EURO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL - PART ONE
The Lab, in conjunction with curator Mark Siska, presents three weekends
of screenings of subterranean Euro celluloid in three separate rooms.
Tonight's selections in the main room include 'Framed'(Germany, 1999) by
Mennan Yapo, a clever reality bender in which a troubled couple watch a
movie about the isolation and torture of an apparent political prisoner. The
film-within-the-film's character mirrors the claustrophobia and repressed
anger implied in the couple's relationship. When the prisoner fights off his
captors and escapes, his action resonates with the couple in the audience
and a night at the cinema becomes cathartic and healing. Ivaylo Simidchiev's
'MUD' (Bulgaria, 1997) vividly recreates the grubby world of street
urchins, one of whom stabs a man in the course of a robbery. The boy becomes
guilt-ridden and sympathetic towards his wounded victim and a profound
friendship develops between the two. 'Clothes For Moving' (1997) and
'Unglaublich Aber War' (1997) by Swiss filmmaker Karim Patwa, are topical
ruminations mixing witty pop art visuals with found footage about man on a
desperate run from technology and reality. The other two rooms will screen
continuous loops, notably "Unpopular Culture" featuring subversive
anti-corporate art establishment critiques. The other room will feature work
by
Chicago film and video artist curated by Ausgang. Experimental noise
musician
Joe Hammer of Solid Eye will perform live Friday night and performance
artist
and naked violinist Blue Girl will do the same on Saturday. (The Lab, 835
South Spring St., Downtown L.A.; Fri.-Sat., Dec. 3-4, 8 p.m., Sun. Dec. 5, 1
p.m. 213-689-4725)
----- Michael Simmons.
LA WEEKLY
EUROPEAN UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
In this second installment of international film and video, curator Mark Siska
presents eight selections of unusually high quality with a heavy emphasis on
sociopolitical critique. The responsibility of any decent underground filmmaker is to
scream (or, shall we say, screen) "FIRE!" in a crowded cinema. In the aftermath of
anti-WTO unrest in Seattle, many of these works remind one that it's the artists who
have been perennially crying out during our long winter of discontent. 'Nowo Film'
(Poland, 1998) by Bogumie Godfrejow is a six-minute distillation of George Orwell's
'1984'. The cold imagery of the human race beholden to industry and transfixed by
authoritarian rulers on a TV monitor proves just how prescient Orwell actually was.
Tomek Augustynek's 'MOC (Power)' (Poland, 1998) is a kinetic look at the circuitous
travel of electricity from industrial source to human use. 'Mark Roth' (USA, 1997)
by the Animal Charm collective edits together unrelated shots of corporate life,
emphasizing the shallow banality of capitalism. Carl Wiedermann's 'Primer for
Dental Extraction' (USA, 1999) is a visually striking (reminiscent of Fritz Lang)
rumination on dentistry as a metaphor for psychological pain. Darkly comic, everyday
indignities provide grist for a saxophonist's blues in Phil Mulloy's sparely animated
'The Sound of Music' (England, 1994). The other selections leaven the scathing
politics with refreshing silliness, proving laughter to be yet another weapon against
the ugly spirit of greed. (The Lab, 835 Spring St., dwntwn.; Fri.-Sat., Dec. 10-11, 8
p.m.; Sun., Dec.12, 1 p.m.; series thru Dec. 19. 213-689-4725)
----- Michael
Simmons
EUROPEAN UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
This third and final installment of international film and video features four black
comedies whose style is as interesting as their substance. Curator Mark Siska chose
thematically disparate pieces that are nonetheless connected by superbly recreating a
variety of visual genres. The luxury of the non-commercial motion picture artist is
the license to dwell in strange, atmospheric, artificial worlds that would be
considered too downright weird for their mainstream counterparts (although that's
changing somewhat with the likes of Tim Burton and others). 'Peletero (FURRIER)'
(Argentina, 1997) by Sebastian Monaco has the look of an early-'60s black-and-white
Vittorio De Sica flick, but the plot, which has to do with the murderous undertakings
of a fur merchant, is more akin to a Herschell Gordon Lewis gorefest. The politics of
couture are addressed from an animal rights point-of-view but presented with
mischievous politically incorrect humor. Geoffrey Chadwick's 'The Great
Coagulator'(U.S., 1999) is a dead-on recreation of early-talkies and vaudeville but
also features realistic gore in a manner more appropriate for psychotronic trash .
'Honey Pot'(U.S., 1998) by Todd Lincoln parodies 1950s educational films complete
with cheesy lounge music and a squeaky clean "little girl" narrator. The honey in
question is followed from beekeeper to factory production to porno movie to the
container's use as a bong by punk skateboarders. 'Deep Africa' (U.S., 1998) by
Steve Hall and Cathee Wilkins (recently reviewed here) is a hilarious skin flick
send-up starring blow-up dolls. The show also features continuous video loops, film
projections, live music, popcorn and beverages. (The Lab, 835 S. Spring St., dwntwn.;
Fri.-Sat., Dec. 17-18, 8 p.m.; Sun., Dec. 19, 1 p.m. 213-689-4725)
------- Michael Simmons
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