8
MIXED MEDIUM
AUG. 3�10, 2022
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
The shortest fi lms around
We Like ‘Em Short Film
Festival is Aug. 11-14 in
Baker City
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
BAKER CITY — Joan Gratz graduated
with a degree in architecture and started
her career.
It lasted two weeks.
Her passion was fi lm — specifi cally
claypainting, which involves working in
front of a camera and applying bits of clay
to create “a seamless fl ow of images.”
She made her fi rst fi lm when she
was in school, and she hasn’t really ever
stopped.
“About 1967,” she said of her begin-
ning in fi lm. “A really long time.”
Gratz, who won an Academy Award
in 1993 for her short fi lm “Mona Lisa
Descending a Staircase,” had two fi lms
accepted into the 13th annual We Like
‘Em Short Film Festival, which happens
Aug. 11-14 in Baker City.
“No Leaders Please” is an animated fi lm
based on a poem by Charles Bukowski.
The second, “Retention Department
of Perpetual Exhaustion,” was inspired by
Gratz’s internet service provider, who has
such a department.
WE LIKE ‘EM SHORT
FILM FESTIVAL
When: Aug. 11-14
Where: Churchill School, 3451
Broadway St., Baker City
Information: www.welikeemshort.com
“It is a place of last resort when there is
no hope and never a solution,” she said.
For “Exhaustion,” Gratz is the producer/
director, along with directors Chris Hin-
ton, Jim Blashfi eld, Marv Newland, Martin
Cooper and Chel White.
A special screening featuring Gratz
and Jim Blashfi eld (a Grammy award-win-
ning director) is set for Saturday, Aug. 13,
at 7 p.m.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
All submissions to WLES must be less
than 20 minutes long. In some years, fi lms
Joan Gratz/Contributed Image
The short fi lm “Retention Department of Perpetual Exhaustion” was inspired by Joan
Gratz’s internet service provider. The live action/animation fi lm will be shown at the
13th annual We Like ‘Em Short fi lm festival, Aug. 11-14, 2022, in Baker City.
have been shorter than 60 seconds.
Brian Vegter, festival director, said 217
fi lms were submitted this year from 34
countries. Those submissions were pared
down to the 83 fi lms featured in this
year’s event.
All screenings will be at Churchill
School, 3451 Broadway St. Enter through
the 16th Street parking lot. The fi rst night
is a drive-in movie; the rest will be inside
Churchill.
Here is the schedule:
• Thursday, Aug. 11: 8 p.m.; free,
family-friendly drive-in screening
• Friday, Aug. 12: 7 p.m.; $5 per person
• Saturday, Aug. 13: 1 p.m.; family-
friendly; $5 per person
Saturday, Aug. 13: 4:30 p.m.; $5 per
person
• Saturday, Aug. 13: 7 p.m.; features Gratz
and Blashfi eld; $5 per person
• Sunday, Aug. 14: 6 p.m.; $5 per person
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or
negative test (available onsite) is required
for all indoor screenings. Kids ages 15
and younger have free admission for all
screenings.
For a festival program, which lists the
fi lms, visit www.welikeemshort.com or
check the Facebook page.
First Friday at Crossroads
Intimate Spaces
by Rachael Mayer and Joanne Leonne
The Little
2020 Auburn Avenue
Baker City, Oregon
541.523.5369
www.crossroads-arts.org
Big Show
Don’t Forget to see the Little Big Show
in the upstairs dance studio!
Exhibition on display Friday, August 5 through Saturday, August 27
Crossroads is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm