CONTACT

philtrefilms@gmail.com

ABOUT

Philtre Films is the umbrella under which Kara Blake siphons her creative energy into activities such as: directing short films and music videos, collaborating on installations some might call “art”, designing and compositing visuals for moving and print media and generally contemplating how to make life look more like a View-Master.

Based in Montréal, Philtre Films has produced works screened internationally at venues including the Museum of Modern Art New York, San Francisco Art Institute, the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Independent Film Channel. Clients and collaborators include NúFilms, MJSTP Films Inc., 7th Embassy, Île Blanche, La Tribu, Macumba International, Blanket Dance Productions, Peaches and The World Provider.

NEWS

Philtre Films is currently in production of “The Delian Mode” , a short experimental documentary revolving around the life and work of electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, best known for her groundbreaking sound treatment of the Doctor Who theme music. A collage of sound and image created in the spirit of Derbyshire’s unique approach to audio creation and manipulation, this film will strive to illuminate such soundscapes onscreen while paying tribute to a woman whose work has influenced electronic musicians for decades. Documentary participants to date include Peter Kember (Sonic Boom), Peter Zinovieff, Adrian Utley (Portishead), Dick Mills and Ann Shenton (Add N to X, Large Number). Stay tuned….

To read an article about the project in the Montreal Mirror, click here.

SELECTED SCREENINGS / EXHIBITIONS

UN PAS À LA FOIS - Super 8, .5min, 2007
Part of the exhibition entitled Capsules-Mémoires including film loops by 28 filmmakers in homage to Kodachrome Super 8 film stock. Presented at the Cinémathèque québecois March 2007 and touring Québec in Fall 2007.

TIMBRE - 16mm, 8.5min, 2005
• Cucalorus Film Festival, Wilmington, North Carolina, November 2007
• Baltimore Women’s Film Festival, Baltimore, October 2007
• Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto, June 2007
• Festival international du film sur l’art, Montréal, March 2007
• Anthology Film Archives, New York, July 2006
• Femina Film Festival, Rio de Janeiro, May 2006
• Sugar & Splice, Winnipeg, May 2006
• Rendez-vous de cinéma québecois, Montréal, Feb. 2006
• Victoria Independent Film/Video Fest, Jan. 2006
• Film Pop, Montréal, October 2005
• Art Gallery of Hamilton, Aug. 2005
• Open Cinema, St.Petersburg, Russia, May 2005

FUCK THE PAIN AWAY – video, 3.5 min, 2005
Live performance video - concept and music by Peaches, image and editing by Kara Blake
• Biennale de Montréal, May 2007
• Switch on the Power – group show touring Spain June ‘06- April ‘07

SEMI-SWEET- 16mm, 3min, 2004
• Odds and Ends Screening Series, Portland, OR, November 2007
• ResFest, various, 2005
• ARTV, Nov.2005
• Reel Strange Film Festival, Kingston, Nov. 2005
• Film Pop, Montréal, October 2005
• Plein Air Festival, Brussels, Sept. 2005
• Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto, June 2005
• Indie Music Video Fest, various, 2005
• MusiquePlus, Jan. 2005
• Bravo!, Nov. 2004

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL
Video installation collaboration with musicians Peaches and J.D. Samson presented at the Art Gallery of York University, Toronto,
Jan. 2004 Curator: Philip Monk

JULY'S WET DREAMS - Super 8, 3min, 2003
• St. Petersburg Festival of Arts, Aug. 2005
• Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto, June 2005 (Hon. Mention)
• VideoEx Int. Experimental Film and Video Festival, Zurich, May 2005
• anyspacewhatever, Winnipeg Cinemathèque, Mar. 2005
• Cinefest, Picton, Nov. 2004
• Images Festival, Toronto, April 2004
• Berlinale Talent Campus, Berlin, Feb. 2004
• Montréal Super 8 Festival, Montréal, Sept. 2003 (Prize Winner)

NOCTURNAL ADMISSIONS - DV, Super 8, 16mm, 3min, 2003
• Festival de l'Image Nouvelle de Sherbrooke, Sept. 2004
• Ann Arbor Film Festival, Michigan, March 2004
• Événement Interuniversitaire de Création Vidéo, Montréal, Feb. 2004
• Splice This! Super 8 Festival, Toronto, June 2003

PLANE - Super 8, 2min, 2001
• Original Copy, Montréal, May 2005
• Experimental Film Today Conference, England, July 2003
• Seoul Festival of Super 8 Experimental Film, Korea, March 2003
• Filmmakers Under the Influence of Stan Brakhage, Toronto, March 03
• Québec-Ontario: New Forms, New Works, Toronto, Feb. 2003
• Splice This! Super 8 Festival, Toronto, June 2002
• Big as Life Festival, Museum of Modern Art, New York, April 2001
• San Francisco Art Institute's Small Windows 8mm Film Fest, May ‘01
• Telluride Experimental Cinema Exposition, Collorado, Oct. 2001

TYPE O - 16mm, 6 min, 2000
• La Casa Encendida VideoMix, Madrid, June 2004
• Rencontres Internationale Paris/Berlin, Paris, Feb. 2003
• The Independent Film Channel, 2002
• Movieola: The Short Film Channel, 2001
• MadCat Film Festival, San Francisco, Sept. 2001
• 120seconds.com Digital Film Festival, June 2002 (Prize Winner)

AWAKE AT DAWN- 16mm, 13min, 1997
• Women's Television Network,1998
• DUTV, Philadelphia 1999
• Movieola: The Short Film Channel, 2001
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Feb. 1998
• Canadian Int'l Annual Film Fest, B.C., 1997
(Best Student Experimental Film)
• University Film & Video Fest, Philadelphia, Oct. 1997 (Prize Winner)

LAND SLIDE- Super 8, 3min, 1996
• Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Jan. 1997
• Images Festival, Toronto, April 1997

AWARDS

2007 Research and Creation Grant- Canada Council for the Arts
2006 Bourse recherche et création- Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
2006 Travel Grant- Canada Council for the Arts
2005 Research and Creation Grant- Canada Council for the Arts
2005 Bourse recherche et création- Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
2005 De Sève Graduate Award for Academic Excellence
2005 NúFilms Graduate Award for Excellence in Film Production
2004 Research Grant- Centre interuniversitaire des arts médiatiques
2004 Short Film Grant- Bravo!Fact
2004 Travel Grant- Canada Council for the Arts
2003 Michel Trudel Graduate Scholarship- Concordia University
2003 Carole Fielding Grant- University Film and Video Assoc.
2001 Filmmaker's Assistance Program- National Film Board

EDUCATION

2005 Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
Master's of Fine Arts Degree, Film Production

1997 Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Ont.
Bachelor of Applied Arts Degree; Film Production, Honours

SITE CREDITS

* animated KB by Brigitte Archambault, MJSTP Films Inc.
* web programming by Mike Feuerstack
* site design by Kara Blake