Curator of ‘Ohio Shorts’ has storied history with program
Artist Prentiss Haney has a special feeling for “Ohio Shorts.”
In 2009, as a 17-year-old high-school student in Dayton, Haney made an experimental film selected for inclusion in that year’s edition of “Ohio Shorts,” the Wexner Center for the Arts’ long-running festival of short films created by filmmakers of all ages residing in the Buckeye State.
Haney remembers the screening as something of a breakthrough.
“I had never been to a film festival before; I had never had my films shown in a festival,” said Haney, now a 28-year-old resident of Cincinnati, who points to the validation of having his work shown in the company of other Ohio filmmakers.
“It just felt like I was among peers and I was among mentors,” said Haney, who, in his day job, serves as the co-executive director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. “I just felt honored that someone wanted to hear my story.”
More than a decade later, Haney was given the chance to repay the compliment by serving as the curator of this year’s edition of “Ohio Shorts.”
For the 25th edition of the program that highlights the best 20-minute-andunder films produced within the state, 20 films chosen by Haney will be screened Thursday night at the South Drive-in Theatre. (The Wexner Center’s film/video theatre, where “Ohio Shorts” would normally be held, has been closed since the start of the pandemic.)
The program will also be available to view on the arts center’s website, wexarts.org, starting Saturday and continuing
through May 1.
“Prentiss was the ideal curator/juror for this program because of his story and his relationship to ‘Ohio Shorts,’” said Jennifer Lange, curator of the film/ video studio program at the Wexner Center. “He talks about ‘Ohio Shorts’ as being a really pivotal moment for him — creatively, artistically, personally, professionally.”
In poring over some 122 films made by Ohio filmmakers during the past 18 months, Haney was on the lookout for submissions that touched on the issues of the day.
“These filmmakers helped bring forth stories that were deeply human, that talked about the sort of questions we were wrestling with: social justice
and Black Lives Matter and also how do we connect with people when we have to physically be apart?” Haney said. “I thought that those stories needed to be told.”
Although linked by meditating on serious themes, each film differed in style and approach.
“I tried to find diversity in mediums,” said Haney, whose pick of a winning filmmaker to receive a Jury Award of $500 will be announced at the drive-in screening Thursday.
“You’re going to see some documentaries, you’re going to see stop-motion, you’re going to see animation, you’re going to see experimental.”
Indicative of the eclecticism is “Wilderness Days,” by Jason Younkman of Columbus, a fast-paced experimental film centering on a single day in the life of a young person.
“What I loved about the film was that the speed of it — how fast he moves through it, the way that he told the story of walking through the streets — reminded me of the pace of the world, PRECOVID,” Haney said.
Other films include a music video created using Zoom, “Bleeding on the Blank Page” by Michael Mcdermott of Columbus; and a documentary about local “art activism,” “As a Matter of Black” by Donte Woods-spikes of Columbus.
Among the selected films are several by middle- or high-school students, including two by students at Dublin Coffman High School: Andrew Collins’ “A Day in Monotony” and Skylar Moreau and Veronica Baldridge’s “The Roaring 20s.”
Call it a nod to Haney’s own experience as a high-schooler whose work once won a spot in “Ohio Shorts.” “I intentionally looked for younger filmmakers, too,” Haney said. “They were telling great stories as well.”
Until the emergence of the pandemic prompted Wexner Center officials to move last year’s “Ohio Shorts” to an online format, the program had never been presented virtually, but the shift resulted in the films having greater reach.
The Wexner Center’s film/video theatre can accommodate 298 individuals during a non-pandemic year, but last year’s online program drew views from close to 2,000 people around the world, Lange said.
Viewers can cast online votes for their favorite flick, with the winner receiving an Audience Choice Award worth $300.
Even so, audiences who attend the in-person premiere at the South will have the unique experience of watching Ohio-made films at a drive-in movie theater.
“It’s built for a pandemic,” Lange said. “It’s made for a fun time, in times when you want to stay safe.”
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