Photo Credit Nick Cross' The Waif of Persephone

As one of the shorts programs runs behind by ten minutes, the Atlanta Underground Film Festival projectionist runs out with profuse apologies. "We do this by ourselves," he explains, "...as you can probably tell." Despite the schedule running late, however, and the fact that the projections of the DVDs run off a Mac laptop, a quirk which cuts a pause between each screening of the shorts, there's an overall feel of enthusiastic energy tempered by a calm professionalism here. It's low-key, low-fi and harkens to the idealism of college. There's a comfort and an easiness to everyone who walks through the doors of the venues, particularly The Plaza, the old indie house where I spend the vast majority of my time in screenings.

AUFF Director of Programming Eric Panter hustles around between the festival's four venues, keeping a careful eye out for quality, just as he had initially in setting the line-up. In its fourth year, AUFF has built up a reputation for offering eclectic screenings. From Anna Biller's oddball social commentary with the knock-off sexplotation film Viva to a solid program of animation shorts from artists including Patrick Smith, Nick Cross, Pendleton Ward and Allan Plenderleith, the selections this year did justice to that history.

For those readers out there unable to attend the event, throughout the issue, you'll see reviews, blog links and videos connected to all things out of the AUFF. Sadly, you'll still have missed the live action roleplay/strip tease/theatrical goofiness leading up to the screening of Don Chaffey's Jason and the Argonauts. Otherwise, though, we'll do our best to recreate some of the childlike wonder of our own experience in both word and frame.

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