Curator pick: Film/Video Studio artists on the Criterion Channel

Jennifer Reeder's Crystal Lake; image courtesy of the filmmaker

Quietly, the Criterion Channel has been redefining what a streaming platform can be. Whereas Netflix or Hulu or Disney+ are warehouses that try to keep a little of everything in stock and seem to buy based on volume rather than quality, the Criterion Channel has created a cinematheque of delights that upends any expectations. Sure, there are the world cinema, art house, and auteurist classics that you’d expect from Janus Films and the Criterion Collection. But the channel goes into areas that no other streaming service has. The series Tell Me: Women’s Filmmakers, Women’s Stories encompasses decades of experimental, educational, and activist films from various stages of the women’s moment—mainly in 16mm or lo-fi video! Other recent series have covered Black Westerns, Japanese Noir, and Afrofuturism.

But it’s also so exciting and satisfying to see so many films supported by the Wexner Center’s Film/Video Studio featured on the collection. This month, the channel just added two films by Rodney Evans, Brother to Brother (2004) and Vision Portraits (2019), along with a conversation with Evans. Evans borrowed the Wexner Center’s 16mm Aaton camera to shoot Brother and had an extensive post-production residency to complete Portraits (often alongside editor Alexis McCrimmon, who, coincidentally, studied under Evans at Temple University) and also did public screenings and conversations around both films. 

We’ve been proud to support Mansfield, Ohio native Kevin J. Everson’s work going back to the late 1990s. The Criterion Channel is spotlighting five films that he made with fellow University of Virginia professor Claudrena N. Harold for their ongoing Black Fire project. Recreating Black student life at UVA over the decades, Black Fire features several Wex-supported films.