Winners have been announced! Click here for details. Bargain Basement Film Festival is a showcase for low-budget filmmakers. This year we received 120 submissions from all over the world. After reviewing all the submissions, we have compiled the following to represent underground talent for BBFF2001. Please view the schedule for showtimes.
Opus Imagé (Geneviève Allard, Quebec, 2000, 9 min.) Synopsis: Scenes from today's reality and 19th century artwork blend together. Budget: US$2500 Contact: Video Femmes Screening Time: Thursday 10pm	Leonard and the Mountain (Chris Metzler & Jeff Springer, San Francisco, CA, 2000, 12 min.) Synopsis: Folk artist or "hobo bird" Leonard Knight has been building a 3-story monument to Jesus out of adobe and paint for the last 15 years. "Salvation Mountain" is cherished by the locals, yet threatened by environmentalists. Budget: US$2000 Contact: Chris Metzler or Jeff Springer Screening Time: Thursday 10pm
Partner Akut (Steffen Reuter, Berlin, Germany, 2001, 6 min.) Synopsis: Through her initiative the young Berliner Angelika (a 22-year-old duck) tries to satisfy her longing for a partner. Featuring lifelike puppets and excellent cinematography. Budget: US$8000 Contact: www.filmkollektiv.de Screening Time: Thursday 10pm	Lint People (Helder King Sun, Los Angeles, CA, 2000, 8 min.) Synopsis: Those fibers and fabrics that get unwoven from your sweaters in the spin cycle actually become teeny lint people - or at least that's the nub of this adorable romp about a lint family's domestic woes. When the father develops an appetite for his own young, the mother must stop her spouse from feasting on the fluffy brood. Budget: US$5000 Contact: Helder Sun Screening Time: Thursday 10pm
One Hit Wonder (Lawrence B. Schechter, Encino, CA, 2000, 34 min.) Synopsis: A struggling actor, Walter Semen, gets dropped by his agent who suggests he sees another agent. Walter is shocked when he realizes the new agent represents murderers and serial killers. Reluctant at first, Walter is lured by the fame and fortune of murderous celebrities. Budget: US$20,000 Contact: Electrum Entertainment Screening Time: Thursday 10pm	Forever Fourteen (Kelly St. John, Berkeley, CA, 2000, 24 min.) Synopsis: A documentary film that tells the story of a young girl's rape and murder and the crime's impact on her loved ones. It takes a unique approach, exploring the emotions of rape survivors while focusing on the mystery of a murder. Budget: US$2500 Contact: Kelly St. John Screening Time: Friday 6pm
The Prince and the Pee (David Lilley, Nottingham, UK, 2000, 4 min.) Synopsis: A fantasy comedy about a man torn between his desire to be rich and his reluctance to put his hand where it wouldn't normally go. Budget: US$400 Contact: www.getoutthere.bt.com Screening Time: Friday 6pm	(de) compression (Shawn Yashar, Los Angeles, CA, 2000, 8 min.) Synopsis: A beautifully photographed depiction of crumbling life when water starts dripping from a man's apartment. The water toys with him as he faces the threat of either electrocution or the abandonment of his flooding apartment. Budget: US$6500 Contact: Shawn Yashar Screening Time: Friday 6pm
Delivered (Matthias Schubert, Athens, OH, 2000, 19 min.) Synopsis: A mildly surreal coming of age drama observing the maturation of a teenage girl as she learns how to cope with her ailing grandmother who has locked her inside the house. Budget: US$8000 Contact: Matthias Schubert Screening Time: Friday 6pm	Quarry (Yekaterina Sobol, Athens, OH, 2000, 13 min.) Synopsis: A mute girl willfully separates herself from the outside world and plunges into the depth of her fantasies of sacrifice and disintegration, to eventually convalesce and rise to the higher plane of selfhood, out of reach of the corruptible physical experience. Budget: US$7000 Contact:Yekaterina Sobol Screening Time: Friday 6pm
Frank's Monday (Michael Connor, Chapel Hill, NC, 2000, 1 min.) Synopsis: A different kind of car commercial... This classic story of man and machine takes a stab at consumerism in the age of the internal combustion engine. Budget: US$40 Contact: www.mikeconnor.com Screening Time: Friday 8pm	Sugar (Tamar Tsvaigrach, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2001, 11 min.) Synopsis: Ilana is busy cooking a big meal when she suddenly discovers she's out of sugar. After accidentally frightening her neighbor with a carving knife, she locks herself out and must find a way back in. Hilarious slapstick. Budget: US$300 Contact: Tamar Tsvaigrach Screening Time: Friday 8pm
A Boy and his Fetus (Jon Vara, Orlando, FL, 2000, 15 min.) Synopsis: A dark coming of age tale about a man child, his twelve year old lover, his dead father, his catatonic mother and his partially born brother. Budget: US$1000 Contact: Jon Vara Screening Time: Friday 8pm	The Last, The Rest (Johanna Dery, Providence, RI, 2000, 5 min.) Synopsis: A beautifully animated tale of wingless birds and mystery disks lost somewhere between the sea and the mountains. Budget: US$1000 Contact: Johanna Dery Screening Time: Friday 8pm
Subterranean Passage (Michael Crochetiere, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1999, 32 min.) Synopsis: "Once I had the power to disappear, to sink inside the dragon's dreams, to touch the dragon's sandy skin, as if it were my own." Four children create alternative worlds to escape the cruelty of their domestic existence in this beautiful experimental film. Budget: US$49,000 Contact: Michael Crochetiere Screening Time: Friday 8pm	Death Sweat (Jeff Holt, Phoenix, Arizona, 2000, 55 min.) Synopsis: Uncle Boss sends his nephew, Teddy, to pick up and deliver a powerful and expensive new drug. Teddy decides to keep it for himself, and it is mistaken for the ashes of a dead man. Teddy begins a hunt to find the drug, but Uncle Boss is not far behind. Budget: US$9000 Contact: Official Website Screening Time: Friday 10pm
Horse Play (Lena Podesta, Los Angeles, CA, 2000, 2 min.) Synopsis: A little girl's drawings come to life to misbehave and take over her space. Part whimsy gone wrong, part examination of physical and emotional space and part self-portrait. Budget: US$1000 Contact: Lena Podesta Screening Time: Friday 10pm	Born to Foos (Amy R. Johnson, St. Louis, MO, 2001, 6 min.) Synopsis: An offbeat comedy which looks at the strange obsession of an everyday man who, to escape mundane factory life, immerses himself in a world of small-town intense foosball competition. Budget: US$4000 Contact: Amy Johnson Screening Time: Friday 10pm
Hepcat's Holiday (David Wilson, Columbia, Mo, 1995, 3 min.) Synopsis: pinball and drag racing . . . rock 'n' roll! David Wilson will play drums to accompany the film. Budget: US$24 Contact: David Wilson Screening Time: Friday 10pm	Neophytes and Neon Lights (Shane T. Hall, Sydney, Australia, 2001, 92 min.) Synopsis: In a world where teleportation replaced air travel and urine therapy was proven to aid longevity, a group of five petty crims greet tourists at the Sydney teleport station. A new member of the group struggles to prove himself by attempting to steal an eccentric traveler's important luggage. Budget: US$20,000 Contact: Shane T. Hall Screening Time: Friday 12am
U.S. Premiere Drought (Soluços e Soluções) (Edú Felistoque & Nereu Cerdeira, S. Paulo, Brazil, 2000, 90 min.) Synopsis: Hiccup at a bar table... The idea for solving the dryness problem in northeast Brazil comes up. Cara, a marketeer, an obstinate idealist leaves everything behind in the big city to face an adventure through the arid northeast. He finds a new reality, where the people are exploited for the "problem industry" advantage. Having advertising and the press as his only weapons, Cara calls the people's attention and the landlord's rage in his crusade for solutions. Budget: US$98000 Contact: zyd.com.br Screening Time: Saturday 3pm	Domestic Wormholes: Nature's Silent Killer (Luis Caffesse & Cliff Wildman, Austin, TX, 2001, 4 min.) Synopsis: Imagine a world in which corn manufacturers are in the midst of an agricultural civil war. As they struggle to get the public on their side, a smear campaign is launched blaming the recent rise of wormhole deaths on the consumption of creamed corn. Public Service Announcement meets Stalinistic Propaganda. Budget: US$0 (Nothing!) Contact: Luis Caffesse Screening Time: Saturday 5:15pm
Coffee Date (Stewart Wade, Los Angeles, CA, 2000, 17 min.) Synopsis: Todd (straight) is dismayed when the suggested meeting place for his first blind date turns out to be a gay coffeehouse. He argues with Kelly (gay) over the only available table. They reluctantly agree to share it. Gradually they discover they have a lot in common--in fact, too much! They realize they are waiting for each other, victims of a practical joke perpetrated by Todd's brother. Budget: US$20,000 Contact: coffeedate.topcities.com Screening Time: Saturday 5:15pm	Left Sideways (Jesse Miller, Berkeley, CA, 2001, 3 min.) Synopsis: Made for the Texas-based indie-pop band, The Foxymorons, "Left Sideways" is a playful and enchanting stop-motion animated music video. Budget: US$50 Contact: Jesse Miller Screening Time: Saturday 5:15pm
Bicycle (Ronen Menachem, Bat-Yam, Israel, 2001, 23 min.) Synopsis: Contemporary homage to "Bicycle Thieves" by Vittorio De Sica. A boy's father needs to gain his son's respect by purchasing him a bicycle, but he has no money. His emotions flow from shame to happiness and back to shame as he tries to please his son. Budget: US$15,000 Contact: Ronen Menachem Screening Time: Saturday 5:15pm	Slingshot (David Massachi, Portland, OR, 2000, 18 min.) Synopsis: "Slingshot" explores the relationship between a young brother and sister, and the connections between their individual play lives. Budget: under US$10,000 Contact: David Massachi Screening Time: Saturday 5:15pm
All the Wrong Places (Martin Edwards, New York, NY, 2000, 95 min.) Synopsis: A parody about art and self-discovery, with a little romance thrown in, All the Wrong Places tells the story of Marisa, a young woman determined to escape the shadow of her mother, a famous artist, by becoming... a famous artist. Budget: US$95,000 Contact: Official Website Screening Time: Saturday 8pm	Gods of Porcelain and Plumbing (Matthew Silver & Jackson Evans, Ithaca, NY, 2000, 15 min.) Synopsis: Atheists and ailing Christians, your souls will be redeemed by a more practical icon in our society--the commode. Budget: US$900 Contact: www.toiletgod.com Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm
Sausage (Josef Millitzer, St. Louis, MO, 2001, 5 min.) Synopsis: A claymation comedy about two dogs and their misadventures with a sausage machine on a farm. Budget: US$100 Contact: Joe Millitzer Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm	Binge Drinking (Ryan Wylie, Columbia, Mo, 2000, 4 min.) Synopsis: A short documentary on Columbia's drinking problems. Budget: US$??? Contact: Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm
S.T.D. (Space Time Destroyers) (Roman Cortez & Chito Arellano, Pomona, CA, 2001, 11 min.) Synopsis: Hip-hoppin', body-rockin', ain't no stoppin' three old school b-boys getting their groove on. Until an evil space overlord gets infected by their universal beat. Will he claim the beat for his own demise or will the b-boys defend their territory? Budget: US$20 Contact: Roman Cortez Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm	Phase (Shawn Yashar, Los Angeles, CA, 2000, 4 min.) Synopsis: A man is mystified by the motion of Los Angeles, which appears to stand still for moments and then speed uncontrollably moments later. His confusion ends in the style of an automobile commercial, critiquing utopian living. Budget: US$1800 Contact: Shawn Yashar Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm
Moosh (Erez Tadmor, Natanya, Israel, 2000, 28 min.) Synopsis: A 32-year-old policeman named Moosh has a crumbling marriage with his absent wife. One night he finds an abandoned baby in an alley and must take care of the child over night until Social Services opens. Caring for the infant brings a touching reconciliation between husband and wife. Budget: US$20,000 Contact: Erez Tadmor Screening Time: Saturday 10:15pm