Jury’s Notes – Luke Black
I am proud to have been a part of the CSIF’s surrealism film program; the idea of doing a tribute screening of Un Chien Andalou for the 80th anniversary of the film has turned into a great opportunity to create a showcase for some truly fantastic surrealist work. The programming committee has put a great deal of time and energy into executing this idea into a brilliant series. The staff went about soliciting films from both old and new resources, and the results of their work can be seen in the hundreds of amazing films that were submitted to the jury from around the globe. We on the jury faced quite the task of narrowing down so many entries to find the best for the festival. We spent many a Saturday afternoon locked in the dark but comfortable and aptly-named Sofa Cinema viewing and debating the merits of every film. In the end, we even ended up extending the two night event to a three night series, all in order to show as many of these incredible works as we could squeeze in. The third night at the Plaza will even be screening almost entirely on 35mm prints, which is a real coup for the event and the CSIF programming committee. I really believe that the staff and committee deserve a huge commendation for what they have achieved with the surrealism film program.
The submission requirements had few stipulations, as long as it could be deemed surreal in some way and utilized film. As a result, there are films dating back to 1993 (or 1928 if you count Un Chien Andalou), ranging in length from 28 minutes to as short as a single minute and the program includes genres from fiction to animated to experimental to a time lapse shot of a cat-candle melting. Some will be funny, some will be strange and some will shock you, but all of them are definitely surreal in their own way. As a member of the selection jury, I sincerely hope that you are entertained by the films you see and that you leave the screening thinking and talking about the eclectic arrangement of films you will get the chance to see tonight. After all, I’ve enjoyed the films so much I’ll be at all three nights watching them again. Enjoy!
(Luke Black)
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