A Frozen Film Festival five

It’s July in San Francisco, and you know the drill: chestnuts roasting by the open fire, Jack Frost popping up on your laptop. The Frozen Film Festival — a small festival that hopes to capitalize on the fact that San Franciscans like to stay indoors in the bone-chilling days of summer — has actually already started heating up. Thursday at the Roxie was its big opening night, and the films, some straight outta Silverdocs, others controversial enough to cause a stir, continue to warm the Mission throughout the weekend. Bonus events: FFF’s Music Competition winners play at Edinburgh Castle Pub tonight at 9 p.m., and the bands of “Rural Rockers” play Hotel Utah Sat/14. What follows are SF360.org’s thoughts on just which frozen films may turn out to be the hottest picks.

1. Comedic and Experimental Shorts
Frugal and depressed about it? The festival says it best with its cheery little mnemonic: “Hilarious, silly, creative fun — it’s eight different short films for the price of one!”

2. “Millions”
The true story of six Americans linked by what we might call luck: the Lottery. Paul LaBlanc’s documentary reveals not only the figures in the headlines but the hardship and humanity behind the winning tickets.

3. “Stomp! Shout! Scream!”
All girl rock band. Something called a Skunk Ape. A foul smelling pile of detritus. A movie, or three ways to begin an impossible game of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?

4. “AIDS Inc.”
A documentary that says it sets the record straight on the global AIDS crisis as a corporate construction and institution. Sure to create a stir, see AIDS Inc. to inform your argument. Or, at the very least, for some very heated water cooler talk at the office.

5. “Pillow Girl”
Come see and hear the collection of 200 suggestive paperback covers strung together, the sound actually produced by the image through some very techno-savvy scanning. A sound-art piece turned meta-pulp experience.