DESCRIPTION:

Living Lessons in the Museum of Order examines the carceral logics of the Orca Encounter at SeaWorld San Diego and the “Doing Time” tour of the former Alcatraz prison in the San Francisco Bay. 

Alcatraz is part of a larger industry of prison tourism that treats prisons and jails as real-life haunted houses. Through an immersive audio tour with stories from prisoners and  guards, “Doing Time” reinforces racist beliefs that police and prisons “keep us safe.” Gently challenging this narrative, Alcatraz has recently hosted art and educational exhibitions that question the prison industrial complex. Likewise, Alcatraz’s buildings are permanently marked with evidence of Indigenous resistance to settler colonialism during the Occupation of Alcatraz from 1969 to 1971. 

In contrast to the empty prison cells and crumbling buildings at Alcatraz, SeaWorld is full of marine life in above ground tanks with see-through walls. Under pressure from activists and exposés on the cruelty of their practices, SeaWorld’s marketing focuses on their habitat conservation and animal rescue efforts, as well as hyperbole about how their scientific research and education materials help marine animals – both captive and wild. 

Juxtaposing original 16mm footage, promotional VHS and 16mm footage, and analog video feedback, Living Lessons in the Museum of Order explores the tensions between public fantasies and exploitative practices, as well as between rhetorical updates and continued institutional policies, within the two California entertainment empires.

AWARDS:

SPECIAL MENTION by jury member Radisa Cvetkovic — Kinoskop — Art Bioskop Kolarac — Belgrade, Serbia — November 2023

SIGNS Award for Documentary — 21e Festival international Signes de Nuit — Maison de L’Inde, Cite universitaire — Paris, France — October 2023

FILM SCREENINGS:

16mm Film Festival — Short Film Program: Moon Breeze — Harkat Studios — Mumbai, India — 4:00pm on Saturday, December 16, 2023

Kinoskop — “Experimental Documentary” curated by Nikola Gocic — Art Bioskop Kolarac — Belgrade, Serbia — 20:30pm on Friday, November 18, 2023

Cucalorus Film Festival — Historic Thalian Hall — Wilmington, North Carolina— 7:15pm on Friday, November 17, 2023

Cycles and Rhythms: RPM Festival, Pittsburgh Edition - Pittsburgh Sound + Image — Eberle Studios — Homestead, Pennsylvania — 8pm on Thursday, November 16, 2023

Cucalorous Film Festival — Jengo’s Playhouse — Wilmington, North Carolina — 1:15pm on Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Enguage Experimental Film Festival — Northwest Film Forum — Seattle, Washington — 4:30pm on Friday, November 3, 2023 **Malic in attendance

GRRL HAUS CINEMA — The Brattle Theater — Cambridge, Massachusetts — 7pm on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 **Malic in attendance

Tacoma Film Festival — The Grand Cinema — Tacoma, Washington — 4pm on Saturday, October 7, 2023 **Malic in attendance

21e Festival international Signes de Nuit — Maison de L’Inde, Cite universitaire — Paris, France — 6pm on October 5, 2023

Fragments Festival — Genesis Cinema — London, United Kingdom — 12:30pm on Saturday, September 30, 2023

RPM: Revolutions Per Minute Festival — Harvard FAS CAMLab— Cambridge, Massachusetts — 2pm on Saturday, September 30, 2023 **Malic in attendance

CUFF: The Chicago Underground Film Festival — The Harper Theater — Chicago, Illinois — 7pm on Friday, September 15, 2023 **Malic in attendance

TRANSlations: Seattle Trans Film Festival — Shorts Block: Acts of Transition — Seattle, Washington — May 2023

SHOT ON LOCATION:

• SeaWorld San Diego

• Alcatraz National Park

FOR EACH DOLLAR SPENT AT:

• SeaWorld San Diego, a matching donation was made to Sacred Sea.

• Alcatraz National Park, matching donations were made to the Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project and the NDN collective.