How is the Los Angeles school district working to educate all children and what chance will these students have in life after leaving the system? Creek is a thoughtful, 17-year-old immigrant from South Central Los Angeles attending Venice High School. Does he want to learn and does he have true access to education?

+ SHORT

Candy Money
Dir. Chris Strother, 2001, 16 mm, USA, 10 min.

A lyrical tale of two boys trying to make some money and just be boys in the backwoods of Arkansas.

American Mullet
Saturday, Sept. 14, 3 pm, Vista Theatre
Dir. Jennifer Arnold, 2002, 35 mm, USA, 52 min.

What do soccer and hockey players, macho Mexican men, lesbians, Native Americans and country music fans all have in common? The mullet of course. The haircut that's never in fashion but always worn with pride. The mullet has become a hot topic in the media over the past few years and even bigger on the web with hundreds of Web sites making fun of and infor-ming the world about the hairstyle that won't go away.

+ SHORT

Farmer McAllister's Thinkin' Machine
Dir. Brady Koch, 2001, Video, USA 12 min.

The story of a farmer, his battle-axe wife and the robot that comes between them.

The Art Of Peace
Wednesday, Sept. 18h, 5 pm, Zen
Dir. Beth Mulligan, 1999, Video, USA, Video, 54min.

An exciting and inspiring exploration of the previously unseen transformation of American women and girls into masterful martial artists through the tutelage of powerful women Sensei.

+ SHORT

Dirty Girls
Dir. Michael Lucid, 2000, Video, USA, 18 min.

A group of 13-year old girls talk about how they choose to live their lives out of the box and face off against their schoolyard detractors.

The Backyard
Saturday, Sept. 14, 5 pm, Vista Theatre
Sunday Sept. 15, 11:15 am, Los Feliz Theater 2
Dir. Paul Hough, 2002, Video, USA, 80 min.
West Coast Premiere

Anyone who thinks that professional wrestling does not have a profound effect on children needs to see this film. This is a frightening and grotesque look at the growing phenomenon of "backyard wrestling". These kids use fire, light bulbs, barbed wire, chairs, ladders and anything else that will inflict great pain and cause more bleeding to make a better "show." From Nevada to upstate New York and across the sea to the U.K., people are scarring and damaging their bodies in hopes of one day becoming professional wrestlers. This film is an honest look at a growing American subculture and not for the weak of heart.

Film will be introduced by Barry Blaustein (director of BEYOND THE MAT) and a Q and A with director Hough and all the wrestlers from the film!

Beyond Vanilla!-An Unforgettable Journey To The Wilder Side Of Sex!
Monday, Sept. 16, 10 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Claes Lilja, 2001, Video, USA, 91 min.
Los Angeles Premiere

Much as the title suggests, Beyond Vanilla explores the many kinkier aspects of sex on the other side of vanilla. With interviews, demonstrations and a good dose of how-to instructions, this documentary covers the gamut of fetishes and SM practices. From bondage, flogging and fisting, to knife play, fire and golden showers, director Claes Lilja takes you on an unforgettable journey to the wilder side of sex. Sharing fantasies, experiences and pleasures, the more than 100 people interviewed in the film help to blur boundaries and shed new light on sexuality and sexual practices. Open your mind and the rest will follow.

Bubbles Aweigh: Wh2O Stories
Friday, Sept. 20, 6 pm, Zen
Dir. Edward Buhr, 2002, Video, USA, 63 min.,
US Premiere

Bubbles Aweigh tells the compelling and often comic, lively stories of the West Hollywood Aquatics as they prepare for the Gay Games V. Personal interviews of individual swimmers are intercut with a chronicle of the meetings and rehearsals leading up to one of the most competitive events of the Games: the Pink Flamingo Relay, a fiercely contested and completely hysterical drag relay swimming race. Watch as they develop an interpretive dance version of the birth of Amsterdam complete with dancing tulips and their secret weapon: a 6'6" Queen Beatrix.

+ SHORT

Skating Becomes Vermoutha
Dir. David Ozanich, 2002, 16 mm, USA

Olympians and partners Rusty O'Conner and Brandy Morgan appear to have a golden future. But Soviet seductress and skater Vermoutha Volchnivek stands in their way. Watch as sex, love, tragedy and death unfold in the locker room and on the ice.

Cabaret X
Sunday, Sept. 15, 9:30 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Pascal Franchot, 2002, Video, USA, 50 min.

This documentary feature looks at the work and lives of Los Angeles performers who have chosen to live outside the societal "norm" by choosing to express themselves in extreme ways. This unfiltered exposé developed in an unorthodox fashion using newspaper ads and flyers calling for "bizarre and unusual" acts to audition for a subculture documentary. Cabaret X journeys into both the dark and light sides of human nature in an attempt to dispel judgment and prejudice against those who have chosen to express themselves differently.

+ SHORTS

3 Videos by Peaches
Dir. Peaches, 2002, Video, USA, 10 min.

"Lovertits," "Diddle My Skittle," and "Cum Undun." These dirty ditties are directed by sexy scamp, rowdy rapper, Peaches and will get more than just the beat throbbing.

Plushies & Furries
dir: Rick Castro, 2001, video, USA, 30 min

Peek into the secret world of those who like to dress up as giant furry animals. No this is not beastiality although these Furries do get sexy.

Dancing On Mother Earth
Thursday, Sept. 19, 5 pm, Zen
Dir. Jim Virga, 2002, Video, USA, 57 min.

Native American singer/songwriter, Joanne Shenandoah is on a mission. As a Wolf Clan member of the Oneida Nation and one of the premier native musicians in the country, Joanne seeks to protect her land, wildlife and the political and religious rights of her people while balancing an entertainment career and family. Through the spirit of her music, she hopes her stories will provide ways to protect their invaluable resources while living in contemporary American society.

+ SHORT

Drums of October - Legacy of A Pernicious Hero
Dir. Lori Windle, 2001, Video, USA, 23 min.

One hundred forty-seven people of differing ethnicities, in an act of civil disobediance, are arrested for blocking the Columbus Day parade in Denver in 2000.

Death Of An Industrialist: A Family History
Saturday, Sept. 14, 5 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. David Bemis, 2002, Video, USA, 57 min.
World Premiere

A tragic story of ambition, betrayal and longing about Howard Bemis, who committed suicide at age 70 after running a company that manufactured an early plastic known as celluloid. Using photographs and 16 mm film footage taken exclusively by Howard Bemis, this is Howard's story told literally through his own eyes.

+ SHORT

Since You've Been Gone
Dir. Stacey Foiles, 2002, Video, USA 30 min.
World Premiere

An interweaving of voice-over dreams and fragmented visual images lingering in the absences since the death of the filmmaker's beloved, Lynda Hart, noted scholar. This is a spectacular film about loss and enduring remains.

D.I.Y. Or Die: How To Survive As An Independent Artist
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7 pm, Zen
Dir. Michael W. Dean, 2002, Video, USA, 58 min.
Los Angeles Premiere

This no-holds-barred documentary interviews independent artists in every field about how to survive and exist in the world without giving in to the drudges of everyday life. It's not about who's a star in this film but who has the most to say on the topic of doing it yourself. If you want to quit your day job and commit your life to your art, this is the film for you.

+ SHORTS

Guerrilla Public Service
Dir. Richard Ankrom, 2002, Video, USA, 10 min.

An artist disguised as a state employee takes a direct approach to correcting guide signs on the California freeway system. Public art is taken to the realm of civic duty.

Sean Connery Golf Project
Dir. Sara Rimensnyder and Rhys Southan, 2002, Video, USA, 17 min.

Two filmmakers chronicle their breaking into a major studio, stealing a script in development and rewriting it to make their mark on Hollywood.

The Fact of Asian Women
Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 pm, Los Feliz 1
Dir. Celine Parreñas Shimizu. 2002, USA, Video, 26 min.
World Premiere

In the experimental documentary, contemporary Asian American female actors re-enact well-known scenes from Hollywood films starring three generations of Asian American femme fatales: Anna May Wong, Nancy Kwan, and Lucy Liu. The actors discuss their roles, their predecessors, and the sexualized images of Asian American women in film. (Screens with Toll Of The Sea)

Future Sex
Saturday, Sept. 14, 9:30 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Amory Peart, 2002, Video, Great Britain, 95 min,
West Coast Premiere

Famed British gay porn director and documentary maker Amory Peart (Butt Buddies, Butt Lick Daddy Suck Bear, and Digital Sex) travels around America and the United Kingdom to find out what our notions, practices and desires are around sex in the 21st century. View a house full of gay men on camera 24 hours a day in Key West, a balloon popping Internet babe, lesbian dominatrix, a woman who likes to strap it on for her husband and much more. Titillating and informative, our genuine, attractive host will give you some new ideas of what you can try at home (or in the park).

Greetings From Missile Street
Sunday, Sept. 15, 11:15 am, Los Feliz Theater 3
Credits TBA

What do we really know of Iraq? Branded part of the Axis of Evil, the country has sustained the quiet war of sanctions and no-fly zones for more than a decade with devastating results to its people. This eye-opening expose says as much about the Western media's tunnel vision as it does about the silent suffering of innocents.

Hell House
Friday, Sept. 13th, 6 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. George Ratliff, 2001, Video, USA, 85 min.

Step into the world of religious zealots and walk through their Halloween spook house. You'll see visits from demons, boys dying of AIDS, and girls having abortions. Meet the men, women and children who organize and try out for this yearly event that has spawned many imitators around the world.

+ SHORT

Unraveling Amelia
Dir. Rodrigo Rocha-Campos, 2002, 16 mm, USA, 15 min.

A nightmarish film about a woman and her coming to terms with aging, the death of loved ones and her own beauty.

Holi-Days
Sunday, Sept. 15, 7:15 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Randi Steinberger, 2002, Video, USA, 50 min.

Inspired by the quote from St. Francis of Assisi, "you are what you are seeking," the director sets out to document her observations and those of the contemporary traveler. Shot entirely in the three mythic cities of Jerusalem, Florence and Las Vegas, tourists, guides and experts reveal a subtle contradiction between the modern pilgrim's anticipated expectations and their actual experiences. (Screens with Kafkaesque)

Kafkaesque
Sunday, Sept. 15, 7:15 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Sven Berkemeier and Rich Samuels, 2002, Video, USA, 27 min.

Take a wild ride through the mind and life of Egon Kafka, a not-too-distant cousin of the great existentialist writer Franz Kafka. Egon is a self-proclaimed "transportagonist," who struggles to keep his dream alive. Explore Egon's amazing collection of vintage buses as you are transported to a time when travel meant something different. (Screens with Holi-Days)

Lemmy
Friday, Sept. 20, 10:15 pm, Micheltorena School
Dir. Peter Sempel, 2002, Germany, 111 Min.
World Premiere

Filmed between 1998-2001 in Hamburg, Berlin, London, LA, Rainbow, Belgium and Holland: featuring Lemmy on stage, backstage, in the studio, at home... plus Motorheads Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, Eddie Clarke, Brian May, Nina C Alice (Skew Siskin), Doro Pesch, Ozzy Osbourne, Corey Parks, Skin, Slim Jim Phantom, Dieter Meier, Derek Green, Rainer Hensel, Mario (Rainbow), Fans and Friends... long live Lemmy and MOTORHEAD!!! Mr. Peter Sempel will be in attendance as well as other very special guests.

Mamadrama
CANCELLED
Dir. Monique Schwarz, 2002, Video, USA, 70 min.
Los Angeles Premiere

A lively and interesting look at the way Jewish mothers have been portrayed in the cinema over these many years. With characteristic Jewish humor, Jewish Hollywood directors, Paul Mazursky, Paul Bogart and Larry Peerce and actress Lainie Kazan reflect on their mothers and admit these women helped to form the foundation of their screen mothers. Mamadrama combines hysterical film clips, interviews, cultural commentary and Director Schwarz's own narrative with her mother, in a smart exploration of an interesting theme.

Mule Skinner Blues
Friday, Sept. 13, 9:30 pm, Los Feliz Theater 1
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7 pm, Los Feliz Theater 1
Dir. Stephen Earnhart, 2001, USA,
Los Angeles Premiere

This documentary focuses on the creative desires of a group of bizarre people living in a trailer park outside of Jacksonville, FL. Our guide is Beanie, a singing dancing kazoo player. Beanie is possessed by the vision of a man in a blue ape suit who has risen from the swamp in search of his severed arm. Inspired by his vision, Beanie and his janitor friend write a 15-minute horror movie script and enlist the other residents to help make the movie a reality. Using elements typically reserved for fiction filmmaking such as fantasy sequences, music videos, and special effects the director artfully renders the wonderfully imaginative inner lives of his subjects.

+ SHORTS

Man With The Empty Room
Dir. Todd Korgan, 2001, 35 mm or Beta, USA, 19 min.

A lonely man reaches out for companionship in a world that fosters isolation. Starring Jamie Tolbert Franklin (THE NEW WOMEN).

Easy Pickings
Dir. Andre Sevigny, 2002, 35 mm, USA, 23 min.,
West Coast Premiere

A clever old woman and a group of her wisecracking neighbors show a brained outlaw that they are not such seemingly easy pickings.

My Father The Genius
Thursday, Sept. 19, 7 pm, Zen
Dir. Lucia Small, 2002, Video, 84 min. USA,

When dreamer and visionary architect Glen Small asks his estranged daughter to write his biography, she decides to instead make a film about his not so well known career and his often unstable private life. A self proclaimed genius that discarded his responsibilities as a father and husband to "save the world through architecture," Glen Small is a dreamer at the end of his life with no money and his dreams very much unfulfilled.

Profits Of Punishment
Sunday, Sept. 15, 11:15 am, Los Feliz Theater 3
Dir. Catherine Scott, 2002, Video, USA, 52 min.
World Premiere

Who profits from prisons? If you think it's society, think again. Find out how prison profiteers win while society loses. (Shown with And When The Bough Breaks)

After the screenings, scholars and activists will discuss the growing opposition to the prison industrial complex and how you can get involved.

Panelists:
Ruth Gilmore, Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley
Dylan Rodriguez, Founder of Critical Resistance Los Angeles & Assistant Professor at UC Riverside
Laura Pulido, Associate Professor at USC
Members of FACTS, an organization opposed to California's Three Strikes Law
Moderator: Cynthia Young, Assistant Professor, USC

Prop Stars LA
Friday, Sept. 20, 8 pm, Zen
Credits TBA

This documentary answers the question "What is Prop Rock?" and shows the evolution and history of Performance Rock in Los Angeles. With interviews and live performance by The Insecto Circus, Fester, Renfield, Cake Cutter and retrospective footage of Haunted Garage, Green Jello and many more. Like it or hate it, you will get an inside glimpse of what drives these bizarre individuals.

+ SHORT

A live performance by Insecto Circus.

Ravi Shankar: Between Two Worlds
Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 pm, Los Feliz Theater 3
Dir. Mark Kidel, 2001, Video, USA, 90 min.
Los Angeles Premiere

Ravi Shankar, who celebrated his 82nd birthday in April, is recognized as India's greatest living musician. Ravi Shankar: Between Two Worlds, filmed over two years in India and the USA, brings together for the first time archive footage spanning seven decades of Shankar's performing life and provides a definitive account of the sitar maestro's musical career. The film includes a range of Ravi Shankar's music collaborations with George Harrison and other Western musicians, stories of his childhood, as well as extracts from a number of carefully selected filmed performances from 1954 to the present-day. With special guest appearance by Ravi Shankar.

Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary
Sunday, Sept. 15, 7:15 pm, Vista Theatre
Dir. Tracy Flannigan, 2002, Video, USA,
82 min,
LOCALS ONLY GALA Sneak Preview (Work In Progress)

For people who can'tor don't want to follow the established paths, finding a different way can be a challenge. San Francisco dyke punk band, Tribe 8, has gone off the path and created their own destiny for over ten years by breaking all the rules. These women have created meaning and power in their lives in surprising and inspiring ways. Rise Above: The Tribe 8 Documentary is a journey through hilarious punk rock extravaganzas,beautiful 16mm filmed performances, and intense personal stories ofaddiction, loss, discrimination, and rape.This band doesn't take itself too seriously - they'd rather rock out and have a good time. This is in your face with a big dildo, topless, gender bending, unapologetic girly action.By coming together as a band and a community they have triumphed against great odds.Their story is the universal tale of outsiders who discover the joy and power of simply being themselves.

+

A live performance by Tribe 8 at Spaceland.

Rocks With Wings
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 9 pm, Zen
Dir. Rick Derby, 2001, Video, USA, 113 min.

A young black college graduate lands his first job teaching in Shiprock, New Mexico on the Navajo "rez." Coaching the women's basketball team changes both his life and theirs.

+ SHORT

Native Wisdom
Dir. Yvette Hernandez æ2001 æUSA æ20 min.

A short dramatic film that tells the story of a member of a little-known group of U.S. Customs patrol Officers known as "shadow wolves".

Strange Fruit
Sunday, Sept. 15, 5 pm, Los Feliz Theater 3
Dir. Joel Katz, 2002, USA, Video, 58 min.,
Los Angeles Premiere

Who really wrote this song that became the voice for racial protest? How did America feel about the blunt discussion of its infamous lynching in the South? This eye-opening piece of work subtly tells the tale not only of the origins of this song but the paranoia, prejudice and social upheaval of America during this time. In a time of communist finger pointing and severe racism these voices rose up to sing us into unity.

+ SHORT

That Bastard Race
Dir. Lolita Stewart-White, 1996, 16 mm, USA, 7 min.

A visual interpretation of Langston Hughes' poem, "Christ in Alabama."

Subject Narcotics
Sunday, Sept. 15, 3 pm, Michetorena School
Dir. Terry Sanders, 1952, 16 mm, 20 min.

Commissioned by the Narcotics Educational Foundation of America in 1952, this anti-drug film was created to educate police officers in small towns. Terry Sanders is a two-time Oscar winner and this was his first film. You may recognize a few scenes that were used in LA CONFIDENTIAL.

The Traveling Wonder Show
Thursday, Sept. 19, 7 pm, Vista Theatre
Dir. Claire Dider, 2002, USA, Video,
World Premiere

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls of all ages! Step right up to see the Traveling Wonder Show! Fueled by their visions of a time not too long ago when the traveling show still existed, Christopher Wonder the Magician and Clairlise the Fire Darling weave their way, at 40 mph, from Indiana to California in a 1947 International fire truck. Filmed entirely by the duo, the film documents their unannounced arrivals in small towns across the Heartland as they are greeted by curious children, nostalgic adults, skeptics, zealots, dreamers, cops and an insatiable appetite for beer. With a soundtrack by local/West coast artists Ego Plum, Miss Murgatroid and more.

+

A live magic performance by Christopher Wonder and The Firedarling.

Tribute
Thursday, Sept. 19, 9 pm, Vista Theatre
Dir. Rich Fox and Chris Curry, 2001, 35 mm, 90 min.

Ever want to be a rock star? In this rockumentary, watch how these men have found a way to live out their air guitar fantasies. This funny and sometimes twisted look at the world of tribute bands will make you laugh, and cringe, at their bizarre level of devotion. You will meet Sheer Heart Attack, a Queen tribute band with a crazed fan; The Missing Links who pay homage to the Monkey's; Larger Than Life; a Kiss tribute band that loses its "Gene Simmons" to madness when he gets too into being Gene, and many more.

+ SHORT

Have You Seen Axl Rose?
Dir. Lowell Northrop, 2002, Video, USA, 6 min.

Where is Axl hiding? Listen as people retell their sightings in a loving and longing way.

VERITAS (Vol. 2): Truth... at 30 Frames Per Second
Sunday, Sept. 15, 1 pm, Micheltorena School
(Protagonist Productions/USA/2002) Running Time: 53 mins.

"Veritas" project produced and created by Ray Greene

Segments & filmmakers, in order of appearance:

"Ms. B" written and directed by Michael Mayhew
"North Hollywood... Man" written and directed by Tim Cogshell
"East Wind" written and directed by Mar Elepano
"Sculptress" written and directed by Wade Major and Craig Michael Wilson
"The List" written and directed by Mark DeCew
"On Faith Alone" written and directed by Noelle Aimee Kozoll
"Left" written and directed by Edith Weil
"Renegade Bookseller" written and directed by Mike Toubassi

"Veritas" theme by Romanowski and Devious Doze.
"Veritas" logo animation by Doug Blush

When The Bough Breaks
Sunday, Sept. 15, 11:15 pm, Los Feliz Theater 3
Dir. Deeds Rogers and Jill Evans Petzall, 2001, Video, USA, 57 min.
Los Angeles Premiere

When mothers go to prison, who cares for their kids? This moving documentary looks at the devastating impact of incarceration on three families. (Shown with Profits of Punishment)