The fiercely independent film festival Dances With Films (DWF) announced its 2017 lineup of narrative and documentary features and short films for its 20 annual edition. Opening the festival on June 1 are two alumni projects: filmmaker David Heinz’s modern musical, AMERICAN FOLK in its Los Angeles debut and the world premiere of Tamar Halpern’s intellectual thriller, MISSING IN EUROPE. Another DWF alumni project, AUSTIN FOUND, by director Will Raée, closes the festival with its world premiere on June 11. DWF will run June 1-11, 2017 in Los Angeles, CA at the TCL Chinese Theaters, located at: Hollywood & Highland, 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028.
The festival, proving itself to be unstoppable after 20 consecutive years, is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of innovative independent cinema in the U.S., presenting amazing, undiscovered talent to an industry audience in Hollywood. Tickets and passes will be available for sale on Friday, May 12 at http://www.tclchinesetheatres.com/ or thru the festival’s own site: https://danceswithfilms.com.
“We consider ourselves a true festival of discovery,” said festival co-founders Michael Trent and Leslee Scallon. “Our aim is to showcase films that have unique voices from the indie scene, stories that bring a touch of magic to the screen. We have discovered a great many of them over these last two decades, so we are excited to present this year’s slate of knock-out talent.”
The final lineup features more than 160 titles, chosen from a record 2,100 submissions from all over the globe. The juried narrative competition section includes 16 features, 13 of which are world premieres, and nearly three-dozen shorts. DWF also has a category for groundbreaking short and feature documentaries, provocative genre fare in the Midnight section, and the most exciting music videos and dance-themed films from the indie scene in the Downbeats section. The Fusion section brings together a multitude of additional features and shorts.
Notable Dances With Films alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Gina Rodriguez, Bryan Cranston, Will Scheffer, Mark V. Olsen, Jesse Eisenberg, Mike Flanagan, and John Hawkes, among others.
About Dances With Films
In 1998 DWF began as a film festival dedicated to finding tomorrow’s talent today and continues to carry on this mission today. With many World and West Coast Premieres, DWF provides a coveted first stop on the festival circuit. With a vast number of submissions, the selection process is based solely on merit and discoverability. DWF continues its dedication to and is a devoted champion of fresh and creative voices, mandating that all competitive films have no known actors, writers, directors, or producers. For the past 20 years, DWF has proudly provided access and opportunity to thousands of films and filmmakers from across the globe that diligently work year after year to see their dreams realized. With more than 12,000+ festival attendees and 2.5 million impressions per month on www.danceswithfilms.com, DWF is loyal and dedicated to the indie filmmaker and is considered their champion in Hollywood.
DWF’s Advisory Board includes: Steve Tisch, Cindy Cowan, Jonathan Dana, Steve Elzer, Kevin Kasha, Eriq La Salle, Michael Lehmann, Mike Macari, Valerie McCaffrey, Mark V. Olsen, Joel Ordesky, Mark Ordesky, Melissa Orlen, Will Scheffer, Hilton Smith, David Spiegelman, and Steve Wegner.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS LINE-UP!
OPENING NIGHT
AMERICAN FOLK
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 99 min.
WRITER: David Heinz
DIRECTOR: David Heinz
PRODS: Matt Miller, Fiona Walsh, Samantha Sanders, Aaron Downing
CAST: Joe Purdy, Amber Rubarth, Krisha Fairchild, David Fine, Bruce Beatty, Elizabeth Dennehy
Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music.
MISSING IN EUROPE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 77 min.
WRITER: Jenny Paul
DIRECTOR: Tamar Halpern
PRODS: Rick Benattar, Milos Dujkalic, Michael Moran, Ivana Panic, Fernando Szew, Nigel Thomas, Kaila York
CAST: Miranda Raison, Emmett J Scanlan, Sophie Robertson
Cyber security expert Sara Woods arrives in Belgrade, Serbia to attend a conference and check on her daughter, Karissa, who is studying abroad. When Karissa and her classmate Lara go clubbing and disappear into thin air, Sara is certain they’ve been abducted. Utilizing her hacking skills and following clues Karissa leaves behind, Sara starts to uncover a major sex trafficking ring. Even worse, it seems the local police are in on it. With nobody to trust, Sara uses every tool at her disposal to locate Karissa before she’s sold to the highest bidder and disappears forever.
CLOSING NIGHT
AUSTIN FOUND
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 104 min.
WRITERS: Brenna Graziano, Will Raée
DIRECTOR: Will Raée
PRODS: Robert Ruggeri, Danny Costanzo, Mary Pat Bentel, Gary Ousdahl
CAST: Linda Cardellini, Skeet Ulrich, Craig Robinson, Kristen Schaal, Jon Daly, Patrick Warburton, Chris Parnell, Jaime Pressly, Ursula Parker
A Texas mother who is fed up with her mundane lifestyle enlists her outlaw of an ex-boyfriend and his former prison buddy to join her in a shockingly outrageous scheme that’s sure to make her and her 11 year old daughter instant celebrities.
COMPETITION FEATURES
CASSIDY RED
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 92 min.
WRITER: Matt Knudsen
DIRECTOR: Matt Knudsen
PRODS: Brooks Yang, Matt Knudsen
CAST: Abby Eiland, David Thomas Jenkins, Jason Grasl, Jessy Knudsen, Gregory Zaragoza, Rick Cramer, Lola Kelly
Cassidy Red is a western fable chronicling the struggle of “Joe Cassidy”, daughter of a prostitute and a gunslinger. When she is led to believe that her lover, Jakob has been murdered by Tom, her scornful ex-fiancée, Joe she seeks vengeance. But when she returns to her hometown at the edge of the Arizona Territory, she not only finds Tom to have installed himself as the local sheriff, she also discovers Jakob alive and incarcerated. Soon the lovers are back together but behind bars. Awaiting execution, they must escape, shoot their way out of town, or face the hangman’s noose at dawn.
CHANCE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 94 min.
WRITER: Kenny Young
DIRECTOR: Kenny Roy
PRODS: Phil James
CAST: Will Cannon, Peppur Chambers, Eddie Goines, Kenny Young, Alan Naggar, Joe Grubbs
In the brutal world of underground dogfighting, dogs are trained and forced to fight to the death. Chance is a pit-bull puppy with a peaceful heart and an imaginative mind. Unfortunately, Chance is soon torn from his happy home and purchased by a cruel dogfighting owner. As Chance grows to young adulthood, he manages to hold on to his values despite the fact that he will eventually have to enter the ring of death. Unwilling to betray his peaceful beliefs, Chance plots to escape the yard. Chance soon discovers that the outside world can be just as harsh, as he finds himself even deeper in the bloody world of dogfighting. To stay alive, Chance is forced to betray his own beliefs and fight his own kind. To find redemption, must challenge the system that is causing his own kind to self-destruct.
ELIZA SHERMAN’S REVENGE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 80 min.
WRITER: Gregory Fitzsimmons
DIRECTOR: Gregory Fitzsimmons
PRODS: Gregory Fitzsimmons, Jackie Geary
CAST: Jackie Geary, Kristen Miller, Kiva Jump, Mageina Tovah, Larry Bates, Jamison Haase, Mike Rock
Newly endowed with special powers, Eliza Sherman lures her old nemeses to the Hollywood Hills under the guise of a birthday party for ’80s heartthrob Richard Grieco. Her plans to punish them go repeatedly awry as her powers prove to be no match for fate. She must conquer her ego and stop screwing up the space-time continuum if she wants to finally win the heart of her one true love. A scrappy pitch-black comedy.
GRIEF
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 82 min.
WRITER: Senda Bonnet
DIRECTORS: Kevin Renwick, Chris Mammerarelli
PRODS: Kevin Renwick, Robert N. Klieger, Chris Mammerarelli
CAST: Kevin Renwick, Jackie Moore, Sean Russel Herman, Ken Gamble, Nathan Kehn, Nelson Cheng
After the sudden loss of his young son, Kyle Harden tortures himself day-after-day by returning to his once happy home where he, his wife, and son, all lived. Today he will end the suffering — Today he will be reunited with his son — Today will prove to be the hardest day of Kyle Hardens life as he comes face-to-face with his inner demons in an effort to ‘pull the trigger’ as he slips further and further into a psychological wormhole of love, loss, and self-exploration to answer the real question… ‘Do I deserve to live?’
GAME DAY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 101 min.
WRITER: John Susman
DIRECTOR: John Susman
PROD: Stuart Wolf, John Susman
CAST: Elizabeth Alderfer, Romeo Miller, Fyvush Finkel, Chris J. Johnson, Jürgen Hooper, Amy Holland Pennell
A basketball-savvy teen reluctantly agrees to coach a brilliant but self-centered tech whiz who has lost everything when her startup goes bust and personal life is left in ruins. Discovering that success at her new job depends on becoming a team player in the office and on the company’s, up till now, all-male basketball team, she enlists his help in a desperate attempt to save her job and her future–an experience that ultimately changes both of their lives forever. With original music by Romeo Miller and Master P.
HOLDEN ON
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 102 min.
WRITER: Tamlin Hall
DIRECTOR: Tamlin Hall
PRODS: James Cooney, Tamlin Hall, Jamie Roberts
CAST: Matthew Fahey, Ross Thomas, Steve Ellis, Kelly Finley, Greg Thompson
No longer your average boy-next-door, Holden Layfield weaves audiences through his harrowing tale in this film set in the early 1990s. After succumbing to a secret battle with mental illness, Holden evolves from a beloved, small town Georgia football player to a lost, self-medicating prophet.
IMITATION GIRL
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 83 min.
WRITER: Natasha Kermani
DIRECTOR: Natasha Kermani
PRODS: Forrest McClain, Tim Wu, Claudia Murdoch, Alastair Murdoch
CAST: Lauren Ashley Carter, Neimah Djourabchi, Sanam Erfani, Marsha Stefanie Blake, Catherine Mary Stewart, Lewis Black, Adam David Thompson
A mysterious being arrives on Earth and takes the shape of a young woman. Taken in by Iranian immigrants, a brother and sister living in the American Southwest, the Imitation forms an understanding of the strange species around her, and as she learns more about her new body and her companions, she comes to appreciate the beauty and the sadness of her new world. At the same time, Julianna, Imitation’s world-weary earthly double, knows both glitz and grit working as an entertainer in New York City, where her fraying life and relationships now threaten her dreams for an audition that might finally set her on a happier path. On learning of Julianna’s existence, Imitation heads to New York, where only by sacrificing themselves to each other can the cosmic twins complete a full portrait of a woman.
INHERITANCE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 92 min.
WRITER: Tyler Savage
DIRECTOR: Tyler Savage
PRODS: Dash Hawkins, JP Castel, Chase Joliet, Tyler Savage
CAST: Chase Joliet, Sara Montez, Dale Dickey, Drew Powell, Jim Ortlieb, Krisha Fairchild, Ashley Spillers, Alex Dobrenko, Tim Abell, Vincent Van Horn
Ryan has just inherited a $2 million beach house on the central California coast from his biological father, a man he’s never known and thought long dead. Arriving in the charming town with his pregnant fiancé, Ryan’s curiosity about his father soon leads him into an introspective investigation. As a looming family presence tightens its grip on him, Ryan detaches, pushing away his adoptive family and expectant fiancé. When he finally discovers the horrifying truth about his birth parents, he might be too late to stop himself from repeating a similar pattern…
JIMMY THE SAINT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 87 min.
WRITER: Branden Morgan
DIRECTOR: Branden Morgan
PRODS: Branden Morgan, Bruce Witkin, Jason Leibsla, Chris Emerson
CAST: Zach Hursh, Anne Solenne, Brandon Breault, Jeff Murray, Christine Lakin
When a bagman for the Russian mob falls for a fresh-off-the-boat prostitute, the only way to ensure their freedom is to fight for it. Jimmy The Saint offers an unflinching look at the lucrative and dangerous sex trade that claims the lives of anonymous innocents everyday. With a talented cast of newcomers, JIMMY THE SAINT is a powerful film experience that will stay with you long after the final fade-to-black.
LANDING UP
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 98 min.
WRITER: Stacey Maltin
DIRECTOR: Dani Tenenbaum
PRODS: Stacey Maltin, Jessica Kingdon, Marzy Hart, Nikolai Metin
CAST: Ben Rappaport, Stacey Maltin, E’dena Hines, Dov Tiefenbach, Theodora Woolley, Jay DeYonker
CHRISSIE is young, wild, and living on the streets. She and her best friend CECE use their youth and good looks to their advantage, playing a con game with strangers to put a roof over their heads while all the time fantasizing about having enough money to score their dream apartment. When Chrissie meets DAVID, a funny, genuine guy who works his way into her heart, she falls for him and must decide whether to confess the real circumstances of her life or continue her carefully crafted lie at all costs; even the cost of someone’s life.
LORE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 87 min.
WRITERS: Christian Larsen, Brock Manwill
DIRECTORS: Brock Manwill, Christian Larsen
PRODS: Brock Manwill, Christian Larsen, John Matthews, Polina Gorbacheva
CAST: Lyndsey Lantz, Max Lesser, Sean Wei Mah, Victor Gage
Ann, convinced that God is leading her, embarks on a journey to find her missing son in a remote wilderness with the help of her estranged husband, Rich and John, a Native American who is familiar with the area. As they venture deep into the forest, they witness strange and frightening occurrences that challenge the reality they thought they knew. They hope to put an end to their nightmare, but this could be just the beginning.
THE MIDNIGHTERS
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 87 min.
WRITER: Julian Fort
DIRECTOR: Julian Fort
PRODS: Adam Carl, Julian Fort
CAST: Leon Russom, Gregory Sims, John Wesley, Stuart McLean, Costa Ronin, Eve Mauro, Larry Cedar, Charles Dierkop
Expert safecracker Victor Lustig has just been released from prison after a thirty-five-year stretch. Now an old man all Vic wants to do is pick up some money long owed to him and live out his days in peace, quiet and comfort. When his old co-conspirator Louis breaks the news that the cash in long gone, Vic’s retirement plan goes up in smoke. It isn’t until Victor gets a surprise visit from his long lost son Danny that his future begins to become clear. It seems that Danny has followed in Vic’s footsteps, and has gotten himself in heavy debt to dangerous Russian gangsters Orion and Vadik. Now Vic’s got a choice to make: accept his new life playing out the string in a world he no longer understands… or risk his life by utilizing every bit of his old street skills to save the son he never knew.
THE MEANING OF LIFE
WORLD Premiere | Canada, 2017, HD, 90 min.
WRITER: Cat Hostick
DIRECTOR: Cat Hostick
PRODS: Russ De Jong, Cat Hostick, Rona Leon
CAST: Tyler Shaw, Sergio Di Zio, Sadie Munroe, Jean Yoon, Dan Lett, John Boylan, Krista Morin, Jake Raymond
A starving musician Finn Faber (Tyler Shaw) gets a temporary job as a therapeutic clown at a hospital entertaining sick kids. He is assigned a 9-year-old leukemia patient: Sophia Hill (Sadie Munroe). Finn soon learns that Sophia coming into his life was no coincidence, but an important lesson he needed to learn before making a big step forward in life.
ONE LESS GOD
WORLD Premiere | Australia, 2017, HD, 133 min.
WRITER: Lliam Worthington
DIRECTOR: Lliam Worthington
PRODS: Maren Smith, Joel Hagen, Lliam Worthington, Nelson Lau
CAST: Joseph Mahler Taylor, SukhRaj Deepak, Mihika Rao, Kabir Singh, Kieran Kumar, Nathan Kaye, Martelle Hammer, Reilly O’Byrne-Inglis, Igor Kreyman, Joseph J.U. Taylor, Quentin Yung, Jan Langford-Penny, Nicole Fantl, Philip R.K. John, Nicolas Scot Francois, Rhavin Banda
In 2008, a band of young Islamic militants from Pakistan lands in Mumbai, their primary target, the iconic Taj Mahal hotel. With Indian forces unable to regain control, for 4 days the guests must battle to survive as the terrorists seek to drive them from hiding. The harrowing events that follow will come to be known as India’s 9/11 and one of the most audacious terrorist attacks in history. Yet more than a tale of monsters and men, this is a story of our shared humanity at the dark crossroads to which we have now stumbled. Inspired by true events.
TATER TOT & PATTON
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 92 min.
WRITER: Andrew Kightlinger
DIRECTOR: Andrew Kightlinger
PRODS: Adam Emerson, Dohui Kim, Ryan M. Hall, Sean Covel
CAST: Jessica Rothe, Bates Wilder, Forrest Weber
A wayward millennial escapes to her Uncle’s South Dakota ranch, unhinging his placid boozer life.
TOMORROW, MAYBE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 84 min.
WRITERS: Jace Daniel, Roy Kirk 1st, Robert Blanche
DIRECTOR: Jace Daniel
PRODS: Jace Daniel, Roy Kirk 1st, Robert Blanche, David Brownlow
CAST: Robert Blanche, Bethany Jacobs, Grant Davis, Brian Sutherland
Determined to redeem himself upon his most recent release from prison, a father (Robert Blanche) reconnects with his daughter (Bethany Jacobs), who might not be so willing if her life wasn’t suddenly falling apart.
FUSION FEATURES
ALL I WANT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 91 min.
WRITERS: West Liang, Melissa Center
DIRECTOR: West Liang
PRODS: Melissa Center, West Liang, Giselle Gilbert, Howard Ginsburg, Ira Wagner, Leah Wagner, Ciel Turich
CAST: Melissa Center, Drew Rausch, Josh Casaubon, Rebecca Larsen, Jonathan Chase, Laura Mann, Susan-Kate Heaney, Bruce Lemon, Renee Threatte, Akemi Look, Giselle Gilbert, Drew Brooks, Kate Mines, Molly Kidder, Jorge-Luis Pallo, Camille Mana, Garrett Coffey, Vivian Bang, Bryce McBratnie
An ensemble drama that explores the anxiety of modern love and life among friends in Los Angeles.
BEING BLACK ENOUGH or (HOW TO KILL A BLACK MAN)
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 92 min.
WRITER: Devin Rice
DIRECTOR: Devin Rice
PRODS: Jacqueline Corcos, Devin Rice
CAST: Devin Rice, Bruce A. Lemon, Jr, Marcus Ajose, Matthew-David Smith, Joshua Walker, Danielle Jaffey, Jacqueline Corcos, D.J. Hale, Mark Ridley, Peter DiVito, Gina Jackson
A Young Black Man, raised in a White neighborhood, ridiculed for not being “Black Enough” decides to go to the hood to hang out with his gangster cousin and discover what it really means to be “Black.” He eventually faces the harsh reality of gang violence, drugs and police confrontation.
D-LOVE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 97 min.
WRITER: Dave Rogers
DIRECTOR: Elena Beuca
PRODS: Elena Beuca, Dave Rogers, Billy Howerdel, Elisabetta Tedla, Veronica Radaeli, John Chidwick
CAST: Elena Beuca, Dave Rogers, Ditlev Dharmakaya, Billy Howerdel
Stefania is working a job she has hated for years. Her husband, Dan, hasn’t worked in years.
They have just landed at Los Angeles airport, returning from Europe, and having one of the worst days of their lives. Stefania is approached by a vagabond – Ditlev, who asks her for a ride to one of the busiest freeways in Los Angeles. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with the wanderer, but her husband Dan, decides to take him home with them. How will this affect the couple? The director invites you on a 3 day journey, seen through Stefania’s eyes, to view and discover that desired change doesn’t always come in the package that we want or expect.
DEVIL’S WHISPER
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 85 min.
WRITERS: Oliver Robins, Paul Todisco, Adam Ripp
DIRECTOR: Adam Ripp
PRODS: Manjoj Punjabi, Mark Stolaroff, Liam Finn, Adam Ripp
CAST: Luca Oriel, Tessie Santiago, Marcos Ferraez, Rick Ravanello, Luna Maya, Alison Fernandez, Jasper Polish, Coy Stewart, Justin Tinucci, Benjamin A. Hoyt
15 year-old Alejandro Duran, who comes from a religious Latino American family, aspires to be a Catholic priest. But when Alex discovers a mysterious box, passed down from his grandparents, he unwittingly unleashes a demonic spirit bent on possessing him. Alex must find a way to defeat this ancient demon, which has been tormenting children since the dawn of man, before it destroys him and everyone he loves. On the surface Devil’s Whisper is a supernatural horror film about demonic possession but at its core it’s a psychological thriller about repressed memories, childhood trauma and the cycle of abuse.
ESPIONAGE TONIGHT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 85 min.
WRITER: Rob Gordon Bralver
DIRECTOR: Rob Gordon Bralver
PRODS: Amy Child
CAST: Joe Hursley, Greg Davis Jr., Ganna Bogdan, Said Taghmaoui, Alexie Gilmore, Joseph Gatt, Chasty Ballesteros, Lynn Whitfield, Sean Astin
In a time of widespread disillusionment and distrust of our government, a reality TV show about spies is created to win back the faith of the American public. Audiences go undercover on missions around the globe and see real world effects from the narrative the showrunners create. As the first season unfolds, we wonder – how much is real and how much is propaganda? Our charismatic host “Swamp Fox” leads us down the rabbit hole the show runners create, and it becomes impossible to distinguish fact from fiction as the lines blur between reality, television, and movies in an age when everything is on camera.
THE FIRST OF MANY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Pamela Guest
DIRECTOR: Elizabeth and Pamela Guest
PRODS: Elizabeth and Pamela Guest
CAST: Elizabeth Guest, Lawrence Michael Levine, Kristin Slaysman
In 1971 young actress goes on her first audition with surprising, life-changing results.
THE MAN FROM EARTH: HOLOCENE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 99 min.
WRITERS: Richard Schenkman, Eric D. Wilkinson, Emerson Bixby
DIRECTOR: Richard Schenkman
PRODS: Richard Schenkman, Eric Wilkinson
CAST: David Lee Smith, Vanessa Williams, Sterling Knight, Akemi Look, Brittany Curran, Carlos Knight, William Katt, Michael Dorn
Following ten years after the cult sci-fi favorite “Jerome Bixby’s The Man From Earth”, 14,000 year-old John Oldman is now comfortably hiding in plain sight as a college professor in Northern California. However his existence comes crashing down when he realizes that not only is something finally causing him to age, but a group of devoted students have discovered his deepest secret, putting his life in grave danger and potentially destroying the world’s most popular religion.
THE SCENT OF RAIN AND LIGHTNING
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 73 min.
WRITERS: Casey Twenter, Jeff Robinson
DIRECTOR: Blake Robbins
PRODS: Casey Twenter, Jeff Robison, Jeff Johnson, Dan Koetting, Kevin Waller, Maggie Grace
CAST: Maika Monroe, Mark Webber, Maggie Grace, Will Patton, Logan Miller, Justin Chatwin, Brad Carter, Aaron Poole and Bonnie Bedelia
When a young woman in the Midwest learns her parents’ killer has been released from jail, rumblings in her small town suggest he may be innocent. She begins questioning the police investigation and witnesses, and uncovers her own family secrets to piece together the shocking truth. Based on the bestselling novel The Scent Of Rain & Lightning by Nancy Pickard.
THE SPEARHEAD EFFECT
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 86 min.
WRITERS: Caleb Smith, Brandon Moore
DIRECTORS: Caleb Smith, Brandon Moore
PRODS: Terrence Malick, Alexander Zdzislaw Golubiewski, Jaime Gallagher
CAST: Rane Jameson, Leif Steinert, Caleb Smith
When an online journalist exposes widespread police corruption, he soon finds himself a target of the violent vigilante movement he unwittingly inspired.
MIDNIGHT FEATURES
AWAKEN THE SHADOWMAN
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 83 min.
WRITERS: Woodrow Wilson Hancock III, Skyler Caleb, James Zimbardi
DIRECTOR: J.S. Wilson
PRODS: Woodrow Wilson Hancock III, Skyler Caleb, James Zimbardi, Anthony C. Ferrante
CAST: James Zimbardi, Skyler Caleb, Jean Smart, Emily Somers, Andrea Hunt, Robert R. Shafer, Grace Van Dien, Raam Weinfeld, Carlos Pratts, Sophie Labelle, Casey Kramer
After the mysterious disappearance of their mother, estranged brothers reunite and discover an unknown supernatural force.
CENTRAL PARK
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 87 min.
WRITER: Justin Reinsilber
DIRECTOR: Justin Reinsilber
PRODS: Melissa Chamberlain, Justin Reinsilber, Rachel Brenna
CAST: Justiin A. Davis, Ruby Modine, Malika Samuel, Grace Van Patten, Guillermo Arribas, Deema Aitken, Marina Squerciati, Michael Lombardi, Charles Borland, David Valcin, Nicole Balsam, Justin Reinsilber
Central Park is a feature-length horror/thriller from writer/director Justin Reinsilber. Set in present day New York City the film centers around six high school juniors. Collectively they have done everything there is to do, know it all better than everyone else, and mean the world to each other. When one of their fathers is implicated in a Bernie Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme, the gang rallies around their friend. To blow off some steam, they set out for an epic night in Central Park. Little do they know the consequences of his crimes will go far beyond his client’s bank accounts.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
CHARLIE VS GOLIATH
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 80 min.
DIRECTOR: Reed Lindsay
PRODS: Reed Lindsay, Nicolas Rossier, Kim Borba, Phillip Landrum, Ronica Reddick, Anthony Weldon
Former Catholic priest Charlie Hardy is 75 years old and has no money or political experience. But none of that dissuades this 21st-century Don Quixote from running for the US Senate in his home state of Wyoming. Charlie’s courage to take a principled stand against money in politics attracts a ragtag group of young volunteers and together they jump aboard a 1970 Crown school bus, campaigning across the Wild West state in a bid to shake up this country’s political establishment.
GREEN STANDARD, THE
Los Angeles Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 75 min.
DIRECTORS: William Rosenfeld, Jacob Strunk
PRODS: William Rosenfeld, Jacob Strunk
Last year, lawmakers brought a petition before the DEA to loosen federal restrictions on cannabis. It was swiftly rejected, maintaining the plant’s Schedule I classification alongside heroin and PCP on the stated basis of it having “no accepted medical use”. Enter THE GREEN STANDARD: a people’s account of pot, prejudice, and the fight against prohibition. Filmed throughout the U.S., TGS reveals the surprising highs and uncomfortable lows of the men, women, and children on all sides of the issue. From the refugee families of Colorado battling for their kids’ lives to anti-legalization activists decrying the movement as greed-fueled hype, America’s evolving perceptions of marijuana use are revealed, alongside criminalization’s untold societal costs.
THE LAUGHTER LIFE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 76 min.
DIRECTOR: Juliet Werner
PRODS: Juliet Werner, Jeff Werner
From “Daily Show” producer Juliet Werner, “The Laughter Life” follows a week in the professional life of the young comedians who write and star in “Studio C,” a popular sketch comedy television show with a strong following on YouTube. But theirs is not your typical comedy success story, as the cast and crew behind the program are practicing Mormons living in Provo, Utah. And the network producing their show is run by the LDS Church. The film explores the tension inherent in creating “clean” comedy that will satisfy both the demands of the network and the cast’s desire to generate a funny final product. “The Laughter Life” takes audiences to a world few have visited and demonstrates the unifying power comedy.
RESISTANCE IS LIFE
WEST COAST Premiere | Turkey/USA, 2017, HD, 73 min.
DIRECTOR: Apo W. Bazidi
PRODS: Apo W. Bazidi, Goran Zaneti
From a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border, an 8-year-old girl, EVLIN, characterizes the resistance of her homeland. Her heroes, the Kurdish female fighters, are defending the city of Kobane against the onslaught by ISIS militants. The power of the human spirit emanates through Evlin as she shows us that hope and resilience prevail even in the most tragic of circumstances. Evlin takes us on a journey that introduces the many different faces of the resistance on both sides of the border and provides a unique look at the extraordinary spirit behind the first major victory against ISIS.
TO THE MOON AND BACK
WEST COAST Premiere | USA/Russia, 2016, HDV, 85 min.
WRITER: Susan Morgan Cooper
DIRECTOR: Susan Morgan Cooper
PROD: Susan Morgan Cooper
FEATURING: Jessica Long, Miles Harrison, Carol Harrison, Bill Browder, Gene Weingarten, Boris Altshuler, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Ben Cardin
The political murder of a Moscow lawyer and the cancellation of 259 pending American adoptions have a deep , insidious connection in this emotional expose.To the Moon and Back connects the dots from Russia’s warehousing of abandoned and special needs children to the cross border dealings of a billionaire investment banker to one American family’s tragedy. The film explores how Russian political corruption is linked to the accidental death of one adopted child and becomes Putin’s reason behind the Adoption Ban.
COMPETITION SHORTS
ALFRED J HEMLOCK
WORLD Premiere | Australia, 2016, HD, 14 min.
WRITERS: Melissa Lyons, Edward Lyons
DIRECTOR: Edward Lyons
PRODS: Robert Raymond, Melissa Lyons, Edward Lyons, Lucas Newton, Aaron Bush, Tim Creswell
CAST: Renaye Loryman, Tristan Mckinnon, Christian Charisiou
When Emily is abandoned in the night, her only way home is through an alleyway where she is terrorised by the mysterious entity Alfred J Hemlock. After reaching the depths of her despair she finds strength that she never suspected she had.
ALL THE MARBLES
CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 17 min.
WRITERS: Carl Petersen, Michael Swingler
DIRECTOR: Michael Swingler
PRODS: Carl Petersen, Michael Swingler
CAST: Cole Sand, Carl Petersen, Helen Sadler, Christopher Franciosa, Micah Fitzgerald
In a magical world where marbles are as precious as gold, a boy named Jamison wins the most cherished marble of them all. When a villainous bully named Wolf cruelly snatches his prize trophy, the boy challenges him to an epic marble battle that could cost him much more than he expected.
AWOL
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.
WRITERS: Rene Yi, Paul J. Meredith
DIRECTOR: Paul J. Meredith
PRODS: Paul J. Meredith, Patrick Stephen, Rene Yi
CAST: Patrick Stephen, Henry Mark
AWOL tells the story of a Vietnam soldier who chose flight over fight, only to find himself up against harsh terrain and relentless homesickness. He must face the fact that in war, there are no winners.
BLUES WITH ME
NORTH KOREA Premiere | South Korea, 2016, HD, 25 min.
WRITER: Lee Han-jong
DIRECTOR: Lee Han-Jong
PROD: Han Dal-ho
CAST: Han Jung-hyun, Kim Kyung-ik, Nam Tae-woo
Seung-shik, a construction worker loses his daily job just because he is not on the list. To make things worse, he is not going to get paid for the work he did a week before. To get to the bottom of this absurd situation, he visits his foreman to his office.
BOY IN THE DARK
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Jason Ragosta
DIRECTOR: Jason Ragosta
PRODS: Rebecca Ahn, Julie Chow, Richard Enriquez, Marisa Garay
CAST: TonyBoy Marin, Robert Matas, James Ted Harvey, Nani Strides, Tony Aldrich, Jayson Fabre
Boy In The Dark tells the story of Jake, a boy both blessed and cursed with an extraordinary imagination. Blessed in that he is able to lose himself in the drawings of creatures and places that populate his sketch book. Cursed, because he is plagued by a gruesome Night Terror, that emerges from the darkness each and every night. Jake discovers that if he is to survive, he must protect what he creates, and that there are bargains to be struck with those who truly rule the night.
BURYING AMBER
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 8 min.
WRITER: Alix Angelis
DIRECTORS: Alix Angelis, Vincent Cardinale
PRODS: Vincent Cardinale, Thomas Marchese, Alix Angelis
CAST: Alix Angelis
Lori must deal with the end of a relationship in a way she didn’t expect.
CONFECTION
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | United Kingdom, 2016, HD, 33 min.
WRITER: Lauren Bensted
DIRECTOR: Ed Rigg
PROD: AJ Leon
CAST: Perry Millward, Esther Smith, Tony Way
Set in a sleepy English seaside town, ‘Confection’ is a comedy about a not-quite-grown-up who finds himself accidentally catapulted into the thick of a very grown-up situation.
CROSSING FENCES
WEST COAST Premiere | USA/Germany, 2017, HD, 14 min.
WRITER: Annika Pampel
DIRECTOR: Annika Pampel
PRODS: Justin Prentice, Nina Rausch
CAST: Nina Rausch, Christian Wolf, Philippe Brenninkmeyer
In a communist East Germany in 1974, a young couple attempts to escape into the West, seeking freedom, by using a handmade boat to cross the Baltic Sea. The fight for their lives begins when they get discovered and they try to escape decades of imprisonment or being executed on the spot.
DEEP PLAYA SUNRISE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Josh Yeo
DIRECTOR: Josh Yeo
PRODS: Josh Yeo, Seth Bunting, Chris Pitcher, Kris Kish, Arin Pitcher
CAST: Chris Holz, Rachel Emma Pringle
This whimsical story is a blend the senses, as we follow a medically discharged combat vet, on his first trip to Burning Man, as he searches the “Playa” for hearing-aid batteries. **One of the first and only narratives approved by Burning Man governing body, Black Rock City, LLC.
A DIMLY LIT ROOM
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.
WRITER: Thad Nurski
DIRECTOR: Thad Nurski
PRODS: Janice Fung, Nick Foss, Thad Nurski
CAST: Benjamin Hjelm, Jamie VanDyke
In a dimly lit room, Asher meets Persephone. What she wants, what she threatens, and what she has to offer are the clues Asher has to go on in order to solve the riddle in front of him and save his life. If he cannot figure out what is going on and what to do about it, it could be his end.
DOLL
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 20 min.
WRITER: Cory Pratt
DIRECTOR: Cory Pratt
PRODS: Cory Pratt, Josh Prosser
CAST: Yang Miller, Annie Ganousis, Tim Ashby
Smitten with his co-worker, a timid janitor struggles to connect with her and harbors a big secret…he performs his nightly duties in a fetish rubber suit.
EXPOSURE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 15 min.
WRITER: Mary Jeanes
DIRECTOR: Mary Jeanes
PROD: Ivo Huahua
CAST: Antonina Vargas, Michael D. Finley
On Erin’s first outdoor climbing trip, her reckless boyfriend gets himself trapped high on a cliff. As time slips away and he falls into a severe hypothermic state, they realize help will not arrive in time. Erin risks her life in an attempt to rescue him before it’s too late.
FIRST NIGHT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 10 min.
WRITER: Rafael Pablo Salinas, Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby
DIRECTOR: Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby
PRODS: Ornella Jaramillo, Rafael Pablo Salinas, Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby
CAST: Brittany Ann Falardeau, Bryan Dechart, Sean O’bryan
Joey is woken up in the middle of the night by a damsel in distress. Realizing he is in danger, Joey takes matters into his own hands to protect himself. His plan backfires, leaving him in a world of pain.
THE FACELESS MAN
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITERS: Sara O’Reilly, Jeremy Foley
DIRECTOR: Jeremy Foley
PRODS: Sara O’Reilly
CAST: William O’Leary
An offbeat fable about a disillusioned man who discovers his face has transformed into a mirror and must venture out into the world to reclaim his identity.
FLOWER
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 15 min.
WRITER: Ché Walker
DIRECTOR: Ché Walker
PRODS: Ché Walker, Luke Paddington, James McCormick
CAST: Montana Roesch, Barry Primus, Mattia Bartoli, Austin Iredale
A young sex worker is tested to her limits by three very different clients.
THE GOOD MACHINE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 12 min.
WRITER: Michael Craft
DIRECTOR: Michael Craft
PRODS: Scott Riehs, Michael Craft
CAST: Jessica Park, David Rysdahl
A young woman struggles with her boyfriend’s addiction to a virtual reality device that allows him to interact with his dreams. She attempts to help him let go of his compulsion, but he resists. Working at her job at the library, and catching the train to and from work, she has her own dream, a life together with her boyfriend, free from addiction.
JOUSKA
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 5 min.
WRITER: Wynter Rhys
DIRECTOR: Wynter Rhys
PRODS: Wynter Rhys, Mumukuba
CAST: James Pinto II, Alissa Gustafson, Curtis McGann, Eric Bayne, Keenyn Rhys
An elderly man grapples with the guilt of what he’s done in the strange, whimsical land of his subconscious
HERBIE
WORLD Premiere | France, 2016, HD, 20 min.
WRITER: Ralph Bismargi
DIRECTOR: Ralph Bismargi
PROD: Ralph Bismargi
CAST: Matt Vladimery, Laura Woody, Tiffany Hofstetter, Jim Sheppard, Zelda Rittner, Sebastian Marx, Ralph Bismargi
Herbie Spoon, a naïve and emotionally imbalanced 30-year-old, dreams of becoming a successful life coach who inspires people and offers them guidance. His master plan: to start out by making YouTube videos with the help of his filmmaker friend, GINNIE. The only problem is that he keeps messing up during the shoot. Instead of a series of clips with him offering good advice, we end up with a bunch of hilarious outtakes… that he does not find funny. Will he eventually succeed or is he on the wrong path? Herbie is not only a behind-the-scenes look at a quirky young man struggling to make it. It is a story that takes us on a journey towards self-discovery and embracing who we are.
THE KNACKERMAN
WEST COAST Premiere | UK, 2016, HD, 18 min.
WRITER: Tom Shrapnel
DIRECTOR: Tom Shrapnel
PROD: Rebecca Wolff
CAST: Donald Sumpter, Adam Long
An aging Knacker, responsible for the disposal of dying horses, must face his own mortality and in doing so entrust responsibility to the next generation.
LA SIRENA
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 24 min.
WRITER: Rosita Lama Muvdi
DIRECTOR: Rosita Lama Muvdi
PROD: Daniel Leighton
CAST: Jordan Monaghan, Kelsey Reinhardt, Darrel Cherney, Vera Cherny
LA SIRENA is psychosexual fairy tale about Mia, a woman in a small fishing village who is having an affair with Hector, a married fisherman. On the day Hector threatens to end the affair, Mia discovers a mysterious woman, Mara, washed up on shore, naked and with a hook lodged into her ribcage. After Mia brings her home to heals her wound, Mara tells her that a fisherman tried to stab her in the heart. With suspicions that Hector might have been involved, Mia is forced to confront Hector, surrendering to her own inner monster to avenge her broken heart.
LEMON
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Timothy Michael Cooper
DIRECTOR: Timothy Michael Cooper
PRODS: Simon TaufiQue, Surina Jindal
CAST: Jennifer Westfeldt, Noah Bean, Jenn Lyon, Finn Douglas
Seconds after the wedding, a bride is stunned to learn that her new husband fudged nearly everything about his past, his family, and his accomplishments—but his revelations force her to come clean about a few shocking secrets of her own.
LIMBUS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.
WRITERS: Lee Peterkin, Candace Janée
DIRECTOR: Lee Peterkin
PROD: Bill Lucia
CAST: Vinicius Vieira, Candace Janée
During the winter months in their cabin, Alex and Vera experience strange occurrences that are seemingly nonsensical. Nevertheless, the veil of surreality becomes lifted through a visceral and sobering revelation.
LOVE IS SHIT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 20 min.
WRITER: Keith Schneider
DIRECTOR: Keith Schneider
PRODS: Katherine LaVictoire, Myko Olivier, Keith Schneider, Vince Tanzilli
CAST: Katherine LaVictoire, Nanrisa Lee, Myko Olivier, Ryan Shoos
When two couples discover the unevenness of their relationships, a chain of events leads to a more simple understanding for some, and heartbreak for others.
MIRIAM IS GOING TO MARS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.
WRITER: Michael Lippert
DIRECTOR: Michael Lippert
PROD: Brittany Wagner
CAST: Ann Sonneville, Nathaniel Buescher
A woman with schizophrenia attempts to escape a psychiatric hospital by signing up for the first human mission to Mars.
oRaNgEdReAmS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.
WRITER: Jessica Liu
DIRECTOR: Jessica Liu
PRODS: J. Graciano, Jessica Liu
CAST: Evelyn Warner, Shay Backe, Riley Jimenez, Jordan Franco, Andrew Lutheran, Kimberly Cohen
A sixth grade girl, who spends the majority of her time exploring early 2000s pop culture through her internet connection and dreaming of becoming a pop superstar, receives a reality check when she meets up with some friends, including her crush, at the mall.
RAHOWA
WORLD Premiere | Canada, 2016, HD, 23 min.
WRITER: Charlie Hamilton
DIRECTOR: Charlie Hamilton
PRODS: Charlie Hamilton, Diego Guijarro
CAST: Sam Duffy, Austin Duffy, Jorrin Bruns
After a brutal attack that leaves him injured and his girlfriend in the hospital, a young, impressionable skinhead must decide what direction the fallout goes.
REQUIRES REVIEW
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | Australia/Sweden, 2016, HD, 6 min.
WRITER: Joshua Belinfante
DIRECTOR: Joshua Belinfante
PROD: Joshua Belinfante
CAST: Johan Lenhoff, Björn Lindqvist
Björn Lindqvist is the world’s best town planner. He isn’t changing the world, he’s just trying to improve it.
SOUL CANDY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.
WRITER: Jennifer Rapaport
DIRECTOR: John Stimpson
PRODS: John Stimpson, Geoffrey Taylor, Jennifer Rapaport
CAST: Kallie Tabor, Erica Derrickson, Dario Sanchez
With a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac twist, Siri, a shy bookworm, convinces her extroverted sister, Kaya, to talk to with the cute bookstore clerk while she tells her what to say via text messages. When the ruse is up, the young couple bonds over author David Foster Wallace.
STILL HERE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Teresa Decher
DIRECTOR: Kholi Hicks
PRODS: Morgan Pichinson, Teresa Decher
CAST: Teresa Decher, Kevin Joy, Michelle Ortiz
Still Here explores the cycles of unstable relationships through a couple following the days after their recent break-up.
SUBTEXT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 9 min.
WRITER: Chris Valenti
DIRECTOR: Chris Valenti
PRODS: Michelle Loucadoux, Chris Valenti, We Make Movies
CAST: John Bigham, Michelle Loucadoux, Chris Valenti
A misfired text message creates an awkward but silent battle on a first date.
TAIL
WORLD PREMIERE | Australia, 2016, HD, 9 min.
WRITERS: David Gannon, Troy Larkin, Carl J. Sorheim, Nathan Strauss
DIRECTOR: Carl J. Sorheim
PRODS: Lisa Fineberg, Thanassi Panagiotara, Carl J. Sorheim, The Cameralla
CAST: Lisa Fineberg, J.R. Reyne, Nathan Strauss
Skye (Lisa Fineberg) makes a living as children’s entertainer Chaise the Mermaid, all the while harbouring a crush on her boss, Mark the Pirate (J.R. Reyne). Her best buddy and co-worker Jay – Punch the Parrot – (Nathan Strauss) doesn’t think much of Mark, and might just be crushing a little on Skye… Tail is a romantic comedy fable that pays homage to love and big, gorgeous 1980s cheese ball entertainment.
THIS IS THAT NIGHT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 14 min.
WRITER: Jonathan Marballi
DIRECTOR: Matt Braunsdorf
PROD: Jonathan Marballi
CAST: Jonathan Marballi, Kris Wiener
“This is That Night” is a romantic comedy telling the story of a new couple who are about to hit a turning point in their relationship. Kris invites Jon over for their fourth date, where they end up talking and laughing all day. When they come to the realization that everything is going so well, the pressure to keep the momentum going brings everything to a halt.
THREE SKELETON KEY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 11 min.
WRITER: Andrew Hamer
DIRECTOR: Andrew Hamer
PROD: Marcus Mizelle
CAST: Dan White, Robert Fleet, Paul Rae, Greg Perrow
Set in 1921, an American lighthouse crew on the small island of Three Skeleton Key become unnerved when a ship ignores their beacon, running aground on the reefs surrounding the island. They soon discover that something is on board the ship, and it’s not human.
TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 24 min.
WRITERS: Christina Eliopoulos
DIRECTOR: Christina Eliopoulos
PRODS: Elizabeth Kinder, Alex Laviola, Adam Thomson, Eve Grace Penoyer
CAST: Joe Cortese, Azhy Robertson, Stephen Badalamenti, Janis Dardaris, Tara Murtha, Mark Gindick, Katherine Sigismund
Yianni is the star and celebrated host of TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT, the talk show that plays in his own beautiful but fractured mind. On one fateful day, Yianni who suffers from dementia, wanders out of his house and comes to the aid of a lonely and lost little boy.
WARM SPRINGS
CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 16 min.
WRITER: Sean Wang
DIRECTOR: Sean Wang
PRODS: Nick De Bellis, Sean Wang, Jon Jon Wong, Fahad Manzur
CAST: Bradley Bundlie, John Cusack, Carl Ryan Wendling, Daniel Donovan
It’s summer in the suburban jungle of Warm Springs, CA. Naive and impressionable, six year old Ryan wants nothing more than to be accepted by his older brother, Van, and his two friends Kevin and Richie; to Ryan, Van and his friends are gods. In reality, the three boys aren’t much brighter than Ryan, searching for trouble just to pass the time in the blistering summer. When Van, Kevin, and Richie steal some fireworks and sneak off one day to go set them off, Ryan forces them to bring him along — and their recklessness combined with Ryan’s overeagerness to grow up places Ryan in harm’s way.
WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH
WEST COAST Premiere | Australia, 2016, HD, 16 min.
WRITER: Karen Pearlman
DIRECTOR: Karen Pearlman
PRODS: Lyn Norfor, Richard James Allen, Karen Pearlman
CAST: Leeanna Walsman, Richard James Allen, Marcus Graham
Inspired by a true story, “Woman with an Editing Bench” celebrates Elizaveta Svilova, the editor of Dziga Vertov’s 1929 masterpiece “Man with a Movie Camera” (#1 on the “Sight and Sound” list of Best Documentaries of all time). By referencing Svilova’s own kinetically exhilarating montage style, “Woman with an Editing Bench” reveals her fierce tenacity and fleet thinking as she dodges the bureaucracy and sustains revolutionary filmmaking in spite of Stalin’s oppression. “Woman with an Editing Bench” is “a beautifully realised and brilliant homage to Svilova and a celebration of the art of film editing”, Lawrie Silverstrin, ASE, Australian Screen Editors Guild Newsletter, September 2016.
FUSION SHORTS
ALWAYS WITH YOU
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 9 min.
WRITER: Hugo C. Domenech
DIRECTOR: Hugo C. Domenech
PRODS: Terence Lee, Josh Libitsky
CAST: William Knight, Melanie Friedrich, Russell Bradley Fenton, Jen Kerner
ALWAYS WITH YOU tells the story of newly widowed Jeff Evans as he struggles to find the joy in life without his cherished wife, Carol. Drowning in sadness, Jeff fails to maintain the garden, which was once Carol’s pride and joy and was the long-standing source for many of their happy memories. Jeff accidentally discovers a lost roll of Super 8 film and is swiftly transported to another place and time with filled happy and joyous memories of his beloved Carol in her precious garden.
BUCKETS
CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 14 min.
WRITER: Julia Jones
DIRECTOR: Julia Jones
PRODS: Julia Jones, Zachary Gobetz, Sophia Harvey, Jacob Bittens
CAST: Olivia Nikkanen, Wolfgang Novogratz, Martin Harvey, Chuck McMahon
A girl learns the brutal sacrifices it takes to satisfy her love.
BUTTERCUP
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 12 min.
WRITER: Megan Brotherton
DIRECTOR: Megan Brotherton
PRODS: Megan Brotherton, Elizabeth Bates
CAST: Megan Brotherton, Elizabeth Bates
Maggie needs her best friend today more than ever, but never expected she’d actually show up.
CANDIDATE, THE
No Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 6 min.
WRITERS: Robin McDonald, Blaire Baron
DIRECTOR: Michael Hilf
PRODS: Blaire Baron, Robin McDonald
CAST: Blaire Baron, Robin McDonald, Will Gressman
The Candidate goes through a rigorously impossible vetting process to determine if he is The One for someone’s very specific agenda.
CLEANERS
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 19 min.
WRITER: R. E. Keith
DIRECTOR: R. E. Keith
PROD: R.E. Keith
CAST: Adam Huss, Jesse Boyd, Craig Robert Young, Darren Darnborough, Sara Maraffino
Two teams of hitmen vie for a deadly target together despite hating and undermining each other every step of the way. Best in Show meets the professional in this dark action romp.
EFFIE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 6 min.
WRITER: Eric Kneler
DIRECTOR: Miguel Duran
PRODS: Miguel Duran, Eric Kneler
CAST: Kevin Fernandez, Rose Liston, Philip Rossi
A young boy works up the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams. Things don’t go as planned.
FREDERICK
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.
WRITER: Josh Mann
DIRECTOR: Traci Hays
PRODS: Josh Mann, Boman Modine, Daniel Hartz, Ed Marek, Michael Staenberg, Joseph Adolphe, Chris Witt
CAST: James Morrison, Josh Mann, Lexi Johnson, Kerry Knuppe, Marcus Henderson
Frederick is the story of a high profile painter and art gallery owner, who suffers from intense “artist’s block.” However, his passion reignites when he has an idea for a new controversial project. To his surprise, he receives an unexpected visit from an intimidating yet oblivious policeman, Detective Marks, who interrogates him about the disappearance of several young fashion models. Frederick and Marks play a game of cat and mouse, culminating in a mysterious yet frightening exhibition. A story about an eccentric creative man with a slew of tricks up his sleeve, Frederick determines to make a difference in the world.
THE HOBBYIST
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 9 min.
WRITER: George R. Vatistas
DIRECTOR: George R. Vatistas
PRODS: David E. Munz Maire
CAST: Robert W. Smith, Daniel Mitura
A seemingly ordinary man seeks out a sagacious druggist in search of an undetectable poison, but winds up getting more than he bargained for. Based on the 1961 short story by Fredric Brown.
HOLLYWOOD AND SUNSET
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 15 min.
WRITERS: Clinton Cornwell, Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber
DIRECTOR: Clinton Cornwell
PRODS: Clinton Cornwell, Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber
CAST: Elizabeth Hirsch-Tauber, Rachel Amanda Bryant, Jas Sams, Caitlin Randolph
Zombie sharks. Sleazy directors. Bragging redheads. Spaghetti. Just another day for struggling actor Audrey as she figures out what to do with her life.
A HORROR STORY
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 11 min.
WRITER: James Zimmerman
DIRECTOR: Philip Donohue
PRODS: Philip Jessen, James Zimmerman, Philip Donohue
CAST: James Zimmerman, Kate Huffman, Jemuel Morris, Laura L. Thomas, Stephanie Lalanne
Estranged from his wife, a man attempts to save his marriage at their friends’ annual Halloween Party.
KID GAMBLED
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 15 min.
WRITER: Alex Familian
DIRECTOR: Alex Familian
PRODS: Simona Kessler, Alex Familian
CAST: Jacob Melton, Fred Melamed, Jack Begert, Connie Ennis, Keanush Tafreshi
In the suburbs of Las Vegas, Nevada an anxious 15 year old reluctantly smokes weed and agrees to steal beer from a gas station— all to impress his hooligan friends and a girl that he likes.
LA STREET RACE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 1 min.
WRITER: Clay Westervelt
DIRECTOR: Clay Westervelt
PRODS: Clay Westervelt, Kyle Hardy, Russ Matthews
CAST: Monique Parent, Shawn Diddy
Not since “American Graffiti” has a film captured so authentically the state of modern drag racing in Los Angeles.
LAND OF HAPPY DREAMS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 15 min.
WRITER: Josh Auter
DIRECTOR: Josh Auter
PRODS: Melanie DiPietro, Leo Olivia, Christine Auter, Josh Auter
CAST: Briana Marin, Presley Moore, Donnie Smith, Roland Ruiz
Misty, a single mom of limited means, knows she can’t control the circumstances that affect her life-but she can control how she responds to them. With her daughter Olivia battling a rare blood disease that requires frequent transfusions, she knows she has to take drastic measures. When her own body can no longer keep up with the demand, she must seek an alternative solution. And through this we learn, there is nothing Misty won’t do to save her daughter.
MIRIAM’S BALLOONS
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 10 min.
WRITER: Dan Czerwonka
DIRECTOR: Dan Czerwonka
PRODS: Dan Czerwonka, Amy Larsen
CAST: Gracie Miller, Raquel Startz, Blayne D. Smith, Lindsay Heath, Dan Czerwonka
Life hangs by a thread as a young angel of death risks everything to save her only friend.
NO HONKIE
No Premieres | USA, 2016, HD, 2 min.
WRITER: Crafty St. James
DIRECTOR: Crafty St. James
PROD: Crafty St. James
CAST: Ellie Araiza, Crafty St. James
A man gets caught taking a picture of his ****!
THE OTHER PLACE
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 18 min.
WRITER: Lee Amir-Cohen
DIRECTOR: Lee Amir-Cohen
PRODS: Ashley Bua, Ashley Eberbach
CAST: Lee Amir-Cohen, Amanda Maddox, Cameron Diskin, Shoshana Bush
Two limp bodies with sacks concealing their faces, a revolver in hand, and pacing in an unknown synagogue. This is the scene The Brother (Lee Amir-Cohen), a mobster plagued by retrograde amnesia, ‘wakes up’ to after emerging from a blackout state. He beckons the help of an alluring female figure obscured by shadows, The Fiancé (Amanda Maddox). The Brother unveils one cover, only to find his Brother-In-Law (Cameron Diskin)— a savant-like district attorney— broken and bruised. After the unmasking, The Fiancé reminds The Brother that his In-Law brokered a deal with the FBI to turn him in. His In-Law argues otherwise. Within The Brother’s hazy world, facts prove difficult to obtain, pushing him to employ sadistic methods in an attempt to gain answers. However, the answers to those questions shift from one second to the next. And the harder he tries to navigate his fragmented memories and the accounts of his family members, the further he sinks into the abyss of doubt and disbelief.
PANIC ATTACK!
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 3 min.
DIRECTOR: Eileen O’Mara
PROD: Eileen O’Mara
Do you ever wonder “did I leave the coffee on?” or “what if I give birth to Satan’s baby?” This animated short explores anxiety, obsession, and one woman’s slippery hold on reality.
REACH
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 6 min.
WRITER: Kelsey Sante, Ryan Kerr
DIRECTOR: Kelsey Sante
PRODS: Kelsey Sante, Ryan Kerr, Christopher Campa
CAST: Abigail Phelps, Alex Dauphin
After an unsuccessful evening at a house party, Hannah loses herself in the depths of her anxiety disorder. To find a way out she must find the courage to reach out.
THIRTEEN
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Sasha Sibley
DIRECTOR: Sasha Sibley
PRODS: Sasha Sibley, HSH Shadow Dragu-Mihai
CAST: Jolene Andersen, Mason Moghimi, Iyad Hajjaj
A female U.S. operative is captured by ISIS and between being tortured and interrogated, finds herself in a tent alone with one of the militants, who it turns out is only thirteen years-old. Soon her maternal instincts begin to kick in as she tries to save him at all costs.
THE WASTE LAND
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Guillermo Ortiz Pichardo
DIRECTOR: Brian Brooks II
PRODS: Eric Baird, Scott Sullivan
CAST: Conner Scott, Carla Betz, Cece Paige, Hunter Jackson
When a 16-year-old outcast is bullied, he pleads with his parents to change schools, but his father tells him he needs to stand up for himself. While read “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot, the poem’s meaning begins to distort his reality. Ignored and betrayed by those around him, he illegally purchases a gun to deal with the mounting pressures in his life.
WILDFLOWERS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, 16mm, 18 min.
WRITER: Mark Lammerding
DIRECTOR: Mark Lammerding
PRODS: Deva B. Anderson, Wrenn Woods
CAST: Wrenn Woods, Lexi Johnson, Zac Titus
Two sisters embark on a petty crime-filled road trip through the rural south, leading them to a chance encounter with an enigmatic stranger.
WINK
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 15 min.
WRITER: Monika Petrillo
DIRECTOR: Monika Petrillo
PROD: James Baumgartner
CAST: Caitlin Brandes, Michael Chandler
A lonely and slightly repressed housewife discovers an unusual way to spice up her afternoon.
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
2AM
CALIFORNIA Premiere | Australia, 2016, HD, 16 min.
WRITER: Huseyin Hassan
DIRECTOR: Huseyin Hassan
PROD: Huseyin Hassan
CAST: Mark Kenfield, Nichola Jayne, Akira Bradley
A middle aged man Alex awakens in his quarters to find a white rabbit beside his bed who then suddenly hops through a closed door. Scared and fascinated by how the rabbit got into his room and out through a closed door Alex gets up and leaves his room to follow the rabbit. Once he opens the door and steps out into the hallways of the asylum very unusual and supernatural events begin to unfold right in front of OUR eyes.
ATLAS WORLD
LOS ANGELES Premiere | Canada, 2017, ProRes, 7 min.
WRITER: Morgana McKenzie
DIRECTOR: Morgana McKenzie
PROD: Morgana McKenzie
CAST: Nève Guénette, Mia Guertin-Crête, Dea Telo, Janine Smith
A malignant spirit forces a girl into a perilous journey through a watery underworld. — An authorized music video for “Atlas World” (Solomun Day Remix) by Liu Bei.
BLOOD RED
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 8 min.
WRITER: Rolando Bugarin
DIRECTOR: Rolando Bugarin
PRODS: Rolando Bugarin, Carlos Carballeda Jr., Javier Montoya
CAST: Jamilka Gonzalez, Maria Elena Heredia, Carlos Carballeda Jr.
A mysterious girl in a red hood walks the streets at night avenging the victims the city has swallowed up.
COLD PROCESS
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 11 min.
WRITER: William Pisciotta
DIRECTOR: William Pisciotta
PRODS: Bill Pisciotta, Zach Franklin, Shannon Franklin
CAST: Zach Franklin, Shannon Franklin, Walter Gass
An inside look at the Porter and Porter Cosmetics Company.
CUNNILINGUS KING, THE
No Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 5 min.
WRITERS: Shannon Burkett, Jayce Bartok
DIRECTOR: Jason Bartok
PRODS: So You Wanna Productions, Shannon Burkett
CAST: James Carpinello, Ron Jeremy, Jenny Maguire, Erik Heger
In August of 2011, Shannon Burkett was diagnosed with Paget’s disease, a rare form of breast cancer and she did what anyone who is diagnosed with breast cancer would do: She wrote a rock musical about porn. “The Cunnilingus King” is a hilarious music video of one of the songs from that musical and it centers around a despondent former aspiring rock star who has a very special talent. The video stars Broadway sensation James Carpinello (Saturday Night Fever, Rock of Ages), Ron Jeremy (star of over 2,000 porn films, legend) and a giant puppet tongue.
G-4
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 24 min.
WRITER: Anna Biani
DIRECTOR: Anna Biani
PRODS: Anna Biani, Steven Berez, Nana Johnson
CAST: Anna Biani
What happens when the desire for gold and riches becomes ingrained? A story of Gluttony and enslavement, G-4 is the dance between Light and Darkness–the meeting of the innocent and the monster to challenge a break from victimhood to oneness. G-4 is a surrealist piece, a trance-like healing experience, guiding the audience back to their heart, and ultimately to freedom.
HIDDEN DAYLIGHT
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 18 min.
WRITER: John Rice
DIRECTOR: Adrienne Lovette
PRODS: John Rice, Elod Zoltan Filyo
CAST: John Rice, David Rey, Ella Jane New
In this haunting thriller, we follow a distraught businessman after his wife is abducted by the sadistic Hacksaw Killer. In desperation, the businessman turns to a blind psychic who can see through the killer’s eyes. As their strange meeting unfolds, the psychic envisions the night of the kidnapping and provides vital clues to help the businessman solve the mystery… but the answers he seeks may come at a deadly price.
HOW2KILL
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 6 min.
DIRECTOR: Kevin Lee Loader
PRODS: Sean McCarthy, Elizabeth Mitchell, Jacob Rangel, Sean O’Hare
A lonely boy receives a mysterious doll just in time for his birthday. The boy quickly realizes his new ‘friend’ might have brought a few sinister friends of his own to the party, and he soon finds himself battling demonic terrors unleashed upon his house.
MEGRIM
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITER: Stuart Valberg
DIRECTOR: Stuart Valberg
PRODS: Sania Jhankar, Joan Cassin, Matt Dorris, Leslie Risak, Stuart Valberg
CAST: Pascal Yen-Pfister, Max Rhyser
An Artist and a Subject. The Artist wants to create his masterpiece; The Subject doesn’t want to die.
MISCAST
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.
WRITER: Matt Katzenberger
DIRECTOR: Carsten Kurpanek
PRODS: Paul Santos, Nina Daniels
CAST: Nina Daniels, Brea Bee, Kade Pait
On Halloween night, office worker May gets caught in a battle between good and evil when her new co-worker April reveals herself as a real witch by turning her office party into a bloodbath with a spell. “Miscast”, starring Nina Daniels, Brea Bee, and Kade Pait, is a darkly funny fantasy horror-thriller in “witch” nothing is as it seems.
NIGHT BEFORE, THE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 9 min.
WRITER: Alex Razzaghi
DIRECTOR: Alex Razzaghi
PRODS: Kim Pettiford, Du’ana Speights
CAST: Chelsea Wallace, Tom Berklund, Kim Pettiford, Brenda Arteaga-Walsh, Morgan Michaels, Phrederic Semaj
In 1994, a group of roommates are having dinner at their West Hollywood home. It’s a real good time until they discover that somebody wants them dead, somebody close and unexpected. The motive is unknown but it’s later clear that the killer may have been possessed by an uncontrollable object that will transcend one to commit ruthless murders.
PAUL’S BAD DAY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 2 min.
WRITER: Phil Bucci
DIRECTOR: Phil Bucci
PRODS: Phil Bucci, Sara Fletcher
CAST: Jordan Wall, Ashandra McConnell, Paul Valtierra, Glen Warren
Paul wakes feeling not quite his usual self. As he begins his day every step reveals he has a growing problem that there is only one solution for.
SHALLOW WATER
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 19 min.
WRITER: Sandy Collora
DIRECTOR: Sandy Collora
PRODS: Sandy Collora, Eric S. Dow, Dale Pearson
CAST: Lisa Roumain, Kurt Carley, Jason Liles
A woman on a tropical island encounters more than she bargained for when she finds out she’s the lone survivor of her kayaking and fishing expedition…
SPEAK NO EVIL
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
WRITERS: Connor Vera, Dave Vera
DIRECTOR: Matthew Serrano
PRODS: Dave Vera, Mya Kratzat
CAST: Jeremiah Brown, Dave Vera, Lydia Lee, Carson Preusse, Julia Pacific
A man wakes up in a dark garage with his mouth grotesquely sewn shut, two mysterious figures tied up next to him and one thought on his mind. Get out.
STALL
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.
WRITERS: Andrew Daniel, John D Harding
DIRECTOR: Andrew Daniel
PROD: Kenneth Leslie
CAST: John D Harding
Desperation leads to despair when the night takes an unforeseen dark turn for a man out “looking” for adventure.
SUBCULTURE
LOS ANGELES Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 9 min.
WRITER: Jason Kartalian
DIRECTOR: Jason Kartalian
PROD: Jason Kartalian
CAST: Jillian Christi, Raymond Morris, Jed Rowen
In SUBCULTURE, psychiatric session turns in a very twisted direction. A woman, Ivy leads a man named Julius into a dungeon where every his every desire is met. Julius meets some interesting people down in the dungeon that become obstacles that get in the way of his desires. He finds himself in an existential crisis of his own making.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
HAND-CUT
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 5 min.
DIRECTOR: Griffin Hammond
PROD: Griffin Hammond
From chainsaw to cocktail, this beautiful 5-minute documentary tracks the journey of clear, artisan ice into the hands of New York City bartenders.
HARD ASSES DON’T TWERK: BECAUSE BEING A WOMAN IS NASTY
WORLD Premiere | Brazil, 2017, HD, 31 min.
DIRECTORS: Thales Banzai, Camila Cornelson
PRODS: Thales Banzai, Camila Cornelson
The documentary portraits the reality of the Psychology & Dance group, BDNT, created in South Brazil by the student Jade Quoi. Through intimate conversations with Jade and the class members – some of them that took part of group since its formation and others that just got there – their transformation process and search for acceptance is exposed, showing how these girls stopped being victims of a predominantly sexist society and started to act in a more independent and satisfactory way.
IMPACT POINT, THE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.
DIRECTOR: Sydney Guthrie
PRODS: Sydney Guthrie, Emilia Wint
The Impact Point dissects the controversy that has grown increasingly prominent in women’s freestyle skiing as injury rates have skyrocketed.
IRREGULARS
LOS ANGELES Premiere | Italy, 2015, HD, 10 min.
WRITERS: Fabio Palmieri, Cyrille Kabore
DIRECTOR: Fabio Palmieri
PRODS: NotWorkingFilms, Paola Pontelli
FEATURING: Cyrille Kabore
Against a tellingly hypnotic factory backdrop, a refugee encapsulates the global immigration crisis in his own wrenching words. Each year 400.000 people from Africa, Asia and Middle East, try to enter Europe. They flee from war, persecution and poverty. Since the ways by land have been interrupted, they board overloaded vessels and face a dangerous and often deadly voyage across the Mediterranean.
MANMADE WATERS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 23 min.
DIRECTOR: Dustin Elm
PRODS: Erik Alskog, Alexander Polunin
In response to declining fish populations, the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute has pioneered an experimental aquaculture program to “restock the ocean” with California White Sea Bass. MANMADE WATERS follows the son of a professional fisherman as he explores the program alongside his father, a loyal supporter of Hubbs with personal ties to its management. His investigation ultimately leads us to ask whether we can solve a manmade problem with a manmade solution.
MELTING STARS
WEST COAST Premiere | Canada, 2017, HD, 15 min.
DIRECTOR: Kate Green
PROD: Kate Green
Starfish were dying by the millions and marine biologists were witnessing an epidemic that was the largest observed species die-off of human history. Melting Stars follows the clues on this marine mystery.
MIRACLE IN MALIBU
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 5 min.
WRITER: Karen Keagy Shaver
DIRECTOR: Karen Keagy Shaver
PRODS: Karen Keagy Shaver, Matthew Shaver
FEATURING: Mighty Under Dogs, Jean Pierre Pereat, AKA “Peli”, Timothy Hazelip, Kristopher Cornish, Todd Cornish, Peggy LaBlanc
Watermen Jean Pierre Pereat, and Timothy Hazelip from the ‘Mighty Under Dog’ organization, introduce the benefits of surf therapy to a father of a teen with Autism at Surfrider Beach in Malibu, California .
OFFERING, THE
WEST COAST Premiere | Peru, 2016, HD, 7 min.
DIRECTORS: Billy Silva, Guille Isa
PRODS: Darrell Hartman, Oliver Hartman
Three artists in the highlands of Peru make an ancient spiritual offering to the spirits of the earth in exchange for strength and guidance.
DOWNBEATS
ALIENTOLOGISTS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 18 min.
WRITER: Tyler Rabinowitz
DIRECTOR: Tyler Rabinowitz
PRODS: Tyler Rabinowitz, Nicole Quintero, Debbie Walters, Madeline Stephenson, Jamie Sweeney
CAST: Danny Gardner, Macy Sullivan, Kurt Csolak
When Earth no longer exists, a neighboring civilization is now studying the human artifacts that float around in Earth’s place—like paleontologists who study the ancient Egyptians. This is the story of a curious alien with a dream of being a space explorer that has been diminished by his nightmarishly closed-minded co-workers, and how this dream emerges from the rubble again upon his discovery of tap shoes, a jukebox, and ultimately humanity’s creative spirit.
DANCING DAY
No Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 4 min.
WRITER: Tytus Bergstrom
DIRECTOR: Tytus Bergstrom
PROD: Tytus Bergstrom
CAST: Tytus Bergstrom
Fantasy about playing hooky from work and the surprising events that follow when leaving the house.
DANCIN’ THE CAMERA
UNITED STATES Premiere | Netherlands, 2016, 16mm, 9 min.
WRITER: Pieter-Rim de Kroon, Marije Nie
DIRECTOR: Pieter-Rim de Kroon
PRODS: Annemiek van der Hell
CAST: Marije Nie
A love story between a tap dancer, a piano player and a 1922 hand cranked motion-picture camera .The old camera is camera, character and stage. Seduced by the rhythms of the camera mechanics, the tap dancer jumps into the magical world of analogue black-and-white film where her dreams seam infinitely possible. In the end she finds out there is something that matters even more. A tribute to tap dance and the magic of film – a classic and unique combination.
DENISE
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | United Kingdom, 2016, HD, 7 min.
WRITER: Kenneth O’Toole
DIRECTOR: Kenneth O’Toole
PRODS: Kelly-Marie Kerr, Darren Bada
CAST: Iain Dootson, Nolan Robba
An elderly drag queen sparkles her way through time, reminiscing on her glory days.
DON’T FEED THE PARTY ANIMAL
No Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 3 min.
DIRECTOR: Evan Younger
PRODS: Evan Younger, Jeff Kuperman, Rick Kuperman
CAST: Barton Cowperthwaite, Jordan Clark, Adam Hyndman
A music video for the band Miracles of Modern Science. In a 1950s nightclub, a wallflower longs to be the life of the party and win over the cutie across the dance floor – but how can he compete with the suave crooners onstage and her beefcake boyfriend?
EVERYBODY
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 3 min.
DIRECTOR: Benjamin Roberds
PROD: Katie Gregg
CAST: Allen Rowell, Sienna Chandler, William Tokarsky, Joelle Re Arp Dunham
A whirlwind story of cowboys, possession, murder, dance routines and the FBI.
FLOR “HOLD ON”
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 3 min.
WRITERS: Justus Meyer, Sam Miller
DIRECTORS: McCoy | Meyer
PRODS: Joe Martinez, Sam Miller
CAST: Angelina Capozzoli
Young orphan Amelia lives in an airplane hangar, where she cares for her only friend- her father’s yellow bi-plane, in hopes of one day taking to the skies.
GODSPEED & GUNS
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 7 min.
WRITERS: Christina Rubino, Frankie Nasso
DIRECTOR: Frankie Nasso
PRODS: Frankie Nasso, Christina Rubino, Jerry Farley
CAST: Christina Rubino, Dolores Rubino, Dale Smith, Johnny Philippidis
“Godspeed and Guns” is a rockabilly psycho-thriller inspired by the unbreakable camaraderie of “Thelma & Louise” and the urban-meets-western genre-blending of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill.” Christina Rubino and her loving sister, Dolores, venture on a dangerous road trip that proves to be overrun with violent men. Christina’s alluring voice assures that she and Dolores are the danger, as they kill every rapist and abusive man they encounter. Dolores’ mental disconnect expands when the police find the pickled heads of their victims. They are imprisoned in an insane asylum that tears at their sisterhood until Dolores is completely unhinged. Inside Dolores’ disturbed mind reveals Christina is a schizophrenic hallucination that she created during her abusive childhood.
THE HARD ROAD TRIO – WHISKEY IN A GLASS
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 6 min.
DIRECTOR: Orlando Martos
PRODS: Orlando Martos, Juan Ramirez
CAST: Julia Gallegos, Kasey Page
The Hard Road Trio, a bluegrass/folk band performs the song “Whiskey in a Glass”. The lyrics and video tell a tale of two former lovers who, when running into each other at an underground high stakes poker game, trigger memories of their former relationship. It is a relationship filled with addiction, passion, and hostile toxicity. When the poker stakes escalate, will they fall back into their old habits? or will they find the strength to step away?
JOHNNY CLEGG – TAKE MY HEART AWAY
No Premiere | South Africa, 2016, HD, 5 min.
WRITER: Jaron Clegg
DIRECTOR: Jaron Clegg
PROD: Jaron Clegg
CAST: Nhlakanipho Ntenjwa
A young African boy, who lives in an informal settlement that borders an international spaceflight launch site, is infatuated with space travel. The boy’s dream is to fly amongst the stars, far away from his destitute township life. One day, the boy sees an opportunity to sneak on board a space shuttle as a stowaway.
THE JOHNSONS FT. BRYCE VINE “JUICE”
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 3 min.
DIRECTORS: Eric McCoy, Justus Meyer
PROD: Joe Martinez
CAST: Julia Rose, Bruce Liberty, Michelle Zarlenga, Kristine Veta, Abhay Walia
The Johnson Boys wander into an ominous speakeasy, and things get a little weird…
LOVE AND BREAKFAST
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 3 min.
DIRECTORS: KC Monnie
PROD: KC Monnie
CAST: KC Monnie, Morgan Larsen
With our phone addictions, and hectic schedules, communication is truly, a dying art. It is so important to make time to be present for one another. Even if it’s just for a 30 minute breakfast. Listening to what someone has to say, or being brave enough to let someone hear what you are going through, even if it’s embarrassing or imperfect, is so rare with our technological distractions.
MY ETERNITY
CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 4 min.
WRITER: Jonathan Martin
DIRECTOR: Jonathan Martin
PRODS: Jonathan Martin, John Miller AFB Artist Management
CAST: Elle Flannery, Sandi Jones, Nick Metos, Rachel Domingo, Liz Longsderff, Parker Cracroft
Four teens, with the help of a Medium, embark on a seance to conjure the spirit of someone they once wronged. They’ll soon wish they hadn’t as the spirit gets her bloody revenge.
ON THE ROAD
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 4 min.
WRITER: Joi Olympia
DIRECTORS: Adam Ritchie, Joi Olympia
PROD: Sceneworks Studios
CAST: Jakob Karr, Ryan Steele, Joi Olympia
On the Road is the 5th movement within the song cycle, ‘Hotel Chelsea,’ created by Joi Olympia. It was inspired by the traveling stories of historic artists who passed through the Chelsea Hotel, including Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, Patti Smith, and Jack Kerouac. Joi played guitar, bass, percussion, and violin on her album to weave together their beloved tales into something personal. Recorded and engineered in her home in Brooklyn. The video and song are influence by Jack Kerouac and his time spent writing the classic, America novel: On the Road.
ONE MORE DANCE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 5 min.
WRITER: Jenn Page
DIRECTOR: Jenn Page
PRODS: Jenn Page, Jenna Edwards, Rima Shideler
CAST: Raymond Revel, Patrick Gorman, Iris Karina, Savannah Liles, Bryson Pitts
An elderly man’s wife suffers from Alzheimer’s and as he is losing her he reminisces about the first time they danced. Will he get one more dance with her before she passes?
THE OTHERSIDE
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 4 min.
WRITER: ULLLIIK, Mary Schwegman
DIRECTOR: Erika David-Marsh
PRODS: Ryan Michael Connolly, Erika Davis-Marsh, Juliette Beneich, Cassandra Jones
CAST: Caitlin Sweetser, Peter Dorn, Lisa Ermel
Bookish Alice doesn’t quite fit in when a magical book transports her to a strange place. She follows a very late, handsome stranger to a wondrous tea party that may change her life.
PLAINS
WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 29 min.
DIRECTORS: Alexandra Palmer, Kelsey Alexander
PRODS: AKP Film and Media, Jessica Rotter, Alex K. Palmer, Alexandra Palmer, Kelsey Alexander, Jena Willard
CAST: Makenzie Murdock, Jessica Rotter
PLAINS is a short dance film caught somwhere between reality and a dream, spoken through movement. Filled with an aching sense of emptiness and loneliness, a free-spirited young woman leaves her home and embarks on an epic search for something to fill an unexplainable void she feels. Magical and mysterious lights, inspired by the Marfa lights, act as a beacon to what it is she so desperately desires. The melodies of PLAINS give life to the storyteller who acts as the woman’s spiritual guide. Seen in the natural beauty of the sweeping plains and stars all around, the songstress and the mysterious lights are one in the same, guiding the young woman back to the home she was once so anxious to leave. Ultimately, the woman learns to embrace the life and relationships she has been given, accepting that even when she may feel ‘lonely’ she is never truly alone.
PERSECUTA
No Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 2 min.
DIRECTOR: Martin Lombard, Facundo Lombard
PRODS: Martin Lombard, Facundo Lombard
CAST: Martin Lombard, Facundo Lombard
A powerful new dance scene from the Lombard Twins.
PRINCESS BRIDE A WATCHMAN’S TALE
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 6 min.
WRITERS: Jeremiah Kaufman, Norman Kaufman
DIRECTORS: Jeremiah Kaufman
PRODS: Jeremiah Kaufman, Norman Kaufman
CAST: Noa Galil, Jeremiah Kaufman, Ella-Diana Brester
A fleeing Prince finds himself on a Medieval quest to rescue the Princess Bride and her beautiful maidens, held captive atop Mt. Arbel.
RED
NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | United Kingdom, 2017, HDV, 9 min.
WRITER: Min Reid
DIRECTOR: Min Reid
PRODS: Derrick Boudwin, Cami Boudwin, Min Reid
CAST: Adam Templar, Michele Belgrand
With Dementia and Alzheimer’s now the biggest cause of death in England and Wales, Award winning director, Min Reid, felt compelled to write a script from the caretaker’s point of view. Inspired by American Artist Derrick Boudwin’s version of ‘Red’, a Taylor Swift song, Min Reid applied the lyrics to her interpretation of Alzheimer’s and the agony of losing a loved one to this brutal disease. Always keen to push the boundaries, Min created a music video that doubles up as a trailer for the full length film titled ‘For The Love of Fred’. Using poignant scenes, mainly without dialogue, set to emotive music. Within the music video, Min breaks with tradition and takes the audience back into the memory of the main character Fred, remembering when he proposed to his now Alzheimer’s wife… we then see a scene with dialogue in the middle of a music video. #RememberThePerson
REPAIRations! – THE MUSICAL
Los Angeles Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 14 min.
WRITER: Courtney Miller
DIRECTOR: Courtney Miller
PRODS: Tracy Sabeti, Sandra Evers-Manly, Charlie Meyers
CAST: Clifford McGee
REPAIRations! is a story about the power of optimism against forces that are seemingly more powerful than yourself. It follows the story of a man named Isaac who lives during the end of slavery (1860’s), end of segregation (1960’s), and President Obama’s inauguration in 2008. Through song and dance, we see how Isaac navigates through an ever changing America as he discovers what he needs to do to get his slice of the “American Pie”.
THE RIVER
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 6 min.
WRITER: David S. Marfield
DIRECTOR: David S. Marfield
PROD: Adana Gardner
CAST: Auni Hovanesian, Hillary Smith, & Donovan Bullen
Trapped in an attic of dull stagnation, Auni discovers an instrument that allows her to transport herself to a place of vibrant beauty. “The River” is Auni’s meditation on the tension between past and future, between the walls we create around ourselves and transcendence. It’s a look into the moment of hesitation that comes before any real transformation.
STRACONY
WORLD Premiere | Canada, 2017, HD, 7 min.
WRITER: Luis Miguel Villarreal
DIRECTOR: Luis Miguel Villarreal
PRODS: Luis Miguel Villarreal, Blanca Elena Farias, Fernanda Alvarez Gastelum
CAST: Theodore Khoury, Robyn Gerry, Jeff Gonek
A young man is being seduced by a male and a female dancer, who are fighting for his love. The young man’s homosexual attraction awakes by the caress of the dancer as he slowly shifts his attention and desire from the woman to the other man.
STUNG
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 4 min.
WRITER: Larry Ziegelman, Terry Ziegelman
DIRECTOR: Larry Ziegelman
PRODS: Larry Ziegelman
CAST: Zoquera Milburn, Jaron Bellar, David Weiner
In this dark, twisted story, a heart-broken ex-boyfriend pines away for the girl he still loves even after she begins a new relationship.
YOU’LL NEVER KNOW
WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 7 min.
WRITER: Miles Windsor
DIRECTOR: Freddy Rodriguez
PRODS: Miles Windsor, Doug Strahm
CAST: Miles Windsor, Bobby Dellaroco
“You’ll Never Know” is a modernized arrangement of the 1940’s Academy Award Winning song of the same name previously covered by the great vocalists of yesteryear. This latest rendition by Australian crooner Miles Evan Windsor brings back the classic style while embracing an alternative direction for this timeless song. The music video is a tribute to true love. A man yearns for his lover before a heartbreaking performance on stage. “You’ll Never Know” is an instant classic filled with passion, and heartbreak, but most importantly it evokes a time long past.
