Besides the frightening presence of Joan Rivers on every entertainment channel, there may be only one thing you can predict about Oscar season. Every actress on the red carpet is thinner than you. You can avoid this strange and recurring phenomenon by exploring the assortment of films offered by the DC Independent Film Fest.
Hosted this year by the University of the District of Columbia, the DCIFF showcases a remarkably diverse array of independent films, with themes ranging from “Reality Bites: Documentaries” to “Inside Politics/Civil Rights” to “Love in the Wrong Places,” which, judging by its NC-17 rating, promises to be at least mildly titillating. The 11-day festival will showcase over 100 films in more than 30 categories. Each showcase, which costs only seven dollars for students, includes an animated short, short film or documentary and the featured film, and is followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.
Directors participating in the festival range from the internationally-renowned to amateur student filmmakers, and this year’s lineup looks promising across the board. On the Road to Bagan by Italian director Francesco Uboldi captures the social and political situation of the newly opened tourist destination of Myanmar through the eyes of a local farmer. The Hip Hop Project documents the evolution of an outreach program, geared towards cultivating hip-hop as an art and vehicle for self-discovery, created by a formerly homeless teenager. If you’re looking for something a bit more lighthearted, go see The Toll, an animated mockumentary about an evil troll who lives under a bridge and eats people, though all he really wants is to be accepted by society.
A new feature this year running in tandem with the film festival is the D.C. Independent Music Festival. Artists will showcase music that ranges from jazz and blues to soul, to accompany the post-screening receptions each evening. And if you’re curious to learn more about the industry, the music festival is offering “Music Composition for Film,” a two-hour, $25 how-to panel discussing the nuts and bolts of the film music industry on March 11, as well as free legal and artistic advice at the Music Conference on the 12th.
The award-winning festival kicks off March 1 and runs through the 11th, so if you’re sticking around D.C. for the break, you won’t want to miss it. Who needs Cancun when you can walk the streets of New York City, scale the mountains of Myanmar and hang out in Hedo, Jamaica—all without getting out of your seat?
DCIFF will be held this year at the DC Moving Image Center at UDC, 4200 Connecticut Ave, Auditorium 46. Opening and closing night film and reception cost $25, and tickets to all other film sessions are $7 for students and can be purchased online at boxofficetickets.com/dciff.
