David Pike takes pride in the fact the movies shown at his Arizona Underground Film Festival are anything but ordinary.
“The idea is to play movies that are vastly different than what you might see at other events like the Arizona International Film Festival or the Tucson Film and Music Festival,” Pike said. “Some of the movies at the Underground festival are extremely edgy. Filmmakers have to think outside of the box in how they go about their stories.”
This year’s fest runs from Friday, Sept 13 to Sept. 22 at the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress, downtown.
Pike, who runs the Screening Room and works at BrinkVision when he isn’t arranging large-scale film events, has nearly 60 movies in store for this year’s Arizona Underground, pared down from more than 400 submitted for consideration.
Among the offerings:
- “Mentally Al,” a film that follows Al Lubel, a former “Star Search” grand champion who has fallen on hard times (Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.)
- “Name,” a documentary that looks at the significance of names and how given names can shape lives (Saturday at 5 pm.)
- “A Ship of Human Skin,” described as “a gothic tale of mysticism told like a true crime story” on the festival’s website. (Saturday, Sept. 21 at 6 p.m.)
Pike said “A Ship of Human Skin” is a “great experimental crime movie,” that falls in line with what the Arizona Underground Film Festival is all about.
“The festival has always showcased experimental filmmaking,” Pike said. “If you are familiar with these types of film festivals across the country, that is kind of the underground ethos.”
Local filmmakers are also on the schedule.
“Revenge of Zoe”(2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22) is a locally made comedy that follows a screenwriter who grapples with his own mind while attempting to write a follow-up script to a successful comic book film.
And “Foosballers,” (8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20) features Tucson native Robert Mares and was directed by University of Arizona graduate Joe Heslinga. It looks at the world’s best foosball players as they prepare for the sport’s main event: The Tornado Foosball World Championships.
“They are coming back to Tucson for the screening,” Pike said. “We are excited about that one.”
Pike says each film chosen for this year’s festival was picked with the audience in mind.
“When people buy tickets, they want to see a really good movie,” he said.
