Treat yourself to a session or two of the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, April 10–13.
Written by Gerald Habarth
A highlight for fans of film and video art in Morgantown each year is the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, an international, competitive screening hosted by WVU’s School of Art & Design. This year’s festival, Thursday–Sunday, April 10–13, takes place in multiple WVU venues. It showcases 89 short films and animations selected from among more than 250 submissions from 33 countries, along with pieces created by WVU students. The theme this year is Space.
The WVMSSF is a rare opportunity to see boundary-pushing works in all styles and genres. Sessions take place throughout the weekend and are free and open to the public
Thursday, April 10
6 p.m.
WVU Planetarium
This is a truly exciting selection of works by guest artists and WVU students, all designed to be viewed in the WVU Planetarium’s 360-degree projection setting. The lineup includes a lavish work by Shanghai-born artist LEOW (Dian Wang) called White Birds Worship the Phoenix, a dazzling display of colors and textures that draws inspiration from an ancient Chinese fable in which 100 birds sacrifice their colorful wings to a great Phoenix. The evening culminates in a live audio–visual performance piece titled Aeon by Colorado-based guest artists Debora and Jason Bernagozzi.
Friday, April 11
Opening Showcase 7:30 p.m.; Student Works 9:30 p.m.
WVU Canady Creative Arts Center
The eclectic Opening Showcase features 10 spectacular works in multiple genres. The screening opens with Somber Tides, a dramatically cinematic experimental dance film by Canadian filmmaker Chantal Caron. Set against the backdrop of a windswept Arctic landscape, the work portrays two dancers in long black robes whose choreographed dance evokes a mythic enactment of survival in the face of climate change. Another standout work is the meticulously hand-drawn animation Next Show in 90 Minutes by Alabama-based animator John Hill. Depicting the daily routine of a mysterious nomadic figure in a post-apocalyptic American landscape, this award-winning piece took nearly three years to produce. Following the Opening Showcase, works in film, video, and animation by WVU students and students from across the region and abroad will be presented.
Saturday, April 12
Sessions at 10 and 11:15 a.m. and 1, 3, 5:30, 7:30, and 9 p.m.
WVU Canady Creative Arts Center
Saturday presents seven carefully curated screenings spanning multiple genres. The day begins with a selection of short films and animations about puppets—both live action and animated—and the idea of bringing materials to life. This set features The Last Puppet Show, a beautifully crafted documentary by filmmaker Lonnie Frazier, about WVU’s own Puppetry Program, which, after 40 years, faced potential closure during the university’s recent restructuring. The afternoon documentary selection includes Marble Madness, a charming story about the last industrial marble manufacturer in the U.S., told in part through the inspired words of elementary school students in Boone County, West Virginia. The evening short narratives session includes the hilarious animated short film Danger Zone by D.C.-based film maker David Malone with animation by Earl Holden C. Bueno, about a family vacation gone very, very awry.
Sunday, April 13
Sessions at noon and 1:15, 2:45, and 4:15 p.m.
WVU Canady Creative Arts Center
Sunday’s lineup begins with documentaries, including the ambitious As the Sunflower Whispers by undergraduate student Samuel Felinton. Among the works in the afternoon screening Ecologies and Terrains is the mesmerizing and meditative film underneath it flickers by Belgium-based filmmaker Lau Persijn—a close examination of an abandoned urban site in Brussels that has naturally rewilded. Screenings conclude with a return to works providing wide-ranging interpretations of the festival’s theme of Space. Waiting Up to Meet the Wolf by Canada-based filmmaker Anthony Carr, is a lyrical meditation on the loss of moonlight and its emotional implications in modern civilization.
See the festival schedule for more details.
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