32-Rbit

Ad Infinitum
dating newsletter sign up Dir. Murat Çetinkaya (Turkey, 2018) 13:00
The “B” Sept 8 10:30 AM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303961
Invisibility of authority is power.
Beautifully filmed. Creepy and relevant. A compelling and well-made look at cycles of tyranny and violence in pursuit of gaining and maintaining that power.
Karen Peterson

Age Of Animals

All In Good Time

All the World is a Stage
Dir. Hannes Rall (Singapore, Germany, 2016) 1:30
The Nautilus Sept 8 1:30 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303841
This film gave me a thoughtful perspective on how I live my own life in and out of the online community. Perhaps none of us are able to escape the temptations of our own narcissism in a post-modern world where most of our accomplishments – whether droll or inspiring – are captured for the viewing pleasure of our followers.
Amy Peterson

A Long Night
In the aftermath of the 1975 Kurdish revolution against Iraq, many families flee their homes and settle in refugee camps in Iran. A woman with her two children occupies one of the tents. Due to the absence of a man (her husband) the camp guards try to assault her. She cleverly protects herself while living in constant fear.
About Kamiran Betasi:
From Zakho, Kurdisran of Iraq, Betasi has been working on television documentaries and programs. His short films “Black Mirror”, “Roshan”, “A Long Night “, and ” Silhouette ” have been to numerous film festivals. He is the winner of the Jury Award at the Gulf Film Festival 2012 in Dubai.

Anniversary
Dir. Angelica Germanà Bozza (Germany, 2018) 14:17
CREA Sept 8 3:15 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4301951
Ahmet, a young widowed father and his 9-year old daughter, Rozerîn, have left Turkey to start a new life in Germany. On the anniversary of his wife’s death, the two perform their favorite tradition to honor her memory. There is so much meaning and feeling in this short story. It is sad and heartwarming at the same time. It captures a range of emotions including grief, loss of a loved one, loss of a way of life, hope for the future, hope in the youth of the future, generosity, kindness… A wholly relatable story.
Amy Peterson

A Star to Steer Her By

As the First Time

A Visit

Bavure

Black Friday
Consumption is God in our capitalistic society. Different discounts, special offers and Black Friday “deals” can mobilize huge crowds into a feeding frenzy. Like a drug, every year the day after Thanksgiving, these addicts search for that shopping ecstasy and don’t notice the human souls they sacrifice in the process.
Astra Zoldnere

Black Spirit

Blue
Dir. Samantha Severin (USA, 2018) 15:00
Nautilus Sept 8 5:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303860
There are epic and momentous junctures in my career that illuminate my way through the accruing nonsense that one must trudge through daily in the film industry. One conversation will live on in my mind forever and that is when I sat for a good chunk of time interviewing John Carpenter. We talked at length about They Live, the culture of surveillance and apathy, and of Huxley’s Brave New World. In my mind it was impending…for him, it was already here. And now, ten years later, I have come to agree. What this all has to do with this particular short film is the anonymity ..the nebulous, the unknown power that has completely engulfed the human tendency for self expression and autonomy. Web cams…wigs..strangers watching you..who or what is out there? The void…We have domesticated ourselves into apathetic complicity.

Breath
Dir. Zirek Mira (Kurdistan, 2005) 5:45
CREA Sept 8 3:15 PM

Broccoli

Broken Song
Dir. Can Bapir (Austria 2018) 31:00
*Filmmaker in Attendance!
From a village near Kobane in Rojava (Western Kurdistan), Can is presently studying acting and film directing at an arts institute in Austria. He has also published 14 fiction and poetry books and has directed seven short films, documentaries and Tv episodes.

Cavy World Cup
Dir. Maria Philips (Netherlands, 2017) 10:39
Nautilus 11:15 AM Friday Sept 6
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445
This quirky story captures the meet-cute of a professional Hamster groomer and a fishmonger. It made me laugh and smile throughout, and is simply a visually-appealing nugget in our festival lineup that features detailed styling and charming use of color. Finding love in unexpected places takes on a delightful new meaning!
Amy Peterson

Cold Storage

Copy Shop
Dir. Virgil Widrich (Austria, 2001) 12:00
Nautilus Sept 6 12:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445
This short is certainly for film lovers! The Oscar-nominated classic of 2001, which won 37 international awards, shows a man getting caught up in the routine of his copy shop job which has implications on his identity. Animated by Virgil Widrich using 18,000 xeroxed frames, we hope viewers will appreciate the homage to Chaplin-era silents that illustrates a very modern crisis of the human psyche.
Amy Peterson

Dante vs. Mohammed Ali
Dir. Marc Wagenaar (Netherlands, Belgium, 2018) 28:00
Nautilus Sept 6 4:45 PM

Difference
Dir. Ali Asadollahi (Iran, 2018) 14:00
Nautilus Sept 6 12:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445
Director’s Statement: We now live in a world where difference of opinion among humans is defined in a way that everyone thinks that they’re the only one that is right and it’s always the others who are wrong. Sometimes this difference of opinion culminates in a denial of reality.
Laura and I agree: A fantastically creative take on the current problem of “reality as a matter of opinion”. What are objective facts anymore? Is it mass delusion? Can we have a conversation based on logic when there is no agreed upon frame of reference?

DREAM/LIFE
I wasn’t sure if I felt relief because it cathartically resonated my postmodern anxiety or felt more anxiety because it seems like an unending battle…perhaps, if anything, solace to know I am not alone. AN

Drive
Dir. Sara T. Gama (USA, 2017) 11:38
Nautilus Sept 6 12:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445

Easy Pickins

Elvis!

Error 404
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303961

Eternity

Excuse Me, I'm Looking for the Ping-Pong Room and My Girlfriend

Farewell to the Ark

Feel
From The Film Scene’s Emily Thomas:

Flashback

Funky Lola
Dir. Julio Mas Alcaraz (Spain, 2017) 16:41
The “B” Sept 8 4:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303972
I was, at times, uncomfortable while watching this short film, and at times saddened for the desperation that Lola experiences that drives her to make a questionable decision in order to support her family. Lola is undoubtedly past her prime, but with many healthy years left to live, she must find a way to survive in a cruel world where it seems the only way to be of worth to society is to create a fantasy version of herself. A pervasive theme in our festival, but taken from a different perspective.
Amy Peterson

Generation YouTube

Gottlieb
Dir. Krste Gospodinovski (Macedonia, 2018) 15:00
Nautilus Sept 8 1:30 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303841
Mixed medium animation as mental illness. The two art styles used in this film (rotoscoping and stop motion) each serve to heighten the other’s plunge into uncanny valley territory, forcing the viewer to share in protagonist’s sense of unease.
Or, put more simply, just a damn cool animated short.
Laura De La O

Hambre
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303820

Happy New Year

In Full Bloom

Into My Life

Invitation

iRony

I Made This for Mum

I Must Upgrade!
Dir. Oliver Denyer (UK, 2019) 3:50
(With feature film Camp Wedding)
When the iPhone X came out, my phone looked like a blocky piece of crap. That feeling inspired this song. It’s about a prince who desperately wants to keep up with the latest technology.
Oliver Denyer

I-OCCUPY

Kein Problem

La Mort, père & fils
Dir. Paronnaud Vincent and Waltgenwitz Denis (France, 2017) 13:32
Nautilus Sept 8 1:30 PM

Last Day of Limbo
Jason Ward sent this film (on DVD) to me and my colleague many moons ago (2008) as a submission…and we couldn’t stop laughing. Satire is the best form of calling things out…so yes, while religion can be most often non-sensical, Last Days is majorly endearing. If people could just have a bit more humor..maybe political/religious discussions would be more productive. Fitting perfectly into our “Losing My Religion” program, this comedy is the example of a perfect low budget short…great acting, great script “Old school humor”, and so relatable…

Last Stop

Laughter and Forgetting
Hawraz Mohammed (Kurdistan, 2018) 13:36
CREA Sept 8 1:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4301927

Lone Wolf

Looking for God
A renowned Kurdish sculptor whose symbolic works have shown in major cities such as Sulaimania, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Kobane, and Sydney, Australia. He made two visual and symbolic short films as part of a workshop by filmmaker Jano Rosebiani in Erbil.

Make Aliens Dance
Dir.SEBASTIEN PETRETTI (Belgium, UK 2018) 24:00
The “B” Sept 8 2:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303967
Why did we select a film that is nearly void of a soundtrack to be in our music program? The story follows three characters struggling with the aftermath of the loss of Mazzy, a young singer with a superb voice. When her music is finally unveiled, you realize how the seemingly disconnected characters in the story are all intimately connected. The idea of broadcasting this young ingenue’s music to the stars above is a truly lovely way of honoring her departure from Earth.
Amy Peterson

Marooned?
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445

Milk
Dir. Santiago Menghini (Canada, 2018) 9:30
Nautilus Sept 7 1:15 PM

Minor Key
Dir. Ivan Sainz-Pardo (Spain, 2018) 11:49
Nautilus Sept 8 10:00 AM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303820

MMF

Modern Love
Dir. Itamar Gross (Israel, 2018) 12:13
The “B” Sept 8 4:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303972
I thought this was quite a good representation on not only modern relationships, and/or love, but also a reflection on how some people find it easier to be expressive and open online. However, quite often, behind the safety of their keyboards, they contrive their identities to the point of faking emotions in order to make themselves more interesting.
Tatiana Pirogova

Molotov Man

Moth

Morgen Kommt Kein Weihnachtsmann
Two brothers scour the neighborhood for a Father Christmas so mom won’t be disappointed this year. I know tons of holiday movies claim theirs displays the “true meaning” of Christmas..but these neighbors, the mean landlord and the resourceful kids even got this Old Scrooge into the festive spirit…in July! AN

Organic Reach
Dir. Tom Diffenthal (UK, 2019) 8:21
The “B” Sept 8 4:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303972
When I first watched this film, I questioned its authenticity in delivering a critique on the mediocrity of YouTube content. The main character is, perhaps, an exaggeration of the masses of everyday people trying to create their own space in a digital world. But then an introspective realization made me come to terms with the mediocrity of my own digital presence. Why do we feel the need to “brand” ourselves and limit our ability to create something real by merely capturing the things we like for others to validate us? Perhaps this film hit a little too close to home, and that is why it needs to be seen and discussed.
Amy Peterson

Outpost
Dir. Justin Giddings and Ryan Welsh (USA, 2018) 17:29
Nautilus Sept 6 4:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303455

Phildel: The Deep

Post-Historical Dreaming

Prophecy of the Encounter
Dir. Ati Maier (USA, 2019) 14:12
Nautilus Sept 8 7:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303862
The “Space-Rider” is back from last year to visit our festival!
I enjoyed this slow-paced, trippy film which gives a glimpse of life on a Native American Indian reservation. The fictional short incorporates the Lakota Nation origin story, as told by a Lakota elder over gorgeous scenes of horses and riders moving through the grassy tablelands of South Dakota. The film depicts a version of the conclusion of their origin story, as the Lakota prepare to return to the Pleaides star cluster. I’d love to see more films made by or in collaboration with the world’s First Nations peoples, as they have unique and fascinating stories to tell. 2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, and I think it’s especially fitting that this film and story be screened at the festival this year.
Karen Peterson

Rabbid Jacob (graphic content)

Radio Voorwaarts
*Filmmaker in Attendance!
The “B” Sept 8 2:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303967
Sometimes a house, a space, can be so full of personal and collective history, so important for the lives of the individuals that inhabit it, that the loss of it can feel like the loss of a loved one. Radio Voorwaarts is a short film that began with this feeling.I started working on the script right after the loss of a real place, a house where friends of mine lived: a place where there was space to create and do things differently without being crippled by the exponentially rising rent prices in our hometown of Amsterdam. With this project, my aim was to explore the subjective and emotional feelings of loss that accompany urban renewal. These feelings are not specific to Amsterdam, in my view, there is increasingly less space for deviance and creativity in urban spaces in general.

Relicious
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303964

Reruns

Salvation

Sand
Dir. Arjan Brentjes (Netherlands, 2017) 4:48
*Filmmaker in Attendance!
Nautilus Sept 6 2:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303451
You get up at five, eat your vitamins, take some water with your coffee, work for a few hours, eat your omegas and flavonoids, work a little more, get some exercise and then take a shower. But don’t bother trying to wash the sand out of your hair.

San Miguel
Dir. Cris Gris (Mexico, 2018) 18:00
The “B” Sept 8 12:15 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303964
In order to heal her grieving mother, Ana, a devout 9-year-old girl, pushes her faith to its limit in hopes of divine intervention. Religion is a powerful force throughout the world, that motivates people to make both meaningful and horrific decisions. The loss of a loved one is often a defining moment that forces grievers to decide what their religion means to them. Ana’s own journey in the film recalls the innocence of youth and the risk associated with putting your faith in imagined divinity to save you from despair.
Amy Peterson

SDtoHDuprezMaxV2_009.mp4
Booted from the limelight, Max Headroom now roves the video signal on the search for meaning. Once summoned to the screen, he talks to the audience in hopes of remembering his past life. As we watch Max, (and as he continues to watch us), he begins to understand what it will take to escape from his purgatory.

Short Calf Muscle
Dir. Victoria Warmerdam (Netherlands, 2019) 13:00
The Rialto Sept 8 1:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4298446
I thought this was an interesting take on institutionalized racism and prejudice. The main character (and the audience) sees himself completely different from the way the rest of the world sees him. It questions the notion that identity is solely self-driven or solely external. It also questions whether his alleged physical appearance is what defines his character. Rest assured, though, you will enjoy the dry humor as actor Henry van Loon portrays the growing exasperation of being treated as an “other.”
Amy Peterson

Siri

Skógafoss
Dir. Niels Bourgonje (Netherlands, Iceland, 2018) 10:00

Skyscrapers
Dir. Fabienne Giezendanner (Switzerland, 2017) 12:15
Nautilus Sept 6 2:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303451
A critique on consumer culture, where owning a home defines success, and extravagance is rewarded with complications. Capitalism is built on a house of cards, and this animated depiction of those values gives that concept a literal, visual interpretation.
Amy Peterson

Subside
Dir. Scott Robertson (Netherlands, 2018) 3:20
Nautilus Sept 6 4:45 PM
We all unload our fear and anxieties onto our loved ones, it comes hand in hand with love. Though we now live in a world where relationships are more fragile then ever and simple values easily become lost in translation.

Subterra

The 9ª

The Chimerical Museum of Shifting Shapes
Dir. Damian Alquichire (Colombian 2017) 3:42
Nautilus Sept 8 1:30 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303841
I am a sucker for experimental animation, and this did not disappoint. This piece seems to be less about telling a story, and more about creating a feeling…and that feeling is anxiety. The combination of tense orchestral music and the frantic animation style managed to cause a sense of panic without any real narrative. The second it ended I couldn’t decide if I wanted to re-watch it or take a stress nap. It’s an excellent mixed medium experiment.
Laura De La O

The Fog
Dir. Ferdi Taskir (Kurdistan/Turkey, 2019) 19:45
CREA Sept 8 3:15 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4301951
Kevok and Agit, who have escaped to Istanbul due to the destruction of their historic town of Sur in the Kurdistan Diyarbekr region and the expropriation of their home by the state, come face to face with uncertainties about their futures.

The Funeral Dancer
I would also add that the sheer number of mediocre content and epidemic of self-importance is relevant to note. I feel I have to hack through the banality with a machete to get to quality and pertinent content. The quest for self-validation, I believe, defeats its own purpose. AN

The Future That We Lost

The Last Embrace
Dir. Saman Hosseinpuor (Iran, 2019) 4:01
CREA Sept 8 3:15 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4301951
A little girl wants to show her drawing to her family, but everybody is busy with their cell phones. She goes to her grandpa who has just passed away a few minutes earlier without anybody noticing it.

The Last Five Minutes of the World

The Mandarin Tree

The Nixie

The Overcoat
Dir. Ian Boisvert (Netherlands, 2017) 7:03
Nautilus Sept 8 11:45 AM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303835
As a film score nerd from a young age (John Williams, James Horner, Danny Elfman, etc.), my excitement bubbled over when I saw-or rather listened to-this film. Featuring an original score that conveys movement and emotion simultaneously, The Overcoat is, in the director’s words, “an impression of the trials we go through to try and fit in where we hope to belong. The original jazz score punctuates the way our minds improvise and interpret events in our lives. It’s not a perfect story. We don’t live perfect lives.” I couldn’t agree more.
Amy Peterson

The Pattern

There Was a Country

The Traffic Separating Device

The Transfer

Third Kind

Three August Days
Dir. Madli Lääne (Estonia, 2018) 20:00
Nautilus Sept 7 1:15 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303523
Set in 1990’s Estonia amid political upheaval, this sweet coming-of-age story follows an Estonian girl learning to flirt with a rough-around-the-edges Russian boy without the benefit of sharing a common language. While her nation fights to overthrow Russian Communist rule, the girl steals money from her grandma and sneaks out of home to purchase the one item that she believes can bring her together with her love interest: highly sought-after and difficult to acquire Coca-Cola. Kids will be kids even as the world shifts underneath them, but they have great capacity to look past differences in others to find and forge bonds over what many adults would consider minor commonalities.
Karen Peterson

Till the End of the World
Dir. Florence Bouvy (Netherlands, 2018) 26:33
*Filmmaker in Attendance!
The Rialto Sept 8 1:45 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4298446
A little girl and her father live alone together in a little house by the sea. All is beautiful love and play-pretend, except when dad slips in and out of a depressive state, leaving his young daughter to fend for herself emotionally. It was painful to watch the little girl trying to cope with her beloved father’s depression, alcoholism, and indifference during these periods. I chose this film because it made me cry – the storytelling and performances are excellent and I couldn’t help but become emotionally involved in the story, which is highly relatable for anyone who grew up with a parent struggling with mental illness.
Karen Peterson

Too Weird for You
Dir. Dan Warren (Germany, 2018) 2:00
Nautilus 11:15 AM Friday Sept 6
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303445
This may simply be a love-letter from the Manifesto Crew to our patrons and audience, but we are sincere when we say that part of our festival is celebrating the freak, nerd, or dork in all of us. We are all beautiful, wonderful creatures who deserve to find other strange creatures with whom to experience the world. We hope you enjoy the stop-motion delights of this sweet music video.
Amy Peterson
*And we love our alumni! AN

Troll Hunters
We all know there’s no point in replying to online trolls – that their comments exist solely to stir up chaos in the message boards, and that you can’t reason with their hatred.
In the current political climate it has become increasingly tempting to be drawn into ‘debate’, in a hope that yelling at someone online might bring catharsis to our frustrations with the wider political landscape.
But that way lies madness.
What might start as a well intentioned up-vote on a positive comment, or simple fact-check can turn into a night of mind-bending arguing, where the logic and structure of reality is melted by the insane counter points of an opponent whose sole goal is to confuse, enrage and frustrate. Time and reality slip away.

Tsar Bomba

Under Mom's Skirt

Under the Rib Cage

Void

Violent Equation
Dir. ANTONIS DOUSSIAS (Greece,2019) 5:00
Nautilus Sept 7 11:30 AM
Nautilus Sept 8 1:30 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303841
Doussias returns this year after wowing us with Aneigma in 2018. Once again Visually stunning animation inspired from Kostis Georgiou paintings. Dare not to be different.
A totalitarian society forces unequal things to become equal.
Ignorance creates fear and envy brings violence.
The average person’s feeble mentality rules by any means.

Welcome Back
As an American watching this movie, I was struck by the honesty of the portrayal of the “immigration issue.” In our media-driven society, we are often isolated from outside perspectives and simultaneously inundated with USA-centric news about the immigrant experience in America. Actress Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Agents of Shield, McFarland USA) portrays the struggles and duplicity of having a national identity as an expat.

White/Red
Dir. Alexandre Santos (France, 2018) 5:55
Nautilus Sept 8 5:00 PM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303860

Your Last Day on Earth

Yulya
Dir. Andre Marques (Portugal, 2015) 21:00
Nautilus Sept 7 11:30 AM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303520
Slavery did not end in the 19th century. It just changed forms and is still a very real phenomenon. In fact, nowadays, statistically, there are more slaves than in the “time of slavery”. Millions of women currently are forced into prostitution and sex trafficking. Yulya tells the grim story about the exploitation of one of these victims.
Astra Zoldnere

Zombies
Dir. Baloji (Democratic Republic of the Congo/Belgium, 2019) 14:50
Nautilus Sept 7 11:30 AM
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4303520
A psychedelic musical about consumption society. Hypnotized by money, clothes and self image on the Internet, people are walking around like zombies. They refuse to see anything besides the capitalistic bubble that consumes them and most often not too much else outside their Smartphone stupor.
Astra Zoldnere
