FILM & FOLK: CURATING A NICHE FILM FESTIVAL
Ages 16-29
Spring 2023, JHU-MICA Film Centre
Who gets to decide what we watch, in the movie theater, on television, on the web, or through social media? Some want to be in front of the camera, some behind it, but programming is another powerful way to share a vision. In this theory and criticism workshop, student fellows will investigate current cultural trends in time-based media, becoming more conscious and thoughtful viewers, and ultimately finding their own curatorial voices. Through in-class screenings and group discussion, they’ll explore both studio and independent film, music videos, and other media, asking who is represented and how, by whom and for whom. They’ll consider how what we watch may shape how we see and how we think, and they’ll learn how essential the role of curator is; how Instagram “dumps” and YouTube may threaten but cannot replace more traditional curation through festivals, both in-person and streamed, as ways of creating meaningful cultural narratives. They’ll keep film journals, and shape their own sample micro festivals, each fellow putting together a program that makes a statement about a niche community, establishing why agency and equity in festival programming matters. Limited to 8 student fellows.
Nia Hampton, a cultural worker from West Baltimore, is founder of the Black Femme Supremacy Film Fest. Her journalistic writing has appeared in Vice, The Village Voice, Dazed Digital, and elsewhere. Her photography and videography have been covered by BESE and AFROPUNK, and exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Ebony DeGrace is developing her craft as a cinematographer and photographer. She considers herself a cinematic experimentalist and aspires to uplift and uphold the Black experience through conceptualized, outer-worldly visual work.
