Shortsfest 2019 Carbondale Programs

Life in Miniature

Kath Holden is an artist of the everyday. Inspired by the world around her, Kath’s creations are whimsical yet keenly observed, and a far cry from the genteel museum pieces that her contemporaries are producing. A proud Yorkshire woman, Kath reflects on her life and art as she carves a place for herself in the precious world of miniatures. (Ellen Evans, UK, 5 min.)

The Minors

A slice-of-life film about a grandpa and his grandsons. (Robert Machoian, USA, 10 min.)

CROWLEY-COWBOY UP

Fourteen-year-old Crowley has gone through a lot in his young life. His older brother Yancie died in a car accident, and his parents are now divorced. But Crowley isn’t about to let life get the better of him—he’s got a dream to make come true. He wants to be a good rodeo rider, just like Yancie. (Andre Hörmann, Germany, 15 min.) North American Premiere

ALIEN CULTURE

West London, 1979. Margaret Thatcher is in power and racial tensions are running high in the UK. Lucky (28), a second-generation British Indian, thinks his younger brother, Sunny (17), is getting bullied by skinheads. When he finds out the truth is far from what he expected, he’s forced to cope with new filial responsibilities, rethink his priorities and question his own insular views about the world he occupies. (Iesh Thapar, UK, 16 min.) International Premiere

NEST EGG

When a young American woman decides to become a gestational surrogate to a couple from China, her insecure husband tries to torpedo the arrangement. (Henry Loevner, USA, 13 min.) World Premiere

DULCE

On Colombia’s Pacific Coast, a mother teaches her daughter how to swim. It is an essential skill in this remote region, where livelihoods are made on the sea and where rising tides, made worse by climate change, have swept entire villages away in recent years. The girl, named Dulce, learns to overcome her fears and join the community of women who harvest the mangrove cockle, or piangua, for a living. It is a coming-of-age process that helps her understand both her cultural and natural surroundings, from the mud of the mangrove swamps to the powerful tides. (Angello Faccini, Guille Isa, Colombia/USA, 11 min.)

SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING

Fran likes to think about dying, it’s comforting to her. She imagines a different death every day and doesn’t need anything more. But her routine is unexpectedly interrupted by some enticing attention paid to her by a good looking co-worker. She made him laugh and now he wants more – a movie date, a slice of pie, a conversation. But if dating him means learning to live, she’s pretty sure she can’t do that. (Stefanie Abel Horowitz, USA, 12 min.)

HORS PISTE

The two best rescue workers in the region are ready for their new mission. Yet despite their professionalism and determination, it will not go as planned… (Léo Brunel, Loris Cavalier, Camille Jalabert, Oscar Malet, France, 6 min.)

THE LIKES AND DISLIKES OF MARJ BAGLEY

In this innovative documentary, a family recreates itself using stop-motion animation. The film tells the lifelong struggle of Marj, the matriarch of the Bagley clan, to find happiness. Marj battles infidelity, broken noses, dysfunctional relationships, giant birds and a fateful game of cards with her grandchildren. Through a combination of interviews and recreations, her family reflects on the legacy of a woman whom they realize they may not understand. (Taylor Stanton, USA, 14 min.)

SELFIES

In a veritable fireworks display of digital self-portraits, hundreds of quaint, embarrassing and dreadfully disturbing selfies were arranged in a unique short film composition. Single photos, artistically reworked, consolidate to form a ghastly grin that outshines the abyss of human existence. (Claudius Gentinetta, Switzerland, 4 min.)

THE WIREMEN

When electricity is first brought to 1960’s rural Ireland, an imaginative young girl believes the new power in her home is in fact the work of a Faerie; a magical creature of folklore who she reasons must control ‘the Light’. Ignoring her Grandmother’s warnings, she attempts to capture their surprise guest and unwittingly causes a blackout, ultimately summoning the sinister creatures of her Grandmother’s stories who haunt the surrounding countryside; the true keepers of the Light  – The Wiremen. (Jessica Patterson, Ireland, 10 min.) International Premiere

FACING IT

Shaun doesn’t fit in. It’s not that he wants to be alone, but somehow, he always feels separate and isolated from the happy world around him. Whilst waiting for his parents in a busy pub, Shaun struggles valiantly to join in with the admirably confident people in the crowd, but the more he tries, the more things in the pub go awry. Shaun finds himself confronted by the painful memories that made him who he is. His feelings, memories and desires overwhelm him, and by the end of the evening he is ready to explode. (Sam Gainsborough, UK, 8 min.)

THE FOX AND THE BIRD

BAVURE

In the beginning was the Stain. A paintbrush reveals a being of gouache, opens him, transforms him, twists him, completes him. From this accelerated evolution arises a conquering being…  (Donato Sansone, France, 5 min.)

SISTER

A man thinks back upon his childhood memories of growing up with an annoying little sister in China in the 1990s. What would his life have been like if things had gone differently? (Siqi Song, China/USA, 8 min.)

SPLASH

The splash of water is like a bomb, about to break the tranquility of the pool. (Jie Shen, China, 9 min.) North American Premiere

ONE SMALL STEP

Luna is a vibrant young Chinese American girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut. From the day she witnesses a rocket launching into space on TV, Luna is driven to reach for the stars. In the big city, Luna lives with her loving father Chu, who supports her with a humble shoe repair business he runs out of his garage. As Luna grows up, she enters college, facing adversity of all kinds in pursuit of her dreams. (Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas, USA/China, 8 min.)

MILTON

A guy makes a bad first impression when he meets his girlfriend’s family as they gather at her grandfather’s deathbed. (Tim Wilkime, USA, 11 min.)

CONNECTED

SUPER COMFORT

Taina, 52, is preparing a perfect weekend with the family, since her son Eetu, 23, is visiting with his girlfriend Noora. Nothing goes as planned. The more Taina tries to entertain everyone, the less comfortable they feel. The youngsters leave earlier than expected, and husband Tero escapes to his man cave. Taina takes out her disappointment on a department store’s client service, when a surprising question stops her. (Kirsikka Saari, Finland, 15 min.)

Everything You Wanted To Know About Sudden Birth* (*but were afraid to ask)

The true story of how the Berkeley police department, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, an Academy Award winner and Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame are all connected by “Sudden Birth,” one of the most unintentionally hilarious and disturbing educational films ever created.  (Scott Calonico, UK/Germany, 11 min.)

BROTHERHOOD

ALL IN MY FAMILY

All in My Family tells a heartfelt, cross-cultural autobiographical story of Chinese-born filmmaker Hao Wu, who creates a thoroughly modern LGBTQ family with his gay partner in the US, only to face the dilemma of how to introduce his partner and two children to his very traditional parents and relatives back in China – some of whom don’t even know he’s gay. (Hao Wu, USA, 40 min.)

LIFE OVERTAKES ME