In 1964, after spending a one year protracted legal battle, co-club owners, Howard and Elly Solomon were finally granted a 'unique' cabaret license and the Cafe Au Go Go opened its doors on February 7. Six weeks later with mounting legal bills and depleting funds the couple were quickly going out of business. With few options, Howard and Elly made a desperate, late minute attempt to keep the club open and reached out to popular comedian, Lenny Bruce. Two days into Lenny's performance he was arrested and booked for obscenity charges, alone with Howard and Elly. THat historic arrest, and the international press it garnered would put the Cafe Au Go Go on the tnertainment world map.
2011
Best Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
27 minutes
Director:
Jason M. Solomon
REIFF 2011
Best Experimental Film
Experimental
Germany
Runtime:
14 minutes
50 seconds
Director:
Florian Krautkramer
REIFF 2011
Everything seemed to go wrong from within and without. The never-ending official arbitrariness was oppressing, the examining glance outside. But lately, resistance has formed here. With excuses and blinders, the protagonist achieved in building his own world without reacting to the events taking place. But when fate tried to force him into making a decision, he chooses again a facade constructed of lies and spectacle. Breaking legs is a silent movie. It makes room for the linguistic incapability of the protagonist, but the inter-titles try to explore this format.
Experimental
United States
Runtime:
13 minutes
41 seconds
Director:
Max Weinman
REIFF 2011
'North South' is a travel log of a two-month cross-country trip I took in the summer of 2009. The progression of the imagery reflects the subtle changes in my relationship with the unfamiliar landscape: at first overwhelmed by the magnitude of the space, I begin to feel a connection to the land, which results in a more personal lensing. All the footage was shot during the trip, on a bolex using 16mm reversal film. The footage was edited in 2011.
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
32 minutes
Director:
Jeremiah Jones
REIFF 2011
RESTIVE (Director and screenwriter: Jeremiah Jones) - An intensely bizarre tale of a mother who inhabits her husband's suffocating behavior before falling into her own flawed maternal instincts. Cast: Michael Mosley, Marianna Palka, Christopher Denham, Ivan Sandomire, Connor Hill.
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
13 minutes
Director:
Lara Lee
REIFF 2011
In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, travelling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promote change. This is their story.
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
2 hour(s)
41 minutes
Director:
Peter Joseph
REIFF 2011
Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, by director Peter Joseph, is a feature length documentary work which presents a case for a needed transition out of the current socioeconomic monetary paradigm which governs the entire world society. This subject matter works to transcend the issues of cultural relativism and traditional ideology and move to relate the core, empirical 'life ground' attributes of human and social survival, extrapolating those immutable natural laws into a new sustainable social paradigm called a 'Resource-Based Economy'. On Jan 15th 2011, Zeitgeist: Moving Forward was released independently via volunteer groups in over 60 countries and in 30 languages making it the largest non-profit independent theatrical release in history. On Jan 26th 2011 it was release free online for public viewing and has achieved over 5 million views in 2.5 months.
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
18 minutes
Director:
Tim Chaffee
REIFF 2011
Ostrander, a lonely, awkward theatre critic, life is transformed when he sees a one woman show staring Anne Hathaway. Instead of being a cynical crusher of dreams, he sets on a path to become an artist himself. The art form: Screenwriter. The script: Bride Wars 2. Under the guise of 'writing an profile' he manages to snag a meeting with Anne Hathaway herself. Will she be wowed by his opus to her, or will she be creeped out?
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
7 minutes
40 seconds
Director:
Daniel Holechek
REIFF 2011
'A Finger, Two Dots Then Me' is a spoken-word piece based on a popular poem by renowned modern poet Derrick Brown. The film takes a dramatic look at death, life and love through the eyes of Brown, a beat poet who has performed around the world for the last decade both as a headliner and with bands such as the Flaming Lips and the Cold War Kids.
Narrative Short
France
Runtime:
20 minutes
Director:
Nadine Voss
REIFF 2011
Away from home, the Kongo, Michel seeks Asylum in Germany. Sophie is nine years old and today shes misses the School Field Trip and is forced to return home alone. The Chronology of different events will let these two people come together in a very tragic way. For Michel nothing is the same no more. Hes is searching for an answer, that is impossible to give, and so hes is confronted with Sophie`s mother.
Experimental
United States
Runtime:
7 minutes
15 seconds
Director:
Michael Walsh
REIFF 2011
Empty Cache adopts archival footage of Alaskan big game hunts, weaving together an ironic eerie aura of humans hunting for the mount, not for the meat.