Cut and Run kicked off its first screening in April of 2009 at the Artists’ Television Access in San Francisco, and was co-presented with Pirate Cat Radio. Following the show, it was decided that the Cut and Run would live on and produce various types of film screenings including a tour of micro-cinemas and other venues along the US West Coast, a guerilla screening on the SF MUNI rail system, and now a national tour of experimental shorts. This is the first program from Cut and Run which has only played on the West Coast, until now.
Selective Service System by Warren Haack and Dan Lovejoy (USA, 1970, 13 minutes, DVD)
“Since 1956 the United States has been involved in a ground war in Asia. The American commitment had led to an ever increasing involvement in that area of the world – despite growing dissatisfaction here at home. To implement this country’s mobilization, the draft system had been stepped up. This system made virtually no exemptions for those who felt this war was immoral and unjust. These young men either had to serve in a war in which they did not believe, or face the bleak alternatives to service. Some chose prison. Some sought refuge in other countries. This film documents another alternative. There was no attempt to alter the proceedings that took place.”
Deviations From the Wheel by JG Solondz (USA, 2007, 6 minutes, DVD)
Percussively condensed re-edit of promo videos found at a 2007 military “defense systems” conference. The source footage’s heavy metal soundtrack having undergone the same edit system resulted in the heavily modulated feedback.
Do It Yourself Macroscopic Microscope by Mackenzie Mathis (USA, 2008, 7 minutes, DVD)
The world of the large and small as viewed through the lens of the gargantuan and the tiny.”
Sensuous Geographies by Emily Davis (USA, 2008, 5 minutes, DVD)
Bye, Bye! She’s giving you up. P.S. You are now officially a cabbage patch kid with your very own special adoption papers.
No Name Nostalgia by Mallary Abel (USA, 2008, 3 minutes, DVD)
This montage uses images with sounds to express something personal regarding biology, femininity, and most of all, sexuality.
Sally’s Dream by Diana Stasko
(USA, 2008, 3 minutes, DVD)
Sally’s Dream’ uses found and super 8 footage, layering and blending images to create a surreal dreamscape which explores themes of feminine appearance, and the visible and hidden roles women historically inhabit.”
Supplanted Environment, Subsequent Adaptation by Lucky Gesher (USA, 2008, 3 minutes, DVD)
Birds equal trees. Humans equal concrete. Birds equal concrete. Humans don’t equal trees. Birds don’t equal trees. Birds don’t equal humans.
Mirror Mirror by Paula Levine (USA, 1987, 3 minutes, DVD)
Shot in Venice, California at Muscle Beach, this is a short vignette about viewing and being viewed.
Straightboy Lessons by Ray Rea (USA, 1999, 10 minutes, DVD)
Straighboy Lessons is the recreation of one drive in a truck after I told a co-worker, Bo, that I was transitioning female to male.
Yankee Doodle by Hand by Unknown (USA, 1933, 30 seconds, DVD)
This is a filmed performance of farmer Cecil H. Dill of Traverse County, Michigan, performing “Yankee Doodle” in a most unusual way.
Where’s my Boyfriend? by Gretchen Hogue (USA, 2005, 2 minutes, DVD)
A biological clock explosion. Penises and Fetuses. This one is for the ladies. Can you hear the ticking?
Horn by Milenko Skoknic (USA, 2008, 2 minutes)
Horn is an experimental documentary about a car blaring it’s horn for hours inside an empty parking lot, and its acoustic effects on the neighborhood.
DISILLUSIONED by Brenda Contreras (USA, 2007, 3 minutes, DVD)
Here my aim it to tackle the concept of futile wars but I do not offer a single interpretation. Accordingly to the title and the subject matter, this film aims to create disillusionment for the viewer through its abstracted audio design and by limiting the viewer to what they are allowed to see.
Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath by Phillip Villarreal (USA, 2009, 5 minutes, DVD)
Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath is a pop music video inspired by the famous, eponymous photograph, in which a mother bathes her deformed daughter, who suffers from severe congenital mercury poisoning. The video and song are part of a greater project exploring the theme of motherhood within the context of widespread environmental pollution.
FLOAT by Mackenzie Mathis (USA, 2007, 3 minutes, DVD)
At an opportune moment, a restless feather makes its long awaited escape from the Earth.
Two Things at One Time by Jenny Gag (USA, 2007, 4 minutes, DVD)
Two Things at One Time is a four minute single channel video performance. This is what I do on a typical day, twice, and then four times. The begins with a banal activity meant to be a singular action, and then complicates, as it is interwoven with another singular action. This piece points to the capacity and process of video production: the ability to capture anything and everything. However, this apparent limitlessness is contradicted by the linear unfolding of time based media.”
A Conversation with Enthusiasts: Mushroom People by John Robert Moore, Jocelyn Jones, Lisa Winsor, and Danielle Didonato (USA, 2008, 18 minutes, DVD)
“Why mushrooms, and for what reason” A film that taps into obsession and admiration of something many don’t understand.”
See the trailer here!
Brenda Contreras, a Southern California native, moved up to San Francisco for fresher air and safer bike rides. Working with an assortment of experimental film forms, her interests lie in exploring and bring light to human rights, feminist issues, and the marginalized.
Mallary Abel, filmmaker, curator, poet. Born February 21, 1986 in Indiana. Relocated to California in 1997. BA in Cinema from San Francisco State University, honors. Interest in cinematheque, experimental film, semiology and semantics began here. She can be reached at 
