Movie Madness Grips The Old Pueblo. By Stacey Richter THE ARIZONA INTERNATIONAL Film Festival is back for the sixth year, bringing a variety of hard-to-find independent, short, local and experimental films into our own backyard. There's something for pretty much everyone at this year's festival, which has been programmed with an eye on diversity and the interests of Tucsonans. "A lot of the audience in Tucson thinks the festival is just for filmmakers," says festival director Giulio Scalinger, "but it's really for the whole community." Scalinger has made a point of finding films of interest to Native Americans, Latinos, African Americans and gays and lesbians, as well as looking for the best in the kind of recent, independent films that are too non-commercial to play at the multiplex (and sometimes even The Loft). In past years, The Arizona Film Festival has brought to town early films by directors like Bryan Singer, who went on to make The Usual Suspects; last year, it was the only venue in town that played Georgia, which earned an Academy Award nomination for actress Mare Winningham. Of course, risks don't always pay off, and as with any film festival, some of the films are probably too weird for some people. But it's well worth the effort to ferret out the gems. This year's festival has several special programs, including a 25th-anniversary celebration of the New York-based Women Make Movies, an organization dedicated to the distribution and exhibition of films made by women. Included are Two or Three Things But Nothing For Sure, an experimental documentary about novelist Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina; The Lost Garden, a documentary about the first woman filmmaker, Alice Guy-Blache, who made more than 700 films during her lifetime--"every female filmmaker should see this one," says Scalinger--and A Healthy Baby Girl, by Judith Helfand, whose mother was given the hormone DES during her pregnancy to "ensure a healthy baby." Even though they knew it was ineffective and carcinogenic, drug companies continued to market DES to pregnant women for years, and Helfand made the film as a response to being diagnosed with a rare, DES-related form of cervical cancer. Also showing is Caught, a feature film by director Robert M. Young, who is receiving the first Arizona Independent Film Award. "Young represents everything that's important about independent filmmaking," Scalinger says. A veteran independent filmmaker for over 30 years, Young has made award-winning documentaries and well-reviewed feature films. Caught is the story of a young drifter who disrupts the comfortable life of a middle-aged couple (Edward James Olmos and Maria Conchita Alonso). It's been called "smart, sexy and passionate." Young and screenwriter Edward Pomerantz, as well as actor Arie Verveen, will be present after the Friday screening to answer questions. If you're looking for something stranger, head over to see Shock Asylum (and other twisted tales), a series of short films by Dan Dinello. Shock Asylum, "a twisted black comic tale of a routine psychological evaluation gone horribly awry," was voted Best Film at the New York Underground Film Festival, and was made in partnership with Paul Dinello, Dan's nephew and a former member of Chicago's Second City comedy troupe. Also playing are other short films by Dinello, including How to Be Popular, "a perverse version of a '50s propaganda film promoting proper dating etiquette," and Skarves, "the tale of two Swedish brothers searching for meaning within the folds of their mother's scarf." Other noteworthy short films include Pretty Vacant, about a Mexican American riot grrl (who publishes a zine about the Sex Pistols, The Virgin of Guadalupe and Bikini Kill) whose big plans are disrupted by a family reunion in Mexico, and Pancho and Frank, a spoof on Chicano stereotypes by local producer Ruben Reyes. Independent features are the heart of the festival, and this year there are many. Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day, the story of a Chinese American guy fighting to restore a short-track railway in Yosemite is "one of the most incredible black-and-white films I've ever seen," says Scalinger. It received the Best Cinematography Award at last year's Sundance film festival and features rock star Michael Stipe in a dramatic role. Also playing is Johns, the story of a pair of street hustlers, featuring Lukas Haas, the young cutie from Independence Day. And that's just the beginning. The festival runs from April 17 through 27, with films showing at various venues around town. Program guides and tickets are available at The Screening Room as well as at Antigone Books, The Book Mark, Borders (in Tucson and Phoenix), Jeff's Classical Records, Mostly Books, the Gallager, The Loft, and Crossroads Festival cinemas.

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