Short Experiments

Film event finds home for artform

Demara Titzer says a good abstract short film “has to be really compact, paced well and have really good visuals that will keep you [engaged] for five minutes.” These are some of the criteria she was looking for in submissions for the event.
Demara Titzer says a good abstract short film “has to be really compact, paced well and have really good visuals that will keep you [engaged] for five minutes.” These are some of the criteria she was looking for in submissions for the event.

Experimental film can have a difficult time establishing a home in a small town arts community. Submissions tend to pop into film festivals here and there, but the abstract nature can be lost on a general audience. If enough people are participating in an art form, though, that's when its own niche can be carved into the artistic landscape.

"If [artists] don't have a support structure for their work, they tend to stop or just do it for themselves," says Demara Titzer. Titzer is the creator of "E̶x̶p̶e̶r̶i̶m̶e̶n̶t̶a̶l̶ Experience* Films," an abstract film event making its debut Saturday at 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville. "The more you're exposed to something, the less foreign it becomes to you. That's one of the challenges with abstract film is educating people. The goal is to encourage filmmakers to continue creating films in the abstract and experimental genre so we have content to continue growing the program."

FAQ

‘E̶x̶p̶e̶r̶i̶m̶e̶n̶t̶a̶l̶ Experience* Films’

WHEN — 6:30-9 p.m. Saturday

WHERE — 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville

COST — Free

INFO — experiencefilms.net or facebook.com/experi…

Titzer partnered with organizations and creative minds all over Northwest Arkansas to bring the event together -- including Fayetteville Public Television, The Idle Class Magazine, Dreamhouse Creatives and Fayetteville Film Fest. When she started reaching out to other artists is when she realized there were enough people involved with the medium to create a home for it.

"That's one of the great things about Northwest Arkansas -- everyone, no matter what part of the art world they come from, is so supportive," she says. "Timing is important as well. There are many new ideas bubbling up that have really changed the entertainment landscape. I don't think we would have had the interest two or three years ago."

"People are drawn to narrative films naturally. It's part of who we are as humans -- with storytelling," adds Kody Ford, editor of The Idle Class magazine. "But sometimes, it's fun to step out of our comfort zone a little bit, and these films definitely push the envelope of what you think of as film making. They're weird; they're fun. I think people who have an open mind to that kind of thing will have a lot of fun."

The event features more than 30 short films created by local artists and students from the University of Arkansas through the sUgAR Gallery program. The films range in length from 12 seconds to just under 5 minutes and come from several different sub-genres that fall under the abstract umbrella.

"There are quite a few different kinds of abstract [film]. I was excited to discover we do have a wide variety of films to offer in this first event," Titzer says excitedly. "Abstract can be so obscure. If you're used to watching narrative, you can be left with a lot of questions -- and the filmmakers want people to answer these for themselves."

NAN What's Up on 08/19/2016

*CORRECTION: The “Experience Films” event will be Saturday at 21c Museum Hotel. The event’s name was incorrect in this story.

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