6:00pm
Opening Night Reception
The 51st Festival opens with a reception featuring open bar with J Trees Cellars wine, signature Sazerac cocktails mixed by Ravens Club and Arbor Brewing Company beer, appetizers from local
8:15pm
Opening Night Screening
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Filmmaker in Attendance, Films in Competition, Historic Film, Narrative, Short Film
Short films in competition, featuring animation, documentary, narrative and experimental new works, including films by Mark Toscano, Jodie Mack, Kyle Armstrong, John Smith and the North American premiere of Da
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10:00pm
Afterparty: Sava’s
Afterparties
Continue the Opening Night celebration with drink specials and champagne toast compliments of Sava!
12:00pm
Juror Presentation: Marcin Gizycki – Polish Animation
Animation, Short Film, Special Presentations
The first of two programs of curated by scholar, critic and artist Marcin Giżycki that presents a survey of works beginning in 1957, the opening of what is generally considered
4:30pm
Luke Fowler and Nathaniel Dorsky
Documentary, Experimental, Feature Length, Films in Competition, Short Film
Luke Fowler’s film The Poor Stockinger, the Luddite Cropper and the Deluded Followers of Joanna Southcott focuses on the work of the Marxist historian Edward Palmer Thompson who taught literature
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6:59pm
Psychedelic Visions And Expanded Consciousness Los Angeles in the ‘60s and ‘70s
Experimental, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations
Hyperkinetic experimental film and animation in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s both echoed and informed the volcanic psychedelia that defined this era. Presented by Adam Hyman, Executive Director of
7:15pm
Films in Competition 1
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Filmmaker in Attendance, Films in Competition, Short Film
Memorial Land, the most recent documentary by Bill Brown included with other experimental, documentary and animated films.
9:15pm
“People’s Park” & Live Performance with Ernst Karel
Documentary, Feature Length, Films in Competition
A single-shot documentary, directed by Libbie Cohn and J.P. Sniadecki (co-director of Foreign Parts), People’s Park immerses viewers in an unbroken journey through a famous urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan
9:30pm
Out Night: History, Glamor, Magic
Films in Competition, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations, Themed Competition Programs
Inspired by the mythologies and artifice of Hollywood, this program blurs truth and fiction to invoke queer/trans legacies, communing with elders in a touch across generations. With films by Daniel
11:00pm
Afterparty: \aut\BAR
Afterparties
Out Night continues at \aut\BAR with complimentary appetizers and firepits in the courtyard!
12:00pm
Juror Presentation: Laida Lertxundi
Filmmaker in Attendance, Short Film, Special Presentations
Laida Lertxundi, originally from Bilbao, is a filmmaker, programmer and lecturer living and working in California. Her films, made with non-professional actors, evoke intimate spaces both external and internal and
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2:30pm
Critical Means #1
Panels & Discussions
The first of two discussions focusing on the current state of film criticism and writing, with a panel of scholars, critics, programmers and filmmakers.
5:10pm
Penny W. Stamps presents Ken Burns
Special Presentations
Filmmaker Ken Burns has directed and produced some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made including The Civil War; Baseball; Jazz; Huey Long; The War; The National Parks: America’s
7:00pm
Films in Competition 2
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Short Film
Recent animation, experimental and documentary films, including Flower by Naoko Tasaka.
7:15pm
“Leviathan”
Feature Length, Films in Competition
Lucien Castaing-Taylor (co-director of Sweetgrass) and Véréna Paravel (co-director of Foreign Parts) paired up with sound artist Ernst Karel to create one of the most acclaimed films of the past
9:15pm
Films in Competition 3
Experimental, Films in Competition, Narrative, Short Film
2012, an epic abstraction by Takashi Makino, and Some Part of Us Will Have Become by Semiconductor receive their North American premieres. The program features abstract, experimental and narrative films
9:30pm
Suzan Pitt Retrospective Program 1
Animation, Filmmaker in Attendance, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations
The first of two retrospective programs by celebrated animator Suzan Pitt, who has been creating some of the most beautiful, strange and fiercely original films for over four decades. Pitt’s
11:00pm
Afterparty: The Ravens Club
Afterparties
Enjoy independent and experimental mixology in a 1920’s speakeasy setting.
12:00pm
Juror Presentation: Kevin Jerome Everson
Filmmaker in Attendance, Short Film, Special Presentations
Kevin Jerome Everson's films combine scripted and documentary moments with rich elements of formalism. They focus on gestures or tasks caused by certain conditions in the lives of working class
2:30pm
Critical Means #2
Panels & Discussions
A continuation of the discussion on Thursday, with contributions from writers, scholars and critics based in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston and Toronto.
5:00pm
Polish Avant-Garde Animation Films
Animation, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations
The second of two programs of animated films from Poland. Marcin Giżycki will present films spanning 1958 – 2012, including Jan Lenica’s 1963 masterpiece Labyrinth, and Zbigniew Rybczyński’s New Book
7:00pm
“The End of Time”
Documentary, Feature Length
Working at the limits of what can easily be expressed, filmmaker Peter Mettler (director of Petropolis, 49th AAFF) takes on the elusive subject of time, and once again turns his
7:30pm
Films in Competition 4
Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Short Film
WEST: What I know about her by Kathryn Ramey included with other experimental and documentary films including: I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard by Matt Wolf, The Mutability Of
9:30pm
Films by Pat O’Neill
Filmmaker in Attendance, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations
One of the most acclaimed avant-garde filmmakers of our time, Pat O’Neill will be in attendance with several of his short films from the 1960s to the present. In O’Neill’s
9:45pm
Animated Films in Competition
Animation, Filmmaker in Attendance, Films in Competition, Short Film
Recent animated films and videos by Emily Hubley, Maureen Selwood, Maya Erdelyi, Meejin Hong, Shin Hashimoto and Kevin Eskew among others.
11:00pm
Afterparty: The Bar at 327 Braun Court
Afterparties
Get a drink at your neighborhood upscale dive-bar and take in a live audio-visual performance by Brooklyn duo Synthhumpers.
11:00am
“Your Day Is My Night”
Documentary, Feature Length, Films in Competition, Short Film
A provocative hybrid documentary by Lynne Sachs, set in New York City’s Chinatown where immigrant residents share their stories of personal and political upheaval.
12:00pm
“The Central Park Five” & Discussion
Documentary, Feature Length, Filmmaker in Attendance, Panels & Discussions, Special Presentations
The Central Park Five, directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon, tells the story of five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who, in 1989, were arrested and
1:00pm
Films in Competition 5
Films in Competition, Short Film
New works by Ana Vaz, Ben Rivers, and the North American premiere of Stephen Connolly’s Zabriskie Point (Redacted). Program concludes with The United States of America (1975) by Bette Gordon
3:30pm
Films in Competition 6
Animation, Experimental, Filmmaker in Attendance, Films in Competition, Narrative, Short Film
Michael Robinson’s Circle in the Sand, set in the near future during a second American civil war, follows a band of exiled political prisoners and their supervising soldiers, living in
4:00pm
“Water and Power” by Pat O’Neill
Feature Length, Filmmaker in Attendance, Historic Film, Special Presentations
Pat O'Neill's first 35mm feature, Water and Power, is widely regarded as a masterpiece. By using a series of visually and aurally dense tableaux created with advanced motion control, optical
7:00pm
Suzan Pitt Retrospective Program 2
Animation, Historic Film, Short Film, Special Presentations
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Stamps School of Art & Design Roman J. Witt Artist Residency Program The second of two programs celebrating four decades
7:15pm
Films in Competition 7
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Narrative, Short Film
Animated, experimental, documentary, and narrative films including new works by Duke and Battersby, Scott Stark and Josh Gibson.
9:15pm
“Suitcase of Love and Shame”
Feature Length, Films in Competition
A forbidden love story played out in a decade that would soon spawn the sexual revolution. Suitcase of Love and Shame reconstructs a mesmerizing and erotic narrative from 60 hours
9:30pm
Films in Competition 8
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Narrative, Short Film
Animated, experimental, documentary, and narrative films including new works by Fern Silva and Shambhavi Kaul.
11:00am
Films in Competition 9 (Ages 6+)
Animation, Experimental, Family Friendly, Films in Competition, Short Film
Animated and experimental films by Charlotte Taylor, Ben Popp, Matt Meindl, Joanna Priestley and others.
11:30am
Regional Competition Program
Animation, Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Narrative, Short Film, Themed Competition Programs
Recent narrative, experimental and documentary films from Michigan.
12:00pm
Music Videos in Competition
Films in Competition, Music Video, Short Film, Themed Competition Programs
Program co-curated and presented by Dan Hirsch, featuring contemporary music videos.
1:00pm
Films in Competition 10
Documentary, Experimental, Films in Competition, Short Film
New documentary and experimental films by Dani Leventhal, Mike Hoolboom among others. Program concludes with Spend It All (1971), a lively portrait of Cajun culture, by Les Blank.
2:00pm
“The Radiant” by The Otolith Group
Feature Length, Films in Competition, Short Film
The Radiant explores the aftermath of the March 11, 2011, when the Tohoku earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed many thousands and caused the partial meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi
3:00pm
“Our Nixon”
Feature Length, Films in Competition, Short Film
Throughout Richard Nixon's presidency, three of his top White House aides obsessively documented their experiences with Super 8 home movie cameras. Young, idealistic and dedicated, they had no idea that
6:00pm
Award Screening 1
Films in Competition, Short Film, Special Presentations
Onstage announcement of the 51st AAFF awards followed by a select screening of awarded films.
8:00pm
Award Screening 2
Films in Competition, Short Film, Special Presentations
Additional awarded films from the 51st AAFF.
