Using spray paint on a garage where Aboriginal mother and grandmother Gloria Black Plume was brutally murdered in 1999, Cree artist Jesse Gouchey paints a large scale animation of a bluebird in flight. The beauty and freedom of the bluebird's motion is contrasted with remembrances of Gloria's surviving family members, who give an emotional glimpse of a woman lost to violence and the injustice of the legal system.
2011
Best Animation
Animation
Canada
Runtime:
5 minutes
45 seconds
Director:
Jesse Gouchey, Xstine Cook
Best Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
27 minutes
Director:
Jason M. Solomon
In 1964, after spending a one year protracted legal battle, co-club owners, Howard and Elly Solomon were finally granted a 'unique' cabaret license and the Cafe Au Go Go opened its doors on February 7. Six weeks later with mounting legal bills and depleting funds the couple were quickly going out of business. With few options, Howard and Elly made a desperate, late minute attempt to keep the club open and reached out to popular comedian, Lenny Bruce. Two days into Lenny's performance he was arrested and booked for obscenity charges, alone with Howard and Elly. THat historic arrest, and the international press it garnered would put the Cafe Au Go Go on the tnertainment world map.
Best Experimental Film
Experimental
Germany
Runtime:
14 minutes
50 seconds
Director:
Florian Krautkramer
Everything seemed to go wrong from within and without. The never-ending official arbitrariness was oppressing, the examining glance outside. But lately, resistance has formed here. With excuses and blinders, the protagonist achieved in building his own world without reacting to the events taking place. But when fate tried to force him into making a decision, he chooses again a facade constructed of lies and spectacle. Breaking legs is a silent movie. It makes room for the linguistic incapability of the protagonist, but the inter-titles try to explore this format.
Animation
United States
Runtime:
3 minutes
48 seconds
Director:
John Roberts
Melancholy mixed-medium animation about a lonely girl and her friend.
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
53 minutes
Director:
James Nubile, Joseph Fox
A Documentary Film on the Battle for Same-Sex Marriage in America On May 6th, 2009 Maine became the first state in this country to legislatively grant same-sex couples the right to marry. Seven months later, on November 3rd 2009 Maine reversed, becoming the thirty-first state in this country to say 'no' to gay and lesbian marriage. Filmed from within both campaigns, 'Question One' chronicles the fierce and emotional battle that took place in Maine during that time, a battle whose political symbolism is a bellwether for the greater ideological battlefield in American politics.
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
2 minutes
14 seconds
Director:
Ericka Frederick
Walking Peace is a 3-minute film about the complexities of daily existence and the need to take the time to balance what is happening around us. This concise, powerful film shows a young man moving through his world, shedding burdens and seeking a place of peace.
Narrative Short
Germany
Runtime:
44 minutes
59 seconds
Director:
Marco J. Riedl
'Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles isn't a realist!' - Billy Wilder A quirk of fate leads Luke Hallow to risk violating his parole and losing his newly won freedom. He has to save the life of his nine-year-old daughter, Noel, who urgently needs a donor heart. Only a miracle keeps him from losing everything forever.
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
5 minutes
Director:
Grayson Johnson
Franklin and Pierce spend yet another typical atypical weekend in the small town of Paducah, Kentucky. Renting out costumes and working at a coffee shop to get by, they drift through bizarre normalities and uncanny coincidences, until Lucy moves to the town for the Summer.
Narrative Feature
United Kingdom
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
36 minutes
Director:
Alan Butterworth
A black comedy set in decaying rural England, a collision between old and new.
It follows estranged brothers Marcus and Danny Drummond as they find themselves on a surprisingly dangerous undertaking to unravel the mystery surrounding their fathers very unlikely wealth.
A deeply affectionate modern retelling of the classic comedies and murder mysteries from the Ealing era of British cinema, The Drummond Will imagines what it would be like to be stuck in a world where the strange rules of Ealing cinema apply. A world where life continues quite as normal in the face of escalating body counts, where sleepy English villages invariably harbour any number of dark secrets, and where you only really know who the murderer is when everybody else has been killed. The thoroughly modern Danny and Marcus are trapped in just such a world, and are quickly swept out of their depth. As they realise theyll need to rely on each other if they are to survive, and modern ideas like forensics, cell phones and common sense wont help them, it quickly becomes clear that, inevitably, nothing is what it seems.
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
18 minutes
18 seconds
Director:
Peter McBride
Follow the Colorado River, source to sea, with photographer Pete McBride who takes an intimate look at the watershed as he attempts to follow the irrigation water that sustains his family's Colorado ranch, down river to the sea. Traversing 1500 miles and draining seven states, the Colorado River supports over 30 million people across the southwest. It is not the longest or largest U.S. river, but it is one of the most loved and litigated in the world.
Today, this resource is depleted and stressed. Follow its path with an artistic, aerial view on a personal journey to understand this national treasure. McBride teamed up with his bush-pilot father to capture unique footage and also shadowed the adventure of Jon Waterman who became the first to paddle the entire length of the river.