BELLE
Directed by Ruth Sergel
USA / 2004 / 16 minutes

Belle is a subversive fable of old age and beauty.
A short fiction film that explores the intersection of age,
race and our expectations of others.

CHOKE
Directed by David Hyde
Canada / 2004 / 10 minutes

Andrea, Paul and Ms. Morgan are all smart enough to know what they want
to do with their lives, but not talented enough to achieve it. Paul is a med school
student who’s too sensitive to give sick people bad news. Ms. Morgan is a poet
who settles for a job as an English teacher.  And Andrea is a figure skater capable
of triple axels but saddled with a serious case of performance anxiety.  Both women
fall in love with Paul; one wins and the other becomes a murderer.

CODED LANGUAGE
Directed by Nick Schwartz
USA / 2004 / 8 minutes

Coded Language is the story of a college student looking for answers.
He has his theories and his beliefs, but he doesn’t know how all of that should
tie into the way he lives his life. When an embittered professor confronts him, he
begins to doubt his own sincerity.  The question then becomes, “Can you back up
what you say?” Or are words just a blanket with which we cover ourselves?

THE CRUX
Directed by Jeffrey Seckendorf
USA / 2003 / 7 minutes

New York Premiere

While taking a quiet stroll across a bridge in the still morning air, a man is stopped
by a stranger who asks him for help, adding that it will just take a moment.
The man agrees, and instantly finds himself  entangled in a life and death relationship.

JIHAD
Directed by Michael Shapiro
USA / 2004 / 6 minutes

East Coast Premiere
*The film will not screen on 10/15 so that the
Hollywood Film Festival can have the World Premiere
 

Jihad follows two terrorists on the morning of their attack.
Any more information would give away the ending.

Bio:
Michael Sharpio graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 and
started directing commercials in 1990. He has done some episodic
TV work for CSI, The Dead Zone, and Tremors.

Contact Information
 

LIGHT MY FIRE
Directed by Muramatsu Ryotaro
Japan / 2002 / 9 minutes

New York Premiere

At a café in Tokyo, the staff watches a melancholy customer
attentively. Before long a couple walks into the café and sits down
at her table. Could two ex-lovers, one indecent proposal, and one
indecisive new boyfriend be the start of a love triangle? 

Main Credits:
Director/Screenwriter/Editor: Ryotaro Muramatsu
Producer: Yukio Ohya
Cinematographer: Hideki Fujita

Main Cast:
Kana Harada,
Tatsuki Shimada,
Makiko,
Hitoshi Kiyokawa

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THE LOST CAUSE
Directed by Jim Taylor
USA / 2004 / 10 minutes

World Premiere

A soldier’s commitment to his cause takes a heavy toll on his family life.

Bio:
Jim Taylor is the long-time collaborator of writer-director Alexander Payne.
The two have co-authored four screenplays: Citizen Ruth, Election,
About Schmidt, and the upcoming release Sideways.

The screenplay for Election received an Independent Spirit Award as
well as awards from the Writers Guild of America and the New York Film Critics Circle. Election was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. About Schmidt was honored by the Hollywood Foreign Press
with a Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In addition to his continuing collaboration with Alexander Payne,
Taylor is currently at work on two screenplays that he will direct.
The first is an adaptation  of John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent, produced by the Steppenwolf Theater Company's film division, and the second
is an original story inspired by the documentary Tupperware! Born and raised in Seattle, Jim attended Pomona College and received his M.F.A from NYU in 1995.
 

Main Credits:
Director/Screenwriter: Jim Taylor
Producers: Vicky Ferguson, E. Michael Hewett, Anura Idupugantii,
Cinematographer: Dane Lawing
Editor: Michelle Botticelli
Music: Rolfe Kent

Contact Information
 

SHOCK AND AWE
Directed by Chase Palmer
USA / 2004 / 6 minutes

New York Premiere

An Iraqi family’s dinner is interrupted during the US’s 
“shock and awe” bombing of Baghdad.

Bio:
 Chase Palmer's two award-winning short films, Neo-Noi (2002) and the Fox Searchlight-commissioned Shock And Awe (2004), have played at fests worldwide, including Sundance, BFI London, the Deauville Festival of American Film, and the Melbourne International Film Festival. Palmer's first feature script, Buried Above Ground, inspired by the short, is a winner of both the Showtime Tony Cox Award
for Screenwriting at the Nantucket Film Festival 03 and the Adult/Drama Prize
at the 2003 Austin Heart of Film Screenplay Competition.
His newest effort is The Young Hitchcockians.

Main Credits:
Director: Chase Palmer
Producers: Chase Palmer, Amy Goodman, Miky Wolf
Screenwriter: Chase Palmer
Cinematographer: Andrij Parekh
Editor: Miky Wolf
Music: Paola Prestini

Contact Information
 

STRING
Directed by Kevin Watkins
USA / 2003 / 4:22 minutes

East Coast Premiere

A broken relationship, a shotgun, and a long piece of string...
Could this be the perfect revenge? Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope.

Main Credits:
Producer/Director/Screenwriter/Cinematographer/Editor: Kevin Watkins
Music: Chris Pefanis

Contact Information
 

THE VIRILE MAN
Directed by David Zellner
USA / 2004 / 8 minutes

East Coast Premiere

A tragically closeted man enlists the help of a phone
psychic to rationalize his actions.

Bio:
Filmmaker siblings David and Nathan Zellner broke into the biz as featured extras in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s coming of age drama, Salo. Based out of Austin, Texas, they’ve written, produced and directed several short films, animations, and music videos, as well as two features, Plastic Utopia (1998) and Frontier (2002). Most recently they won the “Spirit of Slamdance” award at Slamdance ’04 for The Virile Man.

Main Credits:
Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor: Nathan Zellner
Screenwriter/Cast: David Zellner

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WHEN THINGS GET CONFUSED
Directed by Klaus Frevert
Germany / 2004 / 6 minutes
In Japanese with subtitles

U.S. Premiere

 With contrasting advise from a little devil, and a
little angel, a young woman contemplates suicide .

Main Credits:
Producer/Director/Screenwriter/Editor: Klaus Frevert
Cinematographer: Dirk Heuer
Music: Michael S. Siebert

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WRIGLEY
Directed by Oliver Refson
USA / 2004 / 15 minutes

A spring morning. Birds chirp peacefully. In an old muscle
car sit a big, brooding guy and his accomplice, staking out a house.
When an elderly man emerges from the house, the guys grab
him, stuff him in the car and drive off. What could this poor old
man have done to deserve this treatment? Plenty!  

Bio:
Oliver Refson was born in London and grew up between London and Paris.
While growing up, his interests were rooted in visual mediums, such as movies, TV, comic books, and art. Always a keen observer of human behavior and psychology, Refson decided to pursue his undergraduate degree in social anthropology at
London's School of Oriental and African Studies. However, as he approached of his undergraduate career, he realized that his true passion lay elsewhere, and he applied to Columbia University's directing program, to which he was accepted. To date, he has written two feature-length scripts and has directed numerous shorts. Refson has discovered what he wants to do for the rest of his life and looks forward to putting
his years of observation to test on the screen.

Main Credits:
Director/Screenwriter: Oliver Refson
Producers: Patricia Ibanez, Amy Gossels
Cinematographer: Jarin Blaschke
Editor: Lilah Vandenburgh
Music: Ivana Lisak

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WHO’S YOUR DADDY?
Directed by Matthew Ehlers
USA / 2003 / 3:18 minutes

New York Premiere

A mysterious lothario invades a small town,
leaving a group of angry husbands in his wake.

Bio:
Writer/director Matthew Ehlers is a graduate of USC Cinema and a founder
of Eggwork Productions. He has directed public service announcements for the American Cancer Society and for an independent theater starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. His comedy short The Alibi was seen at over fifteen film festivals
and on HBO. The comedy short Lunch was an official selection at more than
fourty festivals, including Sundance, and aired on HBO and the Sundance Channel. Autobank, his second official selection at Sundance will be shown
on Comedy Central this fall. Who's Your Daddy? is Matt's third
official entry at Sundance. He is currently working on several feature film projects.

Main Credits:
Director/Screenwriter/Editor: Matthew Ehlers
Producer: Joe Alessi
Cinematographer: Timothy Brown
Music: The Respect Sextet

Main Cast:
Michael Koldan,
Elizabeth Cameron,
Kevin Dedes,
Amy Smith

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Films, Panels and Concerts by name and category

Wednesday/Thursday - Friday - Saturday - Sunday
When ordering tickets, please consider the distance between Woodstock, Rhinebeck and Hunter.
Click here for more info and directions

*Schedule is subject to change
Tinker Street, Upstate Films and the Catskill Mountain Foundation Theater are 35mm facilities.
Upstate and CMFT will also screen beta sp and digibeta films.
Bearsville, Mountain View, WCC are are beta sp & digibeta