LAVA Local Filmmaker Series: Melissa McClung

Join The LAVA Center for four evenings of local film screenings and discussions with the filmmakers! Leading up to the 3rd annual LAVA Film Festival (Sept. 22–23), we have invited Valley filmmakers to share and discuss their work. The LAVA Film Festival is open to all Massachusetts filmmakers, but this series is even more locally focused on Valley filmmakers! $5 suggested donation goes to support the filmmakers and LAVA.

MELISSA McCLUNG is a filmmaker and animator based in Hadley, Massachusetts. She produced animations for the science documentary, The Arc of Oblivion, directed by Ian Cheney and produced by Wicked Delicate & Sandbox Films with Executive Producer Werner Herzog. The film premiered at South by Southwest 2023 and CPH:DOX 2023. Her short film, All the Marbles, premiered at Maryland Film Festival 2022. Her short documentary, Louie’s Antiques, was an Official Selection of the 58th Ann Arbor Film Festival and had its international premiere at the Melbourne Documentary Festival. The film is preserved in the Historic Northampton permanent archive. Melissa is a recipient of the New England Film Star Award from NewEnglandFilm.com and Women in Film & Video New England, and she has won three national awards from the Alliance for Community Media. In addition to her creative work, Melissa teaches film at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public High School, serves on the board of Northampton Open Media, and co-owns Ghost Hit Recording Studio with her husband, audio engineer Andrew Oedel. Melissa earned her MFA in Film from Vermont College of Fine Arts and her BA from Vassar College.

Melissa will screen and discuss these short films:

“Louie’s Antiques” (8 min., 2019)

“All the Marbles” (11 min., 2022)

“Elevator of Earthly Destruction” (4 min., 2020)

“Carried Away by the Wind (3 min., 2023)