Our Festival

56th Festival April 10-12, 2014

Promo

MOAS Promo

Sessions

Thursday, April 10, 8pm

9-1-1

 Andrew Fairbank, USA 16 min

(Drama) A 9-1-1 operator receives a frantic call and every word matters when the call is being recorded.

Le train bleu (The Blue Train)

Stéphanie Assimacopoulo, France 18 min

(Romance) (in French with English subtitles) Paris – He wants to end the relationship, she is still in love and wants to pick up the pieces. At The Blue Train, a traditional bar for parting, they stop to have a last drink. Neither can imagine what will happen next…

Distance

 Aimee Long, USA 25 min

(Futuristic Drama) In the year 2038, severe pollution has caused the government to restrict transportation by rationing travel miles, affecting a father’s plans to reconcile with his daughter.

We Are Enemies

Ilya Rozhkov, USA 14 min

(Soldier’s Drama) (in Russian and German)
In one of the most ruthless times in history is it possible to maintain our humanity?

Cinema Time Capsule

 Scott Norwood, US 6 min

(Documentary) The Avon Cinema in Providence, RI. opened in 1938. Join the owner and staff for a celebration of its 75th anniversary.

L’escale (The Stopover)

Serge Goriely, Alain Margot Switzerland / Belgium 25 min

(Narrative/Drama) (in French with English subtitles) When an attractive young Russian girl decides to get rich by doing sex work in Switzerland, she is torn between her ambitions and the tugs of her heart.

Tin Cans

Chris Edwards, Rochester, NY 5 min

(Narrative/Drama) A boy and his single mom and their struggle to communicate.

Sessions

Friday, April 11, 8pm

La bomba en el despacho (Explosive)

Ivan M Valencia & José Ramón Soriano, Spain 18 min

(Business Drama) (in Spanish with English subtitles) An ultra high-stress job and an antagonistic boss are about to make Carlos explode…

Tag

Freeland Shreve , USA 5 min

(Family Drama) A father and his young son make a game out of shooting the groundhog that’s terrorizing their vegetable garden… it’s kind of like tag.

Way in Rye

Goran Stanković, USA 28 min

(Historical Drama) (in Russian with English subtitles) A humble farmer and his wife must protect a crate from Leningrad while waiting for news from their son, a soldier fighting on the Eastern front.

Virtuos Virtuell (Virtuoso Virtual)

Thomas Stellmach and Maja Oschmann, Germany 7 min

(Experimental) Synchronizing to music, ink drawings ‘grow’ in an interplay of curiosity, timid encounters and dynamic pursuits.

Dies Irae, jour de colère (Day of Wrath)

Emmanuel Dubois, France 25 min

(Drama) (in French with English subtitles)
Two competitive childhood friends hike in the mountains and resolve some deep animosities.
For more info: manu.dubois@free.fr

REM

Joseba Alfaro, Spain 18 min

(Sci-Fi Drama) (in Spanish with English subtitles) Do we sometimes feel more attached to our dreams than to the day-by-day existence we live in? Would we like to turn the tables and not have to wake up and face cold reality?

Hotel

José Luis Alemán, Spain 11 min

(Drama) A starving, dehydrated man discovers a “hotel” in the middle of the desert. Is it too good to be true?

Sessions

Saturday, April 12, 4pm

A New Leaf

Clinton Cornwell, USA 15 min

(Drama/Narrative) Sam is climbing the corporate grocery store ladder. When asked to teach an old cowboy new tricks, she begins to question her direction in life.

Monkey Rag

Joanna Davidovich, USA 4 min

(Animation) This film is a traditionally animated throwback to the musical cartoons of yore. Inspired by the music of the Asylum Street Spankers, Mitzi pursues a disaster of her own making, but she may be barking up the wrong tree.

Lief konijn (Sweet Rabbit)

Camiel Schouwenaar, Netherlands 14 min

(Tragic Comedy) (in Dutch with English subtitles) Janet lives a lonely married life with her grumpy husband Arnold, until she discovers one morning that she is inflicted with a rather unique predicament.

Small Talk

Peter LeVake, USA 13 min

(Comedy/Romance) James Night comfortably connects with Stacia through his phone, but he soon discovers there is no app for love when she wants to converse face-to-face.

Mr. Hopewell’s Remedy

 Kathi Carey, USA 18 min

(Comedy/Romance) A luckless altruist struggles against despair in a timeless town where co-mingling of recyclables is punishable by jail.

The Choice

Evan Kaufmann, USA 21 min

(Narrative) A young man who recently experienced a miraculous recovery from a terminal illness seeks the mysterious woman whose daily encouragement he credits for saving his life.

Bingo Night

Jordan Liebowitz, USA 14 min

(Comedy) When Ethel is threatened with eviction at the retirement home, her friends Vivian and Ruth become co-conspirators in the heist of the century.

Sessions

Saturday, April 12, 8pm

Cough

Jason Kempnich, Australia 11 min

(Narrative Sci-fi) Food shortages during a year-long pandemic force recently widowed George to stray far from home to survive. A simple purchase of rations derails when George stumbles upon a Shopkeeper’s secret, placing all of them in mortal jeopardy.

El hombre equivocado (The Wrong Man)

Roberto Goñi, Spain 16 min  (Narrative Drama) (In Spanish with English Subtitles) Tensions and romance run high when a shoe salesman has a first date with a sea archaeologist.

The Cowboy – in color

Trygve Nielsen, Norway 7 min

(Animation) In a black and white world a cowboy picks colors up from his hat, but a crow steals the hat and turns the world gray. A fable about the elementary particles – in RGB technique.

113 degrees

Sabrina Doyle, USA 20 min

(Narrative- Sci-fi) In this tale of love and sacrifice, astronauts Francesca and Joe are bunkered in their little spaceship, while Earth seems to be a distant reality.

Shenanigans

Peter Kimball, USA 8 min

(Teen Love Comedy) Opening your son’s bedroom door is always a surprise. Let’s see if he can talk his way out of this!

Butterfly Dreams

Venkat Krishnan, India 22 min

(Narrative-Drama) (in Tamil with English subtitles)
A nine year-old girl in rural India, exploited by child labor, must find a way to pursue her dream – to read and write. She has a chance when an educated man comes to town.

The Sidekick

Michael J. Weithorn and Rob Benedict,
USA 27 min

(Narrative- Comedy) An offbeat take on the superhero genre and an allegory about the struggle to find your purpose in life even as you are being…repurposed.

Mention

Honorable Mention

These films received acknowledgement but were not screened at the festival

Honorable Mention

  • A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE by Gerald Guthrie
  • GOLDTOOTH by Lauren Brinkman
  • HIBERNATION by Jon Mikel Caballero
  • MÓJ DOM by Magdalena Szymkow
  • NO LOVE LOST by Shekhar Bassi
  • OF TEACHING KILLER WHALES COMPASSION by Raphe Wolfgang
  • THE LIAR by Remsy Atassi
  • TICKLE ME RICH by Sonja Dumas

Merit

Certificate of Merit

These films received acknowledgement but were not screened at the festival

Certificate of Merit

  • A BOX CAME TO BROOKLYN by Jason Cusato
  • A YEAR AFTER by Tal Yehoudai
  • BUDDHA EDEN GARDEN by José Victor
  • CANDLES IN PARADISE by Rob Azevedo
  • DYCE AND DEVIL by Fabian Davis
  • ENDINGS by Jim McQuaid
  • INSIDEOUT by Flaminia Graziadei
  • LA NUIT de L’OURS by Fred Guillaume
  • LE REFUGE by Elliot Thomson
  • 94 YEARS AND RUNNING by Aristide LeFeve
  • PILLOW GIRL by Ronnie Cramer
  • SEVENTH GRADE by Stefani Saintonge
  • STRINGS by Crystal Us
  • THE ACROBAT by Gerardo Herrero
  • THE CORNER TABLE by Manjari Makijany
  • THE HELP by Oliver Yan
  • THE RETURN by Avi Merkado and Dani Ashor
  • TOKYO HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Mari Okada

Rochester

International

Film Festival

about Us

The Rochester International Film Festival is produced and presented by Movies On A Shoestring, Inc., offering four distinct screenings each year at George Eastman Museum’s famed Dryden Theatre in Rochester NY.

Films

3 Days. Dozens of Films. 1,000s of Film Lovers. See short films of ALL genres from filmmakers worldwide! Join us! All (4) distinct screenings are FREE to attend.