Go underground

WNDX festival promises to shock, confuse, entertain

EVAN JOHNSON STAFF

If, like me, you enjoy not only the typically pleasurable emotions elicited by quality fi lms, but also need the occasional jolt of the annoying, disgusting, or just plain mystifying, then perhaps you ought to give some thought to attending the WNDX Festival of Avant-Garde and Underground Film. Th e festival is comprised of a number of diff erent programs, themselves comprised of a variety of short fi lms, that can be seen at Cinematheque from Oct. 6 to 8. Th ere are also two programs on Oct. 5, presented by Cinematheque, that for some reason that likely involves bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo, aren’t offi cially part of the program but are referred to as “partner programming.”

A recent media screening gave a taste from each of the festival’s programs. Most of the work is Canadian in content — five of the seven programs feature Canadian fi lms exclusively, while one deigns to let the French have their own program and the other mingles with Austrians — but don’t let that scare you away. There’s a lot of great stuff here.

For example, on Oct. 5 the How to Be a Canadian program features When Canadians Attack, a short documentary comprised of ultra-violent hockey footage and a soundtrack in which a narrator muses philosophically on Canadian national identity and its relation to the elements.

Th ere’s also Gary’s Touch by Ottawa fi lmmaker Ken Takahashi, part of the Sensory Overload program of recent Canadian underground fi lm, which is perverse and disturbing enough to have prompted an investigation by the Ottawa police. Th e fi lm was presented with the warning that it is “very underground,” though here the term “underground” is more a euphemism for sexually perverse than it is an indicator of production values: Gary’s Touch, for all its viscous fluids and grimy surfaces, features meticulous, polished photography and evocative settings.

Th e titular Gary is a lanky and reclusive pervert who’s determined to “spread his seed” in various women’s public washrooms, presumably with the long-term goal of impregnating an unsuspecting stranger. One day he meets up with a stocky and unglamorous homeless lady who wordlessly follows him back to his subterranean dwelling where they both strip down . . . anyway some stuff happens involving a turkey baster and some petri dishes. It’s all in good fun and poor taste, but it actually resonates strangely as a love story, though some of the sexuality involved should by no means be condoned. And though I can’t think of many people who would “go” for this sort of thing, there’s probably something for everyone at this festival. Well, not everyone, that’s a blatant lie.