Remember that home video you made with your siblings when you were 10 years old? You know the one. You were probably wearing something you'd never be caught dead in today, belting a song (out of key) with horrifically cheesy lyrics. Thought you had thrown out that videotape long ago? Stop by the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline tonight for the Found Footage Festival, and you might just see some of those moments relived on the big screen.
The event celebrates all that is obscure, forgotten and embarrassing on film. The festival's two curators, Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, have gathered a range of videos from the most unexpected places: Dumpsters, garage sales, thrift stores and more. Showcasing these discarded gems, the two will provide a commentary and background on each found film.
The film scrounging process began very early for both Prueher and Pickett. Prueher told the Daily about how, while working at McDonald's in high school, he came across an outrageously funny training video for custodians and immediately showed it to his friend Pickett. "After that, we started to wonder what else might be out there, right under our noses," Prueher said. Their collection of video odds and ends became entertainment for their friends as well, and they began hosting small screenings of their favorites, complete with running commentary.
The found footage made its first public appearance in a theater in Manhattan, where Prueher and Pickett were surprised to see their show completely sold out. Coolidge Corner Theatre has hosted the Found Footage Festival before, but this is the first year in which the screening will take place in the evening rather than as a midnight showing.
Coolidge Theater Program Manager George Bragdon hopes the new time will allow older community members, as well as the younger crowd, to attend the event. He noted that the festival is always popular with college students. "They're crazy hungry for this type of thing," he said. "[The festival] includes the types of things that most people are looking up on YouTube every day, just ridiculous found culture. Here, they can enjoy it with a lot of other people."
Bragdon explained that the draw of the films is "that great element of surprise, the absurdity and insanity." For Bragdon, one of the most memorable videos from past showings was a Wendy's training video entitled "Grill Skills," featuring a sparkly spatula, talking hamburgers and catchy rap. "You laugh and think, 'Did somebody really make this in earnest?'" he said.
Even though they search the trash for other people's ridiculous films, Prueher and Pickett have their own fair share of embarrassing video moments as well. Prueher remembers a particularly horrifying home video from Disneyland in which he and his sister wore gaudy costumes and wigs while singing a duet. "At the time, I was not ascribing to the 'less is more' philosophy [clothing-wise]," he said. "And my sister's voice was deeper than mine."
The story gets better. Pickett got hold of the video in high school and arranged for it to be played on a local public access station while Prueher and his friends tuned in. Prueher promptly went to the station, demanded the video back, and then destroyed it with a hammer. In a calculated move of revenge, Prueher played a home movie of young Pickett practicing karate moves on Christmas morning during Pickett's wedding reception. Their publicizing of humiliating films is all in good fun, whether between each other or for the festival. "We're able to dish it out and take it, too," Prueher said with a laugh.
According to Prueher, audiences can expect a great variety of clips at the Found Footage Festival, ranging from "exercising celebrities" to "public access TV weirdoes" to cats. He encourages people to bring their own films to the show, as about half of what they will be presenting has been contributed by other people during their film tours. "We can only scour so many things ourselves," he said. "We love for other people to keep their eyes peeled. It's how we keep the show going."
For a night of gags and fun film, head to the Coolidge Corner Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
