Jo's Coffee Shop had a premier screening of the new documentary about the Burning Man Festival Sunday night at 9pm. The event was free for anyone willing to attend and quite a few did. I'd estimate the crowd to be around 250-300 people at the peak.

The film was shot and edited very professionally and gave me a much better perspective on the festival, which I have never experienced. The audience was mostly familiar with the philosophy and goings-on and enthusiastically enjoyed the movie's various quirks and characters. The documentary follows and interviews a wide variety of people involved with the 2003 festival, but focuses on a few in particular: Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, people from the "Department of Public Works" (DPW) who ran things in the background, and David Best.

Obviously, with the subject matter being what it is, the themes presented involved a few things that got under my skin. The repeated condemnations of acting in pursuit of profit or self-gain and the almost deliberate attempt to undefine what the event is about and what it represents chaff my sensibilities somewhat. However, it isn't hard to sympathize with the artists and partygoers who want to experiment with creativity outside the traditional settings and contexts of society. And the movie is bursting with that.