OTACO: hot off the screens from MIRAAA Media Festival!

Recently I’ve been watching the second season of Twin Peaks for the first time. I woozily watched season 1 back in the early internet days, back when the cult of a thing had to be passed around from mouth to mouth rather than page to page, and fawned over the third season while weathering yet another blistering Texas summer back in 2017. Much like Indiana Jones, unlike Star Wars, there’s plenty malignment directed towards that second-child installment. “Life starts at a precise moment for most, but my beginning felt in medias res,” quoth our Otaco spirit guide.

Point being, anyways, that there is something endlessly compelling about doubles (Twin Peaks, the Double R Diner, Laura and Maddy, mirrored hieroglyphs in Owl Cave), largely because there is always some thread that tangles in the space between them. Otaco plays with this concept of two — here, two disparate cultures sit on the opposing scales of the dialectic, with the otaco playing the role of the synthesis between them. Our spirit guide continues: “Is a systematic use of symbols enough to make a culture? If so, how many symbols can I change until I cross into a new culture?” 

And symbols we got! On the one hand, rich RGV imagery permeates the fabric of the film: swaying palm trees, a staple McAllen Downtown Food Court with Spanish-language scrolling ticker signs filling the windows, that unmistakable Third Coast ocean air. And on the other, a huge range of anime- and manga-inflected images and objects. The film, a collaborative piece between musicians Valley Swerve and Italia, plays the space between these symbols like a harp, expertly drawing out a level of momentum that pinballs you unceasingly — but with an undeniable adherence to the laws of gravity — through the barrage of beautiful sights and ideas.

Strap on your neck brace and lovingly surrender yourself to the fantastic speed! The film whiplashes you through a compilation of styles that evokes the dizzying cultural confusion sizzling at the heart of the film; lovely HD close-ups, grainy mid-ranges in a dark room, grabs taken through a REC screen, ostentatious YouTubers, and Tim & Eric-style talk show interludes enhance the feeling of a constantly shifting synthesis between worlds and echo our constant and constantly smash-cutting consumption of media.

 In all that, I didn’t even get to the music! These filmmaker-musicians have got some serious chops, and you’ll be grooving along to these tunes long after you roll on down the line of your 37 open browser windows. This short is relentless and relentlessly fun, and here’s hoping that this is just the first of many collabs we’ll see between these smart and deeply creative talents. Take a look for yourself ~

About the filmmakers and the festival:

 VALLEY SWERVE @valleyswerve

Associated with anime, video game, tropical, and lo-fi aesthetics, Valley Swerve continues to push the boundaries of future funk and vaporwave by combining elements of ambient music, trap percussion, and vintage wavy samples. Since 2017, Valley Swerve has released various singles including the full-length beat tapes The Blue Light Special and Oni-Ism under Unnamed Soldiers Limited. 

This is music to be jammed on your old cassette boombox on the beach of a stranded island with your waifu...

Check us out here, here, here, and here!

 ITALIA @italia182

Hello, my name is Italia. I was born in Brownsville, Tx.

I started making music when I was 15 on guitar. From there, I started making trap music since it was the most accessible at the time.

I enjoy all genres and want to one day explore them all in my own music.

You may have heard my song kawaii life somewhere online! (✿◠‿◠)*

MIRAAA Media Festival’s mission is to empower RGV artists to explore non-traditional storytelling and media through collaboration and experimentation with the intention of illuminating under-represented border narratives. Brought to you by the NALAC Arts Border Narrative Grant.

MIRAAA Media Fest took place August 21 2021 at the McAllen Creative Incubator and highlighted over 20 Rio Grande Valley Artists.

Check out the winners recap here!