FILM:
Animated Shorts Program
FRENCH ROAST - France, 2008, 9min., Dir. Fabrice O. Joubert In a fancy Parisian Café, an uptight businessman finds out that he's lost his wallet and that he can't pay the check.To save time he decides to order more coffee... HOT DOG - USA, 2008, 6min., Dir. Bill Plympton In this episode our plucky hero joins the fire company to save the world from house fires and gain the affection he so richly deserves. HUNGU - Canada, 2008, 10min., Dir. Nicolas Brault Inspired by the grace and raw beauty of African rock paintings, we enter a world where humans and nature are subtly linked. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU - USA, 2008, 22min., Dir. Don Hertzfeldt Dark family secrets cast a shadow over Bill's recovery, in this second chapter to Don Hertzfeldt's EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. JACINTA - Mexico, 2008, 9min., Dir. Karla Castaneda It can be so lonely aging alone. Jacinta looks out her window in hope. THE NECKTIE (LA NOEUD CRAVATE) - Canada, 2008, 13min., Dir. Jean-Francoise Levesque The Necktie is fifteen years in the life of Valentin, a faithful employee working a useless task in a dead-end job. THIS WAY UP - UK, 2008, 9min., Dir. Adam Foulkes, Alan Smith Laying the dead to rest has never been so much trouble. HOW CHILDREN FLY (DE COMO LOS NINOS PUEDEN VOLAR) - Mexico, 2008, 7min., Dir. Leopoldo Aguilar The imaginary universe of a child and his desire to take flight.
FILM:
Applebox Shorts
RINDIN THE PUFFER - USA, 2006, 8min., Dir. Len Simon A young puffer fish has trouble making friends until the day his comrades encounter a real danger. DEAR FATTY - USA, 2008, 7min., Dir. Hsin-I Tseng A metaphorical journey of a hamster through a letter of the little girl who owns her. ELEPHANTS - UK, 2008, 13min., Dir. Sally Pearce In a totally grey world, a little girl's life is turned upside down by an infestation of elephants. HIS GOOD WILL - Canada/USA, 2008, 11min., Dir. Cayman Grant Using kindness and decency, an impoverished young boy touches the lives of everyone he comes across in 1950's America. CREMA SUPREMA - Canada, 2008, 3min., Dir. Ellenora Ventura In this stop-motion animated comedy, two rival bakers simultaneously attempt to create a masterpiece while trying to sabotage each other's work ALEX'S HALLOWEEN - USA, 2008, 14min., Dir. Daniel Persitz Eight year old Halloween enthusiast Alex devises a unique plan to spend more time with his teenage brother.
FILM:
Applebox Shorts 2
PLAIN AND SIMPLE - USA, 2008, 30min., Dir Merrin Marra Pauly Penguin learns the value of true beauty when he is forced to save his job at a profit-minded zoo in this colorful mixture of live action and animated cinematography. DISTRAXION - USA, 2008, 2min., Dir. Michael Stern In this computer animated film, an office worker's is driven to distraxion every night by his boss's cheesy jazz music. LAURA - IN ACTION - Denmark, 2008, 16min., Dir. Laerke Drews Talented cartoonist Laura Fagerholm is inspired by her character to literally take matters into her own hands when a rival steals her work. ALBA (DAWN) - Italy, 2008, 9min., Dir. Giorgia Farina A terminally ill boy turns into a knight to slay a fierce dragon-his own mortality.
FILM:
Art!
Two short films highlighting art in many of its forms. FERTILIZE - Belgium, 2008, 8min., Dir. Senne Dehandschutter An experimental dance film the creates a reality with direct and physical communication. Even the environment itself changes at the influence of emotion. GRACE HARTIGAN/SHATTERING BOUNDARIES - USA, 37min. The story of a fiercely independent Abstract Expressionist painter whose life is as gutsy and compelling as her art.
FILM:
Oscar Short Doc Program
Every year the Academy narrows down the field of short documentaries to a brief, but varied, list. These three shortlisted Oscar documentaries offer just a small taste of the wonderful films up for the coveted award. DOWNSTREAM - USA, 2008, 33min., Dir. Leslie Iwerks The modern day David and Goliath story of 'Big Oil.' At the heart of the Oils Sands in Alberta, Canada, one courageous doctor puts his career on the line as he fights for the lives of the aboriginal Indians living and dying downstream from one the most polluting and toxic oil operations in the world. TONGZHI IN LOVE - China/USA, 2008, 30min., Dir. Ruby Yang 'Frog' Cui and his friends navigate the dilemmas of being gay in modern China, torn between the lures of city life and the unyielding traditions by which they were raised. THE WITNESS - FROM THE BALCONY OF ROOM 306 - USA, 2008, 32min., Dir. Adam Pertofsky With every truth there bears a witness. And it is with this thought that we hear Reverend Samuel 'Billy' Kyles story. In 1968 on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel Rev. Kyles stood next to Dr. Martin Luther King as he was shot down in cold blood. With support from Maxine Smith and Dr. Benjamin Hooks we hear why Dr. King was in Memphis and what went on in the last hour of his life.
FILM:
Santa Barbara Shorts
ANATOMY OF NUMBERS - 2008, 10min., Dir. Erin Cantelo Patrick asks his new love how many people she has slept with and gets an answer he did not bargain for. A ROOM FOR SARAH - 2009, 9min., Dir. Ginger Swanson A Room for Sara is a 1920's era silent comedy about a courageous young woman left to her own devices to claim her independence. BUSINESS - USA, 2008, 19min., Dir. John McKinney Caleb inherited an office building and made a big mistake when he asked his friend Walker to go into business him. THE EARLY WORM - USA, 2008, 9min., Dir. Ray Pivato A chain reaction of misfortune befalls a young professional whose only crime is waking an hour too early. EN ROUTE - USA, 2009, 4min., Dir. Karl Mefford A driver with a mysterious briefcase steers his way through the treacheries of the open road. With time running out, he races towards his final destination. THE FISHERMAN - 2008, 10min., Dir. Jason Hallows The tale of a poor fisherman who accidentally pulls his destiny from the sea. SARAH - USA, 2008, 8min., Dir. Rashi Bahri Chitnis With the deep desire to connect with her mother, Sarah decides to tackle her hydrophobia by learning to swim, only to discover, that there are deeper hidden secrets in the water than just her fear of it! SHOWING DISASTER: TEA FIRE REFLECTIONS - USA, 4min., Dir. Ethan Turpin While recording a wild fire and the homes it has destroyed, the filmmaker grapples with the ethics of photographing the ruins of peoples' lives. WE HAVE LOST OUR WINGS BUT STILL WE DREAM OF FLYING - USA, 2008, 7min., Dir. Elia Vargas The unraveling of consciousness. A dreadful fantasy.
FILM:
Santa Barbara Student Shorts
BUBBLES AND SEASHELLS - USA, 2008, 7min., Dir. Jameson Jordan A screenwriter attempts to make a movie about all the things that make us happy but finds out why he cannot. APPARITION - USA, 2008, 7min., Dir. Daniel Gruen A weekend getaway turns to tragedy when three friends are cursed by a deadly prophecy. THE BEHOLDER - USA, 6min., Dir. Roxanne Teti Follows the routine of an anorexic teenager who soon discovers a loss of individuality when she realizes the face in the mirror is literally not her own. CLAMS WITH GREEN ONIONS - USA, 2008, 12min., Dir. Sheena McCann A young woman charmed by the gross and mundane enjoys a love affair that may not exist. IMA - USA, 2008, 6min., Dir. Jeremy Cohen Shortly after the liberation of Auschwitz, two survivors meet a young Hitler Youth searching for his mother. The irony of the situation leads one of the survivors to seek revenge, and the situation looks dire until all find redemption in someone else's mother. JESUS BLUES - USA, 2008, 7min., Dir. Max Littman A restless young girl slips out of church during a sermon by her alcoholic pastor to follow a guitar-clad Jesus and a homeless sax performer on a musical adventure. NO CORNER FOR OLD MIME - USA, 2008, 11min., Dir. Jordan Riggs Just because you can't make a sound doesn't mean you can't go out with a bang! TEN MINUTES TO ITHACA - USA, 2008, 10min., Dir. Zac Palladino The Odyssey: compressed, mashed, twisted, and animated into a ten minute frame.
FILM:
Shorts Program 1
TOYLAND (SPIELZEUGLAND) - Germany, 2007, 14min., Dir. Jochen Alexander Freydank What happens when a German kid believes that his Jewish neighbors are going to Toyland? A story about lies and guilt. STOLEN YOUTH - UK, 2007, 14min., Dir. Leon Chambers A delinquent's rampage on a small town is not as horrifying as the secret he discovers. NEXT FLOOR - Canada, 2008, 12min., Dir. Deni Villeneuve Eleven pampered guests participate a ritualistic gastronomic carnage. ON THE ROAD TO TEL-AVIV - Israel, 2008, 15min., Dir. Khen Shalem In the wake of a terrorist attack, a young Israeli and his fiancé find themselves in a tricky situation when a suspicious-looking Arab woman boards their bus. HAKIM - Germany, 2008, 15 min., Dir. Ismail Sahin The short life of a boy in Africa, who loses his mother to AIDS and finds his last home in an orphan village.
FILM:
Shorts Program 2
LOVE YOU MORE - UK, 2008, 15min., Dir. Sam Taylor-Wood Two teenagers are drawn together by the Buzzcocks' single 'Love You More' in the summer of 1978. THE STARS DON'T TWINKLE IN OUTER SPACE - UK, 2008, 11min., Dir. Peter Thwaites A 1940's space adventure story in which two children, 'Starman' and 'the Princess' struggle to escape their doom. As the truth of their situation becomes clear we realize the terrible nature of their predicament. JERRYCAN - Australia, 2008, 14min., Dir. Julius Avery Five bored kids with nothing to do decide to blow something up. Paper, scissors rocks seals the fate of Nathan, who risks everything after he is bullied, into making a life and death decision. IN THE DARK - USA, 2008, 17min., Dir. Alex Fazeli The eve of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran, a double agent, hunted by the new revolutionary government, agrees to exchange crucial information with the CIA in return for safe passage out of the country. GONE FISHING - UK, 2008, 13min., Dir. Chris Jones An old man and young boy deal with bereavement through their shared love of fishing, and the legend of Goliath, the biggest pike ever caught. APPASSIONATA - Germany, 2008, 16min., Dir. Mirko Echghi-Ghamsari Based on a WW II legend: A German soldier awaiting his doom in the pocket of Stalingrad spots an undamaged piano in the no-man's land between the lines. The urge to play one last time becomes irresistible....
FILM:
Shorts Program 3
RUN - New Zealand, 2007, 15min., Dir. Mark Albison A Samoan brother and sister live in fear of their over-protective widowed father who rules with a military regime in order to protect his children from a bleak future. The children learn that only together can they show him that he is their biggest obstacle. GLOCK - USA, 2009, 12min., Dir. Tom Everett Scott The story centers on a promising new spy who is given a cell phone by his agency and told to wait for his first mission. However, the phone never rings and our hero slowly descends into a downward spiral of heartbreak and frustration. RIPPLE - UK, 2008, 18min., Dir. Paul Gowers A black comedy. One small random act of malice forces an ordinary man off the safe road and on to a dark journey that he'll never forget. RESOLUTION - Russia, 2008, 15min., Dir. Pavel Oreshnikov A day in the life of a small Russian village where one man's frustration with disrespecting neighbors forces him to see his life from a different angle. LA GRAND MALADIE - USA, 2009, 11min., Dir. Shane Atkinson A tale of sorrow, success and unrequited love. CLAXON (CLACSON) - Italy, 2007, 6min., Dir. Takehito Kuroha Every morning, every woman gets up and knows she will have to make her way through the traffic to the clacson music in order to survive; every man gets up and knows he will have to be very very patient in order to survive...
FILM:
Shorts Program 4
CHARLIE THISTLE - USA, 2008, 15min., Dir. Bragi Schut A disillusioned worker for the Department of Normality dreams of a world that isn't quite so normal. RATTUS - USA, 2008, 15min., Dir. Carlos Barbot A short documentary about rats... and the people who love them. PREMATURE - USA, 2008, 15min., Dir. Rashaad Ernesto Green After Tisha, a streetwise teenager from the Bronx, discovers she's pregnant and receives no support from her community, she has no where to turn and is faced with the most difficult decision she will ever make. MAKE MY DAY - Denmark, 2008, 9 min., Dir. Pelle Moller Peter is injured after being bullied at school. At the hospital Peter faces the man who bullied his father when they were kids. VERLAINE - USA, 2008, 13min., Dir. Nick Lentz James is on the run and desperately needs to disappear. He arranges a meeting with an eccentric man named Verlaine who may be able to help. But when Verlaine is reluctant to negotiate the terms, James must decide if a new identity is really worth the price. BOXING PARADISE - Italy, 2008, 15min., Dir. Stefano Quaglia A well-dealt hit on the tip of the chin triggers a double traumatic mechanism: cervical trauma and cerebral graft.That kind of hit generally causes a sense of loss and blackout, but different after-effects may occur. Lethal as well.Starting from a boxer experience, the short film we present describes this moment, called Boxing Paradise from the boxing slang. It's a sort of limbo, here translated into a Hotel's parlour, where six boxers coming from different places meet without knowing why.A time with no time, an impalpable place between life and death that reflects the daily condition every boxer lives in.
FILM:
Shorts Program 5
ACHOLILAND - Germany/USA, 2008, 20min., Dir. Dean Israelite When a food delivery into a war-torn village in Northern Uganda goes horribly wrong, the leader of a small UN contingent is faced with a terrible decision: play by the rules and watch children die, or risk the lives of an entire refugee camp in order to save them. BEWARE OF BEAR - Greece, 2008, 19min., Dir. Victoria Vellopoulou Angelos, photographer for a nature magazine, arrives in a remote villageto do a story. The inhabitants of the village are guarded towards him. And things get worse when he finds out that a wild beast, a bear, roams the surrounding woods and has already killed one person. SIKUMI (ON THE ICE) - USA, 2008, 15min., Dir. Andrew Okpeaha MacLean An Inuit hunter drives his dog team out on the frozen Arctic Ocean in search of seals, but instead, becomes a witness to murder. DOPPELGANGER - USA, 2008, 9min., Dir. Katharine O'Brien When a father pits his twin sons against each other while teaching them how to box, one son must decide how far he is willing to go in order to earn his father's approval. THE GOLD LUNCH - USA, 2008, 12min., Dir. Joanna Kerns The Gold Lunch is about a man who imagines that having lunch with his ex-wife is an Olympic event.
FILM:
Thriller Shorts Program
These three thrilling short films will quicken your pulse and keep you up at night. PAWN - USA, 2008, 28min., Dir. Jeremiah Friedman In the aftermath of Presidential assassination, a young federal agent must interrogate the gunman to learn the truth behind the assassination. But once the truth is discovered, who will be ready to hear it? DETOUR - UK, 2008, 12min., Dir. K Akesh Tsakpo A simple road trip becomes a journey of revenge after a motorist, still coping with the untimely death of his daughter, happens across the man who apparantly predicted her death. AM1200 - USA, 2008, 40min., Dir. David Prior A man on the run follows a mysterious broadcast that may or may not be a distress call to a remote radio station where he comes face to face with a dark and savage power.
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