Balagan
welcomes Matt McCormick (http://www.rodeofilmco.com),
a Portland Oregon filmmaker who has
made several award winning short films. He is
also the founder of Peripheral Produce, an internationally
recognized video distribution label specializing
in short experimental work, and the director
of the Portland Documentary and eXperimental
Film Festival, Portland’s premiere venue
for experimental, documentary, and otherwise
obscure contemporary cinema. Matt has had three
films screen at the Sundance Film Festival,
and has received awards including Best Short
Film from the 45th San Francisco International
Film Fest,Best Short Film from the 2002 Ann
Arbor Film Festival and others. He has screened
at such venues as the Seattle Art Museum and
the Lincoln Center, and his film ‘The
Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal’
was named as one of the ‘Top 10 Films
of the 2002’ by both The Village Voice
and Art Forum magazine.
“In
the last few years, Matt McCormick has emerged
as one of our strongest independent filmmakers,
doing work that’s both ingenuous and
humorously absurd...” - Fred Camper,
Chicago Reader
“Portland
filmmaker Matt McCormick’s experimental-doc
The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal is
one of the finest short films of any kind
I’ve seen in a long time...”
Ed Halter -The New York Press
“Matt McCormick’s The Subconscious
Art of Graffiti Removal, a send-up of art
criticism and urban planning, is a seemingly
off-handed but exceptionally intelligent foray
into American vernacular art.”
- Amy Taubin -the Village Voice
American
Nutria
11 minutes - video - 2003
A short documentary about Nutria; a large, odd
looking rodent from Argentina, that 60 years
after their introduction to North America, appear
to be on track to eating the entire continent.
Narrated by Calvin Johnson, original music by
The Postal Service.
The
Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal 16
minutes 16mm -or- video 2001
a short documentary that explores why it is
no coincidence that funding for “anti-graffiti”
campaigns often outweigh funding for the arts.
Towlines
(*work in progress sneak preview) 22 minutes
- 16mm on video - 2004
An experimental documentary about tugboats,
Towlines combines historical information with
creative production to plead the case that the
tugboat is a heroic yet tragic figure deserving
of careful recognition. Original music by James
Mercer of The Shins.
Grounded
5 minutes - 16mm on video - 2004
a cinematically engaging portrait of industry
and urban wildlife, set to an abstract score.
Going
to the Ocean 8 minutes - 16mm - 2001
an abstract meditation on texture and light
using night vision video and found kodachrome-
improvised soundtrack: trains/static/melodeon.
The
Vyrotonin Decision 7 minutes - 16mm
- 1999
a postmodern disaster epic featuring appropriated
segments of 36 television commercials from 1971.
Sincerely,
Joe P. Bear 4 minutes - 16mm - 1999
appropriated news clips from the 1960’s
combine with hand-painted film to tackle the
momentous issue of how polar bears cope with
heartbreak and rejection.
Past
and Pending 5 minutes - music video
- 2003
A music video for The Shins, from their album
‘Oh, Inverted World.’
