WOODSTOCK MUSEUM 20th ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL  
 

WOODSTOCK MUSEUM 20th ANNUAL FILM FESTIVAL

 
 


INSPIRATION THROUGH FILM:
What? Woodstock Museum 20th Annual FREE Film Festival
Where? Woodstock Museum, 13 Charles Bach Road, Saugerties, N.Y. 12477
When? Labor Day Week, August 27th, 2019 - September 2, 2019
What’s the deal? you can attend FREE screenings & workshops.
What to expect: This year’s theme is “IMPORTANT”.
View and critique films. Meet the filmmakers.
Winners will be announced approximately three weeks before the event.


 
 
Download Color Poster PDF HERE
 
 


Woodstock Museum 2019 short blurbs

 

AUG. 27-TUESDAY

6:30 Opening Ceremony

6:45  Tank Man    The man who stood in front of the tanks at Tienanmen Sq. massacre in 1989.

7PM  Crazy Against the Nation     Activist creatively provokes fascist regime in Slovakia.

8:30  The Drone   Sci-fi story of a small quadcopter as its protagonist.

9:00  Crows of the Deser   A Hero's Journey through the Armenian Genocide 1915-1919 true story.

 

AUG. 28-WEDNESDAY

6:30   Eternal Waltz   Tarot card reader recognizes true love.

6:45  24-Hour Workday    Explores conditions of long hours & wage theft of workers.

7:15  Revolution Selfie: The Red Battalion   People's army as an act of love to end "War on Terror". 

9:30  Mission Wolf: Experiment in Living   Rescued wolves & volunteers who keep them alive. Q&A

 

AUG. 29-THURSDAY

6:30  The Role of a Lifetime  A man, a woman, a payback in today's world.

6:45  When All That's Left is Love   Determined wife cares for Alzheimer stricken husband.

8:15  The Clinic   Experimental study in psilocybin via a skeptical woman. Q&A

9:00  bOObs: The War on Women's Breasts   Thermography & ultra sound 95-99% accurate; not invasive. Q&A

 

AUG. 30-FRIDAY

7PM  Pipe Dream   Narrative film on early days of Carol Burnett.

7:30  Whisperers and Witnesses: Primate Rescue, A Visual Journey.  Two women save gorillas & chimpanzees. Q&A

8:45  The Mamboniks   Music & dance from Cuba before Castro's Revolution. 

 

AUG. 31-SATURDAY

7PM  Jack is Pretty   A little girl strikes out on her own to find happiness amidst bullies. Q&A

7:45  Left on Pearl   Occupation takeover by women at Harvard Univ. in the '70s. Q&A

9:30  Renegade Dreamers.  Beat poets, music & politics in NYC.  Q&A

 

SEPT. 1-SUNDAY

7PM  Embraces & the Touch of Skin   Animated poem on the need for hugging and contact. 

7:10  Ranting & Raving   Comedy. Man is a loser. Worse yet, couple has problem child. 

7:50  Brooklyn Roses   A feminist mother struggles in the '50s-'60s in working class Brooklyn. Q&A

9:45  The Silent Soldier & the Portrait   Stolen portrait from a Count's house returned years later. Q&A

 

(right side column ) SEPT. 2-MONDAY

11AM  Light a Candle   Tibetan activists light most candles for world record as a PR event. 

11:30  Shaholly   Amputee becomes trail blazer model. True story of perseverance.

11:35  The Dachshund in a Picture Frame   Artist paints money. It becomes real. She loses painting skill.

12PM  In Harmony With Nature   Art, music & traditions of Warli Tribe in India.

12:23  Tight Spot.  A shoe shiner discovers his client's dark secret. Q&A

1PM  Mermaids   Mexican wall is brought to a halt. Animation.  Q&A             

1:20 Tana Bana   India's traditional textile dying, weaving & embroidery industry.

1:45  My Theatre   In Fukushima, Japan, man inherits old movies & theatre with much success.

2:15  Signature   Activism in opposition to a proposed gas pipeline. Q&A

2:35  Too Young for a Memoir.  Man plunges into his memory, nostalgia & regret. Animation.

2:40  Here's Your Flag   Army officer tells mother an algorithm predicts son will die in battle. Comedy. Q&A

2:50  Fishing with Father   Dad & son bond over fishing. Then dad has a stroke. 

3:15  Dancer By The Sea   Woman living by seaside adopts abandoned baby otter. Animation.  

3:25  Anything for the Ones We Love   Musical. Indigenous and white man unite fleeing ecological disaster. Q&A

4PM  Suncatcher   Kara finds her car stolen which is also her Venice, CA home. 

4:15  Drums, Lies & Videotapes   A spoof on Woodstock hippy drummers. Community effort matters.

4:30  Cadence   Female recruit complains she doesn't like the marching chant. Q&A

4:50  Shine   Italian American immigrant explains passion as a shoe repairman.

DINNER BREAK

5:30 The Light Bright Man of Rockaway   A luthier explains original musical instruments that light up.

5:40  Butterscotch   A high end escort meets a brain damaged woman; life changing. 

6PM  Paradise Boogie   Early blues influence from the Black Bottom & Paradise Alley in Detroit.

 
 


Long Descriptions

AUG. 27-TUESDAY
6:30 Opening Ceremony

6:45 Tank Man The man who stood in front of the tanks at Tienanmen Sq. massacre in 1989.

Tank Man is the story of the iconic gentleman who stood in front of and stopped a line of tanks after the Tienanmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989. All that is know of this man are the images that were recorded of his acts. This film is a speculation of what he went through the day he took his courageous steps 30 years ago.
Director Biography - ROBERT ANTHONY PETERS completed his BS at the University of Arizona in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in DC, and trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in NYC. A member of SAG-AFTRA, he has been acting, producing, directing, and writing professionally in theater, film, voiceover, and more for over a decade. His most recognizable film acting roles are in The Pursuit of Happyness and Steve Jobs. He writes and lectures internationally on the relationships between art, law, philosophy, and economics. He records audiobooks, is a policy advisor for the Heartland Institute, is an inaugural member of the FEE Alumni Board, and is vice chair of the board of the Fully Informed Jury Association. He also manages his family’s retail shipping store, Pak Mail in Tucson, AZ. His website is robertanthonypeters.com

7PM Crazy Against the Nation Activist creatively provokes fascist regime in Slovakia.

Our film is a character-driven documentary - a portrait of an exceptional and unconventional artist and political activist Peter Kalmus. The film provides insights into his background, his art, and his life. Peter Kalmus is a unique performance artist, well-known in Slovakia thanks to his political activism. Frustrated with a society that allows communist and fascist supporters to express their adoration of totalitarian murderers openly, without any repercussions, Peter Kalmus exposes uncomfortable truths with his activist art. He strikes out against busts and memorials celebrating representatives from our history of inhumane regimes. He provokes Slovak society to discuss an often ignored bloody past. Actually, he is our local Slovak Pussy Riot.
Director Biography - Adam Hanuljak Since the beginning of Hanuljak's professional career he directed three feature films and several short movies. His movie About Young Parents 2 won an audience price at the One World Festival in 2012, Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2010 Hanuljak was one of the three founding members of non profit organisation DogDocs, which aims on documentary filmmaking, audio-visual education and dance movies production. Since 2014 is making intern ArtD at the Academy of Performing Arts, Bratislava. Since 2008 Hanuljak was collaborating with contemporary theatre companies from Slovakia on various video-projections. SELECTED WORKS: 2017 10 years of love - director of documentary movie about parents from 4 EU countries (Slovakia, Czech republic, Finland, Romania), 10 years long-term shooting, comparative-sociological documentary, exploring a topic of parenthood, 95 min. 2014 Parallel lives - director of TV series focused on the role secret police played in the previous regime in 6 east- block countries. 6x 26min. 2010 Protected Territory - director of documentary feature about tour of disabled actors from the Theatre from Passage in USA, 84 min.
Director Statement - Our film is character-driven documentary - a portrait of an outstanding main character, extraordinary artist, political activist Peter Kalmus, colored with his actual life background. Thanks to the refreshing memories, it is possible to reflect society’s current state. Frustrated society in which communist and fascist supporters are allowed to express openly, without any persecution their sympathy towards totalitarian murderers.http://www.kinema.sk/recenzia/38108/pripad-kalmus-pripad-kalmus.htm

8:30 The Drone Sci-fi story of a small quadcopter as its protagonist.

Written by BAFTA Nominee John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan, Hitchcock, Carnivale, and many more), The Drone tells a story of DJ - a small quadcopter who is simply trying to fit in.
Director Biography - Wojciech Lorenc is an Associate Professor of Mass Communication at Sam Houston State University. He has worked in the television industry as a producer, director, cinematographer, and editor. He has won awards internationally and screened his films in over 100 festivals in 15 countries.
Director Statement The need to belong is one of the most basic human needs. The Drone aspires to explore this need through a light-hearted, sweet, sci-fi story featuring a small quadcopter as its protagonist. We hope that the cinema lovers will also enjoy the references to classic sci-fi movies sprinkled throughout. The Drone is a love letter to sci-fi cinema, and an exploration of one of the most fundamental of human needs - the need to belong.
The Drone is a result of a collaboration of a fantastic creative community of the School of Arts and Media at Sam Houston State University lead by the Dean and Executive Producer of this film, Ronald E. Shields. Jean Bodon (Chair of the Department of Mass Communication) came up with the original concept, John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan, Hitchcock, Carnivale, SHSU Screenwriting Professor) wrote the script, and numerous faculty and staff members helped make this project a reality. Finally, the SHSU students filled the key crew and cast positions and dedicated countless hours to this massive undertaking.

9:00 Crows of the Desert: A Hero's Journey through the Armenian Genocide. 1915-1919 true story.

• One man's struggle to help save survivors from the 20th Century's first genocide. Risking peril, Levon leads a small group to rescue the scattered, destitute survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Along the way they endure unimaginable hardships, and crossed paths with legendary figures, including Prince Faisal, and Lawrence of Arabia.—M Yagjian
Crows of the Desert – A Hero’s Journey through the Armenian Genocide, is a documentary based on the Memoirs of Levon Yotnakhparian. It is the incredible true story of one man’s brave struggle to not only stay alive, but to help save his fellow Armenian survivors from near extinction in the 20th Century’s first genocide.
World War One was raging in the Middle East, as Britain’s Lawrence of Arabia fought side by side with the Arabs against the Ottoman Empire. Caught up in the chaos, Levon barely escaped with his own life, time and again. Risking extreme peril, he returned to this dangerous realm to lead a small expeditionary group to rescue the scattered, destitute survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Along the way, the rescuers risked their lives countless times, endured unimaginable hardships, and crossed paths with some of the 20th century’s most legendary figures, including Prince Faisal, Lawrence of Arabia, Sarah Aaronsohn and the El-Attraches. The story reveals how people from a variety of different cultures and faiths: Christians, Muslims, Druze and Jews, stepped forward to help the Armenian refugees.
Extraordinarily rare film and photographs as well as recently rediscovered documents have been gathered from archives around the world, to reveal the terror and heroism in this incredible story which took place a century ago in the Syrian desert.
Presented by: TF Educational Foundation
Executive Producer: Paul G. Turpanjian
Produced, Directed & Written by Marta Houske
Music by John Massari
Editors: Chris Toussaint and Brian Denny
A Matrix Communications production
Memoirs of Levon Yotnakhparian – Edited by Levon Parian

AUG. 28-WEDNESDAY
6:30 Eternal Waltz Tarot card reader recognizes true love.

An epic short romance about soul recognition and a love that spans lifetimes - from 1887 to the post-apocalyptic future. Eternal Waltz begins at a tarot party where the lady of the house and the handsome butler have to hide their attraction from her philandering, abusive husband who discovers a love note and puts an end to their secret romance. But the tarot card reader recognizes true love and serves as their Cupid. He oversees a waltz between lifetimes and, with the help of a mystical music box, he guides the lovers to find each other again in the post-apocalyptic future.
Nominee - North American Film Awards. Official Selection - European Independent Film Awards, Amsterdam Around International Film Festival, Culver City Film Festival, Feel the Reel International Film Festival, NYC Indie Film Awards, Women's Only Entertainment Film Festival.
Director Biography - Laurie Lamson is a versatile writer and short-form filmmaker. She wrote the screen adaptation of the life and book of musician/youth advocate Buzzy Martin - the film GUITAR MAN has won 9 festival awards including "Best Writer" at CATE.Laurie recently directed and edited an acoustic world music video for Jamaican singer/songwriter Demo Delgado ("Give Thanks For Life/Gratitude) and previously made Demo's “Live and Learn” music video, which won an Accolade award and reached #3 on Tempo Networks (the MTV of the Caribbean.) Laurie wrote, produced and directed a feminine comedy "Family Values In The Goddess Years" that played at a number of festivals and screenings. She was also commissioned to make a tween music video and five mini-documentaries. Her mini-doc poem "Si Se Puede!?" played at two festivals. Director Statement - Eternal Waltz is a project very close to my heart due to the subject matter of love and the undying nature of the human soul and spirit.

6:45 24-Hour Workday Explores conditions of long hours & wage theft of workers.

How can 24-hour workdays exist in the 21st century? 24-HOUR WORKDAY exposes the conditions of long hours and wage theft that working people are currently facing. In the progressive State of New York, many home attendants--mostly immigrants and women--are forced to work grueling 24-hour shifts taking care of seriously-ill patients, with only half of the pay. Worse, they meet with obstacles from the State government which tries to legalize such inhumane practice. These workers come together to demand back pay and change of 24-hour shifts to split shifts, and unite with patients to mount a challenge against this state-sponsored sweatshop.
Director Biography - Zishun Ning A community organizer in Manhattan Chinatown, Zishun Ning uses films to document issues and struggles concerning working people's living and working conditions. He believes in film as a powerful medium to help advance the community's interest.

Director Statement This project started in 2016 shortly the first group of home attendants started their lawsuit for the nonpayment of their 24-hour shifts. They understood that, in order to address the issues of wage theft and long hours, they needed to go beyond their own employer and unite with workers in other home care agencies. Steadily against all odds, other home attendants started to come out and joined the campaign and, with legal breakthroughs in favor of the workers, it got the attention from the State government. In order to suppress the workers' actions and to protect the interest of bosses and insurance companies, the State put out an emergency regulation to legalize the 24-hour workday. It was a wake-up call for the workers, who recognized their common enemy beyond their respective employers; in order to protect their interest and change the inhumane working condition, they need to challenge the State. That was when this project took a major step as more home attendants opened up, not only to share their stories but also to demand the State stop its shameful practice. The campaign grew stronger and the project grew with it.
Without the unity and determination of the home attendants, this film wouldn't have been completed. They are the main creators of this film, and they have inspired so many others, old and young, to organize for their common interest as working people.

7:15 Revolution Selfie: The Red Battalion People's army as an act of love to end "War on Terror".

Revolution Selfie expands the horizons of documentary storytelling while broadening our understanding about the lesser-known fronts in the global “War on Terror.” Filmmaker Steven De Castro paints a portrait of the 48 year-old Maoist guerilla army in the Philippine hinterlands. But rather than simply presenting interviews and images in a traditional journalistic manner, this film weaves fantasy elements and web-based camera techniques into the documentary form to disrupt our entire matrix of widely held beliefs underpinning the discussion of terrorism, poverty, and the motivations of the warriors who fight in a peasant revolution.
Director Biography - Steven De Castro is a director, teacher, and cinematographer who is in post production on his film REVOLUTION SELFIE, which was admitted to the prestigious works-in-progress lab at DCTV in New York. He currently is releasing Fred Ho’s Last Year, his first feature film about an avante garde jazz composer and public intellectual who is dying of cancer. When he is not directing his own projects, De Castro works as a cinematographer for other directors in narrative and documentary features and shorts. Before he was a filmmaker, De Castro was a trial lawyer and served as Human Rights Commissioner of Jersey City.

9:30 Mission Wolf: Experiment in Living Rescued wolves & volunteers who keep them alive. Q&A

Mission Wolf: Experiment in Living is the story of rescued wolves on wild lands in Colorado and the volunteers who keep them alive. It is set in the stunningly beautiful hills near the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The refuge itself is an odd place – off the grid, snowed in in winter, run by an often-changing group of young people who strive to have a small footprint on the planet and to nurture themselves as they nurture the wolves. As Will, one of the volunteers, says, “You can be healed in whatever way you need to be.” However, it’s not always easy. The outside world intrudes in unexpected ways, and power dynamics from American society find their way into the refuge, causing confusion and interpersonal struggle.
The film’s characters are diverse: Kia and Nate are a married couple, lapsed Mormons whose foremost values are environmental sustainability and intentional community living. They often travel around the West in their beloved van, working jobs here and there. Rachel, from England, has a traumatic background – a father who died when she was young and a mother who became alcoholic and mentally unstable after his death. Working with wolves is healing Rachel’s wounded childhood, and she finds a sense of belonging and community for the first time among the volunteers at Mission: Wolf. Will is a Yale graduate who had never experienced wilderness before coming to the refuge. He lives in a teepee there and talks about how the other volunteers “literally had to teach me how not to die.” Mike is a former child actor from Hollywood who always had a dream of running a wolf refuge. And Kent is the middle-aged creator of Mission: Wolf, the leader who is trying not to be the leader, as he wants the volunteers to find their own paths in the work and the life at the refuge.
Mission: Wolf is stylistically unusual, a sort of lyrical “tone poem” that is less about vérité storytelling and more about the strange texture of life at the refuge – the bloody knives and butchering of old horses and road kill to feed the wolves; the restaurant fryer fat that volunteers painstakingly convert into fuel for a motley collection of old trucks; the communal kitchen; the wolves howling; visitors who come to interact with the “ambassador” wolves and look through fences at the wilder ones; the volunteers who are allowed only one shower a week unless they have just butchered an animal; the stunning valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains that define it. Woven into this texture are the character stories, mapped as arcs of change as summer gives way to winter and then returns again. The film will appeal to viewers interested in how wilderness impacts people and people impact wilderness. It’s also deeply about wolves, what’s left of wildness in the West of our country, and how an experiment in living impacts youth who strive to leave mainstream urban life behind.
Director Biography - Gayle Nosal, Beret E. Strong Gayle Nosal believes in collaboration with people and communities featured in her films, and letting stories unfold organically. Her visual style is intimate and textural, incorporating drawings, animation and other creative art forms. Her passion is making documentaries that illuminate the complex lives of underrepresented people and issues in our world today. Her most recent film, Sauti – Voice (sautifilm.org) screened in over 40 festivals around the world and received numerous awards, including Best Female Filmmaker at the 2017 International New York Film Festival and Best First-Time Director at the 2017 Oregon Film Festival. Before entering filmmaking in 2012, Gayle worked in advertising, sales, writing, and teaching.
Beret E. Strong has been making documentaries about social issue and ethnographic topics for more than 20 years. She has directed, produced, and shot award-winning films on several continents, and is the owner of Landlocked Films. With Gayle Nosal, she has been associate producer/director for “Sauti (Voice)”, a coming of age story about East Africa refugee girls, and “Mission Wolf: Experiment in Living”, about rescued wolves in Colorado and the volunteers who care for them. Other documentary films, created in collaboration with John Tweedy, include films on educational rights for children with disabilities (“Song of Our Children”), indigenous culture and history in Micronesia (“Lieweila”), the tragedy of war (“Iwo Jima: Memories in Sand”), and Afro-Bolivians’ dance, song, and resistance to oppression (“Saya”). Beret’s passion is giving voice to people whose voices are too often unheard, and exploring the tensions that arise when very different cultures collide. Trained as a literary scholar and poet before turning to filmmaking, Beret is the author of several books and has taught at the secondary and university levels in the U.S. and overseas.

AUG. 29-THURSDAY
6:30 The Role of a Lifetime A man, a woman, a payback in today's world.

Director Biography - "The role of a lifetime" is Marc Saez second short movie after the 23 awards Winner "Follow the arrow" ( suivez la flèche . Written directed and produced by Marc SAEZ.)
HÉMON. THE SHORT FILM STARTS HIS CAREER WITH 56 AWARDS WON AROUND THE WORLD BETWEEN JANUARY and APRIL 2019. 21 AWARDS FOR HIS LEADING ACTRESS Véronique PICCIOTTO, UNITED KINGDOM, LONDON
GOLD MOVIE AWARDS 1 AWARD WINNER BEST LEADING ACTRESS
CFK FILM AWARDS (SWINDON) 1 AWARD WINNER BEST LEADING ACTRESS
LATITUDE FILM AWARDS 2 AWARDS WINNER 1SILVER AWARD WINNER LEAD ACTRESS 1 BRONZE AWARD WINNER NARRATIVE SHORT
ECOSSE / SCOTLAND
FEEL THE REEL FESTIVAL (GLASGOW) 4 AWARDS WINNER 1 BEST OF THE FEST 1 BEST DIRECTOR 1 BEST ACTRESS 1 BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
CANADA (Toronto) ALTFF Alternative Film Festival 1 AWARD WINNER BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA SHORT
CHILE
(SFAAF) SOUTH CINEMATOGRAPHIC ACADEMY FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL 2 AWARDS WINNER and 5 mentions winner
1 AWARD BEST SHORT THRILLER  1 AWARD BEST ART DIRECTION IN A SHORT FILM ( MARC SAEZ)
1 LEAD ACTRESS HONORABLE MENTION Véronique PICCIOTTO 1 SUPPORTING ACTOR HONORABLE MENTION Olivier HÉMON 1 SOUND DESIGN HONORABLE MENTION Daniel ALESSI 1 SOUND DESIGN HONORABLE MENTION Wadi LAADAM 1 CINEMATOGRAPHY HONORABLE MENTION Lamine DIAKITE
SPAIN BARCELONE PLANET FILM AWARDS 2019 1 AWARD WINNER - BEST ACTRESS-
ITALIE ONIROS FILM AWARDS 2019 1 AWARD WINNER - BEST ACTRESS- 1 AWARD WINNER -HONORABLE MENTION - BEST SHORT-
USA
NEW YORK Cinematography film awards 1 AWARD WINNER - BEST ACTRESS
BEST SHORTS FILMS AWARDS 2019 2 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE AWARD OF EXCELLENCE - Short film- AWARD OF EXCELLENCE -LEADING ACTRESS - Véronique PICCIOTTO
INDIE FEST 2019 2 AWARDS WINNER
AWARD OF MERIT - Short film- AWARD OF MERIT -Special Mention- Véronique PICCIOTTO
INDIA
LIAFF 2019 3 AWARDS WINNER
BEST FILM ON WOMEN AWARD OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Short film category OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Leading actress category Véronique PICCIOTTO
CROWN WOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 4 AWARDS WINNER BEST FILM ON WOMEN BEST LEADING ACTESS AWARD BEST DIRECTOR AWARD BEST SHORT FILM
CULT CRITIC MOVIE AWARDS 2 AWARDS WINNER
BEST ACTESS AWARD BEST DIRECTOR AWARD
CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019
FINALIST Véronique PICCIOTTO in BEST ACTRESS CATEGORY FINALIST BEST FILM ON WOMEN
VIRGIN SPRING CINEFEST 3 AWARDS WINNER
SILVER AWARD - BEST SHORT- SILVER AWARD - BEST DIRECTOR- SILVER AWARD - BEST ACTRESS-
PHILIPPINES ASIAN CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARDS 1 AWARD WINNER BEST LEADING ACTESS AWARD FINALIST 2020 BEST LEADING ACTESS AWARD BEST DIRECTOR AWARD BEST SHORT FILM
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS (in process)
BEST SHORTS 2019 (MELBOURNE-AUSTRALIA) ME MILLEDGEVILLE+ EATONTON film festival (GEORGIE – USA) APHRODITE FILMS AWARDS (New-York) APULIA WEB FEST #FILM FESTIVAL (Italie) NICE FESTIVAL (France) semi finalist NVIFF AWARDS (Amsterdam) semi finalist WORLD PREMIERE FILM AWARDS (Ontario CANADA)
REVIEWS GLASGOW : THE FTRIFF festival https://www.feelthereeliff.com/the-role-of-a-lifetime-review
CULT CRITIC http://hlc-cultcritic.com/the-role-of-a-lifetime/
PRISMA FILM AWARDS https://www.romeprismafilmawards.com/…/the-role-of-a-lifet…/
Before, FOLLOW THE ARROW , SUIVEZ LA FLECHE Marc SAEZ First Short Movie. Written, Directed and Produced by Marc SAEZ won 9 Awards in different American Festivals and a Special Mention In Pontaut Combaut ( France)
WINNER 2 GOLD AWARDS for Best Short & Best Director at the PRESTIGE AWARDS 2013 USA (Eureka) WINNER 3 AWARDS at the BEST SHORTS Festival USA 2012 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE for the short film AWARD OF MERIT for Véronique PICCIOTTO (leading actress) AWARD OF MERIT for direction WINNER 1 AWARD "honorable mention" at the LOS ANGELES MOVIE AWARDS II USA 2011 WINNER 2 AWARDS OF MERIT "SHORT FILM" & "DIRECTION" at THE INDIE FEST in La JOLLA CALIFORNIE USA 2012 WINNER MENTION SPECIALE in PONTAULT COMBAULT (France) Official compétition at the AVIGNON film Festival FENETRES SUR COURTS (France) SHORT FILM CORNER 2011 (CANNES, France) 
OFFICIAL SELECTION CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2011 (cyprus) OFFICIAL SELECTION SIPFF SEXY INTERNATIONAL PARIS FILM FESTIVAL (France) SELECTION FANTASPORTO 2012 (Porto) FESTIVAL "MEME PAS PEUR" de La réunion
3rd place at the BEST SHORT FILM "BACK IN THE BOX" competition 2012 Certificate of Merit 2013 ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
Director Statement
THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME / LE RÔLE DE TA VIE (2019) BEST DIRECTOR Award at the CULT CRITIC MOVIE AWARDS 2019

6:45 When All That's Left is Love Determined wife cares for Alzheimer stricken husband.

When All That’s Left is Love is the emotionally gripping story of a wife’s determination to care for her Alzheimer’s-stricken husband in their home. With unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access, the film reveals the toll that the disease takes on families coping with Alzheimer's, while also showcasing the power of love that sustains both patients and caregivers.
Director Biography Eric Gordon is an award winning director and producer who has exhibited his work at film festivals worldwide. One previous work, a 35mm short film, “Rita, Pigboy and Me” was written by Tom Lazarus (Stigmata) and stars Mel Gorham (Blue in the Face, Smoke, Curdled). The film screened at over 40 festivals worldwide, winning 18 prestigious awards during its run, including Best Director from the Florida Motion Pictures and Television Association (FMPTA). Gordon has worked on major feature films, music videos, serving as both cinematographer and associate producer. His background in documentary film shows his versatility: documentaries shot and edited in Key West and in Calabria, Italy; stateside, he worked on a documentary about a friend in end stages of AIDS and a short, “That Really Cool Car Place on East Pettigrew Street.” Over the past six years, he has produced, shot, and directed the feature length documentary, When All That’s Left Is Love. It is an emotionally gripping film about his aging mother’s determination – against nearly impossible odds - to care for her Alzheimer’s husband at home and by herself. The film gives viewers an unprecedented, behind-the-scenes understanding of a medical dilemma that currently has no cure – but has patients who depend heavily on the heroic tenacity and love of the Alzheimer’s caregivers. Gordon holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Film Production from the University of Miami, as well as a Certificate in Documentary Arts from the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University (with a focus on documentary marketing and distribution). His non-profit fiscal sponsor is the well-known group, From the Heart Productions.
Director Statement
One day at work my mother called me to tell me my dad was "lost.” This is how I found out that my father had Alzheimer’s. My father finally made his way back home on this particular day, but after this, everything was different. I understood immediately that my parents’ home life had changed and that my mother was not prepared for the changes still to come. I decided to leave the job I had at the time and move into my parents house to help care for my father.
As my father’s health deteriorated, his disease became the family’s disease. Everyone was affected. I was caring for both my father and my mother, who was brought to the brink of exhaustion and frustration by her designated role as caregiver. When the neurologist told us that there was nothing else he could do for my father, we were devastated and desperate for other possibilities. We searched for answers the way many families in this position search. And thankfully, we were fortunate enough to find some. My mom discovered a doctor who was doing a clinical trial for a new Alzheimer’s drug years after our journey with Alzheimer’s began. We visited Dr. David Watson from the Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment Center and this experience, although short-lived for our family, was encouraging and, I think, can give hope to others.
I was my father’s secondary caregiver for years before my filmmaking senses kicked in. I knew I had to pick up a camera and start filming. I just sensed that something was happening that needed to be documented. The access I had gave me something that has never been captured on camera. Ever. And because I was, and had been, a primary caregiver, the community surrounding my father trusted me. The camera just became an extension of my arm -- I documented the heartbreaks and challenges that a caregiver faces every day. I was a caretaker and a “fly on the wall” during the heartbreaks, setbacks, and moments of shared tenderness and small victories that make up the life of a family caring for someone living with Alzheimer’s. I didn’t realize the importance of what I was filming until years later when I finally logged the footage.
An epidemic of unprecedented proportions is headed our way as our population continues to age. Most of us are ill prepared for the realities of what dementia-related illness means for our families. I hope that my film can shed light and bring understanding to caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients in order to ensure that, collectively, we are better prepared for the challenges of this overwhelming and life-changing experience.

8:15 The Clinic Experimental study in psilocybin via a skeptical woman. Q&A

A skeptical woman participates in an experimental research study, taking a high dose of psilocybin to face her fears about dying. This short film is inspired by the work of Dr. Bill Richards at John Hopkins School of Medicine, and by Michael Pollan's article "The Trip Treatment."
Director Biography - Jennie Allen is a filmmaker living in New York. Jennie's short films have won awards from the USA Film Festival, the Columbus Film Council, Palm Springs International Shorts Fest, Brooklyn Arts Council, Babelgum, and the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. They have screened at festivals including Brussels, Woodstock, LA Shorts Fest, have been featured on NYC-TV, Film Shortage, and been distributed through Shorts International. Failing Better Now, a feature film Jennie co-wrote, is available on the Starz network. She wrote the film Dear Chickens (Philip Baker Hall, Kerris Dorsey) with director Mauro Mueller. Her feature Culebra is in development with Fidelio Films. She was a 2016 NYFA fellowship finalist and a recipient of a 2017 Individual Artist grant in Greene County. Jennie received the Lewis Cole Award for Excellence in Screenwriting from Columbia University, along with her M.F.A. She teaches filmmaking alongside at SUNY Stony Brook / Killer Films M.F.A. Film program in New York.
Director Statement
This story was inspired by research studies done at Johns Hopkins, New York University, and in other places around the world, all using rigorous methodology to test the use of entheogens (aka psychedelics) and therapy to help patients suffering from emotional distress at the end of life. These studies have shown strong evidence that the careful use of these drugs can have long lasting therapeutic effects for people facing a terminal illness. Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has provided advisement on this project and I was heavily influenced by the work of his supervisor, Dr. William A. Richards.
As a filmmaker and a Community Hospice volunteer, I am interested in how we approach death. My aim with this film is to create an experience for the audience, to have them identify with this patient as she faces her fear and anger about her death, and ultimately as she comes to some peace with it.
I received an arts grant in Greene County, NY and partnered with Catwalk Institute, an artist residency in Catskill, NY to make the movie. I shot the “trip” all in camera rather than using computer generated visual effects because I wanted the images to come from things that were real in nature, but seen in a new way.

9:00 bOObs: The War on Women's Breasts Thermography & ultra sound 95-99% accurate; not invasive. Q&A

In “bOObs,” we first learn from medical doctors about myths surrounding mammography, such as mammograms are “early detection” and “low radiation”. We hear heart-breaking stories of how this breast cancer diagnostic test helped to tragically change the lives of three female patients. Then we learn the benefits of thermography in conjunction with ultrasound, and how these two painless tests — neither containing radiation — are capable of finding cancer years before a tumor forms, while having up to twice the accuracy of some mammography machines. Finally, we hear from doctors how financial greed played a large part in sending women down this frightful path in the first place.
Director Biography - Megan S. Smith has been involved in the arts since a young girl, growing up in Falls Church, Va. After earning a B.A. in biology at Colorado College, she became a professional musician for a decade with sister Debi, teaming up in the recording studio with Doc and Merle Watson, Sam Bush and Mark O’Connor and landing a deal with Flying Fish/Rounder Records. Smith later took a job as congressional liaison for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory while working on her master’s degree in biology with a specialization in environmental policy. After five years Smith struck out on her own, heading up MSS Consultants, LLC, in Washington, D.C., where she lobbied Congress on biomass energy issues. She also directed the American/National Bioenergy Associations. Smith began writing screenplays on the side, largely about events she witnessed on Capitol Hill. But soon tragedy struck: Her husband — a senior Senate staffer for 36 years — was diagnosed with cancer and died after only two rounds of chemotherapy. To work through her grief, Smith went back to the arts and began painting large acrylics professionally. Following her cathartic tact, she slowly transitioned back into screenplays, writing a light-hearted animation based on environmental issues affecting the world’s ecosystem. Living in an endemic Lyme disease area, Smith was stricken by the spirochete and soon went into chronic Lyme. Eighteen months later, a Johns Hopkins specialist claimed her as incurable — and so her investigation of Lyme disease began. The Washington Post hired Smith to write an article on the inaccuracy of Lyme testing. Concurrently, she wrote a three-part series on Lyme for the Rappahannock News — and was the first to uncover the underreporting of Lyme by doctors to State health agencies across the U.S. The following year, there was a dramatic increase in reported Lyme disease incidence, which has been rising exponentially ever since. Smith found other patients who had cured themselves of Lyme using alternative therapies and was soon on her way to healing. Now convinced that alternative medicine may have extended time with her husband, Smith pondered how she could help others avoid conventional medicine under circumstances when the quality of life would be drastically reduced. It was after she ran into a documentary filmmaker that she realized her next calling in life: spreading the word of non-conventional medical therapies via the silver screen. Smith started up WayMark Productions, LLC, teaming up with videographer John M. Kirchner. They traveled the U.S. and abroad filming WayMark’s first short documentary “bOObs” about a safe alternative to mammography, and a second feature documentary on alternative cancer therapies: “A New Standard of Care." Her third project will delve into the tumultuous world of Lyme disease.
Director Statement - When my husband died of lung cancer in 2007, for 6 years I festered over the way he passed until I decided to try and make a difference in the world of cancer, to help people with cancer live longer and better quality lives, and perhaps help them find a cure. And so, I took my Master of Science degree and journalism background and hit the road with a cinematographer, filming doctors, patients and decision makers all over the EU, Mexico and the US. What I discovered was both disturbing and encouraging. Currently, I'm editing a feature documentary on alternative cancer therapies, "A New Standard of Care", but felt the need to put out information on women's breast health in the meantime with the short documentary "bOObs." Hopefully, it will begin a discussion on the world of breast cancer diagnostics -- an area crying out for immediate improvement.

AUG. 30-FRIDAY
7PM Pipe Dream Narrative film on early days of Carol Burnett.

Each year thousands of budding actors take that huge leap of faith and move to L.A. or New York in search of stardom. This is the story of once such actress who, with nothing but her talents and determination, would go from anonymity to Broadway stardom within a few short years. She would later become known as the beloved legend of stage and screen, Carol Burnett.
Director Biography - Chris King is a multiple award-winning filmmaker and three-time NorCal Emmy nominated producer. His screenplays have garnered national attention in The Nicholl Fellowship, the Chesterfield Film Project, Fade In Magazine and HBO’s Project Greenlight. Chris's feature length and short films have played at over 225 film festivals, have been seen in over 90 countries, and have received over 100 awards and nominations. Chris's short film "Birthday" qualified for the Academy Award (Live Action Short) in 2017 and played in over 150 international film festivals. He just completed a short narrative film on the early days of Carol Burnett called "Pipe Dream" and is in development on three more films. Chris and his co-producer/co-writer wife Heather reside in Roseville, California with their two daughters.

Director Statement
"Pipe Dream" is a short film celebrating the amazing life of an entertainment icon. When I was young I was a huge fan of the Carol Burnett show, and when I became a filmmaker later I wondered how Carol got her start. It was inspiring to learn that she didn't climb to fame through nepotism or by being a spoon-fed richie who eased her way into it. Just the opposite. From a dirt poor upbringing to being self-conscious about her appearance to moving to NYC to try and make it, Carol's early life was anything BUT privileged. I wanted to share this brave life of hers with audiences through a short film...if that's even possible. Finding the amazingly talented actress Lisa Ferris to portray Carol was a real blessing.

7:30 Whisperers and Witnesses: Primate Rescue, A Visual Journey Two women save gorillas & chimpanzees. Q&A

In their latest Visual Journey, we travel to Cameroon, with Wendy and Alan Kaplan, to tell the story of two powerful women saving Gorillas and Chimpanzees, and meet some extraordinary people from Cameroon and elsewhere, who are fighting the war against "bushmeat" in Africa. As we experience the commitment of these humans, and our connection to the primates who share 98 percent of our DNA, you will be thinking "how can we not save them"? Because when your eyes meet with theirs, "there is a deep, overwhelming connection" that cannot be explained.

In this segment of “Visual Journeys” Wendy Stuart Kaplan and Alan Kaplan are traveling to Cameroon to explore the story of two extraordinary women, Rachel Hogan, Director of Ape Action Africa and Dr. Sheri Speede, Director of Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee Rescue and the selfless commitment they share.
What makes them extraordinary? Both powerful women are actively saving Gorillas and Chimpanzees in the depths of the Cameroon jungle. Along the way the Kaplans meet some extraordinary people from Cameroon and the surrounding areas, who are fighting an irrefutable war against "bushmeat" in Africa.
As we experience the commitment of these astonishing human-beings, and our connection to the primates, who share 98 percent of our DNA, you’ll be wondering, "How can we not save them?”, “What can we do now before it’s too late?"
When your eyes connect with these formidable primates there is a deep, overwhelming connection that cannot be explained, much like love at first sight. Though, even harder to explain is how we can allow these beautiful creatures to be massacred in the name of profit and greed.
This is the Journey the Kaplans are on. In Whisperers and Witnesses: Primate Rescue, Wendy and Alan are searching for answers, solutions and a way to get this imperative message out and make a ongoing change in the manner our primates are being depleted before they’re extinct altogether.
To Donate: www.apeactionafrica.org & sychimprescue.org
Director Biography - Alan Kaplan has been creating award-winning campaigns for a broad range of international clients for over 30 years. His approach to lifestyle, travel and portrait photography reveals the heart or a photojournalist. His work has a strong sense of emotional authenticity, and is delivered with a graphic sensibility that clears away the clutter and communicates the central message. Further, he has consistently remained capable of communicating a sense of connectedness between human-beings; a secret language or a shared moment that sends a strong message and delivers an advertiser’s objective to potential customers. He believes in asking viewers to imagine themselves as participants in the various shoot scenarios he undertakes and delivers a sense of “character” over a sense of caricature. This is what allows his campaigns to resonate with every consumer that is clients are seeking to connect with. Whatever the demographic his ideas have intrinsic meaning that has a timeless, classic quality. This natural and participatory quality is always achieved through a minimum of direction.
Kaplan says, “I found it much more effective to allow unexpected, serendipitous moments to occur in this way. I’m always looking for those brief seconds that will create a profound “shock of recognition” with that viewer.” Alan Kaplan’s experience as a photographer has taught him that relationships between his subjects are not created instantly, let along for the camera. He wants to see and feel the imagined history in his subjects, as well as anticipate their future experiences. He creates real situations and often casts people who are related or long term friends, so there is boundless potential to produce an infinite variety of emotionally authentic images. He creates real situations and inspires empathy in both his subjects and viewer which is unique to his shooting style.
Director Statement
I found it much more effective to allow unexpected, serendipitous moments to occur in this way. I’m always looking for those brief seconds that will create a profound “shock of recognition” with that viewer.The

8:45 The Mamboniks Music & dance from Cuba before Castro's Revolution.

In the 1950s, when much of America was discovering Elvis and rock-n-roll, New York City swayed to a Latin beat. Manhattan fell for the mambo, the hot new dance from Havana. Like the beatniks of the era, the mambo’s fervent fans earned a hip nickname: the mamboniks. They sparked a dance craze that swept the nation — and the world.
THE MAMBONIKS is the first documentary to tell the story of the musical and dance invasion that came from Cuba in the years before Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution of 1959. Set in Havana, Miami Beach and New York, this fun, upbeat film features a lovable, somewhat zany collection of dancers, musicians, disc jockeys, club owners and record company moguls. We meet the mamboniks, mostly Jewish and Italian dancers now retired in Florida. They’re still hitting the dance floor — in their 70s, 80s and 90s!
In New York during the Fifties, the mambo flourished at the Palladium Ballroom, a Times Square hotspot nicknamed “The Home of the Mambo” that was frequented by Hollywood stars Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando. We hear the story of its impresario Max Hyman, a Manhattan fashion industry titan who was a survivor of the Holocaust. It was an era marked by racial segregation, yet the Palladium was a melting pot, where Whites, African-Americans and Latinos met on the dance floor. The film’s infectious soundtrack draws from the Cuban songbook and features Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, and mambo king Pérez Prado. Blessed with a catchy beat, the mambo pirouetted to prominence in mid-1950s America and a dance craze was born. Life Magazine featured it prominently; it spawned pop hits like Dean Martin’s “Mambo Italiano”; and on network TV, it propelled dancers “Augie & Margo” to fame on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
The film traces the rise and fall of the mambo, whose demise was sparked by revolution and the British invasion. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 cut off all contact with the island. The arrival of the Beatles sealed its fate. But today, the music and dance live on, and we reunite the original mamboniks to tell this surprising, little-known tale. They reveal personal thoughts about the allure of the music, but also on love, friendship, adventure, coming-of-age, and, now in their autumn years, the meaning of a life well-lived.
Director Biography - Lex Gillespie

Lex Gillespie is a three-time Peabody and duPont-Columbia Award-winning public radio and film producer. For the past 25 years, he’s produced documentaries on music, history, the arts and culture. His credits include “The Science Sisters,” the story of four Latina students who competed in Chicago’s Science Fair; “A Kind and Just Parent,” about the creation of the first juvenile court in the US; and “Whole Lotta Shakin,” a 10-hour series on the birth of rock ’n roll.

AUG. 31-SATURDAY
7PM Jack is Pretty A little girl strikes out on her own to find happiness amidst bullies. Q&A

Amid the chaos and instability of growing up with neglectful parents, and enduring the taunting of a bully, a little girl strikes out on her own to find order, happiness, and an understanding of the world around her. As the dangers surrounding her come closing in, her world brightens when she finds the solace of friendship and love with an old, discarded Jack In The Box.
Director Biography - Jarek Zabczynski's professional film career began almost right out of high school, and in the most unexpected of places, the basement of the Pepsi Bottling Group in NY where he directed and produced corporate industrials, training videos, and other marketing and presentation tools. After breaking away from the stronghold of the corporate world, Jarek’s bigger vision, accompanied by his entrepreneurial spirit drove him to create his childhood dream, “Jester Pictures.” He began with a steady stream of graphic design and video production.
Jarek’s networking efforts provided him an opportunity to produce and direct the “Spammy Awards” for Hollywood Producer Don Murphy. Later that year Jarek was awarded with a grand prize for his video submission to a video contest held by Paramount Pictures, gaining him access to Industrial Light and Magic and the team behind that summer’s blockbuster movie “Transformers.”
In 2008 Jarek directed his first music video for NY pop/hip-hop artist, Theory. The video “Change,” went on to win the BET award for “Most Inspirational Music Video for an Independent Artist.” He soon after continued along the music video path collaborating with Island / Def Jam's Chrisette Michele to edit her new music video "Love is You." Later that year Jarek was hired to record a series of live concerts for Broadway’s Adam Pascal of RENT and Aida fame. He then produced and directed Adam’s first music video for his song “Single Drop of You,” which won “Best Music Video” at the Moondance Film Festival in Colorado.
When Theory was ready to make his next video, the choice for Director/Producer was obvious. Jarek’s vision for the song “We’ll Be Alright,” literally took him to new heights, showcasing some aerial views along the Hudson River in NY. The video takes you on a journey through space and time having been the first ever video filmed on the “Walkway over the Hudson,” the world’s longest and highest pedestrian bridge. “We’ll Be Alright” went on win “Best Music Video” at several festivals including The Garden State, Nevada, and Las Vegas Film Festivals.
His next music video endeavors would take him overseas to France, Spain and most recently Italy. Commercially, he would also begin working on several commercials for department store Lord and Taylor and well as public service announcements for the Red Cross, featuring supermodel Niki Taylor. His latest music video project took him to Miami, where he shot and directed “Bajo el Sol” for the artist Monique, from NBC’s The Voice. 
His pursuit of becoming more and more involved in the film industry lead him to finally tackle a series of short films. Teaming up with actor and writer, Ryan Katzer, they chose Jack is Pretty as their first narrative project. When what began as a 6 page concept, blossomed into more of a short feature, with a feature length script already in the works. Proud of their first film together, the duo is currently planning several other shorts, as well as their first feature.
Director Statement
Shoot for the impossible, then do it.

7:45 Left on Pearl Occupation takeover by women at Harvard Univ. in the '70s. Q&A

In 1971 classified ads for employment were still segregated by gender, battered women's shelters did not exist, abortion was illegal, and married women couldn’t open a bank account without their husbands’ permission. LEFT ON PEARL is about the movement that changed all that. This fast-paced 55 minute documentary focuses on a highly significant but little-known event in the history of the women's liberation movement, the 1971 takeover and occupation of a Harvard University-owned building by hundreds of Boston area women. The ten-day occupation of 888 Memorial Drive by women demanding a Women’s Center and low income housing for the community in which the building stood, embodied within it many of the hopes and glories - as well as the conflicts and fault lines – of what came to be known as Second Wave feminism. One of the few takeovers by women for women, this radical action proved life-changing for the participants, and led directly to the founding of the longest continuously operating Women's Center in the U.S.
Through extensive TV news coverage from the time, newspaper headlines, found footage, and interviews with participants and eyewitnesses of varied sexual orientations, racial, class and ethnic backgrounds (including both supporters and opponents of the takeover), LEFT ON PEARL documents a watershed moment in the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement, situating it within the broader political ferment of the time – the anti-war, civil rights, Black Power and gay liberation movements. The film highlights the hilarity and excitement, as well as the challenges and fault-lines within this social movement.
Director Biography - Susie Rivo holds an MFA in Cinema Production from San Francisco State University. Her award-winning short film Amy screened at numerous film festivals, including Sundance and SXSW and was broadcast on several PBS stations. She received a Massachusetts Cultural Council finalist award for filmmaking. Her work has received support from MassHumanities, the Puffin Foundation, the Tamiment Library at NYU among other foundations.
Director Statement - LEFT ON PEARL captures the moment when a generation of women rose up to resist their second-class status. They identified their subordination not only in society at large, but even within the liberal/radical milieu of the civil rights and antiwar movements. They shared their experiences in small “consciousness raising groups,” which led to activism and resistance.
Many of the basic rights we take for granted today are a direct result of the consciousness-raising, protests, and persistence of second-wave feminists. As a member of "Generation X", I feel deeply grateful to Second Wave feminists. Now, more than ever, we need to pass on inspiring stories of resistance to the generations coming up. Misogyny, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and general bullying have become normalized to an alarming degree. The women in LEFT ON PEARL are inspiring, funny, and a testament to the power of organizing.

9:30 Renegade Dreamers Beat poets, music & politics in NYC. Q&A

At a time when political activism is more important than ever, the air in New York City is filled with the sounds of subversive poetry, radical songwriting and calls for social change. Many hip young poets and songwriters have come to New York City, and - consciously following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, and other rebels of that era – are using their music and spoken word poetry to challenge the status quo.
RENEGADE DREAMERS interweaves past and present as it provides a look into an artistic/political wave that is happening today - while also paying homage to the legacy of the Beat poets and political folksingers who helped start a movement. Loaded with politics, music and spoken word poetry, the film is entertaining as well as timely.
Director Biography - Karen Kramer is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work has received wide distribution both domestically and internationally. Her films have been televised on NBC, WNET, The Oprah Show, CNN, WLIW, and dozens of museums and venues overseas. In addition to winning awards at festivals worldwide, they have been screened at such prestigious showcases as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum, and hundreds of others. More than 150 universities show her films on a continual basis. She has lectured and toured extensively with her work - from Europe to Africa to South America.- She lives and works in Greenwich Village, New York.

SEPT. 1-SUNDAY
7PM Embraces & the Touch of Skin Animated poem on the need for hugging and contact; an animated poem about the vital need for embraces and contact with other beings.

Director Biography - Sara Koppel, Copenhagen Denmark www.nakedlovefilm.com Director & Animator Started in the Danish Animation industry as 14 years old. Creator of "Koppel Animation & Naked Love Film" 2002 Made 20 small handdrawn animated independent art film. Currently working on a new 7 minutes Handdrawn Animationfilm: “2nd Day & The End of the World” Filmography: “Embraces & the Touch of Skin” March 2019 “1st day & next minute” November 2017 “Clitorissima” - 17th December 2015 “Seriously Deadly Silence” 2015 “Memories of an absent presence” 2013 "Little Vulvah & her clitoral awareness" 2013 - Shown at 100 International Festivals & received 9 Awards during 2014. "Naked Love - Ea's garden" 2012 - Shown over 80 International Film Festivals & received 9 International Awards. “Appetizer for Naked Love” 2012 "Walking between each other and it self" 2011 “Moving Women” 2010 “Love Sucks” 2009

7:10 Ranting & Raving Comedy. Man is a loser. Worse yet, couple has problem child.

Cliff Matthews is a schmuck. Everything he touches turns to shit. His job sucks, his marriage is failing and all he wants is to write the Great American Novel, but he's stuck in a rabbit hole writing How-To books. Now, his life just got worse when he and his wife get stuck with a problem child they didn't bargain for.This new-age slapstick, complete with laugh track, brings a modern and unique approach to situational comedy as never seen before.
Director Biography - Jay Zellman is a producer/writer/director with over 20 years of experience working with entertainment, marketing and corporate partners. Jay co-created, produced, directed and edited numerous original projects that have been acquired by established reality television production companies Shed Media, T-Group Entertainment, Marc Summers Productions and Dr. Drew Productions. “The Hitch Kings”, about a tow truck company in Queens, New York received a pilot order by TruTV.
In addition to his television projects, Jay is the founder of Corporate Video Concepts, Inc., a video and live event production company based in New York City that creates marketing, communications and entertainment productions for some of America’s most successful brands.
Director Statement - Ranting & Raving is a commentary on the humor found in life’s absurdities, seen through the lens of Cliff Matthews. Cliff represents every man who feels like life is constantly throwing him curve balls - his wife nags him, his career sucks and nothing ever goes his way. Cliff’s life is a slow train wreck developing before our eyes. This show breaks the norms for a modern-day comedy. Although filmed single camera, the show has a studio feel, with laugh track, and straddles the line between drama and comedy. Inspired by the likes of: Modern Family, Married with Children, King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, this physical comedy brings back old school humor with a twist of modern-day reality.

7:50 Brooklyn Roses A feminist mother struggles in the '50s-'60s in working class Brooklyn. Q&A

In Brooklyn Roses, filmmaker Christine Noschese blends documentary and fiction to re-examine her childhood and her mother’s feminist struggles in the 1950’s and 60’s working class Brooklyn.
When her mother dies, Noschese returns to her childhood home to decide what to keep and what to discard. When her mother was still alive, she shot her narrative film in the same house. Sorting through her mother’s belongings, and props left over from the film, she realizes how her perceptions have changed and that the characterization of her mother in the earlier film did not tell the whole story.
Recording new documentary footage, Noschese deconstructs the fictional narrative and asks compelling questions about narrative and documentary storytelling and each form’s unique capacity to convey truth.
Director Biography - Christine Noschese is a writer, director and producer of both documentary and fictional films. Her film Keep On Steppin’ won Best Short at the Newberry Port Documentary Film Festival. June Roses, a fictional narrative, premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York at New Directors/New Films. Her documentary Metropolitan Avenue was broadcast nationally on PBS and other channels, and received the prestigious John Grierson Award for Best Documentary; it was also nominated for a National Emmy for Best Director and over 2,000 copies were distributed by the MacArthur Foundation
Noschese’s work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Council on the Humanities, The Ford Foundation, The Paul Robeson Foundation, and the Women in Film and Television Foundation,
She was a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies and received her M.A. from Goddard College in Media Studies. She is a founding member and former director of the National Congress of Neighborhood Women, a community-based organization in Brooklyn. Christine is on the faculty of Hofstra University’s School of Communication.
Director Statement - From my first fictional short, Mary Therese, to my feature documentary, Metropolitan Avenue, my stories came from growing up in an Italian American family in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn. In my films, I love to portray both the humorous and heartbreaking stories from that community. None are as autobiographical as Brooklyn Roses. I originally wrote and directed a feature film about my childhood in the 1950’s, titled June Roses. The ‘50s were a decade I never romanticized. I created the June Roses narrative from memory; my own emotional truths and from stories told to me by my family. As a writer and director, I used my imagination to create scenes that rang true emotionally for me, whether or not they corresponded to actuality. The death of my mother caused me to reexamine the depictions created in the fictional narrative, in particular, those of her. In Brooklyn Roses, I interweave both narrative and documentary footage to re-examine my childhood and my relationship with my mother. The original narrative feature is a coming of age story told during the social upheaval of the 1950’s and 1960’s and set in the working class Brooklyn neighborhood, I grew up in. I witnessed the struggles for women’s liberation play out in my parents’ marriage and my mother’s determination to carve out a different future for her daughter. The documentary footage records me as I sort through my mother’s belongings and also my memories of her. In deciding what to keep or leave behind, I am forced to confront my youthful perceptions and the depiction I created of her in the feature film. What results is an emotional and compelling new understanding of her as a feminist and a revelatory exploration of the relationship between documentary and fictional truth.

9:45 The Silent Soldier & the Portrait Stolen portrait from a Count's house returned years later. Q&A

The Silent Soldier and the Portrait is a documentary about John Waller, one of the last living survivors of the sinking of the troopship Leopoldville on Christmas Eve in 1944. After the sinking, and the loss of 800 men, Waller followed military orders and kept the tragedy a secret. But for seven decades, John Waller, now 94, kept another secret as well, hidden in a drawer. It was a small French portrait, he had “appropriated” when he and a small band of brothers blew up a safe on a French estate during the war. On a mission to do the right thing and salve a guilty conscience, we retrace the journey of a young solider, to make amends. It is a deeply moving portrait of repair, repatriation and second chances.
Director Biography - Garland Waller

Garland Waller is the producer, co-writer, and co-director of The Silent Solider and the Portrait. Her awards include over 5 New England Emmy's, the Grand Prize at the International Film Festival of New York, two Ohio State Awards, a Colorado Film Festival Silver Award, and an American Women in Radio and Television Merit Award. The Silent Soldier and the Portrait is the winner of an Accolade Award, a Finalist in the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards, a Semi-Finalist in the Altff Alternative Film Festival, and an Official Selection in the Top Indie Film Awards and the Depth of Field International Film Festival. "Soldier" is also a Selection of the Northeast Mountain Film Festival in Georgia, the ARFF Barcelona International Awards and the Docs Without Borders festivals. She is currently the Director of the TV Graduate Program at Boston University. She has been married to the fabulous Barry Nolan for 15 years and together they wrote and directed this documentary.
Director Statement - This is about as up close and personal as a documentary can be. Yes, it’s about one of the last living survivors of the sinking of the Troopship Leopoldville which was torpedoed by a German U-boat on Christmas Eve, 1944. But what makes it personal is that that survivor is my father. Most Americans knew little or nothing about this major tragedy and the loss of over 800 lives. The military told the men to keep it a secret. My dad did. The Silent Soldier and the Portrait tells that story, but there’s another secret my dad kept from the family and that is central to this documentary. It’s one that involves blowing up a safe in an abandoned estate in France. My dad felt so guilty about this – for over 70 years – and he wanted to return that portrait. I knew I had to help him. I enlisted the help of my award-winning TV reporter husband, Barry Nolan, and together, with my dad, we followed my dad's footsteps - the ones of a young soldier during WWII - to return the portrait and set things right. The result is The Silent Soldier and the Portrait. There’s no question this is a doc about the war, but it’s also a doc about a father-daughter relationship and how it changed and evolved as my father and I worked together to try to set things right.

SEPT. 2-MONDAY
11AM Light a Candle Tibetan activists light most candles for world record as a PR event.

Panchen lama, the second highest spiritual figure for Tibetans after Dalai lama was abducted by the Chinese government in 1995, he was just six years old then. The film follows two young Tibetan activists Tsela and Lobsang, who set out to break the Guinness World Record for most candles lit on a birthday cake. They are third generation of Tibetans in exile (India). Sixty years after Chinese occupation, the Tibet issue spills onto this generation who have not seen their country but identify with it. They team up with monks from Panchen lama’s monastery in exile to attempt this record.
Director Biography - Tenzin Kalden is a second generation Tibetan refugee born and raised in exile (India). He completed his filmmaking degree in 2015. Sine then he has been assisting other filmmakers and trying to make his own films.

Director Statement - Tenzin feels that the narrative of Tibet and Tibetans still mostly lingers around Buddhism or an image of an archaic backward culture. It is important that Tibetans take ownership and put their narrative, perspective and stories out there.

11:30 Shaholly Amputee becomes trail blazer model. True story of perseverance.

Shaholly Ayers, a congenital amputee, was once told that she could never become a model. This emotional film talks about her struggles, and eventual big break that allowed her to live her dream, and change the way people perceive disability. With her unbridled spirit and tenacious attitude, there is no telling what amazing things she may accomplish.
Director Biography - Wojciech Lorenc is an Associate Professor of Mass Communication at Sam Houston State University. He has worked in the television industry as a producer, director, cinematographer, and editor. He has won awards internationally and screened his films in over 100 festivals in 15 countries.

Director Statement - It was a wonderful experience to work with Shaholly Ayers who made her mark by being the first amputee to walk the runway without a prosthesis. The girl who was once told she could never be a model is now one of the top trail-blazing new faces in the industry. I believe that her story is inspiring to people with disabilities but can also enlighten all of us and change the way we perceive disability and think about inclusion.

11:35 The Dachshund in a Picture Frame Artist paints money. It becomes real. She loses painting skill.

Sometimes greed can lead to the loss of a magical gift. Main idea: One of the most difficult tasks for an artist is to find a balance between creativity and wealth. An artist, is blessed with a magical gift – she can bring paintings to life with the mere touch of her brush. Unfortunately for her, as often happens, this unique ability goes to her head. One day, having accepted money for a future piece, and greedily revelling in her new-found wealth, she touches the banknotes with her brush. The money springs to life, but the paintings fall silent, however hard she tries to make them speak! It’s a punishment: the magical gift is gone, her talent is no more, and her brushes dance as if mocking her. With the commissioned piece ruined, she sits and sobs in despair. Then she hears a whisper: “There’s a chance – give it back, give it back, maybe if you give the money back, your gift will return!”
Director Biography - Tatiana Skorlupkina is a musician, artist, composer, director, animator, and screenwriter, and the creator of a new ‘art of the screen’. Graduated from Glazunov Music Conservatory in Petrozavodsk and the Faculty of Arts and Graphics of Saint-Petersburg Herzen University. Member of Artists’ Union of Russia. Director of Art-studio "Fedor Sever" Her innovative cinematic works lead viewers into a world come alive, where genres are transformed and interwoven; here, images are music, music is images, and literary works both ‘vibrate and narrate’. Themes and characters from individual canvases and films migrate to others, always trying on new roles. The imagination and compositional virtuosity of artist and musician Tatiana Skorlupkina intermingle with the irony and bravery of writer Fedor Sever (Tatiana’s literary pseudonym), resulting in the remarkable creative tandems of her films, animations, and multimedia projects.
Director Statement
It is sense of proportion, a balance between occupied and free space, that creates harmony and a compositional perfection in architecture, sculpture, painting, music, theatre, and cinema… Embracing this concept changes perspectives, and works miracles. © Т.S.

12PM In Harmony With Nature Art, music & traditions of Warli Tribe in India.

Tribal art, dance, music and traditions are important segments of a nation’s cultural diversity. The film is a tribute to Warli, one of the tribes of India. In habitation of this tribe is largely in Dahanu & Talasari talukas of Thane, Nasik and Dhule districts of the state of Maharashtra, Valsad district of state of Gujarat and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.

12:23 Tight Spot A shoe shiner discovers his client's dark secret. Q&A

Shining the shoes of a walk-in customer, a shiner discovers his client’s dark secret.
Director Biography - Kevin Haefelin (born 1989 - Geneva Switzerland) is a film director, editor and screenwriter based in New York City. He is a graduate from the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) where he obtained a BFA in film directing in 2011. Haefelin’s thesis film Tirages en série won much critical acclaim and garnered number of awards and nominations worldwide, including nominations for the Leopard of Tomorrow at the 64th Festival del film Locarno, the Max Ophüls Preis and the Golden Palm at the 12th Beverly Hills Film Festival.

His short film Maman was co-produced by academy award nominated producer Max Karli from Rita Productions (My Life as a Zucchini, The Guardians, La rançon de la gloire) and was distributed on DVD as part of the short film collections La Faute a Rousseau which contains films by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Alain Tanner, Lionel Baier and Nicolas Philibert. Maman reached more than two million views on Youtube, was broadcasted on the Swiss National Television (RTS) and premiered at the 18th Visions du Réel International Film Festival. Haefelin’s film Le Dernier Cigare starring French actor Didier Flamand was co-produced by the Swiss National Television (RTS), nominated for the Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken and selected as part of the New York City Int. Film Festival. He is currently an MFA candidate in film Directing/Screenwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts in New York, where he studies under Professors Amos Gitaï, Ramin Bahrani, Annette Insdorf, Tom Kalin, Eric Mendelsohn.

1PM Mermaids Mexican wall is brought to a halt. Animation. Q&A

Director - Mick Cusimano

1:20 Tana Bana India's traditional textile dying, weaving & embroidery industry.

India has a very old and rich tradition of textiles. Perhaps it is the only region which has greater variety of their fabric and techniques. The film will take you to some of the traditional craftsmen from two vibrant states of India, Gujarat and Rajasthan who have kept the age old tradition of dying, printing, weaving and embroidery skills still alive.

1:45 My Theatre In Fukushima, Japan, man inherits old movies & theatre with much success.

My Theatre 19:45 ff319 p13
The man closed the Cinema 55 years ago. Even so, people are coming. The man also put a fire on the projector today. “I will never let it go!”
Director Biography - Kazuya Ashizawa is a filmmaker living in Fukushima. He was born and grew up in Fukushima and he is continuously filming people who are close to him even after the disaster of “Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station” in 2011.

Director Statement - I’m shooting people close to me. It is my great pleasure to let you know the current Fukushima (Japan) through my film.

2:15 Signature Activism in opposition to a proposed gas pipeline. Q&A

Can you make a difference? A surfing activist recruits opposition to a proposed gas pipeline next to Rockaway Beach, NYC.
Director Biography Per Anderson studied documentary filmmaking at the University Of Melbourne, Australia. He has worked as a director and producer on several indie features and music videos in NYC.
Director Statement - Put a halt to our dependence on fossil fuels.

Official Selection: Swiss Surf Film Festival (Lucerne CH), Patagonia Bowery (NYC USA), Procida Film Festival (Napoli Italy), Lunigiana Festival (Tuscany Italy), Friday Harbor Film Festival (Seattle USA)
I would like to make more films like "Signature". I feel that it's important to make films with not only a message, but hope. Visit http://nyc.surfrider.org for more info on how to oppose the Williams Pipeline.

2:35 Too Young for a Memoir Man plunges into his memory, nostalgia & regret. Animation.

A man plunges into his reservoir of memory, nostalgia and regret. But he finds love there, and curiosity, and personal expression. Stitched together with layered ink drawings, paintings, paper cutouts, collage and digital manipulation, Too Young for a Memoir lays bare the artist’s halting, anxious, misguided and beautiful search for wholeness.
Director Biography - Case Jernigan grew up by the sea in Charleston, South Carolina. He drew flying heroes and hairy monsters across every school notebook. He studied classical history and painting at William & Mary, The New York Studio School and in Italy, where he promptly and helplessly fell in love with Piero della Francesca, Giotto, Brunelleschi, and his wife, Cassandra. He moved into a cold but light filled studio in East Williamsburg and began to play with paper and ink. A child of the 80’s and 90’s, early influences upon his drawing roared back. History picture books, illustrated Greek mythology classics, retro video games, Saturday morning animation and comic books. He still lives and works in East Williamsburg and makes stop-motion animations, drawings and paper cutout lightboxes about nostalgia, politics, sports and memory.

Director Statement - This short project took shape over many months. I began drawing segments based on childhood memories. As I edited them together, I moved deeper and deeper into my childhood. Gradually I began to see that the work wasn’t about a specific moment from my past, but of course, about who I am now. A chance encounter with a former teacher helped lock in the concept. Stitched together with layered ink drawings, paintings, paper cutouts, collage and digital manipulation, Too Young for a Memoir lays bare an anxious, misguided and beautiful search for wholeness.
Art, animation, sound design and voice by Case Jernigan. Special thanks to Josh Giunta (Love Science Music) for sound assistance.

2:40 Here's Your Flag Army officer tells mother an algorithm predicts son will die in battle. Comedy. Q&A

An Army officer arrives at Mrs. Cavanaugh's door to inform her that a new algorithm predicts that her son Eddie will die in battle. Not “did” die, but “will” die. Since Eddie just enlisted yesterday, she feels this is hardly fair. The officer reminds her that the possibility of death was mentioned in the recruitment contract: “Page 12, in the fine print, at the bottom.” Mrs. Cavanaugh persists until she finds out Eddie will die a hero. “Will he be getting any medals? We can put them with his football trophies!” And then it just gets weird. By the way, there really is such a thing as a “death gratuity” when a loved one dies in battle, and yes, it really is $100,000. This is a comedy. (No, really.)
Director Biography - Jonny Lewis has written and directed 24 short films since 2008. Two of his previous short antiwar comedies, “Gonna Be a Soldier” and the stop-motion animation “G.I. Hospital,” appeared in a total of 80 festivals and won 11 awards. He is now working on several feature film scripts, both comedies and dramas. Jonny is also the Animation Curator of the New York City Independent Film Festival.

Director Statement - Films, both features and shorts, are a great method of social commentary. This film is my way of pointing out the absurdity of encouraging one's son or daughter to enlist in an organization--the U.S. military--whose purpose is to kill people while risking being killed yourself. Agree or disagree, hopefully it will make the viewer laugh, and also maybe think a little bit.

2:50 Fishing with Father Dad & son bond over fishing. Then dad has a stroke.

Satoshi, who is working hard to support his family, suffers a stroke, and loses the use of one side of his body. His family tries to carry on as they previously did, even though Satoshi is let go from his job. Satoshi and his son Hajime always bonded over fishing before his stroke. Hajime, a junior-high school student, loves fishing. He has always preferred fishing over studying, and his test scores reflect it. On a calm summer day, Hajime is fed up with studying and decides he will not go to high school, but instead get a job and work to support his family. Satoshi catches Hajime abandoning his studies to go fishing, which infuriates him so much he snaps Hajime’s fishing rod in half and yells “Never go fishing again!”. Hajime shouts back “Go to hell!”, then storms out of the house. At the pond Hajime lies on the grass. Worrying about his son, Satoshi attempts to follow him, only to fall down and lose consciousness. Hajime finds his father and helps him up. Satoshi reminisces about when his father was alive and three generations went fishing together. Nine-year-old Hajime quickly learned how to pull the fishing lure and caught the most fish. “Love what you do”, says Satoshi. Hajime’s eyes begin to tear up from his father’s encouraging words. Hajime becomes recommitted to studying and his test scores are picking up. While preparing for the entrance exam of his first choice, a less expensive high school, he passes the entrance exam of his safety school which is more expensive. Under financial pressure Hajime does not pay the admission fee of the safety school, but then fails the entrance exam of his first choice school. When Hajime believes that all is lost, and he is resolved to find a blue collar job, his father Satoshi informs him that he secretly paid the fee to the safety school, and Hajime can continue his education. Just as everything is looking up, while Satoshi is taking a walk as part of his physical therapy and rehabilitation, he gets hit by a car and dies. 30 years later, Hajime is dropping a line alone in the pond where he and his father promised to go fishing. Sitting next to him is the vision of his father dropping a line and smiling at him just like old times.
Director Biography - Shigeru Hirai Born in 1965 1990-2016 Businessman 2016-2017 New Cinema Workshop (film school in Tokyo) 2018 "Fishing with Father" (23 min. drama)

Director Statement - After working as a businessman for 26 years, I decided to leave my career and enroll in a filming school to shoot the story of my father who died when I was young. During the years, I didn't even think about my father as I was not able to take in what happened at that time. Now I have a kid of my own, turned about the same age when he died, and feel like I understand my father.

3:15 Dancer By The Sea Woman living by seaside adopts abandoned baby otter. Animation.

An lonely widowed older woman who lives by the sea finds and adopts an abandoned baby otter on her property. The relationship that develops transforms her life.
Director Biography - Barbara Mones is a Principal Lecturer in the School of Computer Science & Engineering, and Director of the Reality Studio, a part of the Reality Lab. She also leads the Facial Expression Research Group ( FERG). She has worked in both academia and industry in the areas of computer graphics and animation production for over thirty years. She was a tenured Associate Professor and the Founder and Director of the Visual Information Technology Graduate program at George Mason University, a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Computer Science at George Washington University, Fellow at the Human Interface Technology Lab at University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and worked for the White House and National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Al Gore's GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) Program. For this she was presented with a NASA Group Achievement award. She designed and wrote training programs for all aspects of the production pipeline at both Pacific Data Images/Dreamworks and Industrial Light and Magic. In her role as faculty, she has directed and produced nineteen animated shorts since 1999. Most recently she is developing curriculum that incorporates the potential of Virtual Reality into storytelling, content development and filmmaking. She has lectured extensively on an international level on topics related to animation and curriculum development. Her films have been shown in theaters and museums internationally including the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater and the Smithsonian Institution. Barbara received her undergraduate degree from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Thereafter, she studied animation at Sheridan College and received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design.

Director Statement - The animated short submitted ( Dancer By The Sea) was created by a collaborative and interdisciplinary group of students at the University of Washington. For each of the student production team members this was their very first experience creating an animated short film. The location for the story is based on a house that is located on the Olympic Peninsula in western Washington state in the US and the student production team travelled to that location several times to get a feel for the geography and the visual character and mood of the area and their story. The story was based on two interactions with sea otters in the wild at a state park and the relationship that developed between the older woman and the otter is a composite of the those experiences. The students captured the sadness and loss of a woman many years their senior and followed her transformation over one year in a sensitive, beautiful and subtle depiction of life changes that are internal. The film screened at the Seattle International Film Festival. Barbara Mones served as the Director and Producer for the film but the film was created by the students and staff in the program.

3:25 Anything for the Ones We Love Musical. Indigenous and white man unite fleeing ecological disaster. Q&A

The indigenous and the white man united by the same fight. A poetic fresco on the state of the planet that depicts the First Nations man fleeing the ecological and humanitarian disaster since the conquest of the Americas. Anything for the Ones We Love is a musical film with INDIGENOUS pianist Salvador Chavajay as the messenger.
Director Biography - Louise Marie Beauchamp is a trained musician, but has a career as a visual designer for television and cinema. Concerned about the environment, in 2012 she founded an organic vegetable farm and since 2005 she has been operating an inn that her and her family built in the middle of a Mayan village in Guatemala.
This short film is her fifth in her career as a director.
Director Statement - I produced this movie not to speak about myself, but to speak about a indigenous classical pianist who want to talk about the situation of his people and the planet.

4PM Suncatcher Kara finds her car stolen which is also her Venice, CA. home.

For months Kira has been living out of her car in Venice, California. Facing a constant struggle to keep her head above water, Kira’s world collapses when she returns home from work one evening to find her car stolen. Vulnerable and alone, Kira must navigate the harrowing uncertainty of a night on the streets. Featuring the world famous poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks in its first cinematic adaptation, Suncatcher is a piercing exploration of mindfulness in the face of crisis. A haunting meditation that captures both the stunning beauty, and perilous isolation, of life on the fringes of Los Angeles’s coastal westside.
Director Biography - Co-founder of Paper Horse Pictures, Parker Croft has been working in film and television for over a decade. He has directed music videos for The All-American Rejects, commercials, and short films like Suncatcher which is set to premiere in 2019. Parker wrote and produced the film Falling Overnight which won fifteen awards at the twenty-six festivals it played. Parker has also appeared in over twenty films and TV shows including: Big Little Lies, American Horror Story, Nip / Tuck, Roadies, Once Upon A Time, and Pitch.

4:15 Drums, Lies & Videotapes A spoof on Woodstock hippy drummers. Community effort matters.

For months Kira has been living out of her car in Venice, California. Facing a constant struggle to keep her head above water, Kira’s world collapses when she returns home from work one evening to find her car stolen. Vulnerable and alone, Kira must navigate the harrowing uncertainty of a night on the streets. Featuring the world famous poetry of Jalal al-Din Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks in its first cinematic adaptation, Suncatcher is a piercing exploration of mindfulness in the face of crisis. A haunting meditation that captures both the stunning beauty, and perilous isolation, of life on the fringes of Los Angeles’s coastal westside.
Director Biography - Co-founder of Paper Horse Pictures, Parker Croft has been working in film and television for over a decade. He has directed music videos for The All-American Rejects, commercials, and short films like Suncatcher which is set to premiere in 2019. Parker wrote and produced the film Falling Overnight which won fifteen awards at the twenty-six festivals it played. Parker has also appeared in over twenty films and TV shows including: Big Little Lies, American Horror Story, Nip / Tuck, Roadies, Once Upon A Time, and Pitch.

4:30 Cadence Female recruit complains she doesn't like the marching chant. Q&A

A young female recruit complains to the major that she doesn’t like the cadence they chant while marching. But her objections are not to the racist and dehumanizing aspects of it.
Director Biography - Jonny Lewis has written and directed 24 short films since 2008. Two of his previous short antiwar comedies, “Gonna Be a Soldier” and the stop-motion animation “G.I. Hospital,” appeared in a total of 80 festivals and won 11 awards. He is now working on several feature film scripts, both comedies and dramas. Jonny is also the Animation Curator of the New York City Independent Film Festival.

Director Statement - With each war, we pick another group of people to demonize. It's hard to kill people unless you can convince yourself they are Evil. My own grandchildren are half Japanese, living in Japan. If this were 1942, they would be my enemy, and if i were in the military, it would be my job to try to kill them. Doesn't make much sense to me.

4:50 Shine Italian American immigrant explains passion as a shoe repairman.

"One man's shoe is another man's dream." An Italian-American immigrant explains his great passion in life – cleaning and repairing the shoes of others. And he’s been doing it for over 70 years.
Director Biography - Rhett Bradbury has had lifelong problem with movies – he can never seem to get enough of them. Not being able to take it anymore he decided to just go and make his own, dammit. Rhett is a first-time filmmaker and professional graphic designer. He received a masters in communication design from Pratt Institute. Rhett looks for ward to crafting his next documentary, as well as yammering on about one of his many short and feature-length film ideas, or anything else about movies, to whomever will listen.

5:30 The Light Bright Man of Rockaway A luthier explains original musical instruments that light up.

Billy Arnold's artistic and electronic talents are highlighted in this short video. As a self-described luthier, he explains how he designs, constructs, and plays his unique musical instruments, which not only illuminate his rare skills but also light up the night.
Director Biography - Lee Quinby, Dan Scarpati Lee Quinby: As Founder of Lucky Find Productions and Co-Founder of the True Delta Project, with an academic background in American Studies, and as a film producer, writer and director, I specialize in human-interest stories that entertain as they educate. Daniel Scarpati: With no connections in the film industry, Daniel has forged his own path as a filmmaker. The 100+ movies he has produced, directed and edited have collectively gained over 2,000,000 views and won awards nationwide. After years of production assistant work on network shows and studio features in New York City, Daniel is now creating content through his own company, Passing Planes Productions.

5:40 Butterscotch A high end escort meets a brain damaged woman; life changing.

A high end escort meets a young woman with brain damage who changes the course of her life. In the heart of Los Angeles, mid 90s, an escort with an enormous debt to serious players, Skye (Andrea Bucko) is stalked by a young woman with brain damage, Ava (Courtney Paige) who offers her a second chance at life. Panthea (Elysia Rotaru) is a raddled Russian madam who raids Skye’s apartment only to find she has nothing. Ace and Dom, Panthea’s right hand men, leave her brutally beaten and barely alive. When Ava finds her, Skye starts to feel the weight of her decisions. The two become friends, but when Ava begins developing a romantic infatuation, it leaves Skye conflicted with her sexuality and life as she knows it.

Director Biography - Courtney Paige made her breakout performance on E!'s hit series, "The Arrangement" in Vancouver, BC. Born and raised in Kelowna, BC Canada, Paige started creating film and television concepts at the age of nine. She went to theatre school, coached CJFL Cheerleading and is the former Miss BC Interior. She has spent ten years studying the craft of acting, doing writing workshops, attending WIFTV events, and learning to produce. Courtney currently resides in Los Angeles working under an 0.1 visa for her extraordinary talent. She is the co founder and CEO of Neon Candy Productions, slated to go to camera on two feature films next year. Courtney and her two business partners have nine feature films and a pilot in development. They intend to make major waves in Hollywood and tell female driven stories based on true events. Butterscotch is Courtney’s directors debut. She wrote the film alongside Andrea Bucko with the intention of hiring someone great. Courtney has always wanted to start directing later down the road, but with such a clear vision in her head on this project, she decided it was time. With a background in photography and acting, she found the transition to be a thrilling one. After directing Butterscotch, Courtney has caught the directors bug and aims to direct her own projects as much as possible moving forward. Paige also hopes to someday be a member of the Actor's Studio, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and own her own studio. She admires and is inspired by Oprah Winfrey's casting journey on "The Color Purple,"Meryl Streep's work ethic and the incredible humanitarian work of Elizabeth Taylor. Courtney Paige has always resonated with Walt Disney who said it best, "We don't make movies to make money, we make movies to make more movies.

Director Statement - I am interested female driven and hard to tell stories. I believe that there is beauty and love in all stories, even the broken ones. Each script I've written has touched my heart in a moving way. I love taking riveting characters and making them as dynamic as possible. I am so inspired by Quentin Tarantino and Derek Cianfrance. I want to leave a mark on the film industry as an edgier female writer/director. I want to use my voice in my art. I want it to mean something.

6PM Paradise Boogie Early blues influence from the Black Bottom & Paradise Alley in Detroit.

Paradise Boogie shines a light on the influence of Detroit's early blues musicians, the neighborhoods of Black Bottom & Paradise Valley and how it all influenced the music makers of today and tomorrow. Detroit's bluesmakers demonstrate the melding of times and sharing of cultures through the blues. Highlighting the alliance of a veteran hall of famer musician and a 10 year old harp player, we honor the past, savor the present and strive toward the future of Detroit blues.
Director Biography - Lisa Hagopian, Eric Harabadian Lisa Hagopian CO-DIRECTOR, CO-PRODUCER, CO-WRITER, CINEMATOGRAPHER/DP, EDITOR spent many hours as a child watching movies on TV after school. What an education in film history - from 1930s gangster flicks, to Gentlemen’s Agreement to musicals and every other genre imaginable. Her mother often took Lisa to the Fisher Theater in Detroit to see the latest Broadway play. Her junior high school would screen films like The Red Bal-loon and Night and Fog every year and it was during this time that she joined the school’s film club. This all led Lisa to a life-long love of film, theater and photography. She really caught the photography bug when she took photojournalism classes at Michigan State University. Video production and film appreciation classes came later. After polishing her skills, Lisa & Eric Harabadian produced a public access TV series called "The Arts Uncovered" . Lisa and Eric completed their first full length documentary "Nothin' but Music" in 2016.
Eric Harabadian CO-DIRECTOR, CO-PRODUCER, CO-WRITER, PUBLICIST, ASSISTANT CAMERA has been a writer for nearly 25 years having been published in Downbeat, Music Connection, & Metro Times just to name a few. He is also an accomplished songwriter/ vocalist/ guitarist and has been the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the bands Chain Reaction and Alter Ego. Eric started his filmmaking ventures as a pre teen making animated and super 8mm short films for his family and school projects. Shortly thereafter he learned guitar and was off and running with music. In addition to the series “The Arts Uncovered”, Eric volunteered for the Michigan Television Network. Besides music, writing and filmmaking, Eric is also a public relations consultant with Media Stew Public Relations.

Director Statement - “It’s been such an enriching ex-perience for us to produce Para-dise Boogie and bring to light all the talents of Detroit area blues musicians and showcase the Detroit blues legacy. Producing a documentary is a learning ex-perience from start to finish as we learned so much about the talent, dedication and love for the blues in our Detroit community.” Detroit community.



 
 
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