New York Underground The Alternative to Alternative

For all those to whom the idea of "independent" has become too "mainstream," the New York Underground Film Festival was created. Billed as "Films That Violate the Mainstream," these films are not only unusual and exceptional in their choice of subjects, but they are also exceptional in style and presentation.

The annual New York Underground Film Festival was begun this year by two NYU alumni (Todd Phillips and Andrew Gurland) in response to the "stuffed shirt" atmosphere of established film festivals that feature independents. Phillips is very critical of the festival scene as a whole, and began the New York Film Festival as an "alternative" to that scene. "It's basically breaking this incestuous cycle of endowed committees that give grants for films, and then turn around and hold the festival [for those films]," says Phillips. During the same week that the New Directors/New Films festival played uptown at Lincoln Center, the New York Underground Film Festival played three nights worth of sold-out shows at the Anthology Film Archive in the East Village.

Phillips and Gurland solicited the films for the festival by putting advertisements in the magazines Film Threat and Film Maker, and they received over 200 submissions from independent film makers. The two chose about 50 films for the festival, 13 of which are feature-length films. The series "Best of the New York Underground" playing at the Harvard Film Archive features six of the 50 films which played at the festival and is making a tour of the U.S. this summer and spring. This series of shorts only lasts for an hour.

What exactly is "independent" film? Independent film is not necessarily the poorly shot home video-like films that you might expect. Instead, independent film is just those films done without the backing of a major studio. Often, independent films have unusual, strange, or "alternative" subject matter because they do not cater to the image and goals of a studio.

The six films which make up the series provide a good cross-section of the styles and formats available to filmmakers and are quite entertaining in the meantime. Everything from documentary to animation is shown.

"Doper" is a 20-minute documentary on the lifestyle of a working-class, post-high school stoner, who has no difficulty in remaining high every waking hour and still winning the "Employee of the Month Award" at the factory at which he works. The film is subtly humorous, but remarkably nonjudgmental in its delivery.

"Pleasant Hill, USA" is the other documentary in the series. It is the poignant story of a bank robbery and shooting spree committed by a high school student in a small town in Ohio. This film deserves special attention for its striking and beautiful camera stills which capture the simplicity of the town and demonstrate the potential of this director, Joshua Wintringham.

These two are counter balanced by the films "Spring Break" and "Facrie Film." "Spring Break" is a black-and-white narrative about two friends on a road trip with the intent to revenge the infidelity of one of their girlfriends. It ends up feeling like a cross between "Natural Born Killers" and "Beavis and Butthead." "Facrie Film" is a unique mixture of personal narrative and personal reflection with Disney-like animation.

All the films are probably not exactly like anything you've seen before, but that doesn't mean that they are overwhelmingly radical or alternative to all mainstream culture. "Pleasant Hill, USA" has a TV news-magazine quality to it; the animation in "Facrie Film" is not all that innovative, and the dialogue in "Doper" is much like the dialogue in most films specifically targeted to teens. But just because these films draw on aspects of mainstream culture does not make them less interesting or unustral. The "Best of the New York Underground" remains an alternative to what you'll see on the big screen today, but not so "alternative" that you won't enjoy it.