On Context

Searching for territory beyond the classic “puff piece” directive, Dan Olson wears in a free press pass to the 2016 Calgary Underground Film Festival, takes Harrison Atkins for waffles and omelettes, and criticizes the marketable illusion of the “underground” right alongside the spiritual failing of Batman v Superman (2016). Focusing on the contexts within which we watch film, and the diversely coloured glasses we wear to festivals or quarter-of-a-billion-dollar blockbusters, Dan acknowledges the capitalist pressure to appease an audience or even an editor. How do you sacrifice appeasement and still hold a career?