Between Two Rivers is a new documentary film about Cairo, Illinois, a historic town with a dark and troubled past, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, in the heartland of America. Filmed, edited and directed by artists Jacob Cartwright and Nick Jordan, Between Two Rivers offers a remarkable insight into a community struggling with severe economic, social and environmental pressures.
2012
Best Of the Fest
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Jacob Cartwright, Nick Jordan
Jury Prize Documentary Short Film
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
40 minutes
Director:
Christine Lee
Hip Hop Maestro begins with an overture of kinetic concert footage that reveals linebacker sized maestro, Geoff Double G Gallegos, his symphony, Reepus II in A Minor, and the young, vibrant Los Angeles musicians who willingly give their time and talent to this orchestra known as daKAH. Told in first person narration, Double G chronicles his amazing journey as a young composer whose epic vision of bringing elements of hip hop, jazz, funk and reggae into the symphonic audience despite great odds- a.k.a no $. In three movements, this daKUMENTARY shall demonstrate how Double Gs unique leadership and single- minded determination propels daKAH from the Los Angeles nightclub scene to the magnificent stage at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Jury Prize For Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Ana Nogueira
Ana Nogueira is a white South African and Eron Davidson a Jewish Israeli. Drawing on their first-hand knowledge of the issues, the producers take a close look at the apartheid comparison often used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their film breaks down the rhetorical analogy into a fact-based comparison, noting where the analogy is useful and appropriate, and where it is not. There are many lessons to draw from the South African experience relevant to conflicts all over the world. This film is as much a historical document of the rise and fall of apartheid, as it is a film about why many Palestinians feel they are living in an apartheid system today, and why an increasing number of people around the world agree with them.
Jury Prize For Narrative Short Film
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
27 minutes
Director:
Alexander Gaeta
Marcy Meyers is down on her luck. Faced with piling bills, the remnants of a failed marriage, and now an imminent home foreclosure, she has nowhere to turn but to the hope of a miracle. That miracle she find in Shoot the Moon, a national game show that promises a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win it all. But Marcy's faith in the show comes with a price as her relationship with her daughter, Alice, is put to the test as the clock ticks towards a seemingly inescapable fate. Shoot the Moon tells the story of miracles and the extraordinary places they're found.
Jury Prize For Best Narrative Feature
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
53 minutes
Director:
Martha Stephens
Seeking escape from his stalled relationship and unhappy place in the world, a recently pink-slipped music teacher sets out to hike Kentucky's Sheltowee Trace Trail. Among the verdant hills of Appalachia, he encounters various strange characters and becomes the reluctant companion of a gregarious father and son who ultimately help him rediscover what he's been missing.
Audience Award
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
35 minutes
Director:
Wes Pryor
Livin' for a Song is a feature length documentary on the life and music of legendary Nashville songwriter Hank Cochran. A remarkable story that starts in the cotton fields of Mississippi then moves on to California where he partnered with Rock legend Eddie Cochran for much of the 50s then on to Nashville in 1960 where he wrote classics such as 'Make the World Go Away', 'I Fall to Pieces', 'She's Got You' and many more. The film includes intimate performances by Elvis Costello, Brad Paisley, Lee Ann Womack, Ronnie Milsap and others as well as appearances by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Jeannie Seely to name just a few. After watching this film you will understand why they called Hank: 'The Legend'.
Narrative Short
Australia
Runtime:
20 minutes
Director:
Chris Smellin, Robert Smellin
For his 21st birthday party Derrek and some friends escape for the weekend to an isolated cabin in the middle of the woods. Derrek's brother, Ethan gatecrashes the party and after a malevolent prank goes wrong resulting in the death of Derrek's girlfriend. Reactions vary from calling the police to disposing of the body, sides are taken and they question what they would do to survive.
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
21 minutes
Director:
Harvey Hubbell V
About one in seven Americans has some degree of dyslexia. It's a condition that makes it hard to read the way other people do. But by using special techniques, taught or self-invented, most dyslexics can learn to function normally. A lot of dyslexics are brilliant, talented, and successful. The documentary 'Dislecksia: The Movie' will present the latest scientific knowledge about dyslexia, and the experiences of dyslexics. Viewers will come to know dyslexics and those who teach and study them not just as statistics or talking heads, but as people. They'll also learn a lot about dyslexia: its causes, its effects, and what can be done about it.
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
19 minutes
Director:
Joshua Overbay
A family. A piece of land. A depression sweeping the country.
When a prodigal returns, when both brothers are desperate, how can a severed tie be bound again? Are sins ever forgotten? This film explores the relational dynamics between two brothers with very different lives.
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
18 minutes
Director:
Angela Aguayo
In November 1970, university, state and local police shot 778 Bullets into an off campus rental house in Carbondale, IL. The residence was rented to a handful of university students, some were assumed to be associated with the local Black Panther Party. Unlike other police raids of known Black Panther residences across the country, the Carbondale Panthers shot back. Using archive material, newspaper accounts, witness testimony and experts in the field, 778 Bullets recovers a little known history of resistance and resilience of the human struggle for self-determination. The dominant memory of the Black Panther Party would have us believe that the Panthers existed only in major urban cities; this story documents a more rural presence of radical politics and the struggle for civil rights.