Press for dB Film Fest
SF Arts Monthly
“Decibels Film Festival works to bring the mosh pit, dance party, rap battle and sing-along to your local indie theater and living room by showcasing the diversity of music subcultures found on-screen.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“The Decibels Music Film Fest attempts to bring the live music experience to movie theaters, with a wide selection across a spectrum of musical tastes and cultures.”
Broke Ass Stuart
“The upcoming first Decibels Music Film Festival (hereafter, “dB Film Fest”) promises to be the music documentary version of a trip to Amoeba Music.”
Film Threat
“Fishbone’s story is only a fraction of director Tisa Zito’s film, as Moore has dedicated his life to the same genre-defying art and enthusiasm toward creatively deconstructing any so-called norms in his path. Speaking with those within his eclectic constellation, we follow his unbridled positivity despite struggles along the way.”
San Francisco Chronicle
“The world seemingly runs on a diet of conspiracy theories — for example, a secret cabal of elite pedophiles traffic children out of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor; COVID-19 vaccines contain tracking chips; and the school shootings that have dominated headlines in recent years never happened.
But few are as arcane as the conspiracy theory at the heart of “Oh, It Hertz!,” Gunnar Hall Jensen’s documentary that makes its Bay Area premiere Sunday, Oct. 31, at the new Decibels Music Film Festival.”
48 Hills
“Lately, SF Indiefest has been producing new festivals at such a rate, someday it might need to get its tubes tied. But this week brings Decibels Music Film Festival, which is a particularly welcome newborn in that unless you count Noise Pop’s annual film/video sidebar, or the recent Mill Valley Fest’s usual generous tilt towards music-themed titles, the Bay Area hasn’t had a film festival dedicated to the 4th art. (Cinema is officially the 7th art, and the sole addition to that since the Renaissance.)”
Film Threat
“Op. Cope: An Algorithmic Opera invokes mystery based on its title alone. When you discover Jae Shim’s documentary discusses the possibilities of artificial intelligence creating beautiful symphonies, moving poems, and magnificent paintings, the film becomes equal parts Blade Runner and Score: A Film Music Documentary (at least in philosophy).”
San Jose Mercury News
“A new Bay Area festival sounds the right note for music and film fans alike, embracing creative endeavors from a variety of soundmakers while celebrating their fans. The Decibels Music Film Festival launches this Thursday and runs through Nov. 7 but also includes a pre-festival event taking place Wednesday.”
Film Threat
“I have seen burning busloads of punk rock documentaries, but I have never seen one like Brian Bieber’s I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk.”
Eat Drink Films
“Maybe now we’re ready to see more documentaries like the recently-released FAUCI, and now LIKE A ROLLING STONE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN FONG-TORRES, which turn the camera onto people who show up with passion, talent and humility every day– and not just for the money. The film will screen Saturday, October 30th as part of the Decibels Film Festival.”
Film Threat
“Did the Nazis raise the decibels on the orchestral tuning standard in 1939 to destabilize civilization through pop music? While the premise is worthy of a supermarket tabloid, Gunner Hall Jensen’s Oh, It Hertz! is a mesmerizing documentary that is both elegant and profound. It does start weird, though, so hold on to your March Hare hats, as we are all mad here.”
Berkeleyside
“I have no idea which parts of I’m An Electric Lampshade were staged (maybe all of them?), but it ultimately doesn’t matter: Director John Clayton Doyle’s film is a pungent reminder of the boundless possibilities of cinema. Eschewing the stale conventions of three-act narrative storytelling, talking head-driven documentaries, and impenetrable arthouse cinema, Lampshade is the best film I’ve seen so far this year. After watching it, you’ll be in nirvana … or darn close.”
KQED
“SF IndieFest, the granddaddy of a cottage industry of niche Bay Area film festivals with younger-skewing audiences, introduces a new punk sibling this week: Decibels Music Film Fest. The program streams online through Nov. 7 with 10 in-person shows spread among the Roxie, The Great Star Theater and DNA Lounge.”
Piedmont Exedra
“Let’s dip into the 25-film program that the Decibels Film Festival offers, a thoughtfully curated lineup brimming with numerous films that have Bay Area ties. One of the best is “Vinyl Nation,” a fascinating plunge into the world of vinyl record collectors. It’s co-directed by San Francisco resident Kevin Smokler.”
Stay Happening
“Narrated by iconic director John Carpenter, The Rise of the Synths is a journey back and forth in time, from the roots of this scene to its impact on today’s pop culture, Fasten your seatbelts, you’re in for a ride full of 80’s nostalgia and Underground Electronic!”
