The Experimental Film Podcast

AL JULIAN entered the world of film and television writing, acting, and production eleven years ago after long careers in clinical psychology and law. Since then, he has authored over a dozen feature-length screenplays and a variety of teleplays, stage plays, shorts, and commercials. Productions made from his scripts have done exceptionally well on the festival circuit, and he has won more than tw...

Allison A. Roberts is a lens-based artist and experimental filmmaker who works in video layers, collages, and projections. Her work requires the viewer to keep an open mind in that not everything is as it seems, which you'll see for yourself on her website and Vimeo channel. Be especially sure to check out the film Haptic discussed in the podcast. "My lens-based work is situated at the in...

Eleni Mylonas  is a multidisciplinary artist with studios in New York and Athens. She is a Fulbright scholar and holds a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Journalism of Columbia University and a degree in photography from the University of London. Eleni Mylonas’ work has most recently focused on video and performance. "My background in journalism informs my identity as an artist. I...

Scott Turri is an experimental artist and filmmaker who appeared on The Experimental Film Podcast in Season 1, Episode 9. His work is beautiful, hypnotic, and thought-provoking, and it has broad appeal due to its layered simplicity. "The paintings and animation are like a metaphorical liminal space. The experience of viewing becomes primarily about sensation. This work parallels minimalism, e...

Tenley E. Raj is a filmmaker living with her two young children (Millie and Guy) in Houston, Texas. Tenley wrote and painted as a young adult. After motherhood, she turned to film, finding it a more satisfying medium. In 2002, Tenley wrote her first short film, "Before the Freeze." She then produced, directed, shot, and edited the film. "Before the Freeze" is a six-minute-long...

Amanda VanValkenburg is a multimedia artist based in Chicago, Illinois. They received their MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, where they investigated the intersection of art and technology. They primarily work with digital media to investigate digitally mediated interactions between memory, projection, contemporary anxiety, and the relationship between technology and the environment. Currentl...

Kenneth 'Ken' Hess hosts The Experimental Film Podcast, directs the Experiment Film Fest, and is a podcaster, experimental filmmaker, actor, photographer, and mischief maker. You can check out some of his experimental films on his Vimeo channel .

Musician, composer, and filmmaker Kristina Dutton and I speak about music, her music compositions , her experimental films, and her inspirations and aspirations. Kristina also has some good advice for those exploring playing a musical instrument. I sampled some of Kristina's compositions in the podcast. In the introduction, there is an excerpt from Biopixel's score co-written by Kristina a...

Walter Smits and I spoke in Season 1 of the podcast (Episode 22). Since that time (2021), Walter has been busy creating new works, many of which are feature-length experimental works they call playground absurdism. In this podcast, we discuss their use of high-end photography/filmmaking equipment, their film school experience, story creation, directing techniques, development of "Queer New Wa...

Evan Chester is the curator and creator of the KubrickLynch YouTube channel that highlights experimental, avant-garde, and art house films. KubrickLynch currently has more than 55,000 subscribers, and Evan has close to 200 videos featuring genres, filmmakers, movements, and individual works by experimental filmmakers. I'm a huge fan of his work, and I hope you find his channel and enjoy the pa...

Duane Michals has a career of more than 60 years as a photographer. Michal’s work has been shown in galleries worldwide. Michal’s photographic work incorporates text and sequences to tell a story. In recent years, Michals has transitioned to creating short experimental films. If you aren’t familiar with his work, please take some time to explore it. You’ll find it unique in perspective and essenti...

Gerald Habarth is an artist and animator, an Associate Professor of Art at West Virginia University. He heads the Electronic Media program in the School of Art and Design. He holds an MFA degree from the University of South Florida and a BFA degree from Parsons School of Design. His works have been screened at numerous national and international venues and festivals, including the Tampa Museum of...

Madison Hill is a filmmaker and photographer based in Durham, North Carolina. She received a B.A. in Cinema Studies from Virginia Tech and an M.F.A. in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. Currently, Madison is an Instructor for Cinematic Arts at Duke University, teaching theory and production in Documentary Arts, 16mm Film, and Moving Image Practice. Through her film practice,...

This podcast focuses on film festivals. I cover increasing your chances at getting Official Selection status, getting screened, and getting discounts. I also cover fee waivers, withdrawing your films, film editing, and some war stories from the Film Festival Director trenches.

Malaysian-born Shu Qin Lee was raised in Australia and initially encountered photography when his uncle in Singapore gifted him his first manual film camera in the 1990’s. This love for photography led Shu to capturing simple moving images like a crystal ball rotating on a mini water fountain when the first Nokia phones were available. Here the seed of experimental filmmaking was planted.  Many ye...

Interdisciplinary artist Lisa Birke 's work results from the collision of video, performance art, and installation. She is interested in the stories that we re-cite and re-brand and how these inform our conception of the world and the tragi-comic perception of ourselves. Recently, Birke has been exploring immersive multi-media approaches using special effects, AR, and 360 videos. Her award-win...

Director and Cinematographer Guillaume Simonin mainly works as a director and cinematographer for commercials, corporate movies, and art movies and specializes in using color and liquids. You can find Guillaume's work on his Vimeo page or on his website . Guillaume and I spoke about his underwater work and about his experimental films. Be sure to check out his Cinematography Showreel . I think...

Jessica Parnell is one of the most fun guests I've ever interviewed on the podcast. She and I need our own BBC talk show featuring interviews, short experimental films, and just crazy talk. We'd also explore some of our ideas live, on camera, while our audience comes along for the ride. This interview is over two hours long and took a few weeks to edit, but it's worth it. You'll en...

David Baeumler grew up in Buffalo, NY, when all the elm trees were dying. Dave went to Bard College and received a filmmaking degree under the direction of filmmakers Peter Hutton, Adolfas Mekas, and Peggy Ahwesh. His films defy simple categories because they blend "experimental" techniques with storytelling threads. They can be poetic and philosophical but also blunt and satirical. And while they...

Natasa Prosenc Stearns graduated in design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. She first worked as a graphic designer. After receiving a Fulbright scholarship, she went to Los Angeles to specialize, where she studied film and video production at the California Institute of the Arts. Prosenc Stearns is a director, screenwriter, editor, and visual artist, but she mainly works with video inst...

Songkai Zhou was born in Henan, China but now lives and works in London. Songkai studied filmmaking, literature, and philosophy of art at the China Academy of Art and the Royal College of Art. His works are about personal existence, public life, relationships between natural elements and human beings, or historical memory in the contemporary technology era. His works span diverse artistic media, s...

Enora Keller is a French mixed-media artist, filmmaker, and experimental theater actress. We spoke on various film topics and her experiences in college that shaped her art.  **CONTENT WARNING: This podcast contains dialog about sexual assault.** Enora's artist statement: I am my own lab rat. I explore the damaged lands of the self, facing its multiple mirrors. I instinctively try to expose t...

Johnny Kalangis (he/him) is a multi-award-winning film director, installation artist, and digital media creative from Toronto/T'karonto, Canada. He is a first-generation white settler of Greek descent. His first feature film, the anti-romantic micro-budget comedy Jack & Jill, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (1999) and was executive produced by Atom Egoyan. His second film,...

Richard is currently editing a macabre feature film called The Dark Sisters. His feature film King Judith is available in wide release through Indie Rights Movies. My previous feature, A Ship of Human Skin, is available in wide release through Gravitas Ventures. His films have been shown at Alchemy Moving Image, Anthology Film Archives, Arizona Underground, AVIFF Cannes, Bare Bones, Berlin Revolut...

Born in the '70s, raised in the '80s, and grew up in El Paso, Texas, Christopher was a troubled kid who needed an artistic outlet,  He always loved watching Elvira, not for her physical attributes, but for the cheesy horror and sci-fi movies, she screened every week. Christopher started making home horror movies when he was 12 and was particularly interested in the special effects make-u...