Patrons of the Pacific Film Archive in the past academic year will undoubtedly recognize Joe Garrity as the charmingly droll box office cashier who now and again ushers the auditorium as well. I keep recommending that he simply refer to himself as an "ushier" but Joe resists; sensitive—I suspect—to accusations of not knowing how to spell.
In the social weave of Bay Area film culture, Joe has had an intriguing background for one so young. He's spent time in Chile immersing himself in the Spanish language, interned for Saturday Night Live, and administers his own YouTube Channel where he showcases the short films that he and his twin brother Phil have created. Here are three clever examples of how they've utilized their twinship to comic effect.In Doublemint, Joe and Phil Garrity mash commercial advertisement with action genre to expose chewing gum as a potential gateway drug.
In Twinversion, the Garrity brothers do their bit to battle the "twinjustice" of being misidentified and rehearse a job interview with Alice's ("Who are you?") Caterpillar. How they decided who should part their hair where invites a provocative investigation. Personally, I think their moustaches set them apart, don't you? Joe's could be licked off by a cat tongue and Phil's invites visions of megalomaniacal fascism.
In Bill and Dave, the Garrity Brothers go twin squared and imagine themselves as offscreen infants while channeling their twin father and uncle.
All three shorts have been written and directed by Joe Garrity, whose B&W 16mm short Ferris Wheel on Fire—a childhood memory of an amusement park—will be included in "Fleshed Out: Films by UC Berkeley Students", PFA's annual showcase of campus talent screening on Thursday, March 11, 7:30PM, and curated by UC Berkeley students Meaghan Curran, Sophie Raskin, Max Siegel, Johnny Starks, and Celeste Vasquez, as part of an internship offered by UC Berkeley's Film Studies Department and PFA, under the guidance of Kathy Geritz, with the assistance of Jonathan L. Knapp. Presented with support from the Theresa Hak Kyung Cha Endowment.
