just what you might think).
VideoFest 25 runs Wednesday, September 26 - Sunday, September 30, 2012. For more information, see full details and highlights below.
Video Association of Dallas and VideoFest
This oldest and largest video festival in the United States merges art and technology and has specialized in “independent, alternative, and non-commercial media, presenting hard-to-find works rarely seen on television, in movie theaters, or elsewhere, despite their artistic excellence and cultural and social relevance.” Returning this year to its original home, the Dallas Museum of Art, VideoFest will feature a diverse range of works by regional, national, and international video and film artists dedicated to the examination of significant social issues, interpersonal relationships, sensitive topics, humor, and more while offering a “communal environment for real-time, face-to-face dialogue between makers and audiences.”
Highlights of VideoFest 25
* Winners of the 24-Hour Video Race
* Winner of VideoFest Awards
* The Texas Show, works by Texas artists
* Workshops for filmmakers
* The Program, curated visual art videos
* Animation Workshop for kids ages 8-16
* VideoFest 25 jewelry
* Shorts winners to be screened at DMA
Special Events and Programs
Downtown’s new Omni Hotel will be the canvas for Expanded Cinema, an interactive exhibit of new video artworks from various media artists which will run from sundown to sunup for the duration of VideoFest 25. Additional special programs include ipad Magic (two artists creating new work for the iPad will show examples of their work), Mess with Texas (the footage from a vast collection of Texas-related movies, newsreels, and homemade films have been made into entirely new works), as well as a Stop-Motion Animation Workshop and more.
Special Tribute
Documentary filmmakers in Dallas since 1978, Allen Mondell and Cynthia Salzman Mondell founded Media Projects, a non-profit Texas company, in order to produce and distribute documentary films and videos that “explore social issues, personalize history, and celebrate diversity.” Speaking to audiences from various ethnic and socioeconomic demographics, they’ve created over forty documentaries on topics such as substance abuse, the women’s movement, cultural history and identity, learning disabilities, and depression. Over the past 30 years, the award-winning work has been screened in schools, museums, public libraries, medical institutions, social service agencies and National Parks.
Highlights from their list of works include: Films from the Sixth Floor (six films about the life, death, and legacy of President John F. Kennedy shown daily at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza), The Monster Among Us (a documentary about the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe today), A Fair to Remember (a social history of the great State Fair of Texas), A Reason To Live (a documentary about depression and suicide among young adults), and more. Allen has just completed Waging Peace: The Peace Corps Experience (which weaves writings of volunteers with profiles of four former volunteers), and Cynthia is in production on Sole Sisters (a documentary about women’s identities told through the accessory they love the most- their shoes).
It is the desire of VideoFest Artistic Director Bart Weiss that the Mondells be honored for their role in the community in part for willingness to mentor other filmmakers as well as their on-screen examples of different kinds of characters, different communities, different issues, and different genres. The festival will feature a 105 minute tribute to the Mondells’ work (scheduled for Sunday night). For more information, visit Media Projects, Inc.
Festival Film Highlights
The full schedule for the weekend is now online (tickets run from $5.00 per movie to $50.00 for an all-festival pass), and a few highlights include:
Ann Richards' Texas
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 7:00 PM
Documentary about the late Texas Governor Ann Richards, a no-nonsense politician who fought against special interests.
Oma and Bella
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 7:00 PM
An intimate portrait of two elderly Jewish women in Berlin with humor, powerful stories, and a deep fondness for good food.
The Playroom
Thursday, September 27, 2012 at 9:00 PM
Four children in their attic hideaway make up a fantastic story, while downstairs their parents weave a drunken intrigue of their own.
The Light Bulb Conspiracy
Friday, September 28, 2012 at 7:00 PM
This is the story of companies who engineered their products to fail.
Trash Dance
Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 5:15 PM
Choreographer Allison Orr finds beauty and grace in garbage trucks, and in the men and women who pick up our trash.
Go Back To Where You Came From
Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Six ordinary Australians move in with Burmese refugees in Malaysia and are confronted by the harsh realities of their daily struggle to survive.
Red Flag
Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM
An utterly hilarious ode to the modern struggles of the microbudget American filmmaker.
The Beat Hotel
Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 7:00 PM
Legacy of the American Beats in Paris during the heady years between 1957 and 1963.
Scarlet Road
Saturday, September 29, 2012 at 8:15 PM
Scarlet Road follows the extraordinary work of Australian sex worker, Rachel Wotton.
Showcase: The World Premiere of Mark Birnbaum's Swingman
Sunday, September 30, 2012 at 4:15 PM
The story of a Fort Worth firefighter who, against all odds, overcomes a paralyzing injury.
See more information about VideoFest at the links below:
Event: VideoFest
Thursday, September 27 - Sunday, September 30, 2012
Dallas, TX, USA
The oldest and largest video and film festival in the nation, VideoFest shows a diverse range of works.
