Committed to creating empowering roles for women in underground cinema, the fiercely independent collective Gonzoriffic works outside of the standard industry to create films that are equal parts humor and gore and unapologetically feminist in their approach. “The world of film, both Hollywood and indie, is still very much a boys' club,” says co-founder Andrew Shearer. “As a male with a camera, I'm in a position of privilege, and I've chosen to use that privilege to do what I saw Riot Grrrl do with music when I was a teenager.” Finding kindred spirits among the performers of Effie’s Club Follies, Gonzoriffic entered a creative partnership with the body-positive, sex-positive burlesque troupe around Halloween of 2011, and has since cast many members for roles.

This year’s lineup of a dozen short films marks Gonzoriffic’s 10-year anniversary, and a screening of the no-budget campfest PsychoVixens will commemorate the collective’s very first local screening. “We've got psychodramas, talking pizzas, spider-eating, reanimated dancers, ghosts with jumper cables, foul-mouthed fairies, horses in lingerie, real estate agents humping furniture and Leonardo DaVinci in space,” says Shearer. “Craziest of all is probably Shearer Terror, a movie shot by my 17-month-old daughter. My dad told me to always give her the camera even if she just wants to drool on it. She did that, but shot some really creepy footage in the process.”

12 a.m. · $5 · www.athenscine.com