UNL film series showcases experimental cinema

'The multiplex is not showing this stuff, so the idea is to give people a chance to see this kind of work.'

So says Jeff Thompson, an assistant professor of art and art history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the mind behind the Digital Arts Video Series. The biweekly series will hold its second showing of the semester tonight at 7 p.m. in Richards 17, a state-of-the-art digital arts classroom.

The series will regularly feature a handful of short avant-garde, experimental and video art works followed by a feature-length documentary or independent film.

'It's meant to be experimental and avant-garde film. You know, non-traditional movies outside of the Hollywood canon,' Thompson said. 'The multiplex is not showing this stuff, so the idea is to give people a chance to see this kind of work.'

Tonight, Thompson will be showing Alain Resnais's 'Night and Fog' from 1955, Thomas Demand's 'Tunnel' from 1999 and the Les Blank documentary 'Burden of Dreams' from 1982.

Thompson calls 'Night and Fog' 'one of the few films every human being should see.'

The Digital Arts Video Series is a part of UNL's College of Fine and Performing Arts Digital Initiative, an interdisciplinary set of courses that combine visual art, music and theater/film.

Thompson also hopes the series will raise interest in the Digital Arts department. 'It's a chance to see what you can do, or what is offered in my classes,' he said.

Tonight is the second installation of the six-part series.

'Each week is curated around a theme of some kind,' he said.

This week, the theme is 'Heaviness: The heaviness of the past and our personal ambitions.'

This is the first semester for the series, but Thompson attempted a one-time event last year to great success. 'We did one video night last semester, just to see how it went. We had a whole bunch of people show up, and decided to keep it going.'

The Digital Arts Video Series has four more events this semester. The series is primarily biweekly, but Thompson says the schedule is subject to change.

The next evening for the series is scheduled for Feb. 17, with the theme 'Cut and Paste: Films and sounds assembled from bits and pieces.'

So far, the event has summoned a rather specific audience, but Thompson is working to broaden the series' popularity. 'Right now, it's mostly art students, but anybody who wants to come is totally welcome. There's popcorn.'

rollanschott@dailynebraskan.com

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