作者:汉娜·斯图尔特(Hannah Stewart)

Many artists consider their mission to be documenting life—whether through 19th-century French realist painting or film. 

的 Mimesis Documentary Festival, now in its fourth year, celebrates those creators.

节日，这是 hosted by the College of Media, Communication and Information’s Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media, invites the general public and CU Boulder community to attend screenings, 工作坊及其他活动从8月8日开始. 15 - 20.

的se events are available both online and in person, around Boulder at the 乳品艺术中心的Boedecker电影院和 B2媒体艺术中心 & 表演. This year features more than 60 documentaries—some as short as three minutes, others lasting for more than an hour—curated from more than 200 submissions from more than 30 countries.

Given the eclectic selection of films, there are two different schedules: one for documentary blocks—which include multiple documentaries in a shared timeslot—and one for documentary arts. 的se films extend beyond the screen, 常与声音有关, installation and other interactive elements.

“We call it documentary arts because it’s really about expanding the documentary form beyond the single screen,埃里克·库姆斯·伊斯梅尔说, 中心主任. “We want to bring documentary back into an arts space, where it always really has belonged.”

的 festival prides itself on spotlighting artists and focusing on underrepresented and culturally specific subjects. Many submissions are what would commonly be considered “experimental,” so rather than organizing the festival around perceived genre, the Mimesis team finds threads of continuity and intersectionality of themes when putting together the program.

“的 goal is always to pair films not just because they resonate with each other, but because we think that by putting them together, both projects will be amplified,他说. “We’re trying to provide the best possible platform for these artists’ work to really shine and have relevance.”

For example, the opening night programming is a combination of a feature documentary, “反抗的对象，“和16分钟”vis o do Paraíso (天堂景象).” 

This year showcases two individual artists—artist-in-focus Jessica Beshir and 特色 artist Saeed Taji Farouky.

巴希尔2021年的纪录片，贝尔-法亚大邑,” is her feature debut and part of Friday night’s lineup. She will host a conversation after the screening, as well as a masterclass on Saturday.

Farouky is a filmmaker of Palestinian and British descent whose work focuses on conflict, human rights and colonialism; his film, “一千个火,” will screen Saturday evening. He is also set to host an artist walk through the ghost town of Caribou, Colorado, Sunday morning.

“It’s exciting to have something where we go out into the world and see how a documentarian sees a city,库姆斯说.

Notably, three CU Boulder films will be showcased, including “垃圾,” a student film by Lily Fletcher (Jour, CritMedia). Cinema studies faculty member Laura Conway will present her film, “蕨类植物中的维纳斯,” in the same documentary block as Riley Bartlett (EngLit’19), who created “Caladium Garden.”

In addition to CMCI, the 乳品艺术中心 and the B2 Center, festival supporters include 博彩平台推荐 关键媒体实践 and its 研究 and Innovation Office, festival partners and individual donors.

Tickets are available online through the Mimesis website. 空间有限, so members of the public must obtain a pass and reserve tickets prior to attending in-person or virtual screenings.