Keeping things cryptic is one of Taka Suzuki’s favorite things about aCinema. He and co-curator Janelle VanderKellen started the experimental short film showcase in 2016 as a monthly series, but this year’s six planned screenings are all happening on one weekend – July 19-21 at Woodland Pattern in Riverwest.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
The films shown during aCinema can be personal, evocative and ambiguous – but what makes them experimental? It usually means pushing the boundaries of old and new visual formats like 16mm film and digital cameras, Suzuki says.
Some works don’t even use cameras, instead manipulating film strips or using screen-recordings. But makers also play with narrative, sometimes using first-person voiceovers and subverting tropes like tidy endings. Suzuki describes many of the works aCinema shows as metaphorical and poetic.
Woodland Pattern “is a very intimate space,” VanderKellen says. This makes it prime for thoughtful discussions after each film. “What the audience brings, their foreknowledge, their lived experiences … these are all important aspects of the life of a film.”
