Posts Tagged ‘experimental film’

New England independent filmmakers already have a hard time getting their work seen, but it can be even harder for experimental New England filmmakers to screen their work publicly.  Massachusetts-based film collective Radon Lake fill this void by encouraging interaction in the experimental film/video/animation community of Boston.  Their website lists events, news, submissions and job opportunities amongst the New England experimental film community.

Radon Lake also started “The Wildlife Preserve,” an outdoor summer film series taking place “indie style” in the parking lot of Lyndell’s Bakery in Central Square, Cambridge.  From July 11 through September 26th, screenings will happen every Monday and there is only a $5 suggested donation.

Next in the upcoming series are 10 short films by film effects pioneer Georges Melies and on August 8, a Night of Local Non-Fiction film, featuring a series of documentary shorts curated by filmmaker Shannon Carroll.  Viewers should also be sure to check out the Wildlife Series’ recurring screening of Zampano’s Playhouse, which shows obscure and outdated educational films, industrial films and other found film.

Experimental filmmakers and enthusiasts of unusual and independent film should not hesitate to check out one of these screenings or keep up with the news and events on Radon Lake’s website.  For those interested in upcoming films in “The Wildlife Preserve” series, check out their calendar.

The New Hampshire Film and Television Office held the New Hampshire High School Film Festival last Saturday at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord. Students grades 9-12 submitted their short films earlier this year and 32 films were chosen for screening.

The film festival originated in 2007 and has had a growing response rate ever since. It was created for high school students to showcase their work in a larger and more competitive setting. The festival will soon offer a comprehensive online resource for New Hampshire film students and teachers, providing them with tips, forms and documents to aid in the filmmaking process.

All of the genres were judged together to come out with one over all winner (the Jury Award). This year Home vs. Homeless by Jeremy Holber, Tim Taylor and Ben Pacocha of Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH., took away the Jury award. Their film just made the 10-minute time limit at nine minutes and 56 seconds and was about a homeless person who steals a blank check and uses it to live a more comfortable life until he finds out that the house has a different plan for him.

Second place, or the Jury Award Runner-Up was David Nieman’s Beginning’s End, about a girl singing alone in an empty building. Keller Nunley’s Mustache received an honorable mention for his film about how a little lip hair can go a long way.  Watch Beginning’s End here:

The Jury Award winner and Jury Award Runner-Up will be screened at the the New Hampshire Film Festival in Portsmouth this October, at the Red River Theater in Concord and on New Hampshire Public Television over the summer. All films screened were featured in the showcase program and put on a DVD that will be released later this summer.