Long on Shorts

Nearly 20 flicks that last no more than 12 minutes each will roll on the Kent Stage screen for tonight's fifth annual Standing Rock International Film Festival. And the movies from as far as Australia and Italy rival their Hollywood-blockbuster counterparts. "You swear they're done in some high-tech studio somewhere, and you find out it's a guy shooting it in his bedroom," says Mike Hovancsek, the festival's director. "That's the real revolution in filmmaking right now." The films range from the 45-second Metamutography, about a moving lump of clay in a pair of hands, to Hovancsek's 12-minute silent film, Dysmorphic, which will unspool while rockers Root Doctor's Revenge play a live soundtrack. Massachusetts director Jeremy Mayhew will also screen his three-minute music video, Banana Ghost, which he describes as a nightmarish fantasy of "broken hearts, handlebar mustaches, and vagabond lice." "People are suddenly saying I can make a film with all this new computer software, put it on YouTube, and thousands of people might watch it," says Hovancsek. "It's inexpensive and efficient, but it's nice stuff." The fest runs from 8 to 10 tonight at the Kent Stage, 175 East Main Street in Kent. Tickets are $7 to $10. Call 330-677-5005 or visit www.kentstage.org.
Fri., Jan. 25, 8-10 p.m., 2008