the documentary film festival is over. i only was able to attend two screenings but both were excellent.

the first screening was for caroline martel's the phantom of the operator. a film made up almost entirely of archival footage. it's structured loosely like a science fiction film detailing the rise and fall of the operator, and more importantly the operator's voice. there was even footage from century 21 calling which made me quite happy for some reason. after the screening i asked the director about it, and she told me rick prelinger had handed her the footage in person a few years ago. i wanted to ask her if there were plans for a dvd release but it slipped my mind.

the second screening i attended was of shorts by jay rosenblatt. these were excellent as well. most of the films used archival or found footage. the kind of stuff i love. my favourite short they showed was the smell of burning ants which is basically about the ways a boy is socialized into being a boy and the damage this can cause. according to this article there are no plans to release the work on dvd. they are available on vhs for institutional use, but nothing for the general public that may not have the chance to see the films in person.