[members: free / non-members: $10]
To dispel the disparaging and misguided claims that experimental work is little more than a territory for tedious academic pursuits, this edition of the Cinematheque Salon proves once-and-for-all that the avant-garde knows the importance of whimsy. Anyone familiar with the films of Robert Nelson, Martha Colburn, Morgan Fisher, Lawrence Jordan, Peggy Ahwesh, William T. Wiley and others (including the fellow we’ll be presenting one week later) knows that humor is an integral element of many experimental works. Cinematheque relocates the (un)usual action to one of the organization’s favorite watering holes and devotes this special program to the most maligned of motion picture forms — the karaoke video. Peripheral Produce’s PDX Fest Experimental Filmmaker Karaoke Throwdown and the Northwest Film Forum’s Karaoke Challenge have long championed these peculiar mini-masterpieces, annually commissioning new works for their nefarious purposes. The Cinematheque Sing Along will include pieces from these aforementioned events as well as the premiere of several to-be-announced videos at this one-time-only screening. Featuring videos by Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough, Bryan Boyce, Anne McGuire, Melinda Stone, Wes Kim, Mike Olenick, Michael Robinson, Roger Beebe, Sean Uyehara, Kelly Sears and a handful of others. (Jonathan Marlow)