Dallas Video Festival drill down and mini-reviews: The Perfect Cappucino and Nailin’ It To the Church

by John P. Meyer

There's a fascinating, genre-spanning lineup of films set for the four day run of the 2008 Dallas Video Festival (which is the 21st annual iteration of the event). Festival dates and times are:

* Thursday, Nov. 6 from 7 - 11:30 p.m.

* Friday, Nov. 7 from 7 - 11:30 p.m.

* Saturday, Nov. 8 from noon - 11:30 p.m.

*Sunday, Nov. 9 from 10:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.

All screenings will take place at the Angelika Dallas, where the films will be projected directly from iTunes. Ain't technology cool? (Except for those automated "SELL" routines, I mean.)

The easiest way to attend shows is simply to buy an all-festival pass ($75); alternatively, one may choose to purchase an all-evening pass on Thursday or Friday ($25 each); all-day-and-evening passes on Saturday or Sunday ($35 each); or admission to selected individual programs for $6 per. (Seniors - 60 and over - receive a $10 discount.)

Tickets can be purchased at the door or online; the following shows are individually-ticketed events, to which you may purchase tickets at the box office:

* Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation (Thurs., 7 p.m.), the result of three 12-year-old friends adapting Raiders of the Lost Ark shot-by-shot over the course of 7 years.

* Champ: The Steve Mitchell Story (Thurs. 8:45 p.m.), about a guy who considers himself a real-life Rocky

* Guts N Glory (Fri., 7 p.m.), a live performance event where teams shoot 100 feet of film (either Super 8 or 16 mm) in sequence then DVF develops it in time for event without the teams seeing it, meanwhile the teams create a performance piece to accompany their films at the Festival live event, in association with AFI

* Moral Kombat (Sun., 5:15 p.m.), a feature-length documentary on the controversy surrounding violent video games

* Les Couleurs d'Argent (The Color of Money) (Sun., 1:30 p.m.), about big money scattered along the presidential campaign trail (about $2 billion will be spent on this year's election race)

* Finding Kraftland (Sat., 2 p.m.), a glimpse into lives that are literally dripping with joy – a chance to experience a pure joy that comes not from drugs and sex, but from innocent childhood pursuits all grown up

* She Should Have Gone to the Moon (Sun., 7:30 p.m.), an inventive documentary that tells the story of Dallasite Jerri Truhill - member of a secret government project developed in 1961 (and subsequently disbanded) which trained women to be sent to the moon. Ms. Truhill will be in attendance.

* the Albert Maysles Award Presentation (Sat., 7:30 p.m.), with Maysles on hand to hand over the award bearing his name to documentary filmmaker Bradley Kaplan. The event will include a screening of the Maysles film, Running Fence

* SNL's Mr Bill: Oh Nooo! (Sat., 9:15 p.m.), in which the titular claymation character takes a look at the levees of New Orleans; and

* The Texas Show (Sun., 8:45), a juried compilation of short films and videos by Texans - followed by the Dallas Video Festival Awards Ceremony, including awards for Best Comedy Short, Dramatic Short, Experimental Short, Best Documentary, Best Narrative Feature and Best Video about Media. Star jury members scheduled to participate include Bryan Poyser, the Duplass Brothers, David Lowery, Moon Molsen and Sean Williams.

But don't be fooled by this short list. There's lots more that you can only see by attending with a festival or session pass. Films run the gamut from (it says here) "imaginative 30-second TV commercials to mesmerizing video art, compelling documentaries, surrealistic animation, innovative digital features and narrative shorts that surprise, inspire and entertain." (Note the flagrant and unapologetic use of glowing adjectives.)

Having previewed two of the scheduled documentaries (with more previewing to come), I can offer my opinion that - judging by this duo - the programming lineup is worthy of anyone's consideration.

The Perfect Cappuccino (screening Sun. at 10:30 a.m.) serves up 90 minutes of creamy caffeinated goodness as filmmaker Amy Ferraris chronicles her obsession with a beverage that has led her by the taste buds from Bologna, Italy to Tulsa, Oklahoma in search of - you guessed it - the perfect cappuccino. Amy's documentary plays like the Moby Dick of coffee house culture - and guess which white whale stands to receive a good harpooning? After presenting us with a primer on the history of espresso and the variables in play during cappuccino creation (hint: it's all about the barista), Amy dives into her more challenging subject matter: why is it that Americans are so enraptured with Starbucks? She presents her theory that we, as a coffee-drinking nation, are entering into the "third wave" of coffee culture, defined as: 1. Folgers, 2. Starbucks and 3. Independent, quality-conscious coffee bars that foster community while dispensing deliciously-addictive coffee beverages.

In Nailin' It To the Church, we're treated to an insider's view of the Christian-themed lampoon-style magazine, The Wittenburg Door, owned and operated by the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation. Through interviews with Ole Anthony, John Bloom (a.k.a. Joe Bob Briggs) and a host of other colorful characters, filmmaker Murray Stiller tells the twisty tale of this little engine of satire that could - and did - take down the mighty and powerful among the ranks of self-lampooning televangelists, most notably (former) Dallasite Robert Tilton. Some might be surprised at the devotion to Christian principles evidenced by the magazine's contributors and editors. They're not out to get the church: they're interested in sticking it - using the glue of outrageously insightful humor - to the people and organizations who would abuse church followers in the name of Jesus.

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