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by Jen Scoville

A final showdown between man and machine has been argued to be inevitable, but
the battle between machine and machine (with man watching helplessly from the
sidelines) is about to be played out on Texas soil sooner than you can say J.G.
Ballard. And I think it’s going to give us a clear and frightening picture of
which side is currently on the offensive. Survival Research Laboratories will
bring their fire and brimstone phenomenon, The Unexpected Destruction of
Elaborately Engineered Artifacts, to Longhorn Speedway this Friday, March
28. Local cyberculturist and author Jon Lebkowsky talked with SRL headman Mark
Pauline last August when he was in town trying to find a venue that could
support the fiery tonnage of animated metal; look for the box in this section
for some of Pauline’s insights and information about how to attend the show.
Monsterbit Media will be helping with the Internet broadcast of the SRL
performance, using wireless T-I technology for the first time. This remote
technology will allow Monsterbit to send a digital signal more than 20 miles
away to their server. The broadcast will begin around 10pm on Friday, and can
be accessed at http://www.monsterbit.com/live/…

The Chicano/Latino Film Forum
is emerging from a winter respite with two special events. This Thursday, March
27, 7:30pm at the Resistencia Bookstore (2210-B S. First), the Forum will host
two works by Native Voices Public Television, Terry Macy and Daniel Hart’s
short White Shaman and Plastic Medicine Men (1995), a video attack on
the trade of Native American religious items by non-native profiteers, and
Without Reservations, Notes on Racism in Montana (1996), a documentary
short directed by Native American students. Weather permitting, the screenings
will take place under the stars, so call C/LFF at 708-0904 if a rain date
becomes necessary. On Monday, the group is presenting a screening of
Vocessitas (Little Voices), the film written and co-directed
(with Michael Swenson) by Dallasite Kim Flores, 7-9pm at the CMA Auditorium
(26th St. & Whitis) on the UT Campus. Vocessitas, a story about a
rape survivor’s spiritual healing accomplished with a mystical correspondence
crossing language barriers, was initially inspired by the notorious Dallas gang
rape involving three Hispanic girls who were assaulted by 30 men. Flores first
envisioned Vocessitas as a documentary, but the project evolved into
Flores’ first feature film. Filmmakers will be in attendance to answer
questions at each of the C/LFF events…

Austin Film Society (AFS)
screenings this week are as follows: the Sam Fuller Retrospective continues on
Tuesday, April 1, 7:30pm, at the Texas Union with the Korean War drama Steel
Helmet, arguably one of the greatest war films ever made, and a box-office
success that helped establish Fuller’s career. The Contemporary Israeli Film
Festival continues on Wed., April 1, 7:30pm, at the Dobie with Saint
Clara, a post-industrial, futuristic tale of a 13-year-old Russian
immigrant whose way with numbers makes her a secret weapon in a kids’
revolution.

This article appears in March 28 • 1997 and March 28 • 1997 (Cover).