PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT:
Sheldon Schiffer
Mysterious Pictures
404-697-3540
contact@mysteriouspictures.com
http://www.mysteriouspictures.com/blackvelvetflag

Mysterious Pictures Releases "Black Velvet Flag" Documentary

Atlanta, GA - April 17, 2003 - Eight years in the making, Mysterious Pictures Productions is releasing the documentary film "The Rise and Fall of Black Velvet Flag," a story about three grown-up punks who form a lounge act that satirizes popular music of the punk rock era. The film documents the true story of the band's rise and fall from fame, showing us how these ex-punks must reconcile the ideals of their non-conformist early 80's generation with the life of adults at the end of the 90's.

In 1994, Rolling Stone magazine voted the quirky lounge act (yes, lounge act), the "Critic's Pick for the Best Unsigned Band." That same year, Black Velvet Flag was applauded by the Village Voice and praised by music critics in New York City, where they performed to both roaring applause and barbarous insults from the hardcore punk faithful. The group went on to tour the West coast with mixed results, before disbanding over issues of creativity versus fame.

Filmmaker Sheldon Schiffer followed the band every step of their journey, and the result is this highly stylized, digitally composited documentary. According to Schiffer, he was shooting "on and off over a period of three years, from '94 to '97, which was the lifespan of the band." He added, "I shot wrap-up interviews in late 1999. I did the final interviews after I had begun really working with the material in post-production. After that, it was a long and arduous process to get the film down to 86 minutes."

The film shows the experiences of thirty-something Fred Stesney (singer), Jeff Musser (bass player), and Jason Zasky (guitarist) as they come together to form a sound so unique, it almost succeeds. At the beginning of each show, Stesney, (wearing either a tuxedo or a sexy little tight black dress), would ask the audience, "Ever feel like telling the world to f--k off? Well sit back and have a drink. We're Black Velvet Flag and we're here to entertain you." What followed was the strangest blend of lounge, punk, and pop you'll ever hear.

The finished product is a slick combination of live performance footage, animation, black and white interviews with each band member, and scanned imagery.

"The Rise and Fall of Black Velvet Flag" ultimately asks and answers these burning questions: Why did they do it? How did their brief brush with fame dissipate and dissolve? Would they get chicks on the road, or was the band just too old to really party?

Schiffer describes the film's audience. "It's made for people who lived through youth culture of some sort or another, and who found themselves wondering what to do next with their lives." Currently the The Rise and Fall of Black Velvet Flag is seeking to find that audience at film festivals worldwide, and through interested international distribution companies.

Schiffer is a Film professor at Georgia State University and has directed other films, both documentary and fiction