Underground+Film

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Fluctuating Definition
Underground Films refer to early independant films, countercultural fringe films, or anti-art films of the 1950s. The term has also been applied to psychedelic, transgressive, or otherwise unusual or unpopular forms of film. The term was first used in 1957 by Manny Farber to describe anti-art films, and the term has fluctuated in uses throught the 20th century. Currently Underground Film refers to avant-garde subject matter or low-budget independent film making. In certain contemporary contexts it also describes film that is related to Art, Independent production, and Video Art, as the //Antimatter Manifesto// below describes.

Underground Film and Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo (1970) was first released as an underground film. It was only after John Lennon had watched it, was impressed by the content, and urged a friend to distribute it, that the film came to be recognized worldwide.

This film uses unusual imagery, provacative content, and psychedelic ideas in a very expressive, unusual manner. It has all of the qualities of what today would be referred to as Independant Fillm. Jodorowsky is a director who took risks in his subject matter, included psychological content, and experimented with visual imagery.

Underground Film: Contemporary Production
Currently there are a number of Underground Film productions and festivals. In Vancouver, there is an underground film festival called Antimatter, located in Victoria, B.C. Underground film, under a flexible definition, can be defined as film that is unique, is not a blockbuster hit, or is somehow avant-garde. Under this definition, Aronofsky' //The Fountain// may qualify for its unusual special effects and dense philosophical subject matter. //Immortel (ad vitam)//, 2004, directed by Enkel Bilal had a similar cult following and is not widely known, despite its similarities in content to the //5th Element// and //Bladerunner.//


 * Antimatter Manifesto**

Antimatter exists to provide a public platform for underground productions of film and video -- imaginative, volatile, entertaining and critical works that exist outside of the mainstream. It is a forum for innovative and radical ideas overlooked or marginalized by contemporary culture.

Antimatter is a noncompetitive series of screenings chosen by jury/curatorial committee.

Antimatter is the neutral ground designed to support the independent/individual voice regardless of the subversive or dangerous nature of its content, stylistic concerns or commercial viability.

Antimatter is dedicated to film and video as art. It is anti-Hollywood and anti-censorship.

Antimatter is a laboratory for audience development and education, exhibiting works in alternative venues, outside of the traditional black box of the cinema.

Antimatter is dedicated to producing quality documentation/interpretive materials for print and internet dissemination locally, nationally and internationally.

Antimatter screenings are presented to the public for nominal charge.
 * the Antimatter Manifesto is taken directly from the Antimatter site: http://www.antimatter.ws/mani06.html

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067866/ http://www.antimatter.ws/mani06.html