April 30 Film Fest at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana!

Rat Powered Films is proud to present "RATS IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD" film fest at the Yost Theater in Downtown Santa Ana.  Starting time is 7:00pm.

Here is a list of the films you will be enjoying!

My trip to liberty city (07:33)
Jim Munroe
A video travelogue of a Canadian tourist trying to stay out of trouble in the world of Grand Theft Auto III.  Design of canadiantourist.jpg is credited to Patricio Davila and the skin to Marc Ngui.

Joe Musil (04:22)
Akorn Entertainment
Excerpts from “Primer,” a feature length documentary showing interesting characters and businesses in downtown Santa Ana.  This selection is about a local theater designer.

You can Awesome (05:16)
Michael Mohan
By the time your children finishing watching this 1980’s educational program, they will be experts in math, mechanical function based on engineering, and snarf.  They will also be dead.

Derek (07:45)
From the Interrogation Series
Michael Mohan
An all-too-real interpretation of the traditional high school guidance counselor…updated to contemporary morality.  Derek is the first interview.

Three-Fifty (08:50)
Maurice Chauvet

The story of a man who tried to weasel out of his late fees at the local video store, only to discover the video store’s database has access to intimate details.

Tim Rush (06:32)
Akorn Entertainment
Excerpts from “Primer.” this is a local historian / gourmet cook.

Hadacol Christmas
(11:08)
Brent Green
Hadacol Christmas is about Green’s grandfather, Garland, as Santa Claus, inventing Christmas with a belly full of cough syrup and a head full of dying crows.

Liam (06:05)
From the Interrogation Series
Michael Mohan
Liam is the second victim.

Grand Central Art Center (05:08)
Akorn Entertainment
Excerpts from “Primer” about Grand Central Art Center. 

Brandy (04:05)
From the Interrogation Series
Michael Mohan
The third and final interview.

Dirty Words: The Letter ‘C’  (03:42)
T. Arthur Cottam
Who knew there were so many dirty ‘C” words?

Darling, Darling (13:30)
Matthew Lessner
Meeting the parents of your date is always awkward. Young Harold, played by Michael Cera, takes this idea to a whole new level in this surreal production.  (For sale on iTunes!)

The Crosby (05:13)
Akorn Entertainment
Excerpts from “Primer.”  Now go there to finish your night off right.

Check out the Yost's website for more info: http://koos.org 

 

ASU Short Film and Video Festival

Rat Powered Films is proud to announce the Annual Short Film and Video Festival, premiering at ASU Tempe, Arizona on April 18, 2009.

Details: http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/filmfest/

The fest will travel to Santa Ana this summer...

Rats! Inside the shooting of our slate.

So Bob wanted to make a film of the rats chewing and sniffing and acting adorable, using his super 8 camera.  I think, hey rats love strawberry jam! I'll slather it on Kevin's dad's antique table, and let them run around and eat their jam.

They could not have been LESS interested in the jam; but LOVED the remote controls. Seen here are filmmaker R.T. Pece with rat wrangler Kevin.

**please feel free to download as a screensaver**

Rats is a Four-Letter Word

Rat Powered Films is proud to announce our April 30th date for "Rats is a Four-Letter Word" short film festival.  We will be featuring Michael Mohan, Matthew Lesser, Akorn Entertainment, Jim Munroe, Brent Green, Maurice Chauvet and special guests!

The Yost Theater is Orange County's Historic Venue for the Visual and Performing Arts located at 307 Spurgeon Street, Santa Ana, Ca 92701.  We will post directions and program in the coming weeks!

Amy & Bob Current Events

Bob Pece is currently exhibiting in Maas Pece at 5iftybucks Gallery, located 213 E. Holt Ave. Pomona. He is also participating in Bunny Gunner Gallery in the All You Can Eat show, located 266 W. Second St., Pomona; The Red Show at da Gallery and The Blue Show at SCA Project Gallery, also in Pomona.

Details: http://www.pomonaartwalk.com/

 

Amy Caterina is participating in the GCAC 10th Anniversary Show located at the CSUF Grand Central Art Center, 125 N Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 9270 1.  Reception: March 7, 2009, 12-3 pm. Kick off event and afternoon party, 7-10 pm.

She is also participating in the Auction 100, at the Laguna Art Museum, February 28, 2009, located at 307 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach CA, 92651

Details: http://www.freerangeknitting.com

Rat Powered Films at the GCAC 10th Anniversary Show

The CSUF Grand Central Art Center, a staple of Orange County's contemporary art scene, celebrates its 10th year anniversary of incredible programming, exhibitions and events with a huge retrospective exhibition. This multi-media exhibition features highlights from over 200 exhibitions, 35 artists-in-residence, our art catalogs published by Grand Central Press and more! Notable artists such as Mark Ryden, Jeffrey Vallance, Robert Williams, and Extremo the Clown are just some of our past artists showing in celebration of this landmark milestone in Grand Central Art Center's history.

March 7, 2009, 12-3 pm. Kick off event and afternoon party, 7-10 pm. The BIG party Admission is Free.

Featured Artists:
Extremo the Clown, James Hill Michael Knowlton, Manuel Pardo, Elizabeth Turk and Kirara Kawachi, Suzanne Williams, Franco Angeloni, Mark Mothersbaugh, Rosemary Covey , Laurie Hassold, Thomas Kinkade, Jeff Gillette, Amy Caterina, James Lorigan, James Doolin, Mark Ryden, Edward Colver, Jeffrey Vallance, Eric Jones, Jim Jenkins, Sandow Birk, Charles Krafft, Robert Williams, Rat Powered Films, David Michael Lee, Myron Conan Dyal, Camille Rose and more.

The Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center is the result of a unique partnership between the university and the city of Santa Ana. Located ten miles south of the main campus in the heart of downtown Santa Ana Grand Central Art Center is a mixed residential, commercial and educational complex. The art center is a 45,000 square-foot, half-city block deep and full city-block long, three-level structure containing live/studio spaces for visual arts graduate students, the Grand Central Gallery, the Project Room, the Grand Central Theater, Watermark Printmaking Workshop, the Gypsy Den Cafe, the Rental and Sales gallery, classrooms, and a studio and living space dedicated to the center's international artist-in-residence program.
Santa Ana community activist Don Cribb and Cal State Fullerton Gallery Director Mike McGee originally conceived the Grand Central Art Center in 1994 as the anchor and catalyst for a ten-square block area in the heart of downtown designated as the Artists Village.

Featured films:

YOU CAN AWESOME
Michael Mohan, TRT: 05:35
By the time your children finish watching this 1908’s educational program, they will gbe experts in math, mechanical function engineering and snarf.  They will also be dead.

RETURN TO PURGATORY
Jay Barba and Brian Farrelly, TRT 07:31
Dead film, political and rock-n-roll legends star in this short. Jimi Hendrix attends a high school guidance session from George C. Scott and follows a different career path.

LOSING YOUR CHERRY 
Jay Barba and Brian Farrelly, TRT 00:10:00
An educational film from the 1950’s where an animated fruit pie helps guide young boys into the scary but thrilling world of adult sexuality.

DANDY'S INFERNO
Antonio de Los Reyes, Gerit Vanderberg and Mary Allan
Dandy's Inferno is a domestic odyssey that follows one cat's quest for gastronomic nirvana. Embarking from the familiar comforts of home, Dandy confronts a labyrinth of surreal detours. A fantastic collage of animation, puppetry and magical sets, Dandy's Inferno blurs the line between logic and naked animal passion.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Betsy Lohrer Hall, TRT: 03:48
A look at relationships...between two nations... a parent and child... a human being and his not-so-distant kin.

MY FATHER'S LUNCH
Tony Mendoza, TRT 00:06:58
My father has eaten lunch every day at the same restaurant for 30 years.  His routine was amusing and I decided to go along with a video camera, on a day when something unexpected occurred.

MY TRIP TO LIBERTY CITY
Jim Munroe, TRT: 07:33
Jim Munroe’s video art series Pleasure Circuit Overload (42 minutes) is a series of seven pieces about videogames. Through movie preview spoofs, in-game machinima, quirky short drama and documentary interviewing, this diverse collection aims to deepen the cultural discourse around gaming.

Handmade Puppet Dreams

Past Events:

Grand Central Art Center Project Room
Hand-made Puppet Dreams
April 7 - May 20, 2007

In celebration of object performance and avant-garde puppetry, this exhibition organized by Rat Powered Films and Heather Henson, daughter of legendary puppeteer Jim Henson features a collection of short films by more than twenty filmmakers who use puppetry as a vehicle to convey contemporary artistic concerns.
For details on these films and filmmakers please visit: www.handmadepuppetdreams.com

Films
Sammy & Sofa
Tim Lagasse

Prelude #2
Hoku Uchiyama

The Red Book
Janie Geiser

Mother Hubbard
Paul Andrejco

Ola's Box of Clovers
Genevieve Anderson

Last Rites
Paul Andrejco

Everloving
Steve Johnson

Herd
Mike Mitchell

Mary Anning & Monsters
Laura Heit

Popsicle
Mike Mitchell and Dan Brown

Graveyard Jamboree

Seamus Walsh and Mark Cabellero

Harker
Tony Giordano, Jason Murphy and Scott Shoemaker

Finger Puppets Everywhere
Laura Heit

Unicycle Baby Guy
Matty Sidle

A Small World
Lyon Hill

Project Huxley
Simon A. Brown

The Tea Party
Kate Artibee

Isemond
Xander Marrow and Mat Brinkman

Dante's Inferno
Sean Meredith and Paul Zaloom

Hot in Herre
Thomas Sontag and Alex Moulton

Growing Up Linda

Marsian De Lellis

Fortune Teller
Eli Presser

Handmade Puppet Dreams is brought to you by IBEX Inc., a very small entertainment company that produces and presents events with puppets.

Currently, we are touring Handmade Puppet Dreams, a selection of short puppet films by independent artists exploring their hand made craft specifically for the camera.

Opening Night reception

From top:

Marsian De Lellis, Growing Up Linda, installation

Jim Henson, Mask

Tony Giordano, Jason Murphy and Scott Shoemaker, Harker, installation

Heather Henson with puppeteers