If you missed it at the local National Film Challenge screening at the Warehouse Theater or at Artomatic 2004, the hilarious (and perhaps a bit prophetic) mockumentary "Felt: Tearing the Fabric of America" is now available online. The short piece, produced by local groups Cavegirl Productions and Defectiv Films, was fully made over the course of one weekend and was recently named "Best Mockumentary" by the NFC. "Felt" was also named one of the top 10 films in the competition, which featured 151 entries from 35 states and D.C. At the Warehouse Theater screening, "Felt" had DCist -- and most of the audience -- in tears. We were especially impressed by the puppetry in the film, easily rivaling any episode of "Crank Yankers." more ›

With less than two weeks before the show closes, now's time to plan your trip to Artomatic. The annual artist-organized show has filled the former Capital Children's Museum with art of all kinds. Today, D.C. artist Mark Jenkins' tape men showed up at the Washington Post building asking for Blake Gopnik (see his spoof story), the author of the Post's scathing review of the show. (To their credit, the Post did create a special feedback page to deal with the response.) more ›

After a one year hiatus, Artomatic begins again, this time at the former location of the National Capitol Childrens Museum at the end of the culture-starved H Street corridor. The three-week long event begins at 7 PM tomorrow evening for an opening party with six music performances, a dance performance, and thousands of unique art displays. Though the event calendar on the website is still incomplete, planned during the event are numerous performances and showings... more ›

Think you have to work on a tight deadline? Imagine how some of the filmmakers having premieres in D.C. felt last month. Tonight, the Warehouse Theater is showing the D.C. area films from the National Film Challenge. The challenge (a sister project to the D.C. based 48 Hour Film Challenge) was to write and complete a short film over the course of one weekend. Participating teams were only allowed to organize their equipment, crew, locations, and cast before 7 P.M. on October 1st. At 7 p.m., teams were e-mailed a randomly generated genre as well as three plot elements required in their short film. All creative elements for the films, including writing, editing, soundtracks and casting, had to take place over the weekend, with the finished product sent to the Challenge headquarters by Monday, Oct. 4. Tonight, the D.C. area filmmakers and their fans will get to see the results. more ›