“Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea” April 4, 2009

Event: A screening of the documentary “Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea”. by Once “California’s Riviera”, the Salton Sea is now America’s worst ecological disaster. Yet a few hardy eccentrics hang on to hope, including a roadside nudist and a man building a religious mountain out of mud and paint. Hair-raising and hilarious, this is the American Dream stinky as a dead carp. Narrated by John Waters with music by the Friends of Dean Martinez. Also: “LSD A GO-GO”(2004), a mashup of drug scare films with a cameo by Sony Bono and “FRUIT OF THE VINE” A clip from the Groundbreaking super-8 “swimming pool” skateboarding film.
Date: Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 8:00PM
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or [email protected]

“Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea”
with LSD A GO-GO + more!
Directors Chris Metzler + Jeff Springer in Person

“Weird and wonderful!”- The New York Times

“A heartbreaking, sidesplitting parade of humanity.”-Chicago Tribune

Once known as the “California Riviera”, the Salton Sea is now called one of America’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, coughing up dead fish and birds by the thousands. Yet a few hardy eccentrics hang on to hope, including a roadside nudist waving at passing European tourists, a man building a religious mountain out of mud and paint, beer-loving Hungarian Revolutionary Hunky Daddy, and the real-estate “Ronald McDonald” known simply as The Landman. Through their perceptions and misperceptions, the strange history and unexpected beauty of the Salton Sea is revealed.

PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA is a bizarrely human look at this world. On Saturday, April 4th Oddball Films is very pleased to host directors Chris Meltzer and Jeff Springer as they screen their seminal documentary. Also featured is the drug scare mashup film “LSD A GO-GO” directed by film Scott Calonico and a clip from the “swimming pool” skateboarding doc FRUIT OF THE VINE. Showtime is 8:00PM. Admission is $10.00 Limited seating so RSVP to: [email protected] or 415-558.8117. Oddball Films is located at 275 Capp St in San Francisco.
“Accidentally” created by an engineering error in 1905, reworked in the 50’s as a world class vacation destination for the rich and famous, and then suddenly abandoned after a series of hurricanes, floods, and fish die-offs, the Salton Sea has a bittersweet past. Congressman Sonny Bono himself was once dedicated to saving the lake, until he went skiing one day…

Now amongst the ruins of this man-made mistake, these few remaining people struggle to keep a remodelled version of the dream alive. However, this most unique community is now threatened by the nearby megalopolises of Los Angeles and San Diego, as they attempt to take the agricultural run-off that barely sustains the sea. The fate of this so-called ecological time bomb and the community that surrounds it remain uncertain, as the Salton Sea might just dry up.

While PLAGUES & PLEASURES covers the historical, economic, political, and environmental issues that face the sea, it more importantly offers up an offbeat portrait of the eccentric and individualistic people who populate its shores. It is an epic western tale of fantastic real estate ventures and failed boomtowns, inner-city gangs fleeing to white small town America, and the subjective notion of success and failure amidst the ruins of the past. Hair-raising and hilarious, part history lesson, part cautionary tale and part portrait of one of the strangest communities you’ve ever seen, this is the American Dream gone as stinky as a dead carp.

PLAGUES & PLEASURES aims to redefine the “D” word. Blending inquisitive and stylistic interviews, with organic graphics and an impressionistic tapestry of shooting formats, this “documentary” uses a collision of viewpoints, sources, and styles to arrive at a greater truth behind the reality. Shot in mini-DV, 16mm, Super 8mm, and Fisher Price’s Pixelvision, the changing lens of the camera continually reflects the often contradictory perspectives of the characters and issues themselves.

With these wild shorts:
“LSD A GO-GO” What happens when you take America's most secret agency and give them $50,000 to buy a new experimental mind altering drug from Switzerland? Laughs aplenty in this mash up of drug scare films with a cameo by Sony Bono! Featured in Sundance and dozens of festivals worldwide.
“FRUIT OF THE VINE” A clip from the Groundbreaking super-8 “swimming pool” skating film blurs the line between the art and sport of skateboarding. "A seminal work of scraped knees, bruised elbows and big air." - Rolling Stone