Ben Steinbauer wanted to find the angriest man in the world. The man was Jack Rebney, the salesperson from a Winnebago film in the '70s who had also unwittingly starred in a gag-reel, surreptitiously made by the film editor, of his profane outbursts during the filming. That video went viral before things even went viral, spreading around the world on beta and VHS, then going viral all over again in the internet age. But Rebney had gotten fired years before and disappeared -- so Steinbauer, a documentary filmmaker, set out to find him. The film that resulted is Winnebago Man.
That film screens tonight at FLIC in Boulder -- but the movie is only the centerpiece of what's turning into a typically community-based, oddball Boulder tradition.
FLIC -- which stands for Food, Libation, Independent Cinema -- is really a conglomeration of locally based activities and stimuli: local food, local beer, team-player games and of course the aforementioned flick. The vision, for organizer Dan Spiegler, is to "make an indie film series that's also a social event."
So, for example, "You go to a movie, you'll normally see a trailer for an upcoming film. Here, we have previews for local arts events. So if you're putting on a play, you might just come down with a couple of castmates and give away a couple of tickets, do a presentation," Spiegler explains.
You'll also meet some people, Spiegler hopes, and just to make sure you do, there are games: At the last FLIC, for example, the screening of Anvil -- which producers billed as a "real-life Spinal Tap -- was accompanied by an "air-band" contest, where people had to break up into teams and, you know, play air instruments. But the teams couldn't just be composed of the people you came with. "You might come in and there'll be a deck of cards," Spiegler says, "so you pick one, and then when we play the game, you'll have to play with someone in your suit."
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Of course, Spiegler assures, "Nobody gets forced to do anything."
Because, hey man, it's Boulder. They're gentle up there.
The party kicks off tonight with a cocktail hour starting at 6 p.m. and the screening at 7:30 at Boulder Draft House (2027 13th Street, Boulder); tickets will run you $12 for the whole shebang. In the meantime, just to get your appetite whetted, here's "The Angriest Man in the World:"
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