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ASU Art Museum hosts 11th annual Short Film Festival


Sophisticated movie fans will be gathering Saturday night at the 11th Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival to enjoy 24 short film and video art selections submitted from all over the world.

While all the pieces are short in length, they were done by artists based in such locales as Australia, Germany, Britain, and Canada, in addition to two pieces from Arizona-based artists.

The works range from documentaries to animation and everything in between, according to John Spiak, the curator of the ASU Art Museum and the film festival.

"We received 330 works for consideration from 22 nations and 29 states," Spiak said. "We have a wide variety of works this year, but there is no one central theme to the event."

However, some of the festival entries find common rhythms simply by chance, Spiak said.

"This year, we have three works featuring wheelchairs," he said. "There's no reason to it, it's completely random. One year we seriously had about 15 of the pieces with balloons in them. It's strange how that happens.

Spiak was inspired to create the festival more than a decade ago after moving from Los Angeles to the Phoenix area, only to find there was no home for the unique pieces the ASU Film Festival now specializes in, he said.

"The festival gives the audience a chance to see work in other genres, beyond the typical Hollywood narratives," Spiak said. "And we get to show how the boundaries are being pushed in video art."

One such video art piece comes from 17-year-old Centennial High School senior Cruz Perez. Perez's piece, "Untitled Number 1," was voted as the audience favorite during a competition at the museum among local high school students in February.

The piece is "an outlook on societies and their responsibilities," Perez said.

While Perez said he is excited to be a part of the festival and get the audience's reaction, he will not be present at Saturday night's screening because he will be at his school's prom.

"I definitely want to hear what people think about it and try to improve my skills," Perez said. "I want to build on this experience."

Perez gives the credit for his success to Centennial's video art program and his instructor Ken Keene, he said.

"He always encourages us to push the boundaries further," Perez said of Keene.

The festival also will feature a film produced by Mesa resident Donovan Montierth, titled "Relocation."

Montierth is part of the local video production team Brothers' Ink, who got their start in 2003. Brothers' Ink has already screened their films at 30 festivals and won over 15 awards, Montierth said.

"There aren't a lot of places to see short films around here," he said, "but at the ASU festival, you get to see some pretty interesting pieces, and you can see how different they get."

The festival also provides artists with great exposure, he said.

"For us, we're looking to make feature films, so these short films give us a chance to get in front of an audience and make a name for ourselves," Montierth said.

The ASU Film Festival is a particularly enjoyable event because of the appreciative crowd it brings out, he said.

"The festival is great, with all those people outside to watch the films," Montierth said. "It's a really great environment."

The ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival will begin at 8 p.m. outside the museum at 10th Street and Mill Avenue. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and food. For more information, visit: asuartmuseum.asu.edu/filmfest.

Reach the reporter at: eric.graf@asu.edu.


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