A boy named Phil has a very unique condition: at random, he turns into a Phoenix and explodes! And as a pile of ashes forms, he pops out of it back in his human form again. Day after day this occurs, and the whole town hates him for it. But as they find out, this disorder could be the one thing that saves the day....
2014
Animation
United States
Runtime:
10 minutes
45 seconds
Director:
Trent Coffin
REIFF 2014
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
13 minutes
42 seconds
Director:
Tatiana Bears
REIFF 2014
Reese lives in a place secluded from the outside world and its all she knows, but her curious nature leaves her wanting more. After Geo, an older boy from the city, moves into her community and befriends Reese, she feels like she may have found what she was yearning for. When Geo makes plans to run away, Reese must decide if her small community is enough for her, or if the world has more to offer.
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
2 minutes
Director:
Caleb Johnson
REIFF 2014
Kevin (Jordan Clifford) is a stand-up comedian struggling to refine his act as his wife Joy (Tallie Medel, 'The Unspeakable Act') faces her own challenges in crafting a new dance performance. As the couple share the ups and downs of co-habitation and the professional and creative problems that plague them, they try to find peace and comfort in their marriage.
Caleb Johnsons JOY KEVIN is a charming and funny romance, the story of two creative people looking to find their way in the world without losing their sense of themselves and their longstanding dreams of doing what they love.
Best of the Fest, Special Jury Award for Acting
Narrative Feature
Bulgaria
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
29 minutes
Director:
Thom Southerland
REIFF 2014
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.
2015
Best of the Fest
Narrative Short
Ecuador
Runtime:
28 minutes
Director:
Javier Fesser
REIFF 2015
An amazing innovation reaches a tiny school lost in the heart of the Peruvian Andes and revolutionizes the lives of the whole community: the internet. It brings the world to their doorstep, but even more importantly, it offers the world the chance tofinally discover what's happening in the remote village of Ingatambo.
Best Narrative Feature
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
44 minutes
Director:
Kyle Ham
REIFF 2015
Reparation is a powerful psychological thriller that swirls like a funnel cloud around Bob Stevens, a small-town vegetable farmer with a three-year hole in his memory. When a mysterious stranger, Jerome, shows up claiming to be his best friend in the Air Force Police, Bob's peaceful existence begins to unravel from the outside in. Bob's entire family are caught in the storm, but none more than his eight- year-old daughter, Charlotte, who discovers she might hold the key to conjuring Bob's forgotten past.
As Charlotte comes to learn, 'every time something happens that knocks us out of balance, we try doing something that will knock us back in...' That universal theme of balance is the soul of Reparation.
Best Narrative Short
Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
13 minutes
Director:
Chris King
REIFF 2015
When a young military wife gets news that her Marine husband has been severely wounded in combat, she discovers that life ahead for them is going to be a difficult and yet amazing journey.
Best Documentary Feature
Documentary Feature
United Kingdom
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
18 minutes
Director:
Susan Steinberg
REIFF 2015
Mirrors to Windows: The Artist as Woman is a unique film following an international cast of three generations of women artists who are all forging their careers in the heat of the London art scene. From the studio to the gallery, candid conversations infused with humour and zeal give us a rare insight into the lives of ten artists working across a diverse a array of mediums, united by an enduring belief in themselves and their work.
Featuring artists aged 22-82, the film forms a compelling collective biography, telling a cross-generational coming of age story. Act 1 sees three young artists at the start of their careers. Act 2 finds artists balancing the conflicts of middle age, and in Act 3, four artists are experiencing new-found freedom as their work becomes more active than ever.
Best Documentary Short
Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
50 minutes
Director:
Mercedes Kane
REIFF 2015
Ina Pinkney is a Chicago legend of the tastiest kind. Known around town as the Breakfast Queen, she has been feeding Chicagoans for the past 33 years. Faced with the late stages of polio, Ina has decided to close the doors of her beloved breakfast nook. An outstanding chef and businesswoman, Ina is so much more. She's a community leader, a pioneer, a television personality - but most importantly, she's the rare sort of person who's found a way to transform her passion into a joy that extends across an entire city, and beyond.
The documentary, Breakfast at Ina's gives audiences a glimpse into Ina's extraordinary life, all while chronicling the last days of the restaurant as Ina and her staff serve up its final meals.
Best Experimental
Experimental
United States
Runtime:
13 minutes
Director:
Andre Silva
REIFF 2015
What if we were the creator gods that a future cyber consciousness mythologized when imagining its origins? Or perhaps, we ourselves are blasting off into some currently unimaginable next phase of our evolution, one that transcends a purely physical existence.