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HAJJI[/caption]
Chattanooga Film Festival unveiled the 2018 short film lineup including the World Premiere of three significant short films – 42 COUNTS from filmmaker Jill Gevargizan, HAJJI from from filmmaker R.H. Norman, and THE AFTER PARTY from filmmaker Colin Costello.
Following is the full list of short films, organized by the block they will be presented in.
SHORT ENDS BLOCK
42 COUNTS | Jill Gevargizian
*WORLD PREMIERE
The latest work of talented director Jill Gevargizian (THE STYLIST) is inspired by a true story. Two unsuspecting victims spend their night off watching scary movies in an apartment rented from their boss—until they uncover something much more sinister than what they’re watching on screen.
AMY | L. Gustavo Cooper.
Set against the backdrop of the deadliest heatwave in recorded history and inspired by America’s most prolific female serial killer, L. Gustavo Cooper’s Amy provides a surreal and distorted glimpse into a killing spree that captivated a nation in the early 1900s.
BABS | Celine Held
An estranged son discovers an alarming purchase made by his late father.
BESTIA | Gigi Guerrero
Bestia follows the lone survivor (Mathias Retamal) of a disaster as he awakens on a deserted beach. It becomes clear that there are more dangers lurking in the woods than a hungry beast.
GREAT CHOICE | Robin Comisar
A woman gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.
THE AFTER PARTY | Colin Costello
Meet Skye Monroe. Reality Show Star. Social Media Queen. And blissfully unaware of how self-centered she is. Skye drinks what she wants, snorts what she wants and takes who she wants. Skye doesn’t really have friends, but followers, tagging along for every moment of her life thanks to her endless streams of posts. But tonight, Skye will be put on trial for her deeds. Her courtroom is a little dive bar tucked away in the corner of any urban decay, appropriately called, The After Party. Her jury will be four sophisticated women shooting a game of billiards.
TRANSMISSION | Varun Raman
Welcome to Britannia. Together we stand alone.
WE SUMMONED A DEMON | Chris McInroy
They just wanted to be cool. Instead they got a demon.
SALUTE YOUR SHORTS
A FISTFUL OF PISTOLS | Joseph Heath
Two men meet in the wild west for a good old fashioned quick draw shoot ’em up situation.
BEANS | Maxwell Nalevansky
An idiosyncratic story of an elderly artist who lives and paints alone on a property in the woods. Steve, the painter, decides one day to make a sign that reads “Free Beans,” offering a bowl of steaming hot beans to any drifter who might stumble by. Our Narrator takes the audience through a rhapsodic telling of the day he met the painter who cooked him a life-changing bowl of beans.
DAHLIA | Ana Mouyis
Through a metaphorical narrative about love, Dahlia explores a relationship between two people which is burdened by mental illness. Journey through a colorful and ever-changing world; a hand-painted realm that shifts and morphs to portray a darkened state of mind.
HAJJI | R.H. Norman
*WORLD PREMIERE
From writer/director R.H. Norman and produced by friend of CFF, David Lawson, Jr. Hajji shows the fateful encounter between two U.S. Marines and an Afghan teenager fuels a wartime cycle of violence in this inspired-by-true-events short starring Ross Marquand (The Walking Dead) and Dayo Okeniyi (Hunger Games).
MY DEAD DAD’S PORNO TAPES | Charlie Tyrell
In this touching documentary, filmmaker Charlie Tyrell attempts to gain a better understanding of his deceased father through his personal effects—including a stash of VHS pornography tapes—and an exploration of his family history.
MY LETHAL WEAPON | Hope Leigh
A young blonde must navigate treacherous power dynamics after she’s pulled over by an increasingly “friendly” cop.
RALPH AND OLLIE | Thomas Bell
Do you ever have trouble relating to other people? No? Yeah, me neither.
POISON | Brandt Shandera
A Tinder date goes from awkward to frightening when the conversation turns to poison.
RETURN FROM DESOLATION | Justin Clifton
Garrett Eaton, an Afghan war vet, oilman, and river guide, has fought his way back from addiction and certain death with the help of the wild, serpentine rivers of the American Southwest. This is a story of renewal, forgiveness and healing, but it’s also a bridge between what we think we know and the nuance of what it means to be human in a complex society. Through Garrett’s experience, we see the importance of wild, public landscapes to help us all find our way home.
THE SILVER SCREEN | Paul Williams
Film buffs Marty and Anna come into conflict when dreamer Marty’s desire to reopen the local movie theater clashes with the reality of the impending birth of their child.
WTF (WATCH THESE FILMS)
ALLEN ANDERS | Laura Moss
Found footage of Allen Anders’ famed 1987 performance at New York City’s Comedy Castle offers a revealing window into the troubled comedian’s psyche.
BFF GIRLS | Brian Lonano
Three dorky American girls magically transform into beautiful Japanese superheroes and fight a tampon monster as they begin their journey into womanhood.
COME ON MANDY | Josh Wilmott
A doc/fiction hybrid about a dog who refuses to listen.
HECTOR FELIX | William Bagley
A thriller/comedy with a retro vibe, Hector Felix is about a drunk who stumbles upon a group of thugs playing cards in the back of a gas station. Shot on 16mm, and accompanied by a killer soundtrack; Hector Felix is nothing short of a good time.
HOMER_A | Milos Mitrovic
Found VHS footage tells a disturbing day-in-the-life story of a broken family.
SETACEOUS | Tel Benjamin
A group of neighbors, after being awoken in the dead of night by its alarm, investigate a seemingly abandoned car in the middle of their cul-de-sac in the inner suburbs. Slowly they begin to realize the car may not be as abandoned as first perceived and holds something far darker in store for them.
SOCKS ON FIRE | Bo McGuire
A failed poet takes up cinematic arms when he returns home to Hokes Bluff, Ala. to find his aunt has locked his drag queen uncle out of the family home.
STAY | David Mikalson
A cult of women summon a demon, but one rogue member, Carol, gets in the way of their plans.
THE ACCOMPLISS | John F. Beach, Jonathan Hoeg
A man discovers his unwitting participation in a bank robbery across a series of increasingly incriminating (and hilarious) answering machine messages.
WEIRD | Fausto MontanarI
In this animated film, a young girl explains how personal preference and individuality are the ties that bind us all together.
THE TENNESSEE FILMMAKER BLOCK
AIM CENTER SHORTS | Judith Mogul and Trey Forbes
A compilation of 12 stop-motion animations created by members of the AIM Center under the direction of artist Judith Mogul and videographer Trey Forbes. AIM is a center for psychiatric rehabilitation located in Chattanooga, Tenn. Using cutout paper in the style of filmmaker Lotte Reiniger, members manipulated their created forms to tell intimate, humorous and often poignant stories. These shorts provide moving insight into the minds, hearts and souls of people living with mental illness.
BIG AND TALL | Clint Till
A young girl and her best friend set off into the woods to find proof of a mythological creature.
BLACKOUT DAY | Graham Uhelski
Blackout Day is a mini documentary about people’s experiences on the day of the total solar eclipse—August 21, 2017. A filmmaker collaboration of an incredible celestial event.
LEGS | Madeleine Hicks
Cara Smart dreams of one day becoming a professional swimmer, but her mother and doctor have plans to remove her body parts instead. This is a tale as old as time.
THE ELEPHANT TREE | Judith Mogul
Combining live action with stop motion animation, The Elephant Tree reveals the intimate relationship between an artist and the landscape around her. Through sketches, sculptures and puppets, a world evolves in the artist’s studio that reflect her reverie and sadness for the environment, which eventually is threatened when a developer begins to clear the land.
THE LOTTERY | Karen Louisa
What kind of life can you have when your life is assigned for you by your government? One young woman tries to exercise what little freedom she has in order to change her life.
THE ORDER | Chad Cunningham
Three young scouts have been selected for a prestigious opportunity, but as they struggle to prove themselves, they realize nothing is what it seems.
STUDENT FILMMAKER BLOCK
10 MINUTES TO SHOW | Joshua DeFour
Punk-rock drummer Charlotte “Charlie” Howe desperately wants to win an Austin battle of the bands competition, but 10 minutes before her band is set to perform, everything seemingly goes to hell backstage.
HEAD ABOVE WATER | Eric Shahinian
A devoted husband is forced to confront his doubts about remaining the caretaker of his wife suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
POSERS | Sean Thiessen
A coming-of-age creature feature that’s also a story of teenage friendship, budding love, and figuring out how to fit in.
REDSHIFT | Benjamin Crane
After a bio-chemical attack renders earth infertile, mankind is forced to colonize Mars and mine the earth of its remaining resources. Among the miners is David Cain, who has grown tired of earth and longs for a new life. After the company decides to relocate to the red planet, David is given the option to transfer or remain on earth with his family. As tension rises between him and sister as they care for their dying father, David must weigh his commitment to family and his desire for a better life.
THE MEMORY BANK | Andrew Faust
Karen awakens to discover that her payment has been declined at The Memory Bank, a cloud-based organization that retains and organizes customers’ memories. She’s then forced to delete memories in order to create new ones.
THE SECRET LIFE OF ART | Catherine Mosier-Mills
What if art came to life at night? Do works of art have personalities ? Do they wish to escape their assigned interpretations and roles? How do these works hold up in a modern context? This digitally-animated piece brings to life well-known works by masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Degas and Gauguin and explores what would happen if they could interact with each other during a chaotic night at the museum.
TWINKLE TWINKLE | Mark Winzenburg
A young woman named Amy discovers a mysterious record in her home. The record plays the tune “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” but Amy begins to fear for her life when it won’t stop, no matter what she does.
In addition to the above blocks, three films will be paired with feature films.
EMERGENCY | Carey Williams
Faced with an emergency situation, a group of young Black and Latino friends carefully weigh the pros and cons of calling the police.
*Paired with LOWLIFE
HEARTLESS | Kevin Sluder
Based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” An overlooked associate struggles to complete a corporate presentation as a horrific secret gnaws at her conscience.
*Paired with DEMENTIA PART II
MY MONSTER | Izzy Lee
Christmas is coming. If that’s not stressful enough, Lily (Brea Grant) has to contend with a clueless partner (Adam Egypt Mortimer) and an unexpected, inter-dimensional holiday guest who just wants two things—blood and cuddles.
*Paired with ALL THE CREATURES WERE STIRRING
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Here is a video clip taken featuring legendary actors Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach from the upcoming film Howard, which will have it’s world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. The clip shows Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach recording the original track “Be Our Guest” for Disney’s Beauty and The Beast (1991), and how lyricist Howard Ashman was deeply involved with the writing and recording of his song. The clip also features interviews with composer Alan Menken and Beauty and The Beast director Kirk Wise about the magical recording process. Howard Ashman was responsible for the iconic soundtrack to B&TB, along with other Disney classics like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
Howard, directed by Don Hahn (Producer of The Lion King and Beauty and The Beast, director of Waking Sleeping Beauty ), is the untold story of Howard Ashman, the creative mind and brilliant lyricist behind Disney classics Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast, The Little Mermaid and creator of the musical, Little Shop of Horrors, whose unparalleled career and vibrant life were cut short at 39 years of age, when he was felled by the AIDS epidemic.
Howard Ashman a Jewish kid from Baltimore grows up in an average family with a extraordinary love for musical theatre. After college he opens a theatre in a derelict section of New York and struggles to put on shows, until his adaptation of Roger Corman’s film Little Shop of Horrors becomes a huge off off broadway hit and catapults him into the limelight. Finally on Broadway, he collaborates with the Oscar and Tony winner Marvin Hamlisch and together they produce a disappointment, Smile. Embarrassed he flees to Los Angeles and takes up with a struggling gang of artists in a warehouse— Disney animators who have just been kicked off the studio lot until they can prove themselves. Howard with Alan Menken write the Oscar® winning songs for The Little Mermaid. While the film becomes a global phenomenon, Howard is diagnosed with HIV—which he kept a secret in this time when AIDS is a death sentence and gay men are at the margins of society. Howard writes the lyrics to Beauty and the Beast from his hospital bed and dies before he can see the final film. The legacy of his work lives on in Broadway productions and live action remakes of Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid and Aladdin for a new generation. The writer and screenwriter for this documentary is Don Hahn.
Ahead of its April 25th World Premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, HBO Documentary Films shared a first look and official poster for the highly anticipated documentary, 
Bleeker Street has released the first teaser trailer for the documentary “
Norah Shapiro documentary “
Piet Oudolf photographing wildflowers in the Texas Hill Country.[/caption]
After completing a feature documentary on New York’s High Line, award-winning filmmaker Thomas Piper met the inspirational designer and plantsman, Piet Oudolf, and the idea for a new project was born – 
The Tribeca Film Festival will provide exclusive, real time livestream access to must-see events and the biggest names in film, television, music, journalism and fashion at the 2018 festival. The real time access provides a window for festival goers at home or anywhere to be a part of the candid conversations with such stars as Evan Rachel Wood, Spike Lee, Thandie Newton, Alec Baldwin, Jamie Foxx, Paris Hilton, Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski, André Leon Tally, Antonio Banderas and James Marsden among many others.
Audiences from around the world will be able to join the star-studded cast of Westworld for a conversation about the anticipated new season and experience the conversation with the world’s most respected journalists following the gala closing night film The Fourth Estate. The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival will run from April 18-29 and is presented by AT&T.
The talks are available exclusively via Facebook Live on the Tribeca Film Festival Facebook page. The 
The Founder & President of the Traverse City Film Festival (
America ReFramed: Deej[/caption]
The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors has selected nine winners in the Documentary category for programs released in 2017. The honorees, part of the annual Peabody 30, include stories that give insight to the lingering grief of communities after mass shootings, the impact of climate change on Earth’s oceans, and young activists fighting for a path to citizenship. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.
Peabody Award winners, including Carol Burnett, recipient of the first-ever Peabody Career Achievement Award presented by Mercedes-Benz, will be celebrated on Saturday, May 19 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Hasan Minhaj, comedian, writer and senior correspondent on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” will serve as host. The presenting sponsor is Mercedes-Benz, the official automobile of the 77th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony. Supporting sponsor is The Coca-Cola Co. Variety is the exclusive media partner.
Village Rockstars[/caption]
The 16th Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) came to an end on Sunday evening with Rima Das’ Village Rockstars winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature. In awarding the Grand Prize, the narrative jury stated: “This film explores gender expectations in a gentle manner. It blends beautiful cinematography with naturalistic performances in a fun and uplifting coming-of age story. Working as a one woman army, this director created an unforgettable portrait of childhood.” 
A24 released the official trailer for 
From the raucous dual imaginations of fantasy laureate Neil Gaiman (“American Gods,” CORALINE) and glamrock multi-hyphenate John Cameron Mitchell (HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, SHORTBUS) comes the electrifying and singular pop extravaganza film, HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES.
Enn (Tony Award-winner Alex Sharp) is a shy suburban London teenager in 1977, sneaking out with his best friends to after-hours punk parties. One night they stumble upon a bizarre gathering of sexy teenagers who seem like they are from another planet. In fact, they are from another planet, visiting Earth to complete a mysterious rite of passage. That doesn’t stop Enn from falling madly in love with Zan (Elle Fanning), a beautiful and rebellious alien teenage who, despite her allegiance to her strange colony, is fascinated by Enn. Together they embark on a delirious adventure through the kinetic punk rock world of 1970s London, inadvertently setting off a series of events that will lead to the ultimate showdown of punks vs. aliens, and test the limits of how far each of them will go for true love.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties will be released on May 11th in the UK and on May 18th in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWzHaRM8jeo