Each Fall, I look forward to RESFEST for my fix of innovative short filmmaking — and kick ass music videos. This year’s fix is Thursday, September 30 – Sunday, October 3, at the Palace of Fine Arts.
Cinema Electronica (10:00 p.m. Friday) and Videos That Rock (3:00 p.m. Sunday) are the two recurring music video programs I never miss.
A Videos That Rock screening a few years back was even my introduction to Death Cab for Cutie, and perhaps for The White Stripes as well. This time, Videos That Rock has Franz Ferdinand‘s “Take Me Out”, The Shins‘ “So Says I”, and a video by RESFEST fave and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” director Michel Gondry for Steriogram. It will also be my first listen/viewing of anything by TV on the Radio. Given all the hype they’ve rustled up, I am amazed that’s true.
Thanks to this being an election year, and an election which has stirred up a lot of strong feelings, the creation of Bushwacked! (8:00 p.m. Saturday), a collection of 22 short films about the Bush administration and its related politics was a given. There are two Bay Area filmmakers in the group: Eric Henry with his School House Rocks-style animated short “Pirates & Emperors” and Louis Fox’s “Slam Bush“, a Hip Hop Nation response to a George W. Bush debate monologue.
For the rest of my RESFEST picks, sign up to receive this week’s flavorpill. Tickets to individual screenings are $9 plus service charges and postage in advance, $12 at the door. The $99 pass gets you into all the screenings and events (including the opening night party with L.A. indie rockers Midnight Movies playing a set.)