No Fun City Melissa James and Kate Kroll, Canada, 2010, 85 minutes
Monday, May 10 | 9:00pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
Sunday, May 16 | 4:00pm | Pacific Cinémathèque
How much and how little has changed for underground music in Vancouver? Co-directors Melissa James and Kate Kroll’s No Fun City reveals just how difficult it is to play loud, hard and fast in this world class city.
In the clash between new and old, condominium owners, city council members, musicians and punks are increasingly pitted against each other as development and gentrification eat up Vancouver’s grittier neighbourhoods.
The underground music scene in Vancouver has long existed in small dank pockets. Like mushrooms after the rain, venues spring up in the dark, mouldy sections of the city, in warehouses on the east side, parking garages, and industrial zones — any place where people want to come together to listen to very loud music. But in the struggle between the forces of order and fun, the law has greatly favoured those with the money and the resources. The closing of the Cobalt perhaps best exemplifies this trend. After fielding complaints from condo-owners who disliked the drinking, the smoking and the general air of rowdiness that attended events at the venue, the city met with Wendy 13, the Cobalt’s big brassy front-woman, to see if some middle ground could be reached. But as it turned out, the forces with the deepest pockets came out on top, and the infamous Cobalt closed its doors on September 30th, 2009.
The story of the Cobalt is not unique in Vancouver. The Smilin’ Buddha, The Savoy, Richard’s on Richards, among many others, have all been subject to a similar fate. But as more venues continue to vanish, and the marginalization of the city’s underground scene is pushed further and further into illegal behaviour, at what point does the breaking point finally become explicitly clear? Featuring performances from some of the city’s most cutting-edge bands including 3 Inches of Blood, Nu Sensae and the Sex Negatives, as well as sage commentary from the granddaddies of the scene (DOA, Skinny Puppy and the Subhumans), No Fun City is a raw bleeding slice of outlaw culture. Or as drummer Justin Gradin from E.R. says, “Fun City is underground with all the rats.”
World premiere. Filmmakers in attendance.
Directors’ biographies
Emerging filmmakers Melissa James and Kate Kroll have spent over a year combining their directing and producing talents on No Fun City, a film about Vancouver’s music scene. James’ debut short documentary Shake, Rattle & Roll, won the CBC Award for Excellence in Broadcast Communications and the Deluxe Television award. Kroll’s short dramatic film Shi-shi-etko, a story about a young Sto:Lo girl about to leave home to go to residential school was awarded “Best Canadian Short Film” at Toronto’s ImagiNATIVE Film Festival and was also part of the official selection at the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival.
