EMIT, an annual showcase of Cleveland Institute of Art
student video and animation, returns to the Cleveland Institute of Art
Cinematheque (11141 East Blvd., 216.421.7450, cia.edu/cinematheque) at 8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 3. CIA associate professor Kasumi, the
curator/originator of the festival, says she started EMIT seven years
ago as a forum for works that might not otherwise get shown.

“I realized there was no venue to exhibit work being created by
students working in the fields of film, video and animation,” she says.
“It’s not like any other festival around.”

Open to all CIA students, EMIT includes a hodgepodge of work,
including “improvisational documentary, experimental found-footage
film, personal exploration of identity, stop-motion, Flash and 3-D
animation, a motion-graphics portfolio, mixed-media comedy, satire,
dance and even a narrative or two.” One student put animated
blown-glass cups in his film, and another used 3-D animation and
high-tech compositing to bring medical illustrations to life.

Kasumi says she doesn’t accept every film submitted, but the more
experimental films have a better shot of getting included. “I welcome
crazy stuff; the crazier the better,” she says. “God forbid we actually
have a narrative film. That’s the exception, but we have a couple of
those.” The program runs about 90 minutes. Admission is free. There are
no plans to release the movies on DVD, though Kasumi says she’d like to
see that happen at some point.

At 6 p.m. on select Saturdays for the next six months, Terry
Meehan, an adjunct who teaches at Lorain Community College, will
host a film program called Back to the Movies: Five Decades of
Cinema at the Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.,
216.226.8275, lkwdpl.org). “I’ve
always been interested in film history and how all this started,” says
Meehan. “I’ll have a five- or six-minute presentation that highlights
the decade. I’ll show that, and I’ll talk about the decade and talk
about the personalities. After the film, I’ll try to get some kind of
discussion going.” The series commences with Buster Keaton’s The
General on Sept. 5 and continues with Frank Capra’s It Happened
One Night (Oct. 3), Alfred Hitchock’s Notorious (Nov. 7),
Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon (Jan. 9) and Mike Nichols’ The
Graduate (Feb. 6). Admission is free.

jniesel@clevescene.com

This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.