Opening Reception on November 8, from 6-8 PM
Reception: 6:00 PM
Screening: 6:30 PM
Exhibition on view through December 14, 2018.
Gallery hours: M-F, 10am-5pm
"The Rabbit Hunt" is a multimedia exhibition by filmmakers Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas opening at the Rice Media Center Nov. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition will be followed by the opening of the Houston Cinema Arts Society’s Film Festival, now in its 10th year.
The Rice Media Center gallery will showcase a combination of production stills of the award-winning short “The Rabbit Hunt” in addition to an alternate version of the film, re-edited by Lucas, playing on a continuous loop on a mounted monitor while the exhibition is on view. A screening of the award-winning documentary short will begin at 6:30 p.m. Bresnan and Lucas will be working with Professor Geoff Winningham of the Visual and Dramatic Arts Department at Rice University to bring this show to campus.
"The Rabbit Hunt" was filmed in Pahokee, Florida, a predominately African American and Hispanic community of 6,000 residents. The filmmakers portray the story of a group who recognize the advantages when farmers work their fields: 17-year-old Chris and his family hunt rabbits in the sugarcane fields of the Florida Everglades on the weekends during the harvest season. While watching the scenes unfold, one feels as if they’re part of the action – and the family – as the excitement mounts and concludes with the reaping of rewards.
Shot by Bresnan and edited by Lucas, “The Rabbit Hunt” has received numerous awards. Their latest documentary short, “Skip Day” recently won the Illy best short film award at the Quinzaine Des Realisateurs (Directors Fortnight) section of the 2018 Cannes film festival. The filmmakers will be present at the Rice Media Center on Nov. 8 for a brief gallery talk during the exhibition opening followed by a Q&A session post-screenings. Together, the filmmakers comprise their own independent film and video art company, Otis Lucas, in which Lucas serves as writer, editor and co-producer while partner Bresnan acts as cameraman, cinematographer and co-producer.
"The Rabbit Hunt" exhibition at the Rice Media Center precedes the official opening of the Houston Cinema Arts Festival (HCAF), which begins with the screening of “Skip Day” at 8 p.m. A short introduction ahead of the screening will commence at 7:30 p.m. and the evening will conclude with a screening of “Citizen Blue” followed by a Q&A session with Bresnan and Lucas.
The HCAF’s scheduled events at Rice Media Center will also include a virtual reality interactive experience located on the second floor of the Rice Media Center. “Queerskins” is a seated experience for Oculus Touch that tells the story of a young gay physician, long estranged from his Catholic family in rural Missouri, who dies of AIDS in 1990. The visitor is seated behind Sebastian's mother and father as they take a magical realist journey down a memory lane to the cemetery where he lies buried. Visitors get to know Sebastian through the drama unfolding in intimate proximity in the front seat and by interacting with artifacts from his life: a box of personal belongings that changes over the course of the journey.
The virtual reality installation will be open to the public and available throughout the weekend.
The Rabbit Hunt exhibition will be on view at Rice Media Center Gallery through December 14, 2018. Operating hours: M-F, 10am-5pm
For more information on the Houston Cinema Arts Festival or the Houston Cinema Arts Society visit https://www.cinemahtx.org/hcaf.
For more information on Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas visit http://www.otislucas.com.