ARTIST HONOURED
Acclaimed Hamilton experimental filmmaker died in June at the age of 61
As a founding director of the Factory Media Centre, Josephine Massarella was a key member of the Hamilton arts community.
Her short films received international acclaim, with her most recent — titled “165708,” the serial number of her Bolex camera — winning top honours in the experimental category at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in March.
Less than three months later, on June 22, Massarella died at St. Peter’s Hospital following a sudden illness.
On Aug. 10 — Artcrawl night — the Factory Media Centre, 228 James St. N., will host a retrospective, 7 to 10 p.m., of Massarella’s work as part of the annual Photophobia short film festival.
“She was a significant member of our community, always very supportive, part of the mechanism of the arts community in our city, as well as an exceptional artist and filmmaker,” says Ryan Ferguson, chair of the board of the Factory Media Centre and Hamilton experimental filmmaker Josephine Massarella.
film curator at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
“It’s the right place to celebrate the life of somebody who contributed quite significantly to the film, media and art community.”
Massarella, a Hamilton native, worked primarily in 16 mm analogue film. The retrospective will screen eight short films, from 1984’s “One Woman Waiting” to “165708” released in 2017.
The award-winning “165708” was shot in black-and-white film using single-frame photography and employing chemical manipulation of processed film.
“It’s a very hypnotic, poetic film,” Ferguson says about the six-and-a-half minute short.
Photophobia is a free festival of experimental media presented by the Art Gallery of Hamilton in partnership with Hamilton Artists Inc. with funding from the Incite Foundation for the Arts and Celebrate Ontario.
The festival gets underway on Thursday, Aug. 9, at 6 p.m. in the Irving Zucker Sculpture Garden of the AGH with two collaborative animation workshops, followed at 8 p.m. by screenings of submissions from across Canada, Japan, France and Ireland.
On Saturday, more international films will be screened from 8 to 10 p.m. in the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Courtyard of Hamilton Artists Inc., 155 James St. N.