Documentary film festival celebrates dynamic voices
The Mimesis Documentary Festival will showcase international documentary and ethnographic film works from more than 80 artists at the Dairy Arts Center and the ATLAS Institute from Aug. 4 to 10.
An international showcase of documentary and ethnographic media is coming to Boulder in the second annual Mimesis Documentary Festival from Aug. 4 to 10.
The 2021 Mimesis Documentary Festival features the work of more than 80 artists, producers and scholars from around the world. The six-day festival is a nonprofit project of the 精品SM在线影片鈥檚 Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media and will exhibits a collection of screenings, installation-based documentary art pieces, workshops and conversations with, 鈥渟ome of the most dynamic voices in documentary and ethnographic film,鈥 a press release states.
The festival is a hybrid experience, allowing audiences to view the films virtually or in person. Special events will be presented in-person only at Boulder鈥檚 Dairy Arts Center and the ATLAS Institute B2 Center for Media, Arts and Performance, but most programs can be viewed virtually.
Tickets can be purchased on the. For 精品SM在线影片 students, the committee has reserved 130 tickets for physical events and 110 for virtual events, so some students can attend for free.
鈥淢ost everything will be available virtually and in-person,鈥 said festival director Curt Heiner. 鈥淲e try to do a one-to-one model where you can see something virtually and then have at least one in-person program as well. The virtual events will be available on-demand whenever you want to watch them.鈥
One event that can be viewed only in-person is Featured Artist Pedro Costa鈥檚 editing masterclass. The masterclass will review his documentary Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? on Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. There will also be a screening of his critically acclaimed, Vitalina Varela on Aug. 6 at 7:15 p.m..
鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to get more people to submit to a docufiction category, things that can span multiple genres,鈥 Heiner said. 鈥淭his is the kind of category that Pedro Costa has become synonymous with in a lot of ways. His type of filmmaking really does come off in a more narrative sense, but there is a big push for a lot of his characters that are constantly playing themselves across multiple movies and scripts.鈥
Lynne Sachs is the opening night artist with her piece Film About a Father Who on Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. This film was one of the outstanding works from the open submissions. Following the opening night screening, the Dairy Arts Center will host a party in the lobby with a DJ and light refreshments.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see it,鈥 said Eric Coombs Esmail, director of the Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media and instructor of critical media practices. 鈥淗er work is something that has been critically lauded. The program team was blown away by it.鈥
The program team reviewed submissions from places like the United Kingdom, India, China, Germany and Switzerland. Of the open submissions, 80% will be screened and range from genres such as traditional, ethnographic, docufiction, experimental and emerging or student categories.
鈥淚t is a brutally long, intensive review process, and every piece is watched more than once by more than one of our main programming team,鈥 Esmail said. 鈥淓very single project is debated and viewed by multiple people. The way that these are programmed, it鈥檚 not just the quality of the film itself, but also for how they fit into the rest of the films that are submitted.鈥
Throughout the week there will be conversations with moderated artists and a screening curated in partnership with the.
The Mimesis Documentary Festival aims to elevate foster artists and promote transparency and inclusion and 鈥渢o help secure and promote Colorado鈥檚 place in a local, regional and international community of nonfiction creators and scholars,鈥 the press release stated.
The festival is supported by funding from the departments of anthropology and critical media practices, the College of Media, Communication and Information, the Research and Innovation Office at 精品SM在线影片, and the Stewart Family Foundation. This funding helps creators around the world have their work on display.
Esmail said, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait to see what comes and see the kind of community we鈥檝e got. It鈥檚 going to be the first time that we鈥檙e all together in-person for this festival. I鈥檓 especially excited to see the community of artists that might come together.鈥
More information on the Mimesis Documentary Festival is available on the.