Digital Underground festival
Fri/25-Sun/27, cell space and Artists' Television Access

THANKS TO DIGITAL video technology, filmmakers who would not otherwise have the resources can pick up a camera and create works that break all traditional cinematic boundaries. S.F. IndieFest, in conjunction with cell space and Artists' Television Access, presents experimental shorts, features, and documentaries in the three-day, all-video Digital Underground festival. The program kicks off with the West Coast premiere of Patrick Hasson's Waiting, a comedic snapshot of a twentysomething slacker, Sean McNutt (Will Keenan), who lives with his parents and works as an "ambassador of the service industry" (i.e., a waiter) around Philadelphia. The film's highly dysfunctional characters include Sean's estranged girlfriend, his witty-yet-nagging Irish father, and his intimidating Sicilian boss (whose traumatic childhood memories of losing his virginity and making tomato sauce have twisted his sense of "customer service"). Also on the opening-night bill is "Mediated Bodies," a set of 10 shorts examining issues of physicality. The evening ends with a party complete with DJs, Digital Hardcore videos by Philip Virus, and live video mixing. The next two days of the festival feature works by various local and national artists like Brian Standing, who created "Pedalphiles," a look inside a group of radical anti-car bike activists; Dean Mermell's The Eye of Rudra, an unconventional documentary about the "chaos culture" involved in producing an apocalyptic opera at Burning Man; David Yanofsky's "Poetic License," which examines ties between youth culture and performance poetry (and includes a live reading with some of his subjects after the film); and Esther Bell's punk-rock coming-of-age story, GodAss. Two shorts programs focus on different themes: "Disturbances" contains the most bizarre, disconcerting pieces in the festival (including Benton Jew's shockingly gruesome "The Collector"); "Unruly Technology" examines how video can be used to break down social barriers. Many of the filmmakers – including Hasson (and his lead actor), Standing, and Yanofsky – plan to attend the screenings of their films. Also on hand will be the young directors showcased in the special "Youth Shorts" program. For would-be filmmakers eager to join the digital revolution, the No to Low Budget Digital Film Panel pools the how-to knowledge of both local and visiting filmmakers. See Rep Clock for complete schedule. Screenings take place at cell space, 2050 Bryant, S.F. and ATA, 992 Valencia, S.F. $7-$20. (415) 820-1561, www.sfindie.com. (Anhoni Patel)