The Drivetime

The film opens in the year 2023 in the Nostradamus Islands. A librarian named Flux recalls a series of earthquakes that destroyed the continental United States. A totalitarian government took control of the United States following the disaster, but video footage from the pre-earthquake world was lost. Flux is sent by the government back in time to Seattle, Washington, of 1999, to locate video footage of a riot that took place prior to the earthquake. He arrives in a society where telecommunications technology has replaced human interactions, and where police operations are presented as television entertainment. He also discovers the government is putting forth footage of non-existent riots as a means of establishing law and order.[1][2]

The Drivetime was produced on a budget of US$5,000 (currently $8,000[3]).[4] Rob Brezsny, author of the syndicated newspaper column "Real Astrology", wrote the text for the film's psychedelic infomercials.[4]

Alli shot The Drivetime in five different video formats – BETA SP, HI-8, VHS, C-VHS, SVHS – and in Super 8 film. The riot footage was culled from the September 10, 1994, riots in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood that protested allegations of local police brutality.[5]

The Drivetime was first screened at the Velvet Elvis Arts Theater in Seattle in August 1995.[6] The film had a limited theatrical release and was later distributed on DVD.[5]

The Drivetime received mixed reviews. Wired magazine praised it as "one of the most chilling yet innovative cinematic essays on the flaws of today's technology-obsessed society"[1] while Steven Seid of the Pacific Film Archive praised the film's "provocative visuals" and noted it was "at its best when plying its 'televisionary' speculations about a spiritual resurgence that will overwhelm virtuality."[7] However, Robert Firsching, writing for the Amazing World of Cult Movies, dismissed The Drivetime as a “silly mess".[8]

• The Drivetime in the Internet Movie Database