Skin & Scales

Actor Cameron Monaghan makes his directorial debut with the short film Foxbody, a stylized thriller that embraces the dark aesthetics of neo-noir.

An ambitious singing and dancing cat in 1939 Hollywood overcomes several obstacles to fulfill his dream of becoming a movie star.

An abstract animated film inspired by the work of jazz musician Chico Hamilton.

A cosmic experimental film by Jordan Belson, set to music by Iasos.

During his visit to a graveyard, a young man is suddenly projected into a dream-like realm. Empty and removed from time, the familiar landscape forces him to confront certain pains when blood suddenly effuses from his hands.

The film creates a vision of the destruction of the world and warns against its realization.

BASEMENT GHOSTS provides a chilling assessment of the major contributors to the recent growth of neo-fascist movements, and how young extremists can be turned away from a life of hatred in this 8mm homage to wartime propaganda videos.

A glimpse into a visual representation of memory; A Christmas-time series of meals, coffees, and movies, with friends, lovers, and housemates. Faced with the compounding of faces and places, each moment begins to collide with one another: voices are muddled, and faces are broken. How is memory created? How are they separated from one another?

The second essay about still dominant dark aspects of our modern society. It is conceived as a surreal anti-patriarchal thought experiment and raises important questions about gender, power, and social change, prompting us to reflect on how historical patterns of discrimination and oppression might be either repeated or overcome in a reversed gendered world. It challenges the viewer to confront their own assumptions and biases, and to consider the possibilities of a more equitable society.

This newly rediscovered short was created in Jim's home studio in Bethesda, MD around 1961. It is one of several experimental shorts inspired by the music of jazz great Chico Hamilton. At the end, in footage probably shot by Jerry Juhl, Jim demonstrates his working method.

Lake gazes down at a still body of water from a birds-eye view, while a group of artists peacefully float in and out of the frame or work to stay at the surface. As they glide farther away and draw closer together, they reach out in collective queer and desirous exchanges — holding hands, drifting over and under their neighbors, making space, taking care of each other with a casual, gentle intimacy while they come together as individual parts of a whole. The video reflects on notions of togetherness and feminist theorist Silvia Federici’s call to “reconnect what capitalism has divided: our relation with nature, with others, and our bodies.”

Sequence 9

A voyeuristic night photographer discovers that she has become the subject of some thing's lens.

Hoping to find a sense of connection to her late mother, Gorgeous takes a trip with her friends to visit her aunt's ancestral house in the countryside. The girls soon discover that there is more to the old house than meets the eye.

Across the installation's multiple channels, the camera circles a group of artists as they sit together in a field eating, licking, and squeezing ripe tomatoes. Throughout the ever-changing scene, kisses, whispers, and caresses are shared with a casual, gentle intimacy that reflects interconnectivity and abundance. These queer and desirous exchanges constitute a portrait of collectivity wherein individuals come together as distinct parts of a whole.

After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.

SOME MEMORIES CAN HAUNT YOU

17 year old Sparkle discovers a free spirited group of Soca dancers at a car show in the bustling streets of downtown Trinidad. Enamored by the glimpse of sisterhood, she uses her wit to convince them to take her under their wing. The women bring Sparkle into a dizzying nightlife of partying, glamour, and money, but as things spiral out of control, Sparkle is forced to make some tough decisions.

After the mysterious death of his father, Aaron O'Donnell, a ruthless capitalist, decides to take the reins as the leader of Borealis. However, his brother Andrew sets out to hijack his dictatorship and warn not only the residents of Borealis, but all future visitors of the danger Aaron poses.