ACMI Will Play 12 Hours Of Cat Videos At Melbourne’s ‘White Night’ To Keep Crowds Feline Good
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image has figured out a way to draw a crowd of people like kittens to a yarn of wool. At Melbourne’s annual ‘White Night’ in 2016, ACMI at Federation Square will showcase 15 minutes of cat videos on loop for twelve hours straight in an exhibition aptly named, Cat Festival.
Have they got our attention?…
Emily Siddons, one of the centre’s producers told Broadsheet “we’re trying to celebrate some broad, contrasting work.”
“The Cat Festival reflects the online space and digital culture. The amazing Indigenous films we’re screening showcase Australian film.”
Cat Festival was inspired by a similar project out of Minneapolis which started as a joke, but rapidly grew to the point where people forgot that it was a laugh and really got in to it. Since 2012, that particular festival brings in over 13,000 cat lovers to its doors every year .
ACMI hopes that this is a good indicator of what Cat Festival will achieve at White Night, as it will be screened in the main theatre, every half hour from 7pm to 7am.
As well as their meow-nificiant Cat Festival, ACMI will also be screening three other short films which showcase Australian Film. Essentially the Cat Festival is like the click-bait for some other very well thought out programming, which includes:
Night Cries – by Indigenous artist, Tracey Moffatt. The film is just under 20 minutes, and was shot entirely in a studio. It has been celebrated for its rich, artificial landscapes and amazing soundscape. It previously won Best Short Film at Melbourne International Film Festival in 1990.
BabaKiueria – a 29-minute mockumentary-style film that takes places in an imagined landscape. In this setting, white people are the minority and are suffering discrimination under the superior black law.
Girt By Sea – an hour-long proclamation of love to the Aussie coastline made from home movies as well as films from The National Film and Sound Archive. It’s set to an original score by Perth band, The Panics.
White Night takes place in Melbourne’s CBD and surrounds on February 20, 2016, from 7pm to 7pm. You can check out more deets here: whitenightmelbourne.com.au and here: acmi.net.au.
If you still happen to be reading this, we’re just going to quietly freak out with a bagillion cat gifs… you’re welcome to stick around:
