Thursday, October 6

12:00PM-2:00PM

Filmmaker/Media Reception

These informal, unstructured “meet & greet” sessions allow networking time for filmmakers, staff, and media.

2:00PM-4:00PM

Educational Panel: Appalachia

The Thursday festival program kicks off with the Appalachian category, and Thursday’s educational panel will be dedicated to Appalachian subjects. The program will encompass the following subject areas: Defining Appalachia, Appalachia in Film, Social Justice

Kara Rogers Thomas: Dr. Kara Rogers Thomas is an Associate Professor of Folklore and Sociology at Frostburg State University. Her work as a Folklorist is supported in part through a grant from Maryland Traditions, a program of the Maryland State Arts Council. Her areas of interest include folklore and folklife studies, Appalachian studies, religious experience, and interdisciplinary learning in the Humanities and Social Sciences.

4:00PM-6:00PM

Appalachian Block 1

“Rapidan: A Journey Down A Virginia River” (4:00pm), Phil Audibert, USA, 3 minutes – A short video set to music showing a pristine river in Virginia from its source to its confluence with the Rappahannock River.

“State Inspection” (4:06pm), David Smith, USA, 8 minutes – An anxious young man tries to talk to a girl he meets while waiting for his car at an auto repair shop.

Bounty Momma “Shakespeare in the Trailer Park” (4:15pm), Wendy Keeling, USA, 11 minutes – The bounty hunting world will never be the same under the watch of hot tempered redneck momma Twyla Sue Dollarhide and her dim witted family. Twyla Sue Dollarhide, aka “Bounty Momma”, is a no-nonsense southern firecracker with a reality show who, despite the incompetence of her gun toting lamebrain family and film crew, proudly boasts that she “always gets her man”! This reality parody brings the viewer inside the day to day of a dysfunctional family business that turns otherwise mundane bounty escapades into mayhem and madness. If Reno 911, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dog the Bounty Hunter had a love child it would probably be Bounty Momma! This award winning series is sure to get a laugh!!

“Ghosts In The Mountains” (4:28pm), Chris Hite, USA, 19 minutes – Ghosts in the Mountains is about one man’s drive and determination to document, preserve, and popularize Pennsylvania folktales and myths over a thirty year period.

“Walking The Crooked Tune” (4:49pm), Charles Cohen, USA, 28 minutes – Walking the Crooked Tune, a fiddler’s journey out of the past, follows master fiddler Dave Bing as he plays the fire giver of much misunderstood genre known as Old Time. Even under this archaic definition, Dave Bing’s blend of old time stands as an archaic form of ‘crooked tunes’ learned from a family isolated even by West Virginia standards.

“Walking The Crooked Tune” Charles Cohen Q&A (5:18pm)

6:00PM-8:00PM

Appalachian Block 2

“Son of Clowns” (6:00pm), Evan Kidd, USA, 95 minutes – Minor TV star Hudson Cash loses his show, and his family’s backyard circus is floundering. After returning home to live with his parents, he finds adjusting to life back in North Carolina his most challenging role yet.

8:00PM-10:30PM

Opening Night Feature

“Pepino’s Back” (8:00pm), Luca Bich, Italy, 51 minutes – Jorge Luis Fernandez ‘Pepino’, after a 30 years long exile from his land, goes back to his past, back to his friend and family, to his mother’s grave, to the streets of La Habana, to his rock music and at the end of his trip he’ll feel more reconciled, free.

“Nighthawks on the Blue Highway” (9:00pm). Michael Streissguth, USA, 75 minutes – The Nighthawks struggle to keep their music alive after four decades in the unforgiving music business. Hopeless record deals, weary days on the road, and conflict among the four members threaten to bury the band. But The Nighthawks soldier on, carrying the torch of the blues into the 21st century. Starring George Thorogood, John Hammond, Luther ‘Guitar Junior’ Johnson, and Mark Wenner.

Friday, October 7

12:00PM-2:00PM

Filmmaker/Media Reception

These informal, unstructured “meet & greet” sessions allow networking time for filmmakers, staff, and media.

2:00PM-4:00PM

Educational Panel: Creative Placemaking

Broadly focused on Redevelopment for the Arts, the panel will be anchored by Arthur Ziegler, President of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, Michael Sriprasert, President of the Landmarks Development Corporation (a subsidiary of PHLF), and Shawn P. Hershberger, Executive Director of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation

“Through The Place” (2:30pm), Daniel Lovering, USA, 56 minutes – A feature-length documentary about the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and the historic preservation movement in the United States over the past 50 years.

4:00PM-6:00PM

LGBT Block 1

“Bus Stop Beauty” (4:00pm), Eric Brunt, Canada, 3 minutes – A young man falls head over heels, but when the girl of his dreams turns out not to be what she seems, he learns to let go of preconceived notions surrounding love.

“MUKWANO” (4:03pm), Cecilie McNair, Denmark, 20 minutes – Mary Kabufufu is lesbian and asylum seeker. She is looking for her girlfriend, who disappeared during their escape from Uganda. During her last interview at the Refugee Board it dawns on her that she has overlooked a clue that might lead her to her girlfriend. But she still does not know if she can get asylum.

“Wedlocked” (4:24pm), Puppett, USA, 12 minutes – Inspired by true stories, three women work their way out of a divorce triangle they never signed up for. Back in the dark ages before SCOTUS decreed marriage equality for all across the land… Sydney and Cameron are a happily engaged couple looking forward to their big day. There’s one obstacle… Sydney is still married to Lisa and as their home state won’t recognize their marriage, a divorce is impossible! Follow Sydney and Cameron on a hilarious journey through this not-so-fictional fable to find out the answer to the question…Are You Married Enough (To Get Divorced)?

“Who I Am” (4:37pm), Monika Wilczynska, UK, 17 minutes – Who I Am is a drama short film based on true events, with an original script written by Monika Wilczynska. It is a coming of age tale about Elijah, a young transgender teenager from a very religious background, who has to try to reconcile their identity with their faith and their family’s expectations of them. With the help of anti-conformist Lisbeth and their friends, Elijah learns not to compromise their own integrity in face of prejudice and adversity. The film inquires: can an LGBTQ-identifying person benefit from religion whilst staying true to who they are? Why is it important to tackle identity in regards to religion? How restrictive is our perception of spirituality and divinity? ‘Who I Am’ does not attempt to answer these questions, but it aspires to open the dialogue to the public on subjects that have been under-represented or taboo for far too long.

“Longing” (4:57pm), Nadav Mishali, Israel, 20 minutes – Every month Michal immerses in a Mikveh as part of the religious ritual before she and her husband can resume marital relations. When the long-awaited night arrives, nothing happens between the two. Her husband’s absence, as well as the deterioration in the intimacy between them, makes her suspect on her husband’s true identity.

“Easy Reappearance” (5:17pm) , Guillaume Levil, France, 17 minutes – Anne, a fifty year old woman with a bourgeois mentality, listens to a message secretly intended for her husband: a man makes an appointment with him in a gay club where you must give the password, « Easy Reappearance »…

“Dawn” (5:34pm), Jake Graf, UK, 13 minutes – As dawn creeps across London, two lost outcasts meet in the darkness, more afraid of themselves than each other. As the sun begins to rise, and the veil of night is lifted, the pair are forced to look at themselves and face the harsh reality that life is sometimes what you make it, and that in the cold light of day, it takes more than the eyes to see inside a soul.

“Intrinsic Moral Evil” (5:48pm), Harm Weistra, Netherlands, 11 minutes – Intrinsic Moral Evil seems to be a tale of identity and coming of age. But above all, the three dancers play with the viewer’s perception and expectations. The layered story gradually develops; revealing its last secrets just before the end credits start. Inviting the audience to make its own interpretation.

6:00PM-8:00PM

Documentary Block 1

“Last Dance On The Main” (6:00pm), Aristofanis Soulikias, Canada, 3 minutes – While a row of historic buildings on Montreal’s St Laurent boulevard is being demolished by politicians and building developers, the local community resists.

“Some Stories Around Witches” (6:05pm), LIPIKA SINGH DARAI, India, 53 minutes – The Film depicts the humanitarian crisis surrounding instances of witch hunting, taking us closer to the people who have been accused, ostracised and tortured for being ‘witches’. Through stories from some parts of Odisha, India, which find resonance in other parts of the country as well, it enquires into the circumstances that lead to witch hunting: a teenage girl kills an old woman, one of her relatives, for being a witch and the cause of her father’s death; a village turns into a mob overnight to kill three people – a man and two women identified as witches by a witch doctor; a family believed to bring ill fate,
is excommunicated and threatened after it cooks meat. The Film explores the
politics of witch hunting – how superstition, greed, ignorance, fear,
insecurity and power work together to cause immense violence and suffering.

“In Her Words” (7:00pm), ANNIE ZAIDI, India, 42 minutes – The Film traces the historical and social journeys of Indian women’s lives as revealed through the literature they created in every era. The story of how women lived, and their march towards freedom and self-definition was not officially documented. However, through the verses of nuns, bhakti devotee rebels, folk songs, verses written by courtesans, amateur anthropologists, the memoirs of activists, and modern literature, we witness the oppressions and aspirations of Indian womanhood over two millenia. The film traces these changes through the translators, publishers, historians, and contemporary writers and readers who are pushing towards a more gender equal society.

8:00PM-10:00PM

Horror/SciFi Block 1

“Sweet6Teen” (8:00pm), Debbie Attwell, UK, 6 minutes – When a young man loses the love of his life, he goes to great pains to end it all, only to discover that suicide is trickier than he thought.

“Polterheist” (8:08pm), David Gilbank, UK, 19 minutes – Two small time criminals kidnap a psychic medium and force her to contact the gang boss they murdered. The pair are desperate to discover where their recently deceased boss buried a stash of cash, but only succeed in unleashing a demon, bent on revenge.

“The Unconventional Gourmet” (8:27pm), Wendy Keeling, USA, 12 minutes – A dark comedy about a woman stuck in the 50’s searching for the perfect ingredients in an unusual family recipe. The film tells an age old tale with an added modern twist.

“Two Tickets To Heaven” (8:27pm), Serge Darowski, Russian Federation, 20 minutes – Two scientists, the historian Alexander Yarovoy and the physicist Alexander Granin, accidentally find photos which show gravestones with suspicious dates of life. Friends go to Northern Romania to investigate this case. None of them expected to face mortal danger proceeding from ghosts, which revenge more than 500 years against the living for their death.

“Infirmity” (9:01pm), Kyle Hytonen, Canada, 14 minutes – A couple try to supplement their income by taking an experimental pharmaceutical, which begins to cause adverse side effects.

“Wintergreen” (9:15pm), Sean Mullen, USA, 17 minutes – A man only known as the Drifter travels aimlessly across a landscape taken back by nature. After encountering the deadly Highwayman, the Drifter and an unknown ally must travel together to survive.

“The Call” (9:15pm), Alban Ravassard, France, 17 minutes – Benoît, 50, is a police lieutenant wounded by the disappearance of his wife, Lise. Unable to perform his grief, he sees his physical and mental health decline when she mysteriously surface again years later. Then, Benoît begins to undergo a strange transformation…

10:00PM-12:00 AM           

Horror/SciFi Block 3

“Carrots” (10:00pm), Action Lee, USA, 6 minutes – Living in the post apocalyptic world, a desperate lonely girl must do everything to keep her man alive…

“Peelers” (10:07pm), Sevé Schelenz, Canada, 96 minutes – A small town strip club owner must defend her bar, her strippers and her life when violent infected patrons show up on the final closing night.

Saturday, October 8

12:00PM-2:00PM

Kids/Family Block 1

“What Do You Want to Be?” (12:00pm), Emma Fici, USA, 2 minutes – A little girl and her favorite doll spend the day playing dress-up and considering options for the future.

“This Time It’s Shopping” (12:04pm), Chek Wingo, USA, 4 minutes – A peculiar customer interrupts a gift store owner’s quiet day. Is she really shopping, or is this some kind of game?

“Big Boy” (12:10pm), Yuri Solodov, Russian Federation, 16 minutes – The boy turns 6. His father for the first time sends him to the store to buy bread. The boy will receive his birthday present, a camera, as long as he completes this mission. In order to prove that he has grown up, the boy decides to take up this challenge. But he has to face many difficulties in the itinerary. Will the boy pass the test?

“TRASHONAUTS” (12:27pm), Jack Griffin Corpening, USA, 2 minutes – A tired and grumpy space garbage man happens upon a magnetic alien puppy that changes his life forever.

“Agrinoui” (12:31pm), Alexis Chaviaras, Cyprus, 20 minutes – A young mare visits Cyprus to take part in races. Frustrated from failure, she abandons the racetrack after confronting her strict father. The mare will meet new friends who will try to help her find her lost courage.

“Octavius 4-Hack Attack” (12:52pm), James Baras-Miller, Australia, 5 minutes –  Master Criminal Octavius Teddy Bear hacks police teddy Bob the Bear’s car and makes it run out of control. With Bob out of the way Octavius is free to commit a crime spree in Bearton. Only Buttercop can save Bob and Bearton now.

“Hide and Seek” (12:58pm), Rashesh Desai, India, 16 minutes – In order to make the child eat, a mother of a four year old girl scares her by telling her stories of ghosts. One evening, the child goes missing. After a rigorous search, she is found. Her mother realize how wrong her methods have been.

“Calvin’s Shoe” (1:15pm), Joseph Fraizer, USA, 7 minutes – There is something unusual about Calvin’s Shoe. It seems to be a world unto itself. Calvin and Enzo find themselves in a deep, blue-walled canyon. They explore this maze-like place, discover strange sights, and encounter unexpected creatures. Come along with them on this adventure.

“Message in the Fortune Cookie” (1:21pm), Golam Mustofa, Canada, 20 minutes – As Joe and his five friends have just enjoyed their meal at a Chinese restaurant in lower Manhattan, he opens up his fate in a fortune cookie and discovers a message that shocks him into a stupor which leads all of them to ask themselves about the meaning of life. While his BFF, Tom, tries to reassure him in every ways, the other friends explain their various views, which correspond strikingly to their characters. Karim, influenced by existentialism and Albert Camus’s idea of the absurd, thinking Joe has to embrace death instead of seeing it is as a bad thing. Rachel, a strong believer in God, urges Joe to be reconciled with God stressing enough that the end results of everything even beyond Galactic Center point is the God and have faith on God. Bert, an epicurean believes, Joe should ‘live it up’ and enjoy and consume himself every bit of life, especially food. Lastly, Maya expresses skepticism that Joe can know the future leaning towards Recurnation and thinks that Joe should always just keep doing whatever he’s doing now. Joe becomes immobilized in terms of deciding how he’s going to face his ending of life, even if it occurs today. Can a lotto jackpot detour an average Joe’s death? Can Joe enjoy his luxurious life with money materials being a millionaire, even if he has no more nights, no more days and he leaves the world today?

“Charlie & Poppy” (1:42pm), Jennifer Potts, USA, 14 minutes – Faced with the loss of his beloved grandfather, Poppy, Charlie sits at a train station platform where he replays 20 years of childhood memories. Four-year old Charlie and his grandfather, Poppy, arrive at a train station platform—one bouncing with great energy, the other providing a steady hand. Hearing the train approaching, they reach in their pockets for their whistles. Charlie laughs at Poppy’s puffed-cheek whistle blowing as the train pulls into the station for passengers to disembark and step aboard. Over the span of 20 years, as Charlie grows and Poppy ages, they change this cherished ritual to embrace both the excitement and limitations each stage of life brings. Charlie struggles to keep the magic alive by providing the entertainment when his beloved, aging Poppy no longer has the strength. Following Poppy’s death, Charlie must find a way to keep
Poppy’s spirit alive.

2:00PM-4:00PM

Kids/Family Block 2

“Inkfinger” (2:00pm), Michael Holman, USA, 97 minutes – ‘Inkfinger’ is a time-travel mystery disguised as a ghost story. Eva starts to think the house she bought is haunted, but she’s not seeing a ghost; she’s found a crack in Time. The past and the present become entangled, with Eva at the center, and she discovers a 100 year old theft… that hasn’t happened yet.

4:00PM-6:00PM

Music Block 1

“Darker Clouds” (4:00pm), Mel Yourich, USA, 4 minutes – This song was performed and produced by Luscious Purr, Mel Yourich and Tracy Salka, at GirlFriend Studios in Hagerstown, MD. Mel wrote this song about one mother’s difficult life: from being raised by neglectful and abusive parents in a small coal mining town in southwestern Pennsylvania to marrying an alcoholic. As you will see, she could not escape the pain of constant verbal, physical, and emotional abuse. Her daughter has great empathy for her mother, and she, as her daughter, has lived some of the emotional pain with her mother. Finally, the mother escapes but only because of the inevitable. There is no more looking back for the daughter or her mother. Both are now free.

“BANG! The Bert Berns Story” (4:06pm), Brett Berns, USA, 94 minutes – Music meets the Mob in this biographical documentary narrated by Steven Van Zandt. You may have never heard of Bert Berns, but you know the enduring songs he has written and produced: Twist & Shout, Cry to Me, Tell Him, Piece of My Heart, Cry Baby, Hang On Sloopy, I Want Candy, Everybody Needs Somebody to Love. Berns sessions made legends of Solomon Burke, The Isley Brothers, The Drifters, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, Van Morrison, and Neil Diamond, and his songs became chart-topping covers for the likes of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals and Janis Joplin. His premature death at 38 cut short a seven-year streak of hits, rooted in his early Brill Building and 1650 Broadway days, through his tenure at Atlantic Records to the formation and success of his own labels Bang Records and Shout Records.

6:00PM-8:00PM

Music Block 2

“Buskers: Sounds of the City” (6:00pm), Megan Zebrowski, USA, 10 minutes – The Peace Music Industry Group, comprised entirely of the Boyd family, performs daily in New York City’s Central Park. Who are they and what gives life to the music they sing?

“Desert Age: A Rock and Roll Scene History” (6:13pm), Jason Georgiades, USA, 76 minutes – DESERT AGE is the first in depth feature documentary about the history of the California desert rock and roll scene from the early 1980s and 1990s. We are the first to feature never before seen interviews, archival and personal histories that shaped the scene to this day. Exclusive interviews with Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, Mario Lalli, Sean Wheeler, Brant Bjork and additional members of Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Fatso Jetson, Yawning Man, Suntrash and many more.

8:00PM-10:00PM

Cult Block 1

“Monster” (8:00pm), Kuan-Fu Lin, Taiwan, 4 minutes – Gary the Nerd accidentally makes his toy T-Rex to become a monster. He needs to escape his apartment, but at the same time he really wants to get a selfie with the real monster.

“Artemis” (8:05pm), Heather D. Freeman, USA, 4 minutes – An (unfortunate) driver witnesses what happens to a stag’s spirit and body after it is struck by a car.

“Lady Stardust” (8:10pm), Erin Cardiff, Canada, 10 minutes – A twisted noir thriller revolving around four very different people who find themselves caught in a game from which they may never escape.

“The Next Big Thing” (8:21pm), Brody Gusar, USA, 83 minutes – The Next Big Thing is a dark comedy about friendship, revenge and the lust for fame. The protagonist is Julian, who, despite immense talent, has never achieved the level of fame he thinks he deserves. When his deranged and estranged best friend Chuck shows up with a plan to make Julian famous by making a film about Julian becoming famous, Julian agrees to do it. Unfortunately for Julian, Chuck’s real aim is to make a prank show centered on ruining Julian’s life. After a series of
embarrassing and painful events Julian begins to regret his decision, but the
worse the situation is for Julian, the more popular the videos become. Julian’s
ego allows Chuck to bring him to the edge of his sanity and beyond.

10:00PM-12:00 AM

Horror/SciFi Block 2

“Kitchen” (10:00pm), Steve Duchesne, France, 17 minutes – In a big house lost in the middle of nowhere, Jason made the discovery of an old cookbook hidden in his attic. Later, when he decided to prepare a delicious meal for his wife Marie things do not go as planned … A ghost has taken possession of the house.

“The Light Thief” (10:18pm), Eva Daoud, Spain/Bahrain, 19 minutes – When the essence of Love is snatched from someone and locked away in a vessel with no name , what happens to those persons and how do they change? How can the broken hearted souls break that curse and recover from their pain? Can they regain their spark by overcoming dark supernatural forces? Find out in THE LIGHT THIEF!

“Something To Save You” (10:38pm), Vis Vitalis, Russian Federation, 19 minutes – Two lovers, escaped for a weekend out of town, was caught by the Zombie Apocalypse, actually in bed. And now they are locked in a country house, surrounded by hordes of zombies, without communication, without food, without exit, without hope. And everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves for the other. And WHAT can save them?

“Hidden Daylight” (10:58pm), Adrienne Lovette, USA, 18 minutes – In this haunting thriller, we follow a distraught businessman after his wife is abducted by the sadistic Hacksaw Killer. In desperation, the businessman turns to a blind psychic who can see through the killer’s eyes. As their strange meeting unfolds, the psychic envisions the night of the kidnapping and provides vital clues to help the businessman solve the mystery… but the answers he seeks may come at a deadly price. Taut, compelling, and full of Hitchcockian suspense, HIDDEN DAYLIGHT takes us on a harrowing journey into the darkest depths of the mind of a madman.

“The Recursion Theorem” (11:17pm), Ben Sledge, USA, 28 minutes – The Recursion Theorem is a short black and white Hitchcockian film noir that pays homage to The Twilight Zone, Asteroids (the arcade/video game), and ancient Greek mythology. The story follows Dan Everett, who awakens to find himself trapped in a unfamiliar room with its own set of bizarre rules. Afraid and alone in this strange place, Dan is forced to question the very foundations of reality and the meaning of his existence.

Sunday, October 9

12:00PM-2:00PM

Animation Block 1

“Cacophony” (12:00pm), AiHsuan Shih, USA, 2 minutes – CacophoNY by Melody Shih is a 2D animation and motion graphics video that combines illustrations, abstract textures and color to create patterns that visualize unseen daily sounds. Through the eyes and ears of a young girl, the viewer can escape the harsh sounds of the urban environment and find solace in a serene inner world.

“Quiet Expectancy” (12:03pm), Lindley Taylor, USA, 3 minutes – An animated MFA Thesis film exploring the Quaker Testimony of Simplicity by demonstrating simplicity through aesthetics to storytelling.

“Birth-Weaving life” (12:07pm), WAKAMI Arisa, Japan, 19 minutes – There are as many births and child delivery stories as there are people. Despite all the progress of medicine and science, it still happens that lives get lost during childbirth. On such a daily and common matter, we want to interview mothers on their intimate experience of giving birth, and adapt that material into animation to have it seen by audiences of all generations. This is a documentary animation
on the very beginning and the mystery of life, told from the point of view of
mothers.

“Memory Sync” (12:27pm), William Travis Johnson, USA, 8 minutes – Alone in a dark facility, a broken robot is reanimated. He remembers he was once the toy and friend of a young girl, and he decides to embark on a journey to find not only his long lost home, but also to discover how he and the girl were separated. The world has changed after so many years, and what was once a utopian paradise has become polluted and decayed. Luckily, the robot’s memories come to life before his eyes to show him the way home.

“Calvin’s Shoe” (12:36pm), Joseph Fraizer, USA, 7 minutes – There is something unusual about Calvin’s Shoe. It seems to be a world unto itself. Calvin and Enzo find themselves in a deep, blue-walled canyon. They explore this maze-like place, discover strange sights, and encounter unexpected creatures. Come along with them on this adventure.

“Sisters” (12:42pm), David Chontos, USA, 4 minutes – Part exercise of passion, and part love letter, ‘Sisters’ is a fragment of some lost, tragic opera. Trapped in the ruins of their former glory, a pair of performers bound together and abandoned by time rise up to sing once more. Conjured up by the song to which it’s set, the film represents a sincere vision of inspiration derived from the music of Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray). It is the confluence of a variety of abstract concepts, from the fragility of modern technology, to the cruelty of the
passage of time. The movement of the characters references legendary
contemporary choreographer, Martha Graham; transposing an exercise in human restraint and lamentation onto mechanical beings.

“The Valley Below” (12:47pm), Joel Hofmann, Switzerland, 9 minutes – What is disguised in the haze will only be revealed from up close. On top of a mountain a soldier protects his town from threat lurking beneath the fog. One day a mishap forces him to confront his fears. In the process he realizes that not everything unknown hides great danger.

“TRASHONAUTS” (12:57pm), Jack Griffin Corpening, USA, 2 minutes – A tired and grumpy space garbage man happens upon a magnetic alien puppy that changes his life forever.

“Poochini” (1:00pm), Max Colson, USA, 4 minutes – A man has a mental breakdown in the shower when his deepest fear confronts him.

“Cuerdas” (1:05pm), Pedro Solis Garcia, Spain, 11 minutes – Maria’s routine at school is altered by the arrival of a very special child. Soon they become close friends.

“Agrinoui” (1:17pm), Alexis Chaviaras, Cyprus, 20 minutes – A young mare visits Cyprus to take part in races. Frustrated from failure, she abandons the racetrack after confronting her strict father. The mare will meet new friends who will try to help her find her lost courage.

“The Mandarin Garden” (1:38pm), Joe Chang, Canada, 8 minutes – A pig into a girl in her sleep. She experienced a magical journey of a Chinese garden in the atmosphere of the music.

“Abstract Painting” (1:46pm), Tatiana Skorlupkina, Russian Federation, 7 minutes – 1. A film which explores the differences in perception of one and the same painting. The film features a narrator who appears to be reading a story for children. However, his habit of sipping ‘tea’ during his performance, coupled with his absurd asides, allow for different perceptions. 2. Different animals try to describe a painting, but they all see different things! Based on Daniil Harms children’s story, “The Booboohoo Dog”.

“The Old Man and The Pears” (1:54pm), Jing Sun, USA, 5 minutes – A weak and hungry old man begs for a pear from a fruit peddler, but the peddler refuses and rejects him. A little boy bravely steps forward and spends his last coin to buy a pear for the old man. Finally, a magical form of justice emerges from the ground.

2:00PM-4:00PM

Documentary Block 3

“The Dying of the Light” (2:00pm), Peter Flynn, USA, 95 minutes – Largely unchanged for more than a century, the projection of photochemical film faces an uncertain future in the digital age. The practice of handling and projecting film is in danger of being lost; and the role of film projectionist is nearing extinction. THE DYING OF THE LIGHT explores at the history and craft of motion picture presentation through the lives and stories of the last generation of career projectionists. By turns humorous and melancholic, their candid reflections on life in the booth reveal a world that has largely gone unnoticed and is now at an end. The result is a loving tribute to the art and romance of the movies—and to the unseen people who brought the light to our screens.

3:45PM-6:00PM

LGBT Block 2

“Better Half” (3:45pm), Michelle Clay, USA, 109 minutes – For years, Tony and Leo have been a happy couple. They had always talked about having a child… someday. So when a sickly infant is abandoned at a local hospital, Tony sees it as a sign. Suddenly, Leo is confronted with making good on his promise to start a family; he must face his deep-seeded fears of being a father, or risk losing Tony altogether.

Q&A with “Better Half” director Michelle Clay (5:35pm), 20 minutes

6:00PM-8:00PM

Documentary Block 2

“Smile” (6:00pm), Natsumi Shibata, Japan, 32 minutes – Many famous Japanese directors had created Kamikaze documentary videos in Japan. However I guess that there is no story about teenage Kamikaze pilots. I focused on only teenager kamikaze pilots in this film. This is because I want to show why Japanese teenager boys chose to become kamikaze soldiers like adult pilot did even though their minds were not adults. Why they chose thus horrible lives for their future? Did they feel scare or sadness? Were they under mind-control? Why they smile before they were going to die? Through knowing them by this film, you will realize how the war make a terrible and sad.

“Birth-Weaving Life” (6:34pm), WAKAMI Arisa, Japan, 19 minutes – There are as many births and child delivery stories as there are people. Despite all the progress of medicine and science, it still happens that lives get lost during childbirth. On such a daily and common matter, we want to interview mothers on their intimate experience of giving birth, and adapt that material into animation to have it seen by audiences of all generations. This is a documentary animation on the very beginning and the mystery of life, told from the point of view of mothers.

“On The Other Side Of The Mirror” (6:54pm), Cecilia Grasso, Italy, 54 minutes – How would it be, for a woman, living a day as a man? The background of a drag show is the opportunity to explore inside the most intimate aspects of Kinging. From stories and experiences of a group of Drag Kings, daily recorded, it emerges a construction practice identity staging gender stereotypes and bares the predominance of men in our society. The author, with participant but not intrusive gaze, show fascination and complexity of a little unknown universe, where the surplus becomes spectacle, and the transformation is liberating narrative of the self.

8:00PM-10:00PM

Closing Feature

“There Is No Such Thing As The Record Label Fairy – The Story of Windowpane” (8:00pm), Tony Abreu, USA, 96 minutes – From the Basement Garage to Arenas of North America. One band’s collective story of striving to reach the masses during THE decline of the music industry.

NOTE: All content is unrated.

The Queen City Film Festival (QCFF) is a production of Allegany
Allied Arts, Inc.

QCFF 2016 Festival Program ©2016 Allegany Allied Arts, Inc.