THE 21st ANNUAL BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL Sundance is over. The Oscars are behind us. Which means, at long last, it’s time for the REAL Super Bowl of movies: The Boston Underground Film Festival! For over two decades, BUFF has provided the city with the cutting edge of cinematic weirdness and future cult classics, along with special guests, restored favorites, and mind-melting short upon mind-melting short. This year’s opening salvo is HAIL SATAN?, the latest film from acclaimed documentarian Penny Lane, about the meteoric ascendance of the Satanic Temple. Other selections at press time are the neon-colored queer neo-giallo KNIFE + HEART; HAPPY FACE, about a teen who fakes massive facial deformity to find acceptance in an unsuspecting support group; INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT, a documentary about Chicago’s legendary Wax Trax Records; and a repertory screening 3/20 - 3/24 of Sarah Jacobson’s ‘90s underground classic MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE. As always, keep Brattle an eye on the Hassle website for Theatre/hfa our Film Flam team’s in-depth coverage of the fest, and check out the BUFF site for ticket info and further tickets/pass info scheduling announcements. Or on bostonunderjust camp outside the box office. ground.com It’s the only way to make sure. For full schedule, tickets, & pass info visit BostonUnderground.org —Oscar Goff
when: where: how much:
With Melanie Bernier
HOW TO LEAD A ZERO WASTE LIFESTYLE
You’ve seen them floating around woke-y food establishments: disposable containers, cutlery, straws, and bags that claim to be good for the environment. They look like plastic, but feel kinda funny. Emblazoned on each are vague ecological prefixes that make us feel good: eco-this, bio-that, “green.” A leaf motif as if to say, “this cup is one with the land.” These freaky deaky disposables are made using bio-based polymers, dorkspeak for “bioplastics.” According to the Earth Institute at Columbia University, “bioplastics” are made from 20% or more of renewable materials. The multibillion dollar industry pumping ‘em out is new, so classifications are kinda squishy, but bioplastics are generally lumped into three categories: degradable, biodegradable, and compostable. It’s hard to tell if bioplastics live up to their lofty environmental claims. Are they actually superior to plastic? How does one accurately dispose of them? Can I eat it? Most importantly, why are questions about their origin met with drank-the-Kool-Aid answers like, “It’s made from potatoes!” Listen man, I’ve been around the potato block once or twice. I’ve defiled many a spud in the name of science and pleasure. Legend of my Allston Potato Bong predates Facebook. Don’t go telling me what is and ain’t potatoes! I’ve coined an acronym for disposable bio-based polymers: Single-Use Bio Plastics and Resins, or SUBPARs. SUBPARs aim to: Reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based polymers AND/OR Reduce landfill mass AND/OR Provide retrievable energy in the form of disposables AND/OR Cash in on our concerns about plastic waste. Sounds pretty woke-y, right? Now you can Shavasana in peace knowing the chalice for your post-yoga smoothie is one with the circle of life. Not so fast! SUBPARs are not, in and of themselves, good for the environment. Plastic or not, single-use products are wasteful by design. Additionally, SUBPARs create a host of disposal challenges for America’s waste municipalities. To learn more about SUBPARs, how to accurately dispose of them, and how to kick ‘em in the dick, visit melaniebernier.com/zerowaste!! —Melanie Bernier
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A Mouth Is A Mouth Noise Fest Part IV:
Evicshen, Birthday Ass, Johnnie and the Foodmasters, THIGHS, Pain Chain, Eric Baylies, Healers co, Klyam Haus Band
Photo by Corbin
Heavenly trumpets sound — Georden West’s vision of the Divine Queer is set to manifest at the end of March. In the upcoming show, West, in collaboration with menswear designer Jamall Osterholm, conjures a mythic landscape of religious figures clad in shimmering black. Seraphs, saints, and spirits, dressed in Osterholm’s designs, exude West’s prime influences: Queer bodies, heavenly figures, and historical context. It’s a fashion show, a lesson in the classics, and an immersive performance in one. West, in turn, plays the role of curator, director, professor, and artist. She was the recipient of the Annie Terrill Bushnell and the Nicole Kohn Film Awards and is an alumnus of Emerson College. Osterholm, a RISD grad and and NYFW veteran, explores blackness as an identity both in Patron Saint and in his greater portfolio. 3/21 His recent pieces invoke a sort of diachromatic Afrofuturism, himself a tailor for sleek aliens. Working in distillery combination, Osterholm and West Gallery have imagined a landscape full of unblinking elder gods covered in the ink of night. free Patron Saint is preparing to tour later in the year, but catch its very first installation at Distillery Gallery on 3/29.
Straight from Kids Like You & Me to your big old bulging earballs, the bands at this month’s A Mouth Is A Mouth Noise Fest might just blow off your peepers & peekers. Floss your brain with harsh noise from Lowell’s very own Pain Chain. Then, stuff your face with nostalgic supermarket-core kids Johnnie and the Foodmasters. Turn up at 4:20 sharp to catch the brand new upstarts, including a couple acts too outthere even for the internet. And keep a special (disembodied) ear out for standout strange birds Healers, who have put out three releases this year including a cassette on Ingrown Records. Their really happening June record, Live from Indecency, is dark comedy by the wails and whistles of your most distorted lofi dreams. With the brilliant, studied Victoria Shen headlining, you’re sure to feel the pulse of analog synths sucking you into the blades of Mouth Is A Mouth’s industrial fan and leaving you there. C’est la vie. Evicshen follows the scattered genius of Birthday Ass, Boston art rock mad-persons of ERASED! Tapes fame. Because if nothing has you there already, rest assured vocal3/16 ist Priya Carlberg’s lyrics and ar4:20-11:30p, rangements for trumpet, guitar, bass, drums, and sax will gently grate you into cheese. With all trixie's palace these sick weirdos around, we promise you’ll be able to stand through a seven hour show. Or $5-10 all ages will you levitate?
—Sophie Yarin
—Brieanna Martin
when: where: how much:
when: where: how much:
NOTES FROM THE CREW
PLACES
YOU CAN
H A N G Taco Party is a cherished Somerville eatery that makes the city, known for fluff and armories, hip among the sprouting McCondos and detour signage. Founded by Keith Schubert as a food truck in 2013 during the great food truck come-uppance, the shop went brick-and-mortar in 2015 in the Ball Sq. Neighborhood. Since then they’ve had a number of esteemed taco slingers among their ranks, including even yours truly, and also the Ex-Western Mass/ Hawaii now Somerville based general manager and lead taco sculptor David Benway. My personal favorite tacos, if I may be so bold to suggest, are the classic chorizo seitan and chimichurri tempeh tacos. And At an easy four bucks a taco, the one thing I love about Taco Party, aside from the fact they help you sort your change, is that the establishment is an indefatigable, yet accessible clarion call for veganism in a city with a steakhouse on every block. And while we here at the Compass and Hassle usually leave the preaching to Chicago’s avant-choir group Ono, reducing the amount of meat you eat in your diet is part of a greener and punker lifestyle. A new piece by Nature titled ‘Options for Keeping the Food System Within Environmental Limits’ suggests that western countries need to curb meat consumption by 90 percent to avoid the worst effects of climate change. While these esteemed scientists may not be the best at picking titles, they sure can read a thermometer and they’re telling you to get a taco. —Chris Hughes
THIS PAPER IS AN ONGOING PROJECT OF BRAIN ARTS ORGANIZATION, INC., A 501(C)(3) NONPROFIT. PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING TO, VOLUNTEERING OR OTHERWISE SUPPORTING US: BRAIN-ARTS.ORG
with Michael Mambrino
The “street team” has always been a thing in Brain Arts, but now it’s truly established as a community not only by our newly created Street Team mailing list but by us as a non-profit. I’m Michael. I joined Brain Arts a little over 6 months ago and it really changed my thoughts on promotion. You see the street team is in charge of a lot. They’re in charge of flyer printing and hanging, Compass printing and distributing, and various other forms of traditional promotion. You may think that because it’s a lot to handle it’s frustrating but hey… it’s actually really fun. You get to hang out with cool people in flyer hangs, see cool artwork before everybody else does on their local cafe bulletin board, and even make a change for the better. In this so-called "digital age” there’s less and less innovation in promotion because (sarcastically) why waste time with these up and coming weirdos when we can spend 350 dollars on the next music festival? Flyers bring back the awareness of these cool low-key events happening in your neighborhood that you wouldn’t have found out otherwise. So really… why look at limited opportuniabuot ties in your Facebook event page when you can just go outside, experience the real world for once, and flyer away! —Michael Mambrino
THIS PROGRAM IS SUPPORTED IN PART BY A GRANT FROM THE BOSTON CULTURAL COUNCIL, A LOCAL AGENCY WHICH IS FUNDED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS CULTURAL COUNCIL, AS ADMINSTRATED BY THE MAYOR'S