A Few Words From Matt McCormick

The 2006 edition of the Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival is just a day a way, and for all of us who have been working on it, I must say we are glad to have finally gotten here. This year marks the 10th anniversary of Peripheral Produce (the Fest's 'parent' organization), and with a confused optimism that we pump our fists in the air in celebration. It is the night before the festival starts, and we here at Peripheral Produce HQ are buzzing with that combination of nervous energy and exhaustion. So many loose ends to tie up, so many little things to worry about, so many people to pick up at the airport. But I think we are ready. We are super excited that Urban Honking will be blogging the shit out of the festival, and eager to see what happens.

For those new to this whole 'Peripheral Produce' thing, here's a recap: Back in 1996, Peripheral Produce started as a monthly screening series that featured local experimental films. Shows were held at a little punk club called Thee-O (aka the X-Ray Cafe) and 14 people came to the first event. But as time progressed, audiences got bigger, as did our network of artists. Inspired by the great independent record labels of this region (K Records, KRS, just to name a couple), we decided to start our own video distribution label, and we released a compilation of short films called The Auto-Cinematic Video Mix Tape. That tape featured work from 12 different artists, including core Peripheral Produce filmmakers Vanessa Renwick, Miranda July, Animal Charm, and many others. We started really small, but have since released 14 titles and gained international recognition as a pretty important distributor of experimental cinema. Our videos can be found in places ranging from Netflix to the Museum of Modern Art, but what might be more important is that we created a new outlet for artists to share their work.

In 2002, the screening series evolved into the PDX Film Festival. Peripheral Produce started with the intention of creating an outlet for local experimental filmmakers to show their work. There wasn't much happening in terms of local film screenings in '96, but by 2002 the community was flourishing, and it was clearly time to streamline things into a larger, annual event. The festival made it a little easier to fund-raise (stress 'a little'), but what really made it more exciting was that it marked a big weekend celebration that filmmakers from across the country could attend. I think there is going to be something like 25 filmmakers from out of town attending the festival this year, which is totally awesome.

PDX may not be the biggest festival in town. There is no big institution or major publication pushing us along. No one on our staff is on salary, and many of the participating filmmakers even pitch in and help out. But perhaps that is what makes the festival truly special. A quick glance at this year's line-up shows that we have the Portland premiere of the film that both Entertainment Weekly and NPR's Fresh Air called "The best film of the 2006 Sundance Film Festival". Plus, we'll be screening the work of six artists who were featured in the prestigious Whitney Biennial, not to mention that we also will be featuring over 30 local filmmakers. But maybe the coolest thing about this year's fest is that Jon Raymond, the writer of that 'best film at Sundance' movie, is in fact a local kid who was screening work at Peripheral Produce shows since the very beginning, and is even on that first video release we put out.

So thanks for paying attention, and for blogging the shit out of us.

Matt McCormick
founder and director
Peripheral Produce and the PDX Film Festival