Feeling a Bit Off? Dept.: Austin’s theatre glut is old news by now, including the closing of several prominent local movie venues, but hey, that only leaves more room for more innovative programming areas to be mined, right? In addition to smaller spaces like the ever-popular Ritz Lounge upstairs (320 E. Sixth) and the Cinemaker Co-op‘s nest at the ArtPlex (1705 Guadalupe) — both of which regularly act as screening houses for various small and locally shot projects — add up-and-comer (and aptly named) Off Center (2211-A Hildalgo), which features a slate of upcoming film and film-related events in the weeks to come. Located just off East Seventh (directly across from Chronicle photog Bruce Dye’s infamous Holy Eight Ball Studio), the warehouse-esque venue — home to the Rude Mechanicals theatre group — has played host to everything from raves to performance art events in the past, but now appears set to begin screening film works on a semi-regular basis. Mon., Jan. 8 at 8 and 9:30pm is a double bill featuring experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage‘s 1971 grand mal autopsy film The Act of Seeing With One’s Own Eyes. Not for the faint of heart, I’ll assume, but Brakhage’s work is never less than an arresting cinematic event. Also screening is performance artist/photographer/ Meat Joy gal (and former UT art professor) Carolee Schneeman‘s “dreamily sexual” work Fuses, shot from 1964-67. The event is co-sponsored by the Cinemaker Co-op and tickets are $5 for general admission/$2.50 for Cinemaker members. Also at the Off Center, Sat., Jan. 20, local indie stalwart Mocha Jean Herrup (you saw her coy-couple Celis TV spot last year) is presenting 2001: A Monster Pansy Ball, which will feature shorts, a live performance piece called Dragcapade, and a screening of Boston filmmaker Zack Stratis‘ family documentary Could Be Worse (which previously screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival). As for the short, Herrup promises the trailer for her upcoming doc Women in Uniform, “a couple of local shorts, one called ‘Lesbianage 4‘ and one by Deb Norris called ‘Pandemonium.’ I’m billing it as an evening of performative film and video,” says Herrup, “which is not necessarily about performance. Rachael Shannon, Samantha Peterson, and I wanted to integrate both performance and film in a way that I haven’t seen happen before, and provide a venue for queer works, however you’re defining queer.” Admission to the event is $8 and the films begin at 6pm… Career opportunities! Reel Women, an Austin-based nonprofit organization promoting the education, networking, and mentoring of women filmmakers, is seeking a project coordinator for its annual Film Forum. This is a part-time, paid position that will run Jan.-Sept. 2001. The coordinator will oversee all aspects of a three-day film event in Austin, including screenings, panel discussions, mentoring sessions, kids activities, and parties. Interested? E-mail Susan Kirr at runsarisk@aol.com… Thu., Jan. 4, at 7:30pm, the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival will present a screening of director Martin Donovan‘s acclaimed 1988 film Apartment Zero at the Arbor Theater. If you’ve never seen this dark comedy featuring Colin Firth as an introverted film buff and his “omnisexual” new roomie Hart Bochner, it comes highly recommended. Admission is $5 general/$4 aGLIFF members. More info can be had by calling 458-1515… Finally, local animation impresario Alan Ball announces that his innovative Web site 16Color.com — which allows users to animate their own short films on the Web without the nuisance of actually attending one of those hifalutin film schools — has unveiled version 2.0, which features a host of new innovations. Download the whole shebang at www.16color.com/download/2.0/.
This article appears in December 29 • 2000.