Everyone is invited to watch the many short films created by students in the classes and camps of Summer Term 2015. Whether the first attempt of a beginner or something more ambitious from an intermediate student, it’s an uncurated, all-comers program of those ready to show their work on the big screen. Join in congratulating them on this important step in their journey. Free Admission. (70 min.)

The Film Center partners with The Oregon Media Production Association to present an OMPA member highlighted edition of our bimonthly Open Screening program. In addition to new OMPA work, if you have something new to share, e-mail thomas@nwfilm.org with “Open Screening” in the subject line. First come, first served, time allowing, with priority for films less than 15 minutes. Open Screenings at the Film Center are free and open to all. Come check out the surprises.

Syria. The word likely resonates for many of us who are following the tragic situation there. But what if it resonates because it was your home? This is the case for Dr. Hisham Bismar, the central character of Fitzgerald’s 50 FEET FROM SYRIA. A successful hand surgeon in the United States, Hisham decides he cannot continue to watch images of wounded Syrian refugees flow across international borders without acting on his impulse to help. At the heart of the film, Hisham’s journey serves as a portal into one of today’s most brutal, dehumanizing conflicts and into the lives of remarkable people working to save lives at great personal risk. (39 min.)

Skye Fitzgerald will introduce the film.

The artists in the Vancouver-based Iris Film Collective create, exhibit, and tour film-based works—single channel, sculptural, installation—with the goal of increasing the visibility and accessibility of experimental media art. We present nine newly commissioned works from Iris members created entirely on hand-processed, black & white, 16mm film, including works by: Ariel Kirk-Gushowaty, Zoe Kirk-Gushowaty, Alex MacKenzie, Lisa G Nielsen, Sydney Southam, Simone Smith, Amanda Thomson, Ryder White, and John Woods. (70 min.)

This program of old and new explores memory, observation, and film’s unique and varied abilities to visualize the act of remembering. Portland filmmaker Pam Minty’s DIRECT ROUTE (2015, 45 mins.) observes a blind woman navigating her domestic surroundings alongside landscapes and recollections prior to losing her vision. Through conversations and word puzzles with her daughter, a story emerges about the relationship between memory, sense of direction, and the texture of experience. Complimenting her film is Bruce Baillie’s classic ROSLYN ROMANCE (1974,17 mins.), a correspondence and collage film of family photos and superimposed imagery that invoke the cycle of the life; Ute Aurand’s MARIA (2011, 3 mins.), an observational portrait of the filmmaker’s dear friend; and fellow German filmmaker Maria Lang’s FAMILY CRYPT - A LOVE LETTER TO MY MOTHER (1981, 10 mins.), through which the filmmaker as daughter speaks about herself, her family, and their love, despite invisible walls and barriers. (80 min.)

Director Pam Minty will be in attendance.