SOUTH BAY FILM FESTIVAL MAY 6, 2007

Each year over 40,000 people travel to Black Rock City in the Nevada desert to participate in an experience that is wholly unlike any found in modern society. For one week in late August they become part of an experimental temporary community, one which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in day-to-day life. The result of this experiment is Black Rock City, home to the Burning Man event. (http://www.burningman.com)

The Burning Man Film Festival is an amazing collection of work in the spirit of the radical self-expression of Burning Man. The films and shorts included in this festival pan several years of the event, starting in 1991 through 2003. Special guest Andie Grace (actiongrl@buringman.com), Burning Man’s Communications Manager and Regional Network Manager will be our MC, and will be on hand to speak about the past, present and future of Burning Man.

6:15 PM – Doors open

6:30 PM – One Minute to Burn – by Bad Dog Films (2001)

This cinematic buffet of Burning Man highlights is comprised of 51 short videos, each capturing a moment of random creativity and spontaneity that make Burning Man so vibrant. This Festival Version contains 21 minutes of segments, each only around one minute long. Atmospheric and experimental, each segment is filmed and directed with a different technique.

6:50 - 7:00 – Introduction by Andie Grace

7:00 – 7:30 – Burning Man 1991 – by Larry Harvey (1991)

Larry Harvey accounts the journey from Baker Beach to Black Rock - A dried lake bed encircled by a mountain range, sitting undisturbed for the last 30,000 years, and staging ground-zero for a soon-to-develop cultural movement. A glimpse of the earliest days of Burning Man including some of the first acts of gifting and creativity – watch the Man being raised by a rope tugged by 80 people and see the roots of a worldwide phenomenon take hold.

7:30 – 7:45 – Intermission

7:45 – 9:30 – Beyond Black Rock - by Mike Wilson and Damon Brown (2003)

This first-ever authorized documentary goes behind the scenes for an authentic peek at the inner workings of Burning Man - from the inside out. Beyond Black Rock explores the philosophy that fuels this unique social revolution, and the tireless organizers, artists and participants who create and nurture a worldwide cultural force. Features artists David Best, Bob “Wizzard” Marziewski, and Rafael Santiago, as well as many great theme camps and performers and Burning Man’s staff and volunteers.

9:30 – 9:45 – Closing comments by Andie Grace – Where Burning Man is now, and the future of Burning Man (Regional Network, Greening the Man, Burners Without Borders, and more!)