The PDX Film Fest!!!!!!

The Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival (PDX for short) is just around the corner and I am pretty excited about it. I am excited about the films, the videos, the installations, the visiting artists, and the special events, but what I am really, really excited about is that this is the first time in the history of the festival that I am not in charge of it!! That is right; after last year’s festival I officially retired my position of fest director and handed the entire thing over to my friend and fellow filmmaker Gretchen Hogue. I’ve still been involved with the festival, doing a little of the programming and still running the Peripheral Produce Invitational, but Gretchen is the one who has provided the sweat and the muscle this year, and she has put together what promises to be an amazing festival. (Of course The New York Times waits until Gretchen takes over to write about the festival, but that’s okay cause she deserves it (at least i got a photo credit!))
The festival takes place from April 25-29 at the Hollywood Theatre, and the entire festival schedule is now up at the Peripheral Produce website. Here are a few of the programs I am particularly excited about:
Last Refuge for The Senses or Noise Hippies Against All War
“A new breed of noise/psychedelia has sprung up as the only rational response to an increasingly alienating form of global capitalism. Like the American psychedelic cinema of the 60’s and 70’s, this crop of contemporary 16mm films enunciates an emotional response to an overwhelming historical moment (now). Their use of analog technologies, of live soundtracks and camera-less processes is indicative of a DIY approach that has its political roots in resistance and its aesthetic roots in a gentler past. Geography has conspired to create a micro-movement, for these are all works from the same community – Providence, RI. The strength of these films lies in their denial of total escapism, in their collective decision to create a communal experience that can move beyond the screen and into the world outside. This is the cinema of deliverance, the theater of psychic hearts and radical love – bleeding your eyes and ears clean of the sorrow of the everyday, swelling your body full with hope for the possibilities of today.” – Ben Russell, program curator. (Featuring work from Xander Marro, Jo Dery, Matt Brinkman, Forcefield and others)
Charged in the Name of Terror: Portraits of Contemporary Artists
Recently premiered at Sundance, these amazing shorts bring us face to face with the intersections of art and politics in our present age. In this program, artist and activist Paul Chan invited a number of video artists to create intimate portraits of individual political activists who have been sentenced to jail by the US government. Subjects include Lynne Stewart, Steve Kurtz, Mohammed Yousry, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Kathy Kelly, and Frida Berrigan, the first activist to protest against Guantanamo Bay at Guantanamo Bay. These portraits—casual, intimate, non-didactic—are incredibly important signs of our times.
Helvetica: a Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit
Celebrating the 50th birthday of the ubiquitous typeface, Helvetica is an independent documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. Helvetica encompasses the worlds of design, advertising, psychology, and communication, and invites us to take a second look at the thousands of words we see every day. Filmmaker Gary Hustwit will be in attendance!
Lunchfilms
“By accident, I started a series of lunch shorts. James Fotopoulos and I were eating lunch two years ago and the place only took cash. Fotopoulos didn’t have any. So I made him a deal: I’ll buy the lunch and he’ll trade me a short film for the same cost. We made up rules for the film on a napkin, as a challenge and referring to subjects we talked about over lunch. Since then 25 lunch shorts have been ‘commissioned’. Here are the finished ones. Only one copy of each film exists. While each film has its own rules and ideas, the overall metaphor is a basic one: it is very easy to help a filmmaker. Be a part of your community. Buy one lunch today.” –Mike Plante (Featuring Lunchfilms from: Cam Archer, Roger Beebe, James Benning, James Clauer, Jem Cohen, Ben Coonley, Bill Daniel, Kevin Everson, James Fotopoulos, Sharon Lockhart, Eileen Maxson, Carson Mell, Nina Menkes, Chris Peters, Elizabeth Skadden, Sebastian Wolf and the Zellner Brothers.) Total cost of program (plus tip): $622.71 17 films, 72 minutes

James Benning’s Lunch Film