Satellites 2004!
Seattle has a strong community of video- and filmmakers, and some really smart and ambitious curators. The net effect is that of a year-round festival showing some of the craziest and thought-provoking movies out there. However, I happen to know that there are still plenty of pockets of scrappy moviemakers who haven't thought to show their work here. This is wrong. This week there is an event happening around town that aims to unite filmmakers, film curators, and film lovers in one tidy package. Yep, it's time once again for the Satellites Film and Video Festival. Subtitled "Screens from Outer Spaces," it is an annual celebration of this city's rich and diverse alternative screening venues.
The opening-night party takes place at the Rendezvous on Friday, April 9, and it's the perfect place to hit up a local curator about setting up your own show--without fail, they will all be drunk and open to suggestions. An even better reason to go is because there is going to be a shitload of fantastic entertainment, including the return of Joel Bachar's Independent Exposure, local martial arts flicks, visual projections by the Now Device, the Japanese band SOFT, and lots of great people.
The festival continues with two programs on Saturday, both at 911 Media Arts Center. The Doug Lane Probe Experiment (5 pm) is a showcase of aliens, zombies, and fish worship from the twisted mind of Doug Lane. When the Spirits Dance Mambo (8 pm) is collaboration with the auspicious new group Cinema Diaspora, and it's a documentary about the energy and spirit of Afro-Cuban music and dance.
Easter is April 11, and those people who aren't headed to see The Passion of the Christ for the fifth time will want to check out Arab Experiments (Little Theatre, 4:30 pm). Thanks to Seattle-based Arab Film Distribution, we'll have the opportunity to see some of the most exciting contemporary experimental work from an area of the world from which we rarely see more than images of fundamental religion.
Monday, April 12, brings 2nd Generation: Found Footage Works III (Little Theatre, 8 pm). In this program, local film- and videomakers recut everything from educational films to exploitation TV, making new work out of old cultural artifacts. On Tuesday there's the Cinema Underground (Aftermath Gallery, 928 12th Ave, 8:30 pm), curated by Jon Behrens, which presents some of the city's best experimental films that were actually made on film. Emerald Reels Super-8 Lounge returns to the Re-bar on Wednesday (9 pm), with its mix of Super-8 films shown to an expertly mixed soundtrack laid down by DJ Kid Hops. The whole thing comes to a close on Thursday, April 15, at Consolidated Works with the Seattle Student Film Festival (5:30 pm, 8 pm), which promises to showcase the next generation of Seattle's film- and videomaking scene.
Though it began as a reaction to the enormous Seattle International Film Festival, Satellites is growing into something much more important: a community.
