Cade Bursell in Person

A series of films that redefine the concept of "educational" media reveals the peculiar worlds of controlled environments and manipulated celluloid. Introduction to Living in a Closed System (Brittany Gravely, U.S., 2001, 18 mins, Color, 16mm) is a ruptured educational film that explores the notion of a self-contained utopia. Working on the assumption that the world's every shift and weather change is controlled by engineers, Closed System takes an eerie journey to a synthetic future. In Order Not To Be Here (Deborah Stratman, U.S., 2002, 33 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm) explores consumer culture in corporate and suburban America. Shot entirely at night, this beautifully grainy film documents the use of surveillance video, security patrols, and other forms of "protection." Several optically printed films in the program represent a hand-concocted, do-it-yourself style of filmmaking: showing in its premiere is local filmmaker Cade Bursell's Test Sites (U.S., 2002, 15 mins, Color, 35mm). By Scotch-taping found footage onto 35mm stock, Bursell literally reframes the government's role in the making and testing of the atomic bomb. Award-winning filmmaker Naomi Uman shares the pleasure of hand-made moviemaking in Hand Eye Coordination (U.S., 2001, 10 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm). Also see new films by Jennifer Reeves (Fear of Blushing, U.S., 2001, 6 mins, Color, 16mm) and Frédérique Devaux (Clins De Vue, France, 2000, 4 mins, Color, 16mm).