Alienation, angst and Esperanto. No, it’s not a new drink invented by a disgruntled barista. It’s a 25-minute art film in an artificial language about one woman’s descent into the Corporate Inferno of San Francisco’s Financial District. In a comic labyrinth of existential agony an angst-ridden office temp suffers mythological torment, searches for meaning, and waits for the five o’clock release. Ne Plu Pikniko (meaning No More Picnic in Esperanto) is an odyssey into the alienation of the workplace, an elegy for a lost past of community, an exploration of psychological and cultural dissociation, and a social satire lampooning corporate deification.

Produced almost 20 years ago, it won Second Prize awards at both the San Francisco Poetry Film Festival and the Rutgers Mixed Media Festival where it was heralded as “redolent of Euripides,” “like Woody Allen interpreting Sartre,” and “the film that got the greatest audience response.” Drive-in critic, Joe Bob Briggs, called it “perhaps the mother of all art films.”

Its gritty black and white foreign look suggests a lost avante garde experiment of the 60’s recovered after years of censorship, a mirror of the film’s actual odd genesis. Bechtel explains, “After becoming a single mother, I never had the resources to take the film to the next level. But Indieflix is taking the film there now.”

So if Esperanto is not the main ingredient in an iced mocha with a triple shot and flat soy milk, what is it? “To me it was the perfect language of alienation,” says Bechtel. “It is a man-made language invented by L.L. Zamenhoff in 1887 (Basia sings about it) to eliminate language barriers in order to promote peace.” The word Esperanto means one who hopes. Esperanto took off in popularity in the 60’s and many groups remain active today, some dedicated to education, the arts, podcasting and even travel services.

“Esperanto has no ancient past,” Bechtel continues. “There are no taboos or ceremonial rites. No nationalism. It is nobody’s mother tongue. Nobody remembers the Old World of Esperanto except the character in this film. It is the language of pure alienation in one sense. And the ultimate language of connection in another. There is innocence about it, too. A translucence. Intended as a bridge between people, its simplicity gives it a special charm.

“Despite Esperanto’s lack of cultural roots, it is a beautiful rich language. Based on Latin, though incredibly simplified, it has that very emotional sound. I wanted to intertwine that warm pathos with the cooler more intellectual English subtitles, and contrast both of these with the mundane yet surreal images. At one point the character declares she is ‘a maggot squirming in the bone pile.’ I think we’ve all felt that way at work.”

Esperanto has been used in a handful of films, probably the most famous starring William Shatner called The Incubus. “The language was always mispronounced in that film,” says Bechtel, “but with great feeling. It’s hard to speak Esperanto without great feeling, I think.”

Ne Plu Pikniko is a multi-faceted experience. As an elegy to a past of indigenous community it is heartbreaking. As a social satire it is biting. As a critique of labor and management it is disturbing.

Joan Bechtel considers herself happily alienated. “After fighting it for most of my life, I find I actually value the perspective of being on the outside and never really belonging. There is something refreshing about it.” An artist and unwed teen mom in the 60’s, Bechtel’s path took her through film animation, acting, screenwriting, stand-up comedy, filmmaking and on to writing a book, as well as years of temp work along the way to support her children and her dreams. Bechtel recalls a friend who quit her job upon seeing the film. “I really felt successful in that moment. Connected, inspired, that my work had meaning.”

Bay Area filmmaker, Joan Bechtel, will be exhibiting her award-winning short film, Ne Plu Pikniko, at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival Sept. 23 at the City Cinemas East, NYC. It will be available on DVD Sept. 9, 2008 through Indieflix.

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