January 2016 Selects and winners

This comical short follows the sexual misadventures of a young woman as she navigates the dating world and discovers that self acceptance is the key to success.

#EmbraceYourself

Dir. Kitty Von-Sometime

Like many of art film episodes from The Weird Girls Project, “#EmbraceYourself”, assumes a music video format. The work features women encrusted in thickly layered gold body glitter dancing amidst wet volcanic sand with a backdrop of angled mirrors. The purpose of this piece is to promote a message to women to celebrate themselves and to truly love who they are.

A Children’s Song

Dir. Shayna Cohen

When two students competing for a music scholarship discover that their original compositions are based on a single family song, both are determined to prove ownership, leading them to uncover the long lost true origin of the melody: a story of salv

ation and hope when over 20,000+ Jews emigrated to Shanghai during WWII.

Afterimage

Dir. Natalie Metzger

Like the heat imprint that is temporarily left after a person touches something, a house holds the memories and residues of the people that have inhabited it. Sometimes just entering the space can flood the mind with vivid imagery of days past and moments long gone. But the brain is fallible, and sometimes the images mix and the memories become re-remembered until reality, both past and present, is just an illusion.

All Rise Say No To Cyber Abuse

Dir. Hemma Kearney

An incredibly intricate film outlining the form of online abuse is just the same and worse than physical abuse. The film evolves with you each time you watch it, as you notice more and more what's happening within the short timeframe of 60 seconds.

Baby Hung The Moon

Dir. Heidi Hornbacher & Erik Nielsen

Tired of waiting for her love to return, a girl sets off to find him but she finds herself lost in strange places and must follow the moonlight he guides her with.

Bipolar & Cheese

Dir. Scarlet Perez

A therapist discovers she has Bipolar Disorder after she has a breakdown over a co-worker whom she bonds with over cheese.

Birdie’s Song

Dir. Shari Rigby

Birdie's Song tells a story about two sisters and their search for freedom, as one sister tries to escape past mistakes, and the other tries hard to forgive her.

Body + Blood

Dir. Marisa Echeverria

When Dan meets up with his ex-girlfriend Leah for dinner it quickly becomes clear that neither of them has recovered from the spiritual shock of their break-up. Both realize they will have to follow their broken hearts in order to move on in this funny, touching and surprising look at love and faith.

Bound

Dir. Lexi St. John

BOUND is a thrilling drama about a teenage boy named Derrick who finds himself trapped by responsibilities, torn between the dependency of his family and the loyalty of his friends. Overwhelmed with burden, he is drawn to his best friends who free him from his home and remind him of what his childhood should feel like. But as things get out of hand, Derrick is left to pick up the pieces and face the consequences.

Burbank Game Night

Dir. Tiffany Aleman

Welcome to Burbank. Want to play a game?

C.T.R.L

Dir. Mariana Conde

A young man's attempt at a first contact with a love interest is hijacked in a most entertaining way.

Charlie’s Supersonic Glider

Dir. Kate Maberly

Charlie's is a cruel world. As a baby, he was the only survivor of a horrible car wreck that killed his mother. His Father - once a hero, now an angry drunk - has blamed Charlie ever since. This film depicts the dynamic contrast between a very real, very brutal Father/Son relationship, and the wondrous and beautiful world that exists within a little boy's imagination. When

Charlie's Supersonic Glider eventually takes flight, Charlie is in Heaven.

Competitive Friends

Dir. Jaki Nelson & Breann Johnson

What happens when you take two best friends that are extremely competitive? This comedy short explores those possibilities. Stars Breann Johnson (Jamie) and Jaki Nelson (Becca) are constantly trying to 'one up' the other much to their dismay. They take it too far and Bryce Pyper (Sam) is there to witness it and faces a tough decision.

Crumble

Dir. Georgiana Taylor

Maebh loves her food and no one's going to question her on it, ever again.

Cubik

Dir. Lisa Nicole Lennox

A woman learns that the father she thought passed away when she was 5 years old had in fact been leading a double life and ultimately abandoned her and her mother for another family. Faced with this deception, she seeks out a therapist who she believes is the only one who can help her cope with her anger and confusion. It soon becomes clear, however, that she sought out this therapist for reasons far beyond just her skill.

Days Without Accident

Dir. Theresa Latzko

Two scientists find that saving the planet is a surprisingly dull occupation

Drug Mule

Dir. David Spaltro

Mexican drug enforcement agents get an unwelcome surprise when they suspect an American mother of smuggling.

Eggventure

Dir. Danielle Johnson

a Penguin and a Polar Bear and their love for the same egg.

Ella

Dir. Eddika Organista

'Ella' pays homage to working class women, who’s jobs are to look after, provide care, and even raise other’s peoples children, as well as being responsible for general house cleaning and maintenance. While being immersed in this type of employment, these women also have their own families to care for, love and nurture.

Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: The Japanese War Brides

Dir. Karen Kasmauski, Lucy Craft & Kathryn Tolbert

Atsuko, Emiko and Hiroko were among tens of thousands of Japanese women who married their former enemies after World War II. They landed in 1950s America knowing no one, speaking little English and often moving in with stunned in-laws. In brutally honest conversations with their daughters, they reveal the largely untold story of the Japanese war brides.

Grief Sleeps

Dir. Timothy Marc Hopper

A mother struggles to maintain her grasp on reality until she is pushed to the brink of death.

I’m Going To Mary This Boy

Dir. Radha Mehta

An unlikely romance in India at a time when women weren't allowed the freedom of choice. Against all odds, this woman's love story has survived 45 years of marital bliss and is still going strong.

Jacob Stone

Dir. Roya Aryanpad

Jacob Stone is the hero of his high school basketball team. He's college-bound with a bright future full of possibilities and a beautiful, loving girlfriend at his side. But everything suddenly becomes uncertain for Jacob when elements from his complicated past surface, threatening to throw off his plans and send his life into a tailspin. Jacob must re-evaluate all that he believes as he confronts these unexpected challenges that not only jeopardize his future, but his very life.

Lennon

Dir. Nathan Lorch & Milena Ferreira

Lennon Gandhi Mayburn (Kim Kutner) is different; she sees dead people. And with the help of her favorite departed friend, Mrs. Polanski (Nancy Cartwright), an old lady with a penchant for adventure, she learns that although she may never see her beloved parents again, there may still be hope at true love in the real world.

Lover

Dir. Ryan Shovey

A woman grows closer to her new lover. But, she soon discovers he’s not at all what he seems…

Lucky Penny

Dir. Nick De Luca

Two women en route to a birthday party pick up a tails up penny and bad luck ensues.

Mansions On The Moon feat. Zee Avi: Heart Of The Moment

Dir. Steve Nguyen & Choz Belen

In a mystical universe, two women are fated to meet each other under extremely ethereal circumstances in search for the mansion on the moon.

Maria Revealed

Dir. Pablo Giustorobelo

Maria is forced into a desperate and dangerous journey to protect and rescue her son after her physically abusive ex-husband beats her and kidnaps the boy.

Mom’s Night Out

Dir. Hunter Woodworth

Saturday 1/9/2016 Block 6

Mom’s Night Out is a short comedy film about mothers behaving badly. Three moms and best friends, Bailey, Sarah and Nina, all hate another mom, Teresa, who insults and judges them whenever she gets a chance. They are all tipped over the edge when Teresa wins a bottle of wine at a school run auction, Sarah was hoping to get. And after drinking too much at their 'book club' the three friends decide to break into Teresa's house and steal the bottle of wine; hopefully getting back what should have been theirs and giving Teresa what's coming to her.

Mythica: The Darkspore

Dir. Anne Black

Marek and her friends face a sinister new enemy - Kishkumen, a foreign mystic bent on reclaiming the Darkspore for his master Szorlok. Armed with twin maps, Marek and her team race Kishkumen and his horde through creature-infested lands, to a long abandoned underground city – all the while pursued by bounty hunters intent on returning Marek to slavery. Joined by the mysterious dark-elf warrior – Qole – the team journeys deep underground to discover that the ruined city is now home to an undead dragon. Trapped between Kishkumen and the dragon, Marek and her team must employ all their skill and magic to battle the beast, and combat Kishkumen for their hard won treasure and their lives.

Painless

Dir. Dylan Stern

Two sisters struggle to repair their fractured relationship while plotting to kill their sick mother.

Pro-Ana

Dir. Ward Roberts

A young woman's journey of recovery and escape from the cult of pro-ana.

Rag Doll

Dir. Zena Dell Lowe

Inspired by a true story, “Rag Doll” is an edgy, thought-provoking short film about a woman who's married to a gay man.

Revolution

Dir. Bryce Morgan

A short film/ music video about a woman born into a reincarnated love triangle who must stop the cycle of violence between her two soulmates.

Roast It Again, Sam

Dir. Bruce Caulk

When a beautiful woman heading out on the town stops into a corner coffee shop, she finds herself inexplicably transported back in time to a noir 1940s cafe. Struggling to communicate with the male barista attempting to woo her, hard-boiled noir language and a modern day coffee order collide.

See Me

Dir. Tyler Fordham

Following her tortured childhood, a distraught twenty-something woman must enter into the darkest parts of her mind to understand what she came from and who she’s become.

Soiled Doves

Dir. TJ Pederson

Unable to conform to societal expectations in the late 1880's, three women find their lives crumbling around them. Will they choose fight or flight?

Stay At Home Mom

Dir. David M. Gutel

Former work-a-holic, now stay at home mom, learns that staying with the kids is harder than she thought. Fearful of loosing her corporate ties, she tries to keep a foot in the door, but unplanned circumstances forces her to question what she truly wants in life.

Still Life

Dir. Seri DeYoung

A young artist must decide if she has the strength to break free from her mother's stifling grasp.

Tattooed

Dir. John Michell

A short comedy about lust, names and wobbly eyebrows. Naturally.

The Dazzling Darling Sisters

Dir. Brian E. Bennett

A talented but naive musical theater starlet must contend with a jealous sister, a philandering husband, an exasperated agent, an intimidating studio mogul, and a bizarre theater owner in this hilarious, irreverent, and ridiculous send-up of the great musical comedies of the 1930s and 40s.

The Grand Guignol

Dir. Maria Gabriela Cardenas

Steven, a loner surveillance technician, is sent to a job in a Beverly Hills Mansion where he falls for Mary Ann Milland, a beautiful and married singer. As they become illicit lovers their lives will never be the same in this quintessential film noir experience, that includes romance, betrayal, murder and as the film metaphorical title indicates, fate will be handled as in a dangerous marionettes show.

The Last Inca Princess

Dir. Ana De Orbegoso

This art video brings to life into a colonial painting capturing a crucial moment in south american history: the execution of the last emperor Inca Tupac Amaru and the political wedding of his niece to a Spanish captain, events that consummated the conquest of the Inca empire and the oficial mestizaje, the mixed breed, of Peruvian and Spanish cultures.

The Light Thief

Dir. Eva Daoud

When the essence of Love is snatched from someone and locked away in a vessel with no name , what happens to those persons and how do they change? How can the broken hearted souls break that curse and recover from their pain? Can they regain their spark by overcoming dark supernatural forces?

The Puppeteer

Dir. Emma Weston

A young ballerina, being magically controlled on and off stage by her Puppeteer Master, tries to escape for her freedom and pursuit of the life she once had.

The Spirit Of Iris

Dir. Corinne Jayaweera

Meet Iris, a 95 year old certified flight instructor who has trained astronauts, swam and competed in the 1936 Olympics games and was one of the first women to fly for the air force during world WWII.

Topanga Rose

Dir. Anne Nemer

A young girl living with Cystic Fibrosis goes on a birthday hike with her mother. An unexpected guest brings them peace.

Unslut: A Documentary Film

Dir. Emily Lindin

This documentary short from The UnSlut Project asks: Why is the sexual shaming of girls and women, including sexual assault victims, still so prevalent in the United States and Canada?

Vanya- Minicab Driver

Dir. Caroline Hicks

‘Vanya’ is a black comedy, the story of a middle aged taxi driving Greek woman who is looking for love. She’s early 50’s, overweight and over worked. 4 years ago her husband left one night, out of the blue. He took everything with him, including all Vanya’s savings.

Vincent The Artist

Dir. Deborah Romare & Vincent J. Wiley

Vincent, a lovable young animated characters dreams of being a great artist, against the wishes of his father. Determined, he sets out on a journey to follow his destiny, and in doing so discovers life’s biggest lessons as he travels to New York and joins the circus… all of it revealed through the brilliant artwork of Vincent Van Gogh.

Waiting

Dir. Chelsea Stardust

A dreamer shares an intimate journey through her mind with a complete stranger, while waiting for the bus.

Waiting For You

Dir. Susan Matus

After a stroke, that has left him without the use of his speech, an old man fines himself lost and alone. He sits waiting for the return of his daughter who left a year earlier. When she returns he learns that life is about living, dying and the grey space between the two.

Which Is Witch

Dir. Paul Elliston

An unexpected surprise is revealed when a hard boiled cop meets a small town witch. Who ultimately has the power?

Wish Me Luck

Dir. Angela Robinson Witherspoon