TV On the Video

Most every Saturday, Artists' Television Access screens experimental, handmade, low-budget film and video. Throughout the year, projectionist/curator/archivist Craig Baldwin must see about as many DIY flicks as most folks log hours of CSI. As a result, Baldwin and a coterie of fellow enthusiasts are exactly the people you want on the jury of the ATA Film & Video Festival. Programmers Shae Green and Isabel Fondevila are likewise elbow-deep in the local film scene, bringing in pieces like Candy Apple, a project of Kerry Laitala's SF Art Institute class on Optical Techniques for Film. The fest is rangy, offering manipulated television images of former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, stomach-churningly hilarious lipstick, and Sissy Boy Slap Party, which does nothing if not live up to its title. One of the longer videos, at 13 minutes 20 seconds, was shot in Bosnia/Herzegovina using infrared technology converted into black-and-white. The result, Paradise Drift, has the look of a film noir crowd scene, with the added creep-out effect of the subjects' eyes being way too light. They also don't seem to know they're on camera, and their enigmatic trek is emotional and intense without a word of dialogue.
Oct. 10-13, 2007