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BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2006

Official Selections & Screening Schedule

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2006 BVFF PRESS REVIEWS

Moving Pictures: Video and Film Festival at Oaks Theater

by Justin DeFreitas - Berkeley Daily Planet - October 10, 2006

The Berkeley Video and Film Festival makes its annual appearance this weekend, starting Friday and running through Sunday evening at the Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. This year’s program features more than 50 works, from brief clips by budding filmmakers, running just a few minutes in length, to full-length features by established directors.
Festival Director Mel Vapour says this is their best and biggest yet. The festival has expanded over the years to include films from beyond the East Bay, and perhaps the most notable national product in this year’s program is The Big Buy, directed by Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck and produced by Robert Greenwald, who also produced last year’s Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost. The Big Buy tracks the spectacular rise and fall of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, from his early days as an apparent no-count in the Texas legislature to his ascent to national power as Newt Gingrich’s right-hand man, to his successful—and illegal—battle to gerrymander the Texas redistricting process, a move which helped send George W. Bush to the White House.

If you’ve been following the news, you know the rest of the story. But what The Big Buy adds to the tale is the behind-the-scenes machinations of the investigation into DeLay’s organization. Along the way, we hear from the usual suspects when it comes to commentary on all things Texas: Molly Ivins, Jim Hightower, etc., names sure to find a welcoming audience in Berkeley. The Saturday evening screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Birnbaum.

Other films in the festival have roots a little closer to home. Festival Director Vapour has watched director Hoku Uchiyama grow up, from a young, talented kid who took part in youth programs at Vapour’s East Bay Media Center to a film school graduate and accomplished filmmaker. Uchiyama’s 34-minute film Rose is an engaging short subject with a compelling story and evocative photography. In the film’s first few minutes, Uchiyama clearly and effectively delineates his characters with a series of shots of the young protagonist and just a few lines of dialogue, drawing the viewer immediately into young Travis’ world and setting the stage for a tale that seamlessly blends the mystic with the mundane. The compositions, camera movements and polished style demonstrate the young director’s confidence and control over his craft.

Two other films concern Berkeley itself. Double-Spaced: A Berkeley Comedy has that “Hey everybody, let’s make a movie!” feel to it. The movie is about students and feels like it was made by students as well, almost as a lark. It features plenty of shots of the city, from downtown to Telegraph Avenue, and of course plenty of shots of the UC campus. It even contains a brief shot of the student protagonist reading this very newspaper, but before you have a second to ponder this stark breach of realism, a close-up reveals that he is fact reading the comics page.

It’s an amateurish film that wears on its sleeve its aspirations toward Wes Anderson-style preciousness, with a wayward protagonist caught up in a loony bit of intrigue, a soundtrack consisting of light, catchy pop songs, and an optimistic ending meant to reinforce the humanity of all involved. It has an awkward feel to it, and most of its punchlines are oversold. But then there’s Meghan Kane, an actress who, in just two scenes totaling probably just 60 seconds of screen time, steals the show with a hilarious and uncanny depiction of a student many will recognize: the glib, patronizing, utterly self-satisfied graduate student, so taken with her own fabulousness that she must focus her every word and gesture on the never-ending effort to make all around her aware of their comparative lack of fabulousness. It’s just a few seconds, but it’s worth the price of admission.

Another film takes on the Berkeley theme as well, this one with slightly higher aspirations and budget. Berkeley concerns a young man who comes to town as a freshman in the late ’60s and has his life transformed by what he finds. The film stars Nick Roth as the student and Henry Winkler as his father. The film attempts to capture the experience of Berkeley during the Vietnam War era, but doesn’t quite pull it off. For many viewers the film will probably be a moving evocation of the experience; for others, it may seem to merely trivialize it. The Saturday night screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with director Bobby Roth.

These examples only hint at the breadth of the festival’s offerings. For a complete schedule see www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org. Day passes for the festival are just $12. ,

BERKELEY VIDEO FILM FESTIVAL 2006 - by STEVE GIBBS

I watched 52 films last weekend. Actually, it was only 48, so not to exaggerate. One film ran twice, one aired while I was hungry and out to lunch, one I slept through – it was only three minutes long – and one simply bored me to tears so I sat in the lobby of the Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue in North Berkeley during this year’s annual Berkeley Video and Film Festival with a cup of Peets coffee from down the street.

Since 1991 the Berkeley Video and Film Festival has been providing an outlet for independent filmmakers who wish to “challenge and confront our notions of ‘electronic cinema.’”
The films this year were so outstanding that I didn’t notice I was sitting in a theater chair for 24 hours from Friday 7:30 – 11 p.m., through Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 to 11 p.m., with little intermission. Films ranged in length from 100 seconds to 107 minutes. Each film was so different from the others, the festival kept audience members alert in anticipation of the next surprise.
One filmmaker and award-winner, Claire Burch, is over age 70. Another category in the festival is for students under age 17. The student films were exceptionally creative. What added to the fun was having the filmmakers sitting all around me. As their titles hit the screen, their rooting sections of family and friends would cheer and applaud. At the ends, the whole theater would applaud.
My favorite was called "Berkeley", by Bobby Roth (see berkeleythemovie.com). It is an autobiography of his years attending the university beginning in 1968 during Vietnam. It shows how he went from an innocent, dweeby, unaware, self-centered, conservative freshman who wanted to avoid the draft, play golf, study accounting, and enter his dad’s carpet business to a long-haired, guitar-playing, politically aware, anti-war activist who read Marx and Lenin, aspired to become a novelist or a poet, and had several hot girlfriends.
The main character, Ben Sweet, is played by Bobby’s own son, Nick Roth. I like that. The son gets to play his own father as a teenager. Now, that is bonding.
Nick is a natural actor. He’s handsome, talented, comfortable, and carries the film. He also plays guitar. He brought his band and entertained the audience before the movies started.
Ben Sweet’s stern but understanding father, Sy, is played by Henry Winkler. Sy shows up from time to time to check on his boy’s development, show acceptance, and offer encouragement. See it if you can.
Another favorite film was Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck’s "The Big Buy: Tom DeLay’s Stolen Congress". It’s a hard-hitting documentary packed with insightful interviews with key people investigating DeLay’s illegal use of corporate donations to win five new Texas republican seats in congress. It shows the tenacity of Ronnie Earle, the heavily put-upon district attorney who pushes to prosecute all wrong doers, regardless of their politics or religion. We see the smear campaign attempted to discredit Earle, though it didn’t work. We learn that “hot-tub Tom” found religion only after he realized the power of the religious right to win elections. Before finding Jesus, Tom preferred Vegas showgirls.
"Return to Florence" by Nick Brandestini takes a humorous look at Anglo-American students who are living in the heart of romantic Florence, Italy attending an art school that teaches the painting techniques of the Renaissance period. Only the most talented are accepted. The artwork in this film is magnificent. Brandestini, from Switzerland, holds a master’s degree in business and economics.
Rick Ray’s "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama" begins with a month-long tour of India to study Buddhism and understand the culture and history of the displaced Tibetan holy man and his followers who where forced into northern India by the Chinese, who now occupy Tibet. The film ends with an interview with the Dalai Lama, who agreed after receiving an email from Ray. His answer to all questions was this: seek peace, harmony, understanding, happiness. When asked how his holiness would like to live out the remainder of his life, he said, “I would like to live in a rural area like a wounded animal and contemplate the beauty of life.” I like that.
"Colorblind" by Andrew Blum, age 16, interviews people about their experiences with racism. Interviews include people of many races, plus professors and politicians. It is a most compelling and mature project for a young man.

“Censorious” by Carol Jacobsen. It’s a film about women’s art. Shouldn’t be a problem, right? Women. Art. Talent. The feminine view. The feminine mystique. Gender equality. Good combinations for creativity, right? Right.
However and nonetheless, others view things differently. Women’s art, I learned from the film, is often suppressed, rejected, condemned, and denied funding by censors, watchdog groups, grant givers, and the government funding agencies for the arts.
Why? How could this be? It can be summed up in one word: sexuality. Sexuality when addressed as a objet d’art has a certain condemning quality for some. Sexuality has caused some benefactors’ dollars to shrivel, and their gallery doors to slam and latch.
What is wrong with these people? It’s only sex and nudity. Grow up. Look at yourself. It’s not violence, gore, murder, or mayhem. It’s not about lynchings. It’s about being hung. It’s about people and their bodies. Penises, vaginas, breasts and butt cracks. So what. Personally, I want to know a lot more about those regions of the mind’s eye. I despise the twisted morality in our culture that sees a headless body as less offensive than a naked one.
A shocking and disturbing discovery for me in this film are the number of case studies of mothers who have been arrested for innocently taking photographs of their own children when nude – crawling out of bathtubs, changing clothes, waiting to be diapered. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing: women being dragged off to police stations and publicly humiliated because the lab technicians at their local film-development stores had turned photos over to the authorities who, out of context, suspected the worst and acted on it.

I liked “The Slanted Screen” by Jeff Adachi for similar reasons. It showed me an element of my own society that I knew only enough about to be curious to learn more. In this case, it was the struggles of Asian actors to be accepted in leading roles. The difficulties of playing stereotypes while keeping one’s self respect and cultural honor are made painfully clear and personal to everyone watching this film.
What else I appreciated was that Adachi spent a good amount of time on the successes and the abundance of talent found among Asian artists. I learned a lot about Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese sex symbol and leading man up on the silver screen pared with the likes of Valentino. He romantically seduced white women and fought bad guys from 1914 through the 1920s without an uproar. I learned how important Bruce Lee was to Asian actors. The documentary taught me how deeply he was respected and admired.

I liked “The Clench” by M.Cormick, J.Key, M.Rodriguez, A.Gonzales, S.Westra, N.Heeney. On occasions, a man must fart. Sometimes, those occasions are not so opportune. Sometimes there is no moving air to shift the blame. The film begins with the creation of the fart and ends with its ultimate release. It’s really not much more than a fart joke turned into a movie, but it’s filmed with precision and class. There is an air of prim properness about the acting, the sets, the costumes, the editing, and overall tone that creates a perfect counterpoint to the grand finale, the ripping of some tumultuous burrito farts. Don’t expect to find any metaphysical undercurrents, but do expect to laugh and maybe see yourself.

“The Milky Way” by Sean Bloch grew on me. I didn’t know what it was about while watching it. It seemed mysterious and esoteric. A boy hides in a bathtub with a snorkel while a woman his father is banging comes in to freshen up. Odd behavior. Then he pours this elusive woman a glass of wine, while he has milk. They sit. He sketches her face. They have a disjointed conversation. I’m wondering why? Where is this going?
Then the woman is going. It’s late, after all. The boy is sad. He hopes to see her again. Ahhh. Now I’m beginning to understand. He asks if she will come back. The pieces of the puzzle are sliding together. It’s a film about love, loneliness, missing a mother, needing a friend, a confidant, a woman in one’s life. It’s about fathers and sons. It’s about rivalries. It’s about the unspoken basic desire of human beings for companionship and relationships. What a wonderfully subtle and profound film for such a young film maker.

“The Substitute” by another young filmmaker, Katie McDowell, gave me great joy, perhaps because it is about school, students, and teachers and I’m a teacher. I liked that she involved so many of her friends in her cinematic success by casting the film with a large troupe. The students didn’t have to act much, just move their desks on time, so everyone performed perfectly. The student star of the film ironically is asleep and gets very little face time on the screen. The center of attraction is actually a distraction -- the talkative and pixilated professor detailing a ridiculously long and convoluted math problem on the board, while the class is way off topic. It’s a promising first film for this young artist.

The BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2006 left me encouraged and inspired. by Steve Gibbs


THE DAILY CAL - WHAT TO DO - Thursday, October 5, 2006
BERKELEY VIDEO & FILM FESTIVAL 2006

Now here’s a chance to have a great big laugh at those media barons, their monopolies and “been done one time too many” movies. The 2006 Berkeley Video & Film Festival is here to resuscitate the public from being smothered by jackasses, boys in red capes, intellectually challenged NASCAR drivers and devils decked in designer duds. This weekend’s festival offers about 50 independent films for no more than 25 bucks, and is highlighted by “Berkeley,” a well-executed film that covers various aspects of the Berkeley counterculture while sidestepping all the trite pitfalls of this deservedly well-worn subject. The film also features none other than Henry Winkler, a.k.a. “The Fonz.” And in the spirit of authenticity, where better to experience all this cinematographic glory then in a beautifully renovated 1920s cinema—Berkeley’s Oak Theater on Solano. -by Samah El-Hindi

OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - FEATURE FILMS

"BERKELEY" by Bobby Roth - 87 minutes - Fri. Oct.6, 9:45pm & Sun. Oct.8, 6:45pm

Starring Henry Winkler, Bonnie Bedelia, Nick Roth and Laura Jordan.

Berkeley is the story of Ben Sweet (Nick Roth), an eighteen year old middleclass boy who comes to UC Berkeley in 1968 to study accounting and avoid the draft. There begins an odyssey through sex, drugs, rock and roll, and political activism which turns his conservative world upside down, and leaves him on a path of exploration and self-discovery, far from the life of his father, Sy (Henry Winkler). *Filmmaker Q&A - Friday, October 6th following screening - "BERKELEY" screens Friday 8:45pm & Sunday 6:40pm..

"SELF-MEDICATED" by Tommy Bell - 107 minutes - Sun. Oct 8, 9:30pm

Starring Diane Vendra, Monty Lapica, Greg Germann, Kristina Anapau & Michael Bowen

A desperate mother hires a private company to kidnap her troubled son and send him to a locked-down and corrupt adolescent hospital.

"DOUBLE SPACED - A Berkeley Comedy" by Brendan Borrell - 78 minutes - Sat. Oct.7.9:30pm

Starring Benjamin Fritz, Larissa Kasian, David Guilmette, Chynna Chu, David Kirkpatrick.

When an insecure professor hires a Berkeley graduate student to test the fidelity of his mail order bride, college life becomes all about the the extra curricular activities.

"THE TRAVELER" by William Sten Olsson - 62 minutes - Sun. Oct.8, 5:35pm

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - DOCUMENTARY

"THE BIG BUY: TOM DELAY'S STOLEN CONGRESS"

by Mark Birnbaum & Jim Schermbeck - 76 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 7:30pm

"THE BIG BUY" is the story of one of the most blatant power grabs in American history, and how a District Attorney in Texas turned out to be the biggest threat to the national DeLay Machine. The film is a warning about how easy it is for American democracy to be hijacked by a combination of relentless ambition and corporate millions. It makes the case that DeLay built a "custom-made Congress" that is still providing votes for his agenda. *Filmmaker Q&A on Saturday Oct 7th - 8:45pm.

"RIOT ON!" by Kim Finn, produced/written by John Hakalax - 74 minutes - Finland

Sun. Oct.8, 8:15pm

The true story of how six guys lost $21 million in 666 days.

"THE SLANTED SCREEN" by Jeff Adachi - 61 minutes - Sun. Oct8, 4:14pm

The film examines portrayals of Asian men in film & television, deconstructing racial stereotyping & suggests what needs tohappen to reverse this trend.

"LATINO STORIES OF WORLD WAR II" by Mario Barrera - 60 minutes - Sun. Oct.8, 3:14pm

"10 QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA" by Rick Ray - 85 minutes - Sat. Oct.7,4:05pm

"RETURN TO FLORENCE" by Nick Brandestini - 50 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 3:15pm

"CENSORIOUS" by Carol Jacobsen - 34 minutes - Sat .Oct.7, 5:45pm

"YOSEMITE: SPIRITS AMONG THE ROCKS" by John Forte - 42:00 - Sun. Oct 8, 2:31pm

"PINKY: THE CROWD PLEASER" by Luis Ramos - 13:00 - Sat. Oct.7, 5:30pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS - SHORT FEATURES

"ROSA" by William Sten Olsson - 12 minutes

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - ARTS

"EDEN" by Jessica Iapino - 4 minutes - Italy - Sat. Oct.7, 9:22pm

"TWOFACED" by LaDonna Witmer & Michelle M. Brown - 6:38 - Sat. Oct.7, 9:15pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD ARTS

"PRIMULE" by Chiara Scarfo - 5 minutes - Italy - Sat. Oct.7, 6:30pm

"Nimai and nthe Wandering Brahmin" by Larry Decker - 12:50 - Sun. Oct 8 - 2:18pm

Puppet Video of an incident from the childhood of the mystical avatar.

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - STUDENT FILMMAKERS

"ROSE" by Hoku Uchiyama - 33 minutes - DISC MAKERS AWARD - Fri. Oct.6, 9:00pm

"ROSE" is a rural American fairy-tale about secrets and growing up.

"THE MILKY WAY" by Sean Bloch - 13:30 - Fri. Oct.6 - 8:40pm

A motherless boy attempts to seduce his father's one-night stand into becoming his mother.

"A THOUSAND WORDS" by A. Adams, T.Lo, T.Munn, D.O'Hara, E.NightPipe - Expression College for Digital Arts - 12 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 6:45pm

"THE CLENCH" by M.Cormick, J.Key, M.Rodriguez, A.Gonzales, S.Westra, N.Heeney - Expression College for Digital Arts - 7minutes - Sat. Oct.7 - 9:00pm

"TWITCH" by Leah Meyerhoff - 10 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 6:20pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARD - ETHNOGRAPHIC

"THE JOURNEY OX KUTZCAB - SAN FRANCISCO" by Carlos Bazua - 60 minutes

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - EXPERIMENTAL

"FRIEND FILM" by Colin V. Barton - 6 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 6:38pm

"THE END OF PHOTOGRAPHY" by Judy Fiskin - 2.3 minutes - Fri. Oct.6, 8:30pm

"HUMAN" by Eytan Rockaway - 4:41- Sat. Oct.7, 6:58pm

BEST OF FEST FESTIVAL AWARDS - EXPERIMENTAL

"KIRI OF THE MIND" by Christopher Galipo - 4:00 - Sun. Oct 8 , 2:01pm

"FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH" by John Cannizzaro - 13 minutes

"LOVELY ACADEMIC SLAUGHTER HOUSE" by David Finkelstein - 27 minutes

"THIS FILM HAS NO COMMERCIAL VALUE" by John Kneller - 23:30 minutes

"CERTAIN WOMEN" by Sally Grizzell Larson - 3 minutes

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - YOUNG PRODUCERS

EAST BAY MEDIA CENTER SUMMER MEDIA CAMP 2006 - "SUBWAY" - 15 minutes

Sat. Oct.7, 2:45pm

"THE LAST JUDGEMENT" by Alan Ransil - 15:30 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 3:00pm

"DISTURBING THE PEACE" - 5:30 - by Max Strebel - Fri. Oct.6 - 8:34pm

Jungle Software - Gorilla Award

"THE SUBSTITUTE" by Katie McDowell - 7 minutes - Sat. Oct.7 - 1:56pm

Jungle Software - Gorilla Award

"MISSION SPACE 2" by Jacob Schwartz & Kevin Horowitz - 18:21 minutes - Sat. Oct. 7 - 1:37pm

"ORIGINAL CHANGES" by Diana Snyder - 10:20 minutes - Sat. Oct. 7 - 2:05pm

"COLORBLIND" by Andrew Blum - 28 minutes - Sat. Oct. 7 - 2:15pm

"Crash" by Christopher Jarvis - 2:50 - Sun. Oct. 8 - 1:36pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS - YOUNG PRODUCER

"CLOTHESHORSES" by Max Strebel - Sun.Oct.8. - 1:41pm

"CONRATULATIONS!" by Max Strebel - Sun. Oct.8 - 1:39pm

"CANYONS IN CLAY" - by Denali Wilson - 5:30 minutes - Sun Oct. 8 - 1:30pm

"FLEETWOOD" by Candace Infuso - 29 minutes

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS - EDUCATIONAL

"THE BROWN BEARS OF KATMAI" by Fred Heiman - 21minutes

"WOMEN WITH DREAMS: SUMO GIRLS" by Chan Wai Tong - 22 minutes - China

"UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE STOCK MARKET" by John Forte - 60 minutes

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - MUSIC VIDEO

"JUST GO" by Brian Thompson - 3:00 - Sat. Oct 7, 9:10pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS - MUSIC VIDEO

"QUEEN OF DISPLAYS" by Peter Bolte - 5 minutes - Music by One Ring Zero - Sat. Oct 7, 6:33pm

'BOMBS AWAY" by Tamir Elterman & Dave Alexander- 4:00 - Sun. Oct 8,1:56pm

"SHIP IN A BOTTLE" by Rachel Max - 3:30

"IN THE NAME OF GOD" by Lisa Seidenberg - 5:29 minutes

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARDS - ANIMATION

"MAGIC CELLAR" - by Firdaus Kharas - 11 minutes - Sun, Oct.8, 1:44pm

"PUPPET" by Patrick Smith - 6:30 minutes - Sat. Oct 7, 7:15pm

BEST OF FESTIVAL AWARDS - ANIMATION

'WHEN GEORGIE GOES MARCHIN' HOME" by Dave Puls - 3:30 minutes - Sat. Oct.7, 7:22pm

"OVER 70 PRODUCERS AWARD"- ANIMATION

"LILA & PAUL" by Richard Randell - 1:28 minutes - Sun, Oct.8,2:15pm

GRAND FESTIVAL AWARD - COMEDY

"POSTER BOY" by Waylon Bacon - 10:27 - Sun, Oct.8, 5:15pm

INVITATIONAL GUEST FILMMAKER:

NEIL IRA NEEDLEMAN

Neil Ira Needleman from "Between Blinks 4":

"Another Language I Don't Speak" - Fri. Oct. 6 - 8:55pm

"An Imaginary Movie" - "Uncle Hyman Cleans Up" - "Commercial Interruption"

Sat. Oct.7 - 7:05pm

*****Lifetime Achievement Award

"Chant of a Poor Man" by Claire Burch
Berkeley's lifelong chronicler creates a music video on Berkeley's homeless.
Sun, Oct 8 - 5:26pm

*****Over 70 Producers Award - Animation

"Lila and Paul" by Richard Randell - 1:28
Using data from their drawings, photographs, and their personal information
Mexican/American folk singer Lila Downs and her husband Paul Cohen
are teased in a short animation produced by a friend.
Sun, Oct 8 - 2:15pm

****Best of Festival Award - Arts

"Nimai and the Wandering Brahmin" by Larry Decker - 12:50
Puppet video of an incident from the childhood of the mystical avatar,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Sun, Oct 8 - 2:18pm

"Primule" by Chiara Scarfo - 2:17 - Italy
A self discovery journey in an Italian mental institution by the artist.
Sat. Oct.8, 6:30pm

****Best of Festival Award - Animation

"When Georgie Goes Marchin' Home" by David Puls - 3:30
This animated short takes us on a surreal tour of the Bush administration
and its many misadventures. Like a ride through a fun house, we're taken
into the bizarre world of GW.
Sat, Oct 7 - 7:22pm

****Best of Festival Award - Experimental

"Kiri of the Mind" by Christopher Galipo - 4:00
A series of symbolic situations set to music.
Sun, Oct 8 - 2:01pm

****Best of Festival Award - Music Video

"Queen of Displays" by Peter Bolte - 5:00
Music by One Ring Zero.
Sat, Oct 7 - 6:33 pm

"Bombs Away!!" by Tamir Elterman and Dave Alexander - 4:01- Sun. Oct.8 - 1:56pm
Bombs Away!! is the newest sensation sweeping the streets of Eugene, Or.
We fuse literary scholarships with modern-day society and use the hip-hop
as a mechanics to infiltrate our tactics!!
Sun, Oct 8 - 1:56pm

"In the Name of God" by Lisa Seidenberg
"Ship in a Bottle" by Rachel Max

****Best of Festival Award - Young Producers

"Clotheshorses" by Max Strebel- 2:20
A mother and daughter get dressed while criticizing each others style.
Sun, Oct 8 - 1:41pm

"Congratulations!" by Max Strebel - 1:40
This animation illustrates acceptance, expectation, realization
and aspiration through a series of beautiful images and powerful metaphors.
Sun, Oct 8 - 1:39pm

"Canyons in Clay" by Denali Wilson - 5:30
A boy's guest to free the Native American's spirit by returning a
found skull to the medicine place where the spirit and skull can be set free.
Sun, Oct 8 - 1:30pm

"City Projects: The Painting of a Culture" by Jonathon Munoz - 3:00
"City Projects: Intern. Blvd. A Cornerstone of America's Multicultural
Communities"
by Arianna Toboado and Rico Chenyek - 3:00
Works created by high school students across the US
as part of the My City Now media outreach program.
Sat, Oct 7 - 1:30pm

****Best of Festival Award - Documentary

"Ray Bandar: A life with Skulls" - Beth Cataldo
"Patriots Act. PEACE PRESS:
The Peoples Printing Collective"
- by Joseph A. Daccurso
"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" by Amy Finkel
"What's Going On Up There?" by Maryanne Galvin

****Best of Festival Award - Experimental

"Fountain of Youth" by John Cannizzaro
"Lovely Academic Slaughter Houses" by David Finkelstein
"This Film Has No Commercial Value" by John Kneller
"Certain Women" by Sally Grizzell Larson

****Best of Festival Award - Education

"The Brown Bears of Katmai" by Fred Heiman
"Unlock the Secrets of the Stock Market" by John Forte
"Women with Dreams: Sumo Girls" by Chan Wai Tong

****Best of Festival Award - Ethnography

"The Journey-Ox Kutzcab" - Carlos Bazua

****Best of Festival Award - Short Feature

"Rosa" by William Sten Olsson
"For the Best" by Rogelio Mitchell Jr.
"Disappearing Over Night" by Melinda Busch/Jean Pierre Duboucheron
"Peruvian Girl" by Juan Alcazar
"The Girl who could run 600 miles per hour" by Mark Thimijan

****Best of Festival Award - Feature

"Souvenir" by Wallace Zane
"Hog Island" by Tom Clyde

****Best of Festival Award - Young Producers

"Fleetwood" by Candace Infuso
"Run" by Matt Zien

****Best of Festival Award - Student Filmmaker

"7 Men" by Jesse Barrett-Mills
"Flux" by Zachery Spira-Bauer
"Muse" by Rachel Weiler
"Wake" by Expressions Students

***Honorable Mention - Documentary

"Still Kicking" by Greg Young
"The Assembler" by Jeffrey Hill
"Trilogy" by Claire Burch
"Once They were Neighbors" by Zsuzsanna Varga
"Trespassing" by Carlos DeMenezes
"Aijo" by Hart Ginsburg
'Where Strangers become Neighbors' by Leonie Sandercock
"Cabela's Partnership with the City of Glendale, AZ" by Ed Sharpe
"Hummers to Harleys for Hunger" by Ed Sharpe
"Glendale Gaslight Inn Grand Opening with Nicolas Bearde Jazz Star" by Ed Sharpe
"Fire Safety House" by Ed Sharpe
"The 11th Day" by Christos Epperson
"Mae Brussell In Santa Cruz" by Tim Canale
"Heroes" by Lynn Estomin
"Kiki Smith: Squatting the Palace" by Edgar B. Howard

***Honorable Mention - Short Feature

"The Kidnapping" by Ricardo D'Arino
"I want a second opinion." by Anthony Oertel
"A World at Waste" by Stuart MacDonald
"Women with Dreams: "If you believe in fairy tales..." by Chan Wai Tong
"T.I.N.F." by John Harrigan
"Leave A Message" by Carsten Kranzer

***Honorable Mention- Arts

"Photosonic" by Giulio 'Julyo' D'Agostino
"Cities of the Dead" by David Madgalene
"The Transrealism of G. Mark Mulleian" by Damon M. Molloy

***Honorable Mention - Educational

"Eternal High - The Documentary" by Bryce Mackie
"Where Are the Leaders of Faith?" by David Randolph
"The Stand Up Physicist: Time Reversal and Spin" by Douglas Sweetser
"Women's Leadership Development through International Mentoring"
by Paul R. Jacoway

***Honorable Mention - Young Producers

"Eternal High" by Bryce Mackie

***Honorable Mention - Animation

"Hate Preachers" by Dave Puls

***Honorable Mention - Music Video

"By Any Means" by Rogelio Mitchell Jr.
"Did He Again?" by Asaph Polonsky and Dori Bashan
"A Dropout Returns to People's Park" by Claire Burch
"Chicago Southside" by Claire Burch
"Rago and Friends" by Claire Burch
"Black Forest Train" by Terrance Edward Davis
"Fingers" by Christopher Doll and Joshua Walden

***Honorable Mention - Experimental

"It Could Happen to You" by Elizabeth Henry
"Charles Darwin in Cyberspace" by Claire Burch
"Simple Construction" by Rachel McGraw
"Nincompoops" by Andrew Wilson, Josh Simpson, and Vlad Wormwood
"Meditation# 1_Lost Dog" by Jamie Hull

***Honorable Mention - Comedy

"Banished Misfortune" by Matt Jenkins
"GAY means happy Show!" by Michael Steck
"Thanksgetting, A Real Band" by Matt McKenna
"The Blandest Movie Ever" by Katherine Bruens

***Honorable Mention - Student Filmmakers

"One in 2000" by Ajae Clearway
"Skid Row: 50 Blocks of Desolation" by Mike O'Hara & Banks Farris
"I Like Alcohol" by Dave Noury
"Heroes in the Making" by Robert Quick
"SWAT Commander" by Robert Quick
"Dying to Know" by Robert Quick
"Belfast: The Sad Reality" by Jesse Barrett-Mills
"Tsunami Song" by Jesse Barrett-Mills
"Fighting with Monsters" by Drew Southern
"Killer's Kiss" by Sara Blaylock
"Pisces" by Lulu Wang
"Open House" by Nayeem Lokhandwala and Mike Zhai
"Lorelei" by Rachel Weiler
"Shakespeare's Garden" by Joshua and Daniel Walden
"Days of Rage" by Daniel Shanken

SCREENING SCHEDULE - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6TH

6:45 pm - FILMMAKERS RECEPTION - Filmmakers Only - Live Music from The Nick Roth Trio

7:30pm - AWARDS PRESENTATION - Filmmakers Only

SCREENINGS BEGIN

8:30pm - "THE END OF PHOTOGRAPHY" - by Judy Fiskin - Experimental - 3:00

8:34pm - "DISTURBING THE PEACE" - by Max Strebel - Young Producer - 6:00

8:40pm - "THE MILKY WAY" - by Sean Bloch - Student Filmmaker - 14:00

8:55pm - "ANOTHER LANGUAGE I DON'T SPEAK" - by Neil Ira Needleman - Invitational Filmmaker - 4:00

9:00pm - "ROSE" by Hoku Uchiyama - Student Filmmaker - 34:00

9:35 pm - INTERMISSION - 10:00

9:45pm - "BERKELEY" by Bobby Roth - Feature - 87:00 - Followed by a Q & A with filmmaker Bobby Roth

SCREENING SCHEDULE - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7TH

1:30pm - YOUNG PRODUCERS SCREENINGS

1:30pm - "CITY PROJECTS: The Painting of a Culture" by Jonathon Munoz - 3:00
"CITY PROJECTS: International Blvd. A Cornerstone of America's Multicultural Communities" -
by Arianna Taboado and Rico Chenyek - 3:00

1:37pm - "MISSION SPACE 2" by Jacob Schwartz and Kevin Horowitz- Young Producer - 18:21

1:56pm - "THE SUBSTITUTE" - by Katie McDowell - 7:11

2: 05pm - "ORIGINAL CHANGES"- by Diana Snyder- 10:20

2:15pm - "COLORBLIND" - by Andrew Blum - Young Producer - 28:00

2:45pm - "SUBWAY" - by East Bay Media Center's Summer Teen Media Camp - 15:00

3:00pm - "THE LAST JUDGEMENT" - by Alan Ransil - Young Producer - 15:30

3:15pm - "RETURN TO FLORENCE" - by Nick Brandestini - Documentary - 50:00

4:05pm - "10 QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA" by Rick Ray - Documentary - 85:00

5:30pm - "PINKY: THE CROWD PLEASER" by Luis Ramos - Documentary - 13:00

5:45pm - "CENSORIOUS" by Carol Jacobsen - Documentary - 34:00

6:20pm - "TWITCH" - by Leah Meyerhoff - Student Filmmaker - 10:00

6:30pm - "PRIMULE" by Chiara Scarfo - Arts- Italy - 2:17

6:33pm - "QUEEN OF DISPLAYS" - by Peter Bolte - Music by One Ring Zero - Music Video - 5:00

6:38pm - "FRIEND FILM" - by Colin Barton - Experimental - 6:00

6:45pm - "A THOUSAND WORDS" - by A.Ardans, T.Munn, T.Lo, E.NightPipe, D.O'Hara - Student Filmmakers - 12:00

6:58pm - "HUMAN" - by Eytan Rockaway - Experimental - 5:00

7:05pm - INVITATIONAL FILMMAKER - NEIL IRA NEEDLEMAN -"AN IMAGINARY MOVIE" -"UNCLE HYMAN CLEANS UP"- "COMMERICAL INTERRUPTION #15" - trt: 10:00

7:15pm - "PUPPET" - by Patrick Smith - Animation - 6:30

7:22pm - "WHEN GEORGIE GOES MARCHIN' HOME" - by Dave Puls - Animation - 3:30

7:30pm - "THE BIG BUY: TOM DeLAY'S STOLEN CONGRESS" - by Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck-Documentary - 75:00 - A Robert Greenwald & Brave New World Presentation. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Mark Birnbaum.

8:45pm - INTERMISSION - 15:00

9:00pm - "THE CLENCH" - by M.Cornick, J.Key,M.Rodriguez, A.Gonzales, S.Westra, N.Heeney - Student Filmmaker- 9:34

9:13pm - "JUST GO" - by Brian Thompson - Music by Misdirection - Music Video - 3:00

9:16pm - "TWO-FACED" - by LaDonna Witmer and Michelle M. Brown - Arts - 6:40

9:22pm - "EDEN" - by Jessica Iapino - Arts - Italy - 4:00

9:30pm - "DOUBLE-SPACED: A BERKELEY COMEDY" - by Brendan Borrell - Feature - 72:00

SCREENING SCHEDULE - SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8TH

1:30pm - YOUNG PRODUCERS SCREENINGS

1:30pm - "CANYONS IN CLAY" By Denali Wilson - Young Producer - 5:30

1:36pm - "CRASH" by Christopher Jarvis- Young Producer - Young Producer - 2:50

1:39pm - "CONGRATULATIONS!" - by Max Strebel - Young Producer - 1:40

1:41pm - "CLOTHESHORSES" - by Max Strebel - Young Producer - 2:20

1:44pm - "WHERE THE STORIES COME FROM" - by Firdaus Kharas - Animation - 11:30

1:56pm - "BOMBS AWAY" - by Tamir Elterman & Dave Alexander - Music Video - 4:01

2:01pm - "KIRI OF THE MIND" - by Chris Galipo - Experimental - 4:00

2:05pm - "FLUX" by Zachery Spira-Bauer - Student Filmmaker - 8:00

2:15 pm - "LILA AND PAUL" - by Richard Randell - Animation - Over 70 Producer - 1:28

2:18 pm - "NIMAI AND THE WANDERING BRAHMIN" - by Larry Decker - Arts - 13:00

2:31pm - "YOSEMITE" - by John Forte - Documentary - 42:00

3:14pm - "LATINO STORIES OF WORLD WAR II" - by Mario Barrera - Documentary - 60:00

4:14pm - "THE SLANTED SCREEN"- by Jeff Adachi - Documentary - 61:00

5:15pm - "POSTER BOY" - by Waylon Bacon - Comedy - 11:00

5:26pm - "CHANT OF A POOR MAN" - by Claire Burch - Music Video - 6:00

5:35pm - "THE TRAVELER" - by William Sten Olsson - Feature - 62:00

6:38pm - INTERMISSION

6:45pm - "BERKELEY" - by Bobby Roth - 87:00

8:15pm - "RIOT-ON!" - by Kim Finn, produced-written by John Hakalax - Documentary-Drama - 74:00

9:30pm - "SELF - MEDICATED" by Tommy Bell - Feature - 107:00