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THE EXPERIENCE:

Join Portland-based comic book author, musician, and filmmaker Amanda Berlind and co-director/musician Austin Stolz for an incredible lively evening of music, film, and comics! The evening begins with a musical performance by Fantasy Sam & the Mystery Dogs, a musical experience of performance art made up of the film’s cast and writers/directors Amanda Berlind and Austin Stolz performing songs from Amanda’s latest freaky magical live musical show and comic book fantasy performance HAL. Following the performance, Amanda and Austin present their celluloid-shot feature film Houndsville, based on Amanda’s comic book of the same name. Buckman Publishing will be tabling before and after the show, specifically with Amanda’s latest comic book Hal. There will also be cassettes and other comics from Amanda available for purchase.  Following the film there will be a Q&A with the directors. 

ON SCREEN: Houndsville 

2024. Directed by Amanda Berlind and Austin Stolz. Runtime: 53 minutes.

An absurdist parable of debauchery, hard-boiled crime and good old fashioned puppy lovin’. Alcoholic has-been dog detective Klaus Haund and his will-they-won’t-they sweetheart Maus Haund traverse the surrealist psychedelia of the once great City of Hounds in a fevered quest to retrieve the huckleberry antidote and dismantle an autocratic raccoon regime. Houndsville was filmed entirely on Super 8 and complete with a glittering display of papier-mâché costumage and live musical performances. Created by Amanda Berlind and Austin Stolz.

ON STAGE: Fantasy Sam & the Mystery Dogs

the Mystery Dogs are: Amanda Berlind, Christopher Adams, Shag Bolker, Anson Hancock and Vanessa Johnson with performances by: Austin Stolz, Olivia Lyon, Nolan Plummer, Lynna Corinne, Sean Christensen, Re Pinter, Molly Lecko Herro, Grendel “Yakov” Heiteen, Jaron Carr and Annie Fish. 

Amanda Berlind

Amanda is a multidisciplinary artist, musician, performer and experimental storyteller. She is best known for her nontraditional comic book art, 8mm and 16mm filmmaking, and her increasingly psychedelic live fantasy performance art worlds with extravagant musical numbers and homemade props/costumage.

Amanda’s audiovisual work has been performed and projected in major institutions such as Carnegie Hall, the CICA Museum (South Korea), and the Music Gallery (Toronto), as well as in tiny art collectives and punky basements across America. As a composer, she’s been featured on WNYC’s New Sounds and has had the opportunity to work with artists such as Tune-Yards, Tim Story, the Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Michael Gordon. Her latest comic book Hal was released by Buckman Publishing here in town on February 8th, 2025; for the book release, she created and performed a full-length musical show, which sold out the Echo Theater in Southeast Portland. Her feature-length, super-8 debut filmmaking project, Houndsville, premiered at the Clinton Street Theater last autumn, and was awarded Best in Filmmaking Achievement at the Kansas City Underground Film Festival. Houndsville was originally based on a comic book Amanda self-published two years ago, and then later a stage production she put on as an honorarium recipient at the Oregon Fringe Festival in Ashland, OR.

Austin Stolz

Austin is a director, performer, and multi-instrumentalist musician. He has had several star performances in recent local art productions, most notably his current role as Hal in Amanda Berlind’s musical by the same name (HAL). Austin is a fantastic pianist and composer, and is credited with creating a large part of the score for the Houndsville film, as well as contributing wind arrangements to the HAL production. Austin stars in the Magic Wand Pictures’ breakout feature Houndsville, which we will be watching tonight.