Digital film fest controls the rooster

Edouard Salier’s FLESH, France/2005

In a city filled with what seems to be an endless stream of film festivals, what makes RESFEST so different to Toronto filmgoers? For one, it’s a lot of fun.

Take for instance the beginning clip on the RESFEST 2005 screener: a rooster is on stage, the curtain rises and the audience is filled with hungry canines. The rooster panics, runs around the stage, ending up in a microwave; then, rather than becoming dog food, the rooster bursts from the nuke like a phoenix. All as a robot plays God, controlling what seems to be the rooster’s every movement.

That one clip, for the most part, sums up what you’re going to get from RESFEST 2005: the unexpected. Billed as a digital film festival, it definitely does not disappoint technologically. Mixing various mediums together to tell a variety of stories, whether they be short films, street culture documentaries or music videos.

“RESFEST is the only touring festival of its kind in the world - we show the same material in 35 cities around the world in the span of four months,” wrote the festival’s Canadian Senior Programme, Associate Editor, and Producer Sandy Hunter in an email interview. “As senior programmer, I travel to all the other prominent short film festivals and video events around the world to scour for the best content, which is then assembled into uniquely entertaining programs. We show arthouse videos too and retrospectives on directors like Gondry or Traktor, which is definitely more ‘now’ than would happen at other, one city festivals.”

The screener only provided a snippet into what will be a great three-day run at Toronto’s Royal Cinema (608 College St. W.) from October 27 – 30. The programming is extensive. The music videos alone are enough to get you hooked, like the RESFEST fans in Montreal and Vancouver who wanted the festival in their towns so badly, they finally got it.

“RES fans in those cities have been asking for years,” said Hunter. “This year the demand was greater than ever before so we decided to go for it…”

(top – bottom:) What Goes Up Must Come Down , UK/2005; and Robota, Canada/2005

Of the films screened at S&H.ca headquarters, a few really struck us as unique, even groundbreaking: from the UK What Goes Up Must Come Down by director Adam Smith with music by North of Ping Pong brings us into the nightlife of a UK cabbie; Japan’s Nogi Nada, part of the Triple Threat program, directs a music video for Japanese pop star Yuki’s Sentimental Journey that sends us via what appears to be still footage into one unique emotional moment; from the US we get Bryan Boyce’s Scarface meets the Republican Convention in America’s Biggest Dick where Boyce splices Tony Montana’s lips (and dialogue) over "Dick 'Fucking' Cheney"’s speech; Canada’s Marc Beurteaux serves up a metallic slice-of-life in Robota; and leaving the best for last, France’s Edouard Salier’s FLESH is a truly unique mix of video game flash with footage of 9/11.

FLESH could not have been created to elicit anything but extreme reactions. Right from go you’re drawn in by the chick-on-chick nude lesbian action: nipples licked, gentiles eaten, and faces contorted in sexual satisfaction. The imagery is everywhere, including Salier’s choice to place these raunchy images on every building and structure in New York City, which you are unaware is NYC until the big moment brings you face-to-face with the short films true message: whether it’s virtual whores or 70 virgins waiting in heaven, Salier does not separate the two extremes. The most disturbing part is after he continues to smash plane after plane after plane into NYC, the vicious cycle continues.

“RESFEST New York did the North American premier of FLESH on September 15th just blocks away from Ground Zero. It was a ballsy move but RES has always been committed to free speech and to the dissemination of work that makes people think,” said Hunter as he recounts someone boycotting the festival because of the film. “For me, living in a country like Canada, the freedom to boycott is just as important as it is for RESFEST to show FLESH - it's a film that takes a barely healed scar and whacks it with a dose of foreign perspective that is SO far removed from the US media dominated painting of the events of 9/11 that is begs to be shown. True, it was clearly made to push buttons, but it does so quite effectively. I think it is one of the most important short films of 2005.”

This is just a smattering of what’s in store for those as cool as a Phoenix Rooster at RESFEST; there’s tons more to take in. You’ll have to visit the website – www.resfest.ca- to get everything you want to know, there just isn’t enough time in this article…

Sentimental Journey , Japan/2004

Toronto Resfest-ers can stop by the RESLounge at Sutra (612 College St.) during the festival for some lounging with other festivalgoers, filmmakers, speakers, sponsors and us before it heads off to Vancouver’s International Film Festival, Nov. 11 – 12, then Montreal’s Fellini Room, Nov. 25 – 27

Images courtesy RES Media Group, Inc.