I am proud to announce the Official Selections for the 2nd Annual (2011) Filmshift Film Festival for both the Feature and Short Film categories!
All screenings will take place at the Somerville Theater over two weekends: Saturday and Sunday, October 1st/2nd & 8th/9th, 2011.
The Somerville Theater is located in Davis Square in Somerville:
55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA 02144
2011 Official Selections – Features
Art From The Streets
Documentary
“Art from the Streets” is a feature length documentary about a program for homeless artists called Art From the Streets. This all-volunteer program was established in 1991 with the idea of providing a safe and nurturing environment for homeless people to produce art. They accomplish this mission by sponsoring twice weekly art “classes” and an annual show to sell their work.
Baystate Blues
(Massachusetts Local Spotlight)
Dramatic Feature
An intimate, true-to-life, and sometimes gritty look at life in a small town. The story centers on Mike and Devon, a married couple in their 30’s who are trying to cope with the aftermath of a car accident. Also in the mix are Devon’s two sisters, the superficially controlled Virgina and the much flightier Alex. On one particular night together in their small town, the paths of their lives are changed forever.
The Clean Bin Project
(Green Film Spotlight)
Documentary
This award winning documentary follows a year in the life of a young couple trying to live consumer and waste-free. It explores the larger issues of garbage in North America.
Director’s Cut
Comedic Feature
Director’s Cut is the story of Cassie Thompson, a college dropout and ex-film student who decides to make a movie in an attempt to turn her dead-end life around. However, her movie is about the Zombie Cannibal Vampire Pirate Queen, and her cast and crew are neurotic and inexperienced, to say the least. The film chronicles Cassie’s misadventures and mishaps as she attempts to get her movie made.
Dynamite Swine
(Filmshift Alumni)
Comedic Feature
“Dynamite Swine” won the Best Feature Comedy Award at the 2010 Indie Gathering. Rebel, A down-on-his luck gambler, promises to save his girlfriend’s “Hair Salon For The Homeless,” from foreclosure, but instead only falls deeper into debt to a sadistic Russian quadriplegic. After his adopted brother and their bumbling friends complicate things even further, Rebel must enter the biggest card tournament of his life in order to save the salon, himself, his brother, and the life of a very special pig.
The Economics of Happiness
(Green Film Spotlight)
Documentary
”The Economics of Happiness” describes a world moving simultaneously in two opposing directions. On the one hand, government and big business continue to promote globalization and the consolidation of corporate power. At the same time, all around the world people are resisting those policies, demanding a re-regulation of trade and finance. Communities are coming together to re-build more human scale, ecological economies based on a new paradigm – an economics of localization.
How To Boil A Frog
(Green Film Spotlight Alumni)
Documentary
“How to Boil a Frog” is a comedic documentary that shows the consequences of overshoot, aka: Too many people using up too little planet. An everyman Dad gives us the scoop on the imminent end of the world as we have come to know it, and five surprising ways that we can save civilization while making our own lives richer.
Marwencol
Documentary
“Marwencol” is a documentary about the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp. After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. When Mark and his photographs are discovered, a prestigious New York gallery sets up an art show. Suddenly Mark’s homemade therapy is deemed “art”, forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he’s avoided since the attack.
On Coal River
(Green Film Spotlight)
Documentary
“On Coal River” takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into the Coal River Valley of West Virginia — a community surrounded by lush mountains and a looming toxic threat. The film follows a former coal miner and his neighbors in a David-and-Goliath struggle for the future of their valley, their children, and life as they know it.
Orbiting Texas
(Local Boston Spotlight)
Documentary
An intimate look at the seminal 90′s Boston band, Orbit, by a former WFNX DJ Mike Gioscia. The documentary chronicles the trials and tribulations of a local band as the they deal with achieving national recognition and the harsh realities of the music business.
Steve Saves LA
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Comedic Feature
It’s Steve’s birthday. He thinks he’s going to a quiet dinner with his friend Jason, but Jason has other plans. Steve doesn’t realize that Jason has set him up for one of the most elaborate hidden camera pranks ever caught on camera.
2011 Official Selections – Shorts
A Path Through Fire
(Local Boston Spotlight)
Dramatic Short
A 48 Hour Film Festival award-winner, this powerful short film asks the question: How far would you go for love?
Burden
(Student Spotlight)
Dramatic Short
“Burden” is a sci-fi mini-story tells the tale of a lone super-human “Watcher” who decides to disobey his orders and battle an alien invasion in order to protect humans and save our world.
Echo
Dramatic Short
A young boy fails to invent a time machine but quickly discovers that his invention is more than what it seems.
Entanglement
Animated Short
Entanglement is an animated short about the turbulent journey of unrequited love set in the garden of one’s subconscious.
5 Minutes Each
Animated Short
“5 Minutes Each” is a metaphorical story about the constant struggle of the artist to reach those five minutes of limelight.
The Legacy
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Dramatic Short
What would you do if you believed your father was a superhero? The Legacy brings to life a story about fathers and sons, imagination and magic, and believing in something larger than ourselves. Starring Paul Butcher ( “Zoey 101″), Louis Iacoviello, and Jo McGinley, “The Legacy” is a fun and exciting romp for audiences of all ages.
The Lifter Upper
(Filmshift Alumni Spotlight)
Comedic Short
The multiple award-winning “The Lifter Upper combines both animated and live-action footage. Olive is depressed due to an absurd series of family tragedies. Jack, a concerned neighbor calls a Professional Lifter Upper of Spirits to remedy the situation. The Lifter Upper finds that Olive will be his toughest case yet.
Missile Crisis
Dramatic Short
While the Cuban Missile Crisis threatens to incinerate America, divorce looms over the Shaw family. Thirteen-year-old Miles Shaw must protect his little brother, Danny, from the fallout, and he has it all figured it…
Nuit Blanche
Dramatic Short
“Nuit Blanche” explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy.
The Night Divine
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Music Video
Lo-Fi Sugar had the Number One “Beatport,” song in October 2008 with Starchaser’s “So High.” She has also toured and recorded with world-renowned techno DJ, Paul Van Dyk.
This version of the piece was edited by Jeremy Jed Hammel and won a Golden Kahuna Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival. “The Night Divine” is Lo-Fi Sugar’s first music video from her debut EP, “The Divine Edit.”
One Step Forward
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Comedic Short
A Boston 48-Hour Film Festival award-winner, “One Step Forward” tells its charming story and a visually stunning and dramatic way.
Outbound
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Experimental Short
A unique view of one man’s journey through the streets of Boston.
Prayers for Peace
(Filmshift Alumni Spotlight)
Dramatic Short
“Prayers for Peace” is a narrative stop-motion animation confronting the memory of the artist’s younger brother killed in the current conflict in Iraq. Drawn entirely with pastels on a slate chalkboard, the materials used to create the animation become a metaphor for the impermanence of life.
Reflect
(Student Spotlight)
Experimental Short
“Reflect” is a surreal film about beauty, insecurities and vanity.
Rook
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Comedic Short
The story revolves around a rookie cop learning the ropes from a grizzled veteran of the police force. You just never know what the job will expose you to or how you will react when you are faced with a moment of truth…How will this rookie do when faced with the dark side of his job?
Sctrutinize
Thriller Short
From the Award-winning Fies sisters and writer/star Melanie Leanne Miller, “Scrutinize” is a short film exploring racism about a young woman sitting alone in a subway late at night.
Stalked
(Local Boston Spotlight)
Thriller Short
Lucy is being followed through the streets of New York City. Will she make it back to her hotel room alive? Is she really being followed, is she imagining it, or is it something else entirely?
Taking Care of Business
(Local Somerville Spotlight)
Comedic Short
This irreverent mockumentary gives a “behind-the-scenes” look at the real-life Somerville Road Runners Club. The film includes many locals from “The ‘Ville” and is shot mainly in Davis Square’s favorite Irish Pub, The Burren. It very much captures the ironic sensibilities and the true bond to their community that Somervillians share.
Threads
Animated Short
Threads utilizes visual storytelling to use animation as a way to show life events that cannot be seen. Set in Mongolia, Threads is about a young girl who comes to terms with her mother’s death by reliving their most cherished and loving times together.
To Each His Own
(Student Spotlight)
Dramatic Short
A novelist interviews one of the last people to see a girl alive. Henry reveals his side of the story as we move between the night of the murder and the present.
Toolbox Bandit
(Local New England Spotlight)
Comedic Short
‘Toolbox Bandit’ is based on the true story of a man who robbed convenience stores with power tools. A down on his luck man meets his ultimate nemesis in the convenience store owning father of his one true love.
When I’m Yours
(Local Boston Spotlight)
Short Film
Written, directed, and edited by Filmshift Director, Jeremy Jed Hammel, it is a fun little story scored by the band Film School. Though they are a West Coast band, the bassist is from the Worcester area and attended Emerson College. It was shot in the Boston area and stars Boston native, Deirdre McCourt.
I am proud and excited to announce the 2010 Filmshift Festival Official Selections in both the Feature and Short film category!
-Jeremy Jed Hammel, Filmshift Founder & Director
Official Selections
Feature Length
5…6…7…8
Genre: Lighthearted Documentary
Director/Producer: Andy Milkis
The award winning “5…6…7…8” is the inspiring story of Nova Jazz — an elite girls dance company. The dancers, ranging in age from 10 to 18, are based out of The Pulse Performing Arts Studio, in Bedford Hills, NY. The film begins as a “year-in-the life” of Nova Jazz, but quickly evolves into an intimate portrayal of five key members, and the woman who makes it all possible.
“5…6…7…8” delicately crafts the story of each character as the year progresses, culminating in the triumph of the final concert performance.
A Girl’s Life
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director/Producer: Powderhouse Productions
Note: “A Girl’s Life” contains a scene in which epithets are bleeped out and a brief scene where a girl is being attacked by other girls. Discretion is advised.
Join researcher and author Rachel Simmons as she examines the challenges facing young women as they surf the waves of 21st century adolescence. In this PBS documentary, “A Girl’s Life,” takes viewers inside the lives of four teen girls as they face personal struggles with body image, cyber-bullying, gang violence, and education.
Girls entering adulthood in the next decade will see more opportunities than today’s women ever imagined. Will these girls stride confidently through newly opened doors, or are they destined to be stunted by societal messages that tell them females should be constantly agreeable, impossibly thin and sexy above all else? Rachel interviews parents, psychologists, teachers and social workers who are helping nurture girls into capable, resilient adults. With courage and determination, these girls reveal their hopes and dreams for a powerful future.
The Burning Season
(Environmental Issue Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Kathy Henkel
Producer: Jeff Canin
Narrated by Hugh Jackman, “The Burning Season” was described by “Variety” magazine as being: “As inspiring as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was frightening.”
Every year, deliberately lit fires rage across Indonesia. They destroy pristine rainforest, endanger orangutans and contribute to climate change. Dorjee Sun, a young Australian Entrepreneur, believes there is a solution that benefits all involved while also protecting the planet. Armed with a laptop and a backpack, he sets out across the globe to find investors in his carbon trading scheme. It is a battle against time: Can he broker an agreement with the various governments and farmers before another “The Burning Season” starts?
Dynamite Swine
Genre:Comedy
Director/Producer:Mark Poisella
An irreverent and raunchy romp, “Dynamite Swine” won the Best Feature Comedy Award and the Best Overall Feature Award at the 2010 Indie Gathering.
Rebel, A down-on-his luck gambler, promises to save his girlfriend’s “Hair Salon For The Homeless,” from foreclosure, but instead only falls deeper into debt to a sadistic Russian quadriplegic. After his adopted brother and their bumbling friends complicate things even further, Rebel must enter the biggest card tournament of his life in order to save the salon, himself, his brother, and the life of a very special pig.
Earthwork
Genre: Drama
Director/Producer: Chris Ordal
The inspirational “Earthwork” has screened and won awards at film festivals all across the nation, including the prestigious South By Southwest Film Festival.
Starring John Hawkes (from TV’s “Lost”), “Earthwork” is the dramatized story of real-life “crop artist” Stan Herd. In 1994, Stan traveled from Kansas to New York City to create a massive environmental artwork on land owned by Donald Trump. Over the long months it took to complete the earthwork, Stan dealt with a never ending set of challenges to bring his unique, rural art-form to an urban canvas.
If you’ve ever tried for something just out of reach, if you’ve ever chased a dream that everyone told you was a waste of time, if you ever created something just because you wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t, then “Earthwork” is a film you must see!
Golden Earrings
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Marion Kerr
Producers: Brian James Crewe
Winner of the Best Horror Feature (Audience Award) at the 2010 Indie Spirit Film Festival, “Golden Earrings” is much more than the “usual” scary movie.
Joe Dante, the director of the classic film, “Gremlins” offers “Golden Earrings” this amazing compliment: “(Lead) Julia Marchese puts herself on the movie map with a riveting performance in an unexpected and calculated chiller that delivers the goods with wit and economical style.”
Ronnie and Sara are best friends in their 20′s, but for Ronnie, Sara is her entire world. The two women, along with their close-knit group of friends do everything together, But when Sara mysteriously disappears one night, Ronnie’s life spirals out of control as seemingly supernatural forces take hold of her and her apartment. Is it a ghost haunting her? Is Sara trying to reach Ronnie from beyond the grave? Is someone playing mind games? As Ronnie becomes increasingly unglued, her friends struggle to calm Ronnie’s fears and to explain the odd occurrences surrounding Sara’s disappearance.
“Golden Earrings” draws you in slowly and by the time you realize that it has you hooked, it’s too late. The story grabs you, shakes you up, and won’t let you go even after the credits role.
Heaven Burns
Genre: Drama
Director: Justin Beckenheimer
Producer: Stacie Jones
Note: “Heaven Burns” contains scenes with prevalent drug abuse, profanity, and nudity. Discretion is advised.
A young man working to save enough money for college gets caught up in Baltimore’s dangerous drug scene when he becomes involved with a wealthy girl with too much time and money on her hands. “Heaven Burns” was written and directed by twenty-three year old Beckenheimer, based on his experience with his sister’s prescription drug addiction.
Featuring AOF Fest 2010 Winning Best Actor, Clayton Myers and Best Actress Runner Up, Whitney Nielsen, “Heaven Burns” manages to deal with an important social issue while serving up an honest, heart-wrenching, and entertaining story.
How To Boil A Frog
(Environmental Issue Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director/Producer: John Cooksey
Note: “How To Boil A Frog” suggests ideas that depending on your world view might be considered: Challenging, obvious, offensive, necessary, ridiculous, or critically important.
“How to Boil a Frog” is a comedic documentary that shows the consequences of overshoot, aka: Too many people using up too little planet. An everyman Dad gives us the scoop on the imminent end of the world as we have come to know it, and five surprising ways that we can save civilization while making our own lives richer.
The film makes its serious point by using less-than-serious story-telling. It presents the issues facing our planet in an irreverent way that those new to the Green movement can clearly understand and enjoy finding out about.
Language of America
(New England Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director/Producer: Ben Levine
“Language of America” explores Indian language, philosophy, and community as never before. It shows how Indian words reveal an inherent connectedness between people, nature and spirit. The film bears witness to America’s history of Indian human rights abuse, yet it inspires hope by promoting an understanding of diversity that accepts Native peoples’ inextricably shared history and destiny with their neighbors.
No Impact Man
(Environmental Issue Spotlight)
Genre: Lighthearted Documentary
Directors: Laura Gabbert & Justin Schein
Follow the Manhattan-based Beavan family as they abandon their high consumption 5th Avenue lifestyle and try to live a year while making no net environmental impact. “No Impact Man” is charming documentary about how sacrificing what you’re comfortable with can lead to discovering what really what makes you happy. It is a thought-provoking look at one family’s trials and tribulations as they struggle to practice what they preach on an environmental level.
Speaking In Code
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Amy Lee Grill
Producer: David Day
“Speaking in Code” is an equal parts fun and heartbreaking documentary that offers a vérité glimpse into the unique world of techno music. It is the story of a young married couple who set out to document the music that they love and their quest to bring a vibrant techno-music scene to their hometown of Boston. Speaking in Code” follows the lives of a few influential music artists within the International electronic community over a number of years. But as the stories of the artists they follow progress, so do the lives of the filmmakers themselves change.
Split Estate
(Environmental Issues Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director/Producer: Debra Anderson
The Emmy-nominated “Split Estate” maps a tragedy in the making, as citizens in the path of a new drilling boom in the Rocky Mountain West struggle against the erosion of their civil liberties, their communities, and their health. Imagine discovering that you don’t own the mineral rights under your land, and that an energy company drills for natural gas two hundred feet from your front door. Imagine watching your loved ones get sick, your neighbors move away, or your family’s burial-grounds desecrated. Imagine having no recourse other than to accept an unregulated industry in your backyard or to move from your rightful home. Or check out “Split Estate,” and see for yourself.
Official Selections
Short films
Artistic License
Genre: Comedy
Director: Michael Wohl
Producer: Divi Crockett
The multiple award-winning “Artistic License” stars David Lago (Best Actor, Daytime Emmys for “The Young and the Restless”). Artist David Milken is struggling to find beauty in the most unexpected of places; capturing portraits of average Americans at their most exhausted, their most frustrated, their most honest: David takes the I.D. photos at the Department of Motor Vehicles, and he takes his job very, very seriously. Against the odds of the vast government bureaucracy and the long lines of impatient drivers-to-be, David tries to make each snapshot a masterpiece. Today he has to take perhaps the most important picture of his career, that of his boss, Brianca Vincent and it isn’t going to be pretty. Or is it?
Breadwinner
(Student Showcase)
Genre: Drama
Director/Producer: Cornelius Murphy
Douglas is a hard working independent man who has made a great life for himself. This contrasts sharply with the life that his father lead. Douglas’ father, Leonard, was an out of work writer who could not provide financial stability for Douglas as a child. Douglas reflects back on how he treated his father growing up. Douglas questions whether he really knew his father at all, and if the man he often looked down upon deserved his disdain.
Dance to the Offbeat
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Tanisha White
Producer: Jeremy Jed Hammel
“Dance To The Offbeat” was produced in conjunction with the American Film Institute’s Directing Workshop for Women. An African-American woman who can’t dance enters a “Rhythmless Dancing” competition, much to the dismay of her family. This film comments on widely held racial stereotypes in a comedic and light-hearted way.
Daydreaming
Genre: Animated
Director/Producer: Carlos Florez
“Daydreaming” is about being a kid at heart. This is a journey with 3D and hand-drawn cell animation told in 140 seconds that brings us back to our childhood experiences of being joyful, imaginative and full of wonder.
Grupni portret s ledja
Genre: Documentary
Director: Vojin Vasovic
Producer: Dejan Petrovic
This guerrilla project was done in two and a half weeks in a remote town in post-Communist Serbia. ‘Back Portrait’ is a great overview of struggle between tolerating and accepting differences in opinion; political and personal.
The Legacy
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Sci-Fi/Family Comedy
Director: Mike Doto
Producer: Jeremy Jed Hammel
“The Legacy” recently won Best Comic Related Film at the 2010 Comic Con International Independent film festival and was accepted into the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. What would you do if you believed your father was a superhero?
“The Legacy” brings to life a story about fathers and sons, imagination and magic, and believing in something larger than ourselves. Starring Paul Butcher, ( “Zoey 101,”) Louis Iacoviello, and Jo McGinley, “The Legacy” is a fun and exciting romp for audiences of all ages.
The Lifter Upper
Genre: Comedy (Animated)
Director/Producer: Micah Chambers-Goldberg
The multiple award-winning “Lifter Upper” combines both animated and live-action footage. Olive is depressed due to an absurd series of family tragedies. Jack, a concerned neighbor calls a Professional Lifter Upper of Spirits to remedy the situation. The Lifter Upper finds that Olive will be his toughest case yet.
Nico’s Challenge
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Director/Producer: Steve Audette
This amazing documentary has screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival, just to name a couple. “Nico’s Challenge” is the story of a 13 year-old boy who faces special challenges as he climbs mount Kilimanjaro, the world’s highest freestanding mountain. His goal: to raise money and deliver free wheelchairs to the people of Tanzania. This coming of age adventure has some unexpected twists that push this child to his limits just before reaching the summit at nineteen thousand feet above sea level.
The Night Divine
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Documentary
Directors/Producers: Jeremy Jed Hammel & Lady Ransom
Lo-Fi Sugar had the Number One “Beatport,” song in October 2008 with Starchaser’s “So High.” She has also toured and recorded with world-renowned techno DJ, Paul Van Dyk.
This version of the piece was edited by Jeremy Jed Hammel and won a Golden Kahuna Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the 2009 Honolulu International Film Festival. “The Night Divine” is Lo-Fi Sugar’s first music video from her debut EP, “The Divine Edit.”
Prayers for Peace
Genre: Animated
Director: Dustin Grella
Producer: Matt Israel
“Prayers for Peace” is a narrative stop-motion animation confronting the memory of the artist’s younger brother killed in the current conflict in Iraq. Drawn entirely with pastels on a slate chalkboard, the materials used to create the animation become a metaphor for the impermanence of life.
One Track Mind
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Drama
Director: Joe LaRocca
Producer: Alex Mitrushi
Darkness has consumed a small New England town after the disappearance of 17 year-old Emma Buxton. Commuter Tim Stowe falls deeper into paranoia after witnessing a disturbing incident along the tracks. With no other options, Tim takes it upon himself to answer the burning question. What happened to Emma Buxton? “One Track Mind” will keep you guessing until the very end.
Picture Day
Genre: Comedy
Director Ken Adachi
Producer: Stephen Bell
Miles and Sophie are best friends, but when Miles discovers that his high school freshman picture will be displayed publicly, his history of humiliation from previous school pictures begins to haunt him. With only four days until the big day, Miles juggles time between Sophie and his preparations for the photo, but there just isn’t enough time for both. Miles will have to decide what is more important to him — his best and only friend OR school pictures and an opportunity to fit in — on the most important day of the year: “Picture Day”.
Shift Across America
(Boston Local Spotlight)
Genre: Trailer
Director/Producer: Joe Grafton
Somerville Local First’s Director, Joe Grafton, takes a trip across America to tell the story of “The Shift.” Along his journey, he explores the unique and vibrant communities working to support the Local First cause. In doing so, the story comments on the broader political and economic issues at play. This is a short preview of a possible full-length documentary.
Vitruvius’ Toybox
(Student Showcase)
Genre: Animated
Director/Producer: Dennis Iannuzzi
This film was done as part of a class project for both an animation workshop and an electronic musical composition class. The film is experimental in nature. It explores the relationship between motion graphic techniques, electronic music and the use of traditional graphic design ideas as a way of visually organizing an animated film.
A few thoughts from Filmshift Director, Jeremy Jed Hammel
For the past year or so, I have dedicated myself to achieving one overarching goal with Filmshift: For our inaugural year to offer audiences unique, compelling, and meaningful films that told stories from the heart. I knew that if I could not reach that goal, then the charitable causes that I wanted to support, and the pluralistic points-of-view that I wanted to challenge the audiences with would be lost.
Because if you can’t reach people at their core, then you can use all the fancy words you want, hold true to all the high-minded ideals you want, and update all the Facebook statuses you want…but the audience is not going to be affected in any lasting way unless the films reach us in our heads, our hearts, and in our guts.
Filmshift is not about causes, or ideologies, or even about the artists themselves. (Though it is very much about helping to further the careers of our artists). It’s about bringing people together in a real way to share and experience other people’s stories and points-of-view.
My hope is that the films we screen will help people to move forward together toward a brighter and more universally prosperous future…yup, all that through what I believe to be a magical experience: watching independent films.
