A Rare Look at Bold Films

Back in 2008, the film journal Cineaste devoted a good portion of one issue to the state of underground film. Within those pages, writer Damien Love provided the best definition of a cult film. Love quoted artist and critic Manny Farber’s label, “Termite Art,” saying he took it to mean films which “Have no social function, or any other function, outside their own boundaries, but just to get on with burrowing into themselves.”

I would add that they also burrow into our consciousness, almost against our will. It is films like these which festival director David Pike and his staff hope to introduce to Tucson audiences at the third annual Arizona Underground Film Festival, running from September 18 to September 25.

The festival, in its third year, has experienced explosive growth with 400 entries - both features and shorts - spanning six categories: narrative, horror, documentary, experimental, animation, and exploitation. Submissions came from Arizona as well as nationwide, and from twenty foreign countries including Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Among several films making their North American premieres is festival opener, “Snowman’s Land,” a darkly comedic German film about two inept criminals who assassinate the wrong target with escalating consequences.

Another movie making its US premiere is Canadian director Tiller Russell’s “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride,” a film that might answer the question of what a spaghetti Western co-directed by Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch might look like. Making its Arizona premiere is “Earthling,” a contemplative sci-fi film that made a big splash at the SXSW Film Festival. One early review of this film said it might not satisfy some sci-fi fans as, “The pacing, atmosphere, and tone are more reminiscent of Nicholas Roeg’s ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth,’” than of more recent effects driven sci-fi movies.  

Finally, a film making its world premiere at the Arizona Underground film festival is “Beyond the Grave,” a very graphic serial killer/zombie movie which had been stranded in post production purgatory for a couple years.

Venues include The Screening Room, Beowulf Alley Theater, Crossroads Grand Cinemas and the Fox Theatre, with after parties at local clubs. A complete schedule of events is available at AZUndergroundFilmFest.com. Admission to individual screenings is $7. A festival pass, which includes admission to the main festival after party and all screenings, runs $65.