PDX Film Fest and Shana Moulton

Hi there.

So Cravedog was a sponsor of last weekend's PDX Film Fest, presented by Peripheral Produce. Peripheral Produce is an experimental film and video distribution label. How cool is that? 

I attended the Fest last Friday and saw some awesome things. I started at the Hollywood Theater (awesome, old movie theater in the historic Hollywood District, which is also home to one of the coolest places in Portland--42nd St. Station. 42nd St. Station has a rad basement-level sprawling antique shop where everything is sold by private collectors on consignment. Also in the Station is a postal center and a cafe where, I believe, smoking is still permitted, sandwiches are still mostly made on smooshy white bread, and there is a full bar--pretty cool). 

 I attended "An Evening With Shana Moulton." Shana is an experimental filmmaker and sometimes-performance artist. It turns out she and my older sis went to grad school together at Carnegie Mellon, funnily. Shana's films star Cynthia, her alter ego, who desperately tries to transcend the banalities of her life with New Age ritual and paraphernalia. One of the things she contends with is the limitations of living in an often stressed or pained physical body. Even when relief is to be had, there is always the disappointment that inevitably follows brief moments of illumination and exhilaration. 

Her work is poignant, though at first glance, it doesn't seem even authentic. Her style is a visual pastiche of super-trippy and colorful ephemera, and it's intense, like eating  an entire box of Lucky Charms cereal. The images and items she uses in both the live-action and animated scenes are many, and are totally kitsch. It seems like she's making fun of it all at first. But in viewing several of her pieces one after another, a sweetness and sadness emerges that is very relatable, especially if you grew up in the last 80's and witnessed the New Age craze and know all the references. The New Age movement was and is no different than any other avenue tried by people who just want to find something to connect with, and it was so successful because it was so approachable. New Age stuff also happens to be super entertaining and fun, and sometimes funny. Shana's work certainly does not forget this aspect: her stuff is also fun and has a sense of humor.

I borrowed the image from Bellwether Gallery, a New York Gallery that exhibited Shana's work April of 07. Check out their website at www.bellwethergallery.com. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and all moms everywhere. And happy birthday today to my very good friend Sabra Choi.

Listening in the office: The Epochs, Fleet Foxes, Polly Scattergood, Cloud Cult, Final Fantasy.