Cat Clips brings serious cinematic cuteness to Urban Chestnut

It's a brand-new film festival featuring locally produced cat videos, and it's not art for art's sake—it will make the lives of actual cats better.

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You know the scene: It's 2 a.m. An empty bottle of wine. A YouTube rabbit hole—though it seems wrong to call it that—a million miles long.

We won’t judge; we all know the gripping phenomenon of the Cat Video. Yes, even the dog people can appreciate it—because although they might prefer the company of canines, there’s something about the cat that lends itself to that cinema writ small called the internet. Maybe it’s that audiences find bad guys, or at least antiheroes and loners, more interesting than good guys. Or maybe it’s that crazy combination of cute furriness and unsettlingly reptilian eyes. Perhaps it’s the element of unpredictability, always a thing when there’s a kitty involved.

Whatever the reason, maybe we don’t have to analyze this phenomenon to death—let’s just enjoy it! This month, Cinema St. Louis gives us an extra opportunity to have fun with cat videos, inviting you and yours to submit your very own original creations to the inaugural Cat Clips, a short-film competition. The winners will be screened at Urban Chestnut (because feline shenanigans pair well with wine and beer), with a grand prize of $250 and proceeds going to benefit Animal House’s Help Us Heal medical fund.

Cat Clips: A Competition in Cuteness! happens April 4 at Urban Chestnut, 4465 Manchester. For competition rules and instructions on how to submit a film, or to get the deets on what promises to be a totally adorable night of movie-watching, go to cinemastlouis.org/catclips.  

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