Sound Unseen 2009

Director Cory McAbee Present! A dangerous mission reunites Stingray Sam with his long lost accomplice, The Quasar Kid. Follow these two space convicts as they earn their freedom in exchange for the rescue of a young girl who is being held captive by the genetically designed figurehead of a very wealthy planet. Stingray Sam is BNS Productions’ second sci-fi musical, featuring music by the band The Billy Nayer Show. Stingray Sam is a feature length film divided into six episodes that combines live action, graphic collages and illustrations, photo montages and animation to tell a story of the future, based on themes of modern times, created for the new frontier of technology, with an old-fashioned sensibility borrowing on the traditions of sci-fi, westerns, singing cowboy serials and musicals of classic American film. It has been designed for screens of all sizes. Critic’s Quotes: “ The overall effect is hilariously digressive, campy yet deadpan. And awfully catchy: McAbee's songs range from a "Rawhide"-like theme tune to swinging '60s acid rock, cowpunk and an acoustic "Pretty Little Lullaby. " – Variety “ A cross between Eraserhead and Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang ” - Movie Magazine International “ It's quite unlike anything else. ” - New York Post

Trimpin: The Sound of Invention is an amusing journey through the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius. Artist/inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin shuns the hype and hyperbole of the commercial art world – yet his freewheeling sculptures and outrageous musical experiments are cherished by museums all over the planet. Filmed over two years, this cinema verite documentary feature follows the artist/inventor as he devises a perpetual motion machine, builds a 20-meter tower of automatic electric guitars, and collaborates with the Kronos Quartet on an outrageous world premiere. The film will delight anyone interested in the mysteries, pitfalls, and sheer joy of creative experiment. Critics quotes: " A genius at circuitry and machinery as well as acoustics and musical structure, he manufactures orchestras that play themselves ." - The Village Voice

Until The Light Takes Us tells the story of black metal. Part music scene and part cultural uprising, black metal rose to worldwide notoriety in the mid nineties when a rash of suicides, murders, and church burnings accompanied the explosive artistic growth and output of a music scene that would forever redefine what heavy metal is and what it stands for to other musicians, artists and music fans world-wide. Until The Light Takes Us goes behind the highly sensationalized media reports of "Satanists running amok in Europe" to examine the complex and largely misunderstood principles and beliefs that led to this rebellion against both Christianity and modern culture. To capture this on film, directors Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell moved to Norway and lived with the musicians for several years, building relationships that allowed them to create a surprisingly intimate portrait of this violent and misunderstood movement. The result is a poignant, moving story that’s as much about the idea that reality is composed of whatever the most people believe, regardless of what’s actually true, as it is about a music scene that blazed a path of murder and arson across the northern sky. This film is not rated but contains graphic violence that may not be suitable for anyone under 17.

Director Ondi Timoner Present! Ten years in the making and culled from 5000 hours of footage, We Live in Public reveals the effect the web is having on our society, as seen through the eyes of “the greatest Internet pioneer you’ve never heard of”, artist, futurist and visionary Josh Harris. Award-winning director Ondi Timoner ( DIG! which also won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2004, also screening in Sound Unseen, this year) documented his tumultuous life for more than a decade to create a riveting, cautionary tale of what to expect as the virtual world inevitably takes control of our lives. Harris, often called the “Warhol of the Web”, founded Pseudo.com, the first Internet television network during the infamous dot-com boom of the 1990s. He also curated and funded the ground breaking project “Quiet” in an underground bunker in NYC where over 100 people lived together on camera for 30 days at the turn of the millennium. With Quiet, Harris proved how we willingly trade our privacy for the connection and recognition we all deeply desire, but with every technological advancement such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, becomes more elusive. Through his experiments, including a six-month stint living with his girlfriend under 24-hour electronic surveillance which led to his mental collapse, Harris demonstrated the price we pay for living in public. Featuring music by, The Jesus & Mary Chain, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, The Pixies, Sigur Ros and Jamiroquai. Variety & Minnpost.com Film critic, Rob Nelson, will be on hand to moderate a Q & A with Timoner, following the screening. Critic’s Quotes: “ Bone-chilling. Darkly funny. Astounding .” - Rob Nelson, Variety “ Riveting. A compelling cautionary tale .” – New York Times “ Remarkable. Mesmerizing !” -LAWeekly