thefilms_2012
documentaries
Sunday 12:45 City Hall Auditorium
American Veterans: Discarded and Forgotten
Gary Null
US/135:00
Award-winning filmmaker, Gary Null PhD exposes the American government's legacy of abuse and neglect of its soldiers and veterans. Dr. Null explores the truth about Gulf War Syndrome - a horrific condition affecting thousands of soldiers and their families and the disturbing secrets that the government is hiding from the public. You'll learn how the deadly and toxic effects of armor-piercing radioactive depleted uranium, the use of experimental vaccines on over 1.1 million soldiers and chemical and germ warfare contributed to this debilitating, deadly condition. You'll see how our brave soldiers were sent into war with ineffective protective equipment and were lied to at every step. You'll hear the truth from doctors, scientists, military analysts and the veterans who are still suffering from the effects of their tours of duty while the government denies any accountability for this illness with thousands of veterans still not receiving the medical care or support that they desperately need.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 10:00 City Hall Auditorium
Back in the Barn
Keiko Makishima/Rachel S. Fox
US/24:00
Student
Back in the Barn follows sixteen-year-old Dan Weed as he attempts to establish a dairy farm in New Milford, CT. The once vibrant agricultural community that Dan grew up in has changed over the years, and Dan faces the same obstacles that forced his parents to retire from the dairy business. Dan’s story is a nostalgic portrait of a multigenerational farming family and a fading way of life.
Saturday 3:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
Dislecksia: The Movie
Harvey Hubbell V
US/81:00
About one in seven Americans has some degree of dyslexia. It’s a condition that makes it hard to read the way other people do. But by using special techniques, taught or self-invented, most dyslexics can learn to function normally. A lot of dyslexics are brilliant, talented, and successful. The documentary Dislecksia: The Movie will present the latest scientific knowledge about dyslexia and the experiences of dyslexics. Viewers will come to know dyslexics—and those who teach and study them—not just as statistics or talking heads, but as people. They’ll also learn a lot about dyslexia: its causes, its effects, and what can be done about it.
*filmmaker in attendance
Sunday 11:45 City Hall Auditorium
"Eleven" - An Intergenerational Veterans Documentary
Nicholas Forte
US/25:00
Student
Eleven is a documentary examining the lives of eleven military veterans from time periods ranging from World War II to the present day conflicts. ‘Eleven’ captures both the individuality of each veteran’s story and the common threads that connected each of these lives together through similar experience and emotional reaction.
By exploring why they served, where they served, and how they were changed by what they saw and did, Eleven paints a beautiful mosaic of American patriotism. The message expressed is that these stories should never be forgotten, for they are the core of America’s strength and resolve. The film also reveals the variety of experience within the military in terms of occupations, education, and service.
*filmmaker in attendance
Thursday 3:00 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
Hotstuff
Directed by: Robin Lehman
US/50:00
There's something so sensuous about watching hot glowing glass being worked, stretched, twisted, spun and cut! You can almost feel it. It's addictively mesmerizing!
Six of the greatest living glass artists team up to show you their Hotstuff! You won't believe your eyes! This is hot glass as you've never seen before!
Thursday 3:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
Knocking on the Devil's Door
Gary Null
US/95:00
The nuclear reactor catastrophes at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and now at Fukushima, Japan, remind us that a heinous specter hovers over the health and security of millions of people worldwide. Not only does the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation remain but every nuclear station sits as a ticking bomb awaiting meltdown and terrorist attack. Many Russian studies conclude that the Chernobyl disaster has been responsible for the deaths of approximately a million people since the 1986 meltdown. And the cost of the Daiichi Fukushima crisis may be higher. With the mining of radioactive materials to their transportation, from reactor fusion to the storage of radioactive waste, the energy cartel is contaminating natural habitats, rivers and aquifers while endangering millions of lives.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 10:45 City Hall Auditorium
Maria Tallchief: America's First Prima Ballerina
Sandy Osawa
US/57:00
Maria Tallchief, an Osage Indian from Oklahoma was born in 1925, a period when Osage Indians were being murdered for oil money. Her mother encouraged both Maria and her sister, Marjorie, to study ballet and music. The documentary tracks her early training with Nijinska, sister of the world famous Russian dancer, Ninjinsky, and her eventual marriage to Balanchine. With Balanchine choreographing many original ballets for her, she went on to become the first American to dance at the Paris Opera in over 100 years. She starred in Firebird and Orpheus in the late 1940s — ballets credited with being the impetus to form the NY City Ballet. Archival clips, photos and dance historians assist as Maria tells her own story.
*filmmaker in attendance
Sunday 3:30 Warner Black Box Theatre
My Perestroika
Robin Hessman
US/87:00
This film follows five ordinary Russians living in extraordinary times—from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the collapse of the Soviet Union during their teenage years, to the constantly shifting political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Together, these childhood classmates paint a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of those raised behind the Iron Curtain.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 3:30 City Hall Auditorium
Never Stand Still
Ron Honsa
US/74:00
Never Stand Still explores why dance matters—to those who create and perform it and to those who watch it. This documentary tells the remarkable story of how an abandoned Massachusetts farm has evolved into a National Historic Landmark and a nexus for dance throughout the world. Its unlikely purchase by choreographer Ted Shawn during the Great Depression allowed this secluded site in the Berkshires to become the internationally renowned Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Through candid conversations with world-class choreographers and dancers, thrilling performances, backstage access, and rare footage from the Pillow’s Archives, Never Stand Still immerses the viewer in this most ephemeral of art forms, celebrating not only its value to our culture but to our lives.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 12:15/Sunday 10:00 City Hall Auditorium
Ordinary Joe
Carlo Gennarelli
US/79:00
Meet Joe Sciacca, a beer drinking, blue-collar roofer and Vietnam War veteran from Long Island, New York. Contrary to appearances this ‘Ordinary Joe’ has a life purpose that proves to be anything but mundane. Driven by complex motives, Joe annually returns to Vietnam, traveling its back alleys and country roads seeking out the poor, diseased and disabled, delivering to them his own brand of aid and hope. By adopting a ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude this brash New Yorker has become an unlikely champion to a far away and seemingly forgotten people.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 7:30 City Hall Auditorium
Troupers
Dea Lawrence/Saratoga Ballantine
US/85:00
What’s the craziest career choice anyone can make and spend over eighty years pursuing? Saratoga Ballantine and Dea Lawrence’s documentary Troupers about actors over eighty in Hollywood gives new meaning to the phrase, “hang in there.” Meet twelve talented, successful people who beat the odds, followed their dream and are still working well into their eighties and nineties. These are the journeymen actors: the ones you see in movies or TV shows and who look really familiar.
Troupers takes a humorous look at how this fearless group survived parental disapproval, the black list, poverty, divorce, rejection, disappointment and depression, bad acting coaches, nasty casting directors, and decades of auditions to do what they wanted to do: Act.
*filmmakers in attendance
Sunday 3:30 City Hall Auditorium
#whilewewatch
Kevin Breslin
US/40:00
#whilewewatch is a gripping look at the media revolution that emerged from Zuccotti Park in New York City to the world. It is the story of how many people came together in the sun and rain, day and night, broke and loaded with energy and hope to get their story out to the world. Occupy Wall Street has galvanized the world. #whilewewatch is the real inside story of great people who have no fear. They don;t back down from police, big business or city government. When regular media paid no attention to this movement they decided to tell the world their story.
#whilewewatch is the real experience of what democracy looks like. We hear it from their voices, pain, energy and honesty.
Saturday 2:00 City Hall Auditorium
Whiskey & Apple Pie
Jamie Spooner
US/60:00
Whiskey and Apple Pie is a self-funded thought provoking and heartwarming documentary that brings the wisdom of the older generation into focus. Two forty-something individuals take a trip across America to interview men and women over the age of seventy years to capture this wisdom. The journey is inspired by the loss the narrator’s father—as a result, she embarks with friends to get answers to questions that she was too late to ask of her father. The film includes a mix of men and women who bring wisdom, humor, joy, passion and messages to the younger generations.
*filmmaker in attendance
features
Friday 2:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
Adultolescence
Vicky Shen and Zoe Bui
US/93:00
Lea, a young Chinese-American woman, once disowned by her immigrant mother and now struggling to make peace, goes through a painful, sometimes comedic, journey that has her teetering between a breakdown and breakthrough.
Sunday 5:30 Warner Black Box Theatre
American Jubilee
Ryan Casey
US/102:00
Each member of the McCormick Family is facing a crisis. Avery, the oldest, can’t hold a job. Kenzie, the middle child, arrives home to chaos that she believes she can fix. Claude, the youngest, a nine-year-old who runs a gambling ring at school. Otis, the father, is dying from general exhaustion and the sadness of a now empty heart. Can anyone save them? Kenzie is going to give it a try.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 5:15 Warner Black Box Theatre
Below Zero
Justin Thomas Ostensen
US/Canada 94:00
Inspired by true events, Below Zero is the story of ‘Jack the Hack,’ a once successful screenwriter who now faces writer’s block. Desperate to meet a career-saving deadline and escape the distractions of his troubled life, Jack arranges to be locked inside a meat cooler, with only vegetarian meals and his imagination to inspire him. As the temperature drops, the lines between reality and fiction blur, and Jack’s script comes dangerously to life. Will he make the most important deadline of his career? Or is Jack ‘just a hack’? While writing the script, the actual screenwriter and producer of Below Zero, Signe Olynyk, arranged to have herself physically locked in the meat freezer of an abandoned, remote slaughterhouse. That’s partly how this story developed.
Friday 8:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
Born & Raised
Joshua Dragge
US/96:00
In a small, seaside town, a young man learns a thing or two about love, luck and life from his well-traveled, outlaw grandfather. Born & Raised is a rough, tough, coming-of-age drama, with a lot of heart and a ton of laughs. It deals with family, friends, love, forgiveness, small towns and the want for something more.
*filmmaker in attendance
Thursday 8:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
Broadway’s Finest
Stephen Marrow
US/87:00
Broadway's Finest is a diverting story about three unemployed men who impersonate New York City undercover cops. Desperate for success, they enter the dangerous world of undercover police work and chase down a notorious drug dealer to get the authentic material they need to create their own cutting edge police drama. Do these guys really know what they're playing with? Things are rarely what they seem in this gritty action comedy.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 7:15 Warner Black Box Theatre
Company Retreat
Campbell Scott
US/107:00
Bruce Hodges (Matt Malloy) and Lonnie Repp (Hart Bochner) pitch a new reality show called Company Retreat—a Survivor and The Apprentice hybrid—and head off to the mountains with twenty contestants and a small crew after getting an underfunded green light from The People Channel. Bruce hires another crew to document the behind the scenes action of the show, but as the show begins to fall apart, both contestants and creators find themselves in the middle of a different kind of odyssey altogether.
*filmmaker in attendance
Friday 5:00 Warner Black Box Theatre
eMANNzipation
Philipp Müller-Dorn
Germany/113:00
Dominik is a man who has lost everything: his wife, son, job, house, and even his pride. Financially and emotionally bankrupt, he enters Berlin’s first and only Maennerhaus—a shelter for battered men. He meets Holger, the director of the house, and the other members. After a psychiatric examination by the youth welfare office, he has to participate in the Group Therapy Session of the Maennerhaus in order to get custody for his son Dylan. After an initial resistance, Dominik decides to participate and thus the other members of the Maennerhaus learn about Dominik’s past.
Friday 7:30 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy
Rob Heydon
Canada/105:00
Ecstasy is a twisted tale that explores the euphoric highs and the devastating lows of a chemical romance. Lloyd (Adam Sinclair) is on top of the world—beautiful girls, great club sounds, and a never ending supply of the love drug, sustained by a smuggling sideline for the local drug boss Solo (Carlo Rota). But when he meets Heather (Kristin Kreuk) he is forced to question if the love he feels is real or just another chemical high. As cracks start to appear in his world he realizes he wants out. If he can just pull off one last trip for Solo, he’ll be free.
Friday 3:00 Main Street “POP-UP” Theatre
The Lady of Names
Adam Ciolfi
Canada/79:00
Animated
A beautiful librarian discovers the power of magic when an ill-conceived wish catapults her into the world of fairy tales. She falls into the clutches of the Troll King, a monster obsessed with imprisoning all the fairy tale folk. Her only hope for rescue is Zack Driscoll, a young handyman in love with her. Kidnapped by a pompous mushroom and an elfin creature, Zack braves goblin magic and the icy domain of the Memine to reach the home of the Great Owl. The Owl reveals the key to the Troll King's power. Armed with this knowledge, Zack and his friends race back to the tower thereby setting the stage for the last epic battle between our heroes and the armies of the Troll King.
Saturday 9:30pm Warner Black Box Theatre
The Melancholy Fantastic
Directed by AD Calvo
US/83:00
Still suffering from her mother's recent suicide, a delusional girl builds a life-sized doll to keep her company. The doll appears to be harmless until it convinces the girl that someone must die so she can come to life. It is a strange, gripping holiday tale of grief, love, and the horrors of loneliness.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 1:15 Warner Black Box Theatre
On Falling
Peter McEvilley
US/88:00
After graduating from Cornell with a degree in Engineering, George Wesley returns to his hometown, Redondo Beach, where he reconnects with his high school friend, Mildred. She convinces him to go with her on an adventure up the coast of California through Big Sur, San Francisco, and eventually Sonoma, where she plans to crash the wedding of an ex-boyfriend. A young and handsome medical marijuana ‘dealer’ joins them at the last minute and guides them on their journey of experimentation, exploration and ultimately, self discovery.
*filmmaker in attendance
Thursday 5:30 Warner Black Box Theatre
The Selling
Emily Lou
US/88:00
Richard Scarry is the kind of real estate agent you want to buy a house from… just not the one you want selling your house. Honest and good-hearted, he talks his clients out of buying houses they can’t really afford. When his best friend, Dave Ross (Jonathan Klein), tries to convince him buy an old house to flip for a profit, he refuses. But when his sick Mom’s (Nancy Lenehan) insurance claim is denied, Richard goes along with the plan to pay for her medical treatment. It's not long after Richard and Dave start fixing up the house that the disembodied voices start talking, the walls start bleeding, and, oh yeah, that portal to the spirit realm opens up in the closet. Facing financial ruin, Richard must get rid of the house or its ghostly inhabitants before his world falls apart.
shorts
Saturday 9:45am Warner Black Box Theatre
short block one
The Crustacean Crisis
Phil Mirabito
US/9:00
Cooking a fancy dinner for a hot date, a timid young guy
doesn't have the heart to drop a lobster into boiling water, so he enlists his stoner roommate to help kill it more
humanely, leading to a series of mishaps and mayhem as
they race to kill the lobster before his date arrives.
*filmmaker in attendance
Sound Gun
Ben Allen
US/13:00
Max Zeinfeld builds a gun that can shoot sound, a Sound Gun, for the state science fair. When he is out rollerblading he recognizes Susie, a kidnapped girl from the news, being carried into a building by several masked men. Max must convince his best friend, Snot, to help him rescue Susie and use his new invention to prove once and for all that he is a genius.
*filmmaker in attendance
Death in the Family
Luchina Fisher
US/15:00
Days after their mother dies from breast cancer, two sisters' grief is cut short when their father brings home an old girlfriend with the same name as their mother.
*filmmaker in attendance
The Crane Wife
Alexa DiCambio
US/12:00
Student
Based on the Japanese folktale, 'The Crane Wife' is the story of a poor man who nurses an injured crane back to health and sets it free. This simple act of kindness changes his life forever when a woman suddenly appears at his doorstep.
*filmmaker in attendance
The Miracles on Honey Bee Hill
Bill Pondillo
US/23:00
A young female pines for true love, but when she finds her ‘special someone’ her zealously religious church family becomes enraged and attempts to drive her from the congregation. It literally takes a visit from God for the pious group to accept and understand the power of compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, and love.
*filmmaker in attendance
Saturday 11:15am Warner Black Box Theatre
short block two
Alterego y la máscara del miedo
Martha Cristiana Merino
Mexico/9:00
Alterego pokes in the spiritual neighborhoods where fear has its nest, exploring the enigmatic wall that exists between the perverse worlds of daydreaming and the death door. Olma and her mother are plunged in a gruesome silence product of resignation, co dependency and the fear of loneliness.
Smell The Coffee
Armando Fente, Jr.
US/9:00
Ricky is poetry professor who is shy around women. One day, Alejandro, the ghost of a dead poet, appears urging him to approach Christina, his high school crush, by the end of the week or Ricky will forever lose the chance to be with her.
*filmmaker in attendance
El Hombre Caja
Florencia Calcagno
Argentina/13:00
A man lives with a box in his head. He does not see anything, but he does not care, because he only wants to see the moon and the stars.
Eventually, a woman with a box in her head crosses into his way. They fall in love, but when she discovers the outside world, she decides to go away.
*filmmaker in attendance
Theatre of Mind
Alexander Harris
US/15:00
Student
Ben Avery is a weathered radio host forced out of the studio for more relevant programming. During his last broadcast of his mystery show “Theatre of Mind,” loyal listener Mel crafts elaborate fan art corresponding with the events in the show. Imagine Mel's devastation when Ben announces his resignation.
*filmmaker in attendance
First Kiss
Charles Hood
US/4:00
A guy and a girl encounter all kinds of obstacles while trying for their first kiss.
*filmmaker in attendance
Caught
Elizabeth Page
US/20:00
Hannah has spent her life trying to do the right thing, but despite her efforts she cannot catch a break or win the sought after affection of her mother, nor the respect of her brother. Hannah finds solace in baseball from the time she is young. This family strife culminates on the ball-field when Hannah's co-ed team is up against Robbie’s in the playoffs.
*filmmaker in attendance
Process
Gabe Napoleon
US/2:00
Student Animation
The process of a drawing told through stop motion animation.
*filmmaker in attendance
Sunday 10:00am Warner Black Box Theatre
short block three
Objects of Time
Michal Trzaska
US/6:00
Matt Moreland struggles to find the truth of whether his time traveling abilities are real or just a figment of his imagination.
*filmmaker in attendance
Allegheny Creek
Paul Robinson
US/12:00
Allegheny Creek is a story about a man returning from prison who is desperate to reconnect with the family he left behind.
*filmmaker in attendance
Mannen med kulorna
Hans Montelius
Sweden/15:00
Two thirty-something brothers play marbles for their inheritance.
Tea for One
Jonathan Doster
US/10:00
Detained and entertained on a Southern family porch, a census taker soon takes leave of his senses... spellbound by an angelic child who serves make-believe tea and speaks of butterflies in heaven. His take on reality ultimately dangles by one sweet kiss.
*filmmaker in attendance
The Sea Is All I Know
Jordan Bayne
US/29:00
An extraordinary story of love in the face of death. The Sea Is All I Know is an honest portrait of a family coming to terms with their relationship to death. When estranged couple, Sara [Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo] and Sonny [Peter Gerety], come to the aid of their dying daughter, the experience sends them spiraling into spiritual crisis and brutal heartbreak. In the end, an act of selfless love, renews their lives, transcends their loss of faith, even death itself. It is a testament to the strength and resilience of the soul.
Fantastic Plastic
Lev Polyakov
US/11:00
Animation
Fantastic Plastic, an animated short by Lev Polyakov, is a dark comedy about a pop star Bobby Schnoz, who sings through his extremely long nose. Bobby has a life changing experience after getting attacked by a vicious and hungry Chihuahua.
*filmmaker in attendance
Sunday 11:45am Warner Black Box Theatre
short block four
Going Home
Joel Stedman
US/25:00
This heartfelt story was written by Detective Greg Nutcher (ret.) based on experiences he had throughout his twenty year career as a police officer.
Brian Hill, a recently paroled man, claims he was wrongfully sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit, but all the evidence points to him. His only goal in life is to prove his innocence to the daughter he has never met. He is faced with many difficult challenges along the way. His entire family and all but one friend have abandoned him. Will he finally overcome these difficult obstacles? Will he wind up back in prison or will he die trying?
*filmmaker in attendance
His Take On Her
John DeVault
US/33:00
You're a film director. Your poet/actress girlfriend appears suicidal. What do you do - shoot her?
*filmmaker in attendance
Terrestrial Violence
Ebony Amber Parish
US/20:00
Terrestrial Violence is an experimental film about an alien named Bob and his difficult yet telling visit to Earth. In the beginning of Bob’s journey he finds himself trying to acclimate to the culture and traditions of human kind but soon realizes that the challenges of Earth life may be more than what he bargained for...
*filmmaker in attendance
Dumbleweed
Brian Horn
US/7:00
The road is a very scary place for a tumbleweed. Especially when you have to cross it to save Christmas.
Sunday 1:30 Warner Black Box Theatre
short block five
Frankenkinder
Anastasia Basche
US/14:00
Student
'Frankenkinder' is the story of MIA, a superficial woman torn between the 'unconditional love' of a mother and her desire for social acceptance when she gives birth to a green baby.
*filmmaker in attendance
Kitty Kitty
Michael Medaglia
US/11:00
There's something VERY wrong with Val's boyfriend. Inspired by a real-life disease, toxoplasmosis, which has recently been linked to altering human behavior, Kitty Kitty is a short horror film about love, cats and brain parasites.
*filmmaker in attendance
Snack Shack
Ryan O'Leary
US/10:00
Student
Jeff is having a really bad day at work.
*filmmaker in attendance
Haunted Memories
Mehran Torgoley
US/8:00
Official Music video for Llana Barron's “Haunted Memories” single.
A dark and stormy night finds us along for the ride as Llana revisits the specters of recent trauma!
*filmmaker in attendance
Speed Dating
Mary Niederkorn
US/4:00
A neurotic woman unexpectedly encounters the man of her dreams in a chance meeting on the street. As their relationship blossoms, will she find true love this time around? Or... is she setting herself up for a catastrophic failure?
*filmmaker in attendance
Loss Prevention
JP McGill
US/12:00
The store is closing, and Marcus, a loss prevention associate, is heading home - until he spots a woman concealing something. Marcus's office is monitored by camera and the company policy is clear: all shoplifters are to be prosecuted. Marcus stops the woman as she walks toward her car and her baby and brings her to his office. If Marcus turns her over to the police, she will surely lose her baby. If Marcus releases her, he is likely to lose his job - and his ability to put food on his family's table.
*filmmaker in attendance
Being Patient
Elizabeth Kerin
US/20:00
A young woman experiences euphoric hallucinations and searches for human contact while hospitalized for a terminal illness.
*filmmaker in attendance
Can’t Be Shamed
Peg Heron Heidel & Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel
US/9:00
Young filmmaker
Can’t Be Shamed is a ‘musicatirical’ comedy, an entertaining glimpse into the daily lives of fictional characters Viley Virus, Willie May Kit, and Vanna Sluttana. It is inspired by a music video of rhyming title in which the teenage star of the film appears wearing giant black wings, while singing and strutting about in a defiant ‘coming of age’ fashion.
*filmmaker in attendance
Thursday 4:00 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
short block six
Error 0036
Raúl Fernández
Spain/12:00
It’s the year 2057 in Madrid. Technology provides humans with a life full of comforts and without errors... Jorge Arellano, a normal guy, will find himself trapped in his house by the same devices that guaranteed his security. How will a man used to machines solving all his problems
P-word Pizza
Yelena Sabel
US/7:00
A white American teenager who considers himself a hip-hop-ghetto-gangsta (who he looks like anything but) delivers pizza to snobby Asians who find him overly vulgar and a shining example of why the human race is doomed.
In this satiric skit Yelena Sabel captures the human condition by expressing it through dark humor where politically incorrect dialogs, offensive comebacks, prejudice and stereotypes take place, and illustrate the intolerance and chauvinistic traits of human beings. Welcome to a world where manners are overlooked, individuality is underrated, reality is twisted and wrath is instantaneous.
The Bag
Ray Nomoto Robison
US/25:00
Based on actual conversations the writer, Marlyn Mason, had with her parents. It is the story of Hildy, a women who has discovered her mother has been hoarding pills in order to kill herself and that her father has agreed to a suicide pact with her mother.
Tell Me You Love Me
Gary Warren
US/5:00
Based on the true life story of the lead actress, a woman is consistently reminded of a violent act that happened to her by everything that she sees.
Election Day
Zach Wechter
US/11:00
A political thriller set in a high school student government...and there's nothing meaner than American high school politics.
Pillow
Miles B. Miller & Joshua H. Miller
US/19:00
A Southern Gothic tale of two brothers who go to desperate measures to please their overbearing mother.
Thursday 5:30 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
short block seven
Faceless
Tyler Zelinsky
US/14:00
Student
A con man with the supernatural ability to take on other people's identities must confront his fate when he steals from the wrong people.
The Astronaut on the Roof
Sergi Portabella
Germany/12:00
A comical road movie about two scriptwriters who write a film about two scriptwriters who write a film about a teenage couple who become bank robbers. A film about the struggle of writing a movie, getting lost in the way and ending up starring in your own script.
Just Say No
Abiel Bruhn
US/22:00
When carefree drug dealer Darius stumbles into what looks like a drug deal gone horribly wrong, he snatches up a bag of weed, hoping to use it as a ticket to leave town with his girlfriend Vanessa. But when he organizes a quick sale to a local scumbag and his hangers-on, he finds the drugs have some rather unsavory side effects. Surrounded by clients that are slowly morphing into bloodthirsty monsters, Darius and Vanessa have their relationship, and their lifestyle choice, tested in a very serious way. Part brutal zombie thriller, part bizarro stoner comedy, Just Say No is a Christmas-themed genre treat for all audiences.
European Son
Tyler Zelinsky
US/27:00
Student
Life. Death. What's it all for? This is the question that Daniel Baker must answer for himself when his attempted suicide is delayed by a chance encounter with a fellow suicidal on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Thursday 7:30 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
short block eight
Easy Street
Russell Greene
US/24:00
A young, Southern lawyer goes to New York for a job interview with the country's most eccentric and intimidating Federal Judge. After experiencing the weirdest encounter of his life, he is given an ultimatum that pits his morality against his ambition. Both comically absurd and socially relevant, the film asks: How far would you go to land your dream job?
Homecoming
Gursimran Sandhu
US/26:00
Student
When Nina Patel's strict Indian parents refuse to let her attend the eighth-grade homecoming dance, she resorts to emotional blackmail
Domestic
Chris Bryant
US/20:00
Student
This filmmaker received a grant from The Princess Grace Foundation Awards.
A young veteran returns home from Afghanistan and is confronted with losing his girl and job. His anger is used by a local group of guys hell bent on destroying a local politician. When their group escalates to bombing the politician’s speech, the young veteran learns the importance of taming his radicalized ideology.
Falling to Pieces
David Salowe
US/17:06
Adam is sometimes too smart for his own good. When he meets his intellectual equal in Josie, he thinks he finally has it made. The only problem is...Adam's been dead for quite a while.
Friday 4:30 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
short block nine
The Trap!
John Brungardt
US/19:00
Student
Murray Bradley, the painfully awkward son of famous Board Game legend, Milton Bradley, is a man with an obsession...a deadly obsession. He MUST outdo his father and create THE WORLD'S MOST PERFECT BOARD GAME, before he loses his mind! Will his rival classmates beat him to the punch? Only a roll of the dice will tell!
Incest! The Musical
Grant Reed
US/24:00
Student
Alex Harris has it all: he's popular, he's class president, and the ladies can't get enough of him (in particular, fellow student council member Jenny Clark). There's just one problem... he's in love with his twin sister, Katie.
Meanwhile, Katie has been feeling that something's missing from her relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Mark. With their senior prom looming, the two siblings must decide how to deal with these feelings that they can no longer deny.
One thing's for certain - this year's prom promises to be a night to remember, even if some may want to forget.
Love & Other Unstable States Of Matter
David Marmor
US/24:00
Owen, a struggling scientist, is having a really bad day. For starters, he still hasn't finished the device he's been building for years in his parents' garage. To make things worse, Karen--the love of his life--leaves him, convinced his endless tinkering is an excuse to avoid living. And when he activates his device, determined to prove Karen wrong, he accidentally creates a tiny black hole that’ll soon end the world. Great. Now, to save the planet (or at least win Karen back), he'll face an angry park ranger, a bunch of condiments, and worst of all--his parents.
The Orderly
Daniel Campbell
US/11:00
A Southern Gothic comedy set in the 1950s about a timid orderly, Norville, that finds
himself late for his first day of work and his first assignment: transporting two psychiatric patients to another facility five hours away, with only three hours to get them there. With each minute and mile that passes, Norville desperately struggles to keep his own sanity along this tense, bizarre and chaotic ride.
Friday 6:00 Main Street "POP-UP" Theatre
short block ten
The Line
Chris Blunk
US/3:00
Seven shoppers and a crying baby share a moment in line at the grocery store.
The Intern
Bryan Deguire
US/13:00
Two office slackers realize that the jolly, hard-working, unpaid intern is making them look bad. So it’s obvious what they must do: sabotage the intern.
The Bridge
Marlon Torres
US/30:00
The Bridge is the story of a World War II medic named Henry Sullivan who, after being killed in action, awakens in the in-between, where he encounters several fellow soldiers from his past that help him through a journey of self-discovery.
Fractured Minds
Frank Battiston
US/30:00
A couple journeys into a road trip in search to save their marriage. As their problems resurface, a horrific evil creeps out from the darkness. It is now up to the couple to stay together and fight for their lives.
Disasteroid
Jordan Katnik
US/4:00
Following the singer down the rabbit hole of his unconsciousness we confront the question of humanity's fate of self-destruction. Set on the last day of life on Earth we follow a group of people who decide not to let their fate be dictated by anything else but themselves. They converge to celebrate, one last time, the pleasures of life, before they take their own lives ahead of Earth's apparent destruction. Having potentially acting in haste the question is raised if humans really have the power to destroy the World or if we are merely destroying ourselves.