The Video Association of Dallas announced today the almost all the films chosen to screen during the 27th edition of the Dallas VideoFest from October 8-19, 2014. Overall, approximately 175 videos including narrative and documentary features, shorts, animation, and experimental videos will be screened during the expanded 12-day Festival.
VideoFest (videofest.org) is now the oldest and largest video festival in the United States and continues to garner critical and popular acclaim. VideoFest prides itself on bringing films to the theater that are rarely available to be seen anywhere else. Films like Experimental/Art Films, Animation, Narrative and Documentary Shorts as well as Documentary and Narrative Features and some hard-to-find Classic TV episodes and Classic Films are often in the mix.
“This year we are making the Festival more accessible to you, by running more days and more locations (and even on KERA TV) than we ever have in the past 26 years,” said Bart Weiss, founder and artistic director of Dallas VideoFest. “With so much going on in the world, documentaries are more prominent than usual. I hope these help to put our world into perspective. Some of these titles are right out of the headlines but with the depth and humanity that space and immediacy of deadlines can't provide.”
(Almost) Full Film List (in alphabetical order)
1971 (USA)
Director: Johanna Hamilton
The FBI was unaccountable and untouchable until 1971, when a group of ordinary citizens uncovered its illegal domestic spying programs. Forty-three years later, these everyday Americans publicly reveal themselves for the first time and share their story in the documentary 1971.
Website: http://www.1971film.com/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-U_6DBXEY0
50 YEARS (USA)
Director: Christian Vasquez
A short documentary explores The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and its place in the narrative of America. Made on behalf of The Department of Education, the documentary features footage and interviews with original members of The Freedom Rides during a celebratory day of events, held in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the enactment of The Civil Rights Act of 1964. Filmmaker in attendance
A CONVERSATION WITH FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT: MASTER OF THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA (USA)
Director: Allan Holzman
A CONVERSATION WITH FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT: MASTER OF THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA focuses on Truffaut’s playfulness as a visual storyteller, and includes excerpts from his films.
A FILM IS A FILM IS A FILM (USA)
Director: Eva von Schweinitz
As celluloid film slowly disappears from her workplace, the director, a movie projectionist herself, begins to investigate what makes the material special.
Website: http://www.brainhurricano.org/projects/afilm
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/evavon
A MEXICAN SOUND (USA)
Director: Roy Germano
A documentary explores the mountains of northeastern Mexico to the Huasteca region to unlock the secrets of a little-known style of son Huasteco. The love and passion for Huapango dance allows for this traditional form of dance to thrive, despite the influence of changing music trends.
Website: www.roygermano.com
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coA1SNSiuxI
A MILLION MILES AWAY (USA)
Director: Jennifer Reeder
Melancholy as a survival strategy in the American Mid-West: An adult woman (the conductor) on the edge of failing and a pack of teenage girls (the choir) simultaneously experience a supernatural version of coming-of-age. The transformation is equal parts tense and tender. It unravels patiently to the infectious beat of an '80s era heavy metal anthem rearranged as a lamentation.
Website: http://www.thejenniferreeder.com/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/83988524
A QUIET STRENGTH (USA)
Director: Hannah Caggiano
A single, working mother in the heart of the Mississippi Delta sees hard work, education and faith as the foundation for raising her three high school daughters. She is neither a hero nor a victim of society, but rather a simple, hardworking woman who puts one foot in front of the other each day with quiet strength.
Website: http://www.barefootworkshops.org/
A TEXAN IN PARIS (USA)
Director: Eric Clapp
In fall of 2013, director Eric Clapp took a trip to Paris, France to shoot some stock time-lapse footage and visit some good friends. Some of that footage was used to make A TEXAN IN PARIS. Some of the sights on this tour include The Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Mont Saint-Michel, Notre Dame, and the Sacré-Coeur Basilica.
ABOVE AND BEYOND (USA/Israel)
Director: Roberta Grossman
In 1948, a group of World War II pilots, mostly from America, volunteered to fight for Israel in the War of Independence. As members of Machal—volunteers from abroad—this ragtag band of brothers not only turned the tide of the war, preventing the possible annihilation of Israel at the very moment of its birth; they also laid the groundwork for the Israeli Air Force. Filmmaker in attendance; producer Nancy Spielberg via Skype. Co-presented by 3 Stars Jewish Cinema.
Website: www.aboveandbeondthemovie.com/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/54400569
ACTRESS (USA)
Director: Robert Greene
Brandy Burre had a recurring role on HBO’s The Wire when she gave up her career to start a family. When she decides to reclaim her life as an actor, the domestic world, she’s carefully created, crumbles around her. Using elements of melodrama and cinema verité, ACTRESS is both a present tense portrait of a dying relationship and an exploration of a complicated woman, performing the role of herself in a complex-yet-familiar story. It’s a film about starring in the movie that IS your life. This is what happens when we break the rules. Filmmaker in attendance.
Website: http://www.actressfilm.com/
Trailer: http://www.actressfilm.com/trailer/
ANTI-GAY: A TOURIST STOPOVER (ICELAND)
Director: Jeffrey Wolfshohl
A married man plays out his internalized homophobia and lives out his repressed sexuality in Iceland, bringing him to question life.
ARCADIA (USA)
Director: Rick Fisher
Arcadia uncovers some unpleasant truths about idealized pastoral landscapes
ASK NOT/ART THOU (USA)
Director: Carolyn Sortor
Made for an exhibition opening on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, ASK NOT/ART THOU draws from Hollywood, JFK fansites, conspiracy theories, architecture, literature, critical theory, and historical sources as well as original materials to explore secrecy, desire, the relationship between leaders and their constituents, the aftermath of trauma, and how those elements combine to stymie or inspire creative efforts to construct histories and identities.
BACK TO BADSTREET (USA)
Director: Keith Alcorn and Steve Barnes
BACK ON BADSTREET is all about the creation of the first theme song that has become the norm in the Professional Wrestling world. Told through the eyes of the people who witnessed it and with never-before-seen footage, BACK ON BADSTREET is a documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the song, Badstreet USA, and the people that made it happen. Filmmakers in attendance.
Website: http://www.badstreetusafilm.com/
Trailer: http://youtu.be/4r-BmYwm8gE
BEYOND CLUELESS (UK)
Director: Charlie Lyne
A dizzying journey into the mind, body and soul of the teen movie, as seen through the eyes of more than 200 modern teen classics. Metta Media Award Winner.
Website: http://www.beyondclueless.co.uk
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jvy7IX-JiE
BEYOND THE WALLS (USA/Argentina)
Director: Gayle Embrey
People around the world go to the walls, painting their stories to give voice to life experiences. BEYOND THE WALLS brings their stories to life. Filmmaker in attendance
Website: www.Beyondthewallsthefilm.com
Trailer: www.vimeo.com/87536533
BILLY MIZE AND THE BAKERSFIELD SOUND (USA)
Director: William J Saunders
BILLY MIZE AND THE BAKERSFIELD SOUND is an intimate homage that explains the mysterious alchemy of stardom and the choices and happenstance that can make or break it.
Website: www.billymizemovie.com
Trailer: http://www.billymizemovie.com/videos/
BINARY (USA)
Director: Andre Silva
A digital brain attempts to understand the two primal opposites from a survey of human opinions.
BLOOD BROTHER (USA)
Director: Jonathon Quam
After being abused as children, two young men from different homes form a bond as a way to overcome their troubled past.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/46967794
BLUR (USA)
Director: Courtney Ware
As a woman struggles to complete her next commissioned painting, she's pulled into the blurring realities around her.
Website: www.awarefilms.com
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/85988729
BUENOS AIRES (ARGENTINA)
Director: Daniel Gil Suarez
An Argentine immigrant must steal a car ́s spare wheel from a Spanish seaport.
CHASING CLOUDS (USA)
Director: Cynthia Johns
Experimental video uses various techniques to express hearing loss issues. In this video the camera becomes the ear and bears witness to a world full of blurred, noisy and distorted sounds.
CONCRETE COAST (USA)
Director: Robert Harding Pittman
On the last un-urbanized stretch of Spain’s Mediterranean coastline, farmers are being displaced by golf courses and one million new homes for British retirees.
Website: www.RHPimages.com
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/6434209
COTTON ROAD (USA/China)
Director: Laura Kissel
COTTON ROAD follows the commodity of cotton from farm to factory, across industrial landscapes, to illuminate the human experiences within a global supply chain.
Website: http://www.cottonroadmovie.com/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/105507216
CROSSING THE FARTHER SHORE (USA)
Director: Mark and Angela Walley
In his exhibition, CROSSING THE FARTHER SHORE, acclaimed Vietnamese American artist Dinh Q. Lê presents thousands of photographs of Southern Vietnam taken before and during the Vietnam War.
DAMNATION (USA)
Director: Ben Knight
This powerful film odyssey across America explores the sea change in our national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders to the growing awareness that our own future is bound to the life and health of our rivers. Dam removal has moved beyond the fictional Monkey Wrench Gang to go mainstream. Where obsolete dams come down, rivers bound back to life, giving salmon and other wild fish the right of return to primeval spawning grounds, after decades without access. DAMNATION’s majestic cinematography and unexpected discoveries move through rivers and landscapes altered by dams, but also through a metamorphosis in values, from conquest of the natural world to knowing ourselves as part of nature.
Website: http://damnationfilm.com
Trailer: http://damnationfilm.com/trailer
DREAM BIG (USA)
Director: Carmen Menza
Dive deep within yourself to discover your dream and the possibilities that is just above. The film features the astrophotography of John A. Davis with sweeping images of the night sky and music by composer Mark Menza.
EVAPORATING BORDERS (USA/CYPRUS)
Director: Iva Radivojevic
EVAPORATING BORDERS develops a sweeping visual essay on global restrictive attitudes towards migrating populations. Guided by the filmmaker's curious eye and personal reflections, the film dissects the experience of asylum seekers in Cyprus. Through a series of vingettes, it poetically weaves themes of migration, tolerance, identity and belonging.
Website: http://www.evaporatingborders.com/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/83887824
EVERYDAY IS SMALL LIFE (FRANCE)
Director: Lou-Brice Léonard
A vision of the French suburbs complete with their warmth, vivacity, and rich human diversity.
FALLEN ANGEL II (USA)
Director: Mark Whittier
Originally premiered in 2008, FALLEN ANGEL provides a rare glimpse into the world of professional modern dance. FALLEN ANGEL II includes the original short film and revisits Bruce Wood’s legacy with an epilogue memorializing the second chapter of his career.
FAREWELL TO HOLLYWOOD (USA)
Director: Henry Corra
A nonfiction fairytale about life, death, art, holding on and letting go.
Website: http://farewelltohollywood.com/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/69180956
FAT CHANCE (USA)
Director: Jeanne C. Finley
A rogue wave hits the sailboat FAT CHANCE killing a boy. A salvage crew tows the boat to sea as the father reflects on the tragedy and forces beyond his control.
Website: http://www.finleymuse.com/projects/fat-chance
FOUR FRAMES (FRANCE)
Director: James Honeycutt
In a wondrous pastel Paris, Anne packs her suitcase and leaves Jacques every morning, however his whimsical indifference incites her to return each evening to have absurd, playful couple quarrels, creating a cyclic pattern of a couple who can't stand to be together nor apart.
FREESTYLE (USA)
Director: Lexi Lefkowitz
During a regular day at swim practice, Violet, an isolated, but spunky, 7-year-old, tries to fit into a world she doesn't quite understand
FRONTIER JOURNALS 03: AZTEC BALDWIN COLLAGE (USA)
Director: Georg Koszulinski
In San Francisco's Mission District, on the Day of the Dead, the found footage filmmaker, Craig Baldwin is discovered.
Website: www.substreamfilms.com
HANA (USA)
Director: Bunee Tomlinson
Hana tells the touching story of a dying man and his reflections on a single moment with a lost love in his past.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/hanathemovie
HELD TOGETHER BY VENOM (USA)
Director: Michael Gonzales
Friendship and human decency begin to unravel for Victor, as he must decide whether or not to risk his life for that of his estranged, drug-addled friend, TJ, from an unknown threat.
HONORARIUM (USA)
Director: Steve Mims
The arrival of a controversial figure to speak at a university conference tests the boundaries of social decorum and social duties.
Website: http://www.stevemimsfilms.com/Site/about.html
I DON'T UNDERSTAND (USA)
Director: Robert Hannant
A fantastical distorted reflection of the complexity of the inner workings of our minds. Director Robert Hannant brings us a personified Rorschach blot of a mind laid bare.
IN COUNTRY (USA)
Director: Meghan O'Hara and Mike Attie
Few would mistake Oregon’s grassy fields for the jungles of Vietnam, but war re-enactors try. Dressed in fatigues, these men willingly recreate a war most choose to forget. This at times humorous, but ultimately disquieting, trip into the men’s minds and private lives blurs fantasy with trauma, therapy with nostalgia. The effect is purposefully disorienting—is this harmless enthusiasm for a hobby, or unhealthy fandom for a brutal war? IN COUNTRY is a powerful commentary on a culture that venerates a past from which it hasn’t yet recovered.
Website: http://incountryfilm.com/wordpress/
IN LIGHT, IN! (USA)
Director: Ken Paul Rosenthal
A haunting, visual essay showcases the awkward and angry junctures where our culture struggles to manage its emotional distress. Images recycled from 1950s-era educational films are accompanied by original compositions by cellist, Zoe Keating.
INHERIT THE TRUTH (USA)
Director: Christopher Casanova
On Christmas Day in rural Texas, 10-year old Simon Green learns a painful lesson about mortality in his own backyard.
INSOMNIAC (UK)
Director: Charles Chintzer Lai
An emotionally charged, romantic drama about two lost souls connecting through a shared misery.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/insomniacsfilm
INTERSECTION (USA)
Director: Jason Honeycutt
Myles (Cedric Young) is lonely older man without anyone in his life, while walking to see his only friends at his daily restaurant he is robbed. Staring down the barrel of a gun, he tries to see the good in this young man (Tyrone Phillips), offering to take him to lunch. In the end, Myles learns something about himself.
JUST A CIGAR? (USA)
Director: Gordon Smith
JUST A CIGAR? is an amusing documentary short examining intriguing examples of erotic symbolism in classic Hollywood films of the censorship era, from the early '30s until the late '60s, featuring clips from THE MALTESE FALCON, NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, DR. STRANGELOVE, SOME LIKE IT HOT, and many others.
KI・RYU (JAPAN)
Director: Shinya Kawakami
A dragon was randomly witnessed several times in the city of Kiryu, the suburb of Tokyo.
KILLING THE MESSENGER: THE DEADLY COST OF NEWS (USA)
Director: Eric Matthies and Tricia Todd
Murder is the leading cause of death for journalists as censorship increases worldwide. Journalists reporting from Mexico, Russia and conflict zones tell their personal stories of kidnapping, intimidation, and beatings.
Website: http://www.killingthemessengerfilm.com/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/70072867
KINGS POINT (USA)
Director: Sari Gilman
Lured by blue skies, sunshine and the promise of richer social lives, New York Jewish seniors bought paradise for a mere $1,500 down payment. 2013 Academy Award® nominee for Best Documentary (Short Subject), KINGS POINT tracks the stories of five residents of this typical retirement complex who arrived decades ago with their health intact and spouses by their sides.
Website: http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c868.shtml
Trailer: http://www.wmm.com/advscripts/wmmvideo.aspx?pid=251
KRONOS AT FORTY (USA)
Director: Sam Green
Janet Cowperthwaite, the longtime manager of the Kronos Quartet, got in touch with me last year about making a video about the group for their 40th anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall. I had known a bit about KQ and certainly been a fan, but immersing myself in their archive for a week and going through their entire catalog impressed the hell out of me. Their ambition as a group, their passion for music (of all kinds), their virtuosity as players, their longevity, their creative vibrancy – all of this makes Kronos a national treasure for sure. And perhaps most striking: forty years in, they are engaged with music, touring, and playing as well as they ever have. It was a pleasure and an honor to put this piece together and to have it open concerts at Carnegie Hall, the Barbican in London, and elsewhere.
LA HIJA (SPAIN)
Director: Jazmín Rada
Fátima wants to play, but her father is too busy. But she has imagination and some special balloons.
Website: www.lahija-thedaughter.com
LAVENDAR (USA)
Director: Melody Brooke
Robbie and Jessie's mom's think they should meet for a date. Trouble is, neither expects who shows up at their door.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Lavenderthefilm
LED ZEPPLIN PLAYED HERE (USA)
Director: Jeff Krulik
LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE explores the birth of the modern rock concert industry, against a backdrop of truth, myth and fading memories over time.
Website: http://www.ledzeppelinplayedhere.com/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arGMx6G_v8U
LIVING STARS (ARGENTINA)
Director: Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat
An original and anarchic way of reaching domestic surrealism in the screen. Argentinians open their homes to the audience and show those dance numbers they used to perform alone, in front of the mirror.
Website: http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/14059/living_stars
Trailer: http://youtu.be/dG5R7ormp3U
LOST CAT FOUND (USA)
Director: Aaron Halloway
A comedy of a couple who go on a mission to retrieve their lost cat. Director in Attendance
MEADOWS AT THE WINSPEAR, RITE OF SPRING (USA)
Director: Christopher Dolder
This film follows Dutch choreographer Joost Vrouenraets and the Meadows School of the Arts in the creation and production of a contemporary, Rite of Spring.
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/104650381
MIKADO (FRANCE)
Director: Nicolas Peduzzi
The film tells the story about two brothers, Goran and Baba, both of whom have chosen completely opposite paths in their life: Goran has dedicated his life to doing good, while Baba has become a low-life pimp in Paris' red-light district Pigalle.
MIMI AND DONA (USA)
Director: Sophie Sartain
A 92-year-old mother, Mimi, must part ways with her 64-year-old daughter, Dona, who has an intellectual disability and has lived at home her entire life. Co-present 3 Stars Jewish Cinema. Filmmaker in attendance
Website: http://www.mimianddonamovie.com/about.html
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/103771182
NE ME QUITTE PAS (HOLLAND)
Director: Sabine Lubbe Bakker en Niels van Koevorden
NE ME QUITTE PAS is a Belgian drama about life on the brink of society in all its beauty, modesty and irony. The authenticity of the main characters is painful and confronting, yet entertaining and utterly charming. It is a story about mortality in a place where time seems to stand still.
Website: http://www.pvhfilm.nl/nemequittepas
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N02z93-TtqY
NO MATTER HOW FAR (USA)
Director: Justin Reese
Intercontinental travel has been outlawed. A man and woman, separated by a hemisphere, try to reunite.
Website: http://chalantfilms.com
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/102562447
OUT OF DEEPWOOD (USA)
Director: Craig Weflen
Today, the Trinity River Audubon Center is a secluded place of tranquility. Yet this location has not always been so peaceful. For 25 years, Dallas ignored over two million cubic-yards of illegal dumping. This is the story of precedent-setting environmental law, the reclamation of land, a neighborhood’s fight for justice.
PEQUENO BLOQUE DE CEMENTO CON PELO ALBOROTADO CONTENIENDO EL MAR (SPAIN)
Director: Jorge López Navarrete
A dog and a mare embark upon a voyage together. With every step they take, the differences between them become inevitably clearer, and yet the profound mutual knowledge they develop over time shows the potential to suddenly produce a luminous moment between the two.
Website: www.littleblockofcement.com
PHANTOM OF THE OPERATOR (CANADA)
Director: Caroline Martel
This wry and delightful found-footage film reveals a little-known chapter in labor history: the story of female telephone operators’ central place in the development of global communications.
PICO (reMIX) (USA)
Director: John Sanborn
If you took the musical revolution of John Cage, whose best known work celebrates silence; the radical thinking of Marcel Duchamp, who said that anything the artist calls art – IS art; and the media anarchy of Nam June Paik, the founder of video art – and put them in a blender – the result would be PICO (Performance Indeterminate Cage Opera).
Trailer: http://youtu.be/CimBRuoZoMM
PROJEKT KARAV (SLOVAKIA)
Director: Oto Hudec and Daniela Krajčová
Projekt Karavan, is a collection of animated shorts by Slovak artists Daniela Krajčová and Oto Hudec working with Roma Gypsy youth in villages throughout Slovakia. A vehicle for storytelling and a platform for communicating with the outside world, Projekt Karavan through Projekt Karavan the participating youth creatively communicate their ideas, thoughts and points of view in dynamic and engaging shorts that present an alternative to the stereotypical views of Roma that prevails throughout much of Europe. The Dallas presentation of Projekt Karavan is a Make Art with Purpose (MAP) project supported by the Embassy of the United States in Slovakia.
REGARDING SUSAN SONTAG (USA)
Director: Nancy D. Kates
An intimate and nuanced investigation into the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th Century caught on film.
Website: http://sontagfilm.org/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/90910212
ROOTS IN REVOLUTION (USA)
Director: Abigail Hagan
ROOTS IN REVOLUTION documents the artistic and environmental efforts of Habitable Spaces, an organic farm and artists’ residency in Kingsbury, Texas. Exploring topics such as sustainability, creativity, food, and community, this short film exposes audiences to a unique slice of Texas culture.
Website: http://abigailhagan.com/
SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT
Director: Dylan Pasture
Robert Miller is behind on his payments.
SOLSTICE (USA)
Director: Lara Christensen
Solstice is the story of a young boy's changing perspective on life and death. His simple goals are turned upside down after new friendships lead to tragedy, and force him to face a hardship from his past.
THE AGE OF REASON (USA)
Director: Andrew Schrader
Oz and Freddy waste time wandering around suburbia and picking fights with the neighborhood bully. After explaining how his alcoholic father sabotaged his chance at becoming a major league pitcher, Oz decides to leave for tryouts, but a series of random events and strange people prevents him from leaving.
Website: http://www.ageofreasonmovie.com/blog/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhnUcJLQUyI
THE APOTHECARY (USA)
Director: Helen Hood Scheer
In an impoverished former mining town in the American Southwest, a beloved druggist runs the community’s main hub: the sole pharmacy within 4,000-square miles. He gamely occupies multiple roles as surrogate doctor, life counselor, and community benefactor. His sanguine public persona, however, belies a long-suffered private pain for which there is no drug, no cure, and no relief.
THE CLAUSTRUM (USA)
Director: Jay Rosenblatt
Based on actual psychoanalytic case studies, THE CLAUSTRUM focuses on three women who are in enclosed psychological zones that function as both refuge and jail.
Website: http://www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/claustrum.php
THE DISCONTENTMENT OF ED TELFAIR (USA)
Director: Daniel Campbell
Ed Telfair is a mundane middle-aged man who's dealing with insecurities in his life until he decides to take matters into his own hands.
THE DRAWER (USA)
Director: Jane Terry
Relics, clipped hair and blackened hands are the physical traces of a time that has past. The film is based on truth and fiction, taking a life of its own in a shadowy in-between world. Collected remnants of loss are shut in the designated drawer but are never contained as they move about freely in the space of memory.
THE GLASS OWL (USA)
Director: Cathy Bible
An old-school burglar who speaks exclusively in Prohibition-era gangster slang befuddles modern-day police. When he takes the hapless homeowner hostage, they soon realize there's a language barrier that can only be overcome by one man—one very old man. The story takes an unexpected turn toward the noir as the negotiations begin. Starring Tim Taylor (THE HUNGER GAMES).
Website: https://www.facebook.com/GlassOwlFilm
THE HAND THAT FEEDS (USA)
Director: Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick
Shy sandwich-maker Mahoma Lopez sets out to end abusive conditions at a popular New York restaurant chain. The epic power struggle that ensues turns a single city block into a battlefield in America's new wage wars.
Website: http://www.thehandthatfeedsfilm.com/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/52870881
THE HOMESTRETCH (USA)
Director: Anne de Mare and Kirsten Kelly
Three homeless teenagers brave Chicago winters, the pressures of high school, and life alone on the streets to build a brighter future. Against all odds, these kids defy stereotypes as they create new, surprising definitions of home. Can they recover from the traumas of abandonment and homelessness and build the future they dream of?
Website: https://www.facebook.com/HomestretchDoc
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/77430311
THE HOROLOGIST (AUSTRAILIA)
Director: David Valkenet
A short observational film on Michael Presser, watchmaker at Precision Timing, documents the journey of a piece of steel from rod to tiny turning handle, as Michael grinds it down into the correct shape and size. Michael's process is captured in vivid detail and with fine precision, allowing his actions to speak for themselves.
Website: http://www.pointcoolproductions.com/documentaries/the-horologist
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/80358742
THE LODGER (UK)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
A landlady suspects her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
Opening Night Tickets on sale: http://www.showclix.com/event/chambersymphony2
THE NEW SOUTH DALLAS (USA)
Director: Various
The New South Dallas is a MAP (Make Art with Purpose), South Dallas Cultural Center and Soul Children’s Theater production.
Throughout the summer of 2013, teens from the South Dallas Cultural Center’s Summer Arts at the Center program and youth from the Soul Children's Theater Company (SCT) met in workshops lead by SCT Artistic Director Tara Youngblood. Exploring the impact of gentrification in South Dallas, the teens and tweens took walks through their neighborhood, interviewed South Dallas residents, had group discussions and wrote a script for a mini-documentary, which they also filmed and edited. The film shines a new light on how gentrification is changing the face of South Dallas and gives the young filmmakers a public, civic platform to express ideas and opinions about what is happening in their neighborhood.
Teen Participants:
LaDaria Arnold
Dominique Blade
Nicholas Butler
Essence Carson
Brandon Hicks
Aulbani Hoard
Kaleen Malone
Skylor Parker
D’ara Starkes
Nia Williams
THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO (USA)
Director: Ian Cheney
Who was General Tso? And why are we eating his chicken? THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO is a feature-length documentary exploring the phenomenon of Chinese American food through the lens of America’s most popular Chinese takeout meal.
Website: www.thesearchforgeneraltso.com
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/66158362
THE STARFISH THROWERS (USA/India)
Director: Jesse Roesler
Worlds apart, a five-star chef, a twelve year-old girl, and a retired schoolteacher discover how their individual efforts to feed the poor ignite a movement in the fight against hunger.
Website: http://www.thestarfishthrowers.com/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/44292667
THE TROUBLE WITH RAY (USA)
Director: Jarrod Gullett
THE TROUBLE WITH RAY celebrates gay civil rights legend Ray Hill and his journey from being a Texas quarterback in 1958 to battling foes like Anita Bryant.
Website: http://www.thetroublewithray.com
THE URBAN WORLD (USA)
Director: Warren Bass
Set in India’s fifth largest city where a major development project is displacing tens of thousands of slum dwellers whom have lived all their lives on the banks of the Sabarmati River.
Website: http://warrenbass.com
THE WILD YEARS (Spain/Ethiopia)
Director: Ventura Durall
Three kids are on the streets of a city in Africa acting like a mafia gang. Maybe the wild years will not come back.
Website: http://www.documentaryedge.org.nz/2014/ak/film/wild-years
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcz_nmb-tcE
THE WRINKLE MINUTE (USA)
Director: Fabrice Maruca
Who said old women have no sense of humor?
THE WRITER WITH NO HANDS (UK)
Director: William Westaway
A British propaganda expert recruits an old school friend to make a documentary about his investigation into a murder mystery. His ultimate aim is to expose the existence of government propaganda in Hollywood by proving an acclaimed screenwriter was murdered because of the script he was writing. The problem is, the filmmaker is determined to make the expert’s personal life part of the story.
Website: www.writerwithnohands.com
Trailer: http://www.writerwithnohands.com/trailer.html
THIS MAY BE THE LAST TIME (USA)
Director: Sterlin Harjo
A heartfelt journey of award-winning filmmaker Sterlin Harjo as he interweaves the tale of a mysterious death in 1962 with the rich history of the powerful hymns that have united Native American communities in times of worship, joy, tragedy, and hope.
Website: http://www.thismaybethelasttimefilm.com
Trailer: http://youtu.be/8uQKOYDH8Qw
THOU WAS WILD AND LOVELY (USA)
Director: Josephine Decker
Josephine Decker’s acclaimed second feature stars indie icon Joe Swanberg (DRINKING BUDDIES) as a farm hand who falls into a dangerous, erotically charged relationship with the nature-obsessed daughter of his employer. Decker’s luridly poetic vision luxuriates in the ethereal and the mythical.
TONGUE TWISTER VARIATIONS (USA)
Director: Dan Boord and Luis Valdovino
A project comprised entirely of thirty people, from around the world, sharing tongue twisters in their native languages. The tongue twister is part game, poetry, and song.
TOY CAR (USA)
Director: Muamer Celik
An immigrant family stands in its own way of fulfilling the dream of a happy life in a new country.
Website: http://www.toycarmovie.com/
WAGING PEACE: THE PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE (USA)
Director: Allen Mondell
The Peace Corps Experience, a documentary film by Allen Mondell, weaves the letters written by Volunteers with the profiles of former Volunteers whose work today shows the enduring impact of their experiences. Filmmaker in attendance.
Website: http://www.mediaprojects.org/films/american-history/waging-peace-peace-corps-experience/
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/44961049
WHITE CREEK (USA)
Director: John W. Yost
A family, separated by class, tries to stay together in the midst of their entire valley being plunged into total chaos.
Website: http://fifthcolumnfeatures.com/films/white-creek/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/80227780
WHITE EARTH (USA)
Director: J. Christian Jensen
The film captures a winter portrait of a North American oil boom seen through unexpected eyes.
Website: http://www.jchristianjensen.com/projects/white-earth/
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/83374684
DVF27’s Texas Show films:
COURTROOM SKETCH ARTIST (Dallas)
Director: Ramtin Nikzad
Gary Myrick’s career as a courtroom artist spans four decades, covering some of the most infamous and most publicized trials of our time. He was once the go-to artist for TV news executives and millions regularly viewed his work on the networks. But as cameras were gradually accepted into courtrooms, the courtroom artist was pushed to the sidelines. Today Myrick’s waning career is mostly supplemented by full time work as a security guard in a mostly abandoned strip mall. This film offers a first person look into Myrick’s career and the rise and fall of the courtroom sketch artist.
CRITTERMAN (Denton)
Director: David Goodman
David Kleven, more commonly known as Critterman, has educated critter lovers young and old across the North Texas region for the last twenty years. Along with his assortment of animals and reptiles, Critterman has traveled around to schools, auditoriums and homes in an effort to spread a positive message of ecological preservation. The documentary, CRITTERMAN, offers a glimpse into the work life of this Texas-based "edutainer."
DAWN (Fort Worth)
Director: Ya'Ke Smith
After several prison stints, .dawn (sic) is determined to right her wrongs, but the years locked away may have damaged her.
Website: http://exodusfilmworks.com
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/97746688
DESCANSO MEANS A PLACE TO REST (Dallas)
Director: Mark Sharon
Filmed on a discontinued filmstock on a bridge not there anymore, two people nearly meet.
EASY (Dallas)
Director: Daniel Laab
A character study about the relationship between two brothers: one on the verge of becoming an adult and the other becoming a teenager.
EVIDENCE OF SANTA (Austin)
Director: Mei Makino
A young girl is convinced the homeless man at the park is Santa and is determined to get the truth from her parents.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/81608277
GENESIS (Austin)
Director: Janaye Brown
A video portrait showcases a ride at a traveling carnival.
Website: http://www.janayebrown.com
HOUSEKEEPING (Austin)
Director: Catherine Licata
Melody and Elliott’s domestic idyll is destroyed by an unexpected arrival.
LIABILITY (Dallas)
Director: Travis Aitken
LIABILITY is a short, comedic thriller. John Spooks, a puppet, returns home to discover that his lovely wife has been brutally attacked. It savors their last moments together. It is silly. It is infectious.
MR. HENRY (Dallas)
Director: Kayla Cesari
A man learns to accept the inevitability of aging with the help of a young companion.
NED'S ROCKET (Austin)
Director: Kennedy Baruch
Space Man Ned zooms through the cosmos but can never prepare for what lies at its edge.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/105047907
REHEARSAL (Austin)
Director: Tom Rosenberg
A surreal study simulates a terrorist attack in Middle America. Composed frames observe the meticulous care taken to stage a hyper-real terrorist event. Once the bomb goes off, hundreds volunteers deliver a convincing performance as stunned and mutilated blast victims.
Trailer: http://www.traileraddict.com/rehearsal-2014/trailer
WALLEY POS-86 (San Antonio)
Directors: Mark and Angela Walley
WALLEY POS-86 is a short promo video that parodies the endless production and marketing of prosumer video cameras.
Website: http://www.walleyfilms.com/WALLEY-POS-86
Trailer: http://vimeo.com/93325163
