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Cats fans lap up feline film festival

July 25, 2014, Friday | Online Edition

Program Code: 0909346140705008 | Souce:CNTV

IN St. Louis, Missouri, curious cat-lovers are filling the Contemporary Art Museum to capacity to watch Oskar the Blind Kitten Versus Hair Dryer — Epic Cat Battle. More than 300 attendees spent between 10 and 20 US dollars to experience this 73-minute show, and while it is not exactly art, the head of the museum says that it does reflect current cultural trends and helps form a community spirit.

"We're amazed at the interest that it garnered, the number of people that it brought, the diversity of that audience and felt that it would be an ideal thing for us to show here at the museum," Executive Director of Contemporary Arm Museum Lisa Melandri said.

But not all videos on display are just snippets from mobile phone videos of a cute cat caught on tape. Some feature a great deal of thought and detailed production work. Take the "Henri, le Chat Noir" series. It has gained millions of YouTube views for the filmmaker, who describes Henri as the world's first and foremost feline philosopher. Like many of the top cat videos, Henri has drawn sponsorship from a cat food maker, created a series of cat videos and even spawned a book. Digital media expert Perry Drake says that cats are well-suited as subjects for viral videos.

"I kind of think it is a little bit of a perfect formula because of a couple of things. First of all, females are more likely to own a cat than males, more females are on social media than males are on social media. You have the whole video explosion kind of taking on, you have that whole personification of cats. I think it's just a perfect mix for this kind of environment,"  Drake said.

But it is not just films that visitors can enjoy. Guests are also has the chance to play with face paint and make their own cat ears before show time. But why did they attend?

"Because cats are awesome. That's really the thing. We saw it advertised somewhere. I immediately bought tickets," attendee Kate Simmons said.

Audience members say it was a good night, allowing them to bond with like-minded people. If cat lovers and organizers have their way, a new category of movies could soon gain widespread acclaim.

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