ASU ART MUSEUM SHORT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL
PRESS RELEASE

ASU Art Museum Presents Film and Video Festival
Under the Stars

Picture a balmy, Arizona evening with hundreds of people comfortably relaxing under a starlit sky, enjoying a program of quality short films and videos. This is what the ASU Art Museum has in store for the audience at its second annual Short Film and Video Festival on Friday, April 24.

The festival, to be held at the outdoor Nelson Plaza behind the ASU Art Museum, will feature a selection of 25 short films and videos, chosen from more than 210 entries. All films and videos will be close to 10 minutes in length and will be projected in VHS format. The event is juried for the first time this year and awards will be given for the best entries. The festival has drawn widespread interest and submissions from as far away as Argentina, Australia, China and Spain, as well as 21 state in this country.

The Short Film and Video Festival is coordinated by ASU Art Museum's Curatorial Museum Specialist John D. Spiak, and by Southern California Filmmaker Bob Pece. The two also acted as jurors.

Spiak conceived the idea of a film and video festival after attending one of a number of festivals organized by Pece in Southern California.

The first ASU Film Festival, held in 1997 and entitled "From the Sea to the Desert," was attended by more than 500 people. The success of the first event has ensured its continuation, according to Spiak, who said the response from audience members was overwhelmingly positive.

"We first attempted this event last year and it was such a success that we decided to do it again and expand it," Spiak said. "We sent out an international call for entries and have had a terrific response, receiving some excellent entries from around the world."

Topics and methods used in making the 25 films and videos vary widely. Documentaries sit side-by-side with pseudo-documentaries, various types of animation and short stories.

Among the films to be screened is "Walk This Way," by ASU graduate Chris Sheridan. The film, in which Sheridan tell his own story, won the 1997 Student Academy Award Gold Medal for a documentary. Sheridan made the movie as part of his Honors Thesis at ASU in 1996. It combines a plane crash, a wheelchair and lots of laughs!

Another film, "anna in the sky," by New York's Mark Edgington, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and has since won awards at the Bermuda International Film Festival and the Albuquerque Short Film Festival. It tells the story of Justin, who turns to the dark arts to win back the fickle Anna.

The youngest entrant in the festival, California's Ryan McCulloch, was just 14 when he completed the heart-tugging claymation, "Without You," last November. McCulloch attempts to bring to life his original clay figures and to elicit an emotional response from his audience using only an ancient, low-tech video camera, a garage-sale doll's house and $7.00 worth of clay.

ASU undergraduate, Hitomi Asahi, has created a beautiful, art-style video called "Untitled (a message)," in which she deals with the light and shadows that pervade our world and our lives. A short poem written to accompany the film creates the narrative and finishes with the lines, "the little dim light underneath the door, is a letter from the sky."

Scottsdale residents David Glassman and Joseph Dunn take an ironic look at America today in "DLBWA." The film's lead character is a reformed serial killer who returns to the town where he commited his crimes, only to find the residents mad at him, not for the crimes, but because he turned himself in and they missed out on Hollywood deals.

The ASU event is different from most film and video festivals because there is no entry fee for the film and videomakers, or for the audience members. The venue is also very different than those used for most festivals and this aspect is part of the event's charm, according to Spiak.

"People ask why we don't present the festival in a traditional theatre," Spiak said. "The reason is that we want to keep it very informal, with the feel of a Fourth of July picnic. Arizona's beautiful spring weather is a great asset and we believe it enhances the event."

Among the features that contributed to the informality of the evening was an invitation to those attending last year's festival to provide their own seating arrangements for the evening. This year's festival will once again provide the opportunity for those attending to relax on a picnic blanket, in a lawn chair or even on a couch - as one group did last year. Refreshments will be available for purchase from Sweet Lou's Hot Dog Cart and audience members are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy before or during the evening's program.

The second annual Arizona State University Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival will commence at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24. Thanks go to Star Video Duplicating and Tempe Camera for their donations and support of our festival.

For photos, more information to interview participating film and videomakers, call Jennifer Pringle at (602) 965-8795.


When You Go:

Location:
Plaza, Nelson Fine Arts Center, 10th Street and Mill Avenue, Tempe.

Parking:
Free after 7 p.m. Parking for physically-challenged visitors is available in front of the Nelson Fine Arts Center.

What to Bring:
Chairs or a blanket to sit on, food and drinks if you would like to enjoy a picnic.

Entry:
FREE

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