Film festivals are always a treat, even more so when they’re right in your backyard. University of Oregon’s renowned Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art proudly hosted, for the sixth time, the 34th Annual Black Maria Film Festival on May 13, presenting nine diverse short films.
The unique name of the festival comes from that of Thomas Edison, New Jersey inventor and creator of the motion picture. Edison called his studio the “black maria” from where the festival takes its name. As the festival travels across the country each year, it selects short films that range from narrative, experimental, animation and documentary, “addressing issues and struggles within contemporary society such as the environment, public health, race and class, family, sustainability, and much more” states the event’s program.
Nine films were selected at this special UO screening, ranging from four to 49 minutes of entertainment with a side of food for thought. As guests gleefully munched on complementary, old-style boxes of popcorn, their minds were opened wide, as grasping the content of some of these films may have been hard for the typical movie-goer.
With the exception of the one 49-minute film, the other eight ranged from four to eight minutes long, leaving little time process what was being presented on the screen; some had music, others just sounds and few had any dialogue at all, truly defining the “cutting-edge, cross-genre work” that was “specially crafted for each site”, in this case, Eugene, Oregon as explained by Cinema Pacific director, Richard Herskowitz.
The anticipated longest film in the festival was saved for last, as it set itself far apart from the other submissions. Return To Dak To, awarded with the Jury’s Citation award, follows Christopher Upham and four veteran comrades back to Vietnam as their journey provides “unexpected closure for these men as they give their voice to personal traumas that connect to the universal sufferings of war.”
This moving documentary provided a glimpse into life both during and after the Vietnam War for five incredibly strong men who faced their deepest haunting by returning to Dak To.
One of the festival’s guests of honor and stars of Return To Dak To, John Marcoulier, described the trip as “very healing” and suggests to friends to “leave what’s there, back there.” As one who suffered from trauma after the war, he described to the audience how it was returning to a place that feared him the most. “The anticipation that you left so much behind, you can hardly face going back, but I found that hard to be true. No animosity, struck more than anything heard about what was good or not,” he said.
To appreciate, entertain or to simply put things into perspective, check out the Black Maria Film Festival’s website for more information on its films and tour schedule.
