The Secret Films of Girls
Selected by Eve Oishi, 70 minutes

What if the subconscious was a film? And what if the secret desires, terrors and pleasures of women were captured by the eye of a camera; manipulated, scratched, and cut; and projected onto the public screen of the world. This program of films by women investigates the formal and imaginative connections between the cinematic medium and the most private journeys and dreams of women.

Program:

Mit Mir (With Me) by Kerstin Cmelka,
2000, Austria, 16mm, 3 min.
One of the oldest tricks in movie magic is put to new use, and the result is a tender and intimate peek at the possibilities and pleasures of self-love.

firepussy by Laurel Almerinda,
2002, USA, 35mm, 19: min.
Haunted by guilt and her memories of her sisterís death, Maria travels to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula where she meets Aurelia a young student living by the sea. The friction between them brings Maria's emotional sparks to flame, a cleansing ritual through fire.

Les Soeurs Lumiere (The Lumiere Sisters)
by Karen Vanderborght,
2000, Belgium, 16mm, 28 min.
Pen pals Stella and Lucia take a blood oath that if one of them dies, she will become the other's guardian angel. When Lucia receives news of Stellaís death, she embarks on a road trip but finds herself being pursued instead by signs of angels, aliens and the existence of light and life beyond our immediate comprehension.

The Fourth Watch by Janie Geiser,
2000, USA, 16mm, 9:41 min.
The ancient Greeks named the period just before morning the fourth watch. This masterful film captures the uncanny space between sleep and waking, between darkness and dawn. Ghostly images from silent films are projected onto a 1950's tin dollhouse, flickering and haunting the silent rooms and blurring the line between dreamer and dream.

Each Night by vu t. thu ha,
2001, USA, super8 to video, 2 min.
The public and the private. The city and the bedroom. Super8 film expresses the intimate roughness and the gritty softness of an urban love poem.

Hand Eye Coordination by Naomi Uman,
2002, USA, 16mm, 10 min.
Tattoo needles, telephones and traffic cops. Scratching the surface of this film reveals the coordinated symmetry in all of these art forms.

Pink Eye by Machiko Saito,
2000, USA, video, 7:11
A high-speed account of the trials and tribulations of a real-girl drag queen's manic attempts at independent filmmaking as she tries to be both the subject and the gaze of her own production. This high femme on a low budget ultimately vents her frustration through oral gratification with broken camera parts.

Fear of Blushing by Jennifer Reeves,
2001, USA, 16mm, 5:30 min.
Sit back and allow this intricately layered barrage of images and sound to wash over you. At 24 frames per second, the film moves too quickly for reason to comprehend. Once it is over, take a breath, and examine what buried emotions, desire and impulses have been pulled to the surface of your mind.

@ Cal Arts
Nov. 1, 4pm

@ CSU, Northridge Art Galleries
Nov. 20, 7pm

@ OUTFEST
Wednesdays Weekly Screening Series
Nov. 20, 7:30pm