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The US Premiere of
Love Hurts
A film by Barra Grant
USA, 2009, 95 minutes, 35mm
Written and Directed by Barra Grant
Produced by Brian Reilly
Executive Producer: Laura Hopper
Cast:
Richard E. Grant ▪ Carrie Ann Moss ▪ Johnny Pacar ▪ Jenna Elfman
Janeane Garofalo ▪ Camryn Manheim
Ben Bingham (Grant) has slipped into the complacency of a daily routine, unlike his vibrant wife Amanda (Moss). When she finally leaves him, Ben is at a loss. He refuses to get out of his pajamas until his popular 17 year old son Justin (Pacar) takes over. He updates Ben’s ‘look’ and pushes him into the social scene. Before Ben knows what is happening, he is the most popular single man in town, pursued by his nurse (Elfman), his trainer (Garofalo), and karaoke - singing twins. Things change when Justin falls in love for the first time and Ben is forced to refocus, recapture his humanity, his heart, and most importantly his wife… who is now with another man.
$5 A DAY
USA, 2008, 98 min
Director: Nigel Cole
Writers: Neal H. Dobrofsky, Tippi Dobrofsky
Producers: Carol Baum, Jane Goldenring, Kia Jam
Cast: Christopher Walken, Alessandro Nivola, Sharon Stone, Amanda Peet, Peter Coyote, Dean Cain
The conservative son of a thrifty conman begrudgingly joins his father on the road-after being released from jail for one of his dad’s earlier crimes. His conman dad lives by the motto: The best things in life are free!
ALEXANDER: THE NEVA BATTLE
Russia, 2008, 110 min
Director: Igor Kalyonov
Cast: Bogdan Stupka, Svetlana Bakulina, Anton Pampushny, Andrey Fyodortsov, Aleksandr Orlovsky, Igor Botvin
Novgorod Duke Alexander is loved by his people. But he also has a lot of enemies. The Horde in the east and the Teutonic order and Sweden in the west plan a crusade to Russia and send a spy to Novgorod. Meanwhile, his best friend falls under suspicion, as someone tries to poison Alexander at his own wedding feast. Alexander is left with two options: to defend his people against the invaders or find the person (s) out to poison him.
A QUIET LITTLE MARRIAGE
USA, 2008, 90 min
Writer/Director: Mo Perkins
Writers: Mary Elizabeth Ellis, CY Carter
Producers: Angela Sostre, Hal Haberman, Tamara Maloney
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Cy Carter, Jimmi Simpson, Charlie Day, Melanie Lynskey, Michael O’Neill, Lucy DeVito
Dax and Olive are in a very happy marriage. When her father falls prey to early Alzheimer’s, she decides she wants a have a baby. Dax doesn’t want babies. Things begin to fall apart for Dax and Olive, who gradually realize they have different ideas about their relationship. This conflict creates a series of secrets and lies, which slowly begin to unravel the world around them.
EDGAR ALLAN POE’S ANNABEL LEE
USA, 2009, 107 min
Writer/Director: Michael Rissi
Writers: Bill Bordy, Barbara James
Producer: Christopher Perez
Cast: Kristen Hagan, Jon Woodward, Bill Bordy, Ken Wolt, Ron Becks, Raquel Rosser, John DiAntonio, Kevin Ging
Based on the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same title. Jack Blythe, an artist who rents a summer house in a quiet beach town to find creative inspiration gets more than he bargained for when he meets a beautiful but hauntingly mysterious woman who offers to be his subject for a painting. When Jack discovers that his seductive stranger resembles a woman presumed dead for 18 years, he becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth. Soon, Jack is caught up in a terrifying struggle that will unravel an unsolvable mystery and reveal a horrific secret.
THE BAKER
UK, 2007, 86 min
Writer/Director: Gareth Lewis
Producers: Damian Lewis, Daniel Shepherd, Adrian Sturges, Justin Williams
Cast: Damian Lewis, Kate Ashfield, Nikolaj Coster, Anthony O’Donnell, Steve Speirs, Brian Hubbard
THE BAKER is a romantic comedy about a hit man who tries to quit by going to a small Irish village. He’s mistaken for the new town baker and falls in love with the town veterinarian. When his true identity is revealed, the town, in their own quirky way, saves him.
BONNIE & CLYDE vs. DRACULA
USA, 2008, 91 min
Writer/Director: Timothy Friend
Producers: Jennifer Friend, Joe Allen
Cast: Tiffany Shepis, Trent Haaga, Allen Lowman, Jennifer Friend
When gangsters meet vampires, there’s bloody hell to pay. Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula combines the rough and tumble world of the 30’s gangster movie with the violence and gothic atmosphere of a classic horror film.
CARS OF THE REVOLUTION
Turkey, 2008, 120 min
Director/Producer: Tolga Ornek
Writers: Murat Disli, Tolga Ornek
Cast: Taner Birsel, Vahide Gordum, Selcuk Yohtem, Secil Mutlu, Onur Unsal
An emotional story spanning 130 days behind the first car produced in Turkey in 1961, a year after the military seized power. The film revolves around seven engineers and their families who believed that by proving that a car can be built, their country’s destiny would change for the better.
COCHOCHI
Mexico, 2007, 87 min
Directors/Writers: Laura Guzmán, Israel Cardenas
Cast: Evaristo Lerma Batista, Antonio Lerma Batista
Evaristo and Tony, two brothers from northwest Mexico, receive an assignment from their grandfather to deliver some medicine to the other extreme of the Sierra Tarahumara. Dreading the long road ahead, they decide to take their grandfather’s horse and set off into a journey that becomes longer than they expected.
THE DEATH OF ALICE BLUE
Canada, 2009, 86min
Writer/Director: Park Bench
Producer: Alex Appel
Cast: Alex Appel, Babara Redecki, Conrad Coates, Amanda Brugel, Gordon Currie
Shy Alice Blue is the new creative intern at Raven Advertising. Unfortunately for her the place is run by vampires. A group of eccentrics enlist her aid in thwarting their nefarious schemes but there’s a complication. There’s the possibility that she herself may be genetically predisposed to being the greatest vampire ever, and the only one who can save the dying breed. Alice is forced to confront herself and make a stand, whatever the outcome.
DRAINED
Brazil, 2007, 112 min
Director: Hector Dhalia
Producers: Marcelo Doria, Matias Mariani, Rodrigo Teixeira
Cast: Selton Mello, Paula Braun, Lourenço Mutarelli, Fabiana Gugli, Silvia Lourenço, Mario Shoemberger
A pawn shop owner buys used goods from desperate people. Capitalizing on misfortunes, he conducts some perverse power games. But when the perfect “derriere” of a waitress and a nauseous toilet smell enter his life, he loses it all.
FAVORITE SON
USA, 2009, 88 min
Director/Writer: Howard Libov
Writer: Michael Stewart
Producer: Brian Gosnar
Cast: Pablo Schreiber, Connor Paolo, Kellie Overbey, Richard Bekins, Tolan Aman, Matt Walton, Lenore Zann,
A story of family, dreams deferred, and a final chance at redemption. David Paxton returns to his hometown much less the hero he once thought he would become. When he meets Joan, he believes he has found a way to acquire the love and family he’s long been yearning for. While his romancing of Joan makes her wary, he somehow starts up a most unlikely friendship with her son Ross, a 14 year old headed down a path toward destructiveness. David must break out of his isolation to help the young boy, and become a father figure in a way he never imagined, and in so doing, become a genuine hero off the field.
FINDING BLISS
USA, 2008, 105 min
Director/Writer: Julie Davis
Producers: David Ornston, Rich Cowan
Executive Producer: Daniel Toll
Cast: Leelee Sobieski, Denise Richards, Jamie Kennedy, Kristen Johnston, Matt Davis, Caroline Aaron
Jody Balaban, an award-winning film school graduate, moves out to Hollywood with lofty aspirations only to find herself editing adult films and finding herself much more aroused than she’d like.
FUEL
USA, 2008, 94 min
Director/Writer: Oktay Ortabasi
Cast: Briana Feehan Michael Esparza, C. Thomas Howell, Bill McKinney, Billy Maddox
The story of a young man’s struggle to save his friend, Sandy, from an abusive environment. Emilio discovers that he has the ability to run incredibly fast. With the hope of a scholarship, he sees an opportunity to be able to leave his hometown, along with all his troubles, and take Sandy with him. But a tragic flaw, a violent streak he possesses, induced by exposure to gasoline vapors will all but destroy his best-laid plans. Emilio’s hopes race through his heart, not like blood, but like fuel.
NOT BY CHANCE
Brazil, 2008, 90 min
Director: Phillippe Barcinsky
Producers: Fernando Meirelles, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck
Cast: Rodrigo Santoro, Leonardo Medeiros, Leticia Sabatella, Rita Batata, Branca Messina
A story about the lives of two men affected by the same fatality. In a tragic accident involving women in each of their lives, they embark them on a journey of love, loneliness, and desire to control the uncontrollable with Sao Paulo as the backdrop.
ONE GOOD MAN
USA, 2009, 90 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Christian Vuissa
Cast: Timothy Threlfall, Adam Johnson, Aley Underwood, Lindsay Bird-Nielson, Pam Eichner
A young father of six is called to serve as the leader of his church congregation the same day his daughter gets engaged and his boss asks him to lay off dozens of people at work. Soon he finds himself juggling responsibilities as husband, father, provider and church leader.
PIG HUNT
USA, 2008, 100 min
Director: James Isaac
Writers: Robert Mailer Anderson, Zack Anderson
Executive Producer: Nicola Miner
Cast: Travis Aaron Wade, Tina Huang, Howard Johnson Jr., Trevor Bullock, Rajiv Shah, Jason Foster, Nick Tagas
When John takes his San Francisco friends to his deceased uncle's remote ranch to hunt wild pigs, it seems like a typical guy’s weekend with guns - despite the presence of John's girlfriend Brooks. But as John and his crew trek deeper into the forest, they begin tracking the awful truth about his uncle's demise and the legend of The Ripper--a murderous three-thousand lb. black boar!
POLUMGLA
Russia, 2005, 100 min
Director: Artyom Antonov
Producers: Igor Bolgarin, Aleksandr Rodnyansky
Writers: Victor Smirnov, Igor Bolgarin
Cast: Yuri Tarasov, Johannes Rapp, Sergey Gryaznov, Anastasiya Sheveleva, Martin Jackowski
In the last winter of WWII 1945, a group of captive German soldiers is brought to a remote Russian village, where widows, a child and a cripple are the only ones left. This is a military drama about those who can love and forgive.
SHARK CITY
CANADA, 2009, 86 min
Co Producer/Director: Dan Eisen
Writer: Evan Shear
Producer / Exec. Producer: Justin L. Levine
Cast: Jefferson Brown, David Phillips, Carlo Rota, Viveca Fox, Jordan Madley, Samantha Gutstadt, Corey Haim
Two 30-something best friends are looking for love in all the wrong places. One finds his “dream girl” who happens to be a mobster’s daughter while the other swindles her mob boss dad out of a million dollars.
SOMETHING BLUE
USA, 2008, 87 min
Writer/Director/Exec. Producers: Curtis Krick, Sean Dillon
Producers: Ian Stokell, Lesley Patterson
Cast: Chris Smith, Jill Klopp
Love is blind...and sometimes blue. ‘Something Blue’ is a mockumentary about an interracial wedding between a bride from a white middle class family and a groom from a fictitious race of blue-skinned ‘Polar Americans’ from Antarctica. Think “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” meets “The Office”.
SPOONER
USA, 2009, 84 min
Director: Drake Doremus
Executive Producer: Zygi Wilf
Producer: Jonathan Schwartz
Writer: Lindsay Stidham
Cast: Matthew Lillard, Nora Zehetner, Shea Whigham, Christopher McDonald, Kate Burton, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Herman Spooner, a used-car salesman who still lives with his parents, is set in his unfulfilling routine. However, he is turning 30, which marks a firm deadline set by his parents to get a place of his own. To top it off, his boss is putting on the pressure to bring in more sales or face the chopping block. Heading for one of the worst days of his life, Spooner meets the girl of his dreams. Forgoing all other priorities, he puts everything into winning her heart, but on their perfect date, she breaks the news that she is about to leave to teach in the Philippines. How far will Spooner go to keep his dream girl in town and show her he really knows how to spoon?
STELLINA BLUE
USA, 2008, 95 min
Director/Writer: Gabriel Scott
Producers: Christina Mauro, Angela Plasschaert
Executive Producer: Ara Keshishian
Cast: Christina Mauro, Chris Kramer, Richard Riehle, Maree Cheatham, Muse Watson, Navid Negahban
Stellina Martin leads a reclusive and mundane existence, exactly how she likes it. But in a single moment everything changes. Shot during a failed robbery attempt, she fights for her life during a month long coma and awakens to find she has been given a second chance…and an extraordinary gift. The normally withdrawn Stellina must now engage other people and discover what life is really about. Are we defined by the realities around us or can inexplicable events become the definition of who we are? Stellina must now decide and in the course of doing so forever change the lives of those around her.
THE WAY TO DANCE
United Kingdom, 2009, 75 min
Director/Producer/Co-Writer: Matthew Daniels
Producer: Richard Staniforth
Co-Writer: Seth Wilkins
Cast: Hannah Polland, Samuel Jonathan
At just 16, Kate was a dancer, a good one, with a bright future. Then an accident scarred her for life and took away her voice. Now a reclusive mute, she lives a secluded life. But when she meets Danny in an internet chat room, he is determined to break her out of her shell. Smooth talking and not afraid to bend a few rules, Danny makes it his mission to get Kate back on the stage. However, as their friendship grows, Kate begins to suspect that Danny is not everything he claims to be.
WHITE ON RICE
USA, 2009, 86 min
Director/Writer: Dave Boyle
Writer: Joel Clark
Producers: Duane Andersen, Michael Lerman
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Hiroshi Watanabe, Mio Takada, Nae Yuki, Pepe Serna, James Kyson Lee, Lynn Chen
Comedic story of Jimmy - a misguided 40-year-old divorcee trying to navigate his way through a new life in America and out of his sister Aiko’s basement. Disgraced by his disgruntled brother-in-law Tak, Jimmy spends his nights desperately in search of a new wife who shares his love of dinosaurs and geology. Things go horribly awry when Jimmy falls in love with Tak’s niece, the beautiful Ramona, and vows to steal her away from his co-worker Tim. Meanwhile, Bob, Jimmy’s nephew, and bunk bed mate, harbors a secret talent that holds the key to rekindling the passion in his parents’ marriage.
YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE
Canada, 2008, 82 min
Writer/Director: Simon Ennis
Writer: Josh Peace
Producers: Ari Lantos, Jonas Bell Pasht
Exec. Producer: Michael Dowse
Cast: Michael Madsen, Clark Johnson, Stephen McHattie, Liane Balaban, Dov Tiefenbach, Josh Peace
On the advice of his childhood hero, Robert R. Mutt embarks on a madcap adventure to attain the three keys to being a "somebody" - a girl, some money and a championship ring.
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AN UNLIKELY WEAPON: THE EDDIE ADAMS STORY
USA, 2008, 85 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Susan Morgan
Narrator: Kiefer Sutherland
Cast: Eddie Morgan, Pres. Bill Clinton, Tom Brokaw, Marc Anthony, Peter Arnett, Peter Jennings, Kerry Kennedy, Gordon Parks, Tracey Ullman
In 1968, in 1/500th of a second, Eddie Adams photographed a Saigon Police Chief General Nygoc Loan, shooting a Vietcong guerilla point blank. Some say that photograph ended the Vietnam War. The photo brought Eddie Adams fame and a Pulitzer, but Eddie was haunted by the man he vilified. Adams, like most artists was tortured by his need for perfection. Nothing he did ever satisfied him. He carved out many careers shooting covers for Life, Time and even Penthouse. Yet, somehow, he was always pulled back into documenting wars, 13 all together. Finally he hit the wall and couldn’t take it anymore. He began shooting celebrities. Eddie was comfortable with kings and coal miners. During his time with Parade Magazine he photographed Clint Eastwood, Louis Armstrong, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul.
AUSTRALIANS HIT HOLLYWOOD
USA, 2008, 56 min
Writer/Director/Producer: Kalee St Clair
Executive Producer: Alex Menses
Cast: Gavin Wood
A look at the wealth of talented Australians working in the American entertainment industry. The film contains interviews with actors, directors, cinematographers, screenwriters, reality stars, musicians and business leaders exploring cultural differences, community, and why Australians are achieving so much success in Hollywood.
BABY BLUE
Egypt/USA, 2009, 23 min
Director/Producer: Maranatha Hay
Narrator: Maranatha Hay
Each year in Alexandria, Egypt 20,000 babies are diagnosed with congenital heart disease. About half of these babies die due to lack of surgical resources. In 2008, in an effort to combat Egypt’s high surgical mortality rate, Egyptian doctors enlisted the help of the entire pediatric heart surgery team (led by pioneer heart surgeon Leonard Bailey) of Loma Linda University, CA. Working together, the Egyptians and Americans saved a few precious lives. BABY BLUE is the story of Roukaia, a two year old Egyptian girl, born with a hole in her heart, which makes her fingers, toes and lips constantly colored blue. This graphic, short documentary follows baby Roukaia and her family through the life-threatening surgery and its dramatic recovery process.
BREAKING NEWS BREAKING DOWN
USA, 2008, 36 min
Director/Producer/Writer: Mike Walter
Co-Producer: Tim Deluca
Cast: Mike Walter
Journalists have told us about the most important stories of our time, from Columbine to 911, from Hurricane Katrina to the War in Iraq and the Oklahoma City bombing. Now, for the first time, we see how getting the big story can take a huge emotional toll on these journalists, and watch as a group of them band together after Katrina to help each other move from tragedy and trauma to triumph.
BUTTERFLIES
USA, 2009, 72 min
Writer/Director/Producer: Ester Brym
Cast: Cory Williams, David Foley, Lisa Donovan, Olga Kay, Paul Robinette, Phillip DeFranco
Butterflies is a feature documentary film following the lives of six young 'weblebrities' on YouTube.com. The film explores the power of new media and the struggles and successes of characters Lisanova, Mr. Safety, Davedays, Boheme, Olgakay and Xgobobeanx in their quest to be virtual celebrities.
COWTOWN BALLROOM: SWEET JESUS
USA, 2009, 85 min
Director/Executive Producer: Joe Heyen
Cast: Joe Heyen
Cowtown Ballroom, a legendary Kansas City, Missouri concert venue, established an incredible musical heritage during its short life span from July 16, 1971 to September 16, 1974. Originally a jazz club and later a roller rink, the Cowtown Ballroom opened with a concert by The Flying Burrito Brothers. The next three years saw performances by an eclectic parade of musicians including Frank Zappa, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Van Morrison, B.B. King and Linda Ronstadt. Yes, there were hippies in Kansas City!
CRASHER
USA, 2009, 75 min
Writer/Director: Larry Torro
Producers: Larry Torro, Ron Magid, Scott Weiss
A cinematic memoir of master party crasher Scott Weiss, whose fabled resume includes gaining access to the world’s most exclusive parties and events.
CUBA IS MUSIC
Bulgaria/Cuba, 2009, 45 min
Director: Ilian Djevelekov
Writer: Matey Konstantinov
Producers: Georgi Dimitrov, Matey Konstantinove, Ilian Djevelekov
Executive Producer: Jordanka Hristova
In Cuba everything is expressed in music-- the declaration of love and the rich harvest; the birth if a child and the loss of a donkey, the longing and the melancholy. Cuban music is well known all over the world but few know what ‘son’ and ‘bolero’ mean, when these styles emerged and where they originated from. Bulgarian singer Jordanka Hristova opens the secret room of Cuban music and the forgotten files where the history of “son” and ‘’bolero” is kept.
HOME FROM THE WAR: THE VOICES OF VIETNAM
USA, 2009, 56 min
Writer/Director/Producer: Randall Wilson
Executive Producer: Denis McCallion
The men and women who fought a brutal, unpopular war in Vietnam were fulfilling their duty to a country that then treated them with disdain and indifference. Veterans of every background speak candidly about coming home, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, their 40-year battle with the Veteran’s Administration, and the future of their children who are now fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.
HOUSE OF NUMBERS
USA, 2009, 88 min
Director/Producer: Brent Leung
In this AIDS film like no other, the HIV/AIDS story is being rewritten. This is the first film to present the uncensored POVs of virtually all the major players; in their own settings, in their own words -- it rocks the foundation upon which all conventional wisdom regarding HIV/AIDS is based. ‘House of Numbers’ could well be the opening volley in a battle to bring sanity and clarity to an epidemic gone awry.
LIFE ON THE VINE
USA, 2009, 28 min
Director: Michael Farry
Producers: Michael Farry, Brian Kadar
A biography documentary about a close knit family who live and work together to build, develop and manage the Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country.
MA BAR
UK, 2009, 12 min
Director/Producer: Adrian McDowall
Director/Producer: Finlay Prestell
Cast: Bill McFayden
Bench pressing isn’t a hobby for 73-year-old Bill McFayden; it’s a way of life, and he is on a quest to be the best in the world.
THE MAKING OF THE NUTCRACKER
USA, 2009, 90 min
Director: Inda Reid
Executive Producer: Beverly Stephenson
Co-Producer: Annette Rosen
Cast: Mark Erickson, Tiffany Koepke, Roy Tilton, Emi Oshima, Krista Rosen, Annette Rosen, Rachel Pines and the dancers of The Ballet Studio
A behind the scenes, in depth look into the preparation of the annual production of Temecula Ballet Studio’s own version of the world renowned The Nutcracker Ballet. This documentary depicts the strong determination of the studio owner, the dreams and real life challenges faced by the two attractive young lead dancers and the collective efforts of students, parents and teachers towards the creation of a successful annual ballet production of The Nutcracker.
THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE
USA/China, 2009, 94 mins.
Producer/Director: Roger Nygard
Producer: Paul Tarantino
Cast: Roger Nygard
Why we are here and what are we supposed to do about it? What started the Universe, and was it a mistake? Does God exist, and why does he seem so interested in our sex lives? After exploring the phenomenon of TREKKIES, filmmaker Roger Nygard takes on The Nature of Existence. As he roams the globe searching for the source of each of the world’s philosophies, religions, and belief systems, Nygard interviews spiritual leaders, scholars, scientists, artists, pizza chefs, and others who have influenced, inspired, or freaked out humanity.
MUSIC FOR THE BRAIN
Australia, 2009, 55 min
Producer/Director: Fiona Cochrane
Music affects our development from the womb to the grave. The documentary examines the role music plays in developing our brain as humans, beginning with premature infants in neonatal intensive care wards, moving through the role of music in enhancing performance in childhood, the role of music therapy in hospitals, and finally looking at the elderly. Music is good for our health – and this documentary shows you how and why.
OSO BLANCO (White Bear)
Puerto Rico, 2008, 80 min,
Directors: Christian Suau & Ramilro Millan
Producers: Donald K. Ranvaud, Silvio Sardi
Cast: “El Jibaro” and “Flores”
The “Oso Blanco” is the most feared prison of Puerto Rico. It is the birthplace of 2 of the most famous Latino gangs: “Neta” and “Los 27” and the scene of hundreds of murders. Including testimony from “El Jibaro” serving 48 years in the institution and “Flores” his guard for the last 27 years.
PARKOUR IN AMERICA
USA, 2009, 14 min
Director/Writer/Producer: Chris Pentak
Cast: Joseph Torchia, Nick Kelly, Dan Edwards, Stephanie Vigroux, Joann Vigroux, Forrest
An analysis of one of the newest and most exciting extreme sports in the world. It follows Parkour Horizons as they travel the world to train with Parkour masters, and as they struggle to spread the true form of Parkour in a country obsessed with the spectacle of it.
OH MY GOD! IT’S HARROD BLANK!
USA, 2008, 75 min
Director/Producer: David Silberberg
Cast: Harrod Blank
A long look at the zealously unconventional life of artist, film-maker, art-car maven, and all around non-conformist Harrod Blank. Weighing in with opinions from friends, family, and filmmaking father Les Blank, 20 years of Harrod's creative projects and girlfriends come into focus for the first time.
THE RANCH
USA, 2009, 15 min
Director/Producer: Maribeth Moy
A northern San Diego County drug and rehabilitation ranch is a haven for abandoned and injured exotic animals. Here, alcoholics and drug addicts restore themselves physically and spiritually, and learn to be ‘unselfish’ by caring for animals that don’t judge or belittle them, but want only to be cared for and loved.
RED BULL X-FIGHTERS UNLEASHED
USA, 2008, 82 min
Writer/Director: Jeff Pakosta
Executive Producers: Jeff Pakosta, Andrew Stephan, Mitch Geller
Cast: Ronnie Renner, Travis Pastrana. Robbie Madison, Brian Deegan, Danny Torres, Nate Adams
The best freestyle motocross riders in the world face off in an international competition in which Mexico, Ireland and Spain play host to the biggest and best freestyle action on the planet. But it’s not all about the contest, as you take a look at the personal side of these FMX athletes who risk their lives competing in one of today’s most dangerous sports.
RITMO DO MORUMBI
Brazil/USA, 2009, 21 min
Directors: Gabrielle Bashist, Rhiannon Gutierrez, Tyson Hauff, Joshua Kun, Collin Martin, Tyler Zelinsky
Producer: Tu John
Exec. Prod.: Jeff Swimmer
Children from the favelas of Sao Paulo, Brazil see hope for a better future at Meninos do Morumbi, through singing, dancing, capoeira, drumming and other activities.
THE ROAD TO FALLUJAH
USA, 2009, 85 min
Writer/Director/Executive Producer: Mark Manning
Writer/Producer: Nathalie Kalustian
Producers: Rana al Aiouby, Michelle Rhea
The true story of filmmaker Mark Manning’s experience as the only westerner to live with the people of Fallujah immediately following the November 2004 siege of their city. The film takes a comprehensive and humanizing look at the war and its consequences from the perspective of the people directly involved, with the intent to offer peaceful solutions.
SIGNS OF THE TIME
USA, 2009, 60 min
Director: Don Casper
Writer: Jim Hughes
Producers: Don Casper, Jim Hughes
Exec. Producers: Caroline Manard, Ray Manard
Narrator: Richard Dreyfuss
The Myth. The Mystery. The Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Innovation.
THE SIX DEGREES OF HELTER SKELTER
USA, 2009, 105 min
Writer Director: Michael Dorsey
Executive Producers: Michael Dorsey, Scott Michaels, Lloyd Bryan Adams
Cast: Lloyd Bryan Adams, Scott Michaels
Using never-before-seen autopsy reports, rare photographs, original Manson Family music recordings, and modern-day visits to over 40 locations related to the infamous Tate/La Bianca murders, this documentary ties together the dozens of odd connections between Charles Manson and the Hollywood elite.
SMILE 'TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY
USA, 2008, 81 min
Director: Lee Storey
Producer: Bari Pearlman
The true story of Up with People, the singing group that represented an establishment friendly alternative to the counter-culture of the 60's.
SPITTING GAME: THE COLLEGE HOOK UP CULTURE
USA, 2008, 83 min
Writer/Director: Denise Ann Evans
Executive Producer: Jerome M. Higman
Producers: Iris Grace, Denise Ann Evans
A candid look at the risks and realities of hooking up in college. Having drunken, no-strings attached sex has eclipsed traditional dating on college campuses across the country. Promiscuity is the new popularity and sex is the new addiction issue. Is “hooking up” the new handshake? This film could change the way you look at campus life forever.
SOLO
Poland/Austria/Ukraine, 2008, 55 min
Writer/Director: Maciej Pisarek
Producers: Krystyna Gierlowska, Marek Frackowiak, Pawel Mantorski
Narrators: Jan Peszek, Marek Frackowiak
There are 13 streetcar stops from the place where Boguslaw Schaeffer lives to the center of Krakow. The composer assumes that he ought to work ouot 13 ideas during the ride. In the streetcar he sits along with a notebook and “Solo” is an unusual journey with Schaeffer through surrounding world of today to the roots of his unusual art.
STRONGMAN
USA, 2009, 113 min
Director/Producer: Zachary Levy
Stainless Steel can leg-press 10,000 pound dump trucks, drive nails through boards with just his bare hands, and can even bend a U.S. penny in his fingers—a feat no one else in the world can accomplish! What he cannot do is pull himself out of the rubble of his own dead-end ambitions and expectations: to be a highly paid performer celebrated for his acts of strength.
TAYLOR CAMP
USA, 2009, 100 min
Director: Robert Stone
Executive Producer: John Wehrheim
Producer: Robert Stone, Tom Vendetti
The sixties and seventies were turbulent times, but on Kauai’s north shore there was a safe haven—the ultimate hippie fantasy. In 1969, Elizabeth Taylor’s brother, Howard, bailed out 13 young Mainlanders jailed on Kauai for vagrancy, and invited them to camp on his oceanfront land. Soon waves of hippies, surfers and troubled Vietnam vets found their way to Taylor Camp and built a clothing-optional, pot-friendly tree house village at the end of the North Shore Road. It lasted until 1977 when, after condemning the village to make way for a State park, government officials torched the camp. Thirty years later, the story of Taylor Camp is told through historic photos and film footage, and interviews with campers, their neighbors, and the officials who got rid of them.
TOUGHER THAN IRON
USA, 2008, 62 min
Director/Producer: Rich Van Every
Executive Producer: Jeff Pakosta
Producer: Bernd Hupfaut
Writer: Erik Gamborg
Cast: Chris Birch, Geoff Aaron, Paul Bolton, Teddy Blazusiak
You are catapulted right into the action of the Erzberg Rodeo—the toughest single-day Extreme Motocross race in the world—and left hanging on for dear life to the finish—if you can make it that far! 1500 riders challenge the Iron Giant, a ruthless, twisted course of rocks, hills and cliffs that will leave less than 30 finishers. No money or prize is offered. At Erzberg, finishing the race is the ultimate prize, the ultimate high.
WALKING ON WATER
USA, 2008, 86 min
Director: Nic McLean
Producer: Bryan Jennings
Cast: Bryan Jennings, Luke Davis, Tyler Hallen, Al Merrick, Bethany Hamilton, C.J. Hobgood, Damien Hobgood, Garret Macnamera, Kelly Slater, Matt Beacham, Tom Curren
Two kids, Luke and Tyler, are given the opportunity that most young surfers only dream about. Bryan Jennings, at fourteen, was taken on his first surf trip by a local surfer. This trip had a lasting effect on his life. Bryan returns the favor as he takes Tyler and Luke around the world in hopes that they too will forever be changed. Along the way they meet up with world champion surfer Tom Curren, teen shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton, top professional surfers C.J. and Damien Hobgood, and many others.
ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE
USA, 2009, 91 min
Directors/Producers: Aaron Marshall, Erik Mauck, Justin Johnson
Emily Hagins is making a zombie movie. It’s feature-length, it’s blood, and the zombies don’t run -- just like it should be. But there’s one difference between her film and every other zombie movie you’ve ever seen. Emily is twelve.
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AN EVENING WITH EMERY LONG
USA, 2008, 14 min
Writer/Director: Brad DeMarea
Producer: Laura Zymber
Cast: Joel Spence, Danny McCarthy
Industrial carpet salesman, Emery Long, prepares for his first date with receptionist and ‘office hottie’ Della. Emery has planned the perfect evening, but he soon realizes things might not turn out as he imagined.
THE BAKE SHOP GHOST
USA, 2009, 17 min
Writer/Director: Lorette Bayle
Coralee Baker has run the best bakery in town for decades, but when she passes away and her bakery goes on the market, Coralee finds her own unique way of ensuring that anyone who can’t live up to her legacy doesn’t run the shop for long.
THE BLACK STRAW
USA, 2009, 23 mins
Director / Producer: Jerome Billins
Writer / Producer: Joe Hudon
Cast: David Bokowski, Jamiann Billins, Jerry Earr, Kwasi Sefa-Boakye, Michael Taber, Ryan Stickley, Stacey Bailey
This is a tale of four friends and co-workers who want to do away with their unpleasant boss. They mark a drinking straw with black ink. The person who draws that straw is supposed to do the deed. What follows tests their friendship and morals.
THE BOOK OF TOMORROW
USA, 2008, 19 min
Director/Executive Producer/Writer: David Yohe
Executive Producers: Thomas Spitler, Vong Chea
Writer: Rosy Perez
Cast: Ryan Slough, Leigh Hill, Chriss Anglin
Young Billy Allen is pulled into an incredible adventure when he discovers a forgotten chest containing a comic book with unimaginable powers. Billy must make some difficult choices to save a local family from tragedy, and avert a major disaster in his new hometown.
THE BROKEN HEART OF GNOCCHI BOLOGNESE
USA, 2009, 18 min
Writer/Director: Katherine Vondy
Producers: William Kwok, Samantha Niemoeller
Cast: Johanna Parker, Peter Arpesella, Brenda Barsumian
A girl named Gnocchi Bolognese has never known her father, the chef whose signature dish she was named for. As the stage manager of a local theater, she pines from the wings for the troupe’s star actor. And with her 25th birthday around the corner, Gnocchi decides it’s time to act on her infatuation -- but the pursuit of romance leads her down a tragicomic road to the origins of her unusual name.
CHARLIE THISTLE
USA, 2008, 15 min
Director/Writer: Bragi F. Schut
Producers: Esther Goodstein, Kirsten Wagner
Cast: Jon Keel, Leslie Stevens, Christopher Gehrman, David Hadinger, Susan Foley, Rod Damer, Paul St. Peter, Jasper Oland, David Markus, Mike Sakellarides, David Schroeder, Rodney Stephen Scott
Charlie Thistle lives an ordinary life as a drone in the Department of Normalcy, day after day denying every request that comes across his desk for variation, uniqueness, variety, and color. Then, suddenly, Charlie begins to think “What if?”
CHUCKLE BOY
USA, 2009, 18 min
Director/Exec.Prod.: Daniel Aranyó
Producer: Brent Geisler
Exec. Producer: Lucas Grabeel
Cast: Kelli Baker, Gabe Borden, Olesya Rulin, Mark L. Taylor
Brad is an actor who hates his current job as a superhero in a children's network television series. On his worst day at work he leaves the set in anger and speeds home to hide from the world, but to his shock, he finds a clone of himself that has arrived from another galaxy to engage him in a mission he can't refuse.
COST OF LIVING
USA, 2008, 15 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Larry LaFond
Producer/Writer: Terry Ray
Co-Producer: John Dodt
Cast: Jim J. Bullock, Molly Hagan, Terry Ray
In a not too distant time, the ice caps have melted and global warming is a reality on the over-populated island of Pittsburgh. After saving for over 20 years, Buck can finally move into his own place: a tiny government-assigned middle class housing unit he shares with two strangers. Water is rationed to one minute a day, sharing food becomes extremely mathematical, and sleeping makes strange bedfellows. The future is funny…it just ain’t pretty.
CROSSING THE LINE
USA, 2008, 25 min
Writer/Director: Paul Bunch
Producers: Paul Bojic, Nate Tuck
Cast: Christopher Holtz, Catherine Paile, Josh temple, Nate Tuck
A rookie cop from Los Angeles gets stranded in Mexico and must rely on a famous Mexican band (Banda Machos) to sneak him across the border the ‘hard’ way.
DANDELION DHARMA
USA, 2008, 26 min
Director/Writer: Veronica DiPippo
Cast: Damara Reilly, Mimi Cozzens, Tiffany Hines, Milt Kogan, Amanda Tepe, Chris Ufland, Sean Ridgway
A karmic comedy about three mysterious, eccentric ladies and how their intimate life stories of passion, adventure, romance and survival, inspire a young woman to come to terms with love, loss, and letting go.
DEAR FATTY
USA, 2008, 7 min
Director/Writer: Hsin-I Tseng
Cast: Ruka Nagashima
A little girl writes a letter to her pet hamster, Fatty, in a fantasy story about Fatty’s travels in which he meets a lot of animals and learns about the outside world.
É FINITA LA COMMEDIA
Belgium, 2007, 13 min
Writers/Directors: Jean-Julien Collette, Olivier Tollet
Executive Producer: Anthony Rey
Cast: Christian Crahay, Cédric Eeckhout,
In a parked car in a residential neighborhood, a father and son discuss love, sex, the son’s mother and death. Time goes by, the tone rises and some questions stay in abeyance: what are they waiting for? And above all…what are they about to accomplish?
E.L.A. IN LOVE AT FIRST BYTE
Argentina, 2008, 11 min
Director/Executive Producer/Producer/Writer: Fernando Sarmiento
Cast: Paula Kohan, Emanuel Zaldua
In this action-packed adventure, E.L.A., a young warrior princess, must face her darkest nemesis, Havra the Merciless, and save Earth from utter evil and total destruction!
FOR YOU
USA, 2009, 11 min
Writer/Director: Desiree Rosen
Executive Producer: Jose Troconis
Cast: Ryan Caldwell, Sara Carman
One evening, a son sees his father’s rocking chair is on its last legs. He decides to make him a new one in time for his birthday. The next morning, new challenges occur. The son has to decide which action he must take.
I’M NOT MATT DAMON
USA, 2009, 20 min
Director/Writer/Producer: Jim Rothman
Producers: Anselm Clinard, Nathalie Sakai
Actor and full-time messenger Paul has a dream of “making it” in Hollywood. But Paul just happens to be a dead ringer for one of the biggest movie stars in the world... Matt Damon. When the whims of a powerful producer put stardom within his grasp, Paul gets in touch with his inner action star to make the most important delivery of his life.
INTERPRETATION
USA, 2008, 8 min
Director/Executive Producer/Writer: Lin Oeding
Writer: Matt Olmstead
Cast: Ian Bohen, Cindy Chiu, Jay Giannone
A romantic couple’s brief encounter with several philosophical thugs unfolds in an unusual way.
JUST A MAN
USA, 2008, 8 min
Director/Writer: Mike Brueggemeyer
Writer: Niño Rigor
Producer: Chad Reese
Executive Producer: Bob Dietrich
Cast: Cristyn Chandler, Merrick McCartha, Peter Buitenhek, Lorien Hill-Purcell, Randal Powell
After Abraham Lincoln is assassinated, Mary Todd Lincoln is whisked into an anteroom where she learns her husband will not survive. Her grief and pain lead quickly to anger and rage - a messenger arrives to inform the group about the pursuit of the killer. Mary’s rage begins to consume her. The Lincoln manservant, Joe, steps in to help.
KAVI
USA/India, 2009, 19 min, 35mm
Director/Writer/Producer: Gregg Helvey
Producers: Harish Amin, Guneet Monga
Cast: Sagar Salunke, Ulhas Tayade, Rajeesh Kumar, Madhavi Juvekar, Debu Bhattacharya, Rishi Raj Singh
The story of a young boy who attempts to escape from the brick kiln where he is forced to work as a bonded labor slave in India.
THE LINE
USA, 2008, 10 min
Writer/Director: Richard Sabatte
Writer/Producer: Anita Merzell
Producers: Liz Destro, Mark Todd
Cast: Anita Merzell, Jennifer Skelly, Amanda Leak
Waiting isn’t eternity, it just feels like it. The agony, the ecstasy, the waiting…the line.
THE MIRACLE
USA, 2008, 29 min
Writer /Director: Jeffery Jon Smith
Producer: Jerry Prochazka
Executive Producers: James Aull, Jeffery Jon Smith
Cast: Tekki Lomnicki, Rula Gardenier
For a chance at redemption, Tekki Lomnicki, a little person will need all her courage humor and imagination to face the truth about her life.
THE MISINVENTIONS OF MILO WEATHERBY
USA, 2009, 23 min
Writer/Director: William Whirity
Producer: Hayden Roush
Cast: Charles Bazzell, Matthew Levy, Bruce Jarchow, Roy Anderson, Suzy Brack, Monte
While working on his new invention, the “Reverse Microwave,” Milo Weatherby soon discovers that he has accidentally created a time machine. To help his best friend, Levi Donaldson, the two embark on a mission though time to switch a homework assignment in order to prevent themselves from getting caught cheating.
NICE SHOOTIN’ COWBOY
Australia, 2008, 15 min
Writer/Director: Ben Phelps
Producers: John Maynard, Sarah Shaw
Cast: André de Vanny, Don Bridges, Jack Wardana, Simon Stone, Kym Troutbeck, Rebecca Hetherington
This contemporary Western has desperate buyers, desperate sellers, and an unthinkable deal.
OLD DOGS
USA, 2008, 12 min
Writer/Director/Producer: Jonathan Fahn
Writer/Producer: Tom Fahn
Cast: Basil Hoffman, James Bannon, Jeremy Hogan, John Saxon, Larry Gelman, Lou Saliba, Phil LaMarr
Three septuagenarians reclaim their vitality when mistakenly picking up a bag of cocaine that puts them between the cops and the mob. This comedic crime-drama tackles the misconceptions of ageism in a kind of “Cocoon meets Pulp Fiction” style.
OLD GRACE
USA, 2008, 9 min
Writer/Director/Producer: Nathan Chitayat
Cast: Joe Talbot, Paul Napier
The untimely death of Jeff Leland leaves his father feeling devastated at the senseless loss. He embarks on a road
trip to rid himself of a painful reminder but, stuck with another- his grandson. Now the two must find a way to get along as each grieves in his own way.
ON THE ROAD TO TEL-AVIV
Israel, 2008, 15 min
Director/Writer: Khen Shalem
Writer: Hadar Galron
Producers: Adva Benur, Orit Fisher
Cast: Amos Lavie, Dana Kabesa, Dodo Livini
A dramatic story with comedic elements that shows how, under the tense of reality of war and terror, enemies can sometimes find themselves in that same boat (or in the same bus).
ONCE UPON A CRIME
USA, 2009, 10 min
Director/Producer/Writer: Lilli Birdsell
Cast: Lilli Birdsell, John David Hartfield
This comic deconstruction of the classic fairytale, Snow White, pulls the princess out of the story book and up onto the witness stand…
THE REAL SON
USA, 2008, 9 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Kelly L. King
Producer: Brent Geisler
Writer: Lucas Grabeel
Cast: K. Danor Gerald, Lucas Grabeel, Mark L. Taylor
Freddie is 15 and doesn’t like the fact that a copy machine is closer to his dad than he is. His father runs a tight ship, and no skate-punk son of his is going to keep him from doing his job…
THE SACRIFICE
USA, 2008, 15 min
Director/Writer: Diane Namm
Producer: Eric Mofford
Cast: Chris Mulkey, Darby Stanchfield, Jon Lindstrom, Molly Quinn, Richard Riehle,
What happens on the day a polygamist cult leader comes to take a 13-year-old Esmee for his wife and her family resists?
SEXUAL TENSION: THE SUPER ADVENTURES OF STEVE AND STEPHEN
USA, 2009, 23 min
Co-Directors/Producers/Co-Writers: Joe Greenberg, Steven Greenberg
Producer: Eliot Parker
Cast: Chris Libby, James Hiser, Don Williams, Frank Medina, Geoff Libby, Joe Greenberg
Steve and Stephen, a pair of renegade vigilantes, are out for justice. But when a new, orgasm inducing drug known as “booche” transforms once quiet streets into a sex-crazed wasteland, it is up to Steve and Stephen to use their flamboyant, sexually charged kung-fu tactics to destroy everything in their path. Will our heroes succeed and make it home in time to watch “Lost” or have they finally bitten off more than they can chew?
THE SITDOWN
USA, 2009, 4 min
Director/Writer/Producer.: Jason Victor Everett
Cast: Jason Victor Everett
How do concerned foster parents cope with today’s generation of violent wayward youth? What guidance can be offered to the adopted offspring of abusive homes and troubled streets? Perhaps delivering a few stern words is still the best place to start...
SLICE OF PIE
USA, 2009, 34 min
Director/Producer: Tim Reischauer
Writer/Producer: Rick Hall
Cast: David Atkinson, Kelly Macleod, Rick Hall, Tim Grimm
A shy 45 year old man from a small mid-west farm town finds love with some ‘bumps’ along the way.
TEMPUS EX MACHINA
USA, 2009, 17 min
Writer/Director: Andrew Fogel
Cast: Brian Ellsworth, Jeff Tidwell
Matthew Woodward is an inventor struggling to achieve success and recognition. When his latest invention accidentally transports him back in time to the year 1878, he decides to patent the light bulb before Thomas Edison can do so, claiming fame and fortune for himself. However, Woodward must soon face the consequences of disrupting history.
THREE HITS AND A MISS
USA, 2009, 14 min
Director/Producer/Writer: Mickey Harrison
Cast: Mickey Harrison, Jack G. White, Mike Bova, Tim Evans
Mary Grace, a one-time moll for the Mafia who is now retired and lives with three hit men, discovers that one of their “hits” is still living and writing his memoirs in a rest home. Like all honorable hit men, they set out to finish the job or…do they?
TONY ZOREIL
France, 2007, 20 min
Director/Writer: Valentin Potier
Producers: Philippe Abitbol, Frédéric Potier, Annie Dautane
Cast: Nicolas Clerc, Audrey Marnay
Tony is a 28 year-old single who inherited a remarkable physical particularity: he has very big ears and suffers from an extreme sensitivity to the slightest noise. Looking for love, he collects failures with women who reject his difference. His life has thus become a true nightmare. Unlike him, his parents are very proud of their oversized ears. They hardly can bear their son's celibacy and they insist that he meets Elizabeth, a young and pretty big-eared Canadian girl. Tony reluctantly agrees...
TRUE BEAUTY THIS NIGHT
USA, 2009, 10 min
Director/Writer: Peter Besson
Producers: Steven Sweeney, Tom Sweeney
Cast: Dustin Seavey, Meegan Michelle
Last night, Rhett Somers met the love of his life. Now all he has to do is convince her that she’s the one. Not an easy feat, considering how they met…
VODKA & WOMEN
Poland, 2008, 18 min
Writer/Director: Xavier Tatarkiewicz
Producer: Konrad Kruzmanowski
Exec. Producers: Krystyna & Kuba Tatarkiewicz
Cast: Basia Bursztynowicz, Ewa Zietek, Marysia Niklinska, Misiek Koterski
Stefan, a depressed accountant suspects his girlfriend may be cheating on him. He decides to follow his father;s advice and visit his new neighbor-a retired prostitute. However, things take a surprising turn and Stefan’s life will change..or maybe not so much.
WALK
USA, 2009, 15 min
Director: Joe Galina
Cast: Jeff Nichols
Scott dies and is sent to purgatory, where he is told he is going to hell. He escapes back to earth to redeem himself, but all the while death is trying again to kill him.
ZWISHCHEN LICHT UND SCHATTEN (FADING AWAY)
Germany, 2008, 14 min
Director/Producer: Fabian Giessler
Co-Producer: Walter Wundi
Cast: Dietmar Obst, Liane Duesterhoeft, Rosemarie Deibel, Dieter Bellmann
Translated to Fading Away, this short film is about Martha and Herbert, an old married couple. Lately, Martha has been behaving quite strangely. Herbert is desperate. Is she just forgetful or is it more than that?
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THE 2000 MAN
USA, 2009, 15 min, USC
Director/Writer: Tim Kolesk
Producer: Scott Rickels
Cast: Steve Larkin, Todd Johnson, Travis Hammer, Yolanda Rubio Soto
A post-apocalyptic comedy.
BORDERLESS
USA, 2008, 16 min, USC
Writer/Director/Executive Producer: Brooke Hanson
Directors/Executive Producers: Annie Lukowski
Producer: Jules DiBiase
Cast: Anaisabel Mercado, Danielle Barbosa, John Merry, Laura Boccaletti, Tamlin Hall, Will Collyer
College student Elena Torres has developed an expert system for surviving in a world she cannot afford. As long as she remains anonymous she'll be alright- and all alone. But when she meets an unlikely ally, can she trust him with her secrets?
CARPET KINGDOM
USA, 2009, 35mm, 18 min, USC
Director/Writer: Michael Rochford
Writer: Sean Wolfson
Producer: Rob Fegen
Cast: Levi Holloway, Ann Sonneville, Janice O’Neill, Tommy LaFitte, Glenn Colerider, John Wellington, George Drennen, Harry O’Toole, Pat Casey
Love. Death. Carpet…
A DAY’S WORK
USA, 2008, 35mm, 17 min, USC
Director/Writer/Editor: Rajeev Dassani
Producers: Charles Uy, Michael Tringe, Julie Sifuentes
Cast: Luis Chavez, Carter Jenkins, Eddie Martinez, Hugo Garcia, Leigh Hill, Jack Brand
Alone in Los Angeles, Enrique doesn’t speak a word of English. Forced to work as a day laborer to earn money for loved ones back home, his loyalties are put to the test when a simple job escalates into a matter of life and death.
ELEVATED
USA, 2009, 14 min, USC
Director: Jared Mark
Producers: Cat Youell, Eric Bergemann
Writer: Elysse Applebaum
Cast: John Hemphill, Rosalie Ward, Morry Schorr, Whit Hertford, Tony Volu, Ric “The Equalizer” Drasin, Rich Licata
Ted’s life is a frozen dinner. It’s time to heat things up.
GET JUMPED IN
USA, 2009, 30 min, USC
Director/Writer: David Woo
Producers: Iris Ichishita, Jason Wong
His friend was murdered…He wants to know why.
GROWING UP VEGAS
USA, 2008, 20 min, USC
Director/Writer: Amber Beard
Producers: Grace K. Lee, Julia Dameron
Cast: Amber Hamilton, Ellis Lavere Davis, Renata Green-Gaber, Ken Butler
Taylor, an isolated, withdrawn tomboy, hangs out at the local casino where her single mom works as a cocktail waitress. There, Taylor meets a lovable, washed-up Elvis impersonator who takes her under his wing. But what are his true intentions?
HELL ON WHEELS
USA, 2009, 17 min, USC
Director/Producer/Writer: John Spezeski
Producers: John Moran, Reed Simonsen
Cast: Bradley Fisher, Lourdes Pantin, Adam Campbell, Trampas Thompson
He’s living the good life. It’s all serpents and flames until his teenage daughter shows up. And then it’s just flames…and serpents!
IN THE DARK
USA, 2008, 35mm, 17 min, USC
Director: Alex Fazeli
Producer: Rebecca L. Brown
Writer: Thomas Westfall
Cast: Maz Jobrani, Jamie Ann Allman, Marsh Mokthari, Ali Dean, Nina Nayebi
On the eve of Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran, a double agent, hunted by the new revolutionary government, agrees to exchange crucial information with the CIA in return for safe passage out of the country.
LIGHT YEARS
USA, 2008, 15 min, USC
Writer/Director: Richard N. Martin
Co-Writer: Josh Calvert
Producer: Melissa Lee
Cast: Harold Cannon, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Mark Berry, Raheem Williams, Adriano Aragon, Oliver Riquime, Becky Wu, Sinsu Co
Four relationships spanning the four corners of the globe are put to the test when they are told the world may end within eight minutes. It takes light to travel from the sun to the Earth.
MR. WILLIAMS RETURNS TO THE SOUTH BRONX
USA, 2008, 27 min, USC
Producer/Director: Matthew Williams
Five years after the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act and his teaching resignation, Mr. Williams goes back to the South Bronx to reconnect with his past. He finds a public school crisis that continues to produce disenfranchised youth.
PITSTOP
USA, 2008, 14 min, 35mm, USC
Writer/Director: Melanie McGraw
Producers: Dina Gachman, Mary Posatko, Caitlin Krapf
Cast: Shawna Youngquist, Andrea Helene, Gretchen Koerner, Blake Oswald, Lindsey Beck, Ryan Vigil, Travis Vigil, Chad Vigil, Matthew Vigil, Virginia Lee Day, Mary Day, Brittney Barr
When a young girl is accidentally left behind at a desert gas station while on a road trip with her large family, she must find the courage to make her voice heard.
WHERE LIFE IS
USA, 2009, 27min, USC
Writer/Director: Coyote Marino
Producers: Satinder Kaur, Pip Satchell
This film profiles the complicated readjustment of three severely wounded veterans coming home from the Iran conflict, as they run, bike, and swim their way back to civilian life.
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BOTNIK !
USA, 2008, 11 min
Writer/Director: Jacqueline Smessaert Brennan
Executive Producers: Edward Newmann, Monica Kendall, Sean Henry, Wayne Brejcha
A frustrated artist longs to win the heart of a sexy beatnik chick. Creative block and deadline pressure threaten to crush his dreams of showing her his art, so he produces a robot artist to create the ultimate art show and save the day. Unfortunately, the robot artist succumbs to the pitfalls of his human counterparts. BOTNIK is the story of every artist when desire to create is convoluted by external forces. It is only when passions are released and there are genuine heartfelt ideas to express, that true art is created and success achieved.
CHICORY ‘N’ COFFEE
Slovenia, 2008, 8 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Dusan Kastelic
Executive Producer: Saso Krumpak
A story about a small deception -- a wife has been making Chicory for her ruffian husband instead of real coffee for all their lives. He has never caught onto her deception. For him the slush tasted better than the best coffee. This is a story about how we’re unable to tell people we’re close to how much we love them -- until it is too late.
ELLA & ME
USA, 2008, 4:16 min, USC
Writer/Director/Animator: Shawn Lenore Barnes
A young girl wanders into the forest to eat lunch and ends up forming a friendship that lasts lifetimes.
EL SABOR DEL PELIGRO
USA, 2008, 4:19 min, USC
Writer/Producer/Director: Greg Araya
Atomic Age Luchadors, Nazis and Hot Rods collide in this throwback to Saturday Matinee action serials.
LINTSCAPE
USA, 2009, 3 min, USC
Producer/Director: Caitlin Craggs
Cast: Caitlin Craggs
An environmental thriller; lint comes alive in a woman’s dryer.
PIETY
Canada, 2008, 2 min
Director: Shahrzad Sharifian
Piety is a personal observation of the relationship between religion and war.
RANGA’S MEAT SHOP
USA, 2009, 2 min
Producer/Director: Rohini Metharam
In this humorous 3D/2D animation, father and son tigers start out with different expectations for the future, but come together through compromise and understanding.
REACH
Australia, 2009, 4 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Luke Randall
A tiny robot is given the gift of life with only one limitation, the length of his power cable. When a curious bird appears at the workshop window, his lust to live outside of his reach may be his demise.
REMEMBER ME
USA, 2009, 10:01 min, USC
Writer/Producer/Director: Alyssa Rae Barber
At the request if Mrs. Bellweather, Timothy Bellweather gets a new hat.
SALOME
USA, 2009, 9:25 min, USC
Writer/Producer/Director: Jan Pfenninger
A king is seduced into making a promise he can’t keep.
THE SNOW PRINCESS
USA, 2008, 7 min
Witer/Producer/Director: Audrey Holland
Cast: Cuyle Carvin (voice)
Snow Princess Gwyneira has spent an eternity locked in a tower, dreaming of the World of Spring, but…you must be careful what you wish for! When Gwyneira tumbles down from her mountain top and into an exotic world, she will find adventure and a new friend, but at what cost?
STRANGER’S POEM
USA, 2008, 5 min, USC
Writer/Producer/Director: Geer Dubois
Do we know each other? -- Two people, who exist only as memories, rewrite emotions that haunt their personal stories. They seem unaware that isolation has shaped their perceptions of reality...until they meet.
TOMBOY
USA, 2008, 7:25 min, USC
Writer/Producer/Director: Joanna H. Griebel
When a young girl is sent away for being different, she has to hold on to what matters most or risk losing herself.
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FREE LUNCH
USA, 35min, 35mm, Chapman University
Exec. Producer / Director: Rick Curnutt
Writers:Rick Curnutt, Bubba Murray
Producers: Xavier O’ Ryan, Josh Virnick,
Cast: Joe Hendrix, Charlie Pecoraro, Brooke Stone, Frantz Delsoine
Walter Tanner is done with handouts, he’s done with his privileged past and he’s done with having to answer to people. Walter sets off on the road to the American dream—in a lunch truck. Will serving lunch to the hard working people of Los Angeles the way for Walter to reach his piece of the American dream?
JACKSON
USA, 2008, 17 min, Chapman University
Director/Writer: Mark Jwayad
Producer: Andrea Topper
Cast: Larry Marko, Greta Charness, Jason Trost, Jennifer Kramer, Josiah D. Lee, Mio Takada
Jackson Ray, a feisty, eighty-year-old man, enjoys his independence and his unusually large collection of clocks. His son is concerned about Jackson’s ability to live by himself. When the family arrives for Thanksgiving dinner, the showdown for Jackson’s independence begins. As time runs out, the old man finds himself up a creek without a clock.
JEWSUS
USA, 2008, 17 min, Chapman University
Director/Executive Producer/Co-Writer: Benjamin C. Bliss
Producer: Rebekah Loftin
Co-Writer: Mike Sheehy
Cast: Shea Parker, Benjamin C. Bliss, Danielle LeScure, David Alan Graf, Jennifer Segal, Jeremy Herzig
A Jewish boy, Jason Cohen, has to play it cool for one more day so his parents will let him take his protestant girlfriend to the Winter Prom. But when a dare from his little brother somehow endows him with the powers of Jesus, Jason is suddenly on a collision course with disaster.
THE LAST PAGE
USA, 2008, 21 min, Chapman University.
Writer/Producer/Director: Kevin Acevedo
Writer: Matt Akey
Cast: Lincoln Burlinson, Emily Rose, Mark DeCarlo, MeKenna Melvin, Megan Cavanagh, Michael Rivkin, Wilton Godfrey
Jason Adams is a tortured author struggling to find the perfect ending to his latest story. While taking a break from writing, Jason is catapulted into a bizarre series of events; each event pushing him further away from finishing the last page.
LOAF OF BREAD
USA, 2009, 17 min, Chapman University.
Director/Writer: Eric Patton
Producer: Patrick Carr
Cast: David Trachtenberg, John Ruby, Justin Okin, Loralyn Peterson, Alissa Anderegg, Ben Leddick, Charley Rossman
A young office worker, Jack Madrigal, has fallen into a mundane existence where his happiest moments are when office supplies are delivered. His friend Terry, a schemer and dreamer convinces Jack to join him in a life of crime to escape his meaningless life. Jack soon learns that happiness is a choice.
MUTUALLY ASSURED DESIRE
USA, 2009, 6 min, Chapman University
Director/Producer/Writer: Andrew Hellesen
Assistant Director: Scott Hartmann
Cast: Cecily Ryan, Dan Trujillo
After a nuclear apocalypse, the last man and woman on earth must fulfill their duty to repopulate the species. But there's one problem...
THE SNALLYGASTER TALE
USA, 2009, 18 min, Chapman University
Director/Writer: John Baldino
Writer: Geoff Prather
Producer: AJ Jackson
Cast: David O’Hara, Matthew Haddad, Mark Aaron
During the Great Depression, a young boy befriends a white hen on his father’s chicken farm, only to discover that his affection for the animal may be at odds with his own survival.
SOULMATES
USA, 2008, 19 min, Chapman University
Director/Writer: Tom Flynn
Producer: Dianne Ward
Cast: Cameron Sawyer, Shannon Holmes, Cynthia Dane, Jenna Finley, Matthew Watkins
A fledgling couples’ therapist must rely upon his shoddy counseling skills to survive a blind date with a crazy old witch.
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ALBA
Italy, 2008, 9 min, 35mm
Director: Giorgia Farina
Producer: Paolo Monaci
Cast: Sara D'Amario; Tommaso Facchi; Vincenzo Bocciarelli
Alba is a beautiful fairytale set in the real world. Even in the darkest corners there can be a better future if only we believe and are willing to fight for it. This short cleverly combines film and animation to portray the life and dreams of a boy stricken with illness. Following his experiences we see how the sterile and sombre life in the world of a hospital explodes in to the bright colours of a brilliant world of adventure. Lost in this fantastical universe the boy confronts his fear whilst fighting for his survival and a way home.
BAB AL SAMAH
Italy, 2008, 15 min., 35mm'
Director: Francesco Sperandeo
Producer: Francesco Sperandeo
Cast: Mohammed Sayari, Mohammed Kouka, Fabrizio Bucci
Mehdi's desire for redemption from a humiliating past is symbolized by a heavy and old door which leads him on a cathartic journey resulting in the destruction of the door by a purifying fire.
FRANCOIS
Italy, 2008, 13 min.
Directed by: Dario Gorini Iacopo Zanon
Producer: Riccardo Neri
Cast: Luca Lionello, Diane Fleri, Maria Sole Mansutti, Rosa Sironi, Tommaso Ramenghi, Sergio Albelli
In an intimate and fine bar, three women and three men always choose the same table to look for their soul mate. The play goes on until the arrival of a mysterious entity who speaks French inexplicably.
L'AMORE E UN GIOCO
Italy, 2008, 15 min
Director: Andrea Rovetta
Producer: Tommaso Dazzi
Cast: Neri Marcoré, Cecilia Dazzi, Mattia Sbragia, Stefano Fresi, Vanni Bramati, Nando Irene, Alessandro Rossi
During a poker game, a man bets and loses everything he owns. Maybe he's not a good player, or maybe he doesn't care about losing since he no longer has the only thing that truly matters to him: love. Maybe.
L'ULTIMA VOLTA
Italy, 2008, 9 min, 35mm
Directed by: Andrea Costantini
Producer: Claudio Renda, Sasha Caterina Krajisnik
Cast: Paolo Seganti, Rolando Ravello, Valentina Correani, Fabrizio Bucci
Armando has kept his identity secret from his fiancé. Armando is the number one champion clandestine street fighter, and he desperately wants to change his life for her, but he has one last fight to honor…
MI CHIAMO SEBY
Italy, 2008, 16 min, 35mm
Directed by: Gabriele Galanti
Producer: Ennio Pontis
Cast: Junio Ambrogio, Nico Grasso, Gianluca Franzò, Sebastiano Funcia Di Maria
“Mi chiamo Seby” is the story of a young boy growing up in a mafia environment, arrested for racketeering. In jail, each prisoner tries to get space through violence but Seby shows how, beyond his gangster mindset, there is a deeper poetic side to him.
NARCISO
Italy, 2008, 95 min, 35mm
Directed by: Marcello Baldi, Dario Baldi
Producer: Paolo Ghezzi
Cast: Roberto Herlitzka, Amina Syed, Alessandro Di Natale, Catherine Feller, Gennaro Piccirillo
Eighty four year old Narciso Dal Cason who has lived all his life in the little quite Italian mountain village of Trentino is in for a bit of a shock when his long lost son, Tommaso, suddenly comes home with a Muslim woman and her son in tow, after a 20 year absence. The young woman, while immersing herself with the mountain culture, stirs up a series of contrasts inside the village, but will also present an occasion for acceptance and mutual respect.
TV
Italy, 2009, 13 min, 35mm
Directed by: Andrea Zaccariello
Producer: Gianluca Mainquà
Cast: Michela Cescon, Salvatore Cantalupo, Antonella Longo, Michela Scrocca
A man buried in 200,000 euro of debts. A lonely and washed out woman working for a debt collecting agency...and they have an encounter. Filled with tough luck, this is a story detailing the chance of obtaining a reprieve, a postponement. This is a film about a show, about TV and it's viewers. Installments, debts, love and death...it's all here!
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AUTORRETRATO
Spain, 2008, 14 min
Directors: Javi Alonso, Raul Lopez
Cast: PIlar Guerra, Vito Rogado
Alma is a very talented young painter and is preparing for an art gallery exhibit of her paintings, sponsored by a very wealthy businessman. As the exhibit date looms near, she receives an unexpected visit from a woman.
COTTON CANDY
Spain, 2008, 11 min
Director: Aritz Moreno
Cast: Paco Sagarazazu
The cold always complicates things.
DI ME QUE YO
Spain, 2008, 15 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Mateo Gil
Producer: Lola Herraiz
Cast: Fele Martinez, Judith Diakhate
HE and SHE meet exactly at the same time they break up with their own partners. Is it possible for two strangers to begin a conversation full of recriminations, arguing until they get hoarse, and passionately reconcile as if they were a couple in the mud?
DOPPELGÄNGER
Spain, 2009, 20 min
Writer/Director: Óscar de Julián
Producer: Rogelio Abraldes, Carlos Valcárcel
Cast: Óscar de Julián
Óscar de Julián discovered that there is ANOTHER Óscar de Julián. From that moment on, their lives will be intertwined. Both stories blend together in the end, you will not be able to understand one story without the other.
FORJADOR DE HISTORIAS (THE STORYMAKER)
Spain, 2008, 15 min
Producer/Director: Jose Gomez Gallego
Writers: Jose Gomez Gallego, Domenec Benaiges Fuste
Cast: Miguel Angel Jenner, Yon Gonzalez, Madeleine Sanza Dayot
“With my hammer I forge the story of every life, of every person. The most wonderful moments, the most humble, the most fabulous…all of them have been conceived by me.”
THE END
Spain, 2008, 28 min
Writer/Director: Eduardo Chapero-Jackson
Producer: Pepe Jordana
Cast: Samuel Roukin, Natalie Press, Ewan Beatie, Charlie Creed Miles, Eileen Walsh, Evie Duncan
A middle class American family must fight for survival in a nation being torn apart by the lack of water.
THE GYNECOLOGIST
Spain, 2008, 10 min
Writer/Director/ Exec. Producer: Alfonso Camarero
Cast: Camila Bossa, Esteban Yañez
A gynecologist is working at her hospital like she does everyday. But her next patient... is a boy!
LA TAMA
Spain, 2008, 19 min
Director: Marin Costa
Cast: Rocio Monteagudo, Arantxa Zambrano, Ana Maria Soriano, Alicia Cilfredo, Maria Arjona
Tama is a troubled teenager. Tired of constantly fighting with her mother, Tama goes on a one way trip to nowhere.
METROPOLIS FERRY
Spain, 2008, 16 min
Writer/Director: Juan Gautier
Writer: Pablo Cabellero
Producer José Ángel Jimėnez Beitia, Javier Mejia
David returns from a trip to Morocco with his brothers. In the frontier with Spain an incident occurs and he decides he wants to take part.
ON THE LINE
Spain, 2008, 12 min
Writer / Director: Jon Garano
Producers: Asier Acga, Jose Mari Goernaga
Cast: Jeff Smallwood, Yvette Filanc, Mikel Morris, Tanya De La Cruz
On an ordinary Saturday morning in So. California, a man sees off his wife and kids to carry out his weekly task.
PARKING
Spain, 2009, 11 min
Writer/Director: Jorge Molina
Producer: Zoe Berriatùa
Cast: Pablo Turégano
An executive goes to get his car... only to discover someone else has beaten him to it.
PORQUE HAY COSAS DE NUNCA SE OLVIDAN (Because there are things you never forget)
Spain, 2008, 13 mins.
Writer / Director: Lucas Figueroa
Cast: Nicolo Urbinatti, Giulio Baldari, Victor Menegas, Tiziano Scarponi, Emiliana Olmedo
Naples, Italy, 1950. Four friends play soccer on the street. Suddenly the ball falls inside ‘Evil grandma’s” yard.
An accidental kick is the ball’s demise and the beginning of a series of unfortunate vengeful acts. .
TRAS LOS VISILLOS
Spain, 2008, 16 min
Director: Gregorio Muro
Cast: Gorka Aginagalde
Martos wants to leave his dark past behind, so he undergoes cosmetic surgery to change his appearance. However, his obsessive paranoia keeps him from his main goal: the getaway.
TU(A)MOR
Spain, 2009, 13 min
Writer/Director: Fernando Franco
Producer: Pantalla Partida, Lolita Films, Mario Mandueno, Samuel Martinez, Damián Paris.
Cast: Andrés Gertrudix, Sarah-Laure Estragnat
The sentimental relationship between Andrés and Sara is a living organism.
UNA VIDA MEJOR
Spain, 2008, 15 min
Writer/Director: Luis Fernàndo Reneo
Cast: Sierra Paris, Vicky Villavozo y Javier Mendoz
Based on a true story, hope for a better life on the other side of the border is what keeps a young woman and two young children lost in the hot Sonoran desert keep on going. A history that repeats itself every week in the border towns of Mexico, feeding one of the most profitable illegal businesses-- immigrant smuggling.
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DRUX FLUX
Canada, 2008, 5min
Director: Theodore Ushey
Producer: Marc Bertrand
Executive Producer: René Chénier
Drawing inspiration from Herbert Marcuse’s 1964 treatise One-Dimensional Man, this animated film fluidly layers its imagery in a deconstruction of the intersections between the artist, industrialism and modern political thought. Theodore Ushev blends his graphic arts background with a healthy skepticism toward the merits of progress, creating a work that is as visually stunning as it is thought provoking.
GREEN DOOR
Canada, 2008, 13 min
Director: Semi Chellas
Writer: Barbara Gowdy
Producers: Sonia Hosko, Stephanie Markowitz
Executive Producer: Daniel Iron
Cast: Don McKellar, Sabrina Grdevich, Tracy Wright, Matt Gordon, Joris Jarsky
Brenda loves Rob. Rhonda also loves Rob. Bob loves Rhonda. And Darrell... well, Darrell just needs an apartment. This comedic tale explores mistaken identities, rental living and unrequited love.
NEXT FLOOR
Canada, 2008, 12 min
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Producers: Phoebe Greenberg, Caroline Binet, Karen Murphy
Executive Producer: Penny Mancuso
Denis Villeneuve’s award-winning short sets the table for an aristocratic yet barbaric banquet featuring unparalleled service. Visually stunning and darkly humorous, the film approaches surrealism with minimal dialogue yet maximum impact. The result is a feast for the eyes and an assault on society.
PASSAGES
Canada, 2008, 25 min
Director / Producer: Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre
Excited and newly pregnant, Marie-Josée cannot foresee what she and her partner are getting themselves into. Blurring the line between documentary and drama, Passages is a poignant autobiographical film that uses animation and rotoscoping to recount an expectant couple’s horrific experience dealing with an inadequate medical system.
MON NOM EST VICTOR GAZON / VICTOR GAZON
Canada, 2007, 11 min
Director: Patrick Gazé
Producers: Antonello Cozollino, Annie Normandin & Marie-Josée Larocque
Cast: Robert Naylor, Claudel Poirier
Ten-year-old Victor has a lot on his mind. Specifically, he is absorbed with creating a list of pros and cons to determine whether he should continue his life. With humour and warmth, Mon nom est Victor Gazon reveals the innocence of youth and the harsh realities of the world from a fourth-grader’s perspective.
THE NECKTIE
Canada, 2008, 12 min
Director/Writer: Jean-François Lévesque
Producers: Julie Roy, Michèle Bélanger
Fifteen years in the life of Valentin, a faithful employee working a useless task in a dead-end job, deceived by a two-dimensional boss. He nonetheless struggles against absurdity with humanity and hope. On his 40th birthday he rediscovers an old accordion hidden in a closet and regains the joy of life.
PRINCESS MARGARET BLVD.
Canada, 2008, 14 min
Director/Writer: Kazik Radwanski
Producer: Daniel Montgomery
Cast: Gina Sylvester, Tim Braddock, William Forrest
Now in her twilight years, Isabelle is defiantly confronting the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s disease, but can no longer live the life with which she was familiar. Actress Gina Sylvester gives a compelling performance in this dramatic short, humanizing the frustration, isolation and aggravation caused by this disease.
SLEEPING BETTY
Director/Writer: Claude Cloutier
Producer: Marcel Jean
Princess Betty sleeps in a narcoleptic stupor. The king appeals to his subjects to wake her, and several respond: Uncle Henry VIII, Aunt Victoria, an emotional alien, a cool witch and a handsome prince. This worthy Prince Charles lookalike has to leave his royal suburb to save the princess, but will Betty be wakened with just a kiss drawn in India ink, this animation sets the Perrault classic in Claude Cloutier’s disjointed, anachronistic and playful universe.
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IN ZAKK’S CASE
USA, 2009, 10 min
Director/Writer/Producer: Drew Matyas and Kevin Lee
Cast: Jason Messina
A man has 21 chances to survive a day that is trying to kill him.
LEON AND THE WOLF
USA, 2009, 9 min
Writer/Producer/Director: Andrew Kerekes
Cast: Alankai Mahelona, Eric Rossiter
Leon wants out of the mafia, but everything has a price. He'll do whatever it takes to win his freedom.
LIGHT OF MY LIFE
UK, 2009, 7 min
Writers/Producers/Directors: Dominic Mayer, Lawrence Parmenter
Cast: Angharad Jones, Jefferey Dench, Joan Havard
After a messy breakup, a man's will to change what has happened takes the form of an omnipotent projectionist.
LIGHTE FILME
USA, 2009, 1 min
Director/Writer/Producer: Adam Cusack
Cast: Adam Cusack
A strange man by the name of Mirchi Ummphkaffe unleashes his latest opus on the world.
LIGHTS OUT
USA, 2009, 2 min
Director/Writer: Simon Stahl
Writer: Sam Tung
Producers: Doug Seidel, Lauren McGarry, Sean Gallagher
An exhausted man craves sleep, but his loud neighbor seems determined to keep him up all night.
NIGHT LIGHT
USA, 2009, 5 min
Director: Mary Jenna Sheerin
Writers: Cyd Katz, Mike Fromm
Producers: Doug Seidel, Lauren McGarry, Sean Gallagher
Cast: Dawn Harvey, Trevor Wolfe
Meyer is afraid of the dark, until his grandfather's treasure lights his darkest hour.
SCHIJNWERPER
USA, 2009, 3 min
Director:Joseph Torres
Writer: Chris Farinella
Producers:Liesje Kraai, Joseph Torres, Chris Farinella
A young man, stricken with severe stage fright, runs away. Unfortunately, the theater won't let him go.
SHADOWPLAY
USA, 2008, 4 mins
Written, Directed, and Produced by Jeff and Liv Hatcher
Shadowplay explores the beauty and simplicity of the relationship between light and shadow in everyday objects. Combining animation and video, the filmmakers experimented with outdoor projection and captured people's reaction to a series of black and white animations.
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GET YOUR ASS ON
USA, 2009, 3 min
Director: Kelly King
Exec.Prod.: Lucas Grabeel
Producer: Brent Geisler
Cast: Lucas Grabeel, Emily Morris
The blues have a lonely stranger down as a break up becomes more vague and distorted, the true roller coaster of emotions a man goes through when it’s time to tell his girl… to get your ass on. In the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope, this music video is one continuous 35MM take
YOU GOT IT
Artist: Lucas Grabeel
Directed: Michael Brown
Producers: Marc Blackwell, Michael Brown, & Lucas Grabeel
London, Paris, Madrid, Dublin... and that’s just the first 20 sec of the music video- High School Musical star Lucas Grabeel dances the "ups" and "downs" of Europe, singing everywhere from roaring stadiums to whisper-silent churches and, of course... the Louvre! Did we mention this video was shot entirely on a "point & shoot" camera? ---
a true festival must-see --
DIVE BAR ROCK STAR
USA, 2009, 4 min
Director: Lucas Grabeel
Producer: Eric Baines
Artist: Eric Baines
For singer/songwriter/producer, Eric Baines, a dive bar is a familiar place. He began his career in the dive bars of Denver, CO where he grew up playing blues, top 40, jazz, country and whatever else anyone would pay him to play, sometimes scraping by on $25 a night. In the title track of his new CD, “Dive Bar Rock Star!”, he sings about the good side of his experiences and the feeling you get when the work day is done and you can retreat to a place where nobody can tell you what to say. “You don’t have to be a musician to be a Dive Bar Rock Star!” declares Baines.
HIDE AND SEEK
USA, 2009, 4 min
Director: Brent Geisler
Artist: Angelique Cooper
Written By: Eddie G, Mach I Productions and Angelique Cooper
5...4...3...2...1...are you ready for the festival premiere of Angelique Cooper's latest music video? It's a crazy and fun game of "Hide and Seek" as this up and coming teen sensation hangs with her friends and finds some new ones! Don't miss this must see debut!
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'The Case of the Wild Hare'
48HFP Team: Cane Toad Productions
Genre: Detective/Cop
Produced by David Newman, Written/Directed by Samantha Goldstein
In the tradition of film noir, a young detective is interviewing a mysterious new client with whom he shares the tale of a recent case involving a giant bunny. However, is he who he says he is?
'Historians'
48HFP Team: Amalgamated Grommets
Genre: Superhero
Produced by Tony Mingee, Directed by Mike Brueggemeyer
A woman uses her mysterious powers to help others face the problems of their past.
'H.E.R.'
48HFP Team: S.K.Y Productions
Genre: Sci-Fi
Produced/Directed by Ken Peltan
Written by Lisa Christensen
What if you could engineer your perfect mate?
'El Dorado'
48HFP Team: Digital Arts Collective 2
Genre: Historical Fiction/Period Piece
Produced by Allison Delaney, Xanik Xeus, Jonny McDonald, Andy Riddle, Brittney Parbs
Archival footage of the survivors of the 2012 Pandemic.
'Inside the Music'
48HFP Team: Deo Volente Media
Genre: Historical Fiction/Period Piece
Directed by David Dietrich
The scandal that rocked the music world was really just a cover-up to distract from the real issue; stolen music.
'Stare Therapy'
48HFP Team: Mercury Cinema
Genre: Mocumentary
Writer/Producer/Director Roman Koenig
Marriage counseling with an evil eye.
'Cursed Ground'
48HFP Team: Team Team
Genre: Musical or Western
Produced by Rob Lewis, Directed by Josh Allard
A land dispute challenges a father's sanity when a battle with the original owner turns into a struggle for his life.
'Hotel San Remo'
48HFP Team: Admanium Films
Genre: Horror
Directed by John Grimshaw
Something isn't quite right at the Hotel San Remo.
'Outside the Lines'
48HFP Team: DivX
Genre: Detective/Cop
Produced/Directed by Anna Cruz
Two cops from different sides of the tracks are forced to work together to solve a caper and learn to love again.
'The Adventures of Kung Pao Master'
48HFP Team: Festival City Films
Genre: Martial Arts or Stoner Film
Produced/Directed by Sean Dejecacion
No guys. Listen...
'Backline'
48HFP Team: Savage and Emlaw
Genre: Mockumentary
Written/Directed by Gil Savage
Healthcare in 2015.
'Touch'
48HFP Team: State of Flux
Genre: Film de Femme
Produced by Tim Bucklin, Written by Ashton Politanoff, Directed by Jake Seagraves
While amidst her research in the middle of nowhere, a woman comes closer to her work than she ever imagined.
'Dollars to Donuts'
48HFP Team: Circus of Rituals
Genre: Historical Fiction/Period Piece
Produced by Chris Ernst, Directed by Derek Snyder
The untold story of the worst botched robbery in the history of botched robberies.
In its tenth year, the 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) is the oldest timed filmmaking contest in the world where teams of filmmakers compete to see who can create the best film in 48 hours or less. All creative work such as writing, shooting, and editing must take place within the 48-hour time period. This international contest takes place in 80 cities world-wide. The films in the 48 Hour Film Project showcase are the top 13 films from this year's San Diego 48HFP and were created between 7pm, August 14th and 7pm, August 16th, 2009. Each team drew a random genre out of a hat, and then all were assigned a character, line of dialog, and prop which had to be included in their film:
"Every second counts when you only have 48 hours to make a film." Visit www.48hourfilm.com for more information about this contest and how to get involved.
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