There are films out there that don't go away, even if they never "arrived." Just such a cluster of tenacious films can be found with their roots spread through that sublime community of underground filmmakers from the Bay Area that includes George Kuchar, Rick Schmidt, Curt McDowell, John Coney, and Philip Makanna. These films are unnerving and political, whimsical and steamy. They throw out superfluous stories and masterful acting as readily as they throw in dancing turtles and flammable bras. They are wily in the ways of cinema, yet indifferent to the menace of budgets and box office. These features also fly in the face of "independent" cinema, now more a branding strategy than a production posture. More accurately, they are part of a codependent cinema, one that relies on a crazy lust for moviemaking on the part of the artist, and an equal lunacy for adventure on the part of the viewer. We're bringing 'em back alive: underground features from the seventies, gone for a time, but definitely not forgotten.
-Steve Seid