Artists’ Television Access Film & Video Festival (ATA) — independent and underground film & video :: October 21-23, 2009 :: 992 Valencia (at 21st Street), San Francisco, CA.

On Wednesday, October 21, the ATA Film Festival begins with a free workshop on experimental film exhibition and distribution, hosted by local experimental filmmakers and distributors. Sign-up for this unique event.

On October 22 & 23, ATA will screen two programs of short works: “Specters & Machines” and “Stories we tell ourselves.” Both programs offer unique representations of the myriad facets of life and feature the work of local talents including Paul Clipson, Kerry Laitala, and Tommy Becker, and national and international filmmakers such as Maarit Suomi-Väänänen, Chris Kennedy, Laida Lertxundi and Martha Colburn.

Expect the ambiguous, the inexplicable, the beautiful, the consuming, the metaphysical, the discreet, as well as mental/sexual situations, postmodern feelings, the intersections between landscapes, gravity, politics, phantasmagoria, angels, and an ode to eternal sunshine.

The screenings will be followed by musical performances and the announcement of ATA Audience Awards.

In addition, two installations by local artists will be presented in ATA’s gallery: “Gaze,” by Mary Franck, exploring new possibilities of speculation through digital technology, and “Trace,” an Intervention by Rebecca Najdowski, focusing on thresholds of humankind and the natural world.

And finally, the ATA Window will project a selection of experimental shorts and innovative animations during the month of October. Pieces range from Jeejung Kim’s sinister, ocular - –opened eye, closed i - i closed, eye opened– - to Anna Geyer’s glorious Ich bin ein junger Hupfer, a hand-manipulated color study accompanied by birdsong and yodeling.

Doors open at 7pm every night. Screenings start at 7:30pm. Tickets are $7-$10.

For complete information, festival trailer and questions with the filmmakers visit http://festival.atasite.org/2009

FESTIVAL PROGRAM

Thursday, October 22, 2009 - Specters & Machines

Spectrology (Kerry Laitala); Patrolling The Ether (Carl Diehl); Diatribe (Ben Popp); The Salariat in Parts (Zachary Epcar); Breathe (Sam Barnet); Up And About Again (Maarit Suomi-Vaananen); Naomi & Irving (Laura Bouza); Elro (Ariel Diaz).

Friday, October 23, 2009 - Stories We Tell Ourselves

A Poem to be Read into a Flashlight with a Microphone Placed Above the Breast of a Pregnant Mother (Tommy Becker); To Be Regained (Zach Iannazzi); The Acrobat (Chris Kennedy); Spaghettidog (Elham Rokni); Destination Finale (Philip Widmann); My Tears are Dry (Laida Lertxundi); Myth Labs (Martha Colburn); Passage Briare (Friedl vom Groller); Chorus (Paul Clipson).

Window Installation (October 2009)
Opened eye, closed I – I closed, eye opened (Jeejung Kim); So Much Water So Close to Home (Matthew Kluber); Mercy – oh, MERCY! – mercenaries (Alex Moeller); Numbers (Yin-Ling Chen); Afternoon Dream (Jim Granato); Ich bin ein junger Hupfer (Anna Geyer); The Scorpion and The Frog (Ben Brown); Dollar Portrait (Matthew Perino).

Gallery Installations (October 22 & 23)

Gaze (Mary Frank); Trace (Rebecca Najdowski).

For more information, contact: Isabel Fondevila, ATA Film and Video Festival co-director: isabel@ [at] atasite.org

Artists’ Television Access 992 Valencia St. San Francisco, CA 94110