Local Phoenix residents and cat lovers made their way to the Filmbar Saturday for the first ever NY Cat Film Festival.
The event consists of a series of short films and documentaries that all focus on people’s relationship with cats. Filmbar also hosted a Q&A with feline behaviorist Jane Ehrlich after the films
Kate Benjamin, who organized the event, is friends with festival curator Tracie Hotchner. With the Filmbar, Benjamin hoped to reach the cat-loving people of Phoenix.
“An independent film place is absolutely a fantastic place to do this,” Benjamin said. “And I know there have been other events that have happened here that are cat related. There is a big crowd of cat people who like to come to the Filmbar already, so it’s the perfect place to have this.”
Some of the films weren’t any longer than ten minutes, and others ran for 30 minutes. Although the festival is mainly focused on people’s different yet special relationship with cats, some of the films brought light to how cats and their behavior are regularly misunderstood.
“This is not goofy, internet cat videos. These are curated art films that really make a statement about how people interact with and love cats. These are films that are geared more toward adults, not necessarily for children,” Benjamin said. “The really are a range of films that range from funny and light-hearted all the way to serious and touching.”
After the films, Ehrlich was more than happy to take questions from audience members about their cat’s behaviors. Despite not being able to verbally communicate, Ehrlich recommends people to watch the tone of meows, a cat’s posture and body language, and other forms of behavior in order to fully understand their pet.
“There is a lot to learn, and that’s what makes it so fun. Your cat is so much more alive,” Ehrlich said.
The NY Cat Festival is not just a screening of the films. In every city, the festival chooses a rescue organization to donate a portion of ticket sales. The donation helps with supplies like food, water, and shelter.
“A portion of each ticket sale will be donated to the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Services,” Benjamin said. “Everything that they do at Maricopa County–which is rescuing animals, getting them adopted out, and caring for them when they have them in their possession–is a really big service in adopting out animals and trying to find them homes so that they don’t have to be euthanized.”
Any kind of donation will help any shelter, and the festival’s proceedings will be a big help to the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Services. Ehrlich, however, wants the festival to be more than that.
“I want this to get bigger. I want this to be big. We have a new vet school, but they don’t want to know about behavior. There is that mentality, and this will help because it isa start. But, it needs to be a lot more,” Ehrlich said.
Although it is the first festival, the Filmbar gave local cat lovers a place to bond over the things they cherish most.
“It’s basically to create a shared experience for the audience members so they can come together and celebrate their love of cats,” Benjamin said.
For questions, contact the reporter at ldiethel@asu.edu.
Lisa Diethelm is the Politics editor for the Downtown Devil while she studies at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in downtown Phoenix. She grew up in California and started her journalism career in high school.
