Who Killed the Underground Film?

Recently Rene brought German experimental filmmakers Wilhem Hein and Annette Frick to Zeitgeist. Hein’s film was appropriately called "You killed the underground film." The “you” ambiguously refers to Hein and of course you, the reader, who are both involved in doing in the underground. Judging from the usual small turnout at Zeitgeist, these endeavors are successful. As further evidence, the New York Underground Film Festival will shortly cease to exist. Of course the demise of underground film can be squarely put on the rise of cheap video tools. Also in terms of venues like Zeitgeist, home theatres, Netflix, and the internet have done their damage.
But has the underground really lost its potential? Is there an underground, or a need for one? One of the great things about the internet is that it has the potential, and the occasional effect of leveling the playing field. Every thing on youtube has the same potential of being watched, from the most highly budgeted production to the kids with a cell phone video camera.
written by d.s.

Zeitgeist this week

Rene has some great stuff at Zeitgeist this week - I heard the Swedish vampire flick Let the Right One In was great, but I went for J.C.V.D. - yes you guessed it, that stands for Jean Claude Van Damme. A film written by Mabrouk El Mechri, a Belgian, it makes Jean Claude's failing career the subject of the film and at the same time a compelling case for a Jean Claude come-back. A very creative combination of biography and fiction action flick, it's entertaining and makes fun, exploits and transcends the stereotypes all at the same time. Plus, Jean Claude can act!

Also this weekend Zeitgeist will be hosting some of the main players in European experimental cinema: Wilhelm Hein, Otto Muehl, Annette Frick, and Kurt Kren. Wilhelm Hein and Annette Frick will be in attendance, so all you experimental film buffs don't miss it.