Film Kitchen

Instead of featuring just a few filmmakers, curator Matthew Day offers 16 shorts by 14 local artists. Most works are only a few minutes long. "Pittsburgh Winter" is a charming, fanciful comedy by Marcus Morelli. "Dreaming Ant" is Chris Smalley's black-and-white homage to the Bloomfield store that was Pittsburgh's last brick-and-mortal video-rental emporium. Ivette Spradlin offers the playful "Courtney's Birthday at Moraine State Park." Nils Hanczar's "God Hates Radiation" is a delightfully sick-'n'-twisted animation employing appropriated audio. In the experimental "Lost Kingdom," Madelyn Roehrig juxtaposes Hindu Buddhist sculpture and contemporary architecture. Tess Allard's "Bird.land" uses voiceover to tell a creepy supernatural story, with evocative images from Allegheny Cemetery. "Helen Iris: Watch Dog" is a comedy about a misguided busybody, made by Day himself, Gayle Pazerski and Brad Stephenson. Julie Sokolow's "Making House Calls" profiles Dr. Jim Withers' Operation Safety Net, which does street medicine for Pittsburgh's homeless. Sarah Kaili Chamizo and Lakeeba Coleman offer music videos (the former spoofy, the latter earnest). Andy Kellemen profiles "A Patisserie in Pittsburgh." Sean Ferris tells a dystopic, dialogueless murder tale in "Barking Lane." Michael Pisano blends live action and animation in the dreamlike "Loss." And Scott Whiteman, of the Everything is Terrible! collective, offers three mischievously — and hilariously — tweaked 1980s anti-drug videos.