| on 15-11-2006 11:34
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Published in : , Film |
November Film Fests in Prague  Mezipatra by Brooke Edge This month is the time for exploring different cinematic realms, from prejudices the art can break to breaking assumptions about the medium itself. Mezipatra brings films that break gay character and story taboos (not just snarky, limp-wristed best friends to the leading lady), the Prague Short Film Festival gives new options in structure, and Anti-Anti Fest III presents works that shatter film’s very core — film.
Mezipatra (October 30–November 17)
The seventh annual Czech Gay & Lesbian Film Festival began last month in Brno, and moved to Prague on October 30 to screen nearly three weeks of queer-themed cinema at Kino Světozor. Mezipatra has earned a reputation for presenting high-quality cinema to open minds, and its festival attracts scores of viewers from all orientations.
This year’s program includes competitive categories and pre-release fare from several nations (all will be screened in their original versions with Czech or English subtitles, or simultaneously translated into Czech). Films include Capote, Hedwig and the Angry Itch, Happy Endings, the recent critical hit Shortbus, and Brokeback Mountain.
A full list can be found at www.mezipatra.cz, coded to highlight films focusing on lesbian, gay, and transgendered themes, plus accompanying events.
Prague Short Film Festival (November 15–18)
If we can look at iTunes as a weathervane for what the masses want, what does it say that Apple opted to sell short films in its superstore before feature-length flicks?
The people behind the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival noticed the growing worldwide popularity of short films and noted a lack of that popularity here. They founded the Prague Short Film Festival last year to give short films their due respect, screening international works for a Czech audience.
This year’s featured films are all Czech premieres entered for competition, all fiction and have a maximum running time of 20 minutes. The competitive program will be complemented by noncompetitive films and other events, including retrospectives and homages.
 Avatar (es). Anti Anti III
Anti-Anti Fest screens short anti-films: films made mediums other than film.
What might that leave? Animation’s been around for ages, but Anti-Anti Fest III will screen samples of what today’s best are doing with it. There’s also digital video, giving filmmakers a new realm to play with in creating the best-looking works possible. Feature-film directors are turning on to this technique (bless you, Robert Rodriguez, for leading the charge).
Where does the other “Anti” come from? Festival organizer Instigator Media Group didn’t want to be too predictable, so contradicts itself by hosting a salon dedicated to anti-digital (a.k.a. film) and anti-moving image (i.e. still photography) works. Did that just blow your mind, or what?
Founded to promote the creative process in filmmaking, and to open moviegoers and moviemakers to the varied realms of art and technology available, Anti-Anti Fest has gained a wide fan base of people eager to see — and submit — works from developing artists. It is the manifestation of Instigator Media Group’s driving mantra, “If you want something to happen in the arts, in your community, or in the world around you, you must take an active role in bringing it about.”
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