Look Who Grew a Beard

The reason I think the economy is finally turning around is not because of political rhetoric, and it's certainly not because I have a steady amount of freelance work that'll keep me afloat in the long run. No, the reason I'm feeling optimistic is because some of our scrappiest and most beloved film and video arts organizations are taking this moment to gamble on the future. The Northwest Film Forum recently broke records with their auction, which will help them with their move to their new space and beyond. But they're not the only ones moving. 911 Media Arts will be joining CoCA, Open Circle Theater, and Consolidated Works in the heart of the South Lake Union neighborhood. The Friday-night screening of When Video Came (Friday, May 28) will be the last one ever at their current address, and the choice of movie is appropriate. It's a documentary about the birth of video art and the growth of media arts centers, and it'll be accompanied by some videos from around the world.

Speaking of Consolidated Works, they're starting their Hindsight film series with From the Vaults (Fri-Sun May 28-30), a batch of locally made films and videos. Haven't heard the lineup yet, but odds are there will be a couple of choices from the recent Seattle Student Film Festival that just took place in April. As it turns out, Friday is a busy night for indie venues all over town. Wallingford is stepping up for all the brothers and sisters in the labor movement with two short movies about human rights in the workplace over at the Keystone Church (5019 Keystone Place N). The Rendezvous is hosting Wanderjahr--The Margo Project, a surf documentary following Brenden "Margo" Margieson as he travels the world showing off his free-surfing expertise. The Grand Illusion is continuing with the Cremaster movies, and will augment the art films with a late-night screening on Friday and Saturday of Son of the Blob, directed by none other than Larry Hagman (or, as they like to say, "shot by J.R.").

Fans of The Margo Project will want to buy advance tickets to Stacy Peralta's "big wave surfing" doc Riding Giants, playing the final week of the festival. On the other hand, fans of locally made movies have a lot to look forward to at SIFF this week. Both Dandelion and Evergreen are screening on Thursday, May 27, and then have repeat screenings over the weekend. The Fly Films return for their big debut on Sunday, May 30, at 1:30 pm. Then on Memorial Day, two more local features have their one-time-only festival screenings. Buffalo Bill's Defunct quickly sold out the Broadway Performance Hall, and as of presstime there was a rumor of a slim chance that it would move to a bigger house to accommodate more people. Meanwhile, Big City Dick is a fun doc about everybody's favorite Johnny Mathis-loving, local-TV-personality-obsessed Seattle street musician, Richard Peterson.

andy@thestranger.com