Saturday, Oct. 4, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, 2-8 p.m. Doors open at 1:30.

For those in need of playa-fying, Heidi Rose will be running The Funkifier, a costume and accoutrements theme camp in miniature for those who desire to look Playa Fabulous. Also on hand will be Bob Hoffman with his Bonefires, Steve Hosking with his Dragons of Eden installation, Shane Rogers of Burning Sky showing off some of the skydiving cameras used to capture footage of this year's event, and Kara Snider of Nocturnal Sunshine, displaying some of the tools used in fire performance. Members of Spock Mountain Research Labs will be distributing copies of two previously unreleased 2003 issues of the Spock Science Monitor and Kiki Pettit will display pieces from her Egeria installation. (Skydiver photo courtesy Thom van Os).

We'll also have a slide show of 2003 images by Kurt Jensen of Monterey and audio from Playaphone, Mutaytor, KSVERT, Playasound and longtime burner Connie Champagne.

Tickets: $15 at the door, $12 if you bring three cans of food, which will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. Children under 12 are free. Playawear is always encouraged. For more info call 831-335-9643, email santacruz@burningman.com. Reminder: The Rio does not allow food or drinks in the theater.

Afterburn gathering
Please join us after the event at an afterburn party at The Crepe Place, right across the street from the Rio. The owners have reserved their large outdoor space for us to meet after the film festival. It's a great local hangout that has a full bar and a great menu if you want to grab a bite to eat or if you just want to keep the conversations going after the event. They have outdoor gas heaters, but it would be wise to bring a sweater. If you're interested in attending, please RSVP at santacruz@burningman.com. The restaurant owners have asked us to give them a ballpark headcount so they can staff accordingly.

Driving directions
If you're coming in from San Francisco or Silicon Valley, take Highway 17 over the Santa Cruz mountains. Highway 17 turns into Ocean Street (don't take the Highway 1 offramp - stay to the left). Go to the fourth stoplight and turn left onto Soquel Avenue. Go to the second stoplight and you will see the Rio Theatre on the left. The address is 1205 Soquel Avenue. Here's a map.

If you're thinking of staying overnight, your best bets are probably the Days Inn, the Best Western Suites and the Econo Lodge. All are centrally located and reasonably affordable.

In order of appearance, what follows is a schedule and brief descriptions of each piece:

2 p.m. - Trailer for Beyond Black Rock
2:05 p.m. - Dust Devils

Break

3:10 p.m. - Trailer for Firefall: The Egeria Project
3:15 p.m. - Sensation - A Trip To Burning Man

Break

4:20 p.m. - Performance by Nocturnal Sunshine
4:40 p.m. - Folding Time
4:50 p.m. - Black Rock Burning

Break

5:35 p.m. - Mid-production trailer for Beyond Black Rock
6:05 p.m. - Talk by Burning Man director Larry Harvey
6:25 p.m. - Karma Burn

7 p.m. - After Party (Please RSVP)

Beyond Black Rock movie trailer
BM2002, three minutes, by Mike Wilson and the Gone Off Deep crew
We'll be showing a longer piece from Gone Off Deep later in the day, but they had some fun putting together a parody trailer on Burning Man.

Dust Devils
BM2001-2002, 51 minutes, by Aprile Blake and Dearbhla Glynn
Once a year, far out on a vacant expanse of the Nevada Desert USA, a most surreal city arises from the cracked desert floor. It houses a medley of themed camps constructed out of outlandish sculptures and interactive installations, whilst lavish art cars and a zany array of costumed characters cruise the virtual streets. Here, 25,000 people gather to experience the world’s most unique community arts gathering; Burning Man. This visually spectacular documentary shares the experiences of Irish and American participants at Burning Man and features music from talented up and coming Irish musicians such as Rollers/Sparkers, Burning Love Jumpsuit, Earth Monkey, The Sticks, Kila, etc.

Firefall: The Egeria Project (trailer)
BM2002, three minutes, by Sandy Gentile
This documentary focuses on a local Bay Area Burning Man artist, Cynthia "Kiki" Pettit, and her creation of Egeria, a "firefall" sculpture. Fire and water are two opposite elements, and her art form unites them. The film documents her creation from a paper model to the actual copper sculpture presented at the 2002 Burning Man event in Black Rock City, Nevada.

Sensation - A Trip to Burning Man
BM 2002, 45 minutes, by Laurent LeGall
What started out as a five minute report for French television expanded into a full length documentary on Burning Man by first time attendee Laurent LeGall. Roughly 20% of the 300 media outlets attending the event are international, coming from Europe, Canada and Asia. LeGall's piece is a good example of how the event is being portrayed overseas.

Black Rock Burning
BM2002, 30 minutes, by Aleece Germano, Kim Barr, and Giovanna Nicolo
An experiential documentary, Black Rock Burning takes the viewer on an intimate journey into the ephemeral world of Burning Man. Virgins and veterans alike will revel in the images, sounds, and insights presented. A visual poem of the 2002 event, filmed by a small Canadian crew of first-time burners. This will be the U.S. debut of the film.

Beyond Black Rock
BM2002, 20 minutes, by Mike Wilson and the crew of Gone Off Deep
The Gone Off Deep crew has been working for more than a year on a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to make Burning Man a reality. The complete documentary is scheduled for completion in 2004.

Karma Burn
BM2003, 20 minutes, Bill Breithaupt
In the three weeks between the end of Burning Man 2002 and the day of the film festival, filmmaker Bill Breithaupt edited for 180 hours to complete Aqua Burn, which earned him a standing ovation (at the end of which he thanked his mom). Breithaupt has been filming at Burning Man since 1999 and each year would produce a film, walk around the event and gift people with copies. I describe Aqua Burn as a cross between Koyaanisqatsi and an extreme sports video. He's aiming to top himself with Karma Burn (his working title) for 2003.

Talk by Larry Harvey, executive director, Burning Man
Born in 1948, Larry Harvey grew up on a small farm on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. In the late 1970's he moved to San Francisco, and soon discovered the city's thriving underground art scene. In 1986 he founded Burning Man at a local beach, and has guided its progress ever since. In his role as spokesperson for the Project, he is known for his hat. The famous Stetson, a pearl gray 7 3/8" Open Road, seldom leaves his head. It is worn, he says, in remembrance of his father, who wore the original.

Larry is executive director of the Burning Man Project. He serves as chairman of Burning Man's senior staff and Black Rock City LLC, its executive committee. He also co-chairs the organization's Art Department, scripts and co-curates Burning Man's annual art theme, and collaborates with artists in creating aspects of the art theme and the design of Black Rock City. He produces Burning Man's annual newsletter and writes articles and essays for the Project's website. He has lectured on subjects as diverse as art, religion, civic planning and the rise of cyber-culture in the era of the Internet. He supervises the organization's lobbying efforts and frequently attends meetings with state, county and federal agencies.

Digital Fire Performance by Nocturnal Sunshine
Spinning fire in a crowded theatre just isn't in the cards, according to the city powers-that-be. Kara Snider and members of the Santa Cruz fire performance troupe Nocturnal Sunshine will give a digital fire spinning performance using Streetlights, which were developed by a local burner who didn't like the waste caused by chemical glowsticks.