Season of Wonder

The Primm family moves into an old brownstone house on East 88th Street, where they find a crocodile named Lyle in their bathtub.

The Flooded Playground is a digitally composed animated fairy tale about a young child who resides in a house which has a darkly disturbing force that oppresses him in body, mind and spirit. The wallpaper torments him, a malevolent wind deters him from eating, and thorned vines erupt in his bedroom. A sudden cataclysm throws him into a craggy wonderland where he wanders into deep forests and through his inner inferno in a quest to mend his damaged spirit. Thematically, this film is concerned with the amorphous fears, covert brutality, yearnings, and magical thinking of childhood, the resiliency of the human spirit, and the meaning of home. Lush visual images depict the emotional complexities of childhood - the combination of helplessness and invincibility, sweetness and brutality, and the edge where lines between the real and the imaginary are blurred.

One summer afternoon in 1907, Abel and his wife (both mice) are picnicking, when they become separated during a violent rainstorm. After flying some distance, Abel discovers himself alone on a river island, unable to swim due to the powerful current. Abel periodically attempts to leave the island by various means: flying on a leaf, rowing a crudely fashioned boat, etc. Meanwhile, he tries to create a normal life of sorts, even learning to enjoy a new hobby: sculpture. Still, Abel's goal is to escape the island and rejoin his wife in the city.

This is the story of the courageous all-female Apache 8 firefighting unit which has protected their reservation and responded to wildfires around the nation for 30 years. This group, which recently became co-ed, earned the reputation of being fierce, loyal and dependable--and tougher than their male colleagues. Despite facing gender stereotypes and the problems that come with life on the impoverished reservation, the women became known as some of the country's most elite firefighters. The film focuses on four women from different generations of Apache 8 crewmembers who speak tenderly and often humorously of hardship, loss, family, community and pride in being a firefighter.

Glass Gardens is an animated allegory of the role creativity plays in the survival of the human spirit. The protagonist wanders the dystopian ruins of a consumer culture, gathering relics, and creating new works.

Overgrowth is inspired by the fringe ecosystem of the city, where abandoned and decayed ruins meet encroaching plants, animals and waters. It explores the tumultuous relationship between humanity and nature as they overtake and impact one other, and fleeting moments of incongruous, fragile harmony. Gazing out a train window, reflecting on the passing landscape and the imaginings they trigger. A wry animated rumination on sidewalk gum - with a grateful nod to Oskar Fischinger.

Spectacle is proud to present HEAD SPACE, a showcase of animated works exploring dimensions both interior and outlying. Featuring an extremely talented and creative group working in a diverse array of styles, the shorts wander through strange and sometimes sketchy landscapes, including alternate-universe appliance stores, the ramblings of Charles Manson, environmental catastrophes in the Dutch style of painting, and a houseplant’s musings. Some, like Sally Cruikshank’s Make Me Psychic, are established classics; others feature newer animators working in looping GIF format, presented away from the small screen’s momentary pleasures to fully appreciate the art that it is. Occasionally gross, often beautiful, and always interesting, HEAD SPACE is a sampler of the thoughts happening inside and out of each frame.

Dutch Golden Age still life paintings depict seductive wonders brought back by European explorers, traders and exploiters at a tremendous cost. The era was characterized by an explosive expansion of globalization, colonialism, the dawn of merchant capitalism and consumerist addiction. These animated paintings draw a line from that moment to the environmental crisis of our time.

“It came from 1979! A paranoid tale of the myths and misconceptions surrounding body changes in adolescence. Found footage with hand drawn flourishes. In full 16mm punk-era unrestored decrepitude! Made in one week. Sound by Ground Zero, Boston.” —Lisa Crafts