The Experimental Film Podcast

Erica Schreiner is an experimental video and performance artist based in New York City. She shoots on VHS while performing before the camera. Erica creates allegorical, ethereal video art that combines feminine and anarchistic themes, ritual, and sensuality. Manipulating existing objects or building sets to perform in and film, Erica creates surreal, intimate worlds on VHS video, employing her clearly defined style.Erica received a Bachelor degree in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Portland. Once in New York, she attended the School of Visual Arts Lens and Screen Art's Residency Program with a full scholarship, and went on to study performance art under the direction of Marina Abramović at MoMA PS1.Erica Schreiner has completed more than 100 performative video art pieces, including two feature films and several music videos. In 2021, Erica received a New York City Artist Corps Grant for her second feature film, The Special People.Erica's work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and film festivals, including The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA PS1, The Bill Hodges Gallery in NYC, Nick Knight's SHOWstudio, Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, The Portland Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and Performance Space New York.Erica is a member of the New York Film-makers' Cooperative (est. 1961) and is on the curatorial committee at Millennium Film Workshop (est. 1967).The Skye Project documentary: https://donate.uniondocs.org/campaigns/skye-4ever/The MoMA curation I've been working on with MM Serra: https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5807

Jim Ford is an American film/television actor and stuntman. After receiving his BFA in drama from the Hartt School Conservatory and studying with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England, Jim landed an agent and has been a full-time actor in New York and Los Angeles ever since. He is best known for his work in the TV shows Gotham, Mysteries of Laura, The Following, Person of Interest, and Steven Soderberg's H.B.O. mini-series The Knick.Jim developed a passion for filmmaking and short films at a very young age. Over the years, he has completed nearly a dozen short films that have been screened all over the world. He loves to travel and attends as many festivals as he can.

Andy Camou is a freelance motion designer based out of Long Beach, California. He combines his experience and knowledge of animation, 3D, video editing, and VFX to produce engaging videos and animations.​ He previously spent two and a half years at Run It Up, a production company focused on creating poker content on the streaming site Twitch. As an animator and video editor, Andy produced motion graphics for broadcasts and short-form content for social media.​ His strengths lie in creative problem-solving and meticulous attention to detail. "I thrive on continuous learning, adaptability, and new challenges." Feel free to reach out if you have a project in mind or want to say hi; he's always up for a chat. You can email Andy at andythetimid@gmail.com. Ivan Miguel is a seasoned Art Director/Motion Designer with 10+ years of experience in advertising and motion graphics. Originally from Spain, Ivan worked as an Art Director for 6 years at two of the most relevant Spanish advertising agencies, creating work for various international brands. In 2015, he moved to the U.S. and has worked as a freelancer and in-house staff for several motion design studios in NYC and San Francisco for broadcast, technology, non-profit, and social good clients.

Christopher Rakas is an award-winning director, producer, writer, and composer based in El Paso, Texas. His short film Dada Noise 2 has had a successful film festival run worldwide. He is currently co-writing and scoring several episodes for the TV series On Bloody Paths with Mary S. Applegate and Ingmar Koch. He is also a member of the Liquid Sky Artist Collective in Portugal. He is also currently producing a documentary film featuring his brother's local El Paso-based metal punk band, Uglor. You can listen to songs by Uglor on YouTube. Christopher and I met through this podcast and The Experimental Film Fest in 2022. His film Dada Noise 2 was screened at the festival. Since that time, he has judged films for The Experimental Film Fest. He is a thoughtful experimental film advocate who has dedicated hundreds of hours to the festival, and we appreciate him for his time and insights. In this podcast, we pick up where we left off in 2022 from his first guest appearance on the show on Episode 6 of Season 3.

Nolan Stolz is a composer, scholar, drummer, and music professor living in Spartanburg, SC. Born in Milwaukee, WI, Stolz grew up in Las Vegas, NV, where he worked as a freelance jazz drummer for several years. Today, he is a Professor of Music at the University of South Carolina Upstate, where he teaches composition, music theory, and popular music studies. Although firmly rooted in the contemporary classical tradition, his compositions are influenced by his performance background in jazz and rock. Fanfare Magazine called his Lincoln Highway Suite for orchestra a “brilliant piece of Americana. . .a piece of inspiration and skill,” saying that the “orchestration is brilliantly managed” and “Stolz has a fine repository of [melodies] in his back pocket.” The Brno Philharmonic's recording of that work (on Orchestral Masters, Vol. 5) was awarded second place in the American Prize in 2020. Other studio recordings include Princess Ka‘iulani for flute on SCI's Modes album, Catharsis II for piano quartet on Millennial Masters Vol. 3, Lullaby for Sam for guitar on Aaron Larget-Caplan's New Lullaby, and several others. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Océane Buxton is a visual artist specializing in video, sound design, textiles, digital imaging, and performance art. She grew up in Québec City and has lived in Montréal since 2017. After studying at RMIT School of Art (Melbourne, Australia) in 2019, she received a bachelor's degree in Intermedia/Cyberarts from Concordia University in 2021. She began the master's program in visual arts at UQAM in 2023. She participated in the 6th edition of Artch, and her work has been exhibited by the Ada X Artist Center, La Bande Vidéo, Struts Gallery (Sackville, New Brunswick), and the web art platform Galerie Galerie. She is currently working as a freelance cultural mediator. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Award winning filmmaker, Michael Lies, is recognized by film organizations in New York, Pittsburgh and Florence, Italy. In 2012, his screenplay for The Tenth Door was awarded 1st Prize in Short Film Scripts at the Harlem International Film Festival and named a finalist in the Moondance International Film Festival. In 2023 The Tenth Door was completed by Michael and a couple of dozen people from the Pittsburgh area. In 2009 Michael's short film EXPERYMENT6 was awarded the Dante Award of Excellence at the Florence International Film Festival. The US premiere was held at the Andy Warhol Theater in Pittsburgh. Cathy Tuttle is a writer, producer, and actor and is also featured in the podcast. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Cassidy Civiero is a transgender filmmaker who uses experimental techniques to make movies that align with his values and identity. His films ask just as many questions as they answer and allow room for audience participation in crafting the narrative. His latest film, Return to Nature, was funded by the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and premiered at the Penticton Art Gallery for two months before playing at the Open Vault Film Fest and winning Critic's Choice at the Experimental Film Fest. His previous film, Ethical Consumption, was funded by the Mental Health Commission of California via the Voices With Impact production grant. Cassidy is a writer and co-executive producer for Season 2 of You're My Hero for CBC Gem, which is currently in post-production. He is a co-creator and writer for Sweet as Sugar, which is developing for Out TV. He is in the development of five feature films, breaking into long-form content with steady passion and determination. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Gillian Harrill's films⁠ have been featured at various festivals, ranging from the Oscar-qualifying ⁠AmDocs Film Festival⁠⁠ ⁠to the esteemed ⁠Sidewalk Film Festival⁠ and the ⁠LA Independent Women Film Awards⁠. ⁠Her⁠ ability to craft compelling narratives and capture the essence of her subjects has earned her a reputation as a filmmaker with an eccentric sense of humor and unwavering dedication to her craft. She started as the lead assistant editor on⁠ Beyond the Straight and Narrow⁠, streaming on Kanopy. In 2022, Gillian embarked on a fellowship in documentary filmmaking at ⁠Southern Exposure,⁠ where she spent 6 weeks fully immersed in directing ⁠Taxing the Sun⁠,⁠ ⁠which exposed legislation that decreased access to renewable energy in Alabama. Currently, Gillian is actively engaged in curating and associate producing two archival films that will be showcased as permanent exhibits in a Presidential Center opening in 2025. Her involvement in this endeavor reflects her dedication to preserving and sharing pivotal moments in collective history. She has also been a researcher for PBS programs like ⁠Native America 2.0⁠ and ⁠Confluence⁠⁠ ⁠and a production assistant and costume designer for ⁠Realm of Satan,⁠ premiering at Sundance 2024. Gillian holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Cornell University, where she minored in Film, Anthropology, and Media Studies.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

A non-binary punk-rock poet with style an exec once described as “Aaron Sorkin on acid,” Frankie specializes in writing dark comedies about deeply flawed losers struggling to reinvent themselves in stories packed with punchlines taking bold swings towards silly and surreal. A New Jersey native raised in the Bible Belt, Frankie Campisano now calls Los Angeles their home. A non-binary punk-rock poet with a style an exec once described as “Aaron Sorkin on acid”, Frankie specializes in writing dark comedies about deeply flawed losers struggling to reinvent themselves in stories packed with punchlines taking bold swings towards silly and surreal. Frankie has worked in the entertainment industry for over ten years, including at NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Classics, and Fox Broadcasting Company. They are freelance script development analysts, covering comedy pilots and features for production companies, contests, and film festivals, including the Austin Film Festival and the Boston Film Festival. Frankie graduated from Elon University (…no relation) in Elon, North Carolina (…again, no relation), where they studied screenwriting and poetry. As one of Elon's inaugural Alumni Production Fund winners, Frankie partnered with students and alumni to produce an experimental comedy/horror short, SECRET MENU BEAUTY PAGEANT, currently on the festival circuit. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Vasco Diogo was born in 1970 in Lisbon. Diogo is now an Experimental Director, Performer, Video Artist, and New Media and Cinema Assistant Professor at the University of Beira Interior (Covilhã-Portugal).Arts and Communication Researcher at Communication Sciences PhD by Universidade Nova de Lisboa: "Video: Specificity, Hybridity and Experimentation" (scholarship of Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT), 2008. Vasco Diogo has won more than 50 awards in experimental cinema at international festivals. Drawing, photography, poetry, electro-acoustic music, and mixed media are other work areas. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Amanda Besl is a painter and experimental filmmaker living in Buffalo, NY. She has shown widely in New York State, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Russia. Besl holds an MFA in Painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI, and a BFA from SUNY Oswego. Her paintings are part of several notable private and public collections, including the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo; Nichido Contemporary, Tokyo, Japan; the Burger Collection, Hong Kong; and the Tullman Collection, Chicago. Besl uses natural history as a platform to explore social issues. She was awarded a 2024 NYSCA grant for Temple of Hortus, a botanically inspired installation of 2-D, 3-D, and video work questioning curated and commercial approaches to nature, hybridization, mutation, and collection. Resource Art represents Besl, and her 2022 solo exhibition “Blue Mythologies” at The Raft of Sanity gallery began her foray into experimental filmmaking. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Born in Venezuela but raised in New York, where he currently lives, Martin Del Carpio is an artist marked by experimentation, the search of new concepts, sounds and melodies, by a fascination with lyrics and the journey that music takes us on. His evolution as an artist is based on what he calls “street knowledge”, a hands-on personal experience characterized by uniqueness and a somewhat dark voice that Martin has dedicated his life to finding. His work shows a personal conflict between outside forces that point him towards mainstream creation and the need to express something intimate, to be honest no matter what the cost and regardless of what comes out. He defines himself as an underground music artist more than a musician, as his work relies more on ideas and inspiration than technique. In the future, he plans to continue experimenting with sound and visuals, taking us on a journey to places still unexplored. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Madelyn Gowler is a queer, film-based artist focusing on materiality and experimental processes of image-making. They lived in Winnipeg, MB, and received their BFA from the University of Manitoba. They mainly work with textiles, installation, Super 8 film, and analog photography. Exploring themes of gender, film as subject, and the relationship between nature and constructed spaces. Their films have been screened internationally at the Engauge Experimental Film Festival in Seattle, WA, and Experiments in Cinema v18.4 in Albuquerque, NM, as well as locally at Ace Art Inc. and Dave Barber Cinematheque in Winnipeg. In 2023 and 2024, they received the Artist in Schools Grant from the Manitoba Arts Council, which funded a Super 8 course and alternative photo class. They've also taught various alternative photo processing workshops for the FLASH Photo Festival and Culture Days MB. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Jake Nicastro is a filmmaker, writer, director, editor, and visual artist. We discuss his films, visual arts, installations, and commercial work. Keep an eye on this young, creative talent. You will see him in the future. Godspeed, Jake. Jake is a development producer at The Workshop and has independent experience as a music video and short film director. He works to uncover new ideas, stories, and perspectives to put into production and offers editing help to the post-production team.  Born in Drexel Hill, PA, Jake studied English and Screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University and is pursuing an MFA in Film Production at the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Belinda Morén and I discuss her photography, art installations, and film work. We also talk about her film, The Sweet Passing of Time, which she entered into The Experimental Film Fest, and her current exploration of the dream state in her work. "I am a visual artist primarily working with video, photography, and installation art. My work navigates themes of identity, belonging, and social conventions. I guide attention toward what is not typically seen and encourage visitors to participate actively in the exhibition through interaction with the pieces. In this way, I aim to shift the perception of the exhibition site to simply being a place for passive observation and promoting social participation. I am one of the founders of Best Before Collective." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Mary Hawkins and I had a lot of fun talking about her animations, including Love Letters for the Subway, which is an Official Selection in The Experimental Film Fest (Neither of us knew this at the time of recording). We discussed her role in Gotham Roller Derby and her other work as Art Director, Animator, and Designer. "I'm a typography-driven art director who uses collage, bold type, and big color choices to bring playfulness and whimsy to motion graphics for brands. I also work with nonprofits and social good groups to create positive change. As a freelance art director, I collaborate with creative directors, writers and other creators to build-out 360 campaigns that include social, broadcast and out-of-home. I have a flexible, broad-based skillset in design and illustration, and I love finding new ways to bring motion and life to projects." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

AL JULIAN entered the world of film and television writing, acting, and production eleven years ago after long careers in clinical psychology and law. Since then, he has authored over a dozen feature-length screenplays and a variety of teleplays, stage plays, shorts, and commercials. Productions made from his scripts have done exceptionally well on the festival circuit, and he has won more than two hundred awards for films and screenplays over the last five years. His feature thriller FEVER DREAMS was picked up by MBUR Films in 2021 for distribution on major streaming platforms. He recently completed the television Pilot of THE SESSIONS, a limited series based on a murderer's group he once ran in another life. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Allison A. Roberts is a lens-based artist and experimental filmmaker who works in video layers, collages, and projections. Her work requires the viewer to keep an open mind in that not everything is as it seems, which you'll see for yourself on her website and Vimeo channel. Be especially sure to check out the film Haptic discussed in the podcast. "My lens-based work is situated at the intersection of still photography, the moving image, and installation. I explore temporality, place, and identity, as experienced during periods of transition- addressing change, uncertainty, and resiliency. The intersections and juxtapositions of image and surface inform my approach to physically and digitally layering photographs- positioning projections to transform and merge with surfaces and objects to address how our memories or anxieties inform our perception of the present.   The subtle performative process inherent in my still photography is central to my moving image work, whether discrete video or integral elements of an installation. In these works, I manipulate the screen, a translucent material, during the projection and filming. This performative element speaks to the effort of shaping the elusive through repeated attempts of control and manipulation." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Eleni Mylonas is a multidisciplinary artist with studios in New York and Athens. She is a Fulbright scholar and holds a Master's degree from the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University and a degree in photography from the University of London. Eleni Mylonas' work has most recently focused on video and performance. "My background in journalism informs my identity as an artist. I pursue my need to understand, to look directly where others turn away. The necessity to witness and report is a key to my work and my investigations. I follow and explore an event or an experience that fires up my curiosity and imagination and inspires me to create bridges between different realities. I meet the challenge via any medium at hand, be it photography, film, video, painting, sculpture, performance or a combination of the above. My art practice is a journey from the outside taken in, filtered, and redirected back out via the work. It is a process of self-discovery and a vehicle of communication. The resulting works are as revealing to me as they may be to the viewer. I seek to multiply that vibe and follow the ripples going out to stir new waters changing perspectives, points of view, visions." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Scott Turri is an experimental artist and filmmaker who appeared on The Experimental Film Podcast in Season 1, Episode 9. His work is beautiful, hypnotic, and thought-provoking, and it has broad appeal due to its layered simplicity. "The paintings and animation are like a metaphorical liminal space. The experience of viewing becomes primarily about sensation. This work parallels minimalism, emphasizing repetition, a restricted set of parameters, and an underlying logically designed framework. Ultimately, I prefer an environment that is not author-centric. I like the work to function independently of its maker. I don't want the audience to think about me because even though the working methods are highly personal on some level, it is about the handmade in a digital world; it is about slowness in a fast-paced, overtly digital milieu. My work directly responds to the ever-increasing speed and chaos of the world around me by embracing stillness and slow motion." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Tenley E. Raj is a filmmaker living with her two young children (Millie and Guy) in Houston, Texas. Tenley wrote and painted as a young adult. After motherhood, she turned to film, finding it a more satisfying medium. In 2002, Tenley wrote her first short film, "Before the Freeze." She then produced, directed, shot, and edited the film. "Before the Freeze" is a six-minute-long experimental psychodrama about anxiety and parenthood and the dangers of escapism. Tenley is working on her second film, a longer psychodrama about first love called "After the Freeze." --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Amanda VanValkenburg is a multimedia artist based in Chicago, Illinois. They received their MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, where they investigated the intersection of art and technology. They primarily work with digital media to investigate digitally mediated interactions between memory, projection, contemporary anxiety, and the relationship between technology and the environment. Currently, their work is focused on using technology to process video to examine the anatomy of a visual scene and flesh out echoes of memory and the membranes of virtual and physical spaces.  Their work has been exhibited and screened internationally and nationally, including at the CICA Museum in Korea, the Hong Kong Art Centre, Currents New Media Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art and the Gene Siskel Theater in Chicago, VastLabs Experimental Festival in Los Angeles and Chicago, Trumbullplex Detroit, Elmhurst Museum, Mana Contemporary, Woman Made Gallery, 6018 North Gallery, Nightingale Cinema, Links Hall, Filmfront, and the Chicago Digital Media Festival. and they have  completed residencies with the Ditrapano Foundation for the Arts, Ragdale, High Concept Labs, and Ox-Bow School of the Arts. They currently teach at Northern Illinois University as an Assistant Professor of Time Arts and at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as an instructor in ACE and ECP programs. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Kenneth 'Ken' Hess hosts The Experimental Film Podcast, directs the Experiment Film Fest, and is a podcaster, experimental filmmaker, actor, photographer, and mischief maker. You can check out some of his experimental films on his Vimeo channel. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Musician, composer, and filmmaker Kristina Dutton and I speak about music, her music compositions, her experimental films, and her inspirations and aspirations. Kristina also has some good advice for those exploring playing a musical instrument. I sampled some of Kristina's compositions in the podcast. In the introduction, there is an excerpt from Biopixel's score co-written by Kristina and Nate Kinsella. In the middle of the podcast, I excerpted Kristina's Pas de Deux from her SoundCloud collection. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Walter Smits and I spoke in Season 1 of the podcast (Episode 22). Since that time (2021), Walter has been busy creating new works, many of which are feature-length experimental works they call playground absurdism. In this podcast, we discuss their use of high-end photography/filmmaking equipment, their film school experience, story creation, directing techniques, development of "Queer New Wave" and their works in progress. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Evan Chester is the curator and creator of the KubrickLynch YouTube channel that highlights experimental, avant-garde, and art house films. KubrickLynch currently has more than 55,000 subscribers, and Evan has close to 200 videos featuring genres, filmmakers, movements, and individual works by experimental filmmakers. I'm a huge fan of his work, and I hope you find his channel and enjoy the painstaking work he's done to collect and curate this information into one of the best YouTube channels I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. Evan's documentary style is well-paced, educational, and entertaining. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Duane Michals has a career of more than 60 years as a photographer. Michal's work has been shown in galleries worldwide. Michal's photographic work incorporates text and sequences to tell a story. In recent years, Michals has transitioned to creating short experimental films. If you aren't familiar with his work, please take some time to explore it. You'll find it unique in perspective and essential as inspiration for your work. Mr. Michals and I discussed various topics, including his photography work, his foray into filmmaking, his meeting with Magritte, his time in the Army, and other random topics. I love how his mind works and am glad I've had the pleasure and honor of this interview. Rating PG-13: Mild sexual references and mild expletives. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Gerald Habarth is an artist and animator, an Associate Professor of Art at West Virginia University. He heads the Electronic Media program in the School of Art and Design. He holds an MFA degree from the University of South Florida and a BFA degree from Parsons School of Design. His works have been screened at numerous national and international venues and festivals, including the Tampa Museum of Art, the Huntington Museum of Art, the Festival Les Instants Vidéo, and the Stuttgarter Filmwinter - Festival for Expanded Media. In 2010, he founded the West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival. He currently resides on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Madison Hill is a filmmaker and photographer based in Durham, North Carolina. She received a B.A. in Cinema Studies from Virginia Tech and an M.F.A. in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. Currently, Madison is an Instructor for Cinematic Arts at Duke University, teaching theory and production in Documentary Arts, 16mm Film, and Moving Image Practice. Through her film practice, Madison explores how the documentary medium can be transformed in an evolving 21st-century landscape. Madison utilizes various techniques such as 16mm filmmaking, digital cinematography, archival research, and photography to create work that blurs the boundaries of genre and cinematic expectations. Such work includes processing film in environmental contaminants to emulate their effects on the human body, utilizing fiction production techniques in the documentary genre, and manipulating archival material to question memory and subjectivity. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

This podcast focuses on film festivals. I cover increasing your chances at getting Official Selection status, getting screened, and getting discounts. I also cover fee waivers, withdrawing your films, film editing, and some war stories from the Film Festival Director trenches. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Malaysian-born Shu Qin Lee was raised in Australia and initially encountered photography when his uncle in Singapore gifted him his first manual film camera in the 1990's. This love for photography led Shu to capturing simple moving images like a crystal ball rotating on a mini water fountain when the first Nokia phones were available. Here the seed of experimental filmmaking was planted.  Many years later, after having studied languages, religion, philosophy and attained a Masters of Teaching, Shu started teaching humanities. Through the recommendation of a friend, he also took up background acting for films and commercials. It was on a movie set after an impressive mock performance as an extra that he met another extra who promised that they would make a film together and submit it to film festivals. That plan never materialized. In the face of this major ideological disappointment, Shu became determined to make his own films.  As a passionate musician, he started making video recordings of his compositions to store his own music. Then he ventured into writing and producing mini skits where he would play all the parts. These short videos would include the people and environment within his regular social life.  It was at a Kino screening that Shu watched his first experimental film. A film so obscure purely because it was unlike all the other shorts that had been screened.  During his time as a relieving librarian, Shu rummaged through two books on film, paying particular attention to the chapter on “Experimental Films.”  With a fully inspired heart, he would self-produce seventy-plus experimental shorts that include elements of music, comedy, home theatrics, vlogging, travel, documentary, visual arts, nature, children, horror, sport, dance, and multiculturalism. His mainstream approach includes “spin-blending,” “juxtapositioning,” and the recurrent themes of nature and children at play.  Most of his works are available for public viewing but are difficult to find. Interested parties will receive a Youtube link upon emailing shuimage@gmail.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Interdisciplinary artist Lisa Birke's work results from the collision of video, performance art, and installation. She is interested in the stories that we re-cite and re-brand and how these inform our conception of the world and the tragi-comic perception of ourselves. Recently, Birke has been exploring immersive multi-media approaches using special effects, AR, and 360 videos. Her award-winning video work has seen more than100 screenings and installations at film festivals, media centers, and in galleries and museums internationally, including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Florida Film Festival, International Short Film Week Regensburg, TIME is Love, The New Museum of Networked Art, and Remai Modern. Birke is an Assistant Professor of Digital and Extended Media and area chair of the Digital and Integrated Practice area in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Saskatchewan. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Director and Cinematographer Guillaume Simonin mainly works as a director and cinematographer for commercials, corporate movies, and art movies and specializes in using color and liquids. You can find Guillaume's work on his Vimeo page or on his website. Guillaume and I spoke about his underwater work and about his experimental films. Be sure to check out his Cinematography Showreel. I think you'll agree that his work is beautiful and engaging. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Jessica Parnell is one of the most fun guests I've ever interviewed on the podcast. She and I need our own BBC talk show featuring interviews, short experimental films, and just crazy talk. We'd also explore some of our ideas live, on camera, while our audience comes along for the ride. This interview is over two hours long and took a few weeks to edit, but it's worth it. You'll enjoy Jessica's fresh perspectives on art and experimental filmmaking. She is a Psychotherapist in England and enjoys many different types of self-expression. You'll find her films available on YouTube and Instagram. Jessica's short experimental films are humorous, fun, fast-moving, and some are borderline erotic. She has a lot of fun with full-body action and video collage. You'll enjoy the pace of her work and its intricate details. After listening to the podcast and checking out her work, you too will become a fast fan. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

David Baeumler grew up in Buffalo, NY, when all the elm trees were dying. Dave went to Bard College and received a filmmaking degree under the direction of filmmakers Peter Hutton, Adolfas Mekas, and Peggy Ahwesh. His films defy simple categories because they blend "experimental" techniques with storytelling threads. They can be poetic and philosophical but also blunt and satirical. And while they can be fun to watch with the sound off, you could also listen to them with your eyes closed. A collection of his films, called "Intolerable Questions", is available at amazon.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Natasa Prosenc Stearns graduated in design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. She first worked as a graphic designer. After receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she went to Los Angeles to specialize, where she studied film and video production at the California Institute of the Arts. Prosenc Stearns is a director, screenwriter, editor, and visual artist, but she mainly works with video installation. In her films, she explores new techniques and visual expression. In her videos, she uses the effects of textures and natural elements, especially water, which erodes and dissolves its immediate surroundings in an ongoing process. She creates a series of images that combine contradictions such as beauty and decay, carefreeness and discomfort, attention and dreaminess, and tension and balance. Natasa lives and works in Los Angeles and Ljubljana. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Songkai Zhou was born in Henan, China but now lives and works in London. Songkai studied filmmaking, literature, and philosophy of art at the China Academy of Art and the Royal College of Art. His works are about personal existence, public life, relationships between natural elements and human beings, or historical memory in the contemporary technology era. His works span diverse artistic media, such as poetry, painting, film, photography, and other mediums. In his film works, he utilizes a non-logical implicit narrative to explore the visual poetics of cinematography in the flow of time. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Enora Keller is a French mixed-media artist, filmmaker, and experimental theater actress. We spoke on various film topics and her experiences in college that shaped her art. **CONTENT WARNING: This podcast contains dialog about sexual assault.** Enora's artist statement: I am my own lab rat. I explore the damaged lands of the self, facing its multiple mirrors. I instinctively try to expose the fissures of perception, these white holes suspended in matter. I am also a traveler, trying to move within the self through physical movement. I seek to highlight the nomadic reflections of a blurred identity. I find myself questioning the theatrical scene of our social anthropology, between alteration, evolution, destruction and reproduction. My goal is to stage the chosen materials (bodies, photographic materials, words, noises...) so that the viewer can experience the oscillations of the self, where space becomes the architecture of these internal movements. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Johnny Kalangis (he/him) is a multi-award-winning film director, installation artist, and digital media creative from Toronto/T'karonto, Canada. He is a first-generation white settler of Greek descent. His first feature film, the anti-romantic micro-budget comedy Jack & Jill, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (1999) and was executive produced by Atom Egoyan. His second film, Love Is Work, won the People's Choice Award at the Whistler International Film Festival (2005) and was the closing gala at the Canadian Film Festival in Toronto. His horror-comedy, The Mad (2007), starring Billy Zane, opened the Canadian Film Festival (Toronto) and enjoys cult classic status. Johnny has done interactive, narrative film art installations at Toronto's Nuit Blanche on three occasions. The pieces Road Trips, Road Trips (1984), and, Airwaves allowed visitors to interact with their physical space to create and collaborate on their narrative experiences. Johnny is currently the VP of Digital at Toronto's Cream Productions. He executive produced CNN's Behind The Desk, The Story of Late Night (WINNER! 2022 Webby Award) podcast, and the A Ghost Ruined My Life with Eli Roth (Discovery) podcasts. He also creates interactive digital media projects in augmented and virtual reality. He has designed games and game narratives and, this year, is also the executive producer on an album release. In the past, he was a producer and executive at CBC Digital/TV and VP, Creative Director, Digital, and the multi-award-winning company, marblemedia. He studied English, film theory and criticism, filmmaking, and interactive digital media at Western University, New York University, and the Canadian Film Centre. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Richard is currently editing a macabre feature film called The Dark Sisters. His feature film King Judith is available in wide release through Indie Rights Movies. My previous feature, A Ship of Human Skin, is available in wide release through Gravitas Ventures. His films have been shown at Alchemy Moving Image, Anthology Film Archives, Arizona Underground, AVIFF Cannes, Bare Bones, Berlin Revolution, Black Maria, Blow-Up (Chicago Art House), Dallas VideoFest, KERA (PBS), Proyector International, SENE, ShockFest, SXSW, and many other festivals. Check out his work on Vimeo and his website. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Born in the '70s, raised in the '80s, and grew up in El Paso, Texas, Christopher was a troubled kid who needed an artistic outlet, He always loved watching Elvira, not for her physical attributes, but for the cheesy horror and sci-fi movies, she screened every week. Christopher started making home horror movies when he was 12 and was particularly interested in the special effects make-up side of filmmaking. "I was obsessed with Tom Savini and Stan Winston. And I loved directors like John Carpenter and Wes Craven." He's always leaned toward the darker, more experimental side of the arts. In the '90s, he formed an experimental band called The Fold, which was off to a hot start until drug use and alcohol abuse derailed those ambitions. For the past 11 years, he's owned a pizzeria in downtown El Paso. A silver lining to the pandemic was the rekindling of his love for filmmaking. Dada Noise is his first professional film project. He's currently writing a TV series called On Bloody Paths with Ingmar Koch and Mary Susan Applegate. Applegate wrote the music for the film Bend It Like Beckham. Marc Caro, the director from City of the Lost Children and Delicatessen, will direct a few episodes. And Christopher has a film in this year's Experimental Film Fest titled Dada Noise 2. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Joey Bargsten creates electronic and acoustic music, transmedia opera, interactive media, digital films, software, and virtual reality experiences. His music has been played by the Indianapolis Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. It has been featured at New York's Symphony Space, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Atlanta Arts Festival, and National Public Radio's International Concert Hall. Bargsten won a Knight Arts Challenge Award for his transmedia opera MelanchoLalaland ™, which premiered in Miami Beach in 2015 (www.melancholalaland.com). He won the audience award at the 2004 Stuttgart Filmwinter Expanded Media Festival for his interactive website BAD MIND TIME™ (www.badmindtime.com), which has been featured in exhibitions of digital art internationally—in Istanbul, London, Penang, and Los Angeles. Bargsten taught at the University of Iowa, Georgia Tech, Atlanta College of Art, and the University of Oregon before his current position in interactive multimedia at the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, at Florida Atlantic University. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Inspired by Dada and Situationist Theater, Colette Copeland is a multi-media visual artist whose work examines issues surrounding gender, death, and contemporary culture. Sourcing personal narratives and popular media, she utilizes video, photography, performance, and sculptural installation to question societal roles and the pervasive influence of media and technology on our communal enculturation. Her videos employ experimental narrative techniques and absurdist humor to explore the landscape of human relationships. Over the past 26 years, Copeland's work has been exhibited in 27 solo exhibitions and 143 group exhibitions/festivals spanning 35 countries. She received her BFA from Pratt Institute in New York and her MFA from Syracuse University. She teaches art and digital media at the University of Texas and Collin Colleges in Dallas, Texas. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Stefan Kei DiMuzio is a rare filmmaker whose (filmmaker) voice is creative, off-the-wall, and refreshing. His interview is one of my all-time favorites. His film "Good Listeners Anonymous" is an Official Selection in The Experimental Film Fest (2022). This conversation covers some discussion of that plus his overall techniques, equipment, and unique perspective. The following is a quote from another interview: “My absolute favorite thing when creating whatever I make – is tricking people,” he says. “Seeing people's eyebrows raise and their eyes kind of light up when I show them something I've made is just great. It's one of the best feelings I've ever had in my life…I absolutely love subverting people's expectations in the stuff that I make." Stefan DiMuzio is a name you should remember. You'll be hearing more from him in the future. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Chris Byrne is a current MFA Film & TV Directing student at DePaul University. He typically writes/directs comedies but is interested in anything that explores the topic of vulnerability. Chris and I spoke about his film, A Creative's Path: A Collection of Lessons, and his other work, which he entered into The Experimental Film Fest. His artist statement is intriguing, so I'm excerpting it here to explain his perspective on experimental filmmaking. My original idea was to have characters speak the haikus as their dialogue, but I couldn't nail down what I wanted the film to be about. So, the idea laid dormant in my brain until I took Experimental Filmmaking 1 here at DePaul. Experimental filmmaking is not really my jam. Not that I have anything against it; I just didn't get it. So, I struggled to come up with ideas for the class, so much so that it was anxiety-inducing. That's when the lightbulb finally clicked in my head. I wanted this film to be about what I've learned about being an artist over the years. The lessons are the haikus. Some of them are funny. Some are sad. But I hope that they connect with the other artists who watch it. I know I'm not the only one who's gone through the trials of being an artist, so if I can make a film that can resonate with everyone who has, then the film has done its job. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

I met Fabrizio quite by accident in The Experimental Film Society Facebook group. I checked out his films and decided he is the kind of filmmaker who could inspire an entire generation of new experimental filmmakers. Fabrizio is an accomplished filmmaker who creates feature-length experimental films with controversy, symbolism, and fun. Fabrizio has inspired me to go for it and create that feature-length avant-garde film bursting to get out. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Yes, finally, the Season 2 finale! It's been a while since my last podcast. No, I don't want to know how long. But now, it's the end of Season 2, and next time you'll hear Episode 1 of Season 3. This episode includes information about The Experimental Film Fest, The North Carolina Film Festival, some things I'm working on, and some notes on making your own experimental films. Thank you for hanging in there and patiently waiting for this Season 2 finale. I think you'll enjoy Season 3. Remember that you can suggest a filmmaker for the podcast. You can suggest topics. And you can bring me a sponsorship or two (please). Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Season 3! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Caren Messing is a native New Yorker and went to The High School of Performing Arts for Drama. She attended college at SUNY at Purchase graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts. She is an actor, vocalist, writer, and dabbles in photography, digital art, and film. Most recently musical short film won “Best Animated Short” in The Manhattan Film Festival 2021 and Festival Winner of The Experimental Film Fest in New Bern, North Carolina. I had the pleasure of speaking with Caren for about an hour-and-a-half one day and could have talked for hours. Caren is a fascinating artist who explores film, music, and photography with an original, energetic, and thoughtful perspective. Take some time to explore her work. I think you'll agree. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

OK, I know it's been a while since I've posted an episode but with a major move to a new house, getting settled, other projects, The North Carolina Film Festival, family, and day job obligations, it's been a lot. That, and the fact that this interview had some sound problems. I think I've cropped most of them out but rest assured that this is a good interview that you should hear. Zachary Blackwell is an experimental filmmaker who also makes other films, mostly horror and thrillers. We had a great discussion about making feature-length films and I overuse the word daunting so be prepared for that. I think you'll find Zachary engaging, knowledgeable, and thoughtful about what goes into making a film of any length. Thank you for your patience. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support

Susan Hughes is from Belfast. She has completed many artist residencies in Ireland and Scandinavia where she has used her fiddle playing as a bartering tool to gain access to local stories. She graduated in 2021 from the University of Ulster receiving the Centre for Contemporary Art (Derry) and Platform Arts (Belfast) graduate awards and was longlisted for the Royal Dublin Society graduate award. ARTIST STATEMENT Hughes is led by stories down roads of research arriving at the production of artworks in the form of video, installation, and sculpture. She and her subjects describe deeply personal physical and physiological sensations while being inside their bodies, inside intense encounters with nature. Language is used as a malleable material creating space for alternative narratives to be invented. Manufactured materials such as electrical light, digital video, and bright perspex have been effective in their artifice as tools to explore and express these natural, yet often psychedelic, sensual experiences. She is interested in the interaction of human and non-human at the edges of seas and mountains where the membrane between this world and the otherworld seems to be thin enough to briefly pass through. "Evidenced by the upsurge during lockdown of the popularity of sea swimming and gardening, it's catching on: this thing of grabbing onto rocks, being held tightly by cold water, plunging a hand deep into earth, lingering there for a bit too long, indulging in this touch. Surely I'm not the only person who sneakily licks salt residue off my own arm?" --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/experimentalfilmpodcast/support