Camera Obscura

[caption id="attachment_19932" align="aligncenter" width="1213"] The Hero[/caption] The upcoming 26th Florida Film Festival taking place April 21 to 30, 2017, in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida, will feature a lineup of 182 films. The festival will open with the feature film The Hero, directed by Brett Haley, preceded by the Florida premiere of the short film 5 Films About Technology directed by Peter Huang. 

2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION:

OPENING NIGHT FILM:

The Hero – Directed by Brett Haley, USA, 2016, 96 minutes Preceded by: 5 Films About Technology – Directed by Peter Huang, Canada, 2016, 5 minutes, Florida Premiere

SPOTLIGHT FILMS:

Bitch – Directed by Marianna Palka, USA, 2017, 93 minutes, Florida Premiere Buster’s Mal Heart – Directed by Sarah Adina Smith, USA, 2016, 98 minutes, In English and Spanish with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Colossal – Directed by Nacho Vigalondo, Canada/Spain, 2016, 110 minutes The Commune – Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, Denmark/Sweden/Netherlands, 2016, 111 minutes, In Danish with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Dean – Directed by Demetri Martin, USA, 2016, 87 minutes, Rated PG-13 The Exception – Directed by David Leveaux, UK, 2016, 107 minutes, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Manifesto – Directed by Julian Rosefeldt, Germany, 2017, 95 minutes, Southeast Premiere Menashe – Directed by Joshua Z. Weinstein, USA, 2017, 81 minutes, In Yiddish with English Subtitles Paris Can Wait – Directed by Eleanor Coppola, USA, 2016, 92 minutes, In English and French with English Subtitles, Rated PG Patti Cake$ – Directed by Geremy Jasper, USA, 2017, 108 minutes Soul on a String – Directed by Zhang Yang, China/Tibet, 2016, 142 minutes, In Tibetan with English Subtitles,East Coast Premiere Step – Directed by Amanda Lipitz, USA, 2017, 83 minutes, Rated PG

NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION:

The Archer – Directed by Valerie Weiss, USA, 2017, 86 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Camera Obscura – Directed by Aaron B. Koontz, USA, 2017, 95 minutes, World Premiere Dave Made a Maze – Directed by Bill Watterson, USA, 2017, 81 minutes, Southeast Premiere Girl Flu. – Directed by Dorie Barton, USA, 2016, 94 minutes Katie Says Goodbye – Directed by Wayne Roberts, USA, 2016, 88 minutes My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea – Directed by Dash Shaw, USA, 2016, 75 min, Southeast Premiere Pushing Dead – Directed by Tom E. Brown, USA, 2016, 111 minutes Some Freaks – Directed by Ian MacAllister-McDonald, USA, 2016, 97 minutes, Florida Premiere The Strange Ones – Directed by Lauren Wolkstein and Christopher Radcliff, USA, 2017, 80 minutes A Stray – Directed by Musa Syeed, USA, 2016, 82 minutes, In English and Somali with English Subtitles,Southeast Premiere

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION:

8 Borders, 8 Days – Directed by Amanda Bailly, USA/Lebanon, 2017, 60 minutes, In Arabic with English Subtitles, World Premiere Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape – Directed by Zack Taylor, USA/Germany/Netherlands/UK, 2016, 92 minutes,East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Circus Kid – Directed by Lorenzo Pisoni, USA, 2016, 71 minutes, Southeast Premiere For Ahkeem – Directed by: Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest, USA, 2017, 90 minutes, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing The Peacemaker – Directed by James Demo, USA, 2016, 90 minutes, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Rat Film – Directed by Theo Anthony, USA, 2016, 82 minutes Strad Style – Directed by Stefan Avalos, USA, 2017, 104 minutes, Southeast Premiere This Cold Life – Directed by Darren Mann, USA, 2017, 88 minutes, US Premiere Woman on Fire – Directed by Julie Sokolow, USA, 2016, 84 minutes, Southeast Premiere

DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION:

116 Cameras – Directed by Davina Pardo, USA, 2017, 16 minutes, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing All Good Things – Directed by Chloe Domont, USA, 2017, 26 minutes, Florida Premiere Bayard & Me – Directed by Matt Wolf, USA, 2017, 16 minutes, Florida Premiere Brillo Box (3¢ Off) – Directed by Lisanne Sklyer, USA, 2016, 40 minutes, Florida Premiere The Carousel – Directed by Jonathan Napolitano, USA, 2016, 12 minutes, Southeast Premiere The Christmas Light Killer – Directed by James P. Gannon, USA, 2016, 7 minutes, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Clean Hands – Directed by Lauren DeFilippo, USA, 2017, 9 minutes, East Coast Premiere The Collection – Directed by Adam Roffman, USA, 2017, 11 minutes Commodity City – Directed by Jessica Kingdon, USA, 2017, 11 minutes, In Mandarin with English Subtitles The Hama Hama Way – Directed by Treva Wurmfeld, USA, 2017, 12 minutes, Southeast Premiere Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405 – Directed by Frank Stiefel, USA, 2016, 40 minutes, East Coast Premiere High Chaparral – Directed by David Freid, USA/Sweden, 2016, 9 minutes, Florida Premiere The John Show – Directed by Julie Sokolow, USA, 2017, 13 minutes, East Coast Premiere Long Term Parking – Directed by Lance Oppenheim, USA, 2017, 8 minutes, Florida Premiere Oddball – Directed by Joshua Moore, USA, 2016, 5 minutes, East Coast The Rabbit Hunt – Directed by Patrick Bresnan, USA, 2017, 12 minutes Refugee – Directed by Joyce Chen and Emily Moore, USA/Senegal, 2016, 28 minutes, In English, Wolof, and French with English Subtitles, Florida Premiere Richard Twice – Directed by Matthew Salton, USA, 2017, 10 minutes, East Coast Premiere

NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION:

August – Directed by Caitlyn Greene, USA, 2017, 8 minutes, Florida Premiere The Candidate – Directed by Michael Hilf, USA, 2016, 6 minutes Cat Killer – Directed by Wes Jones, USA, 2017, 11 minutes, World Premiere Cul-de-Sac – Directed by Damon Russell, USA, 2016, 15 minutes, Florida Premiere Cycle – Directed by Caleb Wild, USA, 2017, 10 minutes, World Premiere Get the Life – Directed by Ozzy Villazòn, USA, 2016, 12 minutes Good Crazy – Directed by Rosa Salazar, USA, 2017, 14 minutes, East Coast Premiere Hijo Por Hijo – Directed by Juan Avella, USA/Venezuela, 2016, 11 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles,East Coast Premiere Horseshoe Theory – Directed by Jonathan Daniel Brown, USA, 2017, 12 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Hot Seat – Directed by Anna Kerrigan, USA, 2017, 13 minutes, Southeast Premiere I’m in Here – Directed by Willy Berliner, USA, 2017, 12 minutes, Southeast Premiere It’s Been Like a Year – Directed by Cameron Fay, USA, 2017, 9 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Judy – Directed by Ariel Gardner and Alex Kavutskiy, USA, 2016, 10 minutes, Southeast Premiere La Ramona – Directed by Antonio De Jesus Sanchez, USA, 2017, 27 minutes, In Spanish with English subtitles,World Premiere Laurels – Directed by David Brundige, USA, 2017, 7 minutes, North American Premiere The Lemon Tree – Directed by Amanda Yam, USA, 2016, 11 minutes, Florida Premiere Mrs. Nebile’s Wormhole – Directed by Pinar Yorgancioğlu, USA/Germany/Turkey, 2016, 14 minutes, In Turkish and German with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere New Neighbors – Directed by E.G. Bailey, USA, 2017, 9 minutes, East Coast Premiere Night Shift – Directed by Marshall Tyler, USA, 2017, 16 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing No Other Way to Say It – Directed by Tim Mason, USA, 2016, 7 minutes, East Coast Premiere Red Apples – Directed by George Sikharulidze, USA/Georgia/Armenia, 2016, 15 minutes, In Armenian with English Subtitles, East Coast Premiere Rosie, Oh – Directed by Andy Koeger and Apple Xenos, USA, 2016, 9 minutes, East Coast Premiere Scooter Joe – Directed by Steve Collins, USA, 2017, 7 minutes, World Premiere Shift – Directed by Kristen Hester, USA, 2016, 9 minutes, Southeast Premiere Surrogate – Directed by Olivia Hamilton, USA, 2016, 16 minutes, East Coast Premiere, 2nd US Showing Tiny Mammals – Directed by Dagny Looper, USA, 2017, 8 minutes, World Premiere The Visitor – Directed by Ferran Mendoza Soler, USA, 2016, 16 minutes, North American Premiere Vitamins for Life – Directed by Grier Dill, USA, 2016, 2 minutes, Southeast Premiere You Can Go – Directed by Christine Turner, USA, 2016, 10 minutes, Florida Premiere Your Day – Directed by Ginger Gonzaga, USA, 2017, 32 minutes, Florida Premiere Zaar – Directed by Ibrahim Nada, USA, 2016, 11 minutes, Southeast Premiere Zero-Zero – Directed by Randall Whittinghill, USA, 2017, 15 minutes, World Premiere 

ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION:

149th and Grand Concourse – Directed by Andy & Carolyn London, USA, 2016, 3 minutes, 2nd US Screening The Biggest Wad is Mine – Directed by: Sam Gurry, USA, 2016, 3 minutes, East Coast Premiere Chella Drive – Directed by Adele Han Li, USA, 2016, 3 minutes, Southeast Premiere Cop Dog – Directed by Bill Plympton, USA, 2017, 6 minutes, World Premiere Fabricated – Directed by Brett Foxwell, USA, 2016, 19 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Have Sex with Us – Directed by: Rob Frese, USA, 2016, 6 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing The History of Magic: Ensueño – Directed by Josè Luis González, USA, 2016, 5 minutes, In English and Spanish with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Hot Dog Hands – Directed by Matt Reynolds, USA, 2017, 7 minutes, East Coast Premiere Insect Bite – Directed by Grace Nayoon Rhee, USA/South Korea, 2016, 2 minutes, Southeast Premiere It’s a Date – Directed by Zachary Zezima, USA, 2016, 7 minutes, Southeast Premiere Legal Smuggling with Christine Choy – Directed by Lewie Kloster, USA, 2016, 4 minutes Slow Wave – Directed by Andy Kennedy, USA, 2016, 4 minutes, Florida Premiere Summer Camp Island – Directed by Julia Pott, USA, 2016, 9 minutes Trouble Brewing – Directed by Timothy Heath, USA, 2017, 8 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Vocabulary 1 – Directed by Becky James, USA, 2016, 4 minutes, Southeast Premiere

INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE FEATURES:

I Dream in Another Language (Sueño en Otro Idioma) – Directed by Ernesto Contreras, Mexico/Netherlands, 2017, 101 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Pop Aye – Directed by Kirsten Tan, Thailand/Singapore, 2017, 101 minutes, In Thai with English Subtitles,Southeast Premiere Sami Blood – Directed by Amanda Kernell, Sweden/Norway/Denmark, 2016, 107 minutes, In Swedish and South Sami with English Subtitles, East Coast Premiere White Sun – Directed by Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal/USA/Qatar/Netherlands, 2016, 89 minutes, In Nepali with English Subtitles

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS:

5 Films About Technology – Directed by Peter Huang, Canada, 2016, 5 minutes, Florida Premiere Add Contact – Directed by David Oeo, Spain, 2016, 3 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Fish Story – Directed by Charlie Lyne, UK, 2017, 14 minutes, East Coast Premiere Gryla – Directed by Tomas Heidar Johannesson, Iceland, 2016, 6 minutes, In Icelandic with English Subtitles, Florida Premiere Home – Directed by More Raça, Kosovo, 2016, 23 minutes, In Albanian with English Subtitles, East Coast Premiere Irregulars – Directed by Fabio Palmieri, Italy, 2015, 9 minutes, Florida Premiere Jonah the Wet Nurse – Directed by Shalom Hager, Israel, 2015, 30 minutes, In Hebrew with English Subtitles,North American Premiere The Other Side – Directed by Griselda San Martin, Spain, 2017, 6 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles, East Coast Premiere Overtime – Directed by Craig D. Foster, Australia, 2016, 9 minutes, Florida Premiere Pria – Directed by Yudho Aditya, Indonesia, 2017, 22 minutes, In Bahasa with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Saigo – Directed by TOCHKA (Takeshi Nagata, Kazue Monno), Japan, 2015, 2 minutes, Florida Premiere/2nd US Showing Searching for Wives – Directed by Zuki Juno Tobgye, Singapore, 2016, 12 minutes, In English and Tamil with English Subtitles, Southeast Premiere Slapper – Directed by Luci Schroder, Australia, 2016, 15 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Stallion (Hingsten) – Directed by Ninja Thyberg, Sweden, 2016, 15 minutes, In Swedish with English Subtitles,World Premiere Supot – Directed by Phil Giordano, Philippines/USA, 2015, 13 minutes, In Tagalog with English Subtitles, North American Premiere White – Directed by Paul Cioran, Romania, 2016, 20 minutes, In Romanian with English Subtitles, North American Premiere

INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORTS:

The Absence of Eddy Table – Directed by Rune Spaans, Norway, 2016, 12 minutes, Florida Premiere Arts + Crafts Spectacular #3 – Directed by Sébastien Wolf and Ian Ritterskamp, Germany, 2015, 4 minutes,Southeast Premiere Curse of the Flesh – Directed by Yannick Lecoeur and Leslie Lavielle, France, 2016, 16 minutes, No Dialogue,North American Premiere Decorado – Directed by Alberto Vázquez, Spain/France, 2016, 11 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles,Florida Premiere Fears – Directed by Nata Metlukh, Canada, 2015, 2 minutes, No Dialogue, Florida Premiere How Long, Not Long – Directed by Michelle and Uri Kranot, Denmark, 2016, 6 minutes, Southeast Premiere Jonas and the Sea – Directed by Marlies van der Wel, Netherlands, 2015, 12 minutes, No Dialogue, Southeast Premiere Journal Animé – Directed by Donato Sansone, France, 2016, 4 minutes, No Dialogue, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Nou Nen Feat.Utae – Directed by Sawako Kabuki, Japan, 2016, 3 minutes, No Dialogue, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Pussy – Directed by Renata Gąsiorowska, Poland, 2016, 8 minutes, No Dialogue, Southeast Premiere SimSim (The Realm of Deepest Knowing) – Directed by Seunghee Kim, South Korea, 2017, 4 minutes, No Dialogue, World Premiere This is Not an Animation – Directed by Federico Kempke, Canada/Mexico, 2016, 5 minutes, Florida Premiere

MIDNIGHT FEATURES:

68 Kill – Directed by Trent Haaga, USA, 2017, 93 minutes, Southeast Premiere Bad Black – Directed by Nabwana IGG, Uganda, 2016, 70 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Bad Day For The Cut – Directed by Chris Baugh, UK/Northern Ireland, 2017, 99 minutes, East Coast Premiere Birdboy: The Forgotten Children (Psiconautas) – Directed by Alberto Vázquez and Pedro Rivero, Spain, 2015, 76 minutes, In Spanish with English Subtitles, US Premiere

MIDNIGHT SHORTS:

Bad Dog – Directed by Tom Putnam, USA, 2017, 4 minutes, World Premiere Death Metal – Directed by Chris McInroy, USA, 2016, 5 minutes Do No Harm – Directed by Roseanne Liang, New Zealand, 2017, 12 minutes, East Coast Premiere Feeding Time – Directed by Matt Mercer, USA, 2016, 13 minutes, East Coast Premiere Girl #2 – Directed by David Jeffery, USA, 2016, 9 minutes Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw) – Directed by Renee Zhan, USA, 2016, 11 minutes, Southeast Premiere Horses – Directed by Leah Shore, USA, 2016, 1 minutes, World Premiere The Investment – Directed by Steve Collins, USA, 2017, 4 minutes, East Coast Premiere It is My Fault – Directed by Liu Sha, China, 2016, 5 minutes, East Coast Premiere Ivan’s Need – Directed by Manuela Leuenberger, Veronica L. Montaño, and Lukas Suter, Switzerland, 2015, 6 minutes, Florida Premiere Pigskin – Directed by Jake Hammond, USA, 2016, 13 minutes Pinky Toe – Directed by Lina July, USA, 2016, 1 minutes, Florida Premiere Showing it All – Directed by Lasse Persson and Lisa Tulin, Sweden, 2017, 2 minutes, World Premiere Sisyphus – Directed by Grace Nayoon Rhee, USA, 2016, 3 minutes, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Summer’s Puke is Winter’s Delight – Directed by Sawako Kabuki, Japan, 2016, 3 minutes, Florida Premiere We Together – Directed by Henry Kaplan, USA, 2016, 7 minutes, Southeast Premiere

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

FAMILY FILMS:

Albion: The Enchanted Stallion – Directed by Castille Landon, USA/Bulgaria, 2016, 103 minutes, Florida Premiere Big Booom – Directed by Marat Narimanov, Russian Federation, 2016, 4 minutes, Southeast Premiere Supergirl – Directed by Jessie Auritt, USA, 2016, 80 minutes

FOOD FILMS:

Bugs – Directed by Andreas Johnsen, Denmark/Netherlands/France/Germany, 2016, 73 minutes New Chefs on the Block – Directed by Dustin Harrison-Atlas, USA, 2017, 96 minutes, Florida Premiere One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts – Directed by Peter Byck, USA, 2016, 15 minutes, Florida Premiere

MUSIC FILMS:

Honky Tonk Heaven: The Legend of the Broken Spoke – Directed by Sam Wainwright Douglas and Brenda Mitchell, USA, 2016, 75 minutes, Southeast Premiere Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World – Directed by Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maiorana, Canada, 2017, 103 minutes, Florida Premiere Vinyl Revival – Directed by Shasta Ford, USA, 2016, 10 minutes, World Premiere

FLORIDA FILMS:

FLORIDA SHORTS: THE BEST OF BROUHAHA:

Amerigo – Directed by Todd Thompson, 2016, 19 minutes, In Italian with English Subtitles Bad Town – Directed by Daniel Smith, 2016, 13 minutes, Southeast Premiere Blackface – Directed by Malcolm Baity, 2016, 7 minutes Burp – Directed by Benjamin L. Gill, 2016, 6 minutes Cartoon Characters – Directed by Carey Kight, 2016, 9 minutes The D in David – Directed by: Michelle Yi and Yaron Farkash, 2016, 2 minutes Dorothy’s Video Application – Directed by Sara Ambra, 2017, 4 minutes Dust Buddies – Directed by Beth Tomashek and Sam Wade, 2016, 4 minutes Flora – Directed by Alexandrina Andre, 2016, 11 minutes, East Coast Premiere For Will – Directed by Grayson Goga and Grace Stalley, 2016, 13 minutes The Goat on the Roof – Directed by Erin Smyth, 2016, 7 minutes Rupee Run – Directed by Tarun Lak, 2016, 2 minutes The Wooden Mannequin – Directed by Stephanie Hunton, 2016, 1 minutes, World Premiere

FLORIDA DOCUMENTARIES:

Ain’t Nothing Like Being Free – Directed by John Meyer, USA, 2017, 48 minutes, World Premiere I Am Another You – Directed by Nanfu Wang, USA, 2017, 80 minutes, East Coast Premiere The Original Richard McMahan – Directed by Olympia Stone, USA, 2017, 21 minutes

RETRO FILMS:

Popcorn Flick in the Park: Barefoot in the Park – Directed by Gene Saks, USA, 1967, 106 minutes Closing Night Retro: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! – Directed by Russ Meyer, USA, 1965, 83 minutes

SPECIAL SCREENING:

Unrest – Directed by Jennifer Brea, USA, 2017, 97 minutes, In English and Danish with English Subtitles,Southeast Premiere

Read more