Boston Cinema Census

Boston Cinema Census 1

The first Boston Cinema Census was held Friday, May 31, 2002, at 9:00pm., at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA.

BCC1 Program Notes:

Simon, 3 minutes, 2001

Dir: John Allan

A young man walks through a quiet neighborhood on a summer morning, revealing his comically delusional view of worldy success. Filmmaker John Allan has made several short films that have screened at national film festivals and is currently developing a feature-length film.

With Us or Against Us, 5 minutes, 2002

Dir: Sarina Khan Reddy

Appropriating mainstream feature film and news footage, this very timely and politically pointed video examines the blurred boundaries between entertainment and news, focusing on America's support of pre-Taliban Afghanistan. An MFA student at Tufts University/School for the Museum of Fine Arts, video artist Sarina Khan Reddy has shown her work at Boston's Artists Foundation and the Coolidge Corner Theater's Video Screening Room.

Introduction to Living in a Closed System, 18 minutes, 2001

Dir: Britttany Gravely

Originally presented in an installation with accompanying dioramas and displays, Introduction is a visually dense, narratively fractured educational film based upon the idea of a biospheric utopia—a contained, self-sustaining controlled environment. Brittany Gravely is a recent MFA graduate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

A Day in the Life of Little Miss Knuckles, 6 minutes, 2002

Dir: Tamrin Willey

An hilarious, affectionate, socially-sly story of skateboarding subculture, enacted by the filmmaker's denim-jeaned, Puma-shoed fingers. A senior at the Massachusetts College of Art, filmmaker Tamrin Willey ". . . plans to use this kind of medium to educate and raise awareness about all the cool and radical things that we do not all get a chance to learn about." The director single-handedly shot and performed in this piece.

Modest Scarring, 28 minutes, 2002

Dir: Randy Bell

Examining the conflicting desires to get and remove tattoos, Modest Scarring is a comic, personal documentary about youth, the impending doom of middle-age, and the absurdity of permanence. Randy Bell's first film (with Justin Rice), Look Back, Don't Look Back, won Best of Festival at the 2000 New England Film and Video Festival and has screened at nearly forty festivals internationally.

Miss Lucy, 7 minutes, 2001

Dir: Tami Marks

An alternately comic and disturbing portrait of a contemporary crucifixion, Miss Lucy uses a most unlikely crown of thorns to touch on themes of femininity, consumer culture, ritual and madness. Video artist Tami Marks is currently an MFA student at Tufts University/School for the Museum of Fine Arts and has exhibited and studied in Israel.

I've Been Thinking About Not Coming Down, 19 minutes, 2001

Dir: Andrew Landauro

An experimental film that evokes its central character's social isolation and hallucinatory drug use with surprising visual and audio inventiveness. Andrew Landauro is currently a student at the Massachusetts College of Art.

Peep Show-and-Tell, 5 minutes, 2001

Dir: Michelle Barczykowski

Juxtaposing the narrator's account of her own sexual experiences against the seedy interior of a peep show both, Peep Show-and-Tell is a spartan, unflinching realization of one woman's sexual conscience. Michelle Barczykowski is currently an MFA student at Tufts University/School for the Museum of Fine Arts.

J.C.—More Than Just a D.J., 11 minutes, 2002

Dir: Hillary Weisman

An hilarious documentary portrait of 73-year old Elvis obsessive and disc jockey, "J.C.," and his Saturday night routine in a Massachusetts blue-collar bar. Filmmaker Hilary Weisman has an extensive background in film and television production, directing and writing numerous film shorts, two feature-length films, Life's Too Good (screened at international film festivals) and I Love My Movie, and producing for CBS's Wild Web, Entertainment Tonight, and A&E Biography.