2012

Best Of the Fest
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Jacob Cartwright, Nick Jordan

Between Two Rivers is a new documentary film about Cairo, Illinois, a historic town with a dark and troubled past, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, in the heartland of America. Filmed, edited and directed by artists Jacob Cartwright and Nick Jordan, Between Two Rivers offers a remarkable insight into a community struggling with severe economic, social and environmental pressures.

Jury Prize Documentary Short Film
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
40 minutes
Director:
Christine Lee

Hip Hop Maestro begins with an overture of kinetic concert footage that reveals linebacker sized maestro, Geoff Double G Gallegos, his symphony, Reepus II in A Minor, and the young, vibrant Los Angeles musicians who willingly give their time and talent to this orchestra known as daKAH. Told in first person narration, Double G chronicles his amazing journey as a young composer whose epic vision of bringing elements of hip hop, jazz, funk and reggae into the symphonic audience despite great odds- a.k.a no $. In three movements, this daKUMENTARY shall demonstrate how Double Gs unique leadership and single- minded determination propels daKAH from the Los Angeles nightclub scene to the magnificent stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Jury Prize For Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Ana Nogueira

Ana Nogueira is a white South African and Eron Davidson a Jewish Israeli. Drawing on their first-hand knowledge of the issues, the producers take a close look at the apartheid comparison often used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their film breaks down the rhetorical analogy into a fact-based comparison, noting where the analogy is useful and appropriate, and where it is not. There are many lessons to draw from the South African experience relevant to conflicts all over the world. This film is as much a historical document of the rise and fall of apartheid, as it is a film about why many Palestinians feel they are living in an apartheid system today, and why an increasing number of people around the world agree with them.

Jury Prize For Narrative Short Film
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
27 minutes
Director:
Alexander Gaeta

Marcy Meyers is down on her luck. Faced with piling bills, the remnants of a failed marriage, and now an imminent home foreclosure, she has nowhere to turn but to the hope of a miracle. That miracle she find in Shoot the Moon, a national game show that promises a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win it all. But Marcy's faith in the show comes with a price as her relationship with her daughter, Alice, is put to the test as the clock ticks towards a seemingly inescapable fate. Shoot the Moon tells the story of miracles and the extraordinary places they're found.

Jury Prize For Best Narrative Feature
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
53 minutes
Director:
Martha Stephens

Seeking escape from his stalled relationship and unhappy place in the world, a recently pink-slipped music teacher sets out to hike Kentucky's Sheltowee Trace Trail. Among the verdant hills of Appalachia, he encounters various strange characters and becomes the reluctant companion of a gregarious father and son who ultimately help him rediscover what he's been missing.

Audience Award
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Wes Pryor

Livin' for a Song is a feature length documentary on the life and music of legendary Nashville songwriter Hank Cochran. A remarkable story that starts in the cotton fields of Mississippi then moves on to California where he partnered with Rock legend Eddie Cochran for much of the 50s then on to Nashville in 1960 where he wrote classics such as 'Make the World Go Away', 'I Fall to Pieces', 'She's Got You' and many more. The film includes intimate performances by Elvis Costello, Brad Paisley, Lee Ann Womack, Ronnie Milsap and others as well as appearances by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Jeannie Seely to name just a few. After watching this film you will understand why they called Hank: 'The Legend'.

Narrative Feature
Canada
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
20 minutes
Director:
Atul Sharma

Moments before an anniversary party at his house, an Indian man sits in his back yard in a state of shock. His wife lies dead at his feet. He pulls it together enough to call 911 but the doorbell rings. Family and guests are here for the party. He makes a split second decision, hangs up on 911 and scrambles to hide the body. Reminiscent of Hitchcock's ROPE, guests fill the house not realizing the deceased hostess lies in their midst. Her desperate husband seems willing to go to any lengths to conceal the truth. In the process, significant, sometimes darkly comic differences emerge between his Hindu family and western culture. How long can he possibly keep his morbid secret and why?

Experimental
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
22 minutes
Director:
Banks Helfrich

In a world where time is vertical, mathematician Nigel Kline, stumbles upon himself. Sorting his past, present and future seems the least of his worries when his mother falls for him. The weaving of time lays the foundation for Nigels acceptance of his own immortality.

Animation
United States
Runtime:
9 minutes
Director:
Michael Zachary Huber

Part science fiction, part thriller and part cautionary fairytale, Worlds Apart encompasses the universal themes of innocence, friendship and the possible fate of humanity. Set in the not so distant future, Earth is visited by extra terrestrials on a peaceful mission to find sentient life. Landing near a central California farm home, they discover a desolate, polluted world where little life remains. As they search the abandoned farm home, they find a lone teddy bear that emits signs of life. With the aid of their futuristic technology, they extract the memories of the teddy bear and thus unravel the mystery of humanity's demise. Worlds Apart asks the questions, is there hope for what remains of humanity?

Narrative Short
Spain
Runtime:
20 minutes
Director:
Fernando Uson-Fornies

A photographer obsessed by Belchite, a village bombed down during the Spanish civil war, meets there a mysterious woman.

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