Internet Cat Video Film Festival

When contemplating viral video sensations, the first genre that springs to mind is none other than Cute Kitten Videos. And with good reason. Notoriously viral in cyberspace, cats and kittens of all type and stripe have absorbed a frightening amount of the public’s free time (and, doubtless, countless office hours) with video offerings ranging from the ridiculous to the adorable.

Despite the runaway popularity of Internet cat videos, it wasn’t until this past summer that the online sensation got its due when the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, MN held the world’s first film festival devoted to YouTube feline sensations. Nominations for videos were held in July and selected by public vote. The festival, put on by curator Katie Czarniecki Hill, was open to the public and screened the selected films free of charge. Let’s hope this festival become’s an annual one because the uniting nature of something like the simple yet hilarious “keyboard cat” is worth celebrating and we definitely want to be at the next public screening!