This week at ADC’s monthly film series BUTTER: A Night of Pop Culture and Popcorn, we enjoyed a stunning collection of short films with Fatboy® beanbags, fall beers, and friends. It was an evening not to be missed, but in case you did (for Monday Night Football or some other inferior pursuit), be sure to check out these festival favorites and join us for the next event.

Have we mentioned that BUTTER is new and improved? Since September, we have benefited from the discerning selection of an esteemed panel of curators from around the world. Allow us to introduce you to the four creatives hand-selecting fresh, inspiring content to make this monthly movie night the special showcase that it is:

Ann Shin
Director/Executive Producer
Fathom Film Group

Ari Kuschnir
Co-founder, Executive Producer
m ss ng p eces

Brad Hasse A.K.A. Bradonio
Director
East+Pleasant
ADC YGX Winner

Miklós Kázmér
Partner, Head of Creative Development
Umbrella

On Monday night, BUTTER curator Brad Hasse, aka Bradonio, started off the night with Christopher Nolan’s first film, the 1997 short “Doodlebug.” A Kafkaesque reverie on the topic of being the squasher and the squashed, the piece sufficiently primed the audience for a night that mixed some creepiness with genuine emotion, tension, and humor. While the seeds of Nolan’s signature style and fascination with dreams are evident in “Doodlebug,” it’s still hard to believe that these are the humble beginnings of a director of the likes of Batman Begins and Inception. We’ll be screening a throwback short at the beginning of every BUTTER night to show that short films can be powerful tools with the potential to lead any filmmaker in the direction of their dreams—particularly the groundbreaking films and filmmakers we screen here at BUTTER.

Next up was director Andrew David Watson’s portrait of Greg Packer, the man who’s made a lifestyle of showing up at any and every newsworthy event to provide quotes for hundreds of media outlets to date. While Watson was in the room to share in the hilarious experience of “The Most Quoted Man in News” —the audience was certainly laughing with and not at Mr. Packer—he knows that this character takes it all pretty seriously: “I think as performance art it’s amazing, but if you asked Greg, he would be really confused as to how that has anything to do with art. It’s really just his passion and hobby and he thinks it’s as normal as can be.”

Then came another fine example of making the ordinary extraordinary with ”Captain T&T” written, directed and produced by Christopher Guinness. Our six-year old protagonist “Thin Foot” begins experimenting to discover his super-power (there’s no doubt in his mind that he has at least one) during summer vacation when he has all the time in the world to turn his life into a comic book. The beautifully experimental cinematography and the heart at the center of this short film captivated even those in the audience who had taken full advantage of the open bar.

“Carn” directed by animator/filmmaker/CG artist Jaeff Le Bars followed suit, drawing everyone to the edge of their Fatboys® with its fateful plot and daring animation. There’s a boy, a wolf, and blood…we won’t spoil the rest. This one is getting quite the reception on the festival circuit and we can definitely see why.

The final film of the screening was the award-winning “Rabbit and Deer” directed by Péter Vácz of Budapest. The piece follows the story of a simple friendship complicated by the tension between two different ways of seeing the world, and it’s gripping.

Vácz was kind enough to join us for a late night video chat Q&A afterwards, talking about the craft and message behind this bitter-sweet tale, and answering the all-important question “are Rabbit and Deer…just friends?” His response? “It’s not about kissing… it’s about humans caring for each other. Every one of us is alike.” Fair enough. Especially upon hearing talk of a film collective Vácz is establishing in the sunny south of France, we will definitely be continuing the conversation with this brilliant creator.

With such a well-curated program of amazing films, you might expect that he gallery was overtaken by a film buff crowd for this event, but audience members straddled various disciplines and backgrounds: New Yorkers and international members working in fashion, fine art, marketing, and myriad other disciplines were all there to draw inspiration from the visual and emotional impact of these films. As one front-row viewer noted, we’re all connected in creativity: “I work in an art gallery and am in school for art, but I think it’s all the same really: film, art, it’s all the same!”

Interested in screening a film or getting involved with BUTTER? Contact ADC Producer Ashley George, ashley@adcglobal.org, for more information.