2006 Atlanta Underground Film Festival: Official Lineup
The southern-fried version of the underground film festival, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival, will run this year August 23-27 with a mixture of shorts and features. Here’s the list of features, including some that have played at other fests and have been reviewed here on the Underground Film Journal, which will be duly noted below:
Aug. 23:
6:00 p.m.: Life in G-Chord, dir. Peter I. Chang. A documentary about the “Japanese Bob Dylan,” Hisao Shinagawa, who performs solely as a street musician in Los Angeles. (I haven’t heard of him before.)
7:30 p.m.: Homemade Hillbilly Jam, dir. Rick Minnich. A “musical romp through the Ozark Mountains.” (It’s a documentary, I believe.)
9:00 p.m.: As Smart As They Are: The Author Project, dir. Joe Pacheco. The third musical documentary for the evening, starring the One Ring Zero Band who coerces award-winning authors to write their lyrics.
Aug. 24:
5:00 p.m.: Another World, dir. Steve Moreau. Two crazy seafarers try to cross the Atlantic in a tiny craft in 92 days.
6:00 p.m.: Callback, dir. Christopher Glatis. A failed actor in Hollywood makes a last ditch effort to land the role of a lifetime.
7:30 p.m.: A Coat of Snow, dir. Gordy Hoffman. A video camera gets passed around a bachelorette party and reveals many dark and dirty secrets.
9:00 p.m.: Silence of Mind, dir. Anthony Flessas and Tyler Farrel. A man who was abused as a child is desperate to get over that horrible ordeal and get on with his life.
Aug. 25:
5 p.m.: Loren Cass, dir. Chris Fuller. A Florida teenager tries to make sense of the world growing up in a world filled with suicide and racial tension.
6:30 p.m.: Dance Party, USA, dir. Aaron Katz. A 17-year-old compulsive liar meets the girl of his dreams at a 4th of July party.
7:45 p.m.: Living in Extasy, dir. Fernandex Mikis. Four kids try to survive an all-night rave.
9:00 p.m.: GuinessSize Me, dirs. Chris Kelly and Robert James. Two Northern Irish filmmakers try to survive on nothing but Guinness. (This should win Best Title of the fest.)
Aug. 26:
2:00 p.m.: Holy Rollin’, dir. Alex Holden. Two enthusiastic Christians try to turn their church into the “biggest mega-church in the country.”
3:00 p.m.: Waiting for NESARA, dir. Elisa and Zeb Haradon. A documentary on The Open Mind Forum, a group that believes that George W. Bush is a reptilian alien from space. (Read the underground movie review)
4:30 p.m.: The Proper Care and Feeding of an American Messiah, dir. Chris Hansen. The shocking true story of a man who believes he’s a messiah, not the messiah of course, but a good-natured local one. (Read the underground movie review)
6:00 p.m.: East of Euclid, dir. Jeff Solylo. A complex film noir involving gambling, sports and some unethical newspaper folks.
7:30 p.m.: Bob Smith USA, dir. Neil Abramson. Live the American dream with seven different guys named Bob Smith.
9:00 p.m.: Nancy Nancy, dir. Timothy Spanos. A musical starring a deranged kidnapper and torturer who sings and dances.
Aug. 27:
3:00 p.m.: Sacco and Vanzetti, dir. Peter Miller. A documentary on the two execution of two Italian immigrants in 1927.
4:30 p.m.: Granito de Arena, dir. Jill Freidberg. A documentary on the public school system in Mexico.
5:00 p.m.: Geekin’, dir. John Kazvo Morehead. Can a tight circle of friends survive an intense role-playing game?
5:45 p.m.: Get Off the Truck: Black Factory Rehearsal, dir. William Pope. (Okay, I can’t really figure out what this one is all about.)
7:00 p.m.: Wrong Place Wrong Crime, dir. Andrew Williams. A gun changes many hands in the seedy underbelly of Atlanta.
7:00 p.m.: The Perfect Life, dir. Sam Lee & Nancy Roth. A documentary following the lives of five friends after life in a private grade school.
8:30 p.m.: Independent, Doin’ Major Things, dir. Hotep. A documentary biography of Hotep, a.k.a Hustle Simmons, the independent hip-hop mogul.
9:00 p.m.: Stomp! Shout! Scream!, dir. Jay Wade Edwards. An all-girl rock trio get stranded in a small Florida town terrorized by the hideous Skunk Ape. Also played at this year’s Portland Underground Film Festival.
For more info and a full list of all films, including shorts, the official Atlanta Underground Film Festival website.