Two strangers meet at a coffee shop for what seems like a blind date. But as the conversation progresses, it becomes clear that this couple, who have never seen each other face to face and who met on the Internet, have actually formed a suicide pact. Problems arise when the couple realizes that they may have finally found something worth living for. Comprised of three continuous takes-one take for each act-and shot over the course of two days, Commit is witty and disturbing, as well as an inspirational achievement in independent filmmaking.
Best of the Fest
Feature Film Award
Narrative Feature
United States
Run time:
80 minutes
Director(s):
Neil Mandt
Cliff and Charlie work together selling bathroom supplies. Charlie's the seasoned traveler, having been to over 50 countries before his 30th birthday. Cliff dreams of traveling but always finds an excuse not to go. When Charlie asks Cliff to go to the Full Moon Party in Thailand, it is no surprise to anyone when Charlie is rejected. Things suddenly change when Cliff gets a phone call informing him that one of his childhood friends died unexpectedly. At the funeral, Cliff learns his buddy had been planning a trip around the world. Cliff decides to make sure his friend still makes that trip, even if it means carrying his ashes in a thermos to do it.Together, all three embark on a trip of a lifetime.
Short Film Award
Narrative Short
United States
Run time:
18m:0s
Director(s):
Bob Pondillo
Wallace Waverly is a socially sheltered, high functioning mentally challenged man who has lived with his mother all his life. Upon her death, Wallace finds himself alone and lonesome, rattling around in mom's big, old Victorian home. Wallace's days now consist of playing ragtime on the family piano and gazing out the front window. One day, as he browses through the personal section of a newspaper he sees an ad that reads: 'Lonely? Need Love? Call 1-900-HOT BABES.' Wallace, taking the ad literally, dials the number and falls in love with Tiffany, the 900 sex-line operator he encounters.'My Name is Wallace,' while a sweet and touching comedy, is also the story of personal salvation through love.
Avery Crounse Award
Experimental
United States
Run time:
21m:0s
Director(s):
Tom Parrish
Shot with a still camera and using basic animation techniques, this is a 'silent' movie played against Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli. A woman, making tea over the course of a year, finds unexpected things with each variation. A blackberry. An egg which turns into a peach. A small plastic statue of Saint Clare who tries, unsuccessfully, to make her presence known. An old photo that falls out of a book. Tea made with chewing tobacco which brings on a frenzy of multi-tasking. A lump of coal which causes her displeasure on Halloween. A falling book that sets off a little explosion of starry-looking dust, which she inhales. An unseen female figure who forces her out of her house. A photograph of herself dead. An autumn branch that spills its leaves. Toy soldiers, a doll, and a rubber snake. A copy of the film Rebecca. Bark, which grows on her body. A golden stone, which she takes to a cemetery. A pair of glasses reminding her of a lost love. A camera that shoots into the future. A glass of water. A child who makes the woman disappear into a wilderness from which she struggles to get back home, where she faces her worst fears, and wins. Meanwhile, all of this has been foreseen on another plane.
The River's Edge Film Festival is proud to kick off the festival with the WORLD PREMIERE screening of 'A Still Life'. Director TOM PARRISH will be in attendence and will host a Q&A session after each screening.
Juror’s Award
Narrative Feature
United States
Run time:
100 minutes
Director(s):
Dorothy Lyman
The fates of three Vermont families intertwine against the backdrop of loss, violence, and a distant war.
Documentary Feature
United States
Run time:
73 minutes
Director(s):
Vince DiPersio
Jeff Key is a Marine - body and soul. You can tell the instant you look at him -- six feet four, square-jawed with a quiet authority that is tempered by an easy Southern drawl. Born in rural Alabama -- schooled in the Church Of Christ, Jeff is a true believer in God and in Country. Jeff Key is a Marine. Jeff Key is also Gay. This film is Jeff's story.
Experimental
Run time:
9m:0s
Director(s):
Thomas Brandon
A non-linear look at the different stages of a relationship.
Documentary Feature
United States
Run time:
75 minutes
Director(s):
Richard Kraft, Adam Shell
After the death of his older brother and challenges to his own health, a Hollywood talent agent drags his son through an obsessive quest to recapture his childhood involving Zero Gravity flights, obsessive collecting of pieces of Disneyland and on a trek around the world to discover the perfect roller coaster. Along the way both father and son discover one another and the true meaning of living life to its fulle
Documentary Short
United States
Run time:
45m:0s
Director(s):
David B. Marshall
Autumn's Harvest is a film which focuses on the confluence of three factors; an historically invisible and legally subjugated migrant worker population; a shift from a predominantly American southern Black migrant population to a non-U.S. socially, culturally, and linguistically isolated workforce; and a virus, HIV/AIDS, that is relentlessly infecting and killing the working poor. Autumn's Harvest is told through the experience of an African American second generation migrant worker living with AIDS. From his life experience we will come to understand the current state of migrant health. We will see the impact HIV has on migrant workers. We will learn how HIV/AIDS may impact an industry that relies on their labor; what it means for the average American; and the impending disaster best described by Velma Smith, Director of New York's Rural Opportunities:'American farm workers longevity of life is less than any other group; add HIV to that and I think you have already killed them.'Douglas's story is inter-cut with historical footage to tell the story of the longstanding neglect of the American migrant population and how AIDS found a permanent home with America working poor.
Animation
United States
Run time:
6m:0s
Director(s):
John Cernak
Don't Tread on Me. What 'THE MAN' wants, 'THE MAN' gets...and if you don't pay attention it will all go by in the blink of a sound bite!
Honorable Mention
Narrative Short
United States
Run time:
14m:0s
Director(s):
Kristina Lear
Ten-year-old Kate is has confusing parents; her self-absorbed father is charming and attractive and her anxious mother is loving and controlling. One day after school, Kate is asked by a strange man to take a ride with him. Encouraged by the unknown man's kind words and easy manner as well as the excitement of doing something secret from her parents, Kate decides to make her first break from mom and dad's guidance and take a different route home.
Narrative Short
United States
Run time:
12m:0s
Director(s):
America Palacios
One-Eyed Marky & the Gay Caballeros is a story about a boy with one eye and one big imagination. When his father decides that Marky is better off with two eyes, Marky is faced with the realities of social perceptions and societal pressures. With the support of his neighbor Hector, Marky learns the importance of embracing his identity in the face of a world that isn't always so embracing.