Despite all taking place within six hours in a single spot in Porter Square, the free Art City August: Community Film Festival coming Saturday is all over the place.
Among its roughly 20 films, broken into packages of three or four and followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers, are short pieces ranging from a straight-ahead hip-hop video to a documentary about a provocative fashion subculture and the fictional tale of a desperate gambler forced into a supernaturally bad deal. There is about three hours of film in all.
The only truly defining characteristic of a film festival described as showing everything from “introspective experimental art to sassy social commentary” is that the filmmakers work out of Greater Cambridge, said Emily Falcigno, organizer of the event for the fledgling Art City organization.
“We’re welcoming emerging artists to show their work. We want to give people a platform if they’ve never shown their work, so we had a pretty open way of selecting,” Falcigno said.
The day starts with special guests My City My Voice, a group of young teens sponsored and funded by the city mayor’s office that will perform a spoken-word, multimedia piece relating to identity, community and sense of place. “These are themes that tie into some of the other films,” Falcigno said.
Keep an eye out for such works as:
Rene Dongo’s experimental “Rattle” and Sofia Snow video “Hazard lights”
Jared Katsiane’s pseudo-documentary “Big Willow”
Ivy Maiorino’s documentary “The World is Underdressed”
Wally Reeves’ narrative short, “The Deal for a Lifetime”
Art City launched Aug. 1 with a flashmob, saw a daylong Jamapalooza music festival and a classical concert in Central and Harvard squares Sunday, and has a next big event in an Aug. 16-17 dance weekend. The entire Art City August calendar is here.
The Art City August: Community Film Festival will take place from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday at Lesley University’s second floor University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square. Free.
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