A BENEFIT FOR JESCO WHITE'S NEW HOT WATER HEATER

DANCING OUTLAW - director: Jacob Young
DANCING OUTLAW II: JESCO GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - director: Jacob Young
If you don't know about Jesco by now, where have you been? What started out as a 1991 West Virginia public TV documentary has ended up an Emmy award winning bonafide cult film. DANCING OUTLAW introduces us to Jesse White - a man with three identities; he's Jesse ("a beautiful man"), he's Jesco ("the devil") & he's Elvis (uh... that's right, Elvis). He's the last great mountain dancer since his father died of a gunshot wound. He has a colorful family. His story has impressed people all over the country, including Roseanne Barr - who invited him to make a cameo on her show, thus inspiring the sequel, JESCO GOES TO HOLLYWOOD. Truth is stranger than fiction, and you need to see the true life adventures, heartaches, family get togethers, arguments, feuds and mountain dancing of Jesco and his family.

Those already familiar with Jesco may have heard the rumors that were going around. But the truth is Jesco DID NOT kill his wife - they separated. He is NOT in jail - he's staying at his mom's trailer because his burnt down - destroying all of his Elvis memorabilia. Yes, Jesco is alive and well and trying to raise money for a new hot water heater, and all ticket sales for this screening will go towards that cause. Donations of Elvis memorabilia are also welcomed.

ROBERT BANKS RETROSPECTIVE:

X: THE BABY CINEMA - 4.5 minutes, 16mm,
MY FIRST DRUG, THE IDIOT BOX - 5.5 minutes, 16mm,
M.P.G.: MOTION PICTURE GENOCIDE - 4 minutes, 35mm,
YOU CAN'T GET A PIECE OF MIND: THE ULTIMATE ROCU-DRAMA - 65 minutes, 16mm

It seems like every year at the underground film festivals, you can count on seeing the latest from Cleveland filmmaker, Robert Banks. The interesting thing about Banks' work is you never know what to expect. This retrospective features two of his earlier, award-winning shorts, MY FIRST DRUG, THE IDIOT BOX and X: THE BABY CINEMA (the latter being a mesmerizing experimental piece that appears on the Best Of The New York Underground: Year One video). His latest, M.P.G.: MOTION PICTURE GENOCIDE, was made from scraps left over from another film and tells Banks' commentary on the current state of the mainstream film industry. However, the film we recommend is YOU CAN'T GET A PIECE OF MIND, a documentary about underground Cleveland music legacy Dan Smiley (aka Supie-T). Dan is a shell shocked Vietnam vet turned punk rock singer who talks the ears off of any member of Cleveland's underground music scene willing to listen to him. He has achieved legendary status not just for his baffling "cutting edge" performances, but also for his long-running infatuation with a female college radio disc jockey. While she has taken to avoiding Supie-T, he makes suicide threats to bring her out of hiding. Banks suffered two years making this, despite the lack of cooperation from Supie's bandmates and occasionally Supie's unwillingness as well. WARNING: The reality of this documentary might creep you out, but at least you'll know you'll only be watching it on a screen and not experiencing it in real life.

SORE LOSERS - 80 minutes, 16mm on video, director: John Michael McCarthy

Written and directed by comic book creator J. Michael McCarthy (TEENAGE TUPELO), The SORE LOSERS is a film for fans of Horror, Sci-fi, and Juvenile Delinquency Films of the past plus Lo-fi Garage and Punk Rock music. Set in present day Northeastern Mississippi and Memphis, Blackie (Jack Oblivian) returns to Earth 42 years after his first visit, having been given a second chance by The Elder of the Lo-Fi Frequency (Sexploitation pioneer of the '50's and '60's DAVID F. FRIEDMAN) to finish his original mission. He hooks up with his old friends Mike (Mike Maker), Kerine (Kerine Elkins) and Goliatha (D'lana Tunnell) to kill hippies, while being pursued by the 'FBI' from outer space, The Men In Black (played by Tokyo punks GUITAR WOLF). SEE HOODLUMS vs. HIPPIES! SEE an Angel descend from Heaven ... with a beer in her hand! SEE the screens first catfight IN AN ELECTRIC CHAIR! SEE David F. Friedman in his first role in 25 years! SEE the city of Memphis leveled by powerful forces from outer space! SEE the Flashback Hippie Party Death Scene! SEE a lime green AMC Pacer in a weird face off with a UFO powered '55 Chevy! SEE an asylum where the Headnurse hasn't aged in 42 years! SEE THE NEW FILM FROM BIG BROAD GUERRILLA MONSTER!!!

KID NEW YEAR & BILLBOARD -
8 minutes, 16mm director: Michael Dante DiMartino

Anime rivaling animation with lots of jokes and sight gags. Kid New Year plays video games on the video screen on his buddy, Billboard's chest, while riding around underground in an ice cream truck searching for the Holy Grail. Things get crazy when competition arrives in the form of the baby-tee wearing, lunchbox toting, rival girl gang - the Alligator Girls. Director Michael Dante DiMartino is one of the people behind TV's "King Of The Hill."

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB: THE FILMS OF JEFF KRULIK & FRIENDS - 90 minutes, video

DC filmmaker Jeff Krulik brings a collection of mind-blowing videos made over the years by him and his friends. The most well known, and anticipated, is HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT - essentially a trip to the Capitol Center (US Air Arena) parking lot before a 1986 Judas Priest / Dokken concert to meet the colorful folks who showed up early. Must be seen to be believed - it'll make you embarrassed to be human. As if that weren't enough, Jeff returned 10 years later to make a sequel, NEIL DIAMOND PARKING LOT. And that's just a taste - expect to see wrestling star, Classy Freddie Blassie - King Of Men, take a day trip to our nation's capitol, Earnest Borgnine tour the country in a bus, a man who collects porn, and outtakes from some of the craziest public access shows imaginable.

REPAST -
15 minutes, 16mm, director: Paul E. Burke Jr.

The story of a guy who uses his psychic abilities to become "Foodini" - capable of analyzing your handwriting and then telling you what you had for dinner last night. It's a pretty good living until the cannibal shows up. Chattanooga, Tennessee's Paul E. Burke Jr. was a projectionist at Slumdance back in January and currently sets up film screenings in his home town in between working on his own films.

TERMINAL U.S.A. - director: Jon Moritsugu
Many fans of Jon Moritsugu (MY DEGENERATION, MOD F*CK EXPLOSION, FAME WHORE) have heard about his TERMINAL U.S.A. because of the controversy surrounding it. Now's their chance to finally see it. Described as "Father Knows Best" meets "Pink Flamingos", TERMINAL U.S.A. is a hilarious, post-punk apocalyptic soap opera about a disfunctional Asian-American family - with Moritsugu playing a dual role as twin brothers Kazumi and Marvin, one of them an ultra-grungey drug dealer and the other a computer nerd with a secret hankering for phone sex with skinheads. Their mother is addicted to their grandfather's medication. Their sister, Holly, is a pregnant nymphomaniac cheerleader. And their father is a country music fan preparing the clan for Armageddon. This family is on a one-way path to domestic doom in this outrageous farce filled with blood, guts and kitsch.