Episode 302 | The Film Lounge

Each hour-long episode showcases a diverse collection of short films representing a wide range of creative visions, all produced by Iowa filmmakers. You’ll encounter cinema in its various forms—fictional stories, documentaries, experimental films, animation, music videos—and become acquainted with the region’s rich film communities. These short films were selected from dozens of entries by representatives of Iowa PBS, Produce Iowa and Iowa Arts Council.

This episode of the The Film Lounge features the following films:

• “The Spaceman,” by Tarrell Christie of Cedar Falls, follows a young African-American astronaut into a wormhole and examines the challenges he faces back home.

• “The Art of Living,” by John Spencer, Brody Kuhar and Jack Sarcone of Dubuque, focuses on three Iowa artists who use art to build community in their small towns.

• “Proving Ground,” by Jeffery Byrd of Cedar Falls, presents a Surrealist dream, capturing an act of performance art on film.

• “Portrait: A Ballet Film in Four Movements,” by Jack Meggers of Lansing, was created during the filmmaker’s six-week residency with Ballet Des Moines, when he recognized the dancers as both artists and living, breathing works of art themselves.

• “As Above, So Below,” by Joshua De Lanoit and River Glen Breitbach of Rickardsville, is a music video of the filmmaker’s own folk-pop song, which was loosely inspired by philosopher Joseph Campbell’s philosophical book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”

This episode also includes a spotlight interview with Ann Hornaday, the chief film critic for The Washington Post, who discusses the role of critics and how her own approach is influenced by her Midwestern roots.