Film Jam returns to Bunnell Street Arts Center on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 8 p.m.
The event, curated by film artist Michael Walsh,will include more than 13 performing artists. The Bunnell Arts website describes the event as “an evening of single-channel and multi-channel projection cinema, alongside performance, storytelling and music by some of Alaska’s most adventurous makers.”
Current Bunnell resident artist Maite Agopian will premier a live puppet theater piece with screen projection images in the background.
Writer Jay Bechtol will read a new piece he’s been working on.
Anchorage artists Mike Conti and Brian Hutton will present features of a cinematic project they are working on called, “Don Quixote,” Walsh said. Conti, dressed to Quixote, will read poetry, while Hutton will provide the screen images as background.
Local author Tom Kizzia will be doing a personal reading from one of his collections with screen provided by Daniel Zatz, a local artist who creates aerial film of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, according to his website www.zatzworks.com.
“It took them awhile to commit to the performance but they finally did and it’s kind of the dream team,” Walsh said.
Mandy Benard, an artist who contributed to Film Jam 2023, will be presenting another digital video.
Ghen Sasakura and Johnny Hamilton “are two brilliant young artists and will be sharing a movie they made for Alaska World Arts; a four-minute perfect Homer movie,” Walsh said.
Walsh, who has been making and curating moving image art for more than 30 years, according to the Bunnell website, will also share one piece of his own. The theme for this piece is based on the 1968 horror film “Night of the Living Dead.” He will use collective parts of the film from three reels and project them simultaneously.
He said he will include some component of sound to accompany the visuals. Walsh noted that the film was very influential for the “zombie craze” and he intends for the music to have a “sinister component.”
Finally, Adele Person will provide a brief reading.
“Her piece provides a powerful, really strong message; a totally brilliant feminist performance. Actually, she has words and texts that speak to body shame and what women in particular are going through. She’s using an amazing traditional song as an accompaniment,” Walsh said.
Tickets are $25, available through the Bunnell website at www.bunnellarts.org/events/film-jam or they can be purchased at the gallery. Bunnell recommends purchasing online due to limited number of tickets available. The website does suggest that Film Jam is for mature audiences only and people under the age of 18 need to be accompanied by parents.
