Went yesterday to Richmond to see as much as I could of the Virginia Independent Film Festival. I rolled up to the beautiful Byrd Theater just in time to see the short features getting underway. The award for best short went, along with my audience vote, to two Charlottesville teenagers, Chris Yeaton and Jared Carlisle, who submitted "Paperchase," a cool piece of animation that they’d made at LightHouse here in town.
Wherein an animated man searches for his dog. More words below the clip.
Also featured in the festival was a wild, full-length film by Charlottesville’s own Brian Wimer Mantra (screened well beyond Feedback’s bedtime). But I did catch Blue Ridge, a feature shot entirely in Charles County over the course of a month on Super 16, which riffs heavily on Terrence Malick’s 1977 classic Badlands, but in the end was a cool, calm and ultimately impressive effort from director Vincent Sweeney. And it won best feature, as well as the audience award.
There’s even a character named Kit in Blue Ridge. More words about other stuff below.
Feedback also made the obligatory stop at Plan 9′s extensive vinyl vault in search of buried treasures. When the spelunking was done, I found myself before the bin of 7" singles, where there was a fresh batch of Leonard Cohen 45s sent from Columbia Records with minimal cardboard packaging that recalls the DIY cover work that makes some of my favorite records feel oh-so-special. On one of the corners a sticker read, "THINK INDIE,"—which led me to think, "HUH?"
After all, Columbia Records, is part of Sony Records, the second biggest of the four major music companies. For a moment I felt the way environmentalists must’ve felt when WalMart rolled out their broad line of organics. (The suits are engaged in a ploy to wrest the term from the pierced tongues of bohemians worldwide!) But when I caught my breath I went to the website and found that Think Indie is a "consortium of independent record retailers determined to bring true music lovers back to the stores that make a difference." In the end, it turned out to be an effort to sell stuff in independently owned record stores—do the corporate ones even exist?—on the fourth annual Record Store Day (April 17 this year).
Consider this far-too-long article that ran in PASTE this January, which asks the question of whether "indie", if it was ever alive, is dead. Like organics in supermarkets, it may be the case that independent record stores like Plan 9 need to stock the popular, less healthy stuff so Feedback can get the goods that cater to his often marginal interests. Whatever you think, let my near-brush with a corporate product be a warning: know yr labels.
