Highlights from our 66th Festival June 6-8, 2024
* Best of Fest films represented within the program below.
Sessions
Thursday, June 6, 8pm
How to Bury a Fish
Elsa van Damke, Germany, USA, Drama , 26 min
It’s project week and a small group of teens at the Blumenthal Day Clinic take on the project of fixing up the garden. The teens encounter a variety of challenges as they work to complete their plans for this space.
Runaway
Sebastian Boneta, USA, Drama, 7 min
A runner trains while Andrew Jackson looks for a runaway slave.
Love, Daddy
Kevin Bauer, USA, Animation, 3 min
A love letter from a father to his son read by his young son.
Our Males and Females
Ahmad Alyaseer, Jordan, Drama, 11 min, Mature
Parents receive the body of their adult child who was living overseas. They struggle to follow the Islamic religious practice of washing and shrouding the body.
It’s for You: Ephemeral Art and the Death of the Public Phone
Ryan Steven Green, USA, Documentary, 29 min
There were once 60,000 working phone booths in Los Angeles. A disparate band of street artists are repurposing this outdated technology as canvases for unique expressions of a moment in time.
The Countryman
Andy Kastelic, USA, Drama, 21min
Hard times in a small farming community lead to hatred, bitterness, and spiteful actions between its citizens. Then a stranger arrives with a curious proposition.
Wax Zoetic
Finley Stein & Zalman Zuckerbraun, USA, Documentary, 13 min
A musical duo tours the Northwest following in the tradition of traveling musicians and story tellers. To be zoetic is to be full of life.
Sessions
Friday, June 7, 8pm
Enmity Djinn
Mohamed Echkouna, Mauritania, Drama, 19 min
A Djinn in Arabian and Muslim mythology is a spirit that appears in human or animal form. In this re-imagined folktale, a matriarch must confront a malevolent Djinn that once haunted her past.
Kindled
Julia Ruch, USA, Animation, 4 min
A woodsman keeps his love kindled with the help of a fiery sprite.
Mirage
Jhanvi Motla, USA, Drama,16 min
After her husband dies, Nitya comes to the United States to start a new life working at her cousin Mohan’s motel, “El Mirage.”
Blue and White
Hiroyuki Nishiyama, Japan, Drama, 27 min
As Ryusuke mourns the death of his wife, he honors her by continuing a traditional craft that he and his wife did together for 40 years. His granddaughter Midori tries to understand his true intentions.
Sfumato #2–Political Asylum
Jim Middleton, USA, Animation, 4 min
The 230-year history of the US Capitol is reviewed in 230 animated seconds.
Father’s Son
Nadan Pines, Israel, Drama, 24 min, Mature
Yotam Regev, the teenage son of the city’s popular mayor, is obsessed with a young woman from his high school. In following her, he learns some hard truths.
Just Laugh
Kemp Brinson, USA, Documentary, 16 min
A community theater company stages a comedy that challenges the skills of the crew and the safety of the cast. Yet, this production provides an opportunity for reflection on the importance of the theater company to all involved.
Sessions
Saturday, June 8, 4pm
The Third Week in October
Zhao Ni, China, Drama, 17 min
In East Asian culture, a man must secure his family’s blood line by having a male heir. This tradition presents a dilemma when a man learns that his son is not his biological heir.
Brick by Brick
Tina Chapman DaCosta, USA, Drama, 17 min
Buddy, a 19-year-old mason and farmer from a small town, travels to Cleveland in hopes of rebuilding his relationship with the father he last saw eight years earlier – a father who was presumed dead after a riot. Based on true events.
Unrest in Peace
Thomas Jiang, USA, Comedy, 13 min
Dan and Ashley are in a romantic relationship but Liz, Dan’s former girlfriend, keeps showing up. Will one of her pranks go too far?
Hamdardi
Ashley Tabatabai & Stefan Fairlamb, United Kingdom, Drama, 27 min
A brother and sister intending to join their parents in the US are caught up in the 2017 travel ban prohibiting entry to citizens from seven Muslim countries. A conflicted immigration officer must struggle with his sense of hamdardi–Urdu for the quality of being humane or sympathetic.
The Mafia
Logan Girdlestone, USA, Documentary, 11 min
A profile of the “best fan base in the NFL,” the Bills Mafia, during the 2022-2023 season.
This is Not Norway
Alicia Albares & Paco Cavero, Spain, Comedy, 18 min
A family in Spain is challenged by their father’s dying wish to be honored with a Viking funeral.
Sessions
Saturday, June 8, 8pm
Pen, Again
Julian J. Delacruz, USA, Drama, 13 min Mature (Discussion of suicide)
Leo has unexpectedly lost his wife. He turns to new technology to ease his loss.
Somewhere in Between
Kyle Vorbach, USA, Comedy, 15 min
Two friends get together for a low-key New Year’s Eve when a man from the future suddenly crashes their celebration.
Shura
David Damian Figueroa & Kayvon Derek Shanian, USA, Documentary, 27 min
A profile of eighty-something Shura Wallin, who along with Rev. Randy Mayer, founded the Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans to provide water, food and support to migrants traveling along the Mexico-Arizonia border.
Mascarada
Ana Maria Ferri, Spain, Drama, 15 min
Revenge is a dish best served cold, or in this case best served from casks of Grand Cru wine.
Lights Out
Marielena Cruz, USA, Animation, 2 min
Watch out for the monster who lives under the bed–especially when the lights go out.
For Sale
Yongseop Lee, Republic of Korea, Drama, 12 min
A man with failed business ventures is being pursued by loan sharks. His luck appears to be changing when he finds a coin in a coffee vending machine.
Magic Candies
Daisuke Nishio, Japan, Animation, 21 min
A lonely boy sets out to buy new marbles but instead ends up with five pieces of candy. Each candy provides insight into the world around him. Based on the picture book “Magic Candies” by Korean author Heena Baek.