Experimental Cinema at Central Library returns in 2017 with an all-day interactive event on Saturday, Sept. 30. Central Library and Cinema St. Louis invite St. Louis-area filmmakers to create short, silent works of video art that bear repeating.
Qualifying entries will be no less than (:01) second and no more than (:60) seconds long. All entries, regardless of original running time, will be looped to run for a total of (3:00) minutes for the final program.
A three-person jury of film professionals (filmmakers, film scholars, film critics) will select the video-loop program, including both the three cash-prize winners and the additional films. Jury members will be announced on CSL's website.
Cinema St. Louis will also screen the video-loop program as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, held in July 2018. Those films will then be eligible for consideration by the St. Louis International Film Festival, held in November 2018.
The cash-prize winners and additional works in the video-loop program will be announced on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017.
This juried competition will award cash prizes – $250 for first place, $150 for second place, and $100 for third place – to the top three entries. The winning shorts will then be featured as part of a looped program that will screen on Central Library’s Discovery Walls (four large-screen monitors throughout the building) and at a screening in Central's Auditorium on Saturday, Sept. 30. In addition to the three cash-prize winners, up to seven other works will be chosen to be part of the program. These 10 works will also be featured on a DVD for checkout at Saint Louis Public Library.