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Arts & Entertainment

RECOGNIZED VENICE FILMMAKER NATASHA MAIDOFF FILMS SCREENING AT BEYOND BAROQUE

Venice, CA, 2012: Director Natasha Maidoff brings to life the dilemma facing a creative mind trapped in a pragmatic world in the 12-minute short film The Orange Orange that will be screened at Beyond Baroque (Beyond Baroque, 681 Venice Blvd, Venice CA 90291, 310-822-3006) on February 2nd at 8 p.m. Drawing from her background in vaudeville and mime, Maidoff sets modern fables in motion with her sensual, cinematic shorts. Maidoff’s other films, Is There A Cure For My Friend? and her most recent, The Stone Thieves, will also be screened during this evening of art film. 7 Dudley Cinema presents this evening of experimental cinema, starting at 7 p.m. with shorts from prominent San Francisco filmmakers, free admission.

Maidoff's work is currently held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and in the online archive at the Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.

The Orange Orange, shot in Venice, CA, tells the whimsical story of a young woman who gets locked out of her craftsman cottage wearing only a kimono and fluffy slippers. While outside, she gets hit over the head with an orange, which she chases after through the streets of Venice in hopes of finding out who she is and where she needs to go.

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The primary-colored conflicts forced upon the hapless protagonist mirror the internal struggles we face as we constantly juggle demands against desires in our day-to-day living. Maidoff draws audiences to identify with the heroine’s plight, pushing them to their intellectual limits while simultaneously holding their hand and assuring them, which gives this film an endearing quality that helps viewers stop, examine, and better appreciate their own world. 

A vanguard artist and thinker, Maidoff’s storytelling is keenly influenced by the early filmmaker George Melies and avant-garde film artist, Maya Deren. She has drawn on ideas from French filmmakers Jean Cocteau and Jean Luc Godard, but her current peer in sensibility is Michel Hazanavicius, the director of The Artist.

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Her films The Orange Orange and Is There A Cure For My Friend? have toured internationally and have been screened at prominent museums such as the Guggenheim. In addition, she has received a visual artist residency at VCCA (Virginia Center for Creative Arts). Excerpts from her work may be viewed at the Brooklyn Museum or at NatashaMaidoff.com.

For more information about the screening visit: http://www.laughtears.com/7dudleycinema.html

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