Hi
My journey into film has just started.
Tired of hauling the digital beast around.
Committing to film for an entire summer?! Ahhhhh
MANA Contemporary Body + Camera Festival
I was invited to attend the VIP Screening of MANA Contemporary's Body + Camera festival on Friday night. I have been interested in the organization for some time and I jumped at the opportunity to see the venue. The large warehouse located in Pilsen hosts studios, exhibition halls, and a library.
MANA received over 200 film entries and selected 40 to be shown throughout the weekend. The topics range from immigration, surrealism, and sexuality. A significant amount of the films relied of music or body movement rather than verbal communication to get their point across. The large body of work encompassed the emotions of personal narratives in short segments with complex body movement.
An artist talk by Rashayla Marie Brown gave visitors the chance to speak with one of the filmmakers to discuss the premise behind their work. Ms. Brown as well as several family members discussed the challenges of finding women of color to help with their productions. One point that stuck with me is Ms. Brown stated 'I create art that speaks to me and makes me feel better - It is not for the purpose of creating a fantasy for others to live in'.
An encore performance by Claudia Hart titled the 'The Dolls' took place Saturday evening. She describes her piece as a notion that 'history endlessly renews itself through a process of decadence, decay, and rebirth'. The consistent cycles of visuals captured this message and after ten minutes of ballet movements and animated patterns, the audience erupted with applause.
The work being displayed by this organization during this two day festival presented ideas through a story rather than two dimensional mediums. I hope MANA believes this weekend was a success and will continue this practice for years to come.
Rashayla Marie Brown Artist Talk
Claudia Hart, The Dolls