2014

Proud Citizen
Best of the Fest, Special Jury Award for Acting
Narrative Feature
Bulgaria
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
29 minutes
Director:
Thom Southerland

Krasimira Stanimirova wins second place in a Bulgarian play writing contest. Her award is a trip to the United States, Kentucky to be exact, to see the world premiere of her communist-era, autobiographical play, 'Black Coat'. Expecting to meet with a warm welcome and southern hospitality, Krasi instead finds herself isolated and lonely in a hotel off an interstate.

Exploring America on foot, Krasi must confront the reality that her play might not be such a big deal in the States. Along the way she slowly finds comfort amongst strangers in this alien world, including a young mother and her son and a fellow tourist.

WildLike
Best Narrative Feature
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
38 minutes
Director:
Frank Hall Green

Mackenzie, a troubled but daring teenage girl, is sent by her struggling mother to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska. Although Uncle seems like a supportive caretaker and friend, the relationship turns and Mackenzie is forced to run. Trying to make her way back to Seattle alone to find her absent mother, Mackenzie only winds up deeper in the Alaskan interior. Lost and with no one else to turn to, she shadows a loner backpacker, Bartlett, an unlikely father figure with scars of his own. Together, they cross the wilderness and discover sanctuary in the last frontier.

One Armed Man
Best Narrative Short
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
27 minutes
4 seconds
Director:
Tim Guinee

CW Rowe has it all. He owns the cotton gin, making him the wealthiest man in Harrison, Texas, and his ascendancy has solidified an unshakable belief in the system that enriched him. Few things ever interrupt the purity of his vision, with the exception of the weekly visit of a young man, Ned, who lost an arm in the gin's machinery. Ned is a little touched and believes CW can give him his arm back.

On a normal day, he goes away when CW offers him five dollars. But today is anything but a normal day.

Jingle Bell Rocks!
Best Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
Canada
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
33 minutes
Director:
Mitchell Kezin

From The Flaming Lips to The Free Design, JINGLE BELL ROCKS! is a trippy, cinematic sleigh-ride through the subculture of alternative Christmas music.

Featuring hardcore collectors, legendary DJs & musicologists, record producers and Xmas obsessives like cult film auteur John Waters, director Mitchell Kezin's intimate & quixotic search for the SOUL of Christmas music, tells the stories behind twelve of the most profound Christmas songs ever recorded...Many of whom you've likely never heard, until now!

We'll hear irreverent insights from Irwin Chusid, Wayne Coyne, Joseph (Rev Run) Simmons, bebop legend Bob Dorough, Clarence Carter, Doctor Demento and many more.

Equal parts social history, pop culture pilgrimage and revealing character study, JINGLE BELL ROCKS! confronts the Christmas music mainstream, re-inventing the seasonal soundtrack for the 21st century.

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall
Best Documentary Short
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
39 minutes
55 seconds
Director:
Edgar Barens

Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall is a moving cinema verite documentary that breaks through the walls of one of Americas oldest maximum security prisons to tell the story of the final months in the life of a terminally ill prisoner and the hospice volunteers, they themselves prisoners, who care for him.

The film draws from footage shot over a six-month period behind the walls of the Iowa State Penitentiary and provides a fascinating and often poignant account of how the hospice experience can profoundly touch even the forsaken lives of the incarcerated.

Lilly's Big Day
Best Animated/Experimental Film
Animation
Canada
Runtime:
4 minutes
42 seconds
Director:
The Bum Family

Lilly, a 10 foot tall orange monster, steps out for a special day at Wilma's Super Salon. What could go wrong? Everything! Patrons gasp and drown in the hair sinks as the affable giant bumbles her way through a beauty ritual like no other.

Cut out animation created during Quickdraw Animation's 48 hour Animation Lockdown by The Bum Family, 6 Canadian cousins ages 4 to 11.

Boule a' Facettes
Narrative Short
France
Runtime:
22 minutes
18 seconds
Director:
Donon Marion

In the space of a few minutes, this short film confronts us with the broken puzzle of a life of a young woman in psychological distress, victim of a sufferance that she is trying to control.

The watchful eye of her psychologist and the love of her partner help her, reluctantly, to accept her problems. A pure love that will help her finally to find a path, a direction, a new start…

The Sum Total of Our Memory: Facing Alzheimer's Together
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
57 minutes
Director:
Barbara Klutinis

An ode to memory: Couples affected by a partner's recent diagnosis of Early Alzheimer's come to terms with their changing roles. Prominent Alzheimer's medical experts offer their perspectives on diagnosis, the nature of the disease, helpful attitudes in caring for loved ones, stigma, support for caregivers, clinical trials, and overall healthcare concerns.

My Toxic Backyard
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
Director:
Katie Damien

What if you found out you had cancer, then you discovered your well water was contaminated, then you tried to sue the company responsible, but couldnt? Then you fought to get the site cleaned up and nothing happened. Then you tried to sell your house, but no one wanted to buy it. What would you do? What could you do?

My Toxic Backyard chronicles a community's fight to get clean drinking water and see the chemicals, still leaking into their groundwater, cleaned up.

The Ballad of Ricky Smits
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
11 minutes
54 seconds
Director:
Max Allman

Ricky Smits is a gangly redneck who hopes that his invention, PortaPower, will make him a big shot. When he meets his bosss daughter, Abigail, a beauty pageant queen with dreams of a modeling career, the two begin an awkward courtship, connecting over their shared dreams of escaping their small, southern town. When Rickys boss discovers their relationship and fires Ricky, the two must decide what is more important their dreams or each other.

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