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Friday, August 31, 2012

The 25 Best Tweets From The First Ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival

Last night, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted the world's first ever Internet Cat Video Film Festival, which was by all accounts, a "meowmentus" occasion. The event was created by Walker Open Field's "unofficial cat-lady-in-residence" Katie Czarniecki Hill, to see what happened when people stopped being polite, and started watching cat videos together in public. A reported 10,000 videos were submitted for inclusion in the event, which were then narrowed down to 79 carefully curated selections in categories such as Comedy, Drama, Foreign, Animated, Documentary, Musical, Art House, Lifetime Achievement, and People's Choice.

People's Choice nominees, including Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten, Dubstep Cat, Henri 2, Paw de Deux, Maru Slides into Boxes, Nonono Cat, Nyan Cat, and Two Talking Cats, were open to a public vote from Aug. 6 - 12, with Will Braden's masterful Henri 2, Paw de Deux taking home the evening's coveted Golden Kitty Award. Attendees were encouraged to bring along their own cats (few did, although some kitties braved the crowds on leashes and in strollers), and were also treated to appearances by feline celebrities like Lil Bub and Pudge the Cat. The free festival, which clocked in at just under two hours, was held on a sprawling hill outside of the museum, which quickly filled up to standing room only capacity. Latecomers marveled at the size of the crowd, which reportedly numbered in the thousands.

If you're thinking about holding your own private cat video viewing session, fear not because Walker Art Center has already posted the entire festival playlist on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Also, there's still time to get involved -- the public is encouraged to vote for the "Best in Show" award by tweeting their pick (more details here), before the winner is announced on Sept. 7.

As expected, the event inspired a heavy Twitter presence, enabling those who were unable to attend to live vicariously through festivalgoers. From crashing canines to cat fashion, #catvidfest was a trending topic that even the real Nyan Cat and the Mayor of Minneapolis couldn't resist.






















































































































































































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4 comments:

  1. meowmeowmansAugust 31, 2012 at 2:48 PM

    Oh, that's just BRILLIANT! Love the enthusiasm and fun in all those tweets. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. GLOGIRLYAugust 31, 2012 at 4:29 PM

    It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! We absolutely loved it.
    We read the crowd exceeded 10,000! Holy CAT!
    xo, Glogirly & Flat Katie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cat and DOG Chat With CarenSeptember 1, 2012 at 2:18 PM

    looks like a great time was had by all!

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  4. LeafSeptember 4, 2012 at 11:29 AM

    Katie, and the Wonderful Staff at the Walker deserve all kinds of thanks for allowing our local No-Kill Cat Shelter- Feline Rescue (www.felinerescue.org) to participate in the event as a community partner. we brought two of our darling shelter residents available for adoption, Belafonte, and Jessica and they were a HUGE hit for their adoring fans. 6 volunteers from our rescue spent the whole evening talking about our fabulous rescue cats and the no-kill philosophy. The event provided a great opportunity to share the stories of our adoptable cats. And the FILMS were fantastic!

    ReplyDelete