2005 Film Biennial Flows

"Biennial" means every two years -- so a biennial convention of dental hygienists would probably be a squeaky clean but dull replay of their last gathering, complete with the same flossing diagrams.

Focus in on the MCA's 2005 Film Biennial at Starz.

Details

1 p.m. July 23-24, Starz FilmCenter, 900 Auraria Parkway, $8-$15, MCA members free, www.mcartdenver.org

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• Judy Hussie-Taylor
• Wenhua Shi
• Vincent Goudreau

But the Museum of Contemporary Art's rapid-fire 2005 Film Biennial, unspooling this weekend at the Starz FilmCenter in conjunction with the MCA's 2005 Biennial BLOW OUTexhibition, taps a different energy for its every-other-year blast. That's because in art, explains museum deputy director Judy Hussie-Taylor, biennial festivals are "not like retrospectives. They're not historical. It's like what's going on now; they're like surveys of the moment. "

Ever since the Venice Bienniale kicked off the concept in 1895 with a showcase in Italy, museums worldwide have explored the idea of hosting recurring snapshots of cutting-edge endeavors. In that spirit, Film Biennia organizers sought works that are less than thirty minutes long and were created after January 2003. And while the event is an adjunct to the BLOW OUTshow, which runs through September 25, it's no mere fluffer to the gallery display. "We were looking for people with a grasp of the craft of filmmaking," Hussie-Taylor says. "We also looked for innovation and risk-taking."

Some sixty submissions were carefully winnowed, leaving twelve -- ranging in length from two to 22 minutes -- that will premiere in a 137-minute screening. From the beautiful photographic and audio fusion of One and the Same, by Boulder's Wenhua Shi, to the odd linkage of Western kitsch, urban brackishness and failed social policy in Vincent Goudreau's Harry and Janet, the works will expose film-goers to a cross-pollination of experimental visual and narrative forms.

Screenings begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 23, and Sunday, July 24, at Starz. The top three award winners will be announced at a reception at the MCA (1275 19th Street) following Saturday's showing.