Banned Scandinavian TV ads, a retrospective of the music videos of Beck, and the premiere of Mike Mills' first feature, Thumbsucker starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Tilda Swinton as the parents of a 17-year-old trying to overcome his oral obsession -- what does all this have in common? They are all part of resfest, the festival of innovative moving image -- so much more than just an awesome short film festival! For a few days, resfest pops into town and squeezes itself into the NFT, where even the box office crew stare in amazement at the sell-out queues of well-dressed London film fans. You can see them thinking: "But it's just a bunch of wacky short films. We weren't expecting crowds like this." It's not too soon to describe resfest as a cult festival.

Here are our picks:

Feature: Thumbsucker (UK Premiere)
Thu 29/09 at 6:30pm
Mike Mills' highly anticipated feature film debut: an adaptation of Walter Kern's coming-of-age novel. The film follows the travails of 17-year-old Justin Cobb and his family, as the hapless boy tries half-heartedly to "fix" his oral obsession by replacing it with a host of amusing alternatives, including Ritalin. Lou Taylor Pucci plays the confused Justin, Tilda Swinton his emphatic mother, Vincent D'Onofrio is his gruff father, and Keanu Reeves is the family "guru orthodontist". The music, most of it by The Polyphonic Spree, is terrific. Also screened are two of Mike Mills lesser-known short films, Architecture of Reassurance (1999) and Not How, What or Why But Yes (2004). Catch these on Sat 01/10 at 3:50pm and Sun 02/10 at 8:40pm.

Four Seasons of Traktor: A Retrospective
Thu 29/09 at 8:45pm and Sun 02/10 at 6pm
Having produced some of the most innovative and drop-to-your-knees funny commercials over the past decade, Scandinavian advertising collective Traktor have gathered enough awards and industry accolades to make the rest of the industry pea green with envy. Here's a showcase of the best, the banned and the bloody directors cuts!

Feature: Just For Kicks (UK Premiere)
Fri 30/09 at 6pm and Sat 01/10 at 4pm
This fast-paced documentary traces the evolution of sneakers, beginning with their early adoption by style warriors in the streets and ghettos of '70s New York City. From Run-DMC's role in catapulting Adidas into the consciousness of global youth culture, to Nike's visionary marketing strategies targeting urban populations worldwide, Just For Kicks turns interviews with sneaker freaks, musical legends, break-dancing greats and the designers and marketers of the products themselves into an entertaining exposition on the history of the world's most popular form of footwear.

Feature: Infamy (UK premiere)
Fri 30/09 at 8:45pm and Sat 8:30pm
Acclaimed documentarian Doug Pray's Infamy is an intense journey into the lives and minds of seven people obsessed with graffiti in all its forms, from simple vandalism, tagging and "throw-ups", to publicly sanctioned large productions and murals. Shot primarily in New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the film offers day-in-the-life segments with highly regarded graffiti writers Saber, Enem, Claw, Toomer, Earsnot, Jase, and Joe "the graffiti guerrilla" Connolly. Infamy also features numerous interviews and scenes with the friends, families and fellow crew members of the film's central magnificent seven.

Beck Retrospective
Sat 01/10 at 4:15pm and Sun 02/10 at 2pm
This collection tracks the visual side of the trailblazing artist's fascinating career, from his early videos with Steve Hanft, to groundbreaking marriages of music and moving image with such luminaries as Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek, Stephane Sednaoui, Shynola and more.

XL Recordings retrospective
Sat 01/10 at 4:15pm and Sun 02/10 at 2pm
Basement Jaxx, M.I.A., Prodigy, Lemon Jelly and Dizzee Rascal all call XL Recordings home. This "greatest hits"-style package of music videos the label has commissioned features new and favourite work from some of the above and more. The starry roster of directors includes Michel Gondry, Ruben Fleischer, Hammer and Tongs and Airside.

Keynote Director: Anton Corbijn
Sat 01/10 at 8:45pm
Anton Corbijn, legendary music photographer and video director, gives the 2005 Director Keynote address, alongside screenings of a selection of his own work, and a Q&A hosted by film journalist Paul Morley.

The Battle: DJ Yoda vs Eclectic Method
Sun 02/10 at 8pm
Closing night sees DJ Yoda, hot from his sold out global tour, take on Eclectic Method -- a throwdown battle in the spirit of the old block party sound clashes.

NB: resfest 2005 LDN runs from 27/09 till 02/10.

Since the release of 2003's Haha Sound Broadcast have been stripped down to their two core members -- Trish Keenan and James Cargill -- and subtly crafted a new sound based on minimalist arrangements and an increased lyrical depth. Frontwoman Keenan describes Broadcast's vision as "the meeting of human emotion in the electronic world" -- a description which gains meaning on new album, Tender Buttons. Characterised by whirling synths, sparse beats, beautiful hushed melodies and crisp, inventive production, the album has an enticing sense of intricacy. Comparisons with Stereolab and Portishead, which have seemingly plagued the band, are unnecessarily lazy for a band with an obvious commitment to a unique sound and aesthetic. Their renowned live show should flourish within the grand and austere surroundings of KOKO.

Giveaway: we have three copies of Tender Buttons to give away. They'll go to three randomly picked Flashers who can tell us how many members were originally in the band.

A kind of krautrock, post-punk supergroup, Githead comprises the talents of Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner, Malka Spigel and Max Franken of Minimal Compact and most notably Colin Newman of seminal post-punk band Wire. Formed for a one off performance at the Swim labels 10th anniversary, the arrangement proved amicable enough to all concerned that they decided to stay the course and become a band proper. Fusing Malka's towering dub basslines to Newmans's "wired" pop sensibility, Githead have in their short life pushed at the boundaries charted by their previous bands, whilst maintaining enough coherence to appeal beyond the confines of those who view pop as an academic subject. The evening's line-up is completed by XFM's Nick Luscombe, whose weekly Flo-Motion show is one of the last refuges on the airwaves for decent experimental music.

Special Offer: Flashers can get on a special reduced guest list and buy tickets for £6 by sending an email to ebownes@meanfiddler.co.uk.

Shock, Kate takes cocaine and smokes crack! Horror, rock star and model together in studio taking drugs in middle of night! Golly, some other richer, better-looking people are having more fun! Before Kate and everyone else did drugs, one very talented lady, who was a rock star in her own right, made Soho streets her home and drugs a habit. Marianne Faithfull is an idol (please be loathed to mention her in the same breath as the Moss).

Faithful is a tale; from rock 'n' roll circus innocence through relationships, homelessness and drugs, she's the original and should be witnessed live, and now is your chance (Wed 28/09). With The Collection out this year, songs with PJ Harvey and Damon Albarn, plus a brilliant Patti Smith Meltdown performance she is on another career high. This is the time to see her at her best.

Another 2005 Meltdown stunner is also coming back to hit us again (Fri 30/09). John Cale, most famous for being in the Velvet Underground, also worked with John Cage and it was this and his work with Dream Syndicate that informed the sound he bought to VU, the haunting drone. But Cale was only in the band for three years, and then became a super star producer of people like Nico and Patti Smith. He has a new album out this month, and his return to the RFH is the perfect time to see him. Two legends, one week and very limited tickets.

NB: these gigs are basically sold out but you still can get tickets. Check for returns on the day of the performance and you've a very good chance of getting your mitts on a ticket.

After some infrequent and eclectic electronic nights in 2003/4 at The Foundry, Not Clickable has been resurrected as a monthly event. The man behind it, Thorsten Sideb0ard, is also the founder of the ever active electronica/post-indie label Highpoint Lowlife. For this rebirth, one of the first Not Clickable guests, Leafcutter John, will be headlining the programme. John's work has been continually evolving both as solo career -- blending his folk roots with an electro-acoustic approach, as witnessed at the Barbican this summer -- and as the electronic modifier of the 2005 Mercury Award shortlisted "post-jazz" ensemble Polar Bear. The rest of the line-up includes HPLL's Bovaflux -- who supported ISAN at their recent London show -- presenting his new album Where There Was Nothing which, according to Wire magazine, is "littered with melodic felicities and subtly euphoric sweeps of sound". Finally, the four-piece improv/noise Upset the Rhythm collective related band Hands On Heads will be opening this packed and varied line-up. The one-man Nintendo Gameboy DJ Scotch Egg will be making the whole evening flow while bands are off stage.

The Norwegian acoustic quartet led by Christian Wallumrod on piano and harmonium closes their UK Tour at the Spitz (it started at The Sage Gateshead). Pianist Wallumrod presents his third album, A Year From Easter, out on the legendary new contemporary jazz label ECM founded by Manfred Eicher and home of musicians such as pianist Keith Jarrett and also the first label to sign saxophonist Jan Garbarek. The trio backing Wallumrod is composed of Per Oddvar Johansen on drums and two artists famous for their releases on the Norwegian label Rune Grammofon: Supersilent's Arve Henriksen on trumpet (who released the beautiful Chiaroscuro last year) and Nils Okland on violin, Norwegian's own hardingfele and viola d'amore. Okland returns to the Spitz after his thrilling performance earlier this year when he presented his album Bris. This is just one of the great events on London's 2005 cultural agenda to celebrate Norway's 100th anniversary as an independent nation.

Innocence is an eerie and experimental take on a 19th-century short story about young girls in a prison-like boarding school. Mixing 19th-century values and ideals, poetic observations of nature through the seasons and a documentary-style take on the everyday activities of the pupils we slowly learn about the unusual rules of the school. Much of the film's bizarre and inexplicable qualities are down to the symbolism of the original short story by German writer Frank Wedekind being re-interpreted and becoming dangerously close to losing all meaning. However, French director Lucile Hadzihalilovic's first feature (she is also Irreversible filmmaker Gaspar Noe's collaborator and partner) does raise some serious questions about the way we view the sexuality of young girls and the way education defines gender roles. Innocence is not the first time Wedekind's obsession with adolescent sexuality has provided inspiration for filmmakers. If Hadzihalilovic's film leaves you scratching your head, Georg Wilhelm Pabst's 1928 silent masterpiece Pandora's Box based on Wedekind's Lulu may offer a deeper insight.

NB: Innocence is released in London on 30/09.

Anyone who is a David Cronenberg fan has a taste for the unnerving and generally distasteful attributes of humankind. Generally speaking, from his pioneering sci-fi films of the early '80s (Scanners and Videodrome), to his subtler, yet equally disturbing work of recent years (Crash and Spider), Cronenberg delights in the darker aspects of the human psyche. A promoter of violence as an evolutionary tactic to weed out the undesirables, Cronenberg is the archetypal cynic, revelling in our destructive qualities and luring his protagonists through harrowing transformations, to the delight and disgust of his audience. His films can tend to be a little hit-or-miss when it comes to pleasing crowds (eXistenz), but A History Of Violence (a title that, fittingly, can be read as many ways as the storyline) seems to bridge the gap, creating a film for "Cronies" as well as a film for everybody else. In the film, he follows a shy small-town hero through a complex stratosphere of identities and alternate histories. Viggo Mortensen plays a believable chameleon, and is certainly supported by a star-studded cast. As in all of Cronenberg's movies, he suggests that adaptation is the key to survival, and identity is just another movable facet of our evolving personae, however voraciously or reluctantly we choose to accept this fate.

NB: A History Of Violence is released in London on 30/09.

Dial +850 and you'll get through to the heart of darkness. North Korea's history is one of relentless turmoil: occupation, Stalinism, war, autocracy, famine, totalitarian dictatorship, extreme nationalism, nuclear weapons, perturbed relations with the rest of the world. Kim Jong-il's reclusive regime follows the official -- and disastrous -- ideology of Juche (self-reliance), whilst spending an unheard-of 25% of the nation's GDP on the military. There is no free press. There is no free speech. Mobile phones are forbidden. There are concentration camps. People are used as guinea pigs for chemical weapons. Add to that natural disasters, corruption, shortages of food and fuel, a stagnated economy, and a refusal to participate in international trade, and the image of a state that is already incredibly difficult to enter or get out of becomes even less inviting. In April, Stefano Boeri, the editor-in-chief of architecture magazine Domus, went to the North Korean city of Pyongyang. He found a surreal collection of buildings that borrow heavily from the European legacy of modernist masters. In an open letter to the magazine, architect Jan Kaplicky of Future Systems was "shocked, horrified, angry and sad" to read the resulting 22-page article, denouncing it as "North Korean propaganda." Here the two meet head to head, seconded by several renowned critics (Eyal Weizman, Brett Steele, Deyan Sudjic, Julia Peyton-Jones ...), to debate whether autocratic architecture has a place in today's architectural press.

Werk announce their fourth bumper Soundslike knees-up in typically obtuse fashion -- allowing word of mouth to fan the fires of this low-key and yet almost certainly mental shindig. There are only 350 tickets available, and yet the faculty-size clutch of attendant ravers will be treated to one of the most awesome (and supremely weird) line-ups in current electronica. Or at least we assume they will -- the details of the line-up remain a secret. But given that last time the guests included Matthew Herbert, Dani Siciliano, Patrick Pulsinger and Kode9 and that in previous shindigs they've entertained the masses with Four Tet and Sir Real we can imagine that the tickets will be snapped up like scraps of bacon tossed into a shoal of trendy and presumably goateed piranhas. So you'd better get your credit cards out now, and head down to Smallfish, Selectadisk or Sounds Of The Universe before this achingly hip and memorably bonkers night becomes mainstream.

Fabric goes one step towards putting on the most eclectic mainstream club nights in London by hosting an evening of DJs who you'd never expect to see sharing the same podium as the biggest tech-house jocks in the world. Peter Kruder -- one half of Kruder & Dorfmeister, trip-hop originators and production team without whom, arguably, we would not be listening to the wave of jazzy, heavily instrumented dance music made by the likes of Zero 7 and St Germain -- makes a rare London appearance in the main room and, if his relaxed, dark grooves are a little too laid-back for you, electro hero Radioactive Man (UK dance stalwart Keith Tenniswood in his best-known guise) brings the bleepy breaks and chopped up electric funk to room two. It's worth mentioning that Aux 88 -- US DJs who are to electro what Carl Craig is to techno and pioneers of the booty bass set -- will also be appearing, making this yet another unmissable night out in Farringdon. You'd think we were on commission -- let's just say our enthusiasm goes to show the kind of nights out it's possible to organise with a promotion and booking budget equivalent to the GDP of a small country and one of the capital's best club interiors.

NB: The Amalgamation Of Sound and Soundz and Mark Pritchard (Troubleman) play room three.

What was the only thing you ever wanted in a car? A girl, a boy, a 40 billion watt soundsystem, ejector seat cigarette lighter, oilslick anti-enemy gun, a nodding pope, one of those great gizmos for holding your drink? Or was it just a way of getting there, with some stimulating ideas and an art noise soundtrack. We suspect Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon would choose the latter. In Perfect Partner, her experimental journey into film making, she rides with video artist and filmmaker Phil Morrison into a whirlwind of thoughts and sounds, attacking advertising, automobiles and gender stereotyping with the ferocity Thurston Moore attacks his guitar. For this live Barbican event only, Moore's here too, along with fellow radical adult Jim O'Rourke. While we love the Pixies for re-forming and giving us a nostalgic hit in the arm, and even Mudhoney have been back in town to give ageing grungers another dose of Superfuzz Bigmuff, it's only really the members of Sonic Youth who are mapping new roads, blending their sound with the visual arts and finding radical new perspectives. Don't expect this from The Bravery in 15 years' time.

NB: this event is part of the Barbican's Only Connect series.

David Shrigley is not a new face on the art scene -- one of his more than two dozen publications is bound to be by the till of every art bookshop in Europe -- but familiarity has not bred contempt. He's a regular contributor to the Guardian, and his drawings for frieze magazine are at times the only intelligible contributions to their letters page. While he flirts with gallery contexts (Camden Arts Centre hosted a solo show before their refurbishment back in 2002) his natural media remains the monochrome drawing that voices black, all too familiar sentiments one doesn't generally air in public. With acolytes like Paul Davis emerging on the scene, opportunities to catch the original should not be missed.

NB: this event is being held in conjunction with the recent release of The Book of Shrigley (Redstone Press). On 05/10 (1pm) catch David Shrigley at Foyles on Charing Cross Road as he draws directly onto the shop's glass windows and then signs copies of his new book.

When Matthew Herbert staged his Plat du Jour show at Barcelona's Sonar Festival this year, the heat generated by the crowds trying to access the ground floor of the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona matched that created by the cooks/musicians in this avant-garde sound exhibition. Having collaborated with scientific chef Heston Blumenthal, the kitchen becomes the framework for a sensual jamboree; nasal treats jumble with live film and alien yet familiar sounds. As well as an antidote to crass chart music, though, the concept is rooted in the political, Herbert being driven by the state of mass-consumerism and the questionable nature of modern food culture. The enjoyable presentation naturally makes the sentiment easy to digest.

Landscapes are the source of inspiration for Giuseppe Penone's transient and poetic sculptures. A pioneer of the Arte Povera movement in the '60s and the only artist of that group to produce work with such a close affinity to nature, Penone has drawn extensively on the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment. Penone is known for such luminous works as To Turn One's Eyes Inside Out (1970), in which the young artist's eyes are transformed into mirrors of the outside world. In his installations he pushes this metaphor of reversal further, from his earliest interventions into the organic growth of trees in woods near his home, Maritime Alps (1968), to his fragile yet beautiful construction Tree of 12 Metres (1980-2), at Tate Modern, and his recent exploration of skin imprints. In front of this tree sculpture, Penone debates the merits of such ephemeral sculptures, drawings and installations with two acclaimed practitioners: young British artist and Turner Prize nominee Anya Gallaccio, whose multi-sensory artworks subvert traditional notions of beauty, and elder statesman Jon Thompson, who brings his extensive experience as an artist, curator and critic to the dialogue. This talk promises refreshing insights into sculpture outside the box.

As ATP's retrospective series Don't Look Back gradually draws to conclusion seminal noise merchants The Melvins interrupt any wistful thoughts with a performance of their near flawless '93 album, the Kurt Cobain produced Houdini. The release recalls a time when majors swarmed to Seattle in an attempt to capture, commodify and package grunge. Despite being their most accessible album it remains true to their original sound, demonstrating the full fruition of their sonic breadth. Smothered with aggression, it showcases both their extreme heaviness ("Hooch", "Night Goat" and "Honey Bucket") and their tendency towards musical strangeness ("Joan of Arc" and "Sky Pup"). It is testament to their influence that they have attracted a support bill of such vitality. Prolific San Francisco art rockers and John Peel favourite Deerhoof offer an endearingly messy fusion of discordant guitar and dazzling melody courtesy of falsetto vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki. Part Chimp consist of a barrage of lumbering math-rock grooves and unhinged guitar beating -- be prepared for excruciating volume and an intensity that is impossible to describe.

How do you take your Circus? Disney style Dumbos, tanned tights and big, floppy shoes, or would you prefer a bit more of the absurdist fairy tale with a hint of Papa Lazarus? According to the PR you won't have seen anything like this before. Bodies dancing, flying, contorting and acrobating across mind-blowing sets, to opera and more. French circus maker James Thierree (Charlie Chaplin's grandson) together with opera singer Uma Ysamat, contortionist Raphaelle Boitel, dancer Niklas Ek and capoeira dancer Thiago Martins have been getting full marks all round and are now bringing their sell-out La Veillee des Abysses to the West End. If you love that feeling of leaving a show wide-eyed, looking into the London skyline for magic, imaging yourself flying through the trees and buildings, when a walk down through W1 seems other-worldly, in a good way, then go see the show and forget the taxi home! (Runs till 15/10.)

NB: for more dance events make sure you check out Dance Umbrella 2005.

In the in-between of two opposing unreal spaces of gallery and carnival, a fully functioning carousel continues Carsten Holler's exploration of human confusion. With stark cleanness it is at once pleasing, like modernist architecture, while mirror surfaces create the visual equivalent of experiencing a ride. The object at once controlled and destabilising, the interaction between object and spectator is reminiscent of Judd and the position of industry in the space of the gallery. The sound that you hear comes from Felix Wazekwa's band, which juts and shakes to create a continued sense of being at the fairground, the noise and lights flickering with the movement of the camera drawing you in, disorientated. While seemingly translucent, hallucinatory images have a similar affect as created by wearing the 3-D glasses you once bought with comic books, creating a pictorial representation of that obscure sense of being part of and removed from the action. Wondering where a baby rhinoceros and snowflakes fit in, it may be easier to simply accept these as a continuation of the sense of play, which is ever present in Holler's work, even if you are left with the feeling that you are merely part of a ridiculous experiment. (Runs till 08/10.)

NB: Carsten Holler along with Miriam Backstrom is currently representing Sweden at the 51st Venice Biennale.

Get to know Andrew Bick and you'll find that he's a fan of country and western music. Now, although that seems strangely out of sync with abstraction, the urbane art, given its apparent retro status in current climes, loving c 'n' w doesn't seem all that way out. Made of wax, paint, magic marker and, on occasion, Perspex, Bick imposes geometric structures against gestural brushwork, all harum skarum over a skewed grid. These are the hallmarks of the Modernist language, yet this work is created neither in homage nor irony. Where in the past this dialectical tension played out at a frantic pace, these most recent paintings unfold with an elegiac grace. In the last six years Bick has moved from quite physical wax-encrusted objects to these frontally-painted panels, that is a move from thing to painting. It is both engagement and commentary, speech and writing, less like c 'n' w but more like good old-fashioned rhythm 'n' blues... Is Bick really carving a new niche for painting? More like Painting is proving its enduring complexity... again! (Runs till 08/10.)

NB: while at Hales catch Paul Shambroom and Coco Kuhn at Rocket and Take It Furthur! Part 2 at Andrew Mummery.

With Insen, Alva Noto (aka Carsten Nicolai) and Ryuichi Sakamoto continue a collaboration that began after meeting during Nicolai's first tour of Japan, which then led to the release of their debut album Vrioon in 2003. Sakamoto founded influential electronic group Yellow Magic Orchestra, but is perhaps most noted for his solo career, film soundtracks and work with such artists as David Bowie, David Sylvian and David Byrne while Nicolai forms part of the Raster-Noton label, focusing on conceptual and experimental projects in music, art and science. The collaboration between these two unique artists explores the interaction between electronic and acoustic instrumentation, blending Sakamoto's harmonic, airy piano arrangements with Noto's almost silent digital static, sinewaves, glitches, hums and whirrs. This new live production of the project will feature an on-stage video installation complete with dynamic, real-time visualisation of the sound as graphics and should provide excellent aural and visual relief for the mind.

NB: this event is part of the Barbican's Only Connect series.

Mike Mills is a man of many talents: a graphic artist, video/commercial and now feature film director. His debut film Thumbsucker looks at the dramatic effects on a teenager and his family when he gives up sucking his thumb. Thumbsucker premieres in London this week at resfest 2005.

To read the interview click here.

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