[Frameworks] Film/video programers/curators and campus film screenings

Sun Mar 20 12:20:50 UTC 2016

Thank you to everyone on- and off-list who shared their stories and experiences about programming film in college and university. 

All the responses thus far have been from people in Canada or the US. Has anyone outside those countries started programming at campus film societies?

It’s fascinating to hear the creative ways in which people used limited resources (including the all-important university film/video collection) and the relative freedom afforded by campus screening situations to experiment with showing work. And it seems that people are not simply moving from campus to film and art venues; rather there’s a persistent move back and forth between campus and external venues along programmers' creative and educational trajectories. 

> On Mar 18, 2016, at 11:02 AM, Tara Nelson <brendamerenda at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> My experience with experimental film started in the micro-cinema scene in Pittsburgh, which was entirely DIY and non-affiliated (though Pittsburgh Filmmakers was very supportive) - Jefferson Presents..., and before them Orgone Cinema - represented two decades of consistent experimental film screenings, completely run by artists (Michael Johnsen, Greg Pierce, Gordon Nelson, Adam Abrams, Jim Mueller).  There is a great history of this scene in INCITE's Exhibition Issue.  
> 
> I went to grad school at MassArt, where Saul Levine runs a weekly Film Society dedicated to avant garde cinema (30+years now). MassArt Film Society shows contemporary work, as well as films from the unique collection at MassArt, and invites artists to present their work on a weekly basis.  I was fortunate to be a graduate assistant for MassArt Film Society - projecting, setting up, print trafficking etc - and I got to meet an incredible variety of filmmakers, and became well acquainted with their work.  Saul was very supportive and allowed me to program a few shows, and provided guidance and assistance when I put together a US tour for Rose Lowder in 2011 (during my last year in grad school).  Rebecca Meyers, who was programming for Emerson at the time, was also incredibly supportive, as was Rob Todd.  The mentoring I received from experienced programmers has been the most valuable outcome of my graduate studies.  I continue to program experimental film screenings in my current capacity as Curator of Moving Image Collections at Visual Studies Workshop, and I include programming and projection in all the courses I teach in Film Production.  
> 
> Filmmaking is a community, not a competition.
> 
> Tara Merenda Nelson
> 
> On Fri, Mar 18, 2016 at 10:24 AM, Beebe, Roger W. <beebe.77 at osu.edu <mailto:beebe.77 at osu.edu>> wrote:
> Many of my students who were involved centrally or peripherally with FLEXfest in Florida have gone on to do a wide range of post-graduation programming.  Brendan and Jeremy Smyth, for example, currently run both the Haverhill Experimental Film Festival (HEFF) and Unexposed Microcinema in Durham, NC.  Warren Cockerham programmed the New England Home Movie Tour and had a hand in Luther Price gallery shows at Bennington and Callicoon Fine Arts.  Jodie Mack, who was among the founding group at FLEX, went from there to an internship at the PDX Film Festival in Portland then to SAIC where she programmed the Animation’s World Fair and revived David Gatten’s Eye & Ear Clinic (which Warren Cockerham also did for a bit) and since landing at Dartmouth has programmed a series called Eyewash.  Charlotte Taylor, also one of the original FLEX crew, founded Mechanical Eye Microcinema in Asheville, NC.  Mike Stoltz, who had a hand in helping me set up screenings in the pre-FLEX days, now is part of the group programming the Echo Park Film Center.  This is a very incomplete list, and I’m reluctant to hit send lest I forget someone, but it at least gestures to the Florida/FLEX family tree in a way that shows the connections you’ve asked about.
> 
> FYI,
> Roger
> 
> On Mar 17, 2016, at 2:20 PM, Michael Zryd <zryd at YORKU.CA <mailto:zryd at YORKU.CA>> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Frameworks: I’m doing some research on what connections (if any) exist between people who program or curate film, video, and other moving image media and their experiences in college and university. 
>> 
>> Question: If you are currently programming or curating, did you get any experience at a college or university campus film society or screening series?
>> 
>> I know of histories in Toronto at universities like Ryerson, University of Toronto, and York University, and have read anecdotal accounts from schools like Binghamton, NY, where students from those schools programmed ambitious experimental screenings on campus and then continued to program/curate afterwards, but I’m wondering how widespread that connection is. And whether it’s a North American phenomenon or if it occurs elsewhere.
>> 
>> Please share any stories or personal histories, either privately to me, or to the listserv.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> Michael Zryd • Associate Professor 
>> Department of Cinema & Media Arts
>> School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
>> 
>> YORK UNIVERSITY 
>> York Lanes 230 • 4700 Keele Street 
>> Toronto ON • Canada M3J 1P3
>> T 416.736.2100 x66957 <tel:416.736.2100%20x66957> / cell: 647-430-8680 <tel:647-430-8680> / Skype: mjpzryd
>> zryd at yorku.ca <mailto:zryd at yorku.ca> • http://ampd.yorku.ca/about-us/our-faculty/michael-zryd <http://finearts.yorku.ca/about-us/our-faculty/michael-zryd> • ampd.yorku.ca <http://ampd.yorku.ca/> 
>> 
>> 
>> York University, one of 2015 Canada’s Greenest Employers
>> 
>> 
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Michael Zryd • Associate Professor 
Department of Cinema & Media Arts
School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

YORK UNIVERSITY 
York Lanes 230 • 4700 Keele Street 
Toronto ON • Canada M3J 1P3
T 416.736.2100 x66957 / cell: 647-430-8680 / Skype: mjpzryd
zryd at yorku.ca <mailto:zryd at yorku.ca> • http://ampd.yorku.ca/about-us/our-faculty/michael-zryd <http://finearts.yorku.ca/about-us/our-faculty/michael-zryd> • ampd.yorku.ca <http://ampd.yorku.ca/> 

York University, one of 2015 Canada’s Greenest Employers

This electronic mail (e-mail), including any attachments, is intended only for the recipient(s) to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure. No waiver of privilege, confidentiality or any other protection is intended by virtue of its communication by the internet. Any unauthorized use, dissemination or copying is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, or are not named as a recipient, please immediately notify the sender and destroy all copies of it.

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