WILLING TO EXPERIMENT

The term "experimental film"gets tossed around a lot without anyone really justifying the label. After more than 100 years of cinema, and with so many stories having been told, who are really at the forefront of the art form, operating completely outside of conventional storytelling?

For 2007, AFI FEST aimed to explore the fringes of cinema further than it had in recent years. In the past, AFI FEST and Filmex both showcased powerful experimental work, including world premiering the film 11X17 and having a Maya Deren Award for many years honoring the work of filmmakers who propelled the medium - 2007 should be a year returning to that form.

One of the best examples of this is the special event, "An Evening with Jennifer Reeves."Reeves will be at AFI FEST for one night only to do a live performance of her experimental film work. Reeves' short films have shown at some of the most respected museums and festivals around the world. Having her in L.A. for this special once-in-a-lifetime event is definitely a coup for AFI FEST.

Additionally, there are several other notable films that illustrate AFI FEST's renewed commitment to challenging, artistic cinema. You can find envelope-pushing visionary filmmakers in every section of this year's festival - even those who operate in narrative storytelling are doing so in boldly experimental ways. In the World Cinema Section, there is Santi Amodeo's DOGHEAD (aka CABEZA DE PERRO), from Spain, which literally takes us inside the heads of several off-kilter personalities. The film traces a few strange, lost days in the life of a teenager (Juan JosŽ Ballesta) with a nervous condition who is trying to find his way home.

Also in World Cinema is THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS from acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald. In this film, the images are constantly being chopped up across the screen. The screen is at times divided into two screens, or three or four, or sometimes too many to count. Some scenes are shown from not only multiple points of view, but multiple points in time. As these miniature frames move out across the black canvas, the truths of various characters are uncovered in most unexpected ways.

In the American Showcase, there are a number of films which tell stories in quite unusual ways. Certainly more mainstream in cast, but still groundbreaking in its attitude towards narrative, is JJ Lask's ON THE ROAD WITH JUDAS. Multiple actors (Aaron Ruell, Kevin Corrigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Leo Fitzpatrick) portray the same characters as Lask tells the story of a film based on a book about large-scale thievery that he actually wrote. It's such a cinematic and articulate film in the grammar of cinema that it is nearly impossible to do the experience justice in print.

Another new point of view in the American Showcase is Adam Rifkin's LOOK. This film is shot entirely from the point of view of security cameras and follows the storylines of various characters from this seemingly limitless perspective. While this idea for framing a film might sound gimmicky, the result is anything but. The film is an articulate examination of how society and technology affect each other. The film suggests surveillance culture is inevitable, but how we live in the brave new world has yet to be determined.

The most experimental section of AFI FEST has traditionally been the shorts program, and this year is no exception. Be sure to see LIFE AND TIMES OF GARY COOPER STARRING ROBERT KENNEDY, an intriguing film that actually pays off on the promise of its title. TEARGAS & PLATEGLASS 'ONE DAY ACROSS THE VALLEY' is a kaleidoscopic vision of the horror of war. Hester Scheurwater's BABY is a provocative and strange two-minute short that simply depicts a woman holding a baby with little or no emotion in her face. The short film BLACK AND WHITE TRYPPS NUMBER THREE, shot during a performance by Rhode Island noise band Lightning Bolt, is the third part in a series of films dealing with naturally-derived psychedelia. These are just a few of the hardcore non-narrative shorts screening this year. There are of course many other outrageous, original and brilliant examples of the short form that actually have story arcs of some sort (even if they only begrudgingly reveal them).

It's going to one of the strangest and most wonderful years for AFI FEST in a long time, as the festival has become a fantastic place to experience the cutting edge international film experimentation.