{"id":3219,"date":"2011-11-01T11:18:35","date_gmt":"2011-11-01T17:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/?p=3219"},"modified":"2025-02-15T07:54:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T14:54:36","slug":"why-and-how-to-watch-an-art-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santafefilmfestival.com\/index\/why-and-how-to-watch-an-art-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Why (and How To) Watch an Art Film"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cA Useful Life\u201d by Federico Vieroj<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s a question: Why should you watch an art film?<\/p>\n

Keep that thought in rotation. Now let\u2019s back up.<\/p>\n

Everyone has walked out of a movie at least once (more than once if you\u2019re unlucky) and thought: \u201cThat gave me nothing.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s only so much analysis that one can do in this situation.\u00a0 Questions you can ask: Why did that movie fail to engage me? What was I expecting to be provided with as an audience member? Where did my $10.50 and 2 hours go, exactly?<\/p>\n

Wonderful questions: Not to mention difficult, time consuming, and almost impossible to answer.<\/p>\n

Why is that? That is because any answer you unearth will ultimately be empty.<\/p>\n

We all know that most of what drives the mainstream Hollywood industry is profit. The creation of a big, \u201ctent pole\u201d film sells T-shirts, fast food meal deals, and whatever else.<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the real answer to your question: You weren\u2019t really supposed to get anything of that movie except empty viewing calories. The sugar rush is over, and now you are about to come down.<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s the alternative? I suggest watching an art film. There is a wide definition for what an \u201cart film\u201d is.<\/p>\n

Here are some guidelines:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Any film that stirs your emotions\u2014anger, sadness, delight\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter as long as it\u2019s a response.<\/li>\n
  • Any film with personal conviction. You can almost smell the filmmakers\u2019 commitment to realizing their vision at any cost.<\/li>\n
  • Any film that doesn\u2019t feel as processed as a Happy Meal. I appreciate conventionally structured plots and polished filmmaking as much as anyone else. The element I don\u2019t like in most Hollywood movies is cynical manipulation. That\u2019s why it is always refreshing to see a movie that doesn\u2019t just aim for hitting the pocket book, but the soul as well.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Now let\u2019s ask yet another question: How do you watch an art film? That\u2019s very simple: With an open mind. The best way to do this is to throw out any preconceived notions about what a film is.<\/p>\n

    One of the things that excites me personally about the medium is its endless potential.\u00a0 Projected images can be used to explore every topic imaginable. Another personal belief: I think that a filmmaker has the same obligation as any artist. That is to say that they need to recognize their own power, and use it to its fullest extent.<\/p>\n

    Movies can reach a wide ranging audience: filmmakers should make the most of that opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Here\u2019s a question: Why should you watch an art film? Keep that thought in rotation. Now let\u2019s back up. Everyone has walked out of a movie at least once (more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"festival_year":[3],"class_list":["post-3219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","festival_year-3"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t