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  In this Issue: Homegrown Film

What's summertime without the movies? You may not know it, but Hollywood's got nothing on us. Minnesota is a hotbed of cinematic delights—whether it's Ali Selim's breakout international festival hit Sweet Landor the innovative Web video narratives of Chasing Windmills. And what about the groundbreaking documentary work of Minnesota Stories creator, Chuck Olsen and What America Needs auteur Mark Wojahn?

In this issue of a+E, you'll find a treasure trove of homegrown film tidbits. Sampler features another debut this month: this time we're getting a jump on film festivals  to show you the latest from award-winning animator Tom Schroeder—a delicious, trippy new animated short, The Mexican Cloud Swing Disaster. Then, sit in on an Exchange between MPR's Euan Kerr, Sweet Land director Ali Selim, and the team behind Chasing Windmills as they talk over the future of movies, theaters, and why film (however you watch it) will always be relevant. And if cinema al fresco is your pleasure, we've got an embarrassment of riches in store for you in You Are Here this month. (And don't forget your 2 for 1 festival passes, courtesy of a+E's mnAccess sponsor, Sound Unseen.) All that, and we've not even talked about the pulp fiction wonders of Zoom In artist Thomas Allen. So turn down the lights, pop up some corn, and escape with us to the movies for a while. You won't believe what's showing right next door.

Sweet Land Writer/Director Ali Selim, Chasing Windmills' Cristina Cordova and

J.A. del Rosario, and MPR's Euan Kerr on the Future of Motion Pictures, Wherever They May Be

WE AT a+E HAVE BEEN STUNNED BY THE EXPLOSION OF

talent and innovation that's emerged in Minnesota, in both Web video and traditional big-screen filmmaking. But at the same time, the local audiences for film seem to be evolving—some would even say dwindling. Who better to take our questions to than those working at the forefront of film in Minnesota? So, we brought together our favorite news-making filmmakers and arts broadcaster to talk it over: Ali Selim, writer and director of the buzz-worthy Sweet Land, a favorite at film festivals (here and across the country); Cristina Cordova and Juan Antonio del Rosario, creators of the Web video phenomenon Chasing Windmills; and Euan Kerr, a Minnesota Public Radio news editor and one of our favorite reporters on the movie beat. The conversation ranged far and wide—from the question of a “Minnesotan” film scene, to how the medium shapes the story, to the looming concerns over the future of cinema as we know it.

Q: Do you think movie-going is becoming a boutique experience only for true cinephiles, with the Web and TV being the preferred method of watching films?

Ali: Not at all… I think the same people who love their iPods will be saying, “You have to see what’s showing down the block. It’s great…”

Antonio: I agree. I don’t think people will want to lose that space. I don’t want to lose that space. Cristina and I were speaking at a conference in San Francisco. We ended up talking about Lawrence of Arabia and screen size. Your iPod’s great, but you can’t watch Lawrence of Arabia on your iPod. Here’s the perfect visual story. On your iPod, in the big scene where Omar Sharif arrives in the desert, you still can’t see him. Between the epic shot and the expanse of the desert… on a screen that size, it’s just silly. You’re looking at empty space.

Ali: And TV has adapted to the screen size, too. Television shows are mostly dialogue, and they’re mostly close-ups. They figured out that wide shots just don’t work on TV, and they adapted to the medium 50 years ago. Now we’ve got these new media formats, and we’ll adapt to these too.

Cristina: These different formats offer different experiences—they do different things.

Ali: I actually have all of Sweet Land on my cell phone screen. Let me get it. [Pulling out the phone and bringing up the film on its screen.] There you go. All you need is a headset. It goes on for two hours like that.

Euan: [big laugh] Have you watched it on there yet?

Ali: No, I haven’t. But I gave it to someone at a film festival and he disappeared with my phone, came back two hours later, and said he loved it. So, I guess he didn’t mind the screen size.

Q: But don’t you think he had a different experience, watching it on the phone, than you’d intended?

Ali: A totally different experience. But I think watching it on a screener at home is a totally different experience. We’ve played the movie to sold-out houses (God bless) across the country, and there’s such an energy in the room when you watch the movie that way. People play off each other in a theater; they know it’s okay to laugh from the others’ responses. It’s a very different experience.

Cristina: We have to exploit something completely different than that for Chasing Windmills. For one thing, we have to deal with what people think of when they think of a “vlog,” which is really me with my camera, showing you, “Hey, this is me eating breakfast.” That’s what’s out there. And why are viewers interested in watching someone eat breakfast? Because it’s real people. The reason people go to these vlogs and read all this personal stuff is that they’re reaching out, sometimes in weird and desperate ways for sure, but reaching out all the same for an experience of real people.

We’re giving you that. You can sit there, by yourself, and look through a peephole into my apartment. It’s fictitious, but we’re creating that illusion for you. On that small screen of your computer, you want something intimate. You want to be alone. It’s not a joint experience, it’s a private one. It’s almost dirty. You’re looking in on someone’s raw life—on the toilet, having sex, having arguments, personal conversations. What we show people is really kind of ugly. It’s pretty dark stuff. [laughing]

If I were making something for the big screen, I would never make that. You need to think about the medium you’re using. You can’t just take content intended for TV or movies and throw it on the Web. It’s demeaning to the content...

Don't stop now! There's much more to this conversation: Why doesn't Antonio like to go to the movies? What was it that Euan hated about Pirates of the Caribbean? Why is Ali still optimistic about the future of theatrical film? Get these questions answered and much more by reading the full interview here.

A Feast for the Eyes and Ears

Minnesota Center for Photography is holding its second annual extravaganza of photography, music and film, with Musicapolis 2006. At MCP, beginning at 3 pm and for only $10, you can explore the photos of acclaimed photographer Daniel Corrigan while you listen to an outdoor live concert by local acts selected by Corrigan himself to accompany his work. Musical acts will include Chooglin', Gee as in Jesus, The Brass Kings, and Tin Star Sisters, among others. Come, rain or shine, July 22 to the MCP to catch the action.

Want more? Stay after the concert for the launch of a new film series called Shutter: Photographers on the Edge (jointly sponsored by the MCP and the Ritz Theater). The first film in the series will be One Hour Photo (2002, starring Robin Williams).

All Films are Grass-Fed and Hormone-Free
Offering what they call “a farm fresh alternative to stale cinema,” the Free Range Film Festival is a weekend extravaganza of films, July 28-29, from local directors unfettered by contracts with major film studios. The movies will be screened inside a big old barn located in the heart of Minnesota's organic farm country. If it’s quirky theatrical goodness you’re hankering for, The Free Range Film Festival (now in its second year) promises to be a fun exploration of some homegrown cinematic talent and it offers a good excuse to head out to beautiful Wrenshall, Minnesota.

The Walker’s Summer Blockbusters

Celebrating its 30th year, the Walker Art Center’s Summer Music & Movies returns for another season of great music and classic movies under the stars. This year’s music includes a mix of global hip-hop, alt-country poetics, free-form jazz, sweetly suave pop, new punk, and not-so-old-fashioned rock from Senegal to South Minneapolis. From July 17 tilll August 21, bring a picnic dinner and stake out a comfortable spot in Loring Park every Monday. The free show will begin with music at 7 pm which will entertain you until the movie starts at dusk. On Monday, July 17 the series kicks off with Daara J and Preston Sturges’s classic 1941 film, Sullivan’s Travels.

Don’t go far from the Walker just yet: you’ll want to come back by the WAC the next day, too, because on Tuesday, July 18 at 7 pm, the WAC is hosting an all-star roundtable discussion on making successful independent TV and film for as little money as possible. Hear the producers of Napoleon Dynamite, Sean Covel and Chris Wyatt, along with former The Daily Show with John Stewart producer Ari Fishman and filmmaker Bill Rude to get the lowdown on the nuts and bolts of producing great comedy on the cheap. And in the spirit of frugality, the event is free—comp tickets will be handed out at the Bazinet Garden Lobby beginning at 6 pm.

Hybrid Vigor at the Southern Theater

From July 28-30 at the Southern Theater, you can catch the latest hybrid theatre-dance-music work The Percussionist  from the critically acclaimed performance ensemble Live Action Set with collaborators Spaghetti Western String Co.  Known for architecturally engaged works, the artists have created an upside-down and inside-out performance narrative, riddled throughout with nods to cinema.

Steal a glimpse of Minnesota’s dance landscape with the much-anticipated return of Momentum. Featuring two companies each evening, Momentum showcases new voices and ideas that speak to the latest combinations in dance, all the while establishing the Twin Cities as a hotbed of fresh, experimental, and often overlooked talent. The show runs at the Southern Theater from July 21 – 30.

For more listings of events around the state go to mnartists.org

Project Director, mnartists.org:  Kathleen Kvern

access+ENGAGE Editor:  Susannah Schouweiler

E-journal design: Brand & Butter

Featured Contributors and Artists

Banner image (reprinted and cropped with artist's permission): Slim by Thomas Allen. 20" x 24", chromogenic print, 2004. Otherimages featured in Zoom In text (top to bottom):

Reflex, 20" x 24", chromogenic print, 2004.

intrude, 20" x 24", chromogenic print, 2003.

You can see Allen's work at the Foley Gallery in New York City and the Thomas Barry Gallery in Minneapolis. You can also catch Tom's blog to keep up with his latest endeavors.

Sampler:

The Mexican Cloud Swing Disaster by Tom Schroeder. Ein Aus Animation, 2006. 5 minutes, 35 mm film, Dolby SR. Schroeder has been drawing and producing his own animated films since 1990. His short film, Bike Ride, was a favorite in over 60 film festivals across the globe and was included on the PBS program Independent Lens. He was recently awarded a McKnight Foundation filmmaking fellowship, and also serves as an associate professor of animation at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Images featured in You Are Here (from top to bottom):

Photos from the Dan Corrigan exhibit, courtesy of the Minneapolis Center for Photography.

Logo courtesy the Free Range Film Festival.

The Spaghetti Western String Co. and Live Action Set, courtesy the Southern Theater.

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