The 23rd edition of Sound Unseen Film + Music Festival returns as a two-city film festival, from November 3-6 in Austin, and November 9-13 in Minneapolis.
The film lineup for Austin will be highlighted by Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett’s Finding Her Beat, Marcus Pontello’s Friday I’m in Love, and Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s Meet Me in the Bathroom.
In Minneapolis, Meet Me in the Bathroom (Opening Night), and Finding Her Beat (Centerpiece), will be joined by Geoff Marslett’s Quantum Cowboys, which will be the Closing Night selection.
Headlining the screenings at Austin Film Society Cinema (6259 Middle Fiskville Rd) will be Dawn Mikkelson and Keri Pickett’s Finding Her Beat. The Opening Night presentation is an immersive documentary about women Taiko drummers from the Twin Cities and Japan coming together to collaborate on a riveting performance that smashes thousands of years of gender barriers in the process. Marcus Pontello’s Friday I’m in Love tells the story of Houston’s Numbers Nightclub home to the underground and LGBTQ communities in that city and becoming one of the longest running nightclubs in the U.S. Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern’s Meet Me in the Bathroom takes viewers through an immersive journey through the New York music scene of the early 2000s, featuring never-before-seen footage of artists like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, TV On the Radio, Interpol, and LCD Soundsystem. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, the film tells the story of how a new generation kick started a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world. Inspired by the book by Lizzy Goodman.
Joining the gala presentations of Meet Me in the Bathroom (which will include an appearance by author Lizzie Goodman) and Finding Her Beat in Minneapolis, will be Geoff Marslett’s Quantum Cowboys. The Closing Night selection is an old fashioned western about two haplessly charming drifters who trek across 1870s southern Arizona in order to find an elusive frontier musician. Director Geoff Marslett and Musician Neko Case will participate in a Q&A following the screening.
Special presentations in Minneapolis include a Salute to Susan Seidelman, with screenings of her classics Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), which helped create the phenomenon known as Madonna, and a 40th Anniversary screening of Smithereens (1982). Shot on 16mm film that captures the grit and glam of downtown in the 1980s, with an alternately moody and frenetic soundtrack by the Feelies and others, Smithereens—the first American independent film to compete for the Palme d’Or—is an unfaded snapshot of a bygone era. Sound Unseen will also present a 100th Anniversary screening of Haxan (1922), with a live accompaniment by Katie Condon.Benjamin Christensen’s legendary film is a witches’ brew of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. Local band The Poor Nobodys will also be on hand to perform during the screening of Victor Sjöström’s A Man There Was.The film follows the path of a sailor who loses his family due to the actions of another man. Years later, when the tide has turned, the man must decide whether to avenge himself.
Premiere screening include the world premiere of Jon Nix’s Don’t Fall In Love With Yourself which explores the life of enigmatic musician and artist, Justin Pearson from childhood tragedy and his roots in the San Diego punk scene, to his rise to cult celebrity status. Making its North American premiere will be Mark Allen Davis’ Traces Of Glory which chronicles the history of 90s slowcore band IDAHO. Performing to rave reviews, they appeared to be on the cusp of international stardom. Yet 30 years later, their legacy remains known only to a small, but dedicated, cult following.
Additional highlights in Minneapolis include Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed. Winner of the 2022 Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the film presents an epic, emotional and interconnected story about internationally renowned artist and activist Nan Goldin, told through her slideshows, intimate interviews, groundbreaking photography, and rare footage of her personal fight to hold the Sackler family accountable for the opioid overdose crisis. Madison Thomas’ Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On is an in-depth look at the life of the activist and musician. Ben Steinbauer and Berndt Mader’s comedic documentary Chop & Steele traces Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher’s journey of creating and growing the Found Footage Festival from an underground VHS experience to a festival of worldwide acclaim. Steinbauer and Found Footage Festivals’ Joe Pickett & Nick Prueherwill participate in a Q&A following the screening along with a special “Sound Unseen themed” Found Footage Festival show.
The 2022 Sound Unseen Film Festival official selections:
SOUND UNSEEN IN AUSTIN
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Finding Her Beat
Directors: Dawn Mikkelson, Keri Pickett
Country: USA; Running Time: 87 min
For thousands of years women have been locked out of Taiko drumming. Not anymore. In the dead of a Minnesota winter, Asian drumming divas smash gender roles and redefine power on their own terms. Finding Her Beat dives into the rhythms and struggles that lead to an electrifying historic performance that changes everything.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
Friday I’m In Love
Director: Marcus Pontello
Country: USA; Running Time: 84 min
Since 1978, Numbers Nightclub has been a home to the underground and LGBTQ communities in Houston, becoming one of the longest running nightclubs in the U.S. From its early days as a gay disco, to its evolution as an alternative music venue, Numbers has showcased such legendary performers as Grace Jones, The Cure, Ministry, Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and many more. Friday I’m In Love is told through the personal connection to Numbers by the film’s queer filmmaker (Marcus Pontello), who reveals the club’s history alongside events like the AIDS crisis, police brutality against the LGBT and the rise in hate crimes during the ‘90s.
Meet Me In The Bathroom
Directors: Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 105 min
An immersive journey through the New York music scene of the early 2000s. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, this documentary tells the story of how a new generation kickstarted a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world.
SHORT FILMS
Cop Killer
Director: Phillip Harder
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min
Filmed on 16mm, Ice-T’s Body Count performs in Minneapolis and CBGB’s. Set against the police beating of Rodney King of 1991 and the trial and LA uprising of ‘92. Eerily similar to the George Floyd uprising thirty years later.
Don’t You Go Nowhere
Director: Bryan Poeser
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min
A jazz dynamo belts his way through his weekly set until he makes an unexpected connection with an audience member in this short film about the power of music over memory.
Four Tracks
Director: Kian Doughty
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min
In this documentary by award-winning student filmmaker Kian Doughty, 18 year-old Carl Luers reflects on his artistic journey as he enters a new stage of life.
Gradual Ascent US Premiere
Director: Dian Albrecht
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min
Gradual Ascent celebrates four queer, interracial couples finding intimacy and connection admist a global pandemic and social uprising.
Indelible
Director: Shane Nelson
Country: USA; Running Time: 9 min
John, a charming 97-year-old man who plays the piano at a memory care facility, triggers cherished memories for his audience. Surrounded by devoted aides and a motley crew of residents, John’s music evokes love, humor, and nostalgia, showing what it means to be in a caring community at any age and the importance of creating our own memories.
Little Trumpet
Director: Megan Trufant Tillman
Country: USA; Running Time: 30 min
A nine-year-old loner wants his brother to teach him how to play the trumpet. In the 7th Ward of New Orleans, that’s not so simple.
Mad/Woman
Director: Marc Acito
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min
A woman beaten unconscious by her husband searches her mindscape for a way out. Inspired by the songs of genre-fluid indie rocker Storm Large and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic feminist short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” this musical phantasmagoria continues in the surrealist tradition of Queer Cinema pioneers Jean Cocteau and Derek Jarman. Shot by an all-female crew, Mad/Woman is the film directorial debut of Broadway librettist Marc Acito.
Welcome To Waterloo Records
Director: Michael Anthony Gibson
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min
Austin’s famed Waterloo Records has seen its fair share of challenges from Napster to Spotify to the changing landscape of the city. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the store and the staff must figure out how to navigate these precarious times. “Welcome to Waterloo Records” explores the personal and professional transitions of the Waterloo Records family who see working at a record store as more than a job, it is a community.
MUSIC VIDEOS
American Football – “Fade Into You”
Director: David M. Helman
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min
“American Football offers up a dazzling cover of Mazzy Star’s 1994 hit single, “Fade Into You
Blue Cranes W/ Edna Vazquez – “Tatehuari”
Director: Sarah Whelden
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min
An exploration of what it means to experience the raw heat of life together: excitement, joy and rebirth, tempered by grief, death and pain. Kept company and grounded by the voice of a central character, viewers are guided through this human spectrum and shown how their own existence is clarified by others.
Kaya Stewart – “Honey” World Premiere
Director: Paul Boyd
Country: USA; Running Time: 2 min
Powerhouse singer/songwriter Kaya Stewart’s upward trajectory came spiraling down around her in the midst of a global pandemic, as her anxiety and OCD started to challenge her own definition of who she is.
Onry – 1955
Director: Martin Melnick
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min
In “1955”, award-winning opera singer Onry honors the legacy of Emmett Till, an African American teenager whose murder catalyzed the civil rights movement. In grieving this act of violence, Onry honors his ancestors, creates space for Black imagination, and asks what we must do in 2022 and beyond to create an inclusive, spacious future. This powerful short film explores the time slippage of generational trauma, drawing real and imagined parallels between
1955 and 2022.
Supaman – “Alright”
Director: Phillip Baribeau
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min
Native American & hip hop artist, Supaman has dedicated his life to spreading a message of hope, pride, and resilience. His message is one that empowers and resonates with people across cultures, geographic boundaries, and, in his latest and most ambitious music video to date…time. Inspired by one of the most popular movies of all time, Back to the Future, Supaman’s video for his song “Alright” from his latest album, Medicine Bundle, is a scripted short film / music video in which Supaman travels through time in an authentically recreated DeLorean and spreads his message to people, past and present, with his music.
SOUND UNSEEN IN MINNEAPOLIS
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
Meet Me In The Bathroom
Directors: Will Lovelace, Dylan Southern
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 105 min
An immersive journey through the New York music scene of the early 2000s. Set against the backdrop of 9/11, this documentary tells the story of how a new generation kickstarted a musical rebirth for New York City that reverberated around the world.
CENTERPIECE SCREENING
Finding Her Beat
Directors: Dawn Mikkelson, Keri Pickett
Country: USA; Running Time: 87 min
For thousands of years women have been locked out of Taiko drumming. Not anymore. In the dead of a Minnesota winter, Asian drumming divas smash gender roles and redefine power on their own terms. Finding Her Beat dives into the rhythms and struggles that lead to an electrifying historic performance that changes everything.
CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION
Quantum Cowboys
Director: Geoff Marslett
Country: USA; Running Time: 100 min
Quantum Cowboys is an old-fashioned western about two haplessly charming drifters, Frank and Bruno, who team up with Linde, recover her land and trek across 1870s southern Arizona in order to find an elusive frontier musician. But it is also the director’s love letter to Quantum Physics, Animation, Music and Memories. Through a combination of Hugh Everett’s Many Worlds Theory, Erwin Schrödinger’s Paradox of Quantum Superposition and Richard Feynman’s Posterior and Anterior Time Wave Theory the film presents human memory as only comprehensible through art…and each type of art in the film in turn represents its own competing timeline. Using a vibrant mix of 16mm live action film, paper cut outs, hand drawn animation, oil paintings, 8k video, collages and digital animation, with live musical performances by Neko Case, John Doe, Howe Gelb and Xixa. The wide-open spaces of the southwestern desert are as much a part of the cast as the eclectic performers. And oh, yeah…there’s a lot of gun fights, horses, cacti and time travel.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
Director: Susan Seidelman
Country: USA; Running Time: 104 min
Roberta is a bored suburban housewife who is fascinated with a woman, Susan, she only knows about by reading messages to and from her in the personals section of the newspaper. This fascination reaches a peak when an ad with the headline “Desperately Seeking Susan” proposes a rendezvous. Roberta goes too, and in a series of events involving amnesia and mistaken identity, steps into Susan’s life.
Haxan (1922)
Director: Benjamin Christensen
Countries: Sweden/Denmark; Running Time: 105 min
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen’s legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious– instead it’s a witches’ brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Smithereens (1982)
Director: Susan Seidelman
Country: USA; Running Time: 93 min
Susan Seidelman established her distinctive vision of New York City with this debut feature, the lo-fi original for her vibrant portraits of women reinventing themselves. After escaping New Jersey, the quintessentially punk Wren (Susan Berman)—a spark plug in fishnets—moves to the city with the mission of becoming famous. When not pasting up self-promotional flyers or hanging at the Peppermint Lounge, she’s getting involved with Paul (Brad Rinn), the nicest guy to ever live in a van next to the highway, and Eric (Richard Hell), an aloof rocker. Shot on 16 mm film that captures the grit and glam of downtown in the 1980s, with an alternately moody and frenetic soundtrack by the Feelies and others, Smithereens—the first American independent film to compete for the Palme d’Or—is an unfaded snapshot of a bygone era.
Wayne’s World (1992)
Director: Penelope Spheeris
Country: USA; Running Time: 95 min
You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll hurl. When a sleazy TV exec offers Wayne and Garth a fat contract to tape their late-night public access show at his network, they can’t believe their good fortune. But they soon discover the road from basement to big-time is a gnarly one, fraught with danger, temptation and ragin’ party opportunities.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
A Man There Was
Director: Victor Sjöström
Country: Sweden; Running Time: 57 min
Terje Vigen, a sailor, suffers the loss of his family through the inflexibility of another man. Years later, when his enemy’s family finds itself dependent on his benevolence, Terje must decide whether to avenge himself.
Age Of Rage – The Australian Punk Revolution North American Premiere
Director: Jennifer Ross
Country: Australia; Running Time: 83 min
When the first wave of punk broke Australian shores in the 1970’s it was met with a fierce embrace that still reverberates. Adopted and adapted with fearsome intensity by disenfranchised, pre-globalisation Australian kids against the isolation and cultural vacuity of mainstream Australia, punk was a DIY counterculture – a profound, lived, visceral critique of late 20th century capitalism. Australian punks chose values and agendas that for many have become lifelong. The revolution full of rage, angst and defiance has evolved. While some still stand at the edges of society; others have re-engaged, bringing their punk values with them.
All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
Director: Laura Poitras
Country: USA; Running Time: 113 min
In her essential, urgent, and arrestingly structured new documentary from Academy Award®–winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) weaves two narratives: the fabled life and career of era-defining artist Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty Goldin personally took on in her fight to hold accountable those responsible for the deadly opioid epidemic. Following her own personal struggle with opioid addiction, Goldin, who rose from the New York “No Wave” underground to become one of the great photographers of the late 20th century, put herself at the forefront of the battle against the Sacklers, both as an activist at art institutions around the world that had accepted millions from the family and as an advocate for the destigmatization of drug addiction.
Band
Director: Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir
Country: Iceland; Running Time: 88 min
If This Is Spinal Tap had been centered on an all-female group of Icelandic performance-artist musicians, it would look a lot like Band. singer-turned-filmmaker Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir’s hilarious and poignant portrait of the misadventures of her Post Performance Blues Band. Renowned in the underground Reykjavik music scene since 2016 for their electro-punk sound and spandex-clad modernist dance moves, Álfrún and her friends Saga and Hrefna, nearing 40, double down on their artistic pursuits: They give themselves one year to become avant-garde pop stars—or relinquish their ambitions once and for all.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On Midwest Premiere
Director: Madison Thomas
Country: USA; Running Time: 90 min
An in-depth look at the life of the activist and musician, with archival material never seen before, with present-day footage of Buffy performing and interviews with her bandmates, colleagues and herself.
Butterfly In The Sky
Directors: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb
Country: USA; Running Time: 87 min
Butterfly in the Sky tells the story of the beloved PBS children’s series “Reading Rainbow,” its iconic host LeVar Burton, and the challenges its creators faced in cultivating a love of reading through television. Two seconds into the bubbling synth sounds of its theme song will have a child of the 1980s or ‘90s exclaiming “Reading Rainbow!” Such is the beloved nature of the classic children’s literary television show that introduced millions of kids to the wonder of books. Not only did the series insist on having kids speak to kids about their favorite stories,Reading Rainbow introduced the world to one of the most adored television hosts of all time, LeVar Burton.
Chop & Steele
Directors: Ben Steinbauer, Berndt Mader
Country: USA; Running Time: 77 min
Chop and Steele is a feature length comedy documentary about Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, best friends since childhood who perform a touring comedy show called the Found Footage Festival. What started 25 years ago as a show to entertain their friends has grown into their livelihood and has gained worldwide acclaim for the humor they find in esoteric VHS tapes. Chop and Steele is a comedic documentary feature, from the team behind Winnebago Man, that is about the power of friendship and the importance of comedy in the face of adversity.
Circus Of The Scars – The Insider Odyssey of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow
Director: Cory Wees
Country: USA; Running Time: 95 min
A scrappy sensational sideshow revival act playing Seattle dive bars is suddenly propelled into the big time, riding the same wave that brought grunge rock crashing into mainstream culture. Circus of the Scars follows the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow on a relentless and controversial world tour as they rise from obscurity to international infamy. Sold out audiences gape in horror and howl with laughter, but behind-the-scenes, inner struggles and battles with their maniacal ring leader push the troupe ever closer to an early implosion.
Country Gold Midwest Premiere
Director: Mickey Reece
Country: USA; Running Time: 84 min
George Jones invites country music superstar Troyal Brooks out on the town in Nashville the night before George is to be cryogenically frozen in 1994.
Don’t Fall In Love With Yourself World Premiere
Director: Jon Nix
Country: USA; Running Time: 93 min
Don’t Fall in Love With Yourself is a documentary that explores the life of enigmatic musician and artist, Justin Pearson. From childhood tragedy and his roots in the San Diego punk scene, to his appearance on Jerry Springer and rise to cult celebrity status. An in-depth look at a career made out of blood, sweat and spit.
Friday I’m In Love Midwest Premiere
Director: Marcus Pontello
Country: USA; Running Time: 84 min
Since 1978, Numbers Nightclub has been a home to the underground and LGBTQ communities in Houston, becoming one of the longest running nightclubs in the U.S. From its early days as a gay disco, to its evolution as an alternative music venue, Numbers has showcased such legendary performers as Grace Jones, The Cure, Ministry, Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and many more. Friday I’m In Love is told through the personal connection to Numbers by the films queer filmmaker (Marcus Pontello), who reveals the club’s history alongside events like the AIDS crisis, police brutality against the LGBT and the rise in hate crimes during the ‘90s.
Getting It Back: The Story Of Cymande
Director: Tim Mackenzie-Smith
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 90 min
The British group Cymande are unsung heroes whose message of peace, love and funk sailed beyond Britain’s shores and helped shape music for five decades. Long after they stopped playing, the music played on, so they returned to play some more. In the racially turbulent UK of the early 70s, a group of black musicians came together in South London with a common love of rhythms and a message of peace. Cymande – with the dove as their symbol – combined jazz, funk, soul and Caribbean grooves to form a unique sound. Despite success in the USA they faced indifference in their native Britain, becoming disillusioned and disbanding. But the music lived on, as new generations of artists imbibed and reworked their pioneering sounds in fresh ways. From Soul II Soul to De La Soul, MC Solaar to The Fugees, the Dove had spread Cymande’s message far and wide, prompting their return after forty years. This is their story.
I Get Knocked Down
Directors: Sophie Robinson, Dunston Bruce
Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 87 min
Dunstan Bruce is 59, and for many years he was the frontman of the Leeds-based anarcho-pop group Chumbawamba. In the slipstream of the punk movement, the band formed a cheerful bunch of activists, both on and off stage. As an indie band, they almost hit rock bottom when they unexpectedly hit the mainstream charts with “Tubthumping.” A decade after its release, the magazine Rolling Stone listed this raucous anthem in the Top 20 of the most annoying songs. It also made it into their ‘Top 10 One-Hit Wonders of All Time. But more importantly: Chumbawamba used their moment of fame in surprisingly subversive ways.
Immediate Family
Director: Denny Tedesco
Country: USA; Running Time: 101 min
Immediate Family tracks the rise and collaborations of a group of legendary studio musicians through the 1970s, 80s, and onward, chronicling their illustrious partnerships and their formidable record of hit-making. Directed by Denny Tedesco, whose documentary “The Wrecking Crew” followed the first wave of studio musicians in the 60s, the film reveals the machinery behind the booming era of the singer-songwriter, when the talents of these four musicians were in furious demand.
Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of The Power of Music
Director: Kathleen Ermitage
Country: USA; Running Time: 94 min
Mixtape Trilogy: Stories of the Power of Music explores one of the most intense and unique relationships between people who rarely meet: music artists and their fans. Folk-rock icons Indigo Girls openly share their journey, which has powerfully influenced the life of their biggest fan. Composer and pianist Vijay Iyer examines issues of immigration and race through his music; his work touches the heart of Garnette, a “man of the streets” from Kingston, Jamaica. Rapper and activist Talib Kweli inspires and transforms the life of Mike, the “Hip Hop” architect from Detroit.
OKAY! The ASD Band Film
Director: Mark Bone
Country: Canada; Running Time: 87 min
Meet the four talented, autistic members of the ASD Band: piano prodigy Ron, with an impeccable memory for reciting the correct day of the week for any date in history; lead singer Rawan, who uses makeup to express herself and can hit an impressively high pitch; Spenser, an energetic drummer with an affinity for punk rock music; and guitarist Jackson, who loves all things 1950s. Their love of music brings them together to form one kick-ass garage band. After releasing a number of covers, the band is now embarking upon the challenging journey of writing their first album of original music. With the guidance of Maury, their musical director, the band’s garage sessions segue to the recording studio, where for the first time each member shares their own compositions. Will they be able to pull it off and celebrate the launch with their first-ever public show?
The Computer Accent
Directors: Riel Roch-Decter, Sebastian Pardo
Country: USA; Running Time: 90 min
The Computer Accent is a documentary that follows the intrepid pop group YACHT as they hand over the reins to Artificial Intelligence (AI). As they put AI to the test in the name of art, what will they learn about themselves in the process?
The Mojo Manifesto: The Life And Times Of Mojo Nixon
Director: Matt Eskey
Country: USA; Running Time: 85 min
Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. comes of age in Danville, VA, listening to records from his father’s soul radio station and plotting his escape from the confines of conservative small town life. On a bicycle trip across the country, Kirby experiences The Mojo Revelation and becomes Mojo Nixon, a primitive blues-inspired musician. Mojo then teams up with the enigmatic Skid Roper to form an outrageous duo. Relentless touring, a record deal, college radio airplay, and MTV exposure lead to unexpected mainstream success. The song “Elvis Is Everywhere” is a cult phenomenon, but his next single is banned by MTV and Mojo makes a decision that could jeopardize his career.
Traces Of Glory North American Premiere
Director: Mark Allen Davis
Country: USA; Running Time: 89 min
The year was 1992. And far from the sonic explosion of grunge, Los Angeles was beginning to experience the languid aftershocks of slowcore band IDAHO. Performing to rave reviews, they appeared to be on the cusp of international stardom. Yet 30 years later, their legacy remains known only to a small, but dedicated, cult following. Traces of Glory attempts to answer why one of the most brilliant bands from the 90s remains relatively obscure by examining eccentric frontman Jeff Martin as he contemplates his past, self-doubt and the fame he was never really after.
Tramps!
Director: Kevin Hegge
Country: Canada; Running Time: 104 min
Rising from the nihilistic ashes of the punk movement in the late 1970s, a fresh crowd of flamboyant fashionistas, who would later be christened the New Romantics, began to materialize on the streets of East London, England. Repositioning the New Romantics as an art movement rather than an exclusively pop-cultural one, the focus is shifted onto the diversity of work being made by the lesser-celebrated, yet equally influential contributors to the scene, while placing the more visible artists such as Boy George and Derek Jarman amongst their peers, rather than bringing them centre-frame. detailing the stories and the voices that pioneered the movement. From the tales of the New Romantics’ beginnings in the punk footsteps of the Sex Pistols and the Clash, to the unabashedly queer roots that permeated every inch of the culture, “TRAMPS!” recounts the tale of how this group of outsiders helped reinvent London’s infamous underground art community, gaining them worldwide notoriety.
We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember Us: The Embarrassment
Directors: Danny Szlauderbach, Dan Fetherston
Country: USA; Running Time: 96 min
Surrounded by wheat fields, cowboys, and cars, four bespectacled misfits in Kansas grabbed instruments and blasted out “a ravenous strain of rock ‘n’ roll” as tuneful, brainy, and enthralling as anything coming from the coasts. They worshipped the Stooges and witnessed the Sex Pistols bring punk to the Great Plains, igniting within them an uncontrolled prairie fire to do it themselves. While building a scene of “weirdo new wave freaks” in their home state, the band toured the country and drew the attention of influential figures like Allen Ginsberg, John Cale, and Jonathan Demme, but their independence and refusal to sell out sparked tension within the group and kept mainstream success at bay. Through original interviews, restored concert footage, and appearances by fans including Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, and Thomas Frank, this documentary shows how the Embarrassment rose out of nowhere to become a post-punk legend that’s almost been forgotten — until now.
SHORT FILMS
Cop Killer
Director: Phillip Harder
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min
Filmed on 16mm, Ice-T’s Body Count performs in Minneapolis and CBGB’s. Set against the police beating of Rodney King of 1991 and the trial and LA uprising of ‘92. Eerily similar to the George Floyd uprising thirty years later.
Don’t You Go Nowhere
Director: Bryan Poeser
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min
A jazz dynamo belts his way through his weekly set until he makes an unexpected connection with an audience member in this short film about the power of music over memory.
Four Tracks
Director: Kian Doughty
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min
In this documentary by award-winning student filmmaker Kian Doughty, 18-year-old Carl Luers reflects on his artistic journey as he enters a new stage of life.
Gradual Ascent Midwest Premiere
Director: Dian Albrecht
Country: USA; Running Time: 4 min
Gradual Ascent celebrates four queer, interracial couples finding intimacy and connection admist a global pandemic and social uprising.
Hit Like a Woman
Director: Tamarzee Nooze
Country: Canada; Running Time: 13 min
A playful mix of screen-in-screen, montage, animation, and traditional documentary techniques that paints a musical portrait of Sarah Thawer; the ass-kicking drummer brought to you by the forces of intergenerational feminism and international music
Ilona Telmanyi – A Musician First And Last North American Premiere
Director: Sinne Lundgaard
Country: Denmark; Running Time: 14 min
Danish violinist Ilona Telmányi – daughter of Emil Telmányi – is 83 years old. Music has meant everything to her and her family all their lives. Ilona still practices daily on her three instruments, teaches music, and plays at concerts.
Indelible
Director: Shane Nelson
Country: USA; Running Time: 9 min
John, a charming 97-year-old man who plays the piano at a memory care facility, triggers cherished memories for his audience. Surrounded by devoted aides and a motley crew of residents, John’s music evokes love, humor, and nostalgia, showing what it means to be in a caring community at any age and the importance of creating our own memories.
Mad/Woman Midwest Premiere
Director: Marc Acito
Country: USA; Running Time: 15 min
A woman beaten unconscious by her husband searches her mindscape for a way out. Inspired by the songs of genre-fluid indie rocker Storm Large and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic feminist short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” this musical phantasmagoria continues in the surrealist tradition of Queer Cinema pioneers Jean Cocteau and Derek Jarman. Shot by an all-female crew, Mad/Woman is the film directorial debut of Broadway librettist Marc Acito.
Stranger Than Rotterdam With Sara Driver
Directors: Lewis Kloster, Noah Kloster
Country: USA; Running Time: 10 min
In 1982, the completion of Jim Jarmusch’s sophomore film, Stranger Than Paradise, hinged on producer, Sara Driver’s duty to hand carry the only existing print of the world’s most controversial rock documentary, Cocksucker Blues, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Tank Fairy
Director: Erich Rettstadt
Country: Taiwan; Running Time: 10 min
In Taiwan, “song wa si de” are workers who routinely supply gas tanks to street vendors and old residential buildings. The magical Tank Fairy delivers her tanks unlike any other – with sass, stilettos and a healthy helping of glitter. Her arrival upends the life of Jojo, a lonely ten-year-old who dreams of dancing and drag. Outcast by classmates and misunderstood by his stern, single mom, Jojo is inspired to live out loud by his fierce, propane-toting fairy godmother.
Welcome To Waterloo Records
Director: Michael Anthony Gibson
Country: USA; Running Time: 14 min
Austin’s famed Waterloo Records has seen its fair share of challenges from Napster to Spotify to the changing landscape of the city. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to the store and the staff must figure out how to navigate these precarious times. “Welcome to Waterloo Records” explores the personal and professional transitions of the Waterloo Records family who see working at a record store as more than a job, it is a community.
MUSIC VIDEOS
American Football – “Fade Into You”
Director: David M. Helman
Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min
American Football offers up a dazzling cover of Mazzy Star’s 1994 hit single, “Fade Into You
Blue Cranes W/ Edna Vazquez – “Tatehuari”
Director: Sarah Whelden
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min
An exploration of what it means to experience the raw heat of life together: excitement, joy and rebirth, tempered by grief, death and pain. Kept company and grounded by the voice of a central character, viewers are guided through this human spectrum and shown how their own existence is clarified by others.
Jennifer Msimba – “My Opinion”
Director: Jennifer Msimba
Country: USA; Running Time: 3 min
A woman caught in the “friend zone” attempts to thwart a budding relationship.
Kaya Stewart – “Honey” Midwest Premiere
Director: Paul Boyd
Country: USA; Running Time: 2 min
Powerhouse singer/songwriter Kaya Stewart’s upward trajectory came spiraling down around her during a global pandemic, as her anxiety and OCD started to challenge her own definition of who she is.
Onry – “1955”
Director: Martin Melnick
Country: USA; Running Time: 7 min
In “1955”, award-winning opera singer Onry honors the legacy of Emmett Till, an African American teenager whose murder catalyzed the civil rights movement. In grieving this act of violence, Onry honors his ancestors, creates space for Black imagination, and asks what we must do in 2022 and beyond to create an inclusive, spacious future. This powerful short film explores the time slippage of generational trauma, drawing real and imagined parallels between 1955 and 2022.
Supaman – “Alright”
Director: Phillip Baribeau
Country: USA; Running Time: 6 min
Native American & hip hop artist, Supaman has dedicated his life to spreading a message of hope, pride, and resilience. His message is one that empowers and resonates with people across cultures, geographic boundaries, and, in his latest and most ambitious music video to date…time. Inspired by one of the most popular movies of all time, Back to the Future, Supaman’s video for his song “Alright” from his latest album, Medicine Bundle, is a scripted short film / music video in which Supaman travels through time in an authentically recreated DeLorean and spreads his message to people, past and present, with his music.
The Bad Man – “90’s Kid”
Director: Patrick Pierson
Country: USA; Running Time: 3 min
Pure punk the way it was intended. Messy and glorious.