Thursday, 3 February, 2011 7:45
by Chris Jay
Nomad/filmmaker Bill Daniel and Shreveport underground film curator David Nelson at minicine? Photo by the benevolent Robert Trudeau, originally posted at the Shreveport Faces blog.
minicine?, a Shreveport-based underground microcinema run by David Nelson and a group of community volunteers, will present a showcase of vintage educational films unearthed by Bill Daniel on Friday, February 4 at 8 p.m. Daniel, a traveling filmmaker and curator who crops up in Shreveport a few times a year (if we're lucky) to showcase selections from his own work and the work of others, has cobbled together a program of painfully outdated educational short films that he calls Eden: version 1970. Shorts slated for exhibition have titles like "Volleyball, Dig It!," "Will We Freeze in the Dark?," "What's Your Bag?," and "Strip Mine Trip." According to event organizers, these films provide a glimpse of "the birth of the 'me' generation...discussing the original energy crisis, bi-sexuality, pollution...all presented on 16mm original film."
In an e-mail invite making the rounds, Nelson stresses that the minicine? building is now heated, so guests will not have to freeze in the dark while watching "Will We Freeze in the Dark?"
Admission is a requested donation of $5, and coffee and hot cocoa will be available. minicine? is located at 846 Texas Avenue in downtown Shreveport, just southwest of the intersection of Texas Street and Common Street. If you've never been to a minicine? presentation, this showcase looks to be as accessible a program as I have ever seen promoted by the group, and should make a great point of entry for the curious to dip their toes into the minicine? waters.