Resfest Digital Fest Arrives in Asia
September 3 - December 7 (various cities worldwide)

"Independent film" may have become synonymous with studio giants like Miramax or festivals like Sundance, but Resfest Digital Festival is one event that puts the spirit back in the term "indie." Because of advances in digital technology, more and more artists are turning to digital technologies to create their work. This year, Resfest received more than 1200 submissions from around the world. The common thread is their roots in digital technology.

After stops in Seattle, Los Angeles, Montreal, London, and New York, the festival heads to Asia this month, wrapping the year 2000 in Osaka after a stop in Tokyo from November 24-26. In Tokyo, the fest will take place at the Laforet Museum Harajuku, which was constructed in the 80s atop the hip Laforet department store in heart of Harajuku, which Resfet calls "ground zero" for Japanese youth culture for sending "out the new wave of Tokyo and international art movements." The museum hosts all sorts of art events, including film festivals, installations, art exhibitions and concerts. In Osaka, the fest will take place in the MBS Hall, which has been used for open TV program recording, movie screenings and cultural events and seats 480 spectators.

Resfest films are certainly an eclectic group, divided into categories such as animation and live-action movies. From here they are divided further into short shorts, long shorts, features, music videos, and absurdist comedies and this year's newest section, "Net Cinema." One film highlight this year is Wave Twisters made by Erin Henry and Syd Garon. Inspired by the sounds of DJ QBert of the San Francisco music scene, the feature length animation was designed to accommodate these sounds (much like Disney's Fantasia). Another festival offering that has generated some buzz of its own is Sam the Man, shot entirely in mini DV and starring Anabella Sciorra and Luis Guzman.