The Screening Room’s annual CatVideoFest has returned, aimed at supporting animal welfare.
Founded by festival curator Will Braden in 2016 and distributed by Oscilloscope Labs, the film displays a selection of cat videos, all watched and selected by Braden himself. This year’s fest ran from Aug. 7-13.
Since its first participation in CatVideoFest, The Screening Room has collaborated with Kingston Animal Resue, a local charity organization dedicated to ensuring all animals live safe and healthy lives.
The Screening Room donates 10 per cent of all proceeds to the charity, and this year, they raised $730 for Kingston Animal Resue.
“We raised $730 for Kingston Animal Rescue this year — a new record for us!” theatre owner Wendy Huot wrote in a statement to The Journal. “It was our busiest year yet for the festival.”
The compilation of videos is divided into multiple sections, so each genre of cat video gets its time to shine. Ranging from action to documentary, the variety of stories told through these short clips provided the audience with unique viewing experiences.
Each category had its merits, providing something new that kept the audience engaged. The “comedy” section consisted of shorter videos featuring pets playing with babies or getting caught in bags. The sillier the video, the louder the laughs from the crowd.
Meanwhile, the “documentary” portion received many sympathetic and adoring noises from the audience as they watched videos of cats being rescued off of the streets and brought to local shelters.
The longest segment, “art,” includes animated and mixed-media videos that starred people and their pets. Some were stop-motion, others had 2D and 3D animations, and some were simply cats skillfully playing instruments.
This segment’s videos were so well executed, it was easy to imagine many standing on their own outside of CatVideoFest. One of its standout videos detailed the inner workings of all felines and suggested that inside each cat were multiple tiny cats that helped them function.
Compilations of short form content have always been well received. Bringing it to theatres makes the movie-going experience more casual and community-oriented.
Rather than sitting silently through a feature-length film, the audience was more immersed in the experience and shared that with everyone around them. People collectively laughed and cooed over kittens and chatted quietly about the video they just watched, creating a sense of community.
CatVideoFest had attendees of all ages, cementing the idea that the love for funny cat videos is universal. The variety of videos gave everybody something to enjoy and kept everyone curious about what the next category could be.
The film turned a solitary act into a shared experience as local audiences were given the opportunity to participate in an internationally recognized event to support their community’s animal shelter, all through the simple act of watching cats be cats.
Tags
cats, CatVideoFest, Kingston Animal Rescue, The Screening Room, Wendy Huot
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