This diverse collection of shorts presents powerful, dystopian visions of a disillusioned society, from the anguished aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the documentary Circles of Confusion to the dehumanization of the self in the outlandish claymation I AM THE EGGMAN. In the nightmarish black-and-white world of Electric Sleep and the pill-driven despair of Be My Baby and Fast Relief!, we encounter the stark realities of violence, suicide, and broken communication. But there is still room for visceral beauty, whether in the found-footage meditation on war Five Constant Factors; the abstract, psychotropic The Agony and the Ecstasy; or the ephemeral Chinese calligraphy of An Unreadable Poem. Plastic western alludes to the prevalence of war with a nostalgic reference to childhood games, while the elegant DISILLUSIONED does so from multiple, simultaneous viewpoints. With its comical and soothing discussion of Nirvana, Saints Need Sinners provides a breath of relief.

This program was curated by UC Berkeley students Susanna Davies-Crook, Mario Figueroa, Jingran Gu, Angela Guzman, Maggie Liu, Natalie Musteata, Joey Ponticello, Sahar Rastakhiz, Veronica Sandukhtyan, and Edwin Zee, as part of an internship offered by the Film Studies Department and Pacific Film Archive. Schools represented in the program include Berkeley City College, California College of the Arts, City College of San Francisco, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, and University of San Francisco.

Electric Sleep (Kevin Kunze, 2006, 2 mins, Color/B&W). The Agony and the Ecstasy (Parker Ito, 2008, 3 mins). Fast Relief! (Karla Claudio-Betancourt, 2006–2007, 3 mins, Color/B&W). DISILLUSIONED (Brenda Contreras, 2007, 3 mins, Color/B&W). Five Constant Factors (Michael Hall, 2006–2007, 8 mins, Color/B&W). Be My Baby (Qianqian Zhang, 2008, 3 mins). Circles of Confusion (Phoebe DeLony Tooke, 2007, 10.5 mins, B&W). An Unreadable Poem (Kai-Ting Chuang, 2008, 1.5 mins, Color/B&W, 16mm). plastic western (Miko Revereza, 2008, 2 mins). I AM THE EGGMAN (Sam Barnett, 2007, 6.5 mins). Saints Need Sinners (Colin Blackshear, 2008, 6.5 mins).