| iR:
How did MadCat get started? |
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| I just dove in! MadCat was born out of the
need for more venues that highlight women artists. I had
been leafing through the AIVF Ultimate Guide to Film Festivals
and there were only a handful of women's fests internationally.
I was shocked. I knew women were making work and that
work should be shown. I was also disappointed to see that
women weren't getting programmed at film festivals in
general. There seemed to be a disproportionate number
of men being accepted by many film festivals. Who knows
what goes on in a screening committee's room but I felt
there needed to be a forum for the less straight forward
films and videos being made by women. |
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| iR:
Who are the people that go to MadCat? |
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| Movie lovers, academics, filmmakers and
your regular Joe or Janet moviegoer. One of my goals for
MadCat is to entice audience members who might not normally
watch or seek out experimental films. Each program at
MadCat is curated thematically. We incorporate both experimental
and more accessible films and videos and link them thematically
to allow audiences access to work they might not normally
understand or appreciate. I also hope our programs challenge
those audience members who are more familiar with experimental
film. It is definitely a juggling act. |
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| iR:
Why is MadCat important? Why did you start it and keep
running it? |
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| MadCat is unique among festivals in general
and women's fests in particular. MadCat's only parameter
is the film or video is directed by a women. We give no
priority to pieces about women or with female protagonists.
We also accept films of all lengths and genres that are
produced any year. I think this may differ from other
fests-while they might include a retrospective or two,
MadCat allows older films to play next to contemporary
films to contextualize the works. MadCat sets itself apart
from other women's festivals by curating its programs
thematically as opposed to looking for films solely about
women's issues. Thus, with each year comes a completely
new set of films and topics. MadCat's distinctive angle
on programming often surprises its audiences. We allow
viewers to look into the vast array of topics women film
and videomakers are wrestling with and in turn expand
traditional notions of "women's issues". |
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| MadCat encourages viewers to be active participants.
The audience will not sit back and wait for the images
to wash over them nor for a simple narrative to tell its
story. Whether the audience is watching a documentary,
narrative, animation or experimental film they will be
on the edge of their seats grappling and participating
with the visual texts set before them. |
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| iR:
How do you select shorts and program the festivals? |
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|
MadCat sends out an open call for submissions by women
film and videomakers. We put free listings in film magazines
on and off line and send announcements out to our list
of filmmakers. Our selection process is a long one of
watching and re-watching the films and videos submitted.
We do not have pre-conceived ideas of what our themes
for each festival will be, so each year we must watch
the submissions carefully and decide what themes are
coming to the surface. There are often times when I
will really like a film but in the end it does not fit
into any of our programs for that year. In this case
we will hold onto the tape if the filmmaker lets us
and see if we can use it another year.
|
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| iR:
Talk a bit about the place of experimental films in
current cinema? |
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| In my world experimental film is alive a
kicking! But of course I must remember my world is not
very mainstream at all. I think when audience members
give themselves a chance and festival coordinators have
faith in their audience both will be surprised at what
kinds of films can be screened. It is satisfying to see
films that allow room for thought and are not just eye
candy. |
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| iR:
Are there people still interested in experimental films? |
| |
| In my experience, yes. Audience members are
begging to be challenged whether they know it or not.
It is my hope that audience members will go home and think
about the MadCat programs for days and even weeks. |
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| iR:
What are the highlights of Madcat this year? What are
your favorites and talk a bit about themŠ |
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| "Just Words" by Louise Bourque,
1991, 10 min, Color, 16mm, Canada |
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| Focusing on the rotting teeth and cherry
red mouth of actress Patricia MacGeachy as she rants at
lightening speed from Beckett's Not I, Just Words takes
a chilling look at home, family and the confines and alienation
associated with being a woman. Bourque intercuts optically
printed home move footage of her mother at home and creates
an eerie commentary. |
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| "Images Of Flying and Falling"
by Ariana Gerstein, 2001, 25 min, b/w, 16mm anamorphic,
USA |
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| Using a computer and scanner, old pictures
and found footage Gerstein tries to mourn the loss of
her grandmother, Martha. The filmmaker must manufacture
a visual narrative for times gone undocumented with stunning
anamorphic 16mm film that is almost sculptural in its
structure. The "narrator" is another artist who speaks
about why she obsessively seeks and collects other people's
discarded images at resale shops and garage sales. She
tells of a need to give the lost images a voice -- even
if only an imagined one. The film asks – what is reality
and how do we shape it in the age of personal computers? |
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| "The Greatest Show On Earth" by
Anne Paas, 2000, 3:40 min, Color & b/w, 16mm, USA |
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| Combining black and white images with archival
footage of Coney Island from the 1950's, The Greatest
Show On Earth presents a brief and haunting image of American
carnival culture. |
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| "Sharony" by Jennet Thomas, 2000,
10 min, Color, Beta SP, UK |
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| Sharony takes viewers on a journey to the
world of English school girls gone awry. It is the tale
of two controlling nymphets who dig up a microscopic woman
from the back garden. They lock her in a doll's house
that is wallpapered with pornography to make her grow
up faster. When she is life sized and ready to play, they
take her to the disco to see what happens. |
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| iR:
Any concluding remarks? |
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I do think when some people see "Women's
Film Festival" they immediately think it's for, by, and
about women. Ha Ha. This is not true when it comes to
MadCat. We aim to program work that challenges modes of
visual story telling and play with the use of sound and
image. That is not to say all the films we program are
experimental or difficult to understand, we like to think
they are the more cutting edge pieces out there in the
world. Whether it's their use of the medium, the way they
speak about their subject matter, or the quirky stories
they tell..jpg) |
