VisionFest 2005 I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of VisionFest 05: The Other Festival, whose tagline patriotically reads “promoting domestic filmmaking.” New York’s indie film festival celebrated its 5th year (formerly the Guerrilla Film & Video Festival) as a medium for disseminating good ol’ home-bred entertainment. Last weekend, film enthusiasts were treated to a cornucopia of visual treats ranging from feature films to shorts to animation to documentaries. The variety of subject matter decidedly provided for a well-rounded festival complete with post-film Q&A sessions with the directors and after-parties for the underground socialites that thrive on merrymaking. With a dirty martini in hand, I was a happy little girl.
For the opening ceremony, Put the Needle on the Record was the feature of the evening that was as entertaining as it was informative focusing on the annual Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida. It highlights the underground music scene that encompasses yet distinguishes the nuances between house, trance, drum and bass, and electronic just to name a few. First-time Director Jason Rem was on hand to provide us with his insights as to the movie’s production and where the film is heading. Considering his extensive background working in the industry (most notably at ESPN and Fox Sports), it was refreshing to listen to him as he was open, humble, and passionate about his project and thankfully lacked the pretension that inevitably surfaces, more times than not, in those holding fewer credentials (why is that?).
As an admitted non-pundit of the underground house world, I was amazed that I knew a even few of the DJs’ names (Paul Oakenfold, Junior Sanchez, Roger Sanchez). This was largely due in part to my 4 year stint in Italy where house music (obviously not just house, but for the sake of this review, I will refer to the genre in its entirety as “house”) is the predominant sound heard in nightclubs often times to my chagrin. That being said, there were over 50 big names interviewed in the movie with an intimate look into the enigmatic life of what was once the guy in the corner spinning records to now the life of the party. DJs have surpassed the lone man act and are now achieving superstar status manifest as Rem shows footage of fans requesting autographs on flyers and t-shirts. Martin Singer was honored with the VisionFest Editing award which was no doubt a difficult and well-deserved achievement considering the multitude of track arrangements alone that he had to compile to ensure the proper mood flow. Rem, as a tribute to the artists, will showcase the DJs’ work from the feature in a soundtrack album to continue to sponsorship of their craft. When the opportunity presents itself (and Rem is optimistic of the film’s imminent release), everyone should take the time to go out and see Put the Needle on the Record, it will have you groovin’ in your seats as you make immediate post-movie plans to hit up your local nightclub.
MORE INFORMATION Title: Put the Needle on the Record (2004)
Produced by: Joni Day, Producer, Helen Woo, Executive Producer
Genre: Documentary
Official Site: http://www.dj-film.com
Runtime: 83 minutes
For more information on VisionFest,
visit: http://www.domanivision.org
