Ann Arbor Film Festival DVD Collection Vol. 1

A stream-of-conscious look at the writing process, told with animated images straight from the subconscious... or somewhere. The narrative originates from an unpublished satirical essay by poet Scott Poole about his own writing process. It was the inspiration for filmmaker Chel White to build this one-minute film upon.

In his films, Chel White uses allegory and frequently black humor to paint indelible pictures of the human experience. His narrative perspective is often that of the estranged individual: the outsider looking in. He is the recent recipient of a Rockefeller Media Arts Fellowship. From Ann Arbor to Berlin, his films have been shown in film festivals all over the world and recognized with numerous awards. To learn more: www.skysociety.com/chelwhite.html

Before reaching spiritual enlightenment, one sweater-vested young man must face a dancing Oldsmobile, endure a boozy encounter with God on a frozen tundra, and brush his teeth, comb his hair, floss, Q-Tip, lather and shave simultaneously. Doxology combines groundbreaking stop-motion animation techniques and unusual storytelling with the time-honored quest for spiritual awakening. Winner of Tom Berman Award for Most Promising Filmmaker at the 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Michael Langan grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, where he began his artistic career as a professional stage actor. He returned to his New England birthplace in 2003 to attend the animation program at Rhode Island School of Design, completing Doxology as his thesis film. He is currently the director of video and animation at Upper Playground in San Francisco. To learn more: www.mlangan.org/

The disappearance of a group of astronauts and a mysterious transmission from outer space launches the counter-cultural revolution in this fable from an alternate universe. The Drift explores both the American frontier spirit and it's apathetic polar opposite.

Kelly Sears is an animator and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Her work has been shown at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, the Hammer Museum, Sundance, Anthology Film Archives and in galleries and film festivals internationally. Sears' collage animations parse together collected media artifacts to reveal secret histories, forgotten tales, and possible moments embedded in the images around us. To learn more: www.kellysears.com

A couple's leisurely drive through the woods is interrupted by a panicked mime. The couple becomes a captive audience to, and then reluctant participants in a high stakes drama as it unfolds. The Adventure is an existential comedy that may challenge the viewer's perception of mimes forever.

Mike Brune was born and raised in Atlanta, GA. He is a graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Film, which he uses every day. When he was in second grade, he successfully convinced his entire class he was from the planet Mars. Even his teacher, Mr. Ferry, who later would die of a brain tumor, felt compelled to believe despite knowing better. In addition to being a filmmaker, Mike is also an improviser. He performs with JaCKPie at Relapse Theater in Midtown, and with Dad's Garage in Little Five Points. To learn more: fakewoodwallpaper.com

Employing time-lapse, microscopy, animation and cymatic imagery, Campbell's exceptional cinematography explores the Chinese concept of Li - organic patterning, and the underlying inherent order of the physical world as revealed in its natural patterns and rhythms. Winner of the Kodak/Filmcraft Imaging Award for Best Cinematography at the 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Campbell is an experimental filmmaker who graduated from the Experimental Animation program at California Institute of the Arts in 1993. He has produced dozens of films and videos, which have won awards at major film festivals and have been screened internationally at film festivals, on the Internet, German TV, PBS and Independent TV stations. To learn more: www.filmbaby.com/films/2961

He thought he could make a frog Jesus.

Originally from a science and engineering background, English-born writer/director Ben Peters has gradually moved towards the arts and narrative filmmaking. Ben has written and directed several award-winning short films, including The Heist, and Frog Jesus. Currently resident in Singapore and Vancouver, Ben is also an IT Director. To learn more: www.kijo.com

With water imagery as the foundation, Number One engages the experience of elasticity between varying states of mind. Winner of an Honorable Mention Award at the 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Leighton Pierce works on the interfaces of memory, imagination, and perception. In his recent work, he eliminates the delineation of the "shot" through a layered, painterly approach to image and a highly integrated soundtrack. Comprehensive Leighton Pierce website at: www.leightonpierce.com

This officescape reflects the rhythms of Todd's mind from daybreak-to-break: light journeys within and without his office, in 3 movements: InnerClose with Shadow and Steam (Andante Up, Down, and Sidelong), Exterior Fantasy from Dawn to Break (Allegro in moving colors), and Hallway (the End of that World). Winner of the Gus Van Sant Award for Best Experimental Film at the 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Robert Todd has been making films and teaching in the Boston area since 1989. He is also a painter and musician, and, as one can see in this film, has quite a rocky relationship with his office. To learn more: www.roberttoddfilms.com

An uncontrolled high voltage discharge exposes photographic paper, which is then arranged in time to create new visual systems of electron organization. Even though the result is abstract, it tells a universal story older than the world itself. Winner of The Barbara Aronofsky Latham Award for Emerging Experimental Video Artist at the 46th Ann Arbor Film Festival.

Born in Koblenz, Germany in 1972 Fleisch began experimenting with super 8 film while still at high school. His films have been screened at film festivals worldwide including New York Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Milano Film Festival, Int'l Film Festival Rotterdam, European Media Art Festival, Melbourne Int'l Film Festival and many more.

He now lives and works in Berlin where he's part of the Pro Artis team and was also involved in organizing legendary parties with the Kachelklub. Recently he started his bimonthly Berlin podcast First We Take Berlin together with Daniel Scheimberg. To learn more: fleischfilm.com

The Portrait Series is part of an ongoing series of filmed places, stories and histories of Cascadia with scores by musicians living in the Pacific Northwest. Portrait #2: Trojan is an arresting examination of the dynamics between industrialization and nature.

A filmmaker by nature, not by stress of research, Renwick puts scholars to rout by solving through Nature's teaching problems that have fretted their trained minds. Her iconoclastic work reflects an interest in place, relationships between bodies and landscapes, and all sorts of borders. Working in experimental and poetic documentary forms, she produces films, videos and installations that explore the possibility of hope in contemporary society. To learn more: www.odoka.org/about/