2021

The Price of Safety
Best Documentary
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
54 minutes
10 seconds
Director:
Chris Spencer

For years, members of the city leadership discredited findings of racial bias while continuously increasing the police budget. Advocating for raising taxes instead of laying off officers, the Vergennes Police Chief singled out a domestic violence victim in front of a packed hall to instill fear. After the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, discussions of police oversight turned personal, forcing the mayor and three city council members to resign; the city was left with no functioning government.

In the end, The Price of Safety stitches together a discussion about the issues facing Vermont’s smallest city through interviews with residents, scholars of race and policing, and elected officials. As conversations surrounding policing and racism evolve nationally, we watch a community reckon with a vital question: what does it mean to be safe?

Raw
Best Narrative Short
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
10 minutes
29 seconds
Director:
Drake Shannon

Past and present are blurred by a horrifying transgression as a female soldier faces the aftermath of a military patrol in the Middle East. RAW exposes military sexual trauma through the eyes of a soldier struggling to readjust to everyday life.

This Is Where I Meet You
Best Narrative Feature, Best of the Fest
Narrative Feature
Germany
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
20 minutes
56 seconds
Director:
Katharina Ludwig

Actress Charlotte is struggling with her craft and even more with herself. She has messed up yet another audition and even her self-written apple tree monologue seems to be working against her. Frustrated by the realities of an artistic career and her fear of failing, Charlotte escapes on a camping trip to sunny Croatia with her boyfriend Georg. But the trip’s dynamic changes when their plans of a fun-filled couples vacation misfire: While Georg spends his time at a music festival in the hope of scoring a DJ gig, Charlotte is left stranded in the middle of nowhere. She embarks on a journey of her own, encountering happy campers Benno, a self-proclaimed shaman, and mysterious dropout Tami, to whom Charlotte feels an attraction. Both of them quickly become close companions on Charlotte's journey of self-discovery.

Aurora
Best Animated Film
Animation
United States
Runtime:
5 minutes
15 seconds
Director:
Jo Meuris

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who fell in love with a beautiful horse named Aurora...

Expressively animated in a naive drawing-style that evokes children’s drawings and the texture of storybook illustrations, Aurora is a bittersweet story about love, friendship, and growing up.

Ankebût
Best Experimental Film
Experimental
Turkey
Runtime:
5 minutes
23 seconds
Director:
Ceylan Özgün Özçelik

A woman, released from prison, drifts between nightmare and reality.

Amber's Halfway Home
Best Documentary Short
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
30 minutes
9 seconds
Director:
Melissa Armstrong, Jason Pidgeon

A film crew follows Amber for one day. During that day, she rescues 19 dogs. Some are dumped on the roadside and left to survive on their own. Others are living in unhealthy conditions at the unregulated and pitifully funded shelters. Watch as one woman saves these homeless animals from certain death.

Amber’s Halfway Home is an exploration of the conditions at government-funded shelters and the consequences of ignoring our country’s homeless animals. But, it’s also a celebration of a woman battling for change in her Southern community, a warrior who saved 2000 dogs in one year.

The First Step
Official Selection
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
26 minutes
Director:
Brandon Kramer

In a divided America, Van Jones attempts to pass a landmark criminal justice bill -- and finds himself under fire from all sides.

Colossus
Official Selection
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
17 minutes
Director:
James Roe

A young Navy pilot’s life is shattered after being shot down by a UFO in World War II. Consumed by obsessive fear and hatred, he sets out on a quest to find and kill the creature that put him burning into the sea.

Divertimento
Official Selection
Narrative Short
France
Runtime:
30 minutes
Director:
Keyvan Sheikhalishahi

Jonas Olsen, a chess player haunted by a tragic past, is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, Divertimento.

Mine
Official Selection
Animation
United States
Runtime:
12 minutes
30 seconds
Director:
Randall Dottin, Luisa Dantas

MINE is an animated web-series that poignantly explores the timely theme of community versus individual survival, through the eyes of a teenager. Set in the near-future, this powerful series transports us to BEAU VODA, a hard-fought utopian world where every aspect of life is powered by a miraculous healing water source. In the pilot episode, teenager BLAZE reluctantly steps into the esteemed role of Water Bearer with the help of their precocious sister MIA. But when the magical water is tampered with, they discover that their idealistic community may not be as magnanimous as they think.

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