1987 was a fairly dull year for culture. Hardcore's fire dwindled and modern art faded into the background amidst the rise of EuroDisney, Pat Robertson for President and the founding of Aum Shinrikyo. Occasionally there were high points: the KLF, Final Fantasy and the issue of the Fisher-Price PXL2000. Meant to be a child's first video camera, it used cassettes as its recording medium, producing grainy, security-cam-quality images. The PXL THIS Film Festival enters its 20th year of life, with festival founder Gerry Fialka and PXL2000 filmmakers appearing tonight to screen their films. Featured in the fest: Wickstead's Wonder, a film about PXL2000 inventor James Wickstead; Arroyo Seco River Song, a tribute to the L.A. River tributary; 4-year-old Anwyn Lees' remake of The Wizard of Oz on her front porch with her dad and mom; Baltimore dada/experimentalist tENTATIVELY a cONVENIENCE's film Philosopher's Union Member's Mouthpiece; and Fialka's own Parallel Worlder, a cross between the dance of Martha Graham and the satire of W.C. Fields. Pixelvision may be firmly ensconced in the pantheon of once-popular dead media, but for many of the faithful it captures the heart of the American experience as it should be seen: in basic black and white.

Thu., May 19, 8 p.m., 2011

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