2010

Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
Director:
J.D. Wilkes

Described as both dignified and disarming by author Bill Friskics-Warren, the new film Seven Signs focuses on the music, mythology and faith that persist, despite heavy modernization, in the American South.

The documentary also marks the directorial debut for J.D. Wilkes, the artist/musician lauded by Alarm magazine as the closest thing there is to the Ambassador of Genuine, Traditional Southern Culture. Wilkes also contributes to the chilling Seven Signs soundtrack... alongside the rawest talent The Delta and Appalachia have to offer.

With these strong southern roots, the filmmaker has made a profound, empathetic statement that celebrates the eccentricities and traditions of an increasingly marginalized area of America. Yet it is an area whose cultural identity stubbornly continues to thrive in the underground today. Fresh from a sold out premiere in Nashville, TN, Seven Signs is currently setting up new screenings across the country and is even being solicited to appear throughout the film festival circuit. Soliciting events include: The Raindance Film Festival (the UKs largest film festival), The FantastiaFest in Montreal, The Deep Blues Music/Film Fest in Wisconsin, and The Backseat Film Fest in Pennsylvania.

Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
43 minutes
Director:
Barbara Klutinis

Stepping into the Stream is not just about women and fly fishing. Intrinsically, it is about women connecting with nature and a deeper part of themselves. It's about our being willing to take risks to learn something new that will allow us to commune with rivers and wildlife. It's about finding an adventure all our own and relishing it. Six women are interviewed in the film, and the topics range from how we, as women, got into the sport, how fly fishing is different things for different people, how we found our way into the sport as women in a man's domain, how fly fishing helps us with life's challenges and the spiritual connections we make through this sport. There are also brief interludes in the film that celebrate rivers and how they teach us about life. The film is geared towards anyone who has ever had a passion for doing something that enriches the person inside. My hope is that Stepping into the Stream will also inspire other women to find the courage to do something new.

Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
5 minutes
Director:
Marko Slavnic

A couple has an intimate conversation in a restaurant unaware that their every word is being closely monitored.

Experimental
United States
Runtime:
17 minutes
Director:
Michael Frost

Chi Sei? is an experimental film consisting of re-constructed and stylized images from Italian demonic possession and exploitation films of the 1970's. Its influences are the experimental films of Kenneth Anger, Ken Jacobs as well as European Trash Cinema.

The 17th Century... The Inquisition. A witch is about to be burned on a stake. She looks deep into the eyes of the hooded Inquisitor about to burn her...

Yesterday...Pregnant Jessica is in bed, possessed by the spirit of the Witch. Her son and daughter run around the house unsupervised, and their toys have a life of their own. The children run to check on their mother but...Mommy isn't home...

Animation
United States
Runtime:
6 minutes
Director:
Robert Kohr

Everyone has been guilty of small misdeeds at one point or another. The Lift explores the consequences of one all too common act of not holding the elevator door open for someone eager to get on or worse, pushing the close button. An elevator interaction goes wrong, prompting a young woman to learn about being insensitive and to hold open the elevator door the next time around.

Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
39 minutes
Director:
Scott Stafford

Tony Dedman and his friends are set adrift when their backyard wrestling careers are brought to an abrupt end. A despised former classmate reveals his goal to live on a Mexican beach, and Tony finds misguided purpose in beating him to the punch. The funding for this trip proves elusive. A veterinarian obsessed with a creature of local legend may hold the key, offering to pay for an expedition into the Kentucky backwoods. Dedman will go to any lengths to make this happen, including being led by Bass Adkins, a recluse farmer who has already used the creature as a homicide defense. It's a coming-of-middle-age tale as their raucous adventure leads to many discoveries, including what it truly means to live.

Experimental
Iran
Runtime:
10 minutes
Director:
Ali Delgoshaee, Ehsan Foka

This is the story of a husband and wife. The woman tries to save the marriage, but it's not working. Their relationship has a serious problem.

Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
19 minutes
Director:
Joseph Albanese

Arthur Poe (Cris D'Annunzio) is a sadistic killer who likes to torture his victims. In 1993 he was captured and subsequently convicted by the state of Virginia for several gruesome murders. Poe received a sentence of death. Years later and days before his execution, the newly-elected governor granted Poe clemency based on the testimony of a forensic psychologist at Poe's murder trial. The testimony convinced the governor that Poe deserved psychiatric care rather than death. Many are outraged by the governor's act of leniency. A reporter (Maury Morgan) confronts Poe in an interview seeking to shed light on the emotionally charged topic. What she learns can never be forgotten.

Juror’s Award, Juror's Award
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
30 minutes
Director:
Steven Crowley

Andy Meyers, the subject of the film, has decided he wants to end his life in front of a camera for the world to see. His depression and array of ailments from his bout with diabetes have driven him to the edge. His idol, Bud Dwyer, who also killed himself in front of cameras during a press conference, gained much notoriety for his suicide, and Andy feels this is his only chance "to be somebody". Andy recruited his counselor-turned-filmmaker to document the suicide and also his last day. Andy's last day consists of walking his dog one last time, a short visit to the ocean, a Chinese food dinner, sex with a hooker, eating a lot of candy and death. However, things take an unexpected turn when the hired crew decides they cannot witness Andy killing himself. The crew quits production, leaving the director and producer/investor in a major bind. Can they finish the film without the crew? Does Andy Meyers kill himself?

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