Below is a brief summary of all the films we're screening this year at NCFF.
For best effect, read them aloud in a dramatic, film trailer voice.
The 3rd Letter (15 Minutes)
Dir. Grzegorz “Greg” Jonkajtys
Faced with the imminent loss of his crucial health insurance, Brief (Rodrigo Lopresti) unwittingly unravels a dark truth behind his insurance, which subsequently pushes him to unspeakable lengths in an attempt for survival. Jonkajtys has worked on such films as Pan’s Labrinyth and Sin City.
A Short Film (2 Minutes)
Dir. Rick Williamson
Winner of the Audience Award at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival 2010, and Best Comedy at the 3 Minute Film Festival, Santa Fe. "A Short Film" involves a short actor and a small pony. This film promises to bring a smile to your face and a chuckle to your heart.
All Animals (16 Minutes)
Robert Arnold (Director) & Cynthia Mitchell (Writer)
All Animals is about a man, a young woman and a Chevy pick-up truck in a vast desert landscape. Perched on the tailgate two extremely sympathetic actors make mysterious, elliptical use of sign language to say something about movies. Pure, simple and powerful.
Beine Brechen (Breaking Legs) (15 Minutes)
Dir. Florian Krautkrämer
A man (Lars Rudolph) is falsely suspected of working against the repressive regime of his county and is incarcerated. He is pressed to provide information about local insurgent activities. The police torture him and put him in a dungeon. In solitary confinement, he decides to provide the police with what little useless information he has.
Realizing that their prisoner is of no value to them, the police let him go, which in turn alerts the insurgents, who assume that only traitors are set free. The fact that neither the police, nor the rebels are actually interested in what the man has said, or what he knows, is the cause of his dilemma. 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.
The Bridge (15 Minutes)
Dir. Philipp Wolter
What if the only way home is to choose a different path? As he crosses the bridge on his way home, June mysteriously
arrives where he left off and finds himself stuck in an ever-repeating world. In his struggle to return home, The Bridge tells the story
of a man’s inner journey to wake up and see
the one thing he’s shut himself out of: Life.
Career Day (14 Minutes)
Dir. Ivette Garcia Davilla
Career Day is the coming of age story of Marco Casanova, a tenacious boy who must write a career day essay for school and decides to follow his mother to work, and is shocked to discover that his mother is not actually a nurse, but a stripper
Carmen (4 Minutes)
Dir. Paola Marino
This music clip is freely inspired by the sensual and free-spirited character of Bizet's 'Carmen'. Self-aware of her captivating power, Carmen dictates erotic games by engaging in an interaction of control and submission, as the images unfold to the luring tempo of the aria 'Habanera'.
Death Row Diet (5 Minutes)
Dir. Jonathan Katz
Just because you’ve been sentenced to death doesn’t mean you can’t look good doing it. Animator Mike Salva made the very funny short film Death Row Diet with Jonathan Katz as the inmate looking to pick up a Weight Watchers endorsement contract while waiting to be put to death, and Tom Leopold as the lawyer helping him achieve his goals. Katz is, of course, the same Jonathan Katz of the late, lamented Comedy Central “squigglevision” animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.
Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No (5 Minutes)
Dir. No Mas
No Mas, a New York-based apparel and art company, created a video about Dock Ellis' 1970 no-hitter. Ellis, a Pittsburgh Pirate at the time, claims to have pitched the game under the influence of LSD. Ellis narrates the tale as psychedelic animation accompanies the story.
Dreaming in Blue /Fuera de Liga (Out of This League) (65 Minutes)
Dir. Ian Padron
Like baseball? It’s Cuba’s national pastime, too. In this fun and hotly controversial film we follow the team from Havana, The Industriales (“The Blues”,) through their season with an unfiltered take behind the scenes in the dugout, on the road, and in the streets of Havana. Independently produced and directed by Cuban filmmaker, Ian Padron, you will see why it took him years to overcome the politics to finally get this unique film in Cuban theaters. And you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this delightful film. This was Cuban filmmaker/director Ian Padron’s first feature documentary. Winner, Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative Filmmaking,Traverse City Film Festival 2010.
El Amante Del Padrino (28 Minutes)
Dir. Sven Alexander Heinrich
The Godfather´s Lover' is the story of the seduction of a young man by a sect leader, the Godfather. Edward gets involved with a sect, conducted by the 'Godfather', and he becomes his lover. After a shoot-out he ends up in prison without having committed any crime. During an interview, Edward has the opportunity to remember his life with the 'Godfather', who served as a Santeria priest for the businessman Z and the prosecutor Don Juan.
El ataque de los robots de Nebulosa-5
Empty House (5 Minutes)
Dir. Sean Christensen
This experimental documentary focuses on the residue of memories trapped in physical objects and the rooms in which we live. Based on a true story, it depicts a family torn apart by divorce - told through the perspectives of the house and furniture that they used to own. Utilizing mixed media, home movies and dollhouse miniature models, the film creates a collage of mixed media to provoke the subconscious and stir the imaginations of the audience.
Fledgling (7 Minutes)
Dir. Tony Gault and Elizabeth Henry
This short documentary explores the relationship between Kevin and a baby crow he finds on the street one stormy night. Kevin's backyard provides the rich setting for a story about his conflicted relationship to nature.
Fluorescent Gray (8 Minutes)
Dir. Leo Age
Something bad is happening in the house of marriage. They promised not to know.
Gray Expectations (13 Minute)
Dir. Spencer Seim
Nine year old Taylor had no idea how hard it would be to prepare her pet chicken for the County Fair! Join Taylor, her loving mother, and Graybeard their prize hen, in this heart-warming short film.
How to Make a Baby (1 Minute)
Dir. Cassidy Curtis
The mystery of human procreation is explained in under a minute: take two people, add a little hot air, and boom! That's all there is to it. This short animated film was photographed over a period of nine months in her home in San Francisco.
La Ventaja del Sicario
Dir. Luis Moreno Bernardo
La Ventaja del Sicario (The Advantage of the Hitman) is a seven-minute urban-crime drama directed by Luis Moreno Bernardo. The story follows Salvadorian immigrant Melvin through the streets of Madrid. Melvin is going to kill a man. It is an act, which he doesn't find strange: after all, it was something that happened daily in his gang. But he is not a murderer, and never would be, if it weren’t because those 3000 Euros will be the passport that will bring María to him.... Now he knows the cost of a man's life. Perhaps, Spain is not so different from El Salvador.
Last Elephants in Thailand (40 Minutes)
Dir. Donald Taylor
Last Elephants in Thailand is a story about love, and how one woman's love of elephants led her to open the first elephant hospital in Thailand. It is also about the conflict being raged in Thailand over the fate of the few remaining Thai elephants. On one side are those who want to exploit them by making them perform tricks, walk the streets of Bangkok, and paint. On the other side are people who love elephants and are trying to save them from abuse and exploitation.
MARS (82 Minutes)
Dir. Geoff Marslett
A new space race is born between NASA and the ESA when Charlie Brownsville, Hank Morrison, and Dr. Casey Cook compete against an artificially intelligent robot to find out what's up there on the red planet. 'Mars' follows these three astronauts on the first manned mission to our galactic neighbor. On the way they experience life-threatening accidents, self-doubts, obnoxious reporters, and the boredom of extended space travel. This romantic comedy is told in the playful style of a graphic novel- using a unique animation process that director Geoff Marslett developed specifically for the film. Underneath the silliness Mars is also an exploration of exploration. Why do we want to know what is out there? How do we react to what we find? Is it really that important? And where does love fit into the whole thing?
My Musical Life (56 Minutes)
Dir. Mike Bloebaum
Most people love music. For some, music is who they are. "My Musical Life" focuses on a year in the life of five young people living in Nevada City who share a passion for music - a passion that often goes unrecognized or, worse, dismissed as a useless pursuit. Not here. Not in this community. This film takes us into a unique class for "young composers" sponsored by a local non-profit, Music in the Mountains. The class becomes a pivital point in their lives and in the film. As the seasons shift from Fall to Winter to Spring we are drawn into each of the student's lives: a high school senior whose father and grandfather are famous musicians in their own right; a young, classically trained pianist trying everything she can to succeed in the tough world of pop music; a 15 year old, incredibly talented harpist at a turning point in her young career; a young guitarist and band leader bound for L.A., college and a hoped for career in music; a 13 year old whiz kid who was born to play the trumpet. Through artful editing of music and documentary footage, this film explores the importance that parents, teachers, mentors and community can play, as one mentor says "at this fulcrum time in a young person's life".
The New Year (96 Minutes)
Dir. Brett Haley
One-time high school valedictorian and “most likely to succeed,” beautiful bookworm Sunny finds herself stuck in Pensacola in her mid-twenties, working at a bowling alley and caring for her terminally ill father. Sunny is taken off guard when she runs into a charming high school rival who is home from New York for the holidays, and finds herself at a crossroads between chasing her old dreams, or creating new ones that she never believed she would have.
One Day (11 Minutes)
Dir. Thomas Leisten Schneider
Andy is about to ask Claire to marry him. But everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
One Square Mile of Earth (12 Minutes)
Dir. Jeff Drew
Jeff Drew is an independent animation director, illustrator and designer whose recent project, “One Square Mile of Earth,” has charmed audiences at numerous film festivals, including Sundance and SXSW. The film hilariously combines seemingly random (but wildly entertaining) conversations between highly-stylized, anthropomorphized characters who are making the scene at a nightclub. It's the kind of film that leaves you wanting more in the best possible way.
Planet XQ (7 Minutes)
Dir. Erinn Clancy
This is a sci-fi supernatural video to Dolli Melaine's song Planet XQ.
Quartetto (8 Minutes)
Dir. Namikbashi
This short film shows an unexpected hidden quartet between the passage of time in just another quiet and ordinary day of a composer.
Right Stuff (4 Minutes)
Dir. Ben Berlin
The band HUFF THIS! covers The New kids On The Block's 'Right Stuff' as a dance party breaks out on the rooftops of NYC. The music hovers between performance art and studio craft: sweetly casual, slightly anti-punk indiefolk, a raw and tender cover well worth sharing. And Director Ben Berlin’s video is a satirical tour de force, slowing down the cheesiness until it takes on a kind of slo-mo grace, reflecting our hungry gaze back on ourselves through the use of underage and real-bodied dancers and oddly-framed beauties, framing it all in an indie director’s angsty rooftop lens.
Seahorse (6 Minutes)
Dir. Molly Allis
A music video to 'Seahorse' by HUFF THIS! about a girl drawn on a piece of paper, who peels herself off and enters through a doorway into a series of magical cardboard worlds. She travels farther into undiscovered dimensions, until she finds herself on a small planet in outer space, very far from where she began. It is a fantastical journey into the unknown!
Shave (6 Minutes)
Dir. Sean Christensen
Shave is about director Sean Christensen’s childhood when he recalls the first time that he ever saw his father without his mustache. Utilizing home movies and family photographs, 'Shave' deals with concepts of family, identity and the choice of selective memory.
Shelter (7 Minutes)
Dir. Jason Sussberg
Lloyd Kahn claims that shelter is more than a roof over your head. As the author and publisher of over a dozen books on home construction, Lloyd has been grappling with the concept of home, physically and psychically, for over five decades. Situated in the financial and housing crisis, this film profiles Lloyd's ideas on do-it-yourself construction and sustainability.
Stuck (90 Minutes)
Dir. Steve Balderson
Director Steve Balderson's film noir homage to good ol' Women-in-Prison movies. Starring Karen Black, Susan Traylor, Jane Weidlin (The Go-Gos) & Mink Stole! Tongues to remain in cheek throughout this screening.
Sunday Punch (18 Minutes)
Dir. Dennis Hauck
After one too many bad nights, a ring girl decides it's high time to get out from under the thumb of a local gangster, and burn every bridge she can on the way out.
In Summer with Terry Riley (3 Minutes)
Dir. David Nicholson and Jeff Clark
Terry Riley is one of the most significant composers of the 20th century. Just weeks before his 75th birthday, he reflects on his journey as a musician and what still inspires him.
The Time Machine (11 Minutes)
Dir. Mark Kendall
The Time Machine tells the story of Wilfredo Alvarez, a Honduran man who immigrated to the United States eleven years ago. In this film, not only do we learn about the intricate craft of watch making, but we listen to Wilfredo's philosophical musings on the nature of time and our relationship to it. By the end of the story, we are reminded that time is a human invention and it is ourselves who become our own watches as we navigate our own
Up Under the Roof (20 Minutes)
Dir. Darin Read
During the dustbowl era on a dilapidated farm, a lonely ten-year-old boy begins hearing strange noises above his bedroom ceiling at night. The noises grow threatening as the thing in the attic becomes restless and hungry. Through a friendship with a visually impaired girl, he comes to understand that he must face this thing hiding up under the roof before it consumes him.
Waiting for a Train (20 Minutes)
Dir. Oscar Bucher
Waiting for a Train is the humorous and engaging true story of Japanese emigrant, Toshio Hirano, whose life was transformed by the music of country musician Jimmie Rodgers. Beautifully shot in historic locations, it follows Hirano’s epic journey from Tokyo to Tennessee to Texas and beyond, as his love of bluegrass takes him on a mission of discovery into the heartland of America. A man truly following his bliss, Toshio chases a passionate dream for over 40 years and is rewarded with a life well lived, filled with music, song and dance.
Win Some Lose Some (3 Minutes)
Dir. Tim Wilmott
A director's bad dream where he struggles with fear and insecurity and finally loses his head over winning 'La Palme d'Or'
Wisdom Teeth (5 Minutes)
Dir. Don Hertzfeldt
"Nigel recently had his wisdom teeth removed". The latest animated meditation on life in general by the brilliant Hertzfeldt; who is a two-time "Best in Festival" award winner at the Nevada City Film Festival, and was recently named by the prestigious "They Shoot Pictures Don't They" site as one of the 100 Most Important Animation Directors of all time.
Winner: Best Short Film (4 Minutes)
Dir. Peter Meech
A filmmaker (Kevin Farley), trying to impress a Hollywood producer (John Farley), claims to be the winner of the Sundance Short Film Competition with his half-second stunner.
Wrestling with My Father (5 Minutes)
Dir. Charles Fairbanks
Director Charles Fairbanks tells the story of his father, a wrestler who never stopped being a wrestler.
Wolf Creek (3 Minutes)
Dir. Patrick Kack-Brice
Wolf Creek is a short poem from Patrick Kack-Brice about Wolf Creek, which runs through Grass Valley and onward down Nevada County towards the American River.
