DCA announces Iowa filmmakers selected for IPTV’s “The Film Lounge”

The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs today announced 13 independent short films by Iowa artists have been selected for Iowa Public Television’s upcoming program “The Film Lounge” that will premiere this winter.

“The Film Lounge” highlights art and experimental films by Iowans, celebrates filmmaking as an art form, and recognizes the contributions of filmmaking to the economic and cultural vitality of Iowa. It is produced by Iowa Public Television in partnership with the Iowa Arts Council and Produce Iowa, both divisions of DCA.

Iowa Public Television will air the films during two, one-hour episodes in February, and will preview them on silver screens at theaters across Iowa during a handful of special “watch parties,” also in February. More information about the watch parties will be announced as they are confirmed.

The list of Iowa filmmakers and movies selected for “The Film Lounge” follows:

• (City, Artist, Film Title, Year– Synopsis)

• Cedar Rapids, Paul Huenemann, “The Gurgle,” 2016 – an animated film that explores the classic horror story trope of something natural behaving unnaturally.

• Decorah, Thomas C. Johnson, “Ironhead,” 2015 – a documentary film about Kelly Ludeking, a Northeast Iowa artist who pours molten iron to create original works of art.

• Des Moines, Kristian Day, “Cactua,” 2010 – an art film that uses improvisation to meditate on the experience of being alone in a solitary environment.

• Des Moines, Christopher Ford, “Everybody Rains,” 2015 – a music video that uses puppets to personify a rain cloud and explore the common experience of crying.

• Dubuque, Ian Carstens, “Empty Basket,” 2015 – a documentary art film that explores the act of observation and its relation to time by watching those who are watching.

• Indianola, Paul Berge, “The Waiting Room,” 2015 – a film based on a radio play that captures the comedic hopelessness of dealing with authority.

• Iowa City, John Richard, “The Simple Gift of Walnut Grove,” 2015 – a documentary film about the life of Hans Hansen, an early 20th century Danish immigrant in Eastern Iowa.

• Iowa City, Lisa Schlesinger and Irina Patkanian, “Three Boats-Iphigenia at Lesvos,” 2016 – an art film that responds to the refugee crisis through the lens of the Iphigenia myth.

• Iowa City, Andrew Sherburne, “Husker Sand,” 2015 – a documentary film that examines tradition and community through the century-old tradition of cornhusking competitions

• Iowa City, Josh Thorud, “Eyes/Desires,” 2014 – an art film that explores the control a filmmaker has over the expectation and experience a viewer has watching a film.

• Morley, P. Sam Kessie, “Body & Form,” 2016 – an experimental film that studies the movement of a disjointed form through choreocinema, the combination of dance and film into a single work of art. 

• West Des Moines, Greg Best, “Lost and Found,” 2011 – a fictional drama that explores anxiety and loss by following a father’s search for his daughter.

• Winfield, Kathy Buxton and Steve M. Jennings, “The Sacrifice,” 2010 – a hand-illustrated, animated film that is inspired by the story of Saint George and the dragon.

More information is available at www.iowaculture.gov or by contacting IAC’s Veronica O’Hern at veronica.ohern@iowa.gov.