Experimental: Images Festival at Mubi for Free

This week I will be in Madison, Wisconsin for the 2011 Wisconsin Film Festival, where I was invited to be a juror for the Wisconsin's Own competition (for filmmakers and films with ties to Wisconsin).  I will post Quick Picks this week, and upon my return I will resume the normal schedule.

Most years the Wisconsin Film Festival has a strong experimental film component, and this year is no exception.  The Festival is often scheduled between two major experimental film festivals in North America, the Ann Arbor Film Festival in Ann Arbor, Michigan (which just wrapped up) and the Images Festival in Toronto (which is just starting today).  But luckily for Wisconsin Film Festival fans, there is a way to sample the programming from these two great festivals this week.

First, David Dinnell, the director of the Ann Arbor Film Festival is in Madison this weekend and he has curated (with UW-Madison graduate students John Powers and Aaron Granat) a strong lineup of experimental film programs. Tonight's program titled The Secret Sharer will be at the UW-Cinematheque at 6:15 p.m, but consult the website for the complete lineup through the remainder of the weekend.

Second, Mubi will be streaming a selection of six short experimental films in collaboration with the Images Festival for this week only.  Better yet, you can watch the films for free.  So if you can't make it to Toronto (and I know I can't) be sure to check this out.  This is part of a general trend of film festivals having an online component (see, for example, the Tribeca Online Film Festival), and we will have to see how this trend develops over the next few years.

I will probably get to these after I return home from the Wisconsin Film Festival, but if you get to them first please feel free to post your responses in the comments section below.