Writer/Director/Producer Mike Olafson and cast will be there, along with The Buckingham Squares (featuring members of Slim Cessna's Auto Club) and The Velveteen Loveseat. The bands will rip out their gritty, 60's-inspired garage and surf-punk-psychedelic sounds.
Motor Vixens screams Colorado like only a glass-packed muffler at full-throttle throwing stones on a twisty mountain road can. It was filmed guerilla-style in glorious black and white 16mm film -- yes film -- on location along stretches of Colorado's country roads in Monte Vista, Kiowa, Morrison and Eerie. Olafson, tells us he "wanted to do it all in state."
Hart can attest to that: "We were off the beaten path wherever we will filming. I really liked the locations he selected. It felt like you were really removed from everything."
The film was heavily influenced by the B-movies of the 60's, like Russ Myers' Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill! And the late, great Dennis Hopper's Easy Rider, as well as films by Ted Mikels and Roger Corman.
The cast of characters is crowded with Denver locals: Durand of Joe DuRand and the Black Snaps; Hart, the skateboarding, kickboxing trapeze artist (yeah she's a badass); the vivacious Kitty, aka Kitty Crimson, co-founder of Ooo-la-la Burlesque; Sanguina, aka Jenny Sanchez, a model and co-owner of Lux-de-ville salon; and Heels, aka Sherrilynn Nelson, the organ player for The Velveteen Loveseat.
Although you can't see the entire movie yet, you can see the making of it, shot by photographers Kyung Min and Jess Lambaise of SyMobius.
The soundtrack is just as Denver as the cast, with original music from a score of local acts. Aside from the aforementioned Velveteen Loveseat and Joe DuRand and the Black Snaps, it also features new songs from The Bloody Fives, a romping garage-soul band forged from the remnants of Get Three Coffins Ready with an injection of rockin' blues, and Hexen, whose brand of rock and roll moves seamlessly from gospel-infused guilt to bluesy surf-rock.
Motor Vixens is Olafson's second foray into filmmaking. In 2008, he released Gears, Grease and Guitars, a documentary filmed about the glory days -- past and present -- of hot rods, drag racing and the vintage rock-and-roll scene in Denver. Espousing his love of the classic era, Olafson chose to shoot the 18-minute film with vintage gear and real film to give it that grainy look and all the scratches and pops that only film provides, he says.
Olafson is wrapping up production on Motor Vixens to enter it into the Sundance Film Festival -- the deadline is Sept. 20. But he also plans to take the film to the American Film Market and South by Southwest's film festival. He thinks the latter ultimately is the best market for the film. He's hoping to attract financing that would allow him to expand this violent, enjoyable romp into a feature length film.
In the meantime, party with him at The Walnut Room starting at 8 p.m. tomorrow night and get a sneak peak of what he's got. Tickets are $7 if you get them today -- they go up to $10 tomorrow. Buckle up.
