There isn't another film festival in the U.S. - heck, North America - that's like the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Though its experiemental programming may not make it a popular event destination for mainstream filmgoers there is little doubt that it features some of the most interesting, challenging and offbeat films screened anywhere. Not surprisingly, the 52nd fest's offerings get a critical review that is, unequivocally, positive.
Excerpt:
"But just what is experimental cinema? These days, based on the selections of Ann Arbor and other festivals of its kind (such as Images, Crossroads, Migrating Forms, and Views from the Avant-Garde), it’s a combination of work that resembles “classic” avant-garde film, as in hand-processed, abstract, or structuralist 8 or 16mm film; irony-toned video art; works of editing from archive; or non-narrative nonfiction. Sometimes these types overlap, but they also don’t necessarily hang together in a cohesive way, either. What they do more or less all share is a general lack of commodifiability—and the artistry and dedication that attends this status—which is precisely why it’s crucial that those festivals, microcinemas, and local scenes continue to intervene. "
Read the rest
here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.