Saturday, Oct. 9, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz, 2-7 p.m. Doors open at 1:30.

Art exhibits will include Bob Hofmann with his Bonefires, Lucy Hosking with her Dragons of Eden, an exhibit from the Black Rock City Museum and we'll have the Mother Ship and a few of the rovers from NASA, the National Alien Support Authority. (Photo courtesy Kris of Phidelity. Click on it for the full-size image).

We'll also have a slide show of 2003 images by Kurt Jensen and James Hickey and music provided by DJ QuasiPsuedo (aka Mike Balistreri).

Tickets: $15 at the door, $12 if you bring three cans of food, which will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank. $3 of any full price ticket will be donated to the Family Shelter Project in the name of local burners. Children under 12 are free. Doors close at 6:30 p.m. (We want the ticket takers to have a chance to see the films).

Playawear is always encouraged. For more info call (831) 335-9643, email santacruz (at) burningbeach (dot) com, or join the Santa Cruz burner announce list. 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 (at) burningbeach (dot) 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. - Fifteen Minutes to Burn
2:20 p.m. - The Fall & Rise of the Fools Ark

Break - 10 minutes

3:15 p.m. - Whistleworks
3:35 p.m. - Firefall: Road to Burning Man

Break - 10 minutes

5:15 p.m. - Burning Man 1997

Break - 10 minutes

6:35 p.m. Astro Blaze
6:45 p.m. Beyond Black Rock

8:15 p.m. - After Party (Please RSVP)

Whistleworks - The Steam Whistle Project at BM 2002
BM2002,15 minutes, by Jon Groot
This documentary follows the Whistleworks project from concept to completion and includes interviews with the participants and artist Grag Worthingon.

At Camp Whistleworks, participants were invited to become ceramic artists and help build a steam-powered musical sculpture that became the centerpiece of a drum circle performance.

Firefall: The Road to Burning Man
BM2002, 89 minutes, by Sandy Gentile
"FIREFALL: Road to Burning Man" is a feature-length documentary chronicling the creation of a large-scale sculpture from its concept to its unveiling. Berkeley artist Kiki Pettit is chosen to create the keyhole project at Burning Man 2002, as the film follows her on a journey of endless challenges...from aesthetics to logistics, and even the mundane. All of these challenges must be overcome if she hopes to realize her surreal vision of a 14-ft copper fountain that flows fire on water. (Photo courtesy of Scott "Sparky" Bartlett.).

Through this film you can experience the struggles, challenges and triumphs that she and her team encounter on their journey to build and display the keyhole art installation at BM 2002.

15 Minutes to Burn
BM 2001, 15 minutes, by Paul Andreesen and Moe Stoebe
This piece is a festival cut of "One Minute to Burn", a first person chill film that puts viewers in the heart of the Burning Man Festival. Your guides, fifty short films, unwind as individual threads giving you a sense of the mesmerizing playa tapestry.

Burning Man MCMXCVII
BM1997, 70 minutes, by Chuck Cirino
Chuck Cirino has produced video accounts of Burning Man since 1994 and views it with the loving eye of an insider. BM97 opens with a five minute history of the event, including footage from the Baker Beach years and includes clips of the Bone Arch, Giant Rocking Horse, Marching Band, Mobile Living Room, Rocket Car, Ice Ball and the VegOmatic. The scene of the fully-engulfed stunt man dancing between the Man's legs is not to be missed.

The Fall & Rise of the Fools Ark
BM2003, 46 minutes, by Dadara and Jesse Limmen
"Yellow Submarine meets Monty Python" in this part-animated story of the Greymen and their battle against the Fools Ark. Footage from the construction of Dadara's Fool's Ark art installation at Burning Man 2003 is intertwined into an audio-visual journey through forgotten worlds to tell the tale behind the project.

The result is a magical meeting of reality and fantasy that departs from the documentary format and turns into an intense surrealistic story, animated by Jesse Limmen, and loaded with colorful and weird characters in their combat against all that's grey and boring.

Astro Blaze
BM2004, 8minutes, Bill Breithaupt
Perennial favorite and extreme editor Bill Breithaupt returns with a piece shot and edited in the month between the start of the 2004 event and the film festival. His past pieces, "Aqua Burn" (2002) and "Burning Karma" (2003) received standing ovations from the audience.

Beyond Black Rock
BM2002-2003, 104 minutes, by the Gone Off Deep crew
Born Beyond Black Rock reveals how the utopian ideals of Burning Man - free expression, social participation and humanitarian consciousness - are preserved, supported and advanced through the dedication and year-round efforts of the community.

The underlying theme of the film is that idealism can only be put into practice when it is driven by commitment and hard work.

This film chronicles the planning and preparation required to conduct the festival on an annual basis, and how this commitment serves as a binding force for a world-wide, year-round community.