EUGENE, Ore. -- (April 23, 2019) – On Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m., Schnitzer Cinema continues this year’s series with Short Films from the 2019 Ashland Independent Film Festival. The screening includes “Men of Vision”, “Miller and Son”, “Dust Devil”, and “Forest on Fire”. The program is free and includes refreshments.
“Roughly 100 short films were screened in this year’s Ashland Independent Film Festival, and these four received the top prizes from the jury of film professionals. This program features a wide range of narrative genres (from comedy to drama), and documentary subjects (from dance to Northwest wildfires),” says Richard Herskowitz, JSMA Curator of Media Arts and Artistic Director of the Ashland Independent Film Festival.
“Men of Vision”, directed by Frank Todaro, follows the story of inventor Hubert Moss at the turn of the 20th century. His career is in the midst of dry spell that threatens to ruin him when a young acolyte shows up at his door could be the answer to his problems. This 20-minute film was the recipient of the Special Jury Recognition: Narrative Short.
Directed by Asher Jelinsky, “Miller and Son” was this year’s recipient of the Best Narrative Short award. This 22-minutes film follows the story of a transwoman mechanic, who lives between running her family's auto shop during the day and expressing her femininity at night, until an unforeseen event threatens the balance of her compartmentalized life.
“Dust Devil”, directed by Poppy Walker, was the recipient of the Best Documentary Short award. In the deserted town of Death Valley Junction, Broadway dancer Marta Becket cocoons herself in an enchanting yesteryear, creating an ornate opera house where she performs nightly - with or without an audience. Told in just 8 minutes, this film is dreamlike portrait, dancing between life and death, is a hauntingly romantic evocation of imagination, devotion and mortality.
“Forest on Fire” directed by Reed Harkness, was this year’s recipient of Special Jury Recognition, Documentary Short. The Eagle Creek Fire ravaged the Columbia River Gorge, causing communities to evacuate and stranding 150 day-hikers. A 15-year-old boy who threw a lit firework into a dry ravine on the Eagle Creek Trail set the fire. This 30-minute film includes accounts from an eyewitness who saw the boy start the fire, the stranded hikers, and people from the communities that persevered and took care of each other.
The final Schnitzer Cinema of the academic year will be on May 29 and feature Art on Film introduced by director Philip Haas.
About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest museum for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art. The mission of the museum is to enhance the University of Oregon’s academic mission and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts for the general public. The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, Europe, and the Americas as well as changing special exhibition galleries. The JSMA is one of seven museums—and the only academic art museum-- in Oregon accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027.
Contact: Debbie Williamson Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu
Links: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu
