The big screen celebration of our furry feline overlords was one of the strangest and cutest cinema experience I ever had. Needless to say, I loved every second.
Most people would probably go WTF at the idea of paying money to watch cat videos at your local cinema, and it was in fact my initial reaction when CatVideoFest popped up on the front page of Classic Cinemas website. My second reaction was, hey I need to check this out. I can watch a thousand cat clips on my feel-good Insta feed (no news, no politics, just cats and other animals), but I believe there’s a lot to be said for a communal movie theatre experience, especially when it comes to comedy. And who in the world is a more gifted physical comedian than a cat? For creatures of sublime beauty and infinite grace, they can also be supreme goofs.
CatVideoFest is exactly what you’d imagine, a non-stop 75-minute reel of hilarious, adorable and bizarre cat videos and animations, culled from internet powerhouses and unique admissions. There are grumpy cats, mischievous cats, problem solving cats, fighting cats, acrobatic cats, clumsy cats – the list goes on and on. It was hard to pick my favourite star from an impressive international lineup, but I was genuinely wowed by a kitty who loves gym treadmill so much he figured out a way to switch it on.
The experience was exactly like watching a YouTube compilation of cat videos on a big screen; there’s zero attempt to make it more polished or cinematic and even the intro credits are knowingly amateurish. The content is split into several distinct categories such as drama, documentary, action and comedy, but in all honesty most of the vignettes would probably fall under comedy. The one exception was a longer video telling the sad but ultimately heartwarming story of a sick, mite-ridden street cat who is nursed back to health and eventually adopted.
Speaking of heartwarming, the festival is also a fundraising event, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the local animal shelters. It was a great way to unwind after a working week and share laughs with fellow cat lovers.
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