Cat Video Fest is back! If you love cat videos you will find tickets on the official website. Cat Video Fest is run by Will Braden—of Henri Le Chat Noir, the French cat suffering from overwhelming existential ennui and fame. It's not exactly a film festival—it's more like a 73-minute film shown in movie theaters. Cat Video Festival describes itself as:
a compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses. CatVideoFest is a joyous communal experience, only available in theaters, and raises money for cats in need through partnerships with local cat charities, animal welfare organizations, and shelters to best serve cats in the area.
Ethan Shanfield recently saw the film in New York and wrote up a review for Variety. Here's his take on the content of the film:
There's no larger narrative or even uniformity between the clips. Some are in vertical format while others fill the widescreen. Some have captions and emojis strewn across the frame. Some are in high definition and others, to borrow an early-YouTube phrase, are recorded with a toaster. . . There are grumpy cats, feisty cats, helpful cats, cuddly cats. Cats playing piano. Cats pissing off dogs. Cats jumping off rocks set to audio from the parkour cold open of "The Office." Cats breastfeeding set to Stewie from "Family Guy" saying, "Mom, mommy, mama," etc. Cats scaling the walls of a kitchen set to a dubstep remix of "Spider Pig," from 2007's "The Simpsons Movie."
He describes the hard work that goes into curating the film:
Braden says he spends a third of the year collecting clips, getting clearance from content creators and keeping track of the videos on an Excel sheet; a third of the year editing the film together; and a third of the year coordinating with distributor Oscilloscope Labs and doing press. . . . The videos are painstakingly sourced and curated by Braden, who says he watches 15,000 cat videos per year and selects about 200 for the reel. "You're going to see stuff from other countries, things that aren't even online yet, things from student films," Braden promises. He knows the experience has to be enticing enough to claw people out of bed and into the cinemas.
Cat Video Fest isn't just for fun; it also raises money for animal shelters and animal welfare organizations. The Cat Video Fest website states that "Since 2019, over $150,000 has been raised for local shelters in addition to adoptions, fostering, volunteer sign-ups, and much more at shows." In his Variety review, Ethan Shanfield announced that
Its 2024 edition, held Aug. 3 and 4, netted $280,000, doubling its 2023 gross and raising nearly $30,000 for local animal shelters and welfare organizations.
The video sounds awesome, and I'm excited to see that it's playing in my city. I can't wait to go! Fore more info, check out the Cat Video Fest website, where you can also find a theater near you to watch the film.
Previously:
• My cat loves this cheap self-groomer
• A quick lesson on the best way to give a cat a pill (can it really be this easy?)
• A Street Cat Named Bob – exclusive excerpt
• Mittens is the most relaxed cat I've seen
