RES Screening

Stop Killing Innocent Retarded Texans. That was the punchline delivered by John Bryant's morbid but hilarious "Oh My God" short, screened last night at the Royal as part of a leadup to October's RESFEST.

It was among a collection of 10 or so shorts ranging from music videos to animation and touching on themes like gay robots and lego cockfighting. My favourite of the bunch? Definitely Round 5 directed by Javier Aguilera from Toronto based Illegal Artists.

The only surprise of the night was that it wasn't a packed house. It was probably 75% full - not a bad showing to be sure - but smaller than the turnout these things get in places like San Francisco or LA. It's yet another indication to me that the city doesn't have that strong a community interested in and supportive of digital culture.

We'll see if there's pick up in October when the the main event comes back to Toronto for the third year in a row.

It's amazing how much RES has grown over the years. This year, screenings touch down in more than 40 cities worldwide, including first-ever stops in Vancouver and Montreal.