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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2000)
irecty Short films, big style ucers on a feature! ho co-directed ai v, wifi host "Howtel sell it \or not Ton Till :tor of A Bumpy if/J lifficulW of fiimmall i "Yonha Filmmal orkshop Stu Pollarl u write i'different 1:1 director k'Nice Cm eistieal dflerenceshl Ini. Nice ^uys Sleefj Theater ai9:30 p.mf od, an Httlish prq -ofessor presenting iven festhd worksf ears, including one ino. His xyirkshof will be heo onlLj iddition rc> tie Tesa- )irectors, \\ iters aitil Rodriguez, sill | u Stories" on|hepn)lj itered in the iXKliicta id was origiallysJ irector of WA)D[l\ olmes], but ulouitt up not sholing be the most re toed I Starr said. Dr the moderator. Ve ic panel idea ad really fun. so \v iture years." an hour and a nong the film t will be on vise. tiding “War BY JUAN LOYA The Battalion liort films htrgely go unseen by the mainstream community. The few public forums available for viewing short films usually reside on Websites and occasionally precede larger releases, such as the film Geri’s Gann’, which preceded Disney’s A Bug's Life last year. The only alternative the population has to see short ! films is film festivals. The Seventh Annual Texas Film Festival has three “Night of Shorts” programs in its schedule, each offering a collection of films ranging from two minutes to 40 minutes in length. These films represent the most cre ative and oddball visions of the independent film industry. Featured twice in the festival’s schedule is George Lucas In Love. Joe Nussbaum's paro dy of last year's Oscar-winning film ceeds in a droll fashion. It follows one man’s strange morning after being questioned by police officers about bis collection of “naked girl pictures,” and ends with a left-field con clusion that only the question mark at the end of the film’s title can adequately describe. On the dramatic side, Dreamcateher is a poignant look at childhood fantasies and escapism. The main character, a 10-year-old-boy named Jesse, escapes from the reality of an abusive home by dreaming of a Native American protector named Lone Wolf. The film captures a wonderful blend of reality and imagination, and touches on themes of childhood and family in a subtle and effec tive way. Producer Charles Leon will be at the screening of the film and will participate in a question-and-answer session after the film. From Australia, the short thriller Freezer Shake spe. are In L ove. Sub stituti ng the Star trapped in side of a warehouse freezer. Wars ere ator ft William Shak espeare, the Using f lis last remaining strength to i ecord film i- sat :reativt ; k >ok at wri ting a nd romance. his dying thong Hits, the handyman 1 eaves and g ets big laugl as with c lever nods to the behind a wall of messages scr aw led on pack- Star War v mytl fiol logy, as well as some of ing boxes inside the freeze r. 7 ’he irony of his Georg :e L ucas’s no t-so sueo essful filmmaking passing le aves a n impression on the v iewer endea Vot von that make; i the fil Im incredil bly unforgett able. Him >, a sht >rt film by ( iregg Bishop, is a The fil Ims si' icwcased in the lest ival’s f u nnv. kinetic look at one man s date from hell. The daughter of a woman he is trying to , 00 lashes out at the man with a hexed voodoo doll, and the man's final solution is i chocking and absurdly funny. 1 ciime vein, the film Who, Me.' pro ing, offering quick doses of comedy and drama to be enjoyed by any loyal movie fan. The length of the films may be short, but the level of creativity and imagination are without limit. V 00090000000004 J0000000000000*00»»i \000000000000000000( * 0 0000000000000 0 ( 00000000000000 0I 00000000 00* 0 0 0, >0 0000 • •#, >0 01 ifdep®” ■ \Y, FMUAil FEBRUARY 18 n. iqht of Sho ; AT RUDDER THgT on Fishes Now and ^ Last Late N ING AT CINEMA Guys Sleep Alone Bob’s Video AT RUDDER THEATER JURDAY, FEBRUARY 191 10:00 a.m. Mie Waiters 3:00 p.m. Direcfor’ $ Reception 5:00 p.m. Night of Shorts Ilf 7:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony 8:00 p.m. An Evening with Robert Rodriguez -Presentation of Outtakes -Cl Mariachi | -Q & A: Robert Rodriguez SHOWING AT RUDDER AUDITORIUM! An evening with obert Rodriguez BY KYLE WHITACRE The Battalion jnew names in independant film are as respected as Robert Rodriguez. A Texas native and University of Texas graduate, Rodriguez is a pio neer in low-budget filmmaking and |as written books and made videos on his techniques to make films cheaper and better. His debut feature, El Mariachi. was shot fin two weeks in Mexico and had a budget of only $7,000. Rodriguez earned the pro duction money by checking himself into a drug testing clinic for one month, where he spent his time writing the script for the film and was used as a guinea pig for experimental drugs. fhe cast of El Mariachi consisted of mainly friends and family of Rodriguez. Most of the shots used in the film were done in one take and innovative editing techniques kept cost to a minimum. El Mariachi went to international film festivals including those in Telluride, Toronto, Sundance, Berlin, Munich, Edinburg, Deauville and the Yubari film festival in Japan. The film won the Audience Award for best dramatic film at Sundance and was released by Columbia Pictures in 1993. After El Mariachi, Rodriguez went on to write, direct and edit Roadracers, Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, and a segment of Four Rooms. He also directed The Faculty in 1998. He is currently writ ing, producing, directing and editing an adventure film titled Spy Kids. Other future projects of Rodriguez include a fea ture version of Bedhead. Rodriguez’s award-winning short film, a Stevie Ray Vaughn biopic and a film adaption of the comic Madman. “For the past three years we’ve tried to book Rodriguez for festival, but never got a response about it,” said Casey Starr, director of the Texas Film Festival and a senior industrial distrobution major. “We finally called his lecture agency-contract agent instead of his publicity agent and got him booked this year. He’s in Europe right now and will be heading into the states later this week for our festival.” Rodriguez will be participating in the “War Stories” panel Saturday afternoon, then will speak at “An Evening with Robert Rodriguez,” where he will present out-takes from his films, show El Mariachi, then hold a question-and-answer segment afterwards. When asked about the presentation of film out-takes, Starr said it was something special Rodriguez was doing on his own. “An Evening with Robert Rodriguez” will begin Saturday at 8 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and are avail able at MSC Box Office. Graphics by Robert Hynececk, Jeff Smith and IP Beato This is an abridged schedule for the festival. For a full schedule, program guides are available from MSC Film Society.