Short Film Festival◊ 2009 ◊ Films: T - Z

 

 

That's Magic! Writers: Brandon McCormick, Charlie Wetzel; Director/Producer: Brandon McCormick. That's Magic! follows a disillusioned magician who seeks his own answer to find what is 'magic' in the world around him. Magic Realism, USA, 15 min

 

Theosaurology Writer/Director:/Producer: Alex Austin. Theosaurology presents the concept that since there are so many things scientists still speculate about with dinosaurs, why couldn't they be super powerful creatures that performed wondrous acts? We were not there to witness these things, and there has been no fossil evidence to prove otherwise. All told with a sense of arrogance and humor, the narrator leads the viewer through this concept though a book while the dinosaur illustrations come to life and demonstrate their awesomeness. This is a layered satire and action comedy. Animated Science Fiction, USA, 5 min

 

Throwaway Writers/Directors/Producers: Dennis Widmyer, Brian James Fitzpatrick. Abby works the graveyard shift at a home security company as an operator. With such a tough schedule, she spends her days like a vampire, sleeping while the sun is up. This rotation gets disturbed, however, when Abby is repeatedly awoken each day by the sounds of a bum rummaging through her apartment's dumpster (which rests directly outside her bedroom window). When Abby decides she's had enough, she confronts the Bum in the hopes of negotiating for some daily solace. Only the Bum has other plans for Abby that have nothing to do with a little spare change. If you sleepwalk through your days, you could bump into a nightmare. Horror, USA, 21 min

 

Tiny Legs of Fire Writer/Director/Producer: Doug Bayne. Apparently David Bowie used to write song lyrics by throwing pieces of paper into the air. Honestly, I don’t see how that would help. Animated Short-Short, Australia, 2 min

 

Trafficking Writer: Josh Mitchell; Director: David Lindabury; Producers: Nancy Miller, Jack Charlop. A courier gets stuck in rush hour gridlock, where he finds himself stalked and tormented by someone—or something—that really wants the mysterious package. Horror, USA, 8 min

 

Tree of Knowledge Writer/Director/Producer: Gregory Walsh. This documentary short depicts the efforts of the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia to erect a non-religious display on the lawn of the county courthouse in West Chester, Pennsylvania, already adorned with a Christmas tree and Menorah. Amid mixed reactions and controversy from the citizens of West Chester, the Freethought Society affirms the importance of bringing visibility to an often unheard minority. Documentary, USA, 13 min

 

Unawakening Writer/Director: Jack Daniel Stanley; Producer: Barry Green, David Jimerson. Haunted by imagined or possibly real visions of the murder and macabre burial of a mysterious stranger deep within the woods, a man struggles to regain his sanity and save an adulterous marriage. In this mind-bending thriller, loosely inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's Annabel Lee and part homage to Hitchock's Psycho, love will undoubtedly prove key—but to what—sanity or madness?  Thriller, USA, 9 min

 

Until the End of Everything Writers: Logan Blackwell, Nathan Blackwell, Craig Curtis, Jason Curtis; Director/Producer: Nathan Blackwell. Gentleman superspy Ethan Hazard is back in action! Only you have the power to help him! At critical moments of the story you must vote and choose the path he takes—whether he lives or dies—in his latest daring adventure! Comedy, USA, 7 min

 

Urban Wolf Writer/Director:/Producer: Laurent Touil Tartour. Urban Wolf is a thriller in which an American tourist freshly landed at Paris airport in France is persecuted by a CCTV operator. The latter will act at a distance, without ever entering into direct contact with the American tourist, using only means of surveillance videos, computers and electronics that are now common in the modern urban environment. Isolated in this city he does not know, the American will see his mental state deteriorate to a paranoid psychosis, as attacks by the CCTV operator will be more urgent and aggressive, and that he will have to use all his physical and mental resources to escape programmed death. Thriller, France, 58 min

 

The Water Writers/Producers: Carl Firth, Dean Nye; Director: Carl Firth. Maverick Iron's perfect day is ruined when his fiancée is swept out to sea. Not taking time to grieve, he returns to his job, but he finds himself unable to perform. Upset and confused, Iron reaches the only logical conclusion: He must avenge his fiancée's death. Comedy, Australia, 4 min

 

Who's Your Daddy? Writers: Dov Engelberg, Andrea Schwartz, Brian Schwartz, Marcus Zalewski, Eric Guerin; Director: Dov Engelberg; Producer: Brian A. Schwartz. A puppet youngster, Milo, finds out from his human parents that he is not their biological son. He and his "brother" then set out on a road trip to find his real biological parents. This mission helps Milo learn not only his origins, but also gain some severely lacking sexual experience.  Comedy, USA, 8 min

 

Wilted Writer/Director: Rafael De Leon Jr.; Producers: Anthony Sylvester, Rafael De Leon Jr. A young man introduces his homecoming date to his mother, a gravely ill woman with sinister intentions. Wilted is a brief, twisted look into how family can prevail in the face of obstacles such as illness and the sting of rejection. Horror, USA, 5 min

 

The Winged Man Writer: José Rivera; Director: Marya Mazor; Producers: Camillia Sanes, Stephanie Bell. In this work of Magical Realism, the only thing we know for certain is that Daysi, a Latina high school girl, is pregnant. Is the conception the son of a mystical winged man, as Daysi insists? Or the result of a one-night stand, as the girl’s mother claims? This visually arresting and poetic rumination on truth, written by Academy-award nominee José Rivera, asks what it means to hold fast to a belief, and what it takes to let it go.  Magic Realism, USA, 14 min

 

A Woman in the West Writer/Director: Jeremy Dylan Lanni; Producer: Jeremy Dylan Lanni & Peter Jason. Reuniting three stars from the HBO series Deadwood, A Woman in the West tells the shocking true story of a frontier wife who is tough, independent, and willing to do whatever is necessary to protect her home. When Marion Faber’s husband Oscar is beaten up and robbed in a local saloon, Marion takes it upon herself to right the wrong. The film boasts outstanding performances from Paula Malcomson (Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica Prequel: Caprica), Peter Jason (Deadwood, The Other Side of the Wind), and Larry Cedar (Deadwood, Hollywoodland).  Thriller, USA, 10 min

 

X-Mess Detritus Writer/Director/Producer: Aurelio Voltaire. MTV and SciFi Channel veteran, Voltaire, takes a dark look at gift-giving and the negative effect it has on the Earth in this one-minute Christmas parable. Animated in stop-motion by Voltaire and narrated by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.  Animated Short-Shorts, USA, 2 min

 

Zombeer Writers/ Directors: Rob van der Velden, Barend de Voogd; Producer: Marjan Westbroek. If you love beer, maybe you shouldn’t work in a brewery. Head brewmaster Herman values his lager more than his life. During one of his drunken sprees he topples over into a beer kettle, an event that will prove to have strange effects on his colleagues, a group of Japanese tourists, and eventually: the typical Dutch tradition of Queen’s Day. Horror, Netherlands, 12 min

 

Zombie Hunters Writer/Director: Christopher Baker; Producers: Adam McIver, Christopher Baker. A reality show camera crew follows four friends one night as they go hunting for zombies in their small town of Troy, North Carolina. Riding around in their pickup truck, drinking beer, and engaging in unexpected existential and religious debates, the hunters find their idea of a fun night going quickly awry once they locate their quarry of the undead. Horror Comedy, USA, 13 min

 

 

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