Last year, I discovered the Atlanta Underground Film Fest. Held in back rooms of bars and attics of renovated old theaters, this gathering of independent artists had more surprises in five nights of movies than I I’d seen in years at my local AMC. An apparently ironic piece about punk rockers at Altamont, a 120-minute film made up of 12 ten minute shorts made by twelve filmmakers, and of course, More Shoes, the story of a man who walked three thousand miles across Europe, from Madrid to Kiev, to learn about what makes a good movie. Not to mention Animation Attack, Cuba Libre, and a bunch more. Yes, it was definitely an experience that opened my eyes to the culture going on right beneath my nose.

Given that, I think The Last American Freak Show couldn’t have been a more perfect opening film for my experience at AUFF 2009.

The Last American Freak Show

The Last American Freak Show is a documentary that follows a touring group of self-proclaimed freaks, all with various physical deformities or quirks. They’re cruising along the western United States, from Washington state to Texas, going through three different vehicles (including, but not limited to, a school bus modified to run on used cooking oil).

The group finds a sense of community in their common ailment: a disconnect from “normal” society, folks who can’t see past their physical malformations. The cast of characters include “The Elephant Man”, so called because of outbreaks of lesions all over his face and body. He is also missing one leg and requires a prosthetic limb. Then there’s Lobster Girl and Lobster Man/Scorpion Man. The girl with a hand deformity leaving her with one thumb and a single deformed finger on one hand. The guy, well, he has a grand total of three fingers on each hand. Then there’s the Half Woman, midget-sized and missing one leg. Oh, and of course, your standard issue midget lady, Dame Demure.

There is an element, in this movie, of exploring the difficulties of being a physically handicapped person living in America. But it’s more a simple tale of survival. The crew has car troubles and relational drama and…all the problems of any normal community. It just takes on a different image. Whereas a “normal” person might take a job at Wal-Mart because it’s what they have to do to get by, in one scene we see one of the ladies dumpster diving for food. Other times scouting the backs of restaurants for cooking oil. Just to make it through the day.

I think one of the most telling scenes, though, came when the man that plays the Elephant Man was in the mall trying on hats, and several people would stare at the lesions on his face, scowl with disgust when he wasn’t looking, and turn away. Another scene, we see the midget lady, Dame Demure on stage telling the story of a woman obsessing over her stature, asking questions like “Where do you get your clothes? Do you have to shop in the children’s section?” to which she cleverly replied “Lady, what children’s clothing have you seen that can cover my breasts?” “Well, what about the fat kids’ section?” “Lady, I have never seen a ‘fat kids’ section.”

What’s odd and outlandish to the common person is normal for this traveling troupe. They’ve not only come to accept their oddities, but have accepted themselves. Something many average Americans still struggle with. In that sense, they’re ahead of the curve.

I think my favorite part though, is when the one they call the Lobster Girl is trying on her outfit for a show, and comments that she needs to lose weight. Since I have no photos, let me just tell you, this girl was beautiful. According to her, she was having trouble fitting into her costumes, so she should lose some weight. Having seen this scene or similar with many of my own friends, I couldn’t help but smile.

Though they have their share of troubles, the troupe eventually ends up in Austin, where they set up a more permanent shop together, keeping in touch with the friends they left behind in various states.

Where they have community, though, the centerpiece of the next movie was built firmly on being alone.

Rocaterrenia

If the story of J.R.R. Tolkien and Middle Earth’s creation had been a tragedy, it would’ve been Rocaterrenia.

Renaldo Kuhler (born Ronald Kuhler) is a 76-year-old man who has worked for the last few decades creating illustrations for history museum, scientific journals and other reference materials. The lesser known story, though, is the secret imagined world he created over the course of his life called Rocaterrania.

A tiny country straddling the U.S. and Canadian border, Rocaterrania was a country heavily influenced buy Russian and Jewish culture. During its history, it was was even split into Rocaterrania proper and New Serbia. Rocaterrania had its own movie industry, industrial economy, and went through several political revolutions in just a few decades.

The history of Rocaterrania, though, was a mirror into the life of young then-Ronald Kuhler. Growing up on a ranch, isolated and an outsider, Renaldo would lose himself in his imagined world. “The ability to fantasize is the ability to survive,” he had written in one of his many journals.

Rocaterrania was far and above any average childhood fantasy, though. Where the average child would simply have an imaginary friend and a secret hiding place, Renaldo took it several steps further, illustrating his friends, giving them backstories. He had documents detailing their language customs (which were influenced by Spanish, Jewish, and Russian among others), and pictures, so many pictures showing the lifestyles and political history of this imagined world.

When Renaldo moved out of his home to find a job on his own, taking whatever job he could find, rarely holding one for long, Rocaterrania similarly suffered periods of poverty and strife. When Renaldo was challenged with breaking off from his parental authority, Rocaterrania was in civil unrest as it worked to overthrow their authoritarian rulers.

The story emphasizes a sizable amount of Renaldo’s childhood troubles. One of the most striking moments is when Renaldo describes playing a piece on the violin for his parents and their guests at a dinner party. At the finish, his mother, in front of the many guests, replies “That was bad.” The movie relays many such encounters of Renaldo vying for parental approval, while they simply require conformity. Renaldo’s message, however, is one if individuality and creativity.

For myself, I walked away a little heartbroken for Renaldo. I wished I could somehow improve his relationship he had with his family, but that story is no more current or tangible than Rocaterrania itself. In the end, though, Renaldo found himself as a scientific illustrator, while simultaneously keeping his substantial body of work on Rocaterrania, for his own personal collection.

So, though there’s plenty of pain to be had, I suppose it wasn’t really a tragedy after all.

Day Two….

That was just the first day of AUFF, and only at one of the venues, at that. Tonight, I’ll be going back to see Rachel Is and Shooting Beauty, and looking forward to writing about them later as well.

If you’re in the Atlanta area, AUFF is going on all weekend. Check out their schedule and find a show you’d like to see.