Yearly Archives: 2013

Festival Blood Brother
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The English language is vast and has a plethora of words. Yet I can’t think of two more somber words than “AIDS orphanage.” One young man named Rocky Braat decided to leave New York to work in such an orphanage in India. After he had spent some time there, his best friend Steve Hoover traveled to see him to see what his life is like. The results are astonishing.

We were so fortunate to talk to Steve about his friend Rocky, the joy he found there and what he was just doing in the Ukraine.

Festival Atomic Dream
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The story of how we got to the moon is well known to the point where those first men who walked on its surface are names remembered by everyone, young and old. Yet the methods that were used weren’t the first idea. In fact, years before any of that happened some of the most brilliant minds had set their sights on Mars and their methods included nuclear bombs.

Directors Derek Lartaud and Melanie Ruiz made a wonderful short film that talked about Project Orion and how those scientists remember their time together. We were happy to talk with Melanie to ask her how she first found this story, the impact of these men and what is her next project.

Festival The Sweatshop
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When there’s a story about people working in a sweatshop, all of the focus is on the suffering and the inhumanity of their situation. Yet in his Festival Award winning short film writer/director Chin Tangsakulsathaporn is able to show a greater dimension to his two young heroes as they search for hope.

We were honored to be able to talk with Chin about his amazing short film and why he feels inspired to make a film.

Festival The Circle
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One of the most fascinating films of the festival has the most deceivingly simple names. “The Circle” is all about the people who happen to live upon one of the greatest scientific experiments in human history. The Large Hadron Collider races particles around at such an incredible speed in order to recreate the Big Bang, the origins of the universe. This is located 100 miles underground in Europe and director Bram Conjaerts talked to those on the surface to learn what they think of all of this.

We were thrilled to talk to Bram about the focus on the documentary, his history with the Large Hardon Collider and the documentaries that intrigue him.

Festival Liquidation
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In just a few minutes, the Festival Award short film “Liquidation” can create discussions that will last for hours. In the film, a young couple are visiting his grandfather before he is punished for his Nazi involvement. There they are faced with a difficult moral decision.

We were able to talk with director Matthias Zuder about the audience reaction to that moral decision, the roles of Nazis in cinema and the humanity of the whole story.

Festival Barzan
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Barzan tells a story that you wish didn’t have to be true. Sam Malkandi was happily living with his family in Seattle when the government believed that he was connected with al-Qaeda after a footnote in the 9/11 Commission Report. Now with little understanding of how this all happened, his family was torn apart as they desperately try for justice.

Directors Alex Stonehill and Bradley Hutchinson were following this heartbreaking story as it developed and showed the world the results in this Festival Award-winning documentary. We were thrilled that Alex and Bradley were able to talk to us about the tone of this film, the moral difficulties and read at the very bottom of the article to hear about how the family is doing after the movie. (There are spoilers in the answer for the last question that is posted after the showtimes.)

Festival Hide Your Smiling Faces
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Few films are able to capture the emotional realism of childhood. It’s a strange time that rarely fits into the normal structure of a movie, but Hide Your Smiling Faces is able to do something very special. When a death of a peer occurs in a small town, the kids are filled with an overflow of emotions they don’t understand. This movie is able to capture a very sympathetic and confusing time with an amazing amount of authority.

We are thrilled to be able to talk with writer/director Daniel Patrick Carbone about working with such young actors, using improvisation, and what first feature films have inspired him.

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