2008 Bearded Child recap

August 8-9, 2008 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota

August 13-16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

The 2008 Bearded Child was trumpeted as a revolutionary event for the future of vanguard cinema. We secured a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council to expand the event, embarked on a three-week pre-fest tour in April to drum up a Midwestern buzz, and threw in all the chips to produce the best possible festival.

We received over 200 entries, and your friendly Festival Director spent a full two months holed up in a state of manic obsession, toiling over ideas of art and concept within the jobless confines of his mother's guest bedroom. Pale, malnourished and disheveled, he emerged into sunlight holding high a defining script of today's underground film scene-- BEHOLD! BEHOLD!!!!

On opening night, masses of Grand Rapidians were expected to flood the Myles Reif Performing Arts Center with uproarious enthusiasm and unwielding orgasmic glee for Pure Cinema. But... the Olympics were on, and, you know... everybody has to wash there hair sometime... 

It's true-- attendance waned a bit in Grand Rapids from previous years, but those who came were very enthusiastic and encouraging, urging the event to continue in rural MN. One highlight included an outstanding collection of work by Caitlin Horsmon, who was on hand to present a retrospective of her work in-person. The "weird show" late on Friday also made a huge impact on viewers for it's assault on human consciousness, instilling a feeling of communal madness within the auditorium-- particularly during Running Sushi.

Promptly following the festival in Grand Rapids, the Bearded Child bundled together its knapsack of films and made its first full-fledged venture into the Big City. Minneapolis was the place, and a four-day sensory assault was the plan.

Day one began in a somewhat mild-mannered fashion, as curious Metro folk trickled into the Bedlam Theatre for Minnesota-made films and a collection of work from our previous festivals. The real fun began later in the night, as an opening night after-party at Medusa popped the festival cork with obscure 16mm film projections and a wild collection of performers including the circuit-bent guitar styling of ObstacleCorpse, the chair-tossing, computer-screaming ruckus-fest of Lepercaves, and the first live show by experimental tango artist, mangoSleeves. All were accompanied by live video performance by d.anderson. The night concluded with video performance by vjFutureWorkerGirl, from San Antonio, TX, and local DJ Danny Sigelman.

Day two marked the official start of the full-scale festival grind, pressing on until the chime of 2am. Jodie Mack, fresh off the Interstate from Chicago, presented a new virgin print of Yard Work Is Hard Work, along with three shorter animation works in a selected retrospective. Douglas Steven Hawkinson preformed at the Bearded Child for the second time, engaging audiences with a piece emphasizing the disorganized obligation of objects within human society. Tinsel, fake animal prints, and steel waiting line barriers engulfed the artist, culminating in a plastic entrapment. The night concluded with live experimental music performances by Cell Phone and Shield Your Eyes, orchestrating abstract textural sounds to the cryptic visual imagery of the 1922 film, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages. 

Day three of the festival was highlighted by a live performance and film retrospective by Matthew Silver. We've been trying to bring Matthew to Bearded Child for years, and it was a real pleasure to have him on board. Matthew became a sort of madman prophet during the festival, taking various staff and filmmakers aside periodically for bits of wisdom and insight. Later in the night, veteran musicians, Texar, played to the an abstract film called The Highest. This was a fine addition to the program, and you'll never meet nicer musicians. This night concluded with a jaw-dropping performance by Bryce Beverlin III as Ice Volt. The performer seemed to be possessed by a force not of this world, in a truly original act that you might want to search out on YouTube... we'll get this plus other archived performances from the festival up real quick...

Day four was a seemingly never-ending night of oddness... I'm not sure exactly when or if it ever ended, or if real or imagined for that matter. Hmmm... well, a really nice crowd showed up for the Candy Eye Factory retrospective. It was too bad so many new faces were in the crowd, having missed previous nights, but better late than never. Nate Callahan from Kansas City was also on hand to screen his visually explosive "i!" Nate was the first filmmaker to arrive, and last to leave the festival. His home-made didgeridoos, vast array of optical disorientation toys, and ongoing quest to "psychedelify" were a welcomed addition to the festival stew. Brent Coughenour from Milwaukee preformed an original sound/video piece using thumb piano and Guitar Hero controls, and Potter-Belmar Labs was on hand with their unique audience-participatory cinema in which audience members direct the direction of the live video performance. Leslie and Jason were in town from Texas, and were great sports throughout-- engaging in the festival and other filmmakers, helping to promote a sense of artistic community that the festival was created to instill.

There was an all-night after-party at Future Pastures that night, under a full moon nonetheless. Cell Phone organized the event, which was still blistering when I took Nate Callahan to the bus station sometime around sunrise.

My, oh my... this all is just a shell of a recap, but rest assured it was quite a bombastic event for those closely entwined in the festival... the kind of thing that takes at least a couple days of bed-rest and painkillers to recover from.

Thank you all for participating and supporting this year's Bearded Child Film Festival. Of course a great festival starts with great filmmakers, and I'll stand behind every work shown at this year's fest.

Also, if anyone is interested in a FABULOUS BEARDED CHILD T-SHIRT, we have them in all sizes for $15 including shipping. You'll also get a festival program with the shirt. They can be purchased here or by sending through PayPal at bcfilmfest@gmail.com.

Thanks all, you're the best!

Dan & the BCFF