The 3rd annual Winnipeg Underground Film Festival is a three-day showcase on of experimental short films from all over the globe, plus a screening of a locally produced feature film. The fest runs on June 5-7 at the Frame Arts Warehouse.
The sole feature film of the fest is FM Youth by Stéphane Oystryk, which captures the lives of three young Franco-Manitoban friends as two of them about to embark on a journey outside of their tight knit French community. FM Youth will screen at 11:30 p.m. on the opening night of June 5.
The rest of the fest is crammed full of short films, including two by the amazing analog experimentalist Christine Lucy Latimer; plus work by local filmmaking star Guy Maddin, prolific Winnipeg expat Clint Enns, Underground Film Journal fave Neil Ira Needleman, killer animator Leslie Supnet, Josh Weissbach’s Model Fifty-One Fifty-Six, which garnered an Honorable Mention...
The sole feature film of the fest is FM Youth by Stéphane Oystryk, which captures the lives of three young Franco-Manitoban friends as two of them about to embark on a journey outside of their tight knit French community. FM Youth will screen at 11:30 p.m. on the opening night of June 5.
The rest of the fest is crammed full of short films, including two by the amazing analog experimentalist Christine Lucy Latimer; plus work by local filmmaking star Guy Maddin, prolific Winnipeg expat Clint Enns, Underground Film Journal fave Neil Ira Needleman, killer animator Leslie Supnet, Josh Weissbach’s Model Fifty-One Fifty-Six, which garnered an Honorable Mention...
- 6/3/2015
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 17th annual Moviate Underground Film Festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania celebrates this happy Memorial Day weekend on May 22-25 with great documentaries about artists, loads of filmmakers in attendance, mind-bending short films and one of the greatest horror films every made. It’s quite a mix! The fest takes place at the Civic Club of Harrisburg and at Midtown Cinema — and all screenings are completely Free.
Things start with a real bang on May 22 when the great and powerful Guy Maddin rockets down from Winnipeg, Canada to appear live in person to present clips from his latest cinematic triumph, The Forbidden Room, as well as screen one of his classic early works on 16mm film.
Some other highlights of the weekend include Ellen Zweig’s Heart Beat Ear Drum, a documentary about musician Z’ev, who will be be in attendance at this screening on May 23 with Zweig. Then, later...
Things start with a real bang on May 22 when the great and powerful Guy Maddin rockets down from Winnipeg, Canada to appear live in person to present clips from his latest cinematic triumph, The Forbidden Room, as well as screen one of his classic early works on 16mm film.
Some other highlights of the weekend include Ellen Zweig’s Heart Beat Ear Drum, a documentary about musician Z’ev, who will be be in attendance at this screening on May 23 with Zweig. Then, later...
- 5/20/2015
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 7th annual Arizona Underground Film Festival will screen a smorgasbord of cult flicks, horror movies, comedies and provocative documentaries on September 19-27 at The Screening Room in Tucson, Az.
Opening Night: The fest kicks off on the 19th with Killers, a dark thriller all the way from Japan and Indonesia about a psychopath and a journalist who forge an unlikely, hellish bond.
Other films to be on the look out for include documentaries like the powerful Who Took Johnny? by acclaimed filmmakers Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley and David Belinson that examines the legacy of the disappearance of young Johnny Gosch in 1982; Penny Vozniak’s Despite the Gods, about Jennifer Lynch’s struggles to make a Bollywood musical; and Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater’s wild Limo Ride.
Then, there are horror movies like the Lovecraft-inspired The Call Girl of Cthulu by Chris Lamartina; the slasher flick Crazy Bitches...
Opening Night: The fest kicks off on the 19th with Killers, a dark thriller all the way from Japan and Indonesia about a psychopath and a journalist who forge an unlikely, hellish bond.
Other films to be on the look out for include documentaries like the powerful Who Took Johnny? by acclaimed filmmakers Michael Galinsky, Suki Hawley and David Belinson that examines the legacy of the disappearance of young Johnny Gosch in 1982; Penny Vozniak’s Despite the Gods, about Jennifer Lynch’s struggles to make a Bollywood musical; and Gideon C. Kennedy and Marcus Rosentrater’s wild Limo Ride.
Then, there are horror movies like the Lovecraft-inspired The Call Girl of Cthulu by Chris Lamartina; the slasher flick Crazy Bitches...
- 9/19/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Hosted by Open City Cinema, the 2nd annual Winnipeg Underground Film Festival will be a raucous three-day celebration of fantastic avant-garde and experimental short films and videos from around the world. This year’s edition will run on June 27-29.
The fest opens on June 27 at 7:00 p.m. with a unique bang of an idea: “The 90 Second.” This is a program super-duper short films collected from all over the world, from right in the fest’s hometown of Winnipeg to Auckland to Chicago to London and numerous points in between.
Another one of the fest’s main highlights is a two-part celebration of the work of prolific Canadian film artist Mike Hoolboom. Two programs of two short films each will be featured. The first runs on June 28 at 3:30 p.m. with the films Frank’s Cock and Tom; and the second will close the fest on June 28 at 8:00 p.
The fest opens on June 27 at 7:00 p.m. with a unique bang of an idea: “The 90 Second.” This is a program super-duper short films collected from all over the world, from right in the fest’s hometown of Winnipeg to Auckland to Chicago to London and numerous points in between.
Another one of the fest’s main highlights is a two-part celebration of the work of prolific Canadian film artist Mike Hoolboom. Two programs of two short films each will be featured. The first runs on June 28 at 3:30 p.m. with the films Frank’s Cock and Tom; and the second will close the fest on June 28 at 8:00 p.
- 6/18/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 2nd annual Haverhill Experimental Film Festival features a powerhouse lineup of fantastic short films and one killer feature. It runs May 29–June 1 above the Tap Brewing Company in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
The fest opens on the 29th with a trio of special program events, including a live Super 8mm film performance by Richard Fedorchak, followed by Jodie Mack‘s autobiographical rock animated documentary Dusty Stacks of Mom and assorted Mack handmade films, then ending with live musical scoring of silent films curated by Bob Beal.
The next night, May 30, is not to be missed with two programs of short films that include two incredible standout, award-winning films. First is Kent Lambert‘s masculine video game and pop culture meditation Reckoning 3; second is Mike Olenick‘s gorgeously creepy supervillain serial killer drama Red Luck.
The one feature film of the festival screens on June 1 and is Last Stop, Flamingo, another entry...
The fest opens on the 29th with a trio of special program events, including a live Super 8mm film performance by Richard Fedorchak, followed by Jodie Mack‘s autobiographical rock animated documentary Dusty Stacks of Mom and assorted Mack handmade films, then ending with live musical scoring of silent films curated by Bob Beal.
The next night, May 30, is not to be missed with two programs of short films that include two incredible standout, award-winning films. First is Kent Lambert‘s masculine video game and pop culture meditation Reckoning 3; second is Mike Olenick‘s gorgeously creepy supervillain serial killer drama Red Luck.
The one feature film of the festival screens on June 1 and is Last Stop, Flamingo, another entry...
- 5/29/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 9th annual Montreal Underground Film Festival is three nights of short experimental films from around the world and one after-fest feature film the following early afternoon. It runs May 22-25 at the Bar Populaire for the Opening Night festivities, then at the microcinema at 6029A Ave. du Parc for the rest of the fest.
Opening Night consists of two short film compilations and will feature animation by Ben Popp, sci-fi by Brian Lonano, an experimental short by Neil Ira Needleman and lots more.
Other shorts blocks of the festival are broken up by subject, such as experimental documentaries, horror(ish) films, personal works, meditations on water, and other intriguing concepts.
Some films to look out for are Lori Felker‘s naturally electric music video, Scattered in the Wind; Dan Browne‘s epic lifetime amalgamation of images, Memento Mori; Joseph Christiana‘s hair-raisingly eerie Meat Cycle; a new collaborative piece between Karen and Jaimz Asmundson,...
Opening Night consists of two short film compilations and will feature animation by Ben Popp, sci-fi by Brian Lonano, an experimental short by Neil Ira Needleman and lots more.
Other shorts blocks of the festival are broken up by subject, such as experimental documentaries, horror(ish) films, personal works, meditations on water, and other intriguing concepts.
Some films to look out for are Lori Felker‘s naturally electric music video, Scattered in the Wind; Dan Browne‘s epic lifetime amalgamation of images, Memento Mori; Joseph Christiana‘s hair-raisingly eerie Meat Cycle; a new collaborative piece between Karen and Jaimz Asmundson,...
- 5/19/2014
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 6th annual Minneapolis Underground Film Festival makes its move into October this year where it will be screening on Oct. 3-6 at the St. Anthony Main Theater. The fest, while screening new films from all over, does a fantastic job of screening movies by local Minnesota filmmakers.
Some of these locally produced films include Mark Nielson’s spooky road trip flick Land of Sky Blue Water; Adam Jacobs’ suspense comedy Weekend Hat, which was also produced entirely by high school students; Dave Ash’s sci-fi drama Connected, which is co-directed by Paul von Stoetzel, whose short film Twisted Sister screens before the feature; Donny West’s autobiographical documentary Dazzle (The Donny West Story); and Phil Holbrook’s drama Tilt. There are also loads of short film programs featuring work by local filmmakers.
Other feature films to be on the lookout for include Daniel Martinico’s L.A. nightmare Ok,...
Some of these locally produced films include Mark Nielson’s spooky road trip flick Land of Sky Blue Water; Adam Jacobs’ suspense comedy Weekend Hat, which was also produced entirely by high school students; Dave Ash’s sci-fi drama Connected, which is co-directed by Paul von Stoetzel, whose short film Twisted Sister screens before the feature; Donny West’s autobiographical documentary Dazzle (The Donny West Story); and Phil Holbrook’s drama Tilt. There are also loads of short film programs featuring work by local filmmakers.
Other feature films to be on the lookout for include Daniel Martinico’s L.A. nightmare Ok,...
- 10/2/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
This year will see the 9th annual edition of the Portland Underground Film Festival, which also marks it as the second edition run by filmmaker Bob Moricz and the first edition that will run for six nights at two different theaters. The fun begins at Puff’s traditional home of the Clinton Street Theater on August 21-23, then will conclude on August 24-26 at the Hollywood Theater.
Festival director Moricz, a maverick filmmaker himself, makes some bold moves with this year’s Puff with a real idiosyncratic lineup of films. For example, the opening night program — when most fests like to show the best film they can — Puff is hosting, along with Grand Detour, a special event looking for the worst films they can find in the “open mic style” showcase called War of the Worst. This will then be followed by a special program of the best Spanish underground...
Festival director Moricz, a maverick filmmaker himself, makes some bold moves with this year’s Puff with a real idiosyncratic lineup of films. For example, the opening night program — when most fests like to show the best film they can — Puff is hosting, along with Grand Detour, a special event looking for the worst films they can find in the “open mic style” showcase called War of the Worst. This will then be followed by a special program of the best Spanish underground...
- 8/5/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
For their 9th annual edition, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival will be assaulting the south from its Goat Farm Arts Center screening center on Sep. 13-16 with four days and nights of independent feature films, shorts and documentaries.
Some of the feature films screening include Lisa Duva’s multi-dimensional Cat Scratch Fever, Jason Lapeyre’s thriller Cold Blooded and Brady Hall’s hilariously named Hello, My Name Is Dick Licker.
This year’s Auff is also packed to the gills with short films with multiple blocks of shorts screening per day. Some of the special ones to look out for are Neil Ira Needleman‘s A Few Words in Favor of God, Jim Haverkamp‘s When Walt Whitman Was a Little Girl and Mike Salva‘s award-winning animated short Pound Dogs.
The full film lineup is below, but please visit the official Atlanta Underground Film Festival website for more details and to buy advance tickets.
Some of the feature films screening include Lisa Duva’s multi-dimensional Cat Scratch Fever, Jason Lapeyre’s thriller Cold Blooded and Brady Hall’s hilariously named Hello, My Name Is Dick Licker.
This year’s Auff is also packed to the gills with short films with multiple blocks of shorts screening per day. Some of the special ones to look out for are Neil Ira Needleman‘s A Few Words in Favor of God, Jim Haverkamp‘s When Walt Whitman Was a Little Girl and Mike Salva‘s award-winning animated short Pound Dogs.
The full film lineup is below, but please visit the official Atlanta Underground Film Festival website for more details and to buy advance tickets.
- 9/11/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Is making movies a waste of time? Neil Ira Needleman‘s short film Visions of Wasted Time explores the obsession with capturing moving images in quite possibly the most startling, provocative and gut-wrenching way possible. (Note: Film is silent.)
At Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film, we’ve long touted Needleman’s filmmaking brilliance. However, Visions of Wasted Time is extra special to us as this was the first film of his that we ever encountered thanks to the Ata Film & Video Festival who screened it way back at their 3rd annual event in 2008.
Immediately upon screening this little gem, we had to find out exactly who this filmmaker was and devour everything possible that he’s made, which given his complete, massive filmography is a lot of genius to wade through. While there’s much to love and to be loveably baffled by in Needleman’s work, such as Meeskeit,...
At Bad Lit: The Journal of Underground Film, we’ve long touted Needleman’s filmmaking brilliance. However, Visions of Wasted Time is extra special to us as this was the first film of his that we ever encountered thanks to the Ata Film & Video Festival who screened it way back at their 3rd annual event in 2008.
Immediately upon screening this little gem, we had to find out exactly who this filmmaker was and devour everything possible that he’s made, which given his complete, massive filmography is a lot of genius to wade through. While there’s much to love and to be loveably baffled by in Needleman’s work, such as Meeskeit,...
- 8/28/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 8th annual Portland Underground Film Festival is back with a vengeance and under new management! Superstar Portland filmmaker Bob Moricz has assumed total control of Puff and promises to keep the fest’s traditional raucous spirit, but covered with a more artful sheen. The shenanigans will once again take place at Puff’s beloved home, the Clinton Street Theater.
Things kick off on June 29 with a live Skype appearance by none other than sex guru Annie Sprinkle as part of the “Ecosex Symposium,” a frank celebration of sex in the natural world. This will be followed with the traditional “Bike Smut” program of short films celebrating the power and the glory of the bicycle.
Then, on June 30, there will be a selection of short films by some of the most notorious names in underground film today, including Carey Burtt, Neil Ira Needleman, Greg Hanson and Jim Haverkamp, plus filmmakers Jenn Keyser,...
Things kick off on June 29 with a live Skype appearance by none other than sex guru Annie Sprinkle as part of the “Ecosex Symposium,” a frank celebration of sex in the natural world. This will be followed with the traditional “Bike Smut” program of short films celebrating the power and the glory of the bicycle.
Then, on June 30, there will be a selection of short films by some of the most notorious names in underground film today, including Carey Burtt, Neil Ira Needleman, Greg Hanson and Jim Haverkamp, plus filmmakers Jenn Keyser,...
- 6/28/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 24th annual Onion City Experimental Film and Video Festival is the largest, most jam-packed edition of Chicago’s long-running avant-garde and experimental media fest ever! Held at the Gene Siskel Film Center on June 21 and at Columbia College on June 22-23, this year’s event features two days and three nights of fantastic experimental work, including both short films and feature-length productions.
Two feature-length films will get two screenings each. First, there’s collage animator Lewis Klahr‘s latest epic work The Pettifogger, a film noir about the year in the life of a ’60s era gambler; and Tributes – Pulse, a collaboration between filmmaker Bill Morrison and Danish composer Simon Christensen. Both films will screen on the 22nd and the 23rd.
Other feature-length works include Wolfgang Lehmann’s experimental nature film Dragonflies With Birds and Snake, Barry Doupé’s computer animated mystery The Colors That Combine to Make White Are Important,...
Two feature-length films will get two screenings each. First, there’s collage animator Lewis Klahr‘s latest epic work The Pettifogger, a film noir about the year in the life of a ’60s era gambler; and Tributes – Pulse, a collaboration between filmmaker Bill Morrison and Danish composer Simon Christensen. Both films will screen on the 22nd and the 23rd.
Other feature-length works include Wolfgang Lehmann’s experimental nature film Dragonflies With Birds and Snake, Barry Doupé’s computer animated mystery The Colors That Combine to Make White Are Important,...
- 6/12/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The seventh annual Montreal Underground Film Festival features four nights — and one matinee — of experimental short films from all over the world, plus two feature films. The fun takes place May 17-20 with the opening night event being held at Sala Rossa before the rest of the fest moves to Peut-être Vintage.
The opening batch of short films includes Winnipeg filmmaker Aaron Zeghers‘ The Story of Thomas Edison, plus films by fellow Winnipegger Scott Fitzpatrick, Simon Lacroix, Erin Weisgerber, Charles Fairbanks and many more.
Several other Winnipeggers have films throughout the rest of the fest, including Heidi Phillips‘ The Last Harvest and Noam Gonick’s Hirsch. Representing the U.S. are Neil Ira Needleman‘s Prelude & Erotiloop, Tony Gault‘s Ghost of Yesterday and Ben Popp‘s Lazslo Lassu.
The two feature-length films both screen on the last day of the fest, including Larry Wessel‘s epic documentary on Boyd Rice,...
The opening batch of short films includes Winnipeg filmmaker Aaron Zeghers‘ The Story of Thomas Edison, plus films by fellow Winnipegger Scott Fitzpatrick, Simon Lacroix, Erin Weisgerber, Charles Fairbanks and many more.
Several other Winnipeggers have films throughout the rest of the fest, including Heidi Phillips‘ The Last Harvest and Noam Gonick’s Hirsch. Representing the U.S. are Neil Ira Needleman‘s Prelude & Erotiloop, Tony Gault‘s Ghost of Yesterday and Ben Popp‘s Lazslo Lassu.
The two feature-length films both screen on the last day of the fest, including Larry Wessel‘s epic documentary on Boyd Rice,...
- 5/16/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Neil Ira Needleman is one of the most prolific and stylistically diverse filmmakers working in the independent and underground film worlds today. Yet, because of that diversity, his work tends to fly under the radar, catching audiences unaware at the dozens of film festivals he screens at every year.
Becoming familiar with Needleman’s films, one can at last start to piece together a consistency in his authentic documentation of a reality that may or may not exist. But, perhaps, an emphasis on “may not.” Although he began his career working with Super8, he now works exclusively in video, giving his films an immediacy and an air of authenticity that the filmmaker can completely subvert at will.
Drawing upon a broad range of personal experiences, such as his Jewish heritage and his long career working in advertising and marketing, there is always an element of emotional truth even when it...
Becoming familiar with Needleman’s films, one can at last start to piece together a consistency in his authentic documentation of a reality that may or may not exist. But, perhaps, an emphasis on “may not.” Although he began his career working with Super8, he now works exclusively in video, giving his films an immediacy and an air of authenticity that the filmmaker can completely subvert at will.
Drawing upon a broad range of personal experiences, such as his Jewish heritage and his long career working in advertising and marketing, there is always an element of emotional truth even when it...
- 1/30/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 14th annual Antimatter Film Festival in Vancouver, BC, Canada is an epic 9-day event of expanded cinema performances, feature-length documentaries an a ton of experimental short films and festivals.
There are seven feature documentaries screening including Marie Losier‘s hit The Ballad of Genesis & Lady Jaye, a profile of the pandrogenous entity, Breyer P-Orridge; and Chris Metzler & Lev Kalman’s popular Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, about the legendary ska punk band. Plus, there’s Adele Horne’s And Again and more.
On the expanded cinema front, Antimatter welcomes retrospectives of Kerry Laitala, who will be presenting a selection of her 3D light and motion experiments; and Roger Beebe will screen a series of multi-projector performances.
As for the short films, the real highlight of the fest is a screening of Jaimz Asmundson‘s trippy and powerful The Magus, a fictional/documentary hybrid of his father’s Satanic painting process.
There are seven feature documentaries screening including Marie Losier‘s hit The Ballad of Genesis & Lady Jaye, a profile of the pandrogenous entity, Breyer P-Orridge; and Chris Metzler & Lev Kalman’s popular Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, about the legendary ska punk band. Plus, there’s Adele Horne’s And Again and more.
On the expanded cinema front, Antimatter welcomes retrospectives of Kerry Laitala, who will be presenting a selection of her 3D light and motion experiments; and Roger Beebe will screen a series of multi-projector performances.
As for the short films, the real highlight of the fest is a screening of Jaimz Asmundson‘s trippy and powerful The Magus, a fictional/documentary hybrid of his father’s Satanic painting process.
- 10/12/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Once again, the Wndx Festival of Film and Video Art will be celebrating the best in new and classic Canadian avant-garde, experimental and underground filmmaking with a little flair for the international thrown in. Wndx’s 6th annual edition is set to run on Sep. 29 to Oct. 2 in the city of Winnipeg.
This year, Wndx is paying special homage to two great Canadian artistic filmmakers: The late Joyce Wieland and Guy Maddin. For Wieland, the fest is holding two special retrospectives of the experimental filmmaker’s works spanning from 1965 to 1984. (Wieland passed away in 1998.) The first retrospective on Oct. 1 is a collection of all short films, such as Cat Food (1969) and A&B in Ontario (1984), which was co-directed with he contemporary Hollis Frampton. The second retrospective on Oct. 2 includes Wieland’s feature film Reason Over Passion (1969), plus two shorts.
From Sep. 2 to Oct. 1, Wndx is hosting Guy Maddin‘s Hauntings installation at the Platform Gallery.
This year, Wndx is paying special homage to two great Canadian artistic filmmakers: The late Joyce Wieland and Guy Maddin. For Wieland, the fest is holding two special retrospectives of the experimental filmmaker’s works spanning from 1965 to 1984. (Wieland passed away in 1998.) The first retrospective on Oct. 1 is a collection of all short films, such as Cat Food (1969) and A&B in Ontario (1984), which was co-directed with he contemporary Hollis Frampton. The second retrospective on Oct. 2 includes Wieland’s feature film Reason Over Passion (1969), plus two shorts.
From Sep. 2 to Oct. 1, Wndx is hosting Guy Maddin‘s Hauntings installation at the Platform Gallery.
- 8/23/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
It’s lucky 13 for the Boston Underground Film Festival as they celebrate their raucous 13th annual edition this year. Opening with the much buzzed about bloody feature film Hobo With a Shotgun starring Rutger Hauer and directed by Jason Eisener, the fest then barrels on for eight wild nights and days from March 24-31.
While there’s plenty of underground goodness from the U.S.A., this year Buff feels like it’s a much more international affair with several sick features from around the globe. There’s gory horror and quirky black comedy from Japan in the guise of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Helldriver and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish; the Argentinian freak-out Phase7 by Nicolas Goldbart; David Blyth’s Wound is a psychological thriller from New Zealand; and Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a look at Philippine exploitation cinema from the ’70s.
Stateside there’s Usama Alshaibi‘s Profane,...
While there’s plenty of underground goodness from the U.S.A., this year Buff feels like it’s a much more international affair with several sick features from around the globe. There’s gory horror and quirky black comedy from Japan in the guise of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Helldriver and Sion Sono’s Cold Fish; the Argentinian freak-out Phase7 by Nicolas Goldbart; David Blyth’s Wound is a psychological thriller from New Zealand; and Mark Hartley’s Machete Maidens Unleashed! is a look at Philippine exploitation cinema from the ’70s.
Stateside there’s Usama Alshaibi‘s Profane,...
- 3/10/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Outsider filmmaker Neil Ira Needleman is on an art roll lately. At the same time he was attending a major retrospective screening at the Mantis Gallery in Harrisburg, Pa on Nov. 20, another one of his short films, Meeskeit, was awarded Audience Favorite at Shadowbox Cinema II, a special event hosted by the Ann Arbor Film Festival at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. You can watch the entire film — a sad tale about two Jewish spinsters — embedded above.
For those who don’t speak Yiddish, a “meeskeit” is a person who is “uglier than ugly.” In this case, that’s the narrator of this film and her cousin, neither of whom we ever see. The entire tale is told via paintings and the stories that accompany them.
It’s a tragic tale of familiar familial angst ramped up to about 200. As the inequities continue to pile on each other, one...
For those who don’t speak Yiddish, a “meeskeit” is a person who is “uglier than ugly.” In this case, that’s the narrator of this film and her cousin, neither of whom we ever see. The entire tale is told via paintings and the stories that accompany them.
It’s a tragic tale of familiar familial angst ramped up to about 200. As the inequities continue to pile on each other, one...
- 12/3/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Nov. 20
8:00 p.m.
Mantis Collective Gallery
1306 N. 3rd Street
Harrisburg, Pa 17102
Hosted by: Moviate
Does spending a night with Neil Ira Needleman sound like a little piece of Heaven to you? Well, it does to us!
Harrisburg, Pa’s Mantis Collective Gallery — thanks to an egging on by Moviate — is hosting a rare one-man screening of Needleman’s eccentric (and that’s putting it mildly) short films. It’s 90 minutes of knee-slapping humor, sheer absurdity, deranged home movies, incredulous bouts of sincerity and — as Needleman puts it himself — films that “will pull your eyeballs out of your head.”
Needleman is one of the quirkiest and eclectic makers of short films in the field today. His work is almost virtually impossible to describe as each film is wildly different from the next. Yet, they all fit together just from the pure “Needleman-ness” quality that suffuses them all.
Some of Needleman’s films are purely experimental,...
8:00 p.m.
Mantis Collective Gallery
1306 N. 3rd Street
Harrisburg, Pa 17102
Hosted by: Moviate
Does spending a night with Neil Ira Needleman sound like a little piece of Heaven to you? Well, it does to us!
Harrisburg, Pa’s Mantis Collective Gallery — thanks to an egging on by Moviate — is hosting a rare one-man screening of Needleman’s eccentric (and that’s putting it mildly) short films. It’s 90 minutes of knee-slapping humor, sheer absurdity, deranged home movies, incredulous bouts of sincerity and — as Needleman puts it himself — films that “will pull your eyeballs out of your head.”
Needleman is one of the quirkiest and eclectic makers of short films in the field today. His work is almost virtually impossible to describe as each film is wildly different from the next. Yet, they all fit together just from the pure “Needleman-ness” quality that suffuses them all.
Some of Needleman’s films are purely experimental,...
- 11/18/2010
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
If getting sand in your crotch while watching awesome short films sounds like a good time, then you better head on out to the first ever Black Rock City Film Festival, which is taking place right now, Aug. 30 to Sept. 3, at the legendary Burning Man gathering in the Nevada desert. If you’re already at Burning Man, hopefully you get cell reception and can see this lineup so you know where the best place is to be every night.
This event is a joint endeavor for the Boston Underground Film Festival and San Francisco’s IndieFest, who have selected over two dozen short films to screen at their open air theater. There are no start times for when these films will screen, but I would assume it would be sometime after sundown. Plus, there will be cocktail parties before and after the screenings, as well as Opening Night and Closing Night bashes.
This event is a joint endeavor for the Boston Underground Film Festival and San Francisco’s IndieFest, who have selected over two dozen short films to screen at their open air theater. There are no start times for when these films will screen, but I would assume it would be sometime after sundown. Plus, there will be cocktail parties before and after the screenings, as well as Opening Night and Closing Night bashes.
- 8/30/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 7th annual Atlanta Underground Film Festival is like having four different fests crammed into an exhaustive three days on Aug. 27-29. It’s an outrageous underground fest, an animation festival, a documentary fest and a horror movie festival: The culmination of a month of fests run by Atlanta’s Festival League. There’s tons of short films, documentaries, features and more.
There’s lots of great stuff to recommend, too. On the last night of the fest, there will be a screening of Chris Hansen‘s second feature film, Endings, which tells the touching story of three people spending their last day on Earth together. The film was reviewed on Bad Lit a few months ago. On the short film front, there’s Loretta Hintz‘s wild lesbian bestiality (sort of) tale, The Sheep and the Ranch Hand and two films by the perpetually awesome Neil Ira Needleman, Meeskit...
There’s lots of great stuff to recommend, too. On the last night of the fest, there will be a screening of Chris Hansen‘s second feature film, Endings, which tells the touching story of three people spending their last day on Earth together. The film was reviewed on Bad Lit a few months ago. On the short film front, there’s Loretta Hintz‘s wild lesbian bestiality (sort of) tale, The Sheep and the Ranch Hand and two films by the perpetually awesome Neil Ira Needleman, Meeskit...
- 8/18/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
First, my apologies. I’m starting out with a completely self-serving internal link: I created an Underground Film Resource Center page with links to all the different resources I have for underground filmmakers and fans alike on Bad Lit: Film festivals, films, filmmakers, theaters, distributors, websites, the timeline, and more. I have a few ideas of more resources to launch in the future, too. Distributor Channel Midnight has announced that Nathan Wrann’s Burning Inside is now available as an app for the iPhone, iPad and iTouch. I’m not posting this link so much as to promote this particular film — although I highly recommend it — but because I don’t see announcements like this very much. How much underground content is available on iTunes? When I look: Nothing. Well, now there’s this. I want to read more announcements like this in the future. The Rome News-Tribune has an...
- 7/11/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The teasing is over! This here is the real deal. The moment we wait all year for: The lineup for the powerful, the mighty Boston Underground Film Festival, which is set to run March 25 to April 1. Now in its 12th year, Buff shows no sign of slowing down or taking it easy. In fact, this might be their most demented and transgressive edition yet.
There are homages to Giallo horror, tributes to the grand grindhouse tradition of sleaze and exploitation, sex and violence galore — both separately and together — plus, a resurrected ’80s slasher classic that all combine into an epic celebration of everything that is vicious and twisted in this world. But, in a fun way, ya know.
Alas, I haven’t seen any of the feature films that are playing this year, so I can’t offer any special recommendations of those. Although, there are many (most) that I...
There are homages to Giallo horror, tributes to the grand grindhouse tradition of sleaze and exploitation, sex and violence galore — both separately and together — plus, a resurrected ’80s slasher classic that all combine into an epic celebration of everything that is vicious and twisted in this world. But, in a fun way, ya know.
Alas, I haven’t seen any of the feature films that are playing this year, so I can’t offer any special recommendations of those. Although, there are many (most) that I...
- 3/12/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
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