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OTD in 2014—PIFF 2014 to honour Aardeekhorn

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalThe 2014 Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) will honour the memory of writer Imogen Aardeekhoorn.

At a press conference held this morning, PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot confirmed that the festival will host a free encore screening of last year’s hit Mixed Nuts at the Ancient, Open-Air Theatre on October 2 at 6:00 p.m.

“Playwright Imogen Aardeekhoorn was as beloved in The Park as she was important to our film industry,” Ocelot said. “We could think of no more fitting a tribute than to offer this screening of her brilliant work.”

“Imogen would have been very pleased and humbled by this gesture,” says the film’s producer Victoria Sciurini. Sciurini worked closely with Aardeekhoorn as the latter adapted her memoir for the big screen.

“She worried about translating the work to film after its huge success on stage. But, as I knew it would, that worry turned out to be unfounded.”

The Park Interspecial Film Festival will run from 1-5 October, 2014.

OTD in 2013—New rules: PIFF lays down the law before announcing films

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalTwo days before announcing the roster of films that will screen at the 9th annual Park Interspecial Fllm Festival, PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot convened an early morning press conference to announce what she calls “the new rules.”

Exhibiting a no-nonsense attitude, Ocelot read from a prepared statement and then took questions from the media.

In the statement, she confirmed that PIFF 2013 would include a number of items that were introduced last year. Most notable of these was “Noon Nuttiness,” the name given to the practice of screening comedies only between the hours of 12:00 and 2:00 pm at the Park Cinema.

The difference this year, Ocelot said, is that patrons will not be allowed to bring any technological devices into the cinema. Last year, a riot broke out during a Noon Nuttiness screening, when angry protesters stormed the cinema and demanded that patrons hand over their cackle-enabled devices. The devices had been lent to the patrons by cackle’s parent company, GooseBook, so that filmgoers could share their favourite moments with friends.

“We cannot allow the Festival to be overtaken by theft and violence,” Ocelot said this morning. “And as a result, we decided not to renew the device-lending agreement with GooseBook at this time. We will be reviewing this option every year and making our decisions on a year-to-year basis,” she said.

Also returning in 2013 are PIFF Pockets, or pocket films, which are films that do not exceed three minutes in length and that have been made specifically for the Festival. Both pocket documentary and pocket fiction films will be screened at this year’s event, Ocelot said.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of submissions of pocket films this year. The popularity of this category exceeded our wildest expectations,” she said.

Once again, documentaries will make up a significant portion of the Festival’s offerings and, as an aside, Ocelot mentioned that she thought the Hot Dogs documentary category this year was “spectacular.”

The full lineup of films for the 9th annual film festival will be announced on Friday, August 16.  The Park Interspecial Film Festival runs from October 1-5, 2013.

On This Day—October 3, 2015: Searching for the Spitman: Noon Nuttiness Review

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Park Interspecial Film Festival
Searching for the Spitman: A Journey Through Foam, Froth, and Fun
♥♥♥♥♥♥

Directed by Ernesto Santiago Camello | 23 minutes | Final screening October 5 at the Park Cinema

We’re all familiar with our friend Stan the Spitman’s signature phrase, “Spitballs from Heaven!” Yet how much do we know about the Spitman, himself?

Not a lot, as it turns out. But writer and director Ernesto Santiago Camello has set out to change all that in this alarmingly candid short film about one of The Park’s funniest citizens engaged in one of the world’s oldest professions: spitmaking.

Estanislao “Stan” Gonzalo de Llama is a second generation SpitMeister, a master of the art of spitmaking.

“It’s an honourable profession,” he says with a wry smile, “that makes products used for dishonourable purposes.”

That wasn’t always so, as Camello demonstrates in his short look back at the history of spitmaking. But, these days, Stan estimates that about ninety per cent of his products go toward humiliating other Animals.

“It’s a fact of life in the profession,” he says. “But it doesn’t keep me up at night.”

Camello follows Stan through his day, from rising long before dawn to set a pot on the fire, to the arduous task of mixing, boiling, and stirring the ingredients.

“I tell my clients it’s an old family recipe, but it’s not. I made it up on the fly and it worked…because the fly stuck to the wall,” he jokes.

The film is full of lines like that—jokes that wouldn’t even be funny if they came out of another Animal’s mouth. But Stan gets away with it, largely because he is an honourable Animal. Last year, for instance, when Milton Struts, then head of the Park Finance Office, found himself covered in spitballs at the PIFF Awards ceremony, Stan secretly sent him a gift certificate for a full “do” at The Pluming Room.

“I don’t even know for sure that it was my spit they were using, but I know how it would feel and I didn’t think he deserved that. I’m not sure any Animal does,” he says in one of his more thoughtful moments in the film.

In another of those moments, Stan lets slip that if he hadn’t been pressured into joining the family business, he probably would have become a comedian or even a musician. And just so you don’t dwell on the poignancy of that admission, he quickly offers up another:

“No matter what, I’d have made my way back to spit[making]. It’s in my DNA,” he laughs.

On This Day—September 30, 2012: PIFF 2012: Festival frenzy grips Park

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The Park is in a party mood, as anticipation mounts on the eve of the opening of the 8th annual Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

“It’s game on! We’re ready!” announced PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot at the final pre-opening press conference this afternoon. “This is going to be the biggest and best film festival The Park has ever seen,” she said.

Festival goers appear to agree. Tickets were snapped up earlier than in previous years, with new events such as Noon Nuttiness and PIFF Pockets attracting a younger crowd.

“It [PIFF] is no longer an adults-only event,” said Ocelot, who confirmed that twenty-five percent of tickets were sold to those under five years of age.

“They bought up Noon Nuttiness and also went for the PIFF Pocket Films. We didn’t expect that at all,” she said.

Meanwhile, adult film fans were busy primping and preening in anticipation of five days of screenings, celebrity sightings and top-secret social events.

“We haven’t had an opening in days,” said Amoltrud’s Aesthetics’ groomer Elspeth Rinder. “We have a waiting list the size of a Python,” she said.

The Park’s other grooming houses reported the same situation.

“We had to lock our doors and pretend we were closed,” said stylist Tano Pagun of The Pluming Room. “We were afraid that, otherwise, we’d see fur and feathers fly.”

The festival will open tomorrow night with “I Love a Man in a Collar”, the much-anticipated documentary about Thisbe and the Barkettes. All eyes will be on the front row, as film goers attempt to catch a glimpse of The Park’s most famous singing group, who have confirmed they will attend the documentary’s debut. The five members have not been seen together for a number of years.

Other highly anticipated events include the opening night gala at Clowder and the Cackle-ary hosted by GooseBook.

The Mammalian Daily plans to publish full details of events in the coming days.

On This Day—September 29, 2015: PIFF preview: Herman Stoat: Mon Chemin Compliqué

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalAll PIFF documentaries are good. Some, of course, are better than others. Then, there are those that are spectacular.

And, that adjective is more than appropriate for the much-anticipated Herman Stoat: Mon Chemin Compliqué.

Conceived and produced by Pussyfoot Productions, this film about the life and work of the renowned dancer, choreographer, and founder and artistic director of the eponymous dance company has been in the making for more than four years. Yet, it received its official title only last year, after Stoat and his company’s assistant choreographer Gustav Hermelin created the dance, Le Chemin Compliqué, for the 2014 Celebration of the Winter Solstice.

“That was how we knew we were done,” Stoat said in a PRANCE magazine interview last month. “Somehow, with that dance and that title, we’d come full circle.”

Stoat knows a lot about circles, having danced professionally for years before founding the Herman Stoat Dance Company. And while he’s achieved a level of artistic success that was previously unknown in The Park, that success, which includes being named Choreographer of the Decade by PRANCE Magazine, has come at a cost.

“You might say that I survived success,” Stoat jokes in an early scene in the film. “But you might also say that I didn’t.”

Even Stoat fans who watched the choreographer’s reality series three years ago on Vertebrate Vision TV will be surprised at the physical, mental, and emotional pain this film uncovers and how complicated a road Stoat has travelled.

A Park refugee, both Stoat’s parents died at the hands of Humans.

“They were in their prime but, unfortunately, so were their coats,” he says matter-of-factly.

Left to his own devices, the young Stoat found his way to The Park, where he was taken in by a family and raised, as he says, “with love and care.” But there were problems in the household, jealousies among the family’s natural offspring, and expectations he could not meet.

“Early on, I discovered my natural talent for dancing and it saved me. I could go off on my own, explore my ideas, and set my moves to music,” he says.

It was during that time that he discovered the effect his moves had on others, as well.

“It was almost hypnotic, the effect. I noticed crowds gathering and they were mesmerized by my dancing. Suddenly, I found I couldn’t stop and they didn’t want me to, either.”

Stoat danced himself into Park history, but there came a time when he did have to stop for a while, after the anguish of his early years caught up with him.

“I’d packed it all away and suddenly, after I won a few awards, it all came tumbling out. I needed some time alone and even contemplated retirement,” he says.

Fortunately for Park dance lovers, Stoat finally returned to the stage refreshed and ready to take on new challenges, including teaching, working with artists in other genres, and calling for more diversity of species in dance. And, he reveals in the film, there is even more to come.

“There are days when I wake up and I think, ‘I’ve only just begun,’ ” he says with joy.

Herman Stoat: Mon Chemin Compliqué will screen at the Park Cinema on Friday, October 2 at 2:00 p.m. and on Sunday, October 4 at 4:00 p.m.

On This Day—September 24, 2014: The Nut Bar assumes annual sponsorship of PIFF’s “Noon Nuttiness”

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Glass shape made of nuts with strawIt’s always made sense but now they’ve made it official: The Nut Bar announced today that it will become the annual sponsor of “Noon Nuttiness” at the Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

“Noon Nuttiness,” the exclusive screening of comedy films between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., has been wildly successful since its inception. Now entering its third year, PIFF organizers believe it will prove to be the most popular event of this year’s festival.

“This is huge news,” said PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot, referring to The Nut Bar’s sponsorship announcement.

Speaking at a hastily-arranged press conference this morning, she praised the company for their initiative.

“They’re a very generous company and we greatly appreciate their support of our annual comedy mini-fest,” she said. “This was entirely their idea and it took us all by surprise. I hope other companies will follow their example,” she added.

The Park Interspecial Film Festival will run from 1-5 October, 2014.
The first “Noon Nuttiness” film will be screened on October 2.

On This Day—September 10, 2016: WINK: Most controversial opening film ever for PIFF 2016

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalIf controversy is a predictor of success, then award-winning director G.D Zebra’s WINK is set to be the most successful opening film ever at The Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF).

PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot announced the opening choice this morning at a press conference outside the Park Cinema. It didn’t take long for the hoots and howls to begin.

Flanked by the film’s director and one of its stars, Willem Leopard, Ocelot fielded questions from Park media while she ducked stones, sticks, and balls of mud. It is not clear whether these were intended for her or for Zebra and Leopard.

The film, which was produced by Kevin Kodkod (of Black Cats Can’t Jump fame), follows a group of striped and spotted Animals for a period of three years—before, during, and after they have their stripes and spots removed. The film records for “posterity and illumination” the group’s experiences, feelings, and fears—both as Animals of pattern and then as solid-coloureds.

Included in the film are interviews with popular Park musician and anti-stripe-removalist ZEAL, anti-sortitionist and self-described “naturalist,” director Douglas Cheetah, and SCENTIENT Beings composer and father of Reekabilly music Faramund Stinktier, who announced his transition to a Zebra last year.

Ocelot said the October 1 gala screening would be the film’s début.

“There be no sneak preview or even a trailer release,” she said.

The Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) runs from 1-5 October 2016.

On This Day—September 2, 2014: PIFF 2014 takes the political high road with choice of opening film

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalDirector-turned-producer Ulla Kojootti’s engaging collage film, 32 Short Films About Zoocracy, has been selected to open the 10th annual Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) on October 1.

PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot made the announcement at a brief press conference this morning.

“We screened the film about a month ago and thought it would be perfect for the opening,” Ocelot said.

“It is a fine celebration of our struggle to establish and maintain Animal self-rule and it fits nicely with our own celebration of a decade of showcasing the work of Park filmmakers.”

The film is an unusual project for Kojootti, who is better known as a “lone Wolf” in the industry than as a collaborator. Her best known films, such as Coexistence, were written, directed and produced by her with no assistance from any other Animal.

Even so, Kojootti said in an interview recently, she was drawn to the subject “because I had been thinking about our life here in The Park and I wanted to know what others thought about it.”

She invited The Park’s film community to a discussion and, she says, “the idea began there.”

Kojootti invited 32 directors (one for each year of zoocracy in The Park) to make a short film about the subject either from their personal point of view or from that of their species. The result is what those who have seen it call a “brilliant, maddening, engaging, thought-provoking” film.

Ironically, Kojootti produced the work but did not direct any of the films. She has no regrets, though.

“Maybe we’ll do it again in a few years,” she says. “Then I will definitely save one [film] for myself.”

On This Day—August 8, 2013:”Shoot the Messenger” to open PIFF 2013

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Park Interspecial Film FestivalGeorge Angus Doo’s controversial and arresting film Shoot the Messenger will open the 9th annual Park Interspecial Film Festival (PIFF) on October 1.

The announcement was made this morning in a statement released by PIFF Communications President Leola Ocelot.

“We are thrilled to announce that George Doo’s award-winning film Shoot the Messenger will open the 9th annual Park Interspecial Film Festival. The Festival is very grateful to him for giving us the chance to screen his great film,” the statement read.

The film, which received the 2013 Winkie Award, explores the relationship between Humans and Doo’s own species, the Pigeon.

This is the first film in which Doo has put his own species at the centre. His previous films dealt mostly with underwater crises and desert themes. In an interview last spring with film critic Hernando Gorrión of The Avian Messenger, Doo said he was at first reluctant to use his own species as the subject of a film because he thought the issues were too close for him to be able to see them clearly.

“There is so much conflict, so many emotions on both sides. In many ways, it is a relationship of mutual respect and dependence, yet we have seen too many misunderstandings and far too many deaths,” he said.

Shoot the Messenger will screen at The Park Cinema on the Festival’s opening night, and again on Oct 4.

The Park Interspecial Film Festival runs from October 1-5, 2013.

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