New movie theater pops up in OTR

Avant-garde cinema is everywhere.

It's pop music videos on YouTube. Commercials on TV. The latest viral video in our Facebook feed.

"We are used to seeing experimental video all the time," said filmmaker Jacqueline Wood. "We just don't know it."

The hallmarks of radical film – jump cuts, non-linear chronology – may be commonplace, but Cincinnati doesn't have a dedicated space for the art form.

Wood and People's Liberty in Over-the-Rhine are filling that niche. At least for 10 weeks.

Wood's The Mini Microcinema exhibits and celebrates experimental film and video, with screenings at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at 1:30 p.m. Saturdays, now through Sept. 3. The screenings July 30 and Aug. 1 are dedicated to local filmmakers.

Each week, the Globe gallery space across from Findlay Market features new curators from across the country, as well as free popcorn, a bake sale and limited free beer from Rhinegeist during screenings.

The lobby of the 800-square-foot storefront also features 10 commissioned movie posters by local artists and films on a loop.

Wood received a Liberty Globe grant of $15,000 to fund the project. People's Liberty is a philanthropic lab that supports civic-minded talent and projects to benefit Greater Cincinnati. The organization is now accepting applications for 2016 opportunities.

"One of the objectives with the Globe grant is to activate that space," said Jake Hodesh, vice president of operations at People's Liberty. "How do we get people in there reacting and responding, people who would not otherwise be in the same room together? ... Film is a way to do that."

Wood began formulating the concept for a pop-up theater when she moved back to her native Cincinnati three years ago.

"I haven't found a space that's purely dedicated to experimental film," she said. "It's really just about a place for the community to gather for both showing experimental film and video and talking about it ... This is what people have been doing since the beginning of film, with nickelodeons and stuff like that."

Expect to find Wood in the audience: She's only seen three percent of the films set to be shown.

But she does have some expectations of the work. The pieces are challenging, not scary. They are shorter than standard Hollywood films – between two minutes and 25 minutes.

They feature mostly non-actors. Some found footage. Tiny technical crews – or crews of one. Bare-bones budgets. Or no budget at all.

"The movies don't give you all the answers," she said. "They are challenging in a way that lets the viewer come to their own conclusions."

Film is Wood's answer to her creative drive. As a filmmaker, she is sculptor of time.

"My medium is not necessarily paint or pencil or clay," she said. "It's actually time. It's duration."

But it's not just about minutes and seconds.

"The thing I like about film is that it combines so many things that I love," she said. "It's history. It's science. It's art. It's math. It's all of these things that are fascinating to me."

And she wants as many people as possible to also be fascinated by this form.

Accessibility is the theme that connects each of the wildly different screenings: It's all free.

Want more details?

For more information on The Mini Microcinema, visit www.mini-cinema.org. For more information on People's Liberty Globe grants, visit www.peoplesliberty.org/apply or email globe@peoplesliberty.org. People's Liberty is accepting 2016 applications through July 20.

People's Liberty is at 1805 Elm St. in Over-the-Rhine. All screenings are free and open to the public.