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Indie Fest Party Hearty by David Hakim
San Francisco Independent Film Festival (IndieFest) kicked off its 11th year last month with a six-hour Benefit/Launch Party at the Elbo Room on Valencia Street. The City's premier independent film festival (noted for its varied programs from across the globe, as well as its themed parties that deprive participants of two week's sleep) opens February 6, runs through February 22, and will feature more than 80 short films, narratives, documentaries, and filmmaker meet&greets.
A long-anticipated highlight this year is The Achievers - The Story of Lebowski Fans, director Eddie Chung's doc studying the cult phenomenon of the Coen brothers' The Big Lebowski and the Lebowski Fest that the film inspired.
IndieFest is too big to be confined, and the show sprawls across the Bay, with screenings at San Francisco's Roxie Cinema and The Castro Theatre, and at the Shattuck Theatre, Berkeley. The kickoff benefit was a crowded affair, jammed with cinephiles who came to hear the sounds of Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Ex-Boyfriends, and Pollo Del Mar.
Larry Fessenden, in Glenn McQuaid's I Sell the Dead, about two bumbling grave robbers.
The five-hour Opening Night Bash will commence February 5, after the opening-night film at the Victoria, when the IndieFest staff and this year's filmmakers plan to amble over to CellSpace to have their auditory nerves caressed by the palindromic Live Evil, the Extra Action Marching Band, and DJ Toph One.
The Big Lebowski Party, a five-hour extravaganza of excess, will roll out Saturday, February 7 at CellSpace. White Russians for all my friends! Fun games for hip party-goers include zip-line artwork, mini bowling, and beachside trampoline, with a few nihilists thrown in to spice things up. The Dude says, "The party starts at 9pm and lasts till they kick us out." Come as your favorite Lebowski character!
Next thing on the calendar is the BYO Records After-Party, clocking in at four hours at The Parkside, Friday the 13th. BYO Records tosses a mad gala for Let Them Know, featuring the musical stylings of Youth Brigade, Filthy Thieving Bastards and others. Smart kids show their ticket stubs for a discount at the door.
Friday the 13th will also see the Roller Disco Party, a six-hour excursion into the physical and emotional risks of wheeled locomotion billed as a "huge, wild, and crazy fun annual Roller Disco Party" rexxing around at Cell Space. Roll in free with any IndieFest ticket stub. Skate rentals and tunes provided by Black Rock Roller Disco. IndieFest bears no responsibility for tragic alcohol-related pavement rash.
The Closing Night Party will take place on - you guessed it - February 19, three nights before the end of the festival (you expected logic?) at Medjool in the Mission, and should take just about four hours to get up steam, at which point the management will invite us all to take a hike. Here, IndieFest staff and filmmakers will say fond if premature farewells to each other over tasty cocktails and discuss the films they want to see the next day.
A Hamburger Harley in a very funny fillm about funny cars.
The Rydell High Sock Hop, a five-hour IndieFest Wrap Party is skedded to get your motor runnin' on Feb 20 at CellSpace. Dig out your 50s ensemble for a Grease-themed dance party, with free dance lessons from 8-9 pm, when the live jams kick in - Miss Fire and the Detonators, the Hi-Rhythm Hustlers, and more rockin tunes by DJ Rockin Raul. Join the Grease sing-along in the screening room. Take your chances to "win stuff" in the Dance Off.
Shake it for free if you're in costume (or with any IndieFest ticket stub), but 21 up only please. And of course, there will be all those excellent films. Posted on Feb 04, 2009 - 10:54 PM