8
MIXED MEDIUM
AUG. 3ÿ10, 2022
THE ARTS AROUND
EASTERN OREGON
The shortest o lms around
We Like 8Em 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 o lm 4 specio cally
claypainting, which involves working in
front of a camera and applying bits of clay
to create <a seamless n ow of images.=
She made her o rst o lm when she
was in school, and she hasn9t really ever
stopped.
<About 1967,= she said of her begin-
ning in o lm. <A really long time.=
Gratz, who won an Academy Award
in 1993 for her short o lm <Mona Lisa
Descending a Staircase,= had two o lms
accepted into the 13th annual We Like
8Em Short Film Festival, which happens
Aug. 11-14 in Baker City.
<No Leaders Please= is an animated o lm
based on a poem by Charles Bukowski.
The second, <Retention Department
of Perpetual Exhaustion,= was inspired by
Gratz9s 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 Blasho eld, Marv Newland, Martin
Cooper and Chel White.
A special screening featuring Gratz
and Jim Blasho 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, o lms
Joan Gratz/Contributed Image
The short o lm <Retention Department of Perpetual Exhaustion= was inspired by Joan
Gratz9s internet service provider. The live action/animation o lm will be shown at the
13th annual We Like 8Em Short o lm festival, Aug. 11-14, 2022, in Baker City.
have been shorter than 60 seconds.
Brian Vegter, festival director, said 217
o lms were submitted this year from 34
countries. Those submissions were pared
down to the 83 o lms featured in this
year9s event.
All screenings will be at Churchill
School, 3451 Broadway St. Enter through
the 16th Street parking lot. The o 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 Blasho 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
o 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
Don9t 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