A Mao e a Luva
Director: Roberto Orazi
Country: Brazil, Italy
Run Time: 66 mins
A Mao e a Luva is the book that inspired protagonist Ricardo Gomes Ferraz to start a silent revolution in one of the most dangerous Brazilian shantytowns. He collected books over a period of 15 years and encouraged dozens of children and adults to read them. In so doing, he helped keep them away from selling drugs, prostitution and crime. In 2008, he was given an esteemed award by Teleglobo for his services to society. Thanks to the work of Ricardo, the Brazilian Ministry of Culture has, to date, funded 514 small libraries throughout the favelas of Brazil.
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Mayor's Opening Night Reception
& Colorado Premiere:
Battle for Brooklyn
Directors: Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley
Country: USA
Run Time: 93 min
An historic Brooklyn neighborhood is being torn down to make way for a development that includes a new basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets. Developer Forest City Ratner Companies, with prominent politicians by its side, promises the project will bring in jobs and low-cost housing. But to make way for the developers, long-time residents are forced out of their homes. This story of the eight-year grassroots resistance effort is an epic tale of fighting for your community.
In Person Q&A: Michael Galinsky, Co-Director
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Better This World
Director : Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega
Country: USA
Run Time: 89 min
At the 2008 Republican National Convention, David McKay and Brad Crowder were arrested for possessing incendiary devices they intended to lob at Secret Service agents and delegates. Was the apprehension of these young “left wing terrorists” an FBI success story, or yet another example of post-9/11 hysteria? Better This World is an utterly compelling yarn that plays like a taut Hollywood legal thriller, exploring how two average boys from Bush’s own Midland, Texas could get mixed up with a group of naïve monkeywrenchers goaded on by an alpha-male straight out of Fight Club. The film’s deft management of the story’s shocking twists and turns keeps the audience on edge and persistently ups the ante on the political implications of the case.
Special Colorado Premiere Presentation at The Studio Loft, Denver
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Blood in the Mobile
Director: Frank Piasecki Poulsen
Country: Denmark
Run Time: 82 min
We love our cell phones, and the selection between different models has never been bigger, but the production of phones has a dark, bloody side. By buying so-called conflict minerals, the phone companies are financing the civil war in DR Congo that, according to human rights organizations, has been the bloodiest conflict since World War II. The illegal mine industry is controlled by armed groups, and the war will continue as long as armed groups can finance their warfare by selling minerals that end up in our phones.
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Featured Night Film:
BUCK
Director: Cindy Meehl
Country: USA
Run Time: 88 min
“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems.
BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.
In Person Q&A: Andrea Meditch, Co-Executive Producer and Creative Consultant
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The City Dark
Director: Ian Cheney
Country: USA
Run Time: 84 min
The City Dark chronicles the disappearance of darkness. When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves to New York City and discovers skies almost completely devoid of stars, a simple question – what do we lose, when we lost the night? – spawns a journey to America’s brightest and darkest corners. Astronomers, cancer researchers, ecologists and philosophers provide glimpses of what is lost in the glare of city lights. By blending a humorous, searching tone with poetic footage of the night sky, an introduction to the science of the dark unravels, as well as an exploration of the human relationship to the stars.
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Color Me Obsessed
Director: Gorman Bechard
Country: USA
Run Time: 120 min
Named one of the top music docs of 2011 by Rolling Stone Magazine, Director Gorman Bechard brings an extraordinary vision to a unique filmmaking challenge with Color Me Obsessed, the first documentary on the influential '80s indie-rock band, The Replacements. Combining the band's mystique with the passion of their fans, Bechard made a music documentary with no music and not a single image of the band. With rockers (Colin Meloy, Craig Finn, Goo Goo Dolls), journalists (Robert Christgau, Legs McNeil), fans both famous and not, Bechard interviews the believers and delivers the potentially true story of The Replacements, America's last best band.
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Dragonslayer
Director: Tristan Patterson
Country: USA
Run Time: 74 min
There was a time when Josh “Skreech” Sandoval was a hot California skateboarder with sponsors and cool swag. Now he’s just hanging with his buds, searching for abandoned swimming pools, and hoping for another shot at success. We watch Skreech party with friends, throw up, ride his skateboard, and, his baby boy, Sid Rocket, to the zoo, with his new girlfriend. “Random chaos” is how his friend describes him. But behind the scattered hair and tattoos is a young man with a surprisingly gentle spirit, filled with hop. The film is an unfiltered look at the California skating scene with graphic language, sexual content and footage of drug use. This endearing character is unforgettable.
Special Colorado Premiere Presentations at The Loft Studio, Denver
and The Dairy, Boulder
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Fambul Tok
Director: Sara Terry
Country: USA
Run Time: 82 min |
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Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war come together for the first time in an unprecedented program of tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. Through reviving their ancient practice of fambul tok (family talk), Sierra Leoneans are building sustainable peace at the grass-roots level, and succeeding where the international community’s post-conflict efforts failed. Filled with lessons for the West, this film explores the depths of a culture that believes true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals – and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities.
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The Grove
Director: Andy Abrahams Wilson
Country: USA
Run Time: 62 min
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More Americans have been lost to AIDS lives lost in all U.S. wars since 1900. Yet few know about the National AIDS Memorial — a seven-acre grove and sanctuary hidden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park — which serves as a testament to lives lost at a time when the stigma of AIDS forced many to grieve in silence.
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Happy
Director: Roko Belic
Country: USA
Run Time: 77 min
This feature documentary takes us on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Combining powerful interviews with leading scientists in happiness research and real life stories of ordinary and extraordinary people around the world, the film uncovers the secrets behind our most valued emotion.
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The Harvest (La Cosecha)
Director: U. Roberto Romano
Run Time: 80 min
Every year there are more than 400,000 American children who are torn away from their friends, schools and homes to pick the food we all eat. Zulema, Perla and Victor labor as migrant farm workers, sacrificing their own childhoods to help their families survive. THE HARVEST/LA COSECHA profiles these three as they journey from the scorching heat of Texas’ onion fields to the winter snows of the Michigan apple orchards and back south to the humidity of Florida's tomato fields to follow the harvest.
From the Producers of the Academy-Award® nominated film, WAR/DANCE and Executive Producer Eva Longoria, this award-winning documentary provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of these children who struggle to dream while working 12 – 14 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed America.
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Hot Coffee
Director: Susan Saladoff
Country: USA
Run Time: 88 min
Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has routinely been cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, and who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.
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Last Fast Ride - The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess
Director: Lilly Scourtis Ayers
Country: USA
Run Time: 86 min
She was smart, beautiful and talented, and as lead singer of "The Insaints," would be one of the Bay Area’s most provocative and controversial lead singers of the ‘90s punk scene. The fetish model and dominatrix quickly became known for her wild and lewd live sex acts during performances. Narrated by pop-culture icon Henry Rollins, Last Fast Ride - The Life, Love and Death of a Punk Goddess, is the cautionary tale of the tormented adolescence and tragic untimely demise of this legendary performer.
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The Last Mountain
Director: Bill Haney
Country: USA
Run Time: 95 min
The fight for the last great mountain in America’s heartland pits a mining giant who wants to explode it for its coal against local families fighting to preserve their mountain, their heritage and their futures. The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America's struggle to balance its energy needs and environmental concerns, so this small community's daring solution takes on national significance when Bobby Kennedy, Jr. joins the families to fight the insidious power of Big Coal. A passionate tale that highlights the extraordinary power of ordinary Americans when they fight for what they believe in, The Last Mountain showcases a battle for the future of energy that affects us all.
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Nostalgia for the Light
Director: Patricio Guzmán
Country: Chile
Run Time: 90 min
For his new film, master director Patricio Guzmán travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, the Atacama Desert, where mountains astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars.
The Atacama is also a place where the harsh heat of the sun keeps human remains intact, including the remains of political prisoners who “disappeared” after the military coup of September 1973.
While astronomers examine the galaxies, surviving relatives of the disappeared whose bodies were dumped at the foot of the mountains search, even after twenty-five years, for the remains of their loved ones.
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The Pipe
Director: Risteard Ó Domhanill
Country: Ireland
Run Time: 83 min |
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Shell E&P Ireland plans to build a gas pipeline off the west coast of Ireland that will run underwater to the coast and then over nine kilometers through farms in the village of Rossport to a refinery. The gas promises to bring prosperity to the area, but it also threatens to mar the landscape and disrupt the livelihoods of local farmers and fishermen. Villagers fear that if the pipe fails, the consequences could be catastrophic, so they resist. Five men are jailed for blocking construction, further enraging the people of Rossport. The conflict escalates, setting in motion a dramatic story of environmental protest, civil disobedience, violence, opposing legal actions and disagreement among neighbors about the proper course of action.
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Pit No 8
Director: Marianna Kaat
Country: Estonia
Run Time: 95 min
Fifteen-year-old Yura puts his dreams on hold in an emotionally riveting struggle to provide for his sisters the only way possible: illegally, and perilously, mining the remaining scraps in a once-thriving Ukrainian coal
town.
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Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
Directors: Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen
Country: Canada
Run Time: 106 min
Directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen embark on a comprehensive exploration of this extraordinary power trio, from their early days in Toronto, through each of their landmark albums, to the present day. Featuring never-before-seen footage and interviews with notables such as Jack Black, Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Kirk Hamme (Metallica) and Gene Simmons, this film explores the forty-year career and phenomenon behind what could be the world’s biggest cult band.
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Sins of My Father
Director: Nicolas Entel
Country: USA
Run Time: 94 min
To some, Pablo Escobar was a ruthless criminal. To others, a noble saint. But to Sebastian Marroquin, he was one thing above all others--a father. Sins of My Father tells the story of Pablo Escobar, the most notorius drug trafficker of the modern era, from a new perspective--the voice of his only son. For the first time, Sebastian Marroquin, (formerly juan Pablo Escobar) invites the world deep into the house of Escobar through photographs, recordings and intimate memories.
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When China Met Africa
Directors: Mark Francis and Nick Francis
Country: UK
Run Time: 75 min
Three men, one African and two Chinese, navigate uncharted waters in their quest for economic advancement in a globalized economy. Zambia’s Trade Minister Felix Mutati is eager to create new jobs in his country and leads the campaign for Chinese investors by shaking hands, taking meetings and encouraging new startups. Liu Changming runs a farm, where he scolds the Zambian workers from behind a closed gate, admonishing them for taking too many breaks. Engineer Li Jianguo, who works for a Chinese state-owned company commissioned by the Zambian government to lay a paved road, wants to complete the job to the highest of standards, but budget cuts dictate shortcuts and imperfect work. Both men traveled far from their homeland in hopes of reaping African profits that have eluded them so far. For the African workers, it is clear that more jobs do not necessarily mean better conditions. At the end of the day, who is benefiting from these seemingly symbiotic relationships?
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Who Is Alvin Greene?
Directors: David Garrett and Leslie Beaumont
Country: USA
Run Time: 85 min
Meet Alvin Greene--an unemployed veteran fighting felony porn charges--who just happens to be South Carolina's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. The film follows Alvin from private citizen living in obscurity to the national stage, where he must convince a skeptical press and the citizens of South Carolina that he should be their next senator. With less than two hundred dollars in campaign donations, Alvin battles Jim Demint, an powerful opponent with over $6 million in his war chest.
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Convento
Director: Jarred Alterman
Country: Portugal
Run Time: 52 min
In picturesque Mertola Village, Portugal, a monastery sits high on a hillside. Built 400 years ago, the Convento Sao Francisco is now the home of Geraldine Zwanikken and her sons, Christiaan and Louis. In his studio, Christiaan creates kinetic sculptures from animal skulls and bones found on the land. Louis, whose best friend of 25 years is his donkey, feeds and cares for the livestock. Geraldine, a former modern dancer, wades knee deep in a pond to clear weeds and states, “Isn’t it beautiful to do this?” We watch the family inhabit this magical place with care and grace as they explore nature, art and spirit, and as we observe their individual relationships with the building and the land.
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Fast Talk
Director: Debra Tolchinsky
Country: USA
Run Time: 56 min
College debaters now speak at unintelligible speeds. Some claim the benefits are clear: more arguments per minute than an opposing team can rebut. But is there a dark side to fast talk? To answer this question, filmmaker Debra Tolchinsky spends a year following the Northwestern University debate team as the students try to fast talk their way to another championship. The result? A documentary that will make you question the speed of your own life and keep you talking.
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Fire Burn Babylon
Director: Sarita Siegel
Country: UK
Run Time: 53 min
This documentry follows the fortunes of a crew of Caribbean Rastafarians who resettle in London after a volcanic eruption devastates their island home. Abandoning lives in spiritual retreat in the foothills of Montserrat, three Rasta men transform their beliefs and reinvent themselves as 'rude-boy' rappers and small time hustlers on the East End nightclub circuit. Fire Burn Babylon is an inquiry into the transformations of culture and place.
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I Will Marry the Whole Village
Director: Zeljko Mirkovic
Country: Serbia
Run Time: 57
Pekka, an accordion player, lives in a Serbian village where there is a surplus of unmarried men between the ages of 30 and 60. With wedding gigs few and far between, he is underemployed. In addition to this hardship, he yearns for a bride of his own. In the hopes of creating connubial bliss for himself and his friends, he conceives of a project where the elder bachelors will present video portraits of themselves to interested single women. And it’s a musical!
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Killing in the Name
Director: Jed Rothstein
Country: USA
Run Time: 39 min
Ashraf Al-Khaled was celebrating the happiest day of his life when an Al-Qaeda suicide bomber walked into his wedding and killed his father and 26 other family members in front of his eyes. Now Ashraf rises from this horrific tragedy to break the silence in the Muslim community on this taboo subject by speaking out against terrorism. Kililng in the Name follows Ashraf’s quest to speak with victims and perpetrators and expose the true cost of terrorism. From an Al-Qaeda recruiter, to a militant behind one of the world’s worst terrorist attacks, to a madrassa full of boys ready for jihad, Ashraf takes us on a journey around the world to see if one man can speak truth to terror and begin to turn the tide.
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Miles Away
Directors : Daniel Dumitrescu, Bram Mervillie, and Titus Simoens
Country: Belgium
Run Time: 33 min 29 sec
This is the story of two young American cowboys. For six months, they live in what seems one of the most desolate places in the world: Cow Camp, Idaho. They call it home. Running water and electricity are luxuries out of place in the life they live at Cow Camp. Life out there is tough, but it’s their friendship and love for the lifestyle that keeps them going. Born a cowboy, die a cowboy.
In Person Q&A: Daniel Dumitrescu, Bram Mervillie, Co-Directors
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Sky Dancer
Director: Jody Kemmerer
Country: Tibet
Run Time: 46 min
Khandroma Kunzang Wangmo, the matriarch and spiritual leader of a remote area on the Tibetan plateau, is one of very few women to ever receive a position of power in Tibetan Buddhism. Even more rare, she is the descendant of two extremely significant and highly respected masters of Tibetan Buddhism. The film is an inside look at the daily life and journey of this extraordinary woman who is a living example of wisdom and compassion in a world that so often seems to be lacking genuine examples of both.
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100 Bands in 100 Days
Director: Nick Sonderup
Country: USA
Run Time: 14 min
Shorts Package "Movement"
A love letter to live music and the bands who play it, 100 Bands in 100 Days proves the power of one music fan's commitment to re-engage with what he loves. The film features the music of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, with exclusive live performances by Right on Dynamite, Anamanaguchi and Takka Takka.
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A Cambodian Snack
Director: Garret Atlakson
Country: USA
Run Time: 7 min 35 sec
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
A Cambodian Snack follows both villagers as they scour the countryside for a popular eight-legged snack, and the purveyors and purchasers of this delicate treat.
In Person Q&A: Phil Atlakson (with his daughter!), Producer
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ACERCADACANA The Sugar Cane Hedge
Director: Felipe Peres Calheiros
Country: Brazil
Run Time: 20 min
Shorts Package "Take A Stand"
This Brazilian documentary touches on the long fight waged by Maria Francisca, a small farmer who, for 40 years, fought an ethanol refinery to stay on her small piece of land. Although ethanol is marketed as a clean fuel, in truth it is associated with serious social problems in this region of southeastern Brazil.
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Buriganga
Director: Michelle Coomber
Country: UK
Run Time: 12 min
Shorts Package "Beauty"
Once used for drinking water and small boat transport, the Buriganga River is now a hot bed of activity, commerce and pollution. Beautifully shot and crafted, Buriganga explodes with the colors, sounds and personality of the river that flows through Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. This film gives us an intimate look at those who carve out their days on the river’s edge and the water itself, as well as offers a sobering view of the environmental impact modern-day use has had on this major waterway.
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Caretaker for the Lord
Director: Jane McAllister
Country: Scotland
Run Time: 17 min
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
A fragile community clings to a run-down church in Glasgow. With line-dancing and yoga on one side, and solemn worship the other, the caretaker and Minister battle over space and souls.
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Challenging Impossibility
Directors: Sanjay Rawal and Natabara Rollosson
Country: USA
Run Time: 28 min
Challenging Impossibility chronicles the weightlifting exploits of an unlikely athlete, the spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, who began lifting at the age of 53. Incredibly, as he aged he got stronger, demonstrating on November 13th, 2004 that age truly is not a barrier to achieving dreams. Challenging Impossibility documents the events of that night when the then-73 year old guru held a public demonstration of his strength, lifting over 200,000 pounds in a 4-hour period that was witnessed by bodybuilding legends Bill Pearl, Frank Zane, Mike Katz and Dan Lurie, as well as Olympians like Carl Lewis. The film features these greats as well as Desmond Tutu, Sting and Susan Sarandon. "Age is in the mind and not in the heart," said Sri Chinmoy. This film, which premiered at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, shows how the power of that simple philosophy can literally move mountains.
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Everybody's Nuts
Director: Fabian Euresti
Country: USA
Run Time: 14 min
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
The southernmost county in the San Joaquin Valley is Kern County. Nestled between Los Angeles and San Francisco, Kern is home to two industries: agriculture and oil. During Director Fabian Euresti's formative years, it was his home as well. As for his parents, both Mexican immigrants, it still is. Close to their home lie thousands of oil wells where the drinking water is contaminated. Everybody’s Nuts is an essay and a portrait that explores the choice of two individuals whose economic circumstances helped determine where they would live.
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Flying Anne
Director: Catherine van Campen
Country: Netherlands
Run Time: 21 min
Shorts Package "Beauty"
Eleven-year-old Anne is a beautiful girl--the kind of girl you can’t take your eyes off. The longer you look, the more you see her ‘tics’. Anne suffers from Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. This makes her body do things she doesn’t want, such as suddenly spinning around or licking everything. Anne sometimes finds it hard to cope with her illness, especially in school. She’s afraid that others will bully or laugh at her. Anne therefore tries to keep her tics in check, although that isn’t easy. She prefers ‘flying’ through life, so you won’t notice anything. When flying, she’s at her best. The youth documentary Flying Anne shows how Anne lives life with her tics. Tics that, in the end, she doesn’t want to lose either...
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Four Cubic Feet of Space
Director: Tony Gault
Country: USA
Run Time: 8 min 3 sec
Shorts Package "Take A Stand"
Artist Daniel Sprick ruminates on the fragile nature of human existence.
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From the Ground Up
Directors: Beth Gage and George Gage
Country: USA
Run Time: 30 min
Shorts Package "Take A Stand"
From the Ground Up is the delicate story of five widows of firefighters lost on 9-11 and their ten year journey through tears to triumph over tragedy. This film captures the resilience and indomitable human spirit embodied by these women who have survived extraordinary loss.
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Il Capo (The Chief)
Director: Yuri Ancarani
Country: Italy
Run Time: 15 min
Shorts Package "Beauty"
Monte Bettogli, Carrara: in the marble quarries of Italy, men and machines dig the mountain. Il Capo (The Chief) manages, coordinates and guides quarrymen and heavy-duty machines using a language consisting solely of gestures and signs. Conducting his dangerous and sublime orchestra against the backdrop of the sheer slopes and peaks of the Apuane Alps, the Chief works in total noise, which creates a paradoxical silence.
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Love & Allegiance
Directors: Tijana Petrovic and Adam J. Smith
Country: USA
Run Time: 9 min
Shorts Package "Take A Stand"
Set in a Las Vegas chapel, this film tells the stories of three couples on their wedding day. Weaving humor and sadness, the film reveals the challenges they confront in the face of military service.
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Loy Krathong
Director: Jeffrey Waldron
Country: USA
Run Time: 7 min 34 sec
Shorts Package "Beauty"
Each year, the people of Chiang Mai, Thailand get together to "let go." The many origins and meanings of the Loy Krathong lantern festival are explored as a tuktuk driver explores its meaning for her.
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Picking Up America
Directors: Marie Wicht and Michael Burke
Country: USA
Run Time: 16 min 48 sec
Shorts Package "Movement"
This inspiring film tells the story of four idealist young people that left Maryland in March 2010 and began a trek across the country, picking up roadside trash every day. Filmmakers Michael Burke and Marie Wicht capture the challenges and joys these kids face as they work to promote a zero-waste America.
In Person Q&A: Michael Burke, Director
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Pig Country
Director: Andreas Koefoed
Country: Denmark
Run Time: 29 min
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
Jakob Vallo is a third-generation pig farmer in Denmark. This tender short documents his struggle as the financial crisis takes its toll and he is forced to either refinance or lose the family business. With his young daughter at his side, Jakob takes care in his work tending the pigs and preserving the pastoral way of life that is now in jeopardy. At one point, he must make the decision to put down a diseased pig, taking it out of the misery laid before it by fate. The somber connection to his own predicament is woefully apparent. Has the time come to cut his losses?
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Satan Since 2003
Director: Carlos Puga
Country: USA
Run Time: 20 min
Shorts Package "Movement"
For Emmy Award-winning documentarian Carlos Puga (True Life, MTV), three months' access to The Hell's Satans (Richmond, Virginia's premier moped gang) produced enough material for not only an eye-popping peek into this otherwise reclusive society, but also a satirical jab at the process of documentary film-making.
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Seite Dias (Seven Days)
Director: Tessa Hoffe
Country: Cuba
Run Time: 11 min
Shorts Package "Beauty"
The Afro-Cuban religion Santera is one of the most popular faiths in Cuba today. A seven day ritual and a lifetime of restrictions creates the perfect Santero. Seite Dias documents the seven day ceremony and what it means to make Santo.
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Sin Pias (Without Country)
Director: Theo Rigby
Country: USA
Run Time: 20 min
Shorts Package "Movement"
Sin Pais (Without Country) begins two weeks before Sam and Elida are deported and their family is ripped apart. With intimate access and striking imagery, this short film explores the complexities of the Mejia's new reality of a separated family--parents without their children, and children without their parents.
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Skateistan: To Live and Skate in Kabul
Director: Kai Sehr
Country: UK, Afganistan
Run Time: 10 min
Shorts Package "Movement"
In 2007, Austrailians Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan traveled to Kabul with their skateboards and began teaching Afghani kids their beloved sport. Soon they opened Skateistan, a co-educational skateboard school, as a way of bridging social and economic differences among the youth of war-torn Afghanistan. Immensely successful, the organization has provided a refuge for many kids from the desolation and violence around them. A relatively new sport to the area, skateboarding elicits skepticism in some elders, especially when girls are involved. But the youth of Kabul are hooked on its charms.
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Sound Underground
Director: Michael McSweeney
Country: USA
Run Time: 30 min
Shorts Package "Beauty"
Sound Underground explores the New York City subway system by fpcusing on the musical talent that takes stage on its platforms. A wide range of artists are found throughout the stations, varying from homeless one-man-bands to full jazz ensembles. This film takes you around the different corners of the cities' undergrounds, and with no interviews, makes you an observer to the musical scene down below. Whether its the screeching trains, passing commuters who often ignore the musicians, or the NYPD shutting them down, you get a first-hand experience of what its like under the surface of New York.
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Still Here
Director: Alex Camilleri
Country: USA
Run Time: 20 min
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
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For millions of gay men in the 1980s, being diagnosed with HIV was a death sentence. For Randy Baron, it wasn’t. Born with a rare genetic mutation that enables his body to resist the virus’s attacks on his cells, he has managed to maintain his health despite living with HIV for over two decades. This short documentary depicts his struggle to come to terms with survivor guilt as he watched his partner and close friends succumb to the disease, as well as how his body’s immunity ultimately led him to dedicate his life to education and activism. The film is both a meditation on loss and a moving portrait of the ways in which our own bodies can sometimes surprise us by beating the odds.
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The History of Nikola Tesla
Director: Jeremiah Warren
Country: USA
Run Time: 2 min 37 sec
Shorts Package "Hope and a Prayer"
Created in under 24 hours for the 154th anniversary of Nikola Tesla's birth, this short celebrates the 19th century electrical legend.
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The Pickle Guys
Director: Richie Siegel
Country: USA
Run Time: 9 min
Shorts Package "Take A Stand"
The Pickle Guys, one of the last independent pickle shops in America, still does things the old-fashioned way. Whether it’s the original recipes or the size of the store, nothing has changed. The film captures the essence of what the Lower East Side used to be, and what still remains. The film follows Allen Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys, as he continues to embrace the old customs of Manhattan while working hard and enjoying every moment.
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The South Will Rise Again
Director: Ben Guest
Country: USA
Run Time: 15 min 33 sec
Shorts Program "Take A Stand"
The South Will Rise Again is a short documentary following two University of Mississippi students dealing with issues of race and racism amidst the backdrop of a Ku Klux Klan rally, on-campus, in November 2009.
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Short Film Package: "Beauty"
A compilation of shorts reminding us of the diverse beauty of life. In the film Buriganga, a life source once used for drinking water and small boats is now a hot bed of activity, commerce, and pollution. Beautifully crafted, this short explodes with the colors, sounds, and personality of the river that flows through capital city of Bangladesh. Santera is one of the most popular faiths in Cuba today. Seite Dias documents the seven day ceremony and allure of what it means to make Santo. Did you know that New York’s most fascinating orchestra can be found underground? Sound Underground explores the NYC subway system focusing on the harmonious musical talent that takes stage on its platforms and will introduce you to the street musicians who inhabit its subways. Loy Krathong gives us a glimpse of the splendor that villagers in Chiang Mai, Thailand experience when they get together to "let go" in their inspiring lantern festival. Continuing on the quest for beauty, Il Capo is a stunning cinematic short that follows an Italian machinery conductor as he deftly directs his crew to carve marble out of the mountain. The stunning imagery of that film leads us directly to an enchanting eleven-year-old, in the award winning film Flying Anne. She’s the kind of girl you can’t take your eyes off. And the longer you look, the more you see her ‘tics’ because she suffers from Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. Afraid that others in school will bully or laugh at her, She prefers ‘flying’ through life. When flying, she’s extremely beautiful – and so is this package of shorts.
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| Short Film Package: "Movement"
These six flowing shorts demonstrate how people in motion can affect action and change or create contentment or chaos. Picking Up America, an inspiring short, tells the story of four young people that left Maryland in March of 2010 to trek cross-country picking up roadside trash every day. Sin Pais (Without Country), begins two weeks before Sam and Elida are deported ripping their family apart. With intimate access and striking imagery, the film explores the complexities of the Mejia's new reality of a separated family - parents without their children, and children without parents. Next up, 100 Bands in 100 Days. A moving love letter to live music and the bands that play it. This short proves the power of one music fan’s commitment to re-engage with what he loves. In Skateistan: To Live and Skate in Kabul, Skateboarding comes to Afghanistan, offering a group of kids an escape from the desolation and violence in their war-torn country. Satan Since 2003 chronicles three months' access to The Hell's Satans (Richmond, Va’s premier scooter gang). The footage provided an eye-popping peek into this otherwise reclusive society (and also provided the director with material to throw a satirical jab at the process of documentary film-making).
In Person Q&A: Michael Burke, Director
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Short Film Package: "Take A Stand"
This package will hopefully move you to take a stand with the people and stories that make our world so frustratingly complex, yet startling alive. In ACERCADACANA: The Sugar Cane, this Brazilian documentary touches on the long fight waged by Maria Francisca, a small farmer who for 40 years, fought an ethanol refinery to stay on her small piece of land. Four Cubic Feet of Space, Artist Daniel Sprick ruminates on the fragile nature of human existence. The Pickle Guys captures the essence of what the Lower East Side used to be and what still remains. As Allen Kaufman, owner of The Pickle Guys continues to embrace the old customs of Manhattan while working hard and enjoying every moment. In sharp contrast, the doc The South Will Rise Again follows two University of Mississippi students dealing with issues of race and racism amidst the backdrop of a Ku Klux Klan rally, on-campus at the University of Mississippi, in November of 2009. Set in Las Vegas, Love and Allegiance, tells the stories of three couples on their wedding day. Weaving humor and sadness, it reveals the challenges they confront in the face of military service. Finally, as we re-visit the tenth anniversary of September 11, From The Ground Up is the delicate story of five widows of firefighters lost on 9-11 and their ten year journey through tears, to triumph over tragedy. This film captures the resilience and indomitable human spirit embodied by these women who have survived extraordinary loss, yet found a way to take a stand.
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Short Film Package: "Hope and A Prayer"
Is there a better way to live life than on a hope and a prayer? These short docs give us a glimpse of those who have placed faith in themselves or in others. In Caretaker for The Lord, A fragile community clings on to a run-down Church in Glasgow. With line-dancing and yoga on one side and solemn worship the other, the Caretaker and Minister battle over space and souls. A Cambodian Snack follows both villagers from a remote village as they scour the countryside for a popular eight-legged snack and the faithful purveyors and purchasers of this delicate treat. Pig Country is a tender doc about a third generation pig farmer in Denmark who struggles as the financial crisis takes its toll and he is forced either to refinance or lose the family business. With his young daughter at his side, Jakob takes care in his work tending the pigs and preserving the pastoral way of life that is now in jeopardy. The History of Nikolas Tesla was created in under 24 hours for the 154th anniversary of Nikola Tesla's birth. This short celebrates the 19th century electrical legend who has inspired the faith of many. In Everybody’s Nuts, a collage of images unfolds, telling the story of a family, all sick from contamination by the same oil company that employs the father. The film is an essay and a portrait that explores the choice of two individuals whose economic circumstances helped determine where they would live. For millions of gay men in the 1980s, being diagnosed with HIV was a death sentence. For Randy Baron, it wasn’t. Born with a rare genetic mutation that enables his body to resist the virus’s attacks on his cells, he has managed to maintain his health despite living with HIV for over two decades. Still Here depicts his struggle to come to terms with survivor guilt as he watched his partner and close friends succumb to the disease. The film is both a meditation on loss and a moving portrait of the ways in which our own bodies can sometimes surprise us by beating the odds, with hope and prayers.
In Person Q&A: Garret Atlakson (with his daughter!), Director
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