Michael, a down on his luck, love-less bag boy, learns that world-famous, concert violinist Nicholas Rentz is going to be performing for a few nights in his home town. Bearing a resemblance to the musician (a well-known bachelor with female fans around the globe), Michael hatches an elaborate plan to impersonate him with the hope that he can trick a woman or two into thinking he's the genuine article and get lucky. But when he meets a classy young woman at a ritzy nightclub and is poised to seal the deal, things take an unexpected turn.
2010
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
14 minutes
Director:
Joseph Hendrickson
REIFF 2010
Discover the art of tree house design and creation through the heart, mind and music of Roderick Romero, one of the great visionaries in his field. Roderick has pushed the boundaries of tree house aesthetics and has redefined what it means to be living with nature. Set to the music of Roderick's longtime band Sky Cries Mary & Futruo, the soundtrack expresses the man behind the architecture.
Follow Roderick from start to finish on one of his most pinnacle projects to date, the Moroccan Lantern Tree House. Observe fundamental techniques in tree house construction while exploring the thoughts that shape Roderick's sculptural dwellings. Choosing to use almost 99% all reclaimed materials, Roderick has been a long time supporter of sustainable architecture. This level of consciousness invites a deeper understanding of the spaces we live in and connects us to the beauty of the natural world. His unique perspective illuminates this exciting new art form and translates across disciplines to give elevating insights into the art-making process.
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
12 minutes
Director:
Joel Moffett
REIFF 2010
Poi Dogs is the story of two local Hawaiian teenagers and their awkward attempts at expressing a budding romantic interest in each other. Toa, a tough-acting lineman on a crappy high school football team, has just lost the big game. Distraught and alone, he drives home on his old ramshackle moped, which breaks down in the shadow of an abandoned sugar mill. Anela, the tough-acting tuba player on his teams marching band, walks up and tries to console him. Ashamed, Toa pushes her away. After a tense fight, Toa and Anela find common ground by overcoming their pride and accepting each other's help. In the end, Poi Dogs illustrates the first small step towards love by two guarded teenagers.
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
36 minutes
Director:
Ethan Dufault
REIFF 2010
This film is the story of an 86-year-old, war veteran poet, Peter Kane Dufault, as he comes to terms with his past and the collective sense of a threatened future. This is a story about connection and loss, both personal and political. Through on-screen interactions with his son, two Nobel laureates and the actor Chris Noth, Peter reveals how poetic language and imagination can bridge the rifts that open between individuals and the larger political, environmental and emotional landscape of their lives.
The actor Chris Noth pays a visit to the poet, who was once his American history teacher and soccer coach. He recalls the formative influence the old man had on his life. They play soccer together. Peter and his son travel to Cape May to find the declining American kestrel. Peter recites a poem about his deceased daughter who brought him a fledgling kestrel to raise. A kestrel appears as if "quarried out of a rainbow," the symbol of all that is vanishing from what's left of the American wilderness. He expresses his outrage at the past administration's piecemeal demolition of the Constitution in a poem called "Blues Recitative," and acknowledges his disappointment with the present administration. In the end, Peter admits that he's glad that he doesn't have to teach American history any more. He observes a colony of seals plunging into a stormy surf, reflecting on the mortal entity that the earth has become. He walks away, alone, vanishing into the mist.
Narrative Short
Nigeria, United States
Runtime:
8 minutes
Director:
Anthony Onah
REIFF 2010
Agbo, a previously-deported, Nigerian immigrant, runs the streets of downtown LA after smuggling her way back into America. From a church to a shelter to a bus station, she tries to stay hidden while being pursued. When she is finally cornered, Agbo is forced to make a decision that will alter her future like none before.
Experimental
United States
Runtime:
24 minutes
Director:
Brent Chesanek
REIFF 2010
A meditation on physical space and solitude, Brethren Arise is an abstract narrative tone poem in which environments engulf characters in various circumstances. A pilot stranded on a mountain, a grade school custodian and the people at a public park in Brooklyn are featured in this atmospheric assemblage of images and sounds that explores location, isolation and human perception.
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
38 minutes
Director:
Claudia Adams
REIFF 2010
A Far-Off Cry is a story of parallels, of opposites--two planets forced off course by the filmmakers. The parallel Pakistan worlds of the untouchables (street children addicted to solvents) and the intellectuals. According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime publication "Solvent Abuse Among Street Children in Pakistan," there are more than 140 million street children in the world, most of whom are victims of solvent abuse. Their needs, their feelings, their hopes for survival are nonexistent. The goal of this documentary is to give Karachi's street children a platform, to give them a face, a voice, a way to reach out for help. But more than that, it puts them in the same room as Pakistan's doctors, psychiatrists and government officials in an attempt to address this crisis--if not actually together in the same room, at least together on screen through the magic of film making.
Documentary Feature
Japan, United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
10 minutes
Director:
Takayuki Yamato
REIFF 2010
Taka grew up in the countryside of Japan, always dreaming of living in America--the land of freedom and opportunities. But after living in the U.S. for more than a decade, he realizes Japan has its own unique qualities. When he traveled back home, he discovered that Japan is losing some of its culture due to outside influences. The film captures his journey in search of Japan's lost identity.
Juror’s Award, Juror's Award
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
30 minutes
Director:
Steven Crowley
REIFF 2010
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?
2011
Best of the Fest
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
10 minutes
Director:
Alison Mason
REIFF 2011
Finding Jenua is about love, loss and finding your place in the world. A drama with mystery that's told in an unconventional way, unraveling like a memory and tying us back together with the simple beauty of human connection.