ALLISON
A short film by Jeff Drew
U.S.A / 2004 / 7 minutes

Jeff loves his wife, Allison. He has loved her since he was just a little boy,
and his admiration for her hasn’t wavered even in adulthood. The problem is
that Jeff is a grown man, and Allison is a ten-inch plastic doll. This short film
chronicles the ups and downs of a most unusual relationship.

Bio:
Jeff Drew is a 1996 graduate of John Herron School of Art, in Indianapolis, Indiana,
where he received a bachelor's degree in fine art and illustration. He and his
art school sweetheart later got married and relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico
where Jeff soon discovered a little known animation program at the local community college, TVI.

Soon he was hooked on this "new" art form. Before long he figured out how
to translate his "cut and paste" style of illustration into animation, and created the
award-winning animated short film entitled Walk. This film has appeared in numerous
festivals around the world, including Sundance, The IFP West Los Angeles Film Festival,
and most recently won the Audience Choice Award for Best Animation at
the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival.

He has also done animation and title treatments for two feature films, A Tale
of Two Pizzas, directed by Vinnie Sassone, and starring Frank Vincent
and Vincent Pastore, which should be released in the spring of 2004. And a documentary
called Splittin' the Rock which focuses on American Samoa,
and NFL football. This film has a scheduled release date of February 2005.

Jeff has done numerous animated television spots that have appeared in the New Mexico
area, giving the local market a funky twist. And he has created several "in-house" animations
for the department store, Marshall Field's, in Chicago. His illustrations have appeared in a
number of popular magazines across the US, and he has created a series of posters
for the Target Corporation, that promotes literacy for kids.

Jeff currently lives in New Mexico with his wife, who is a teacher,
and two dogs and a cat who don't do anything.

Main Credits:
Director, Producer, Screenwriter: Jeff Drew

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C’ERA UNA VOLTA UN RE (ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS A KING)
A short film by Massimiliano Mauceri
Italy / 2003 / 10 minutes

East Coast Premiere

Anyone who’s right is wrong, and anyone who’s wrong is right. 

Bio:
Massimiliano Mauceri was born in Florence in 1974. In 1994 he wrote and directed
his first short movie that won 6 official awards. Since 1995, he has been working in
collaboration with the prestigious production company Building Productions in Florence.

He has served as the director and/or writer on eight short films which have
won a total of thirty-six awards at national and international festivals.
 

Main Credits:
Producer: Stefano Cioni
Director, Screenwriter: Massimiliano Mauceri
Cinematographer: Alessandro Berti

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GAY BY DAWN
A short film by Jonathan London
USA / 2004 / 10 minutes

In the deep, dark woods, four rednecks tell ghost stories around an open fire.
But when one tells a tale about the horrors that may lurk around them, fear
becomes suspicion. Will they make it out in time? Or will the very woods
around them turn them... Gay by Dawn?

Main Credits:
Director/Screenwriter: Jonathan London
Producers: Rachel Vine, Macy McBeth
Cinematographer: Jeff Shepherd
Editor: Damion Simon
Music: Mitchell Robe

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JAM: WHEN LIVES COLLIDE
A short film by Craig Serling
USA / 2004 / 15 minutes

A pregnant couple, a sweltering RV, three unlikely labor coaches, and one big traffic jam.
Watch what happens when lives collide in Jam, one of five intertwined stories that
take place in this feature-length script of the same name.

Bio:
Craig Serling is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. He has been
nominated twice for an Emmy as an editor. He has Written and Directed three
television pilots, edited over three-hundred hours of prime-time television
and traveled the world as a freelance journalist.

Additionally, he has written and directed four narrative shorts that played the festival circuit.  He graduated from the Rochester Institute and is a former Directing Fellow
of the American Film Institute.
 

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SOMETHING FOR HENRY
A short film by Nina Tsai
USA / 2004 / 13 minutes

World Premiere

Thirty-six years old, still at his first job, and living with his parents, Henry is shopping
for a change. He stumbles upon Anna, who gives him a gift to help set him, and herself, free.

Bio:
Nina Tsai was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and moved to America at the age of two.
She received an M.F.A. from Columbia University in 2003 and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter: Nina Tsai
Producer: Amy Gossels
Cinematographer: Rick López
Editor: Devin Bousquet
Music: Bob Arno

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TANGO OCTOGENARIO
A short film by David Licata
USA / 2003 / 7 minutes 

Tango Octogenario is a short narrative film about an elderly couple (Alex and Jean Turney)
and their unique way of reconnecting to each other. From its use of non actors to its
old-Hollywood lighting, from its opening shot on New York City’s Lower East Side
to its primary setting inside a ghostly ballroom, Tango Octogenario tells its story in a
manner that treads the line between grim reality and fairy tale.

This stylization suits the exploration of the film’s themes: the hidden lives of
marginalized people, the elderly as vital contributors to society, the curative
powers of art, and the power of art to forge bonds. Its most salient characteristic
the portrayal of seniors as active, vibrant, and independent, is a much-needed
antidote to the stereotypical representations of America’s graying population.

Bio
David Licata is a writer and filmmaker. He has written for television, print, and the Internet.
Mr. Licata was awarded grants from the New York State Council on the
Arts and Dance Films Association for Tango Octogenario, and artist
residencies at Centrum Arts and Creative Education and Jentel Arts.

Tango Octogenario has shown at New Directors/New Films, Tribeca Film Festival,
Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival, the Black Maria Film Festival (Director’s Prize)
and many others. Though he has taken tango lessons, it has yet to be anatomically
proven that he does NOT have two left feet. He lives in Manhattan.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter: David Licata
Producer: Tom Razzano
Cinematographer: Wolfgang Held
Editor: Richard Morse
Composer: Astor Piazzolla
Principal Cast: Alex and Jean Turney

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VICTIM
A short film by Corrie Jones
USA / 2004 / 11:30 minutes

Based on a spoken poem written by Nicole Blackman, Victim is the dark
and disturbing story of a young woman’s physical and emotional struggle for
escape after she awakens to find herself in the damp, suffocating blackness of a car trunk.
Unaware of where she is, or even how long she has been there, she struggles to free
herself from her disturbing reality, and in so doing takes herself and us on an intoxicating
and emotionally moving journey of escape and peace.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter: Corrie Jones
Producer: Amy Lou Taylor
Cinematographer: Torstein Dyrting
Editor: Merlin Cornish
Music: Alex Ringis

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YOUNG AMERICANS
A short film by Todd Smith
USA / 2004 / 14 minutes

A young man, Jesse (Lukas Haas), is hitchhiking from Texas to New York to become a rock star.
Along the way he is picked up by a woman of a certain age, Dusty (Marla Sucharetza),
who is on her way to Atlantic City to gamble away all her philandering husband’s money. Jesse
offers his assistance, but when he meets Babe (Lynne Marie Stetson) , a fiery young singer
his own age, he must decide whether he wants to help anyone but himself.

Bio:
Todd Smith was recently ejected from Columbia University's graduate film program
with an MFA in directing; with that and two bucks he can get bus fare. He is not an actor,
although he played one in drama school many, many years ago. He is currently writing
a script about a waterlogged Cuban boy who washes ashore in Miami during the
reign of a philandering former President. It is not based on a true story.

Main Credits:
Director, Screenwriter: Todd Smith
Producers: Amy Gossels, Todd Smith
Cinematographer: Victor Marin
Editor: Ingrid Patetta
Music: Rami Vamos, Hunter Perrin

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