Blog posting written by Shawn Steiner, Film, Photography, and Visual Arts '13, FLEFF Intern, Elkridge, MD

It's been a good three years since I started college and I haven't missed a single Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival. I was a blogger my freshman year, a willing participant under Dr. Zimmermann's tutelage my sophomore year and yet again a blogger this year, my junior/senior year at Ithaca College.

Each experience was different but equally amazing. 

This year was especially great. With a revamped meeting structure and more diverse projects to work on I really got involved with the festival. And, since I'm a senior I didn't have any of those nerves popping up when I was talking to festival guests.

And, if there was one point to take away from all this it is this: "We need to do something together."

During each presentation, film or chat in the hallway where a couple people of differing skills were together it always seemed to lead to that conclusion. Transmedia especially seemed to be at the forefront of this.

Great projects require collaboration. Different people from different environments coming together to make something. Because if I have learned anything during my college experience it is that your good friend and editor that leans over your shoulder to tell you that your fade out doesn't work is in it for your best interest.

You have to listen to one another and evolve and move through various mediums to tell your story. Hopefully, after a few years in the field I'll be able to tell mine.

Thank you to everyone involved with FLEFF this year for the great time and learning experience.

Blog posting written by Erica Moriarty, Documentary Studies and Production '16, FLEFF Intern, Houston, Texas 

Hello FLEFFers! Can't make it to the FLEFF Lab in Park 220? No problem! I'm here live blogging to bring you the highlights!

And due to a last minute change, filmmaker Bo Wang, the first Chinese filmmaker to attend FLEFF, will be doing a presentation this hour.

Bo directed a film called China Concerto at 4PM and 9PM tomorrow at Cinemapolis. dGenerate films brings underground, new generation Chinese cinema out of China. This new generation of films emerged post-Tiananmen with a new, radical spin. 

"Set the stage for us and walk us through China," Dr. Patricia Zimmermann began the 

Bo described a brief history of China. After Mao died in 1976, the country began to adopt capitalism.

"It's been described as socialism with Chinese characters," said Bo. 

After 1989 and the incident at Tiananmen Square, a new movement emerged. It began with the avant-garde movement which was politically driven in the form of personal expression. However, many movies continued to be censored. In the 90s, many artist began making movies and used connections in the western world to distribute the Chinese independent filmmaking. 

In August, Bo attended a film festival in Beijing, one of the biggest in China. During this time, there was a significant party shift in Chinese government. 

Bo described the interruption by the government: "After a half hour of the festival beginning, the electricity was cut...There was a back and forth resistance from the festival, but eventually, the festival was shut down."

After the festival shut down, the films became even more independent, often being shown in artists' studios or houses. Therefore, Bo's film, China, was never shown in an actual festival.

Although he is very involved in Chinese filmmaking today, Bo did not begin college as a filmmaker. He originally planned to go into the sciences, but he felt that he could connect with people more through art and film. 

"Do you worry about censorship at all?" asked a member of the audience.

"I'm not attacking any specific person or authority," answered Bo. "I also did not expect this film to have a public showing in China. I think it should be okay. It should be safe." 

In all of east and southeast Asia, the film screened at only one shut down film festival. We're lucky enough to have it this week at FLEFF! Come to Cinemapolis Saturday at 4PM or 9PM to learn more.

Blog posting written by Shawn Steiner, Film, Photography, and Visual Arts '13, FLEFF Intern, Elkridge, MD

And once again we are back in Park 220 for FLEFF Lab Friday. Kelly Matheson from WITNESS is here and Dr. Patricia Zimmermann is moderating this hour. Come on by!

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Kelly begins with the well-known video of Rodney King. It was the catalyst for witness and proved that video could enact social action and change. So, they got together and got video cameras all over to record stories all around. And for 20 years, after working through many issues, they are working to create many international videos and tell compelling stories.

QUESTION: Who is Oscar Grant?

How do you get your video seen when there is an absurd saturation of digital media out there? That is an issue that Kelly and others like her deal with constantly.

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Informed consent is the current topic of Kelly's. She is screening clips from a huge variety of projects. Including a short from her TRUST series about youths fighting climate change.

An new take is how to take perpetrator shot video and turn it back onto the perpetrators, as opposed to the humiliation to the victim intended by the original video.

Verification is another thing that needs to be analyzed. Kelly cites the website storyful.com as a source for validation of video for news. Here is the fireball example that Kelly cites.

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"Technology is always a double-edged sword."

QUESTION: What do you do when your documentary or video risks the well-being of your subject?

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The question of reconciliation is a major talking point during the discussion. And it may bery well be added to Kelly's list of major things to think about when dealing with video. We need to determine how citizen-shot footage will allow usage in things like court cases and how they can be verified.

What does it mean when that image is recorded, circulates, or as evidence?

The ethics behind the usage of a video as evidence requires it to have a much more intense method of verification.

"Give the archive love. They are the unsung heroes."

Blog posting written by Shawn Steiner '13 & Andrew Ronald '15, Film, Photography, and Visual Arts, FLEFF Interns

New media and an experimental filmmaker? Be prepared for some very unique and inspired thoughts during this next hour of FLEFF Lab Friday. Make sure to stop by Park 220 sometime today as it will always have something exciting going on.

A very good start to the conversation. Everyone is introducing themselves and seeing the variety of interests in the room.

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Evan Meaney talks about transmedia and how his method is to destroy everything. He takes apart files and then tries to create something new from the pieces.

QUESTION: What is it to live in a world where media is decaying?

Mansoor Behnam discusses his obsession with images and how the ideals of mystical Persian literature has led him to produce his experimental films. He is experiementing with the idea of god with the help of digital media and technology.

SCREENING: "When You Are Blind" (2001) Short Film By Mansoor Behnam (video embedded below)

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"It's the burden of representation."

Mansoor believes that in order to experience the non-representational one must embrace the experimental format. It is necessary to represent the invisible and create mystical work through a lot of abstract effort and imagery.

One major goal of his projects are to bring "new and hidden truth to a body of knowledge."

Another point is that collaboration can bring out new heights and thoughts in each work.

The issues of suppression and public viewpoints are a serious consideration to talk about and unfortunately we need to give some time to Evan Meaney so find Mansoor and ask him questions!

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"Art-math high five?"

Evan takes a stab at explaining Null_Sets. It basically is a way of converting text into images, similar to the method of a QR code. And theoretically if you have a camera with a high enough fidelity you could translate these images back into their original data.

QUESTION: "At what point does noise become useful data?"

Now, you can even download the Null_Sets toolkit right here.

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QUESTION: How do these works connect?

Mansoor sees it in the images that come out of new media attributed to the presence of the infinity. Also, if anyone has seen Middle Eastern rugs, many people have seen a connection to telling stories through patterns in these carpets to the visuality of the Null_Sets jpegs.

Evan discusses compression and how if something becomes so compressed it becomes something unreadable and unreachable. We don't have access to it. "It becomes invisible." Which is what Mansoor attempts to describe in his work.

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Fortunately, a lot of their work is available online. So go watch it, use it, download it and let us know what connections you find.

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Blog posting written by Kimberly Capehart, Documentary Studies and Production '16, FLEFF intern, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Hey all! 

I'm currently sitting in Williams 202, waiting for the screening of Mansoor Behnam's experimental film, Cup of Coffee with Kafka. Behnam, himself, is here and ready to talk to the FLEFF-goers in the room. Stay tuned to read about Behnam's comments, and my thoughts on the film.

5:32 pm: Benham thanks the class for coming and introduces his film, Cup of Coffee with Kafka. 

As an immigrant to Canada in 2006, Benham says that he experienced feelings of displacement and alienation in his time of transition, and that his work reflects very personally on his experience.

In 2010, he attended a panel with the theme of "in transit." Behnam says he was fascinated with the idea of transit and mobilities. 

Along with a friend, Felipe Quetzalcoatl Quintanilla, a diasporic Mexican filmmaker, Behnam crafted an experimental documentary reflecting on the theme that fascinated and touched them both. 

"It has an element of instability and change, so sometimes the film may look different than that of 'typical films'" he preludes.

The lights are dimming and the film is starting, get ready.....!

The film opens with a definition of the word "transit," followed by a handheld, sped up, blue filter-tinged shot of people and cars passing as the person holding the camera walks down the street. This lasts approximately 50 seconds until the film stops. Apparently we have only a short clip of the film set up on the computer, so it'll be a few minutes while moderator Tom Shevory figures things out.

5:42 pm: A DVD of the film is loaded and ready to go! 

5:43 pm: The film is restarted, and this time it plays for more than 50 seconds (yay!). The handheld images taken while the cameraperson walks (which are reminiscent of the dizzying feature film, Cloverfield) are spliced between interviews of filmmakers as they explain their definition of transit. 

Some filmmakers define the term literally, as a state of motion. Others offer up more creative definitions, often accompanied by stories and examples. I wish I had seen this film when I offered up my own definition of mobilities. 

5:55 pm: More technical difficulties! Static noise consumes the classroom and the picture on screen breaks and jumps in slow motion. Once again, our moderator and filmmaker are on the case, trying to figure it out. 

6:01 pm: The film is working again, but this time we're watching it through YouTube. Isn't technology great?

6:02: Except buffering. Buffering is not great. The classroom is ringing with suggestions on how to avoid the dreaded buffer awaiting a thirty-six minute film.

6:11: The film is working again, again.

The documentary-style interviews with the filmmakers offer some interesting views and definitions of the word "transit." But, coupled with visible microphones, varying aspect ratios, random cuts on action and more distanciating elements, the film is definitely experimental in nature - an interesting and refreshing take on the art of documentary filmmaking.

6:25 pm: The film has ended and Behnam is waiting to answer questions. 

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"I like nomadism. I'm trying to turn this concept of 'instability' and 'homelessness' into being 'in a home'."

"Through the element of change, we are actually fixed. We are fixed in a constant state of change."

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6:31 pm: He explains concepts of change through examples of science and paradoxes. 

"For me on one hand change is internal, it's existential. On the other hand, its physical. As an experimental filmmaker, I try to reflect that through my work. It's not bounded by rules or borders, so it can always be changing."

If you couldn't be here and would still like to see Behnam's film, you can find it on YouTube. 

What is your definition of transit?

Blog post written by Kristen Tomkowid, Journalism '15, Blogger Intern, Poughkeepsie, NY 

Jorge Garcia Nunez put on a FLEFF workshop yesterday about La Poderosa Media Project. The project's mission, as stated on their website, is " is to encourage youth empowerment, cultural empathy, and collaborative learning through community based visual arts programs in Latin America and the United States."

Kristen Tomkowid: Why did you choose to become a part of La Poderosa Media Project?

Jorge Garcia Nunez: For a long time I was part of projects involving media literacy in underserved communities in México, and when the opportunity of creating a larger project with a bigger geographical scope arose, I immediately took it. I believe it is very important to give young people in Latin America the opportunity to use both the technology and the discursive tools to express themselves and find their own voice to create messages relevant to them, so they engage actively in the production of meaning in their societies. 

KT: What is your role in the project? 

JG: Officially I am the Curriculum Director, and my job is to coordinate the creation of all our original pedagogical materials of our three programs: the language and culture program, called "Nuestra América", the filmmaking program, called "Telling Your Own Story", and the distance education program. I also look for and hire the instructors of each course we offer, and oversee the functioning of everything related to the courses in the field. As part of the  "Telling Your Own Story" program, I am the instructor of the script writing module: I basically guide students through all the stages from the premise of the movie until the final script. I occasionally teach the production design module. Finally, once in the field, I help coordinate the whole project.  

KT: Why are you doing FLEFF?

JG: Since La Poderosa Media Project is a blenden concept of film and eduction, FLEFF is the perfect venue to tie both components together.

KT: Would you do it again next year?

JG: Of course! It is a great opportunity for us to get to know and collaborate with a lot of interesting people.

What are your thoughts about the project?

Blog post written by Shawn Steiner, Film, Photography, and Visual Arts '13, FLEFF Intern, Elkridge, MD

FLEFF is in full swing! And right now Evan Meaney, assistant professor of transmedia design at the University of Tenessee, and Elizabeth Miller, are setting up in Park Center Business School room 111 for their Transmedia Workshop.

Everyone is looking good and just this second something has poppe up on the projector. Stay tuned for updates!

TRANSMEDIA WORKSHOP: EVAN MEANEY

"If you are a hammer than every problem starts looking like a nail."

What happened was people started dabbling "beyond and through" different medias in order to solve different problems in different ways.

Mainly, the key is that if you are one person, but secretly another person, you can be both!

And after "the brief history of Evan Meaney" we are delving into the meat of the workshop.

QUESTION: What is your definition of transmedia?

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"In the pursuit of being pure, I think about voids."

Pure is not in the ordinary sense, but in being clear. A void.

What are voids? They are null_sets.

Which leads into his project "Null_Sets" where he and a partner worked to produce software that converts data into jpeg images. Converting this data into an image removes the context from the information.

It is basically like making anything a "jpeg sandwich." Anything from Moby Dick to tweets to the entire human genome.

"It is really ordered chaos."

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Data vs. Information

Data is made up of all the core items that make up something. What that something is displayed as is an interpretation of data as information.

For example, if you buy groceries, turnips, onions, etc... That is the data. When you make the soup later on, the soup is the interpretation of the data as information. But, what kind of soup you make from those ingredient can change drastically depending on how you desire your food. The data can be interpreted in many ways to create innumerable interpretations.

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"I'm a terrible artist. Science is where it is at."

Think about it, scientists came up with a way to display images from nothing. Meaney says that this is incredible. They are the "Olympic-level geniuses."

And right now, Null_Sets source code and tool kit has been posted to the website and is available to all because "[t]hings are better when they are free."

This is a project that includes high-level coding, gallery presentations, and a participatory website. It requires you to learn a plethora of disciplines in order to ask questions that are revolutionary.

QUESTION: What are you studying? And what else are you interested in? Show your many disciplines.

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"Never turn down learning stuff."

Blog post written by Kristen Tomkowid, Journalism '15, FLEFF Intern, Poughkeepsie, New York

Nicholas DiEugenio is an assistant professor in the IC School of Music with specialties in violin and chamber music. At this year's festival, Carmina Burana will be performed by local musicians. DiEugenio talked about his involvement with this performance.

Kristen Tomkowid: How did you become a part of FLEFF?

Nicholas DiEugenio: I'm extremely privileged to live in Ithaca and to teach violin at the IC School of Music. One of my colleagues, Deborah Martin, is organizing this year's FLEFF performance of Carmina Burana, and she asked if I would be interested in participating. Of course I was glad to accept the offer! 

KT: Have you ever performed Carmina Burana before? If yes, where/when? 

ND: I have never been a part of a performance of this work before. However, even if I had, I would not have done anything like what I am doing in this particular performance. Since we will be using many instruments to cover vocal parts (both solo parts and choral parts), I will actually be playing my violin in an attempt to evoke a soprano soloist in two specific moments in the cantata. This is kind of like the reverse of a "pants" role, which might seem rare, though I do get to do this quite often as a violinist! I wonder if it is the first time that this type of musical impersonation has ever been done with Carmina Burana. 

KT: What is your favorite part of the piece and why?

ND: I'm not sure that I have a "favorite part" of the piece, but I think my favorite aspect of this piece is its original conception. It was designed to be a piece of music to go with visual movement. It's often performed as a concert cantata, but its birth as a piece of multimedia art gives it a tremendous adaptability, and creative directors can take it in many different directions. It's no wonder that this quality has been exploited over the years in commercial advertising--my brain always associates the opening of Carmina Burana with a desire to join the Marines, and I wonder why! So, the music has this "empty vessel" quality which is actually quite potent when combined with strong visual imagery, and I think that is what I appreciate most about this piece.  

KT: What do you want people to take away from the performance?

ND: Hopefully this performance will be memorable for all of its musical innovation (down-scaling to two pianos, using instrumentalists to cover vocal parts, using the Trombone Troupe to cover chorus parts!), and for its powerful visual imagery in conjunction with the music. These aspects will make the performance unique, and hopefully any person in attendance will enjoy and remember a unique artistic experience which crosses boundaries and blends many senses. 

KT: Are you going to see anything else FLEFF is doing? If yes, what are you most excited for?

ND: There are a few films programmed at the Ithaca Cinemapolis that are of particular interest to me; since I've recently traveled to both Russia and China to perform, I am interested to see China Concerto, Lost Boys, and No Problem. I'm also really interested in October, a silent movie for which the Cloud Chamber Orchestra will provide live music. 

Will we see you at Carmina Burana?

Blog posting by Kimberly Capehart, Documentary Studies and Production ’16, FLEFF Blogger, Cherry Hill, New Jersey

March 3^rd is only a few days away, which means that in just five days, the Upstate Filmmakers Showcase will be occurring downtown at Ithaca’s local, independent movie theater, Cinemapolis.

For those who don’t know, all profits from the showcase will go to support Cinemapolis in its complete digital conversion. Sadly, the days of 35 mm film projection in theaters are extremely numbered, and every theater that wishes to survive in the modern multiplex business needs to make sure they’re ready to compete in the digital marketplace. For Cinemapolis, this means equipping all five of their theaters with brand new digital projection systems. You can read more about the technological aspect of it here.

As suggested by its name, the Upstate Filmmaker’s Showcase will be featuring work exclusively from filmmakers in Upstate New York. I recently spoke to Carol Jennings, an upstate filmmaker herself, and the director of the Park Media Lab at Ithaca College, about Park Productions’ contribution to the showcase. 

Park Productions is a media production company stationed on the IC campus that is staffed exclusively by Park students. The company primarily works on collaborative projects with non-profit organizations within the Ithaca community. Through their client-driven work, Park Productions gives students professional experience in media production.   

In 2011, in collaboration with the Visitors Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce, Park Productions produced a series of webisodes that “showcases popular destinations” and “highlights the unique natural beauty of the Finger Lakes Region” in order to promote tourism in the region. Finger Lakes Uncorked! “follows the adventures of a fictional character Craig Vinholtz, a magician and wine enthusiast living in the Finger Lakes region of New York.”

The production team for the project was composed of students, faculty, and alumni who worked closely with the Visitors Bureau and the Finger Lakes Wine Country to produce all nine webisodes. The series, which was intended to be a “social media release,” as Jennings puts it, premiered at FLEFF in 2011 and hit the web shortly after.

Jennings says her favorite part of the festival is seeing the “continuity of students, alumni, and professionals,” much like the combination that worked on Finger Lakes Uncorked! “It’s great to see former students come back as alumni, and then to come back even later on as professionals. Everyone looks at the work of current students and can offer suggestions and talk about their past work at Ithaca.” 

Episodes one, two, and four will be shown this Sunday at the Upstate Filmmakers Showcase. They are also available for viewing on YouTube and on the project’s official website.

Jennings says she is “honored that Park Productions is included in the group of incredibly talented filmmakers” who will be showing their work at the showcase. “We have an amazing pool of talent in the area,” she concludes.

Be sure to come out to Cinemapolis this Sunday, March 3^rd to support your fellow Ithacans, Cinemapolis, and Upstate New York art!

Blog post written by Kristen Tomkowid, Journalism '15, FLEFF Blogger, Poughkeepsie, New York. 

 A few days ago, I had the privilege of talking with Ithaca College Associate TVR Professor and film maker John Scott. We talked about his involvement in FLEFF, both past and present.

Some background on John: He received his BFA in Film Production from Concordia University in 1990, his BA in Honors English from Dalhouse Universtiy in 1992 and his MFA in Film and Video Production from The University of Iowa in 1999. He has directed over a dozen independent documentary projects and one feature-length  documentary called The Scouts Are Cancelled. Some of John's more recent work will be shown at the upcoming FLEFF Kick-Off  on March 3rd. Below is a glimpse of our conversation together: 

Kristen Tomkowid: How did you get involved with FLEFF?

John Scott: I had a feature length documentary shown in FLEFF in 2008 and a short film in Upstate Shorts last year, but I've been going to FLEFF for years.

KT: What are you showing at the FLEFF Preview this year?

JS: One is a repeat of the short shown last year, One Art, which is part of a series of shorts based on Elizabeth Bishop poems. The other screening is of Notes on Liberty, a full length film made with his wife, Karen Rodriguez, in 2009, about a boys trip to the Statue of Liberty and how that contrasts the current immigration issues. I was always ambivalent to the Statue due to problems with immigration. I decided to make the movie because, for my son's fifth birthday, he wanted to go the Statue and I was divided about the trip. It has toured all over the world.

KT: Have you looked at this year's line-up of films?

JS:  I haven't really looked at it, yet, but I am going to try to see 5 Broken Cameras.

John's looking forward to see Emad Burnat's documentary. What are you looking forawrd to see at the festival?

 In October 1917, the Bolsheviks rose up to receive total power in Russia from the government. Before this could happen, much had to be done. The monarchy had to be overthrown and creating a need for a new leading body. This was to be a big year for the people of Russia.

Eleven years later, Sergei Eisenstein partnered with Grigori Aleksandrov to create October:Ten Days That Shook the World. Shot in a documentary style, this silent film depicts Russia during this time of turmoil. With a story covering from February 1917 to November the same year, everything is seen about this revolution. Since the filming was only a short time from the actual events, there is a realism that is added. Buildings are the same as they were during the revolution and many of the people in the film were actual participants, including Red Guards, soldiers and sailors, in the uprisings.

Rotten Tomatoes gave October an 86 out of 100 based on critics reviews and an 80 out of 100 based on audience reviews. Critics on the site say that although it may seem hard to watch in today's world, it is still an impressive piece of work and well worth the watch.

This year at FLEFF, Eisenstien's October will be one of the two silent films played. Since it is a silent film, it will be accompanied by Ithaca's own Cloud Chamber Orchestra. Watching October should prove to be an interesting experience since you will be seeing movies the way they were originally created to be seen. 

How do you think it will be?

Blog post written by Kristen Tomkowid, Journalism '15, FLEFF Intern, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Arab Spring was big news the past two years, but we have been hearing less and less about it recently. I interviewed artist Ali Kadhum about his work on the subject for the Distributed Microtopias exhibit

Kadhum created the video Under the Microscope as a response to the suppression and inhibitions the Arab world went through and is still going through. As an Iraqi citizen, Kadhum was a part of this world and because of this he saw the reason behind the uprising.

Kristen Tomkowid: Are you happy with the result of Under the Microscope?

Ali Kadhum: I am very satisfied with the result.

KT: Do you think you will do more to further the project? Like creating a series?

AK: Yes, there is a lot of work about this theme in my exhibition that includes a seven part series of video art and experimental works that have been produced by an organization. Now, it depends on whether there are other organizations which can fund the project.

KT: Are you working on anything new?

AK: Right now there is an experimental film about the American invasion of Iraq. It is a series of work which includes Iraq after war.

"As human beings we are trapped in a grid, drawn by political and social events."-Kadhum's webpage 

What are your thoughts on Arab Spring and our invasion of Iraq? Leave a comment with your thoughts!

Blog posting written by Andrew Ronald, Film, Photography & Visual Arts '15, FLEFF Blogger, Mahopac, New York

Well here we go again with another great edition of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival!

My name is Andrew Ronald and this is my second year in a row blogging for FLEFF, but first year taking on the role as a Social Media Manager. I am from Mahopac, New York currently studying Film, Photography & Visual Arts with a minor in Marketing at Ithaca College. You guys might recognize some of my blog posts from last year, but this time around, the festival is taking a slightly revamped approach as the theme of mobilities is explored.

And what an appropriate theme it is! 

Simply put, I love everything about communications. From the commercial to the artistic. From the global to the local. And similarly, a lot of these connections have to do with the presence of festivals themselves. Festivals are very unifying. They create binaries, connect individuals, and are highly established places of convergence.

FLEFF is no exception.

I can't wait to engage with some of the new programs we have going on this year, including the up-and-coming Derive, an urban exploration project, and perhaps the quintessential example of mobilities: flash mobs!

In honor of the new theme, what do you guys think of when you hear the word "mobilities?"

Blog posting written by Isabel Galupo, Cinema and Photography '14, FLEFF Intern, Towson, MD

FLEFF Week 2012 is coming up fast, and the list of this year's festival guests is up on our website!

While every FLEFF guest brings something dynamic to the table, here are five guests that I am especially looking forward to meeting and learning from!

1. Cynthia Henderson: An Ithaca College Theatre Arts professor. Cynthia Henderson has countless acting and directing credits in the United States, Europe, and Africa. As I am pretty unfamiliar with theatre, I am hoping that Professor Henderson will shed some light on the intersections between live performance and social change and the ways in which live performance and film interact with and contradict each other. I am also extremely interested in her work on "A Wrinkle in Time" at the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts, as that is one of my absolute favorite books!

2. Chris White: As a cellist who actively performs both classical AND non-classical music, Chris White straddles the line of tradition versus innovation. White seems, to me, to epitomize the purpose of FLEFF; to make sense of (false) binaries and create new meanings out of tension and polarity. As the founder and director of New Directions Cello Association & Festival, I am sure that he has a lot of great insights about how to create a hub for like-minded artists and intellectuals to learn and grow together. 

3. Matthew Podolsky: A graduate of Ithaca College with a double major in Cinema and Photography and Environmental Science, Matthew Podolsky helps run the non-profit organization Wild Lens. Podolsky's very obvious interests in documentary production and the environment speak directly to FLEFF's mission, and I am excited to hear about his experiences as an IC alum. 

4. Toivo: From Trumansburg, NY, Toivo is a six-piece band that boasts of a hodgepodge of musical influences, such as Finnish and Tex-Mex, suited for dance traditions from all over the world-- waltzes, tangoes, polanise, two-steps, and many, many more! Much like Drs. Brad Hougham and Debbie Martin in their presentation about "The Concert for Microtopias," Toivo seems to embody the very "FLEFF-y" idea of creating meaning from conflicting musical forces. I am very excited for their performance, as I don't think that I have ever heard traditional Finnish music before!

5. Laura Kissel: A documentary filmmaker and Director of Film and Media Studies Program at the University of South Carolina. Her short biography on the FLEFF website already had me asking questions; I am excited to learn about her use of "orphan films" in her critical media work. As Kissel is heavily involved in academia, I hope that she will be able to provide faculty, students, and other FLEFF attendees advice on how to balance institutional demands with creative needs. 

Which artists are you most excited to see during FLEFF week 2012? 

Blog posting written by Chloe Wilson, Television-Radio ’14, FLEFF Intern, Ashland, Massachusetts.

What's up, FLEFFers?

FLEFF 2012 is still a ways away, but last Sunday (unofficially) kicked things off with a screening of OKA!.  We had a full house and a great talkback with the director, Lavinia Currier.  Not only was it awesome to hear about the true story behind the film, but learning about the global issues the film shows was a great experience.

Us interns, meanwhile, have been busy learning about and planning FLEFF events!  I caught up with Gautam Singhani, Team Leader, and asked him about his FLEFF experiences and why he chose to work at FLEFF 2012.

Chloe Wilson: So you were a FLEFF 2011 intern.  Why did you choose to be a FLEFF 2012 Team Leader?

Gautam Singhani: Last year, I had a suberb time helping organize the film festival and publicizing events as a FLEFF intern.  I felt that there was much more that could be done to enrich the film festival experience, which is what drove me to apply as a Team Leader.  I have many ideas on how to promote FLEFF, and I hope to implement them in order to help the festival grow.

CW: What was one of your more memorable experiences from FLEFF 2011?

GS:  Meeting with the directors of some of the films last year was really valuable.  I was able to interact, ask questions, and hold very intellectual conversations with them.  I learned a lot about film making, but I was also able to network by simply holding conversations and listening to [the directors'] ideas and opinions.

CW:  Do you have any cool stories from FLEFF 2011?

GS:  Last year, I worked mainly as a projectionist.  While striking equipment and packing up gear after an event, I got to interact with some of the performers and directors.  I always found what they had to say about their own performances or films interesting.  But what I really enjoyed was being asked to escort the directors and performers to nightclubs after their performances.  There's no better sight than to see directors rocking it out on the dance floor!

CW: Are there any new changes that are coming to FLEFF 2012 that FLEFFers should look out for?

GS: FLEFF interns will be creating a huge recyclable art installation* on the Ithaca College campus to publicize FLEFF's theme this year- microtopias.  We have also modified our advertising strategy to attract a larger audience and set ourselves apart from other film festivals.

CW:  Any advice for 2012 FLEFFers?

GS:  Get involved with ALL of the events that take place and actively participate in discussions after panels and screenings.  Everyone can gain valuable information by interacting with directors and by asking questions during the event.  (I also highly recommend interns to stay after events and observe, if not help the directors and performers after events.  That interaction can help develop something further.)

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And that's one of this year's FLEFF team leaders!  Do you have anybody you want to hear from, FLEFFers?  Sound off below!

*Our art installation won't look like these pieces... but seriously how cool are these?! It's amazing what you can do with recyclable materials!

Blog posting written by Andrew Ronald, Film, Photography & Visual Arts '15, FLEFF Intern, Mahopac, New York

The power of cinema is important to anyone who may be in the filmmaking business or studying film theory, and it even targets viewers who simply derive enjoyment from watching films. This affinity to cinema was something that struck me at an early age, justifying my current role as an eager freshman at Ithaca College working towards earning my BFA in Film, Photography & Visual Arts. It probably also accounts for why my friends vacantly stare at me when I hold interminable conversations about the latest feature film out in theaters that they “need to go see immediately!” It also explains why I find these jokes hilarious:

• Screenwriting tip: The best place for a character to breakdown and cry is always in the shower.

• In Fight Club, half the people in the movie talked about the damn Fight Club.

• If you really want to know why horror movies no longer scare people, just watch the news.
  ...and more entertaining movie humor!

Simply put, film is moving. Is it captivating. And it is inspiring.

This power, however, is not limited to the cinematic world, and this is something that the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival understands. FLEFF manifests this energy in such a way to permeate the minds of an interdisciplinary culture, ranging from aspiring filmmakers to individuals who are ardent about exploring human nature and even those who are passionate about the planet. Appropriately, this year's theme touches upon the concept of microtopias, an environmentally relevant subject as the festival upholds values of sustainability. Microtopias is indicative of the nature of the festival, promoting a liberal view on a myriad of subjects that will be presented at the festival.

This is one of the main reasons I knew I needed to become involved with FLEFF. Of course during my experience as an intern, I know that I will be surrounded by an overwhelming (yet by no means exhausting) amount of film. After all, the first festival-related event includes a screening of OKA! taking place at Ithaca's local not-for-profit theater, Cinemapolis on February 12 with director Lavinia Currier. But I knew there was more to FLEFF than just letting the harmonious sound of the words "film festival" ring in my ears. There is so much more rewarding information to inherit by becoming involved with FLEFF (and some delicious wine to taste at the Finger Lakes Wine Center who was generous enough to host our evening celebrations!) The collision between social interaction, dynamic energy, mystifying adaptation, relatable locality, innovative technology, and rejection of utopia all seem to define FLEFF for what it promises and what it teaches.

So now I have a question for all you eager and ambitious FLEFFers out there! As a passionate film enthusiast, I am going to throw this question out there: What's your favorite film and how does it inspire you? Who knows, maybe your favorite film hasn't been discovered yet and will be screened on March 25 when FLEFF starts!

Blog post written by Gena Mangiaratti, Journalism '13, FLEFF Intern, Feeding Hills, MA

Assistant Professor Rachel Wagner, who teaches the FLEFF mini course, Checkpoint: Can Games Change the World, took some time out of her schedule – which includes a recent book deal — to speak with me about the relationship between religion and film.

GM: How did you get involved with FLEFF?

RW: The first course I taught was a few years ago. It was related to a course I teach on religion and virtual reality. It was sort of focusing on various aspects of games and religion, because I am a professor of religion and I do work on religion and culture, religion and film, and religion and virtual reality.

The earlier courses I taught were sort of taking those principles of religious studies that overlap with elements of media studies: Storytelling being one, elements of gaming being one, ideas of rules being another.

I’m personally fascinated with the idea of how religion and media are closely connected in terms of — well, many religious people encounter religion as a sort of mediated worldview. They open up their text, it’s sort of like someone looks into a television screen, they see images; they open up their Bible and they see what God wanted them to do. There are some really interesting parallels if you think about religion and about media.

I used to do that course. This course is more squarely centered on the issue of gaming and how gaming relates to real life.

GM: Can you tell me about your book?

RW: It's called Godwired: Religion, Ritual and Virtual Reality. It grew out of a seminar that I’ve taught here at the college three times now. We're in the middle of it right now.

The best way to look at it is, it looks at religion and virtual reality, but it also looks at virtual reality as religion, and what made the game by that comparison — that includes games, but not just games. It also includes websites, apps on your phone. It includes discussion boards, social media.

Anything that involves a screen I consider virtual reality. So it examines the relationships and comparisons between religion and virtual reality in all its different forms.

GM: As a professor of religion, one of the areas you study is religion and film. Can you tell me more about how religion and film go together?

RW: It's actually a very popular emerging field in religious studies. I actually do some work for the national American Academy of Religion in that area. It is one of my main areas. I teach a class called religion and film too.

One way to think about it: remember I said virtual reality as religion and religion in virtual reality, the two ways of looking at it? You can do the same thing with film. You can look at religion in film: How is lighting and editing used to make commentary about existing religious beliefs? So maybe a film that has Buddhism in it: how does it portray nature? And how does the lighting and the framing and the story and the cuts, how does that affect the way that story is told?

GM: Would an example be The Passion of the Christ?

RW: That film got a lot of attention. There were so many articles written about it by religious scholars of film. For example, one scholar argues that the film itself imitates, in its order, the Stations of the Cross, and that for viewers who encountered it had a sort of ritual engagement with it. If we're increasingly a visual culture, for some people their encounter with film in some ways is more real than their encounter with the Bible.

They will somehow see the film as identically providing the same sort of inspiration or sacredness that the text provides — even though if we stop and think about it, we know Mel Gibson made choices about dialogue and costuming and lighting and all those things he affected. But, we get a blind spot to that when we think about the film somehow accurately portraying the same truth as in the text.

That's one place where you could interrogate what's going on with religion and film, the relationship within textuality within sacred text and then portrayal on the screen.

And, what things can be portrayed and what can't. There's a Muslim film called The Message from 1977 and Mohammed is never shown. They somehow avoid it. They have other people talk to him. He represents the camera lens at times. There are all sorts of filming choices made to acknowledge the Muslim resistance to portray their prophet. He's so holy — he has God’s word coming out of his mouth — that you want to not portray him, because that would be a human portraying what is God's, right?

In a more general sense, Muslim art tends to be more geometric or nature-focused, sometimes abstract patterns of leaves and vegetation, but you're not typically going to have people: Mohammed being sort of the pinnacle of what you would not do in representation of people.

GM: You mentioned that to some people, film can be more real than the Holy Text. How is this possible?

RW: People debate what “real” means. We are an intensely visual culture. There are some Christians today, I wouldn't say how many…who just don't read their Bible, just like they don't read any books, but they'll go see the movie.

Mel Gibson himself said something like those who have a problem with my movie don't have a problem with me, they have a problem with the gospels. So he's saying this is true. Many uncritical viewers went in and wept. I saw them coming out of the theater myself. [They] wept, “It's so true. That's just how it happened.”

But it's impossible to deny, once you think about it, the fact that what Gibson did was, he took the Bible's text, he took some visions of a Catholic nun, Anne Catherine Emmerich. He wove those in, and some stuff he just made up. He took the four gospels and picked and chose what he wanted out of them and created what biblical scholars call a harmonization. So he created a new thing with pieces that he gathered from all over the place.

Then he made directorial decisions about editing. He added characters, he added dialogue — but people don't read that, necessarily. Viewers don’t necessarily pick up on that. Part of it is ignorance, but part of it is just the tendency to engage with film as a story, but also as representing something that we experience perhaps more richly more deeply than the textual in today's society.

Blog posting written by Peter Keahey, Film, Photography and Visual Arts, '12, FLEFF Intern, Yellow Springs, Ohio

I live in Yellow Springs Ohio, about nine hours away from Ithaca. My academic focus is on Animation. 

Although the Roy H. Park School does not have a major specifically for animation, I use every opportunity I can to learn new animation tools and collaborate on other projects. I have worked on thesis films, and learned a variety of animation tools including Maya, Flash, Photoshop, Frame Thief and Dragon. When I don’t have opportunities to animate, I storyboard other projects in order to continue practicing my sequential art. I also do personal comic books as an extra activity.

I joined FLEFF for the networking opportunity and for the experience of working in a festival environment. I participated in FLEFF before as a spectator. This year, I wanted to have a behind the scenes position and have an active role in the film festival. Many individuals have had their films picked up and or have found positions at film festivals,  so knowing how to maneuver and operate inside one can be an employment advantage. Being involved in FLEFF also affords you the opportunity to connect and meet with cutting edge filmmakers, who might help you learn how to get your foot in the door.

FLEFF is important because it exposes society to films that everyday people may not have sought out or even heard of on their own. FLEFF doesn’t screen the average summer popcorn movie. It presents audiences with films that are very unique and highly creative. These films have solid foundations, deep thought, and  complex structure, delivering very polished and professional pieces of work. FLEFF helps to keep film culture alive and well in the face of sequels and reboots--and that’s also why I wanted to be involved.

So, what's your favorite film genre or animated film?

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I'm Gena (pronounced like "Jenna") Mangiaratti, I'm a sophomore Journalism major with a minor in Anthropology. I'm from right outside of Springfield, Massachusetts.

In a little more than a year and a half at Ithaca, I feel like I have learned more about the world outside of my surroundings than in all the time leading up to it. As a journalist, I'm drawn to writing articles that spread awareness of human rights abuses or that bring understanding to differing sides of a conflict. One of my main commitments at Ithaca is being a staff writer for Buzzsaw Magazine, a student-run alternative literary magazine that focuses on politics and social justice.

I was drawn to FLEFF because I wanted to learn more about film as a vehicle for educating others. I am also very interested in learning about the inspirations behind creative people. So far as a FLEFF intern I have had the opportunity to watch a screening of "Gimme Shelter," after which director Alfred Maysles gave an engaging and informative question and answer session.

I look very much forward to interviewing FLEFF guests so I can provide readers with Q&A's and profiles.

What would you most like to find out about FLEFF filmmakers?