May 16, 2014

In filmmaker Lucretia Knapp’s video short, “Looking for Michael,” the online avatar world of Second Life merges virtual reality with recent historical events. There will be a screening of the video during Knapp’s Rankin Scholar Residency on May 27 at 5:00 pm in URBN Center Room 239 (3501 Market Street). Following the screening, Knapp will lead a discussion about the video’s themes including the issue of fandom, the blending of reality and fiction, and black masculinity. “Looking for Michael” was awarded First Place Experimental Short and was an Official Selection for the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, 2011.

A film, video, and new media artist, Knapp works with photography, digital and traditional printmaking, animation, and digital compositing. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at recent film and video festivals in Spain, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong, Paris, Torino, Melbourne, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and in her home state of Ohio. Her short, “Swim Suit,” was an evocative narrative of a young person’s conflict between the desire to transition and a passion for swimming on a women’s college team, speaking to the protagonist’s fears and dreams of escaping gender imprisonment. Knapp’s writing has appeared in Out in Culture: Gay, Lesbian and Queer Essays on Popular Culture, Cinema Journal, and A Hitchcock Reader, 2009. She is a professor at Smith College in Northampton, MA and the International Center of Photography in New York.