As tempting as it might be to dismiss Gen Art as a week-long bacchanal of sponsored booze, hair gel and forward fashion, there was something genuinely interesting about the 1997 outing. Last year's inaugural festival was conspicuous primarily for the flawless grooming of its young crowd, a numbing series of parties, a nearly pathological trendiness but not necessarily inspired film programming. Founded in 1993 as a non-profit dedicated to promoting emerging visual artists, Gen Art added fashion a year later, and in 1996, the film festival. Despite relative bright spots like Squeeze there was the toxically unreflective Mr. Spreckman's Boat (aka Far Harbor): an uneven mix.

To their credit, the Gen Art organization responded quickly to the shortcomings and miscues of their first season. The festival's Director of Programming Graham Leggat, of the film and video department at the Museum of Modern Art and the New Directors/New Films series, brings an informed art film aesthetic to the selection committee, and joining as festival director was Deena Juras of the Seattle International Film Festival. The result was a stronger slate, and one that spanned a broad stylistic swath, from the kitchy horror of Love God (a midnight movie at Sundance with "cult classic" written all over it) to L.A. slacker saga Hang Your Dog in the Wind.

The festival is billed as "seven premieres/ seven parties," but "premiere" in this context is fairly elastic terminology. Of the seven films at the 1997 Gen Art, two (Eye of God and Love God) arrive via Sundance, while Shooting Lily and The Last Big Thing played first at the Hamptons. A Day at the Beach premiered at Palm Springs; The Riddle at Toronto. Brian Flemming's Hang Your Dog was the impetus for Park City's ultra-alt happening, Slum-dance, last January. But these films are all new for New York audiences - especially those viewers not wandering the festival circuit. And scanning the after-screening parties, from opening night at Chaos to the converted Lower East Side Synagogue that hosted the post-Love God drinkathon, one thing is soon apparent: the familiar faces of the New York independent film industry are nowhere to be seen.

If not entirely by design, this is not necessarily a problem. Gen Art, whose mission, according to founder Stefan Gerard, is to "cultivate new audiences for young American filmmakers," seems in fact to do just that. Some coming to Gen Art are sure to be indie film initiates for whom the festival experience, sweetened by the promise of a "scene," may well encourage an enduring interest in independent film. "We never create a show apart from the space or a festival apart from it's audience," says Gerard. "And we always consider who that audience is; we don't underestimate them. And because of that they have faith in us. We continually challenge them." As for rising to the challenge of forming a relevant festival on the already crowded New York calendar, Gen Art makes its task a manageable one by defining itself by its audience. "We are that audience," says Gerard. So someone is certain to go.

The Cannes Film Festival by Noah Cowan
The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival by Michael Jones
The New York Underground Film Festival by Pamela Grossman
SXSW Film Festival by Holly Willis
San Francisco International Film Festival by Isabel Sadurni
Aspen Shortsfest by Holly Willis
Gen Art Film Festival by Adam Pincus