ABSENTIA by Mike Flanagan, USA

This artistic, moody, low budget, black & white horror story tells the tale of a woman, Trisha, who's husband went missing around 7 years ago.  She finally starts to complete the paperwork on filing his death in "absentia."   (After 7 or 8 years if someone is still missing, they can be declared dead.) Trisha starts to see horrifying visions of her husband.  She tries going to a counselor.  Her sister, who drove through Tucson...
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THE GREATER GOOD by Kendall Nelson & Chris Pilaro, USA

This documentary tried very hard to be balanced about the pros and cons of vaccine use today.  But being very wary of vaccines, I personally found the documentary to have lots of evidence to support not taking vaccines.  Mainstream scientific research is not conclusive about the safety of vaccine use.  There has been no research performed to show what happens when a person does not take vaccines, so we...
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ABRAXAS by Naoki Kato, Japan

This was a gentle, funny, charming film about an ex-punk-rocker, Jonen, who became a Buddhist priest.  Jonen's wife is relieved that he has left his Punk lifestyle.  But Jonen soon realizes that he cannot separate himself from his music.  So, much to his wife's chagrin, he is compelled to stage a punk rock concert for the small town where his Buddhist temple sits. 

I enjoyed the message of always following your heart and ...
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FLY AWAY by Janet Grillo

This feature about a divorced mom, Jeanne (Beth Broderick,) and her autistic teenage daughter, Mandy (Ashley Rickards) surprised me.  For me, the story was more about the mother, than the daughter.  Jeanne struggles with the daily chaos of dealing with Mandy's unpredictable behavior and also strongly identifies with this difficult lifestyle.  Jeanne wrestles with the idea of putting Mandy in a school for autistic kids and resolves ...
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HAPPY - A documentary by Roko Belic

I wasn't interested in seeing a smiley-face film.  But since I was trying to review every film I can in the festival, I had to see it.  When I arrived, the theater was almost packed.  The director made a short presentation before the film and a Q&A.  The film was quite profound and well-researched.  I learned a lot.  Scientists, psychologists, statisticians, to name a few were interviewed about happiness.  The place wher...
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