2017

Best of Fest
Narrative Short
Iran
Runtime:
13 minutes
Director:
Milad Jarmooz

The story of a woman accused of infidelity on the day after her wedding.

Special Jury Award
Experimental
United States
Runtime:
7 minutes
Director:
Kristin Reeves

The Chicago Board of Education made history in 2013 approving the closure of 50 schools, the largest public school closing to date in the United States. I shot all 50 schools on a 100 roll of 16mm film while my DSLR caught vignettes of their communities. Direct laser animation and bleach were used to distress the 16mm film, which was then optically printed.

Special Jury Award
Documentary Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
13 minutes
Director:
Gayle Nosal, Beret E. Strong

The refugee crisis in Ugandas Kyangwali Refugee Settlement isnt new. For the people of this camp, being a refugee is a protracted circumstance endured for decades. SAUTI (Voice in Swahili) follows the efforts of five young women who were brought to the Settlement as children and who, as they approach adulthood; strive to pursue their dreams for a future beyond the constraints of a protracted refugee situation in an underdeveloped host country. Though safer than they were before, little else has changed since fleeing war and persecution years ago in their home countries of Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan. Transcending the label refugee has been especially challenging for the women of Kyangwali.

Special Jury Award
Documentary Feature
Mexico
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
36 minutes
Director:
Julio Carlos

THE GUY FROM OKLAHOMA narrates the story of Anado McLauchlin, a visual artist born in Oklahoma but whose chaotic life took him to San Francisco, New York and India before finally settling down in Mexico, where he has built an impressive art gallery in the middle of a desert village, on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.

Special Jury Award
Narrative Feature
United States
Runtime:
1 hour(s)
23 minutes
Director:
Dean Peterson

A comedy about two estranged sisters who are thrust back into each other's lives by the impending death of their grandmother and forced to try to repair their feral relationship.

Narrative Short
United Kingdom
Runtime:
22 minutes
Director:
Dougie Irvine

NOW I AM is a short film which explores what it means to grow up, how our number defines us and ultimately how small stories shape our lives.

Narrative Short
Rwanda
Runtime:
20 minutes
Director:
Rebecca Ocampo

After being abandoned by his mother at the village medical clinic, a young boy spends his days making the best of his new living arrangement. A volunteer nurse takes interest in him and fights local bureaucracies that force patients to stay if they cannot pay their bill.

Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
11 minutes
Director:
Adam Roffman

Two friends stumble upon the holy grail of movie memorabilia in the most unlikely of places.

Documentary Short
United States
Runtime:
55 minutes
Director:
Steven Middelton

BETWEEN THE ROCK AND THE COMMONWEALTH examines the tale of Indian Head Rock, a 6-ton boulder that resided in the Ohio River near South Shore, Kentucky, hidden 16 feet below the waters surface for 87 years. The rock earned its name from the crude carving of a face on its surface. From some of the earliest media documentation it appears the rock drew travelers from far and wide to witness the local landmark. The creation of the lock and dam system on the Ohio River in the 20th century caused the water levels to rise and the rock to disappear. In 2007 a team of Portsmouth Ohio historians located the rock and removed it from the river with hopes that its rediscovery would celebrate the history of the region. To their surprise many Kentuckians felt as though the rock belonged to them, thus beginning a battle between two states, which captivated the nation, over the ownership of Indian Head Rock.

Narrative Short
United States
Runtime:
29 minutes
Director:
Brenna Malloy

ROCKET tells a bittersweet fairy tale set in the world of 1950's dirt track racing. With a legacy traditionally passed down from father to son, Annie Pankratz strives to build a destiny all her own.

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