The third edition of the ATA Film & Video Festival has another stellar lineup of great short films this year on Oct. 2-4, plus one feature. Normally, I write things like “stellar” just to drum up interest and get people excited to attend a festival. But in this case, I know what I’m talking about because I’ve seen a DVD preview of the fest. I’ll post up reviews of most of the short films in the next couple of days.

I’m a short film nut and I think festival director Isabel Fondevila has picked out another great two-night lineup of terrific experimental and underground film works. Plus, I think there’s a stronger, more cohesive tone to the overall festival than last year, which I’ll write about in the reviews.

Plus, this year, ATA is showing a feature this year, appropriately enough its hometown superstar Craig Baldwin‘s Mock Up on Mu that’s been playing in festivals all over the world.

So, just the basic lineup is below. And you can watch snippets from these films in the festival trailer that I posted here. If you’re in San Francisco, I can’t recommend this festival enough:

Oct. 2
8:00 p.m.: Mock Up on Mu, dir. Craig Baldwin. The legendary collage filmmaker is back with his latest feature, a surrealistic blend of spy, sci-fi, Western and horror genres. Fiction and non-fiction archival material blend together to tell the rich history of the militarization of space from the viewpoint of three diverse individuals: Jet Propulsion Laboratory founder Jack Parsons, artist Marjorie Cameron and author L. Ron Hubbard. (Read thereview)

Oct. 3
8:00 p.m.
Why Was I Born, dir. Marlon Gonzalez
Kogel Vogel, dir. Federico Campanale
Vivid Dreams, dir. Jim Granato
Ants (Ants Ants Ants), dir. Clare Samuel and Candice Purwin
Case Histories in Psychotherapy, dir. Tony Gault
The Quiet Storm, dir. Jibz Cameron (Dynasty Handbag) and Hedia Maron
Sunshine Bob, dir. Christian Simmons
Martha’s Party, dir. Marthaxiv
Mr. Gary on the Feedback Show, dir. Lise Swenson
Sphinx on the Seine, dir. Paul Clipson

Oct. 4
8:00 p.m.
Ghosts and Gravel Roads, dir. Mike Rollo
Retrospectroscope, dir. Kerry Laitala
Nocturnal Transmission, dir. Carl Diehl
What for What, dir. John Davis
Visions of Wasted Time, dir. Neil Ira Needleman
In Search of a Mystic Bar-Tone, dir. Mack McFarland
Baird’s Beaked Whale, dir. Douglas Schultz
The Stalin That Was Played By Me, dir. Daya Cahen
Infection, dir. Esther Maria Probst
3×1, dir. Telemach Wiesinger

For more info, please visit the AFVF official site.