Sunday - June 29

Sunday Morning Short Films:
9:00 - 10:00am

Scotty & Maddy (6 mins, drama)
Directed by Michael Costner
Scotty will do whatever it takes to get back the love of his life, Maddy, even if he has to get off the couch and stop feeling sorry for himself. World Premiere.

Apartment A (9 mins, drama)
Directed by Michelle S. Baxter
Chronicles the lives of three sisters immediately following the 9/11 attacks as they await word about their missing father. The father and one sister both left home for the towers that morning but only one has made it back so far. With their dad potentially gone, the girls must now deal with what is left of their lives, including a manic depressive mother, an overbearing older sister and unsaid truths. World Premiere.

Orders (15 mins, drama)
Directed by Melissa Fulmis
When Kaci MacDonald receives a letter in the mail to re-enlist in the military and serve in Iraq, she is faced with the difficult decision of leaving her family to do something she feels an obligation for. Her biggest fear is whether her family has the strength to support and withstand her decision. World Premiere.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Sunday Morning Feature Film: 10:00 - 12:00 noon

The Men Who Fell (88 mins, futuristic, sci-fi drama)
Directed by William L. Stewart
The Festival audience will be amazed at the production values in this ultra-low budget futuristic drama. Two convicts, held in an orbiting detention facility above a post-apocalyptic earth, are hired by mega-corporation Hunsinger to perform a risky salvage mission down on the planet. They land, and work their way into a gigantic underground industrial complex, following a map to their ultimate destination, to retrieve and salvage… the item. Being prisoners, they are given little info, and are given credit toward early release as payment. They get more than they expected, and things go from bad to evil. Takes “ultra-low budget” into another dimension!

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Sunday Afternoon Short Films: 1:00pm - 2:10pm

Prelude (12 mins, drama)
Directed by Oscar Velasquez
An official selection in three other festivals including having its European premiere at Cannes, in France, it follows the events leading up to a high school shooting by telling the story of how seemingly unrelated lives can intertwine and something so small can have such a dramatic effect on us all.

Maine Story (24 mins, drama)
Directed by Nina Chernik
Beautifully shot entirely on location in Maine, it’s the tale of Shelly, a small town woman working in the local factory, who is going through the motions as if her life has not yet started. When Alex, her high school sweetheart comes back to town, Shelly is forced to confront the things in her life that she’s been avoiding, including Kyle, her 12-year-old son. An official selection to 17 other film festivals around the country.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Sunday Afternoon Short Films: 2:10pm - 3:20pm

The Desert Dilemma (8 mins, drama)
Directed by Nate White
Two men are out in the middle of a vast desert, no one to be seen anywhere with a problem on their hands. World Premiere.

Rabia (24 mins, drama)
Directed by Muhammad Ali Hasan
Rabia is a woman who must blow herself up in order to exist. From the moment she straps explosives to her bare body, we are exposed to flashbacks of Rabia’s past, filled with abuse, rejection, and struggle. By the time she steps onto a popular Israeli beach, awaiting to kill hundreds of innocent civilians in a massive explosion, we find ourselves asking whether Rabia’s act is one of evil or one of heroism?

Winner of "Best Short Film" at the Sunscreen Film Festival, "Best Drama" at Show Off Your Short Film Festival, and "Best Action/Adventure" at Gone With the Film Film Festival.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.

Sunday Afternoon Short Films: 3:20pm - 4:30pm

Pitstop (14 mins, drama)
Directed by Melanie McGraw
Thoughtful and introverted, 12-year-old Maggie feels invisible sandwiched between the limbs of her eight rambunctious siblings as they drive across the desert in the family's aging Pontiac wagon. Accidentally left behind at a desert gas station she meets June, the desert-worn, reclusive proprietor who proves more than just a passing influence on this little girl's journey to find her own voice.

Winner of a Bronze Medal at the 35th Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Student Academy Awards.

Eaton's Water (16 mins, historical drama)
Directed by Sally LeviDina Kadisha
Eaton’s Water takes place in California from 1861-1874 when its once cattle economy is transformed to one based on agriculture. Ben Eaton is drawn into a real estate deal that requires him to build a major water ditch that will bring water through the San Gabriel Mountains to the Arroyo Seco and Eaton’s Canyon. After much struggle, Ben completes this task and helped transform a once desolate area into what is now Pasadena.

Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers.