The Basement Girl

A film by Midi Onodera

Canada | 2000 | 12 minutes | Color | 16mm/DVD | Order No. 01713

SYNOPSIS

Abandoned by her lover, a young woman finds comfort and safety in her basement apartment. Mundane routines, a diet of junk food and the warmth of the television insulate her from the pain and betrayal of her ill-fated relationship. Eventually, THE BASEMENT GIRL emerges—transformed and ready to "make it on her own". This latest film by Midi Onodera (TEN CENTS A DANCE, SKIN DEEP) breaks new cinematic territory by employing multiple formats from traditional 16mm film to toy cameras including a modified Nintendo Game Boy digital camera and the Intel Mattel computer microscope.

"Midi Onodera's latest film is a witty and wonderful meditation on how women translate the images that surround them (from Bionic Woman to That Girl!, from Barbra Streisand to Maya Deren). The film is funny and touching at the same time, as it looks at familiar texts in new contexts. For anyone interested in women and visual culture, this is an absolute must-see." Judith Mayne, Ohio University

PRESS

“’Who can turn the world on...?’ Midi Onodera's latest tape could equally well be titled The Most Fun Ever! She is a processor par excellence, mixing loss, melodrama, isolation and indulgence with the choicest morsels of lesbian-inflected popular culture. Barbra, That Girl, The Bionic Woman and, of course, MTM convince ‘the basement girl’ that she's ‘gonna make it after all.’"

Amy Villarejo Cornell University

SCREENING HIGHLIGHTS AND AWARDS

  • Toronto International Film Festival
  • Berlin International Film Festival, 2001
  • Austin Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
  • Barcelona Lesbian & Gay Film Video Festival

ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)

Midi Onodera

Midi Onodera is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker who has been directing, producing and writing films for over twenty years. She has over twenty-five independent short films to her credit as well as a theatrical feature film and several video shorts. Her recent works feature a collage of formats and mediums -ranging from 16mm film to Hi8 video to digital video and “ow end digital toy formats such as a modified Nintendo Game Boy Camera, the Intel Mattel computer microscope, the Tyco and Trendmasters video cameras.

Midi’s films have been critically recognized and included in numerous exhibitions and screenings internationally. Some highlights include the Andy Warhol Museum, the International Festival of Documentary and Short Films, Bilbao, Spain; the Rotterdam International Film Festival; the Berlin International Film Festival; the National Gallery of Canada and a number of screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival. (8/14)

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