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Fri. 12.19.08 @ Salvage Vanguard Theater in East Austin

In their ongoing mission to excavate the greatest finds in subterranean cinema history, the archaeologists behind the 3rd Annual Austin Underground Film Festival have delved deeper into the darkest recesses of the global brain’s collective unconscious than ever before to bring you stop-motion Argentinian graffiti bombings, Mexican revenge odysseys, Maltese gypsy documentaries and frank portraits of disaffected Parisian youth. Tales of animated lunacy, feminist go-go dancers and gore-soaked backyard kung fu epics will scorch your eyeballs from their sockets as you beg for a swift and merciful death which will never come. Then, just when you’re nihilistically adrift in the final throes of a celluloid-induced existential crisis and questioning all that you hold dear, they rescue you from the brink of the abyss and restore your faith in the fundamental decency of the human race with sketch comedy noir, no-budget 80s music video kitsch and Iranian love stories set in war-torn Afghanistan. Usher in the new year with classic retrospectives, studies in obscurantism, and brand new stick figure pathos by the master Don Hertzfeldt, plus tributes to Metal Slug, William Burroughs and Don Knotts.

Rock ‘n’ roll after party with HACIENDA, whose new album, produced by The Black Keys, has the critics gasping for superlatives, and THE STRANGE BOYS, whose new album Austin Scaggs of Rolling Stone describes merely as “the shit.” B.Y.O. Beer, Liquor, ‘Tussin, or whatever poison gets your teenage kicks. Here’s your chance to mingle with starving filmmakers, drink wine from a cup inside one of East Austin’s premiere venues, and observe real-life hipsters in their natural habitat and gain their trust by dropping words like “parallax” and “verite” until you move freely among them and feel like a discriminating member of the cognoscenti.

With falafels and beverages by Ararat, cookies by Starlet Sweets, complimentary Red Bull, door prizes by SmoCo smoke shop and I Luv Video, and free massages by Sherri Chapman. Artwork by painter David Ohlerking will be on display in the theater lobby. After party sponsored by Junior’s Beer & Wine and Live Music Capitol Magazine. The Capitol Production along with Austin Underground Productions will also be filming the bands for live music videos. Come be a part of the art while enjoying it with us.

Doors open at 6pm, pre-show 6:30, films @ 7:00. All ages, limited seating, advance tickets available now at AustinUndergroundFilm.com

Quicksand Under Carpet

Animator and recent Austin transplant Jay Hollinsworth directs this kinetic music video for the band New Radiant Storm King done as a newspaper microfiche hunt. Jay also designed the AUFF teaser trailer seen above.

Video Art

Filmmaker/musician Jon Clark, former drummer of the pioneering Nintendocore band Maniac Mansion, helms this playful ode to ’80s style.

Strange Magazine

Low-fi video magic by Austin local Frank Bochard spotlights the unique musical stylings of Vel.

Kings of Power Four Billion %

The latest from Paul Robertson, the animator who brought you Pirate Baby Cabana Street Fight, is a phantasmagoric pastiche of violent side-scrolling video game insanity set to a killer bitcore beat.

Falling From Mars

Tracie Laymon’s surreal visuals and evocative direction capture the soulful sound of singer Alyssa Suede.

Rattle and Confuse Me

Austinite James Oswald delivers an inspired portrait of local rock ‘n’ rollers Shapes Have Fangs that complements their vintage feel.

Eternal Flame

Leah Meyerhoff, whose music video “Team Queen” appeared in last year’s AUFF, now brings us a stylish video for Joan as Police Woman.

Everything Will Be Okay by DON HERTZFELDT

Chapter one of a trilogy comprising the most ambitious work yet by the uncompromising cult hero of outsider animation.

Muto by BLU

A stop-motion graffiti experiment on the streets of Buenos Aires.

DVD by CIRO ALTABAS

A Spanish comedy about love and film in the digital age.

Rabbit by RUN WRAKE

A modern day British fairy tale animated using a child’s sticker book for inspiration.

Made in Japan by CIRO ALTABAS

The story of the greatest alibi ever told.

Musika by ASIER URBIETAREN

A silent film featuring an amputee and his remarkable abilities.

The Life and Times of Drazen Paskaljevic by CHRIS BIANCHI

A documentary of a forgotten gypsy musical genius.

Film Noir by THE 313

An improv troupe plays with classic noir cliches and detective movie conventions.

Siyamo by MAHMOUD REZI SANI

Documentary on a young Iranian man who is compelled to go to Afghanistan in search of someone he saw in a dream.

RETROSPECTIVE SCREENING by TBA

To be announced.

Soccer Time by EDWARD HAWKINS

Two guys’ street game spirals into a nightmare of grueling terror.

El Mago Manani by VICTOR DRYERE PRO

A magician in Mexico outdoes himself with his most dangerous act yet.

A Belly Full of Anger by ANDRE PERKOWSKI

Trailer for American underground kung fu epic coming in 2010.

Hemisfair by OLIVIA HINOJOSA and YVONNE HERNANDEZ

Documentary history of San Antonio’s first world Hemisfair.

White Taxi by Ian Schranz

A taxi driver’s life is forever changed when he picks up a pregnant fare.

Un Dia de Anibal by SERGIO CARVAJAL

A couple’s relationship is threatened by a twist of fate.

Sk8boardin’ by JEFF RUBIN

A group of skaters proclaim the virtues of a lifestyle which rejects conformity and normalcy.

Baby Doll by TESSA HUGHES-FREELAND

A pair of feminist exotic dancers pontificate on the old art of disrobing and its stigma in society.

One-Eyed Don by BYRON BROWN

Portrait of one real life resident of this fair city, as interpreted and acted by his friend.

The Cat Inside by ANDRE PERKOWSKI

Beat legend William Burroughs muses on felines to hypnotic visual accompaniment.

Entracte by YANN GONZALEZ

Three young people in Paris challenge one another’s jaded outlooks towards life.

Mulched Midnight Memories of Don Knotts by ANDRE PERKOWSKI

An experimental audiovisual tribute to the late, great comic actor.

I Am So Proud of You by DON HERTZFELDT

The second installment in Don’s trilogy about an ordinary man named Bill. Don included a note with this film: “Please play loud.” Part III will be released in 2009.