MUFF Films

If you can beat the static and cut your loyalty to the Clear Channel hegemony, Pirate Cat Radio 87.9 FM is the only station to tune into for commuter diversion … or if you happen to be on the lookout for some choice cuts from the Bay Area’s under-the-radar artists. Pirate Cat -- which showcases everything from chintzy old radio plays to punk blues -- is uncompromisingly kooky and endearingly mercurial. In the same DIY spirit, the station is producing a series of film screenings this summer, the Mission Underground Film Festival, (aka MUFF), representing local talent that's pushing the envelope on what's watchable. Tonight's screening is devoted to comedy, and it’s filled with barbed rejoinders to big-screen fluff. It includes six filmmakers and features everything from flash-fiction movies to pensive meditations on serious matters like gnomes and haunted yard-sale merchandise. Break out the popcorn for pieces like Arlene Skjerly's Bill Collector, a silent-film style short following the misadventures of a lovable idler on the run from his creditors, and Oliver Ferrasci's Connections, which has characters taking solace in Christian dating websites and all-night food marts.
Thu., June 5, 8 p.m.; Thu., July 10; Thu., Aug. 7, 2008