Funny Cat Videos: Highlights From Cat Video Film Festival Minneapolis (+Video)

Talk about a Pussy Riot. 

It was just a matter of time before someone came up with the idea of a Cat Internet Film Festival. Genius! 

The Minneapolis Walker Art Center, in Minnesota, hosted a crowd of more than 10,000 people last night in the first Internet Cat Video Film Festival ever.    

The event screened 70 short cat films on the museum's lawn, as a part of the Walker’s Open Field program, which features community-driven events throughout the summer (last night's event attendance rivals "Rock the Garden," typically the Walker’s biggest bash of the year).  

Additionally, the festival presented the prize "Golden Kitty Award" -- chosen by online voters -- which went to Henri 2, Paw de Deux (a film noir-style story about a cat in the midst of an existential crisis, directed by William Brandon). Other "CAT-egories," such as comedy, drama and foreign, were presented.  

Katie Hill, the fest’s curator, said the festival was an experiment with the intention of seeing if the cat-lover online community "exists in real life." And it worked, among the 10,0000 attendees were even cat-celebrities such as Lil Bub and the “Kittens Inspired by Kittens” girl (one wonders if Catwoman had a schedule conflict). 

International media, from Canada and Japan, covered the event; as well as prestigious national news outlets such as The New York Times -- which is said to even have flown its own reporter to cover the curiosity.

Check out the trailer of VICE magazine's upcoming documentary on the festival: