BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A traveling film festival that focuses solely on felines is prowling dozens of cities across the United States. It started in 2012, when a Minneapolis art venue hosted an internet cat video event. Now, hundreds of attendees are lining up to celebrate all things four-legged and feline.

Move over Cannes, this is Cat. In St. Louis, Missouri, curious cat-lovers are filling the Contemporary Art Museum to capacity to watch such gems such as Oskar the Blind Kitten Versus Hair Dryer - Epic Cat Battle. Over 300 attendees spent between 10 to 20 US dollars to experience this 73-minute show, and while it's not exactly art, the head of the museum says is does reflect current cultural trends and helps form a community spirit.

"We're amazed at the interest that it garnered, the number of people that it brought, the diversity of that audience and felt that it would be an ideal thing for us to show here at the museum," Executive Director of Contemporary Arm Museum Lisa Melandri said.

But not all videos on display here are just snippets from mobile phone videos of a cute cat caught on tape. Some feature a great deal of thought and detailed production work. Take the "Henri, le Chat Noir" series. They've gained millions of YouTube views for the filmmaker, who describes Henri as the world's first and foremost feline philosopher. Like many of the top cat videos, Henri has drawn sponsorship from a cat food maker, created a series of cat videos and even spawned a book. Digital media expert Perry Drake says cats are well-suited as subjects for viral videos.

"I kind of think it is a little bit of a perfect formula because of a couple of things. First of all, females are more likely to own a cat than males, more females are on social media than males are on social media. You have the whole video explosion kind of taking on, you have that whole personification of cats. I think it's just a perfect mix for this kind of environment," digital media expert Perry Drake said.

But it's not just films visitors are getting their claws into. Guests are also getting the chance to preen with face paint and make their own cat ears before show time. But what draws them here?

"Because cats are awesome. That's really the thing. We saw it advertised somewhere. I immediately bought tickets," cat video fan Kate Simmons said.

Audience members say it was a purr-fect night, allowing them to bond with like-minded people. If cat lovers and organisers have their way, a new CAT-egory of movies could soon gain widespread acclaim.

(Source: CNTV.cn)