DRAMATIC SHORTS - 4/4/11  These well-produced shorts were all VERY dramatic except for one.

Friday Night Tights by Joonki Park

This was the odd one of the group.  What a charming 3-D animation of a guy who secretly loves taking a ballet class on Saturday mornings!  The animation was not absolutely perfect, but extremely expressive, whimsical and musical!  I thoroughly enjoyed this.  Very uplifting.  It was actually filmed in 3-D. See the entire 2-D ...
Continue reading ...

SCHLAFENDE HUNDE (Sleeping Dogs) by Michael O'Connor, Germany- 4/5/11

This German feature was beautifully acted and beautifully filmed in Black & White.  The main character, Jim, is somewhat clairvoyant and sees a vision of his death.  His past premonitions have come true which makes him believe all of his current visions will come true. So he concerns himself with reconciling with his estranged son who harbors much resentment for his father's abando...
Continue reading ...

WORLD SHORTS - 4/5/11 - Stories that seem connected with the thread of grief and loss - Very high production values.

The Wind-Up Life by Yi-Jen Chen, Taiwan

This 2-D/3-D animation short tells the story of a young man who gets bogged down by his busy 9 to 5 existence.  It is hard to tell if he is experiencing a dream while sleeping or getting very lost in thoughts on the subway train (or both).  But whatever, the dreams are quite beautiful and watery. ...
Continue reading ...

SHORT DOCS - 4/6/11

A Comic Author X-Ray by Marcos Nine, Spain

A very creative documentary about a very creative guy.  This Italian comic artist and fiction writer, who is very shy to speak, speaks volumes through his work.  English subtitles throughout. I liked this! See the trailer here.

Little Mom by Maria Fortiz-Morse, USA

A documentary on kids who end up taking care of their special needs siblings to help out their single Mom's.  Tw...
Continue reading ...

ARIZONA SHORTS - 4/6/11 

Replacement by Tanya Beeker - Tucson

This is the story of a corporal who struggles with his prejudice against a young, inexperienced replacement for one of his soldiers who was killed in battle.  It is nicely filmed with a thoughtful story line.

And the Dogs Tried to Dance Too by Trevor Riley - Phoenix

A futuristic tale of what it might be like to live during WW3 if it was waged on US soil.  We follow a coupl...
Continue reading ...

Leap Before You Look by Stephane Goldsand, Mexico

This beautifully and creatively filmed documentary short follows the journey of Stephane (pronounced Stefan) Goldsand through his fears of being a father.  Goldsand uses B-roll or cutaways, to dramatically and often hilariously exemplify what he is feeling at that moment.  His painful childhood is also explored.  His wife, who is very eager and ready to have a child, seems to have a completely different out...
Continue reading ...

INNER CIRCLE by Emma Humphreys

This murder mystery thriller inspired most of the audience to walk out before the end.  I stayed because I wanted to know who did it and why in spite of the disjointedness of the story  The production quality was very low.  Some scenes looked like they were shot without doing a white balance first.  Audio & lighting were also poor.  But on the upside, the shots were nicely framed and the acting good in spite of the disjoint...
Continue reading ...

FILMMAKERS OF TOMORROW - Student films from The Art Institute of Tucson, Pima Community College and the University of Arizona.  Only the Art Institute had student filmmakers present for Q&A.

Art Institute of Tucson Entries:

ABC's by Adriana F. Garcia & Jacquelyn Vrooman

This reworking of David Lynch's experimental short was skillfully produced and directed.  It created a creepy dark, yet playful feeling.  Nice multi-media work!...
Continue reading ...

GUN HILL ROAD by Rashad Ernesto Green

This skillfully produced and emotionally rich film set in the Bronx was shot in 15 days for $200,000.  It looks like much more time and money was put into it.  The film tells the story of a father who, after three years in prison, comes home to discover his 16-year-old son is trans-gender.  The father has to deal with his issues about being sexually molested in prison which are reflected back to him by his son.  I real...
Continue reading ...

PANCHO GOES TO COLLEGE by Ruben Reyes, Tucson

This Tucson-produced comedy feature tells the story of a young man named, Pancho, who comes from California to attend college in Tucson.  He encounters lots of wild local characters - not to mention his rowdy, colorful roommates.  His roomates challenge his focus on his studies and also his cultural identity.  Pancho perseveres, juggling his studies with work and parties.  He holds fast to his philosophy of let...
Continue reading ...

THE AVENUE by Alan Williams, Tucson

This locally produced documentary tells a cautionary tale about how the local character of a street can be destroyed by corporate take-overs and buy-outs.  The documentary starts out showing excerpts from the documentary, Mill Ave, Inc., about how large corporations took over the artsy Mill Avenue in Tempe, AZ and made it into a stale, characterless street wit...
Continue reading ...

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...
Continue reading ...

This stop-motion animated short faithfully retells O'Henry's story of the Gift of the Magi.  This classic story is about a very poor couple.  The wife has beautiful long hair and the husband has a gold watch. The husband sells his gold watch for a beautiful accessory for her hair and she sells her hair for a nice chain for his watch.

I loved the detail on the animated set pieces.  But I found the animation at times choppy or non-existent and at other times very ...
Continue reading ...

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 ...
Continue reading ...

RUN TO THE EAST by Henry Lu, USA

This documentary follows three Native American high school students who are cross-country runners.  We see them successfully focus on their training in spite of the numerous obstacles they face in their culture.  Such obstacles include, meth abuse and alcoholism, lack of transportation, lack of money, lack of emotional support, and lack of opportunity on the reservation.  Their goal is to get running scholarships in order t...
Continue reading ...

INDIE FAMILY FILMS - 4/9/11  Families with their kids were in attendance.  Mia Schnaible gave a great intro appropriate for kids.  She included that it was OK for family members to read subtitles to kids who can't read yet.  It made for a nice relaxed, organic viewing experience. 

Homeless Conductor by Yen-Ting Chaing, Taiwan

This skillfully animated 3-D short is about a homeless girl who envisions an orchestra made out of inanimate objects playing a ...
Continue reading ...

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...
Continue reading ...