This weekend, local filmmakers and film lovers will congregate in the breezy comfort of a makeshift outdoor theater. The event is called the Boxcar Film Series and, unlike many other film-related events, the Boxcar series will focus on the virtues of the short film.
Curator Jack Cronin has put together a program of 12 very different shorties that he is happy to screen on the lawn at the College for Creative Studies’ central campus. He says of the grassy venue: “It should be a great place to watch the films.” Cronin, who teaches filmmaking at CCS and at the Detroit Film Center, sees short films as a great way to bring novices and cinephiles together. “This is a chance for people to see the kind of films that are normally only seen inside of the classroom. … This is a great way for [film lovers] to see a variety of ideas and sensibilities.”
The series will include a broad spectrum of movies shot both digitally and on film, including: A Fly, a one-minute film by Andrew Fagan that uses a single shot to explore the nature and character of a strangely beautiful insect; Phasing by Barbara Frey, a 7-minute shortie that explores the phenomenon that occurs when sounds are looped with different time signatures and allowed to fall in and out of sync; and Throwing Stones at the Sun by Aaron Valdez, a 19-minute film that includes 27 documentary vignettes that form a portrait of the United States between the years of 1999-2001.
The Boxcar Film Series starts at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, July 9, on the CCS center lawn (201 E. Kirby St. in Detroit). In case of rain, the program moves to the CCS auditorium.
Eve Doster is the listings editor of Metro Times. E-mail [email protected].
