Join us at the September screening for Mills Folly Microcinema, the monthly showcase of experimental film and video presented by Arts + Literature Laboratory.
Mills Folly Microcinema will screen Terror Nullius, the latest feature from Australian filmmaking duo Soda_Jerk, on Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. Admission will be $5, or free for Arts + Literature Laboratory members. Seating is limited, and doors open at 7:15 p.m. Format: Digital Video. Running time: 54 minutes.
Terror Nullius is a political revenge fable which offers an un-writing of Australian national mythology. It works entirely within and against the official archive to achieve a queering and othering of Australian cinema. Part political satire, eco-horror and road movie, Terror Nullius is a world in which minorities and animals conspire, and not-so-nice white guys finish last. Where idyllic beaches host race-riots, governments poll love-rights, and the perils of hypermasculinity are overshadowed only by the enduring horror of Australia’s colonising myth of terra nullius.
Formed in Sydney in 2002, Soda_Jerk is a two-person art collective who work at the intersection of documentary and speculative fiction. They are fundamentally interested in the politics of images: how they circulate, whom they benefit, and how they can be undone. Their sample-based practice takes the form of films, video installations, cut-up texts and lecture performances. Based in New York since 2012, they have exhibited in museums, galleries, cinemas and torrent sites.
Recent and upcoming screenings of Terror Nullius include venues and festivals such as: Austin Film Society, Anthology Film Archives (New York), Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, Ohio), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), and Antimatter [media art] (Victoria, British Columbia).
Need an introduction or refresher course on Austrailian politics and pop culture? Check out Soda_Jerk's contribution to the Museum of Contemporary Art's blog, "7 Things You Might Like to Know about Australia Before Watching Terror Nullius."
TERROR NULLIUS (trailer), 2018 from Soda_Jerk on Vimeo.
ABOUT MILLS FOLLY MICROCINEMA
Mills Folly Microcinema is programmed by James Kreul from Madison Film Forum. Complete program notes will be posted at madfilm.org.
What will be screened at Mills Folly Microcinema?
Mills Folly Microcinema will showcase nationally recognized experimental film and video art work from the festival and microcinema circuit. We will also network with regional filmmakers and organizations in Milwaukee (Microlights), Minneapolis (Cellular Cinema), and Chicago (Nightingale Cinema) to bring filmmakers and guest programmers to Madison for screenings. And we will incubate local experimental filmmaking by providing screen time at open shows (the video equivalent of an open mic).
What is “Mills Folly”?
The name for Mills Folly Microcinema was inspired by the nickname for Park Place mansion at 2709 Sommers Avenue, originally called “Elmside” by its first owner Simeon Mills in 1863. As explained at Historic Madison, Inc., “Townspeople called it “Mills Folly,” since it was located so far east that no one could conceive of such a long daily commute to town.”
Just as Mills pursued the outer fringe in 1863, Mills Folly Microcinema will explore new frontiers in 2018 and beyond. Also, experimental programming might seem to be sheer folly in today’s media landscape, but that just reinforces the serious need for an experimental film and video series in Madison.
Mills Folly Microcinema is funded in part by a grant from the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board.
