Portland, OR. If you heed advice to arrive early for flights at PDX, you’ve likely had some time on your hands after you’ve cleared security. If you’re waiting in concourse C, now you’ve have something new to do. The Hollywood Theatre opened a first-of-its-kind free microcinema at the airport on February 23rd. The 17-seat theatre is located after security in the airport’s C concourse. The microcinema, in partnership with the Port of Portland, serves the airport’s 16 million annual visitors. Ticketed passengers can drop in free of charge to watch short films by Oregon filmmakers.
Here’s a look at some of the short films available for viewing.
Finding Oregon is a short film by John Waller & Ben Canales of Uncage the Soul Productions and runs just 4:09 minutes. Finding Oregon is the compilation of six months of timelapse photography across the state of Oregon.
Another selection is No More, a video highlighting both the pure MC skills of Portland, OR hip hop artist Mic Capes and the cinematic visual work of Totem Ent. This is heartfelt music driven by the values of family and community. Shot in the New Columbia Villa it runs 4:08 minutes.
With a dozen exhibitions by local artists ever year, the public art program is just one of the many amenities that regularly ranks PDX as the country’s best airport. “It can be a little bit stressful to travel, and one of the things we found helps soothe the travel stress: music, artwork, and now we’ll have a theater too,” said Kama Simonds, the airport spokesperson for the Port of Portland.
One of the films being shown this first winter in the small theatre is The Lost Fish.
PDX agreed to donated the space for at least three years to the nonprofit that runs the historic Hollywood Theatre at 4122 NE Sandy Blvd. Hollywood’s executive director, Doug Whyte and his team then took a year to get funding to permit, design and build out the modern, micro-theater with a donated top-shelf projector and sound system.
The Hollywood Theatre @PDX project is made possible through the generous partnership of the Port of Portland, ZGF Architects, Potestio Studio, PAE, KPFF, Triad Speakers, Erskine Group, Planar/Leyard, Joel Hamberg Painting, Sherwin-Williams, Rejuvenation, Blue Chalk, and Security Signs, as well as the funding support of Travel Oregon, the Fred W. Fields Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission‘s Arts Build Communities program, the Oregon Cultural Trust, and the Calligram Foundation
Here’s the complete list of short films which will be screened at the new PDX Hollywood Theatre.
Opening Program: Winter 2017
LAMENTATION, Kirk Kelley of HouseSpecial (5:26):
Inspired by Portland’s own world-renowned Pink Martini’s sorrowful Romanian ballad “Până când nu te iubeam (Before I Fell in Love with You),” Lamentation plays on expansive micro views of intimate objects. The resulting visuals weave several styles of thematic imagery, each thread cyclically returning to its own organic struggle against stasis.
FINDING OREGON, John Waller & Ben Canales of Uncage the Soul Productions (4:09)
Finding Oregon is the compilation of six months of timelapse photography across the state of Oregon, punctuated by a 1600 mile road trip in 2011. Directed by John Waller and Ben Canales of Uncage the Soul Productions
COWBURD, Patrick Neary (3:52
A hapless dairy cow, inspired by a little bird, takes to the skies with chaotic results.
MAGDA, Chel White (5:34
A first love is corrupted as a man recalls his affair with a beautiful circus contortionist in this stop-motion animation of wooden manikins. At its heart, Magda is an off-center parable about lost innocence and the corruptibility of human nature.
THE LOST FISH, Jeremy Monroe / Freshwaters Illustrated (5:00)
One of the Pacific Northwest’s oldest fish is disappearing, and along with it the sacred place it holds among many American Indian Tribes. Follow elders and biologists from the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama, and Warm Springs Tribes into the world of Pacific Lamprey, and discover the deep connection that exists between the Northwest’s indigenous people and an ancient fish. Produced in Partnership with the Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission with Cooperation from the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
COOPED, Mike A. Smith (9:00)
A sofa-bound dog is shocked to learn that a whole world lies outside the door— the maddening, unbreakable door.
THIS PLACE, Truen Pence (5:45)
From its local inhabitants to its visitors, the Oregon Coast means different things to different people. This Place is a portrait of the coast as seen through the eyes of a few who cherish it.
MODERN DARK, Josh Lunden (6:04)
A young man living in a light-polluted city attempts to see the stars through his childhood telescope.
NO MORE, Mic Capes; Music Video by Totem Ent (4:08)
A powerful video highlighting both the pure MC skills of Portland, OR hip hop artist Mic Capes and the cinematic visual work of Totem Ent. This is heartfelt music driven by the values of family and community. Shot in the New Columbia Villa.
PORTLAND: YOU ARE HERE, PSU Students (8:31)
Portland: You are Here is a video series made by Portland State University film students which profiles Portland residents enjoying what the city has to offer.
