Scratching the surface: 2018 Film/Video Program at a Glance

August marks the return of students and faculty to The Ohio State University campus and there is a palpable sense of anticipation with the new school year as we all put the sleepier summer months behind us. As late summer turns to fall, the Wexner Center for the Arts and our fellow cultural institutions across the city roll out their respective seasons of events that represent months, even years in some cases, of planning. And although our film/video program screens films year-round, we often save many of what we consider to be our most appealing or provocative films and guests for the fall when our friends and colleagues on campus (and in the community) are here to enjoy them.

We think you’ll be excited about what we have in store for the coming season. I know we are. Amidst a full and diverse array of film events this season, there are a handful that wonderfully represent how we are able to support artists both in the creation of new work through our Film/Video Studio Program (under Curator Jennifer Lange) and Residency Award program, and by creating an ideal environment for the presentation of, and engagement with, that work in our theater, The Box, and other spaces in the center.

We’re honored to once again serve as the opening night venue for the Columbus Black International Film Festival, which is already doing great things in just their second year. On August 23, Rodney Evans will be in the house for a screening of his important 2004 indie film Brother to Brother about a young gay man who suddenly finds himself befriending a major figure from the Harlem Renaissance era. Our Film/Video Studio Program provided its 16mm camera for the production of Rodney’s film and, bringing things full circle, Rodney will be doing post-production work on a new project around the time of the fest. The project we’re supporting in the studio, Vision Portraits, is a documentary about visual artists who, for a variety of reasons, are facing loss of eyesight. This project grew out of a short film, Persistence of Vision, that we’ll be showing in The Box during the month of August. It always gives us a special satisfaction when we can support a filmmaker, show his or her work, and have the studio and screening sides of our department intersect in interesting and serendipitous ways.

On October 18, Oscar-winning animator and prolific animation historian John Canemaker will return to the Wex for a very special event entitled Animation Action Analysis during which John will do a close examination of the styles and techniques of Vladimir “Bill” Tytla and Milt Kahl, two legendary Disney animators, the latter one of the fabled “Nine Old Men.” Using scenes from Pinocchio (1940), John will reveal the hidden artistry that made this one of the greatest animated features ever made. Following the talk, stay for a screening of Pinocchio in a restoration from Disney Studios. John has visited the Wex on numerous occasions, both to screen his own work and discuss others’ work, and in 2016-17 received a Wexner Center Residency Award in Film/Video in support of his forthcoming short film Hands, adapted from the Sherwood Anderson short story from Winesburg, Ohio.

Our studio program supports artists working in every genre and tradition, but perhaps the artists we support most frequently are working in documentary. In this year’s Unorthodocs. festival (our second, running October 25 – 29), three filmmakers who received post-production support in the studio will be on hand to introduce their respective films. On opening night, Leilah Weinraub will introduce a screening of Shakedown, a compelling portrait of a weekly party in Los Angeles that served as a strip club for African American lesbians. Leilah worked on the film intermittently in the studio from 2007 – 2009, and we’re proud that we are finally able to share it with our audience. On October 27, Ohio natives Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside will share their film América, which documents the struggle of three brothers in Mexico to care for the charismatic grandmother who suffers from dementia. Erick and Chase worked on their film in the studio twice, in 2016 and 2017, and (furthering the Wex connection) in 2011 won the Audience Award in our annual Ohio Shorts for their film Lifelike. Associate Curator Chris Stults has organized an ambitious and thoughtful weekend filled with compelling films and filmmakers and we hope you will pick up a pass and take advantage of all of it!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one last screening that connects our studio and screening programs. On September 20, former studio intern Heather Lenz returns with her new doc Kusama-Infinity, about legendary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, whose exhibition Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors closes at the Cleveland Museum of Art on September 30.

And this is just scratching the surface. We hope you will pick up a schedule and join us at one or more of our screenings or visiting filmmaker events this season.