Description

The Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival [MNFF] presents “Best of the Fest: 2015,” its dynamic mix of 11 award-winning shorts and features. Diverse in style and subject, the MNFF blend of documentary and narrative films offers audiences many opportunities to engage and enjoy. Come experience the fine work of first and second time filmmakers – the emerging voices in independent cinema.

Cluster 1 • Documentary • 12:00-1:48pm

SHORT:

My Gal Rosemarie Documentary • 16 min. 
Somewhere on the outskirts of Los Angeles, Rosemarie and Ray pass time in an apartment packed and cluttered with the detritus of a half century of marriage. With their meager social security checks gone straight to covering rent every month and nothing in savings, Ray collects cans to get a little cash together so he can grant Rosemarie her one and only 90th birthday wish: a trip to In N Out for hamburgers.

FEATURE:

OMO Child: The River and the Bush Documentary • 90 min. 
For many generations, Kara people in the Omo Valley (southwest Ethiopia) believed some ‘cursed’ children bring disease, drought and death to the tribe. The curse is called ‘mingi.” Mingi children are killed. One young educated Kara man, Lale Labuko, decided he would challenge this horrific tradition. This is his story. Omo Child is the result of 5 years of filming. It follows Lale and the Kara’s journeys as they attempt to change an ancient practice.

Total Run Time: 106 min.

Cluster 2 • Narrative • 2:15-4:05pm

SHORT:

• Parallel Chords Drama • 14 min. 
The true story of a young violinist struggling to assert her individuality amidst the intense pressure of her pianist father and the formidable weight of her own musical ability. Surreal images fill her interior life, and provide her with some escape, until she ultimately breaks free in reality.

• Minimum Wage Drama • 15 min. 
While hustling into the bar where she works, Kit is reminded that rent is due…rent she doesn’t have. Hours later - questionably fired, car towed with her wallet inside, phone dead - she is forced to walk home. When a stranger mistakes her uniform for a prostitute’s, Kit takes a chance.

FEATURE:

Figurine Drama • 78 min. • Canada
Karin leads a quiet life working at a truck wash and ushering part-time at the hockey arena. Her solitary routine is broken when she meets James, a truck driver seeking work in the city. As autumn approaches winter, Karin opens herself to the possibility of romance.

Total Run Time: 107 min.

Cluster 3 • Documentary • 4:30-6:30pm

SHORT:

John The Baptist Documentary • 24 min. • Brazil 
A short documentary film that follows the title character through a day of intense work. Despite his arduous routine, John still finds the strength and inspiration to bring joy to the people of his city.

FEATURE:

Romeo Is Bleeding Documentary • 93 min. 
A fatal turf war between neighborhoods haunts the city of Richmond, CA. Donté Clark transcends the violence in his hometown by writing poetry about his experiences. Using his voice to inspire those around him, he and the like-minded youth of the city mount an urban adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, with the hope of starting a real dialogue about violence in the city. Will Richmond force Donté to compromise his idealistic ambitions? Or will Donté end Richmond’s cycle of trauma?

Total Run Time: 117 min.

Cluster 4 • Narrative • 7:00-9:25pm

SHORT:

• Obsolete Comedy • 12 min. • Australia 
Retiree Donald (Brian Cresswell) is thrown into the frightening complexities of new technology after being assigned the task of entertaining his grandson little Jimmy (Sasha Kuzmenko). This causes an intense mental battle to rage within Donald’s mind - represented through a 1940’s office block. Brain Cortex Executive Orson Belles (Lawrie Fildes) commands and leads his team to try and conquer the high level task. However, when equipment explodes in the Frontal Lobe Department, chaos erupts.

• Foureyes Comedy • 13 min. 
A 10-year-old boy is thrust into the tumultuous world of puberty when he gets a new pair of eyeglasses.

• Stunned (L’Etourdissement) Drama/Comedy • 23 min. • France • Subtitled
Following the accidental death of a colleague, Eddy is charged with the task of announcing the terrible news to the wife of the deceased. His colleague, Georges, offers to accompany him for support, taking advantage of the opportunity to leave work early. Upon arriving at the widow’s house, the two men struggle with the gravity of the situation.

FEATURE:

The Sound And The Shadow Drama • 90 min. 
When the 6-year-old girl next door goes missing, Harold realizes that his secret audio recordings of the neighborhood may provide clues to the case. But when his overzealous new roommate Ally pushes him into a dangerous investigation, Harold’s world is turned upside down. Against the backdrop of an urban community’s mystery, The Sound and the Shadow examines the perceptions and stories we create from the sounds of our neighbors—and the secrets we hide behind our own walls.

Total Run Time: 138 min.