MADCAT WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Festival founder and director Ariella Ben-Dov returns to Buffalo with "Fools Tricks," a selection of works that highlights experiments in avant-garde filmmaking. The program features works by Courtney Hoskins, Esther Johnson, Kerry Laitala, Anna Lange, Jeanne Liotta, and Susan Simpson. Co-Presented by Squeaky Wheel.

Fools Tricks "The second program in curator Ariella Ben-Dov's series - 'Fools Tricks,' highlights experiments in avant-garde filmmaking. optical printing, painting on film and other tricks of the cinematic trade create a diverse and intriguing body of work. Set against the background of real and imagined calamities, Boll Weevil Days re-conceptualizes the disaster narrative. A fragile paper city and yellowing pictures o rescue workers from the 1930s creates an elliptical portrayal of intimacy in the face oblivion. Blending documentary and conceptual audio Tune-In follows the world of amateur radio operators. Also see an abstraction of a lunar eclipse, the inner workings of a monastery's bakery and the recreation of the planets, among other stories." - Sheri Wills

Boll Weevil Days - Susan Simpson (2005, 7 min, Color, 16mm, US)
Set against the background of real and imagined Southern California disasters, Simpson's film re-conceptualizes the disaster narrative. The safety and ease of home gives way to waves of devastation. In the midst of repeated blows, two figures take turns rescuing and doctoring one another with extreme care and tenderness. A fragile paper city and yellowing pictures of rescue workers from the 1930s creates an elliptical portrayal of intimacy in the face of oblivion.

Eclipse - Jeanne Liotta (2005, 4 min, Color, 16mm, US)
Using lush, light-sensitive Kodachrome film, Eclipse is an abstract documentation of a lunar eclipse. Anticipation and fear grow as the soundtrack evokes the rumble of unseen fighter jets overhead.

Tune In - Esther Johnson (2006, 14:30 min, Color, 16mm, UK)
Follow the fascinating world of amateur radio operators, better known as Radio Hams. Dealing with the politics of space and social communication, this film blends documentary and abstract audio to reflect a world that bridges both do-it-yourself and state-of-the-art technologies.

Callisto - Courtney Hoskins (2003, 2:51 min, Color, Silent, 16mm, US)
Temperature sensitive liquid crystal paints, a common ingredient in mood rings, is used to create the outer space feel of Callisto. Hoskins uses an air blower to create the bubbly molten lava look of this film.

Orbit - Kerry Laitala (2006, 7 min, Color, 16mm, US)
Candy-apple light emissions create a series of stimuli that tickle the retinas—a playful pulsation of mis-registered images made when a lab accidentally split the film from 16mm to Regular 8. Kodachrome color fields create tremulous vibrations, which hypnotize with their flickering beauty.

Walk for Walk - Amy Lockhart (2005, 10 min, Color, 16mm, Canada)
Enter a surreal, hyper-colorized, ever-changing world where something's just not right, but, boy, is entertaining. A variety of babies lead us through the story: Warm Baby, Mister Baby, Rich Baby, and others. Created using more than 1,000 hand-painted paper cutouts, puppets and backgrounds.

Corpus Christi - Anna Lange (2006, 7 min, B/W, Silent, DVD, the Netherlands)
Inspired by a story told by an old nun about a monastery's communion host bakery and the pig they fattened with the waste and later consumed. This quasi-documentary collage plays subtly with associations on the theme of give and take, which eventually approaches the secret of Holy Communion.

Europa - Courtney Hoskins (2003, 7:18 min, Color, 16mm, US)
The filmmaker animates dish soap with the grooves of her fingertips and superimposes super-8 aquarium footage to generate a three-dimensional underwater futuristic experience.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
MadCat seeks provocative and visionary films and videos directed or co-directed by women. Films can be of any length or genre and produced ANY year. MadCat is committed to showcasing work that challenges the use of sound and image and explores notions of visual story telling. All subjects/topics will be considered. Submission Fee: $10-30 sliding scale. Pay what you can afford. International entrants disregard the fee. For more details go to www.madcatfilmfestival.org or call (415) 436-9523. Preview Formats: VHS or DVD. Exhibition Formats: 35mm, 16mm, Super8, Beta SP, Mini DV, VHS, DVD. All entries must include a self addressed stamped envelope for return of materials. Previews will not be returned without a self addressed stamped envelope. Early Bird Deadline: March 23, 2007. Late Bird Deadline: May 21, 2007.

Some publications related to this event:
April, 2007 - 2007