Friday, April 3, 2009
Cinema Theater
1021 4th Ave., Huntington, WV 25701
(304) 525-4440
Admission: $2 Donation to the Huntington Regional Film Commission www.huntingtonfilm.org
6:00 PM Short Semi Finalist 20:20 min.
The
Dirt on You
Directed
by: Jeremy
Braverman
Submitted
by: Jeremy
Braverman
1056 N. Hermitage
Chicago, IL, 60622
U S A
773-592-3504 (Cell)
773-384-9502 (Day)
Synopsis
Sam
worked hard his whole life so he could retire early. Now that he's
made it... he doesn't know what to do with himself. In a rut and
showing no signs of breaking out of it, his situation is further
complicated when he starts to suspect his wife Julia has been having
an affair. As Sam sets out to prove his suspicions he suddenly finds
his life crumbling around him, and he and Julia must confront their
problems to save their marriage.
This dark comedy finds humor
it its unflinching look at a marriage in crisis.
6:30 PM Short Film Semi Finalist 7:05 min.
The
Wishing Bone
Directed
by: Kev
Stock
Submitted
by: Micah
Mood
1700 Sunshine Ave., Johnstown, PA, 15905
mjmst74@gmail.com
Synopsis
Be
careful what you wish for - it might be worse than what you try to
wish away. In The Wishing Bone, a young man learns this lesson all
too intensely, as he finds the one thing that can ruin a birthday
even more than a canceled dinner date, a lost job, illness, and
rancid food- and that one thing might just find his leftovers sending
him six feet under.
Kev
Stock
(Writer/Director) is pursuing his Master's degree in Filmmaking at
the Ohio University School of Film, following an undergraduate degree
in English Literature at the University of Pittsburgh. Over the past
six years, Kev has written and directed over 25 short films and
videos, including narrative fiction, documentaries, and music videos.
His films include Paper Tiger: Dishonor the Dojo, and The Donut Gun,
which were both winners of the Johnstown Film Festival's Viewer's
Choice Award and were created with members of the Kid Renaissance
Productions collective.
6:45 PM Micro Film Semi Finalist 3:00 min.
Morning Blood
Michael Valentine
3140 Brereton Court Huntington, WV 25705
3046547364
Synopsis
Seth Martin awakens on what would be a normal Tuesday morning….that is if his apartment wasn’t haunted by a strange, lurking terror.
6:50 PM Short Film Festival Presentation 9:50 min.
Long Live the King
110 11th Ave West, Huntington , WV, 25701
cet18@case.edu
304 6172140 (Cell)
Synopsis
The best chess player in the park lords his skill over the others. One day, a man, the Challenger, walks over to the players and challenges the best one, the King, to a game. The duel is more than a simple game, however, the fate of the park's players rests on the outcome. Blow by blow, the King taunts the Challenger and the Challenger fires back. This continues until the King, overconfident from his lack of competition, makes a fatal error. The Challenger defeats the King and his whole hierarchy is toppled. The King expects to be thrown out, but the Challenger does not dethrone him. So moved by the Challenger's mercy, the King humbles himself and begins to undo all the wickedness from before. The player's rejoice in his new found compassion. Long live the king.
7:00 PM Documentary Semi Finalist Run Time: 95 min.
One Extraordinary Street
Laura Magone
1006 Fourth Street Monongahela, PA 15063
(412)3271129
Synopsis
The film focuses on many of the now-famous natives of the Park Avenue neighborhood of Monongahela, including Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana, 31st U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Carl Vuono, Disney Channel Founder Jim Jimirro, former NFL star and Nerf Football inventor Fred Cox and former New York City Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto.
One Extraordinary Street was produced by Duquesne alumna Laura M. Magone, who earned a B.S. in business administration in 1982 and an MBA in 1986 and formerly worked in the
University’s Small Business Development Center. She is a business consultant and filmmaker.
A Monongahela native who was not born on Park Avenue, Magone has spent the last several years interviewing residents on that street to find out what they have in common.
The documentary spends time with several other residents, including legendary Eat 'n Park waitress Fran Fusco; top U.S. trial attorney Vincent Bartolotta, who was a student of Duquesne University Chancellor Dr. John Murray, and Dr. Deirdre Bair, acclaimed biographer who won a National Book Award for her biography on Samuel Beckett. Also featured is former Pittsburgh Pirate Ron Necciai, the only pitcher to strike out 27 batters in a nine-inning professional baseball game, and Mary Ann Barkey, the first woman to climb a telephone pole to do repair work for Bell of Pennsylvania.
8:45 PM Feature Film Semi Finalist Run Time: 91 min.
Golden Blade III - Return of the Monkey's Uncle
TJ Wiedow
Magnetic Media 148 Lookout Rd., Asheville, NC, 28804
magneticmedia@charter.net
828 216-5367 (Cell)
Synopsis
Golden Blade III - Return of the Monkey's Uncle... Kung Fu Comedy created and filmed in Asheville, NC. Our hero, Chen Zen is faced with the challenge of protecting the magical Golden Blade from falling into the hands of the evil Mala Wang. The overdubs are done poorly on purpose to give it the feel of a real kung fu movie... and the subtitles are also misspelled on purpose to add to the comedy. Low Budget as hell, yet funny and professional for DV movie making. 'Best way to win fight... No Be There.'
Marshall University Student Center Media Room Fifth Avenue and 17th Street , Huntington, WV
Sponsored by the Marshall University Society of Student Film Makers
6:00 PM Documentary Semi Finalist Run Time: 63 min.
Melungeon Voices
Julie Williams Dixon
words and pictures, inc.
2705 Van Dyke Avenue
Raleigh, NC, 27607
heyjulie@earthlink.net
919-833-4160 (Home)
919-270-5174 (Cell)
http://www.melungeonvoices.com/
Synopsis
Shrouded in mystery for hundreds of years, the Melungeons of Southwest Virginia, and East Tennessee, have oral traditions claiming Portuguese ancestry, though academicians have traditionally written them off as a 'tri-racial isolate.' Living deep in the Appalachians, some claim these people were here as early as the late 1500s, and might be descendants of Spanish, Portuguese and Turkish soldiers and sailors who intermixed with Native Americans. In this film we follow one man's search for his ethnic roots and see how his theories set off a firestorm of controversy. Part genealogy, part genetics, part geography, this film speaks to everyman's search for identity while illuminating the history of America in a way most of us have rarely thought about before.
7:15 PM Documentary Semi Finalist Run Time: 82 min.
FBI KKK
Dr. Micheal Frierson
201 Brown Building, UNCG
PO Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170
Office: 336-334-3768
Departmental Office: 336-334-5360
Fax: 336-334-5039
Synopsis
FBI
KKK is a personal documentary about my father, Dargan Frierson, an
FBI agent, and the intersection of his life with George Dorsett's.
Both men had ancestors in the KKK, but only one became a
reconstructed Southerner. Dorsett was the highest ranking member of
the United Klans of America who secretly provided information to the
FBI under a program called COINTELPRO WHITE HATE. This was a counter
intelligence program: the goal was create a coordinated program to
neutralize the Klan.
Dorsett’s first klan job was as the
head preacher and fundraiser, but soon he was also on the FBI
payroll. With racial violence simmering in North Carolina, home to
the largest klan membership in the United States, my dad worked
closely with Dorsett to monitor klan activities. Frierson engineered
the formation of the Confederate Knights of the KKK as a splinter
group, and set Dorsett up as the head, a classic divide and conquer
tactic.
'Michael Frierson's powerful documentary, FBI KKK ,
works at the intersection of social history and autobiography. The
greatest strength of Frierson's film is the vivid and often painful
portrayal of the human ties of friendship and kinship across the
divides of race, class, and ideology. Its greatest gift is that it
brings home to the viewer the felt need for voicing in a collective
setting the unresolved feelings, often long repressed, that attach to
being white, having privilege, and bearing witness to crimes of
racial injustice committed in one's name.' --Professor George Dimock
Micheal Frierson: Cinematographer/DP, Director, Picture Editor, Preview Return, Print Return, Print Shipper, Producer, Publicist, Sound Editor, Submission Contact
Michael Frierson is filmmaker and an Associate Professor in Broadcasting and Cinema at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He teaches film production and editing, and has produced short films for Nickelodeon, Children’s Television Workshop, MSN Video, and AT&T Blueroom. He recently completed an hour-long film documentary on New Orleans photographer Clarence John Laughlin. Frieson is also the author of Clay Animation: American Highlights 1908 to the Present (New York: Twayne, 1994), which won the McLaren-Lambart Award from the National Film Board of Canada for the Best Scholarly Book on Animation for 1995.
8:45 PM Short Film Semi Finalist 13:17 min.
Nevermore
Todd Lowe
Final Straw Productions 5645 Fetzer Ave. NW Concord, NC, 28027
toddlowe@mac.com
980-622-2831 (Cell)
Fred Delagarza: Executive Producer; Production Manager
James Davidson: Producer; Executive Producer
Synopsis
Tormented by the loss of his love, Lenore, Justus Hargrave passes his time with loose women and the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol. A knock at his trailer door one night startles him and causes him to investigate. The visitor, a raven, perches on a stature of his hero, Hank Williams, Jr., and begins to mock him over his loss. As time goes on Justus's mind begins to unravel pushing him to the brink of murder and suicide. Narrated from beyond the grave, this adaptation of the famous poem The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe, is told from a decidedly 'rural American' point of view. The violence, madness and overall disturbing content of the film blends perfectly with a sweaty, grimy look that's been termed the 'Dirty South' in recent years. Nevermore pays homage to one of America's most famous literary voices and weaves a delightful blend of horror, comedy and insanity very nicely
9:05 Short Film Festival Presentation 20:00 min.
Candytakers
David Smith
1324 5th Ave. Apt. 2 Huntington, WV 25701
Synopsis
Sunni Spaceship is a plucky high school journalist dedicated to reporting the truth at River Glenn Dale High School.. When Xandra Allen and her crew of bullies commit a major candy heist, Sunni must enlist the help of her friends to expose the Candytakers before they take over the school.
9:30 PM Feature Semi Finalist 92 min.
Ninjas Vs Zombies
Justin Timpane
Endlight Entertainment
2404984157 (Cell)
http://nvzmovie.com/
Synopsis
NVZ
has been called 'An episode of 'Friends' meets 'Spider Man', with a
side of Jackie Chan. Oh - and then bloodthirsty zombies show up and
start eating everybody.'
Seven friends, struggling with late
20s, early 30s life, find themselves in terrifying danger when a
long-dead loved one is magically resurrected and starts devouring
souls.
To make matters worse, three of them have been granted the power of the ninja, and now must lead the fight against a power they cannot hope to vanquish.
If
they fail, the undead will overrun their little town, and maybe the
world.
What follows is a whirlwind of magic, swordplay, hand
to hand combat, gunfire and simmering sarcasm. From high flying flips
to a full-on melee, from a claustrophobic last stand to a, Star-Wars
worthy katana battle, NINJAS VS ZOMBIES is a chilling, laugh out
loud, edge of your seat adventure.
Justin
Timpane: Additional Photography, Cinematographer/DP, Costume
Designer, Digital Effects, Director, Executive Producer, Makeup
Artist, Makeup Effects, Original Music/Composer, Picture Editor,
Preview Return, Producer, Set Decorator, Sound Mixer, Special
Effects, Story By, Supporting Actor, Writer
Justin steps behind
the camera for 'Ninjas vs Zombies', his first feature, after starring
in multiple independent films including the internationally released
'Dead Hunt', the award winning 'Little White Boy', and the pilot
'Life Sucks'. As he was releasing his well-received pop album
'Three', Justin quietly toiled away on 'Ninjas vs Zombies', his fifth
feature length screenplay and first to be produced.
Using personal funds, Justin assembled a team of friends and industry contacts to bring 'Ninjas vs Zombies' to its full potential. Justin lives in Warrenton, VA with his wife and son.
Keith
Albee Theater 925
Fourth Avenue, Huntington, WV 
6:00 PM Micro Film Semi Finalist 2:47 min.
Habits
HYEJIN KWON
30 NEWPORT PKWY APT 1404
JERSEY CITY, NJ, 07310
moygs@hotmail.com
1-646-345-3506 (Cell)
Synopsis
People’s behaviors are driven by their memories and obsessions. Their obsessions dictate their actions and their actions reinforce their obsessions in a never-ending cycle. My film is an exploration of people's habitual behaviors as a reflection of their mental status. In my work, three people with no cause to feel unease behave in peculiar ways in order to escape their misgivings.
Three stories are shown in sequence and later as a montage. These stories are about ordinary everyday people, one driven by anxiety, another compulsion, a third by obsession. They indulge in idle fantasies and habitual behaviors. Their fears cause them to have circular thoughts which lead to habitual behaviors. Their mental status will be symbolically described through camera angles, color, typographical transitions, and visual images, musical tempo and so on. Habits, the result of obsession or compulsion, will be scattered.
6:07 PM Micro Film Semi Finalist 5 min.
The Last Piece
Tobias Roediger
RAVE
128 Beal Road, Athens, OH, 45701
tobias@ravevfx.com
740-593-5907
(Work)
740-707-3119 (Cell)
Synopsis:
The Last Piece is the story of a promotional products salesman who discovers, through a brief encounter, that there is more to life than his routine.
6:15 PM Short Semi Finalist Run Time: 20:18 min.
A Night at the Office
T.A. Vanden Akker, Director
Submitted by: Randy Bassin
Global Force Productions, 13815 36th Street, Lowell, MI, 49331
rbassin@globalforceproductions.com
616-825-6247 (Work)
616-204-4847 (Cell)
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/trailer-a-night-at-the-office/3666996543
Joe Murphy, co producer - Trifecta Productions, Huntington, WV
Synopsis:
While touching upon what we trade off for our careers, A Night at the Office also takes on a darker side as it explores the idiosyncrasies of a typical team of office workers as it moves from live action to 3D animated 'career-chasers'. The opposing characters will take you through a few twists and turns before resolving the central issue .. 'What choice will you make?'
This production provides a unique use of live actors creating visual metaphors without the benefit of faces, 3D animated characters without dialog, and musical storytelling to carry you through. 'A Night at the Office' combines live action and 3D animated characters, in a collaboration of talented animators in India, musicians, composers, and editors in Michigan, and of course, live action, in-studio production crews in West Virginia. Cinematographers and Screenwriters will be talking about this unique approach to storytelling for years to come.
7:00 PM Special Feature Presentation Documentary 13:00 min.
Make a Dream Happen
Jean Francois Bro Grebe
4112 South Grand, St. Louis MO 63118
3049423717
Producer: Ange Hermann Gnanih
Marshall University graduate and outstand former basketball player, Jean Francois Bro Grebe returns to his native Ivory Coast to rebuild basketball courts and hospitals. His work is highlighted in this feature short film presentation.
This showing will be in conjunction with a fund raiser for Mr. Bro Grebe’s foundation: “Give a Little, Save a Lot”. The Foundation will be hosting an Ivory Coast/French inspired dinner at the Huntington Arcade Building 945 Fourth Avenue, Huntington, WV beginning at 5:30 PM. Tickets we be available at the door.
8:30 PM Special Feature Presentation
Paradise Park aka Heroes of the Heart
Daniel Boyd
Assistant Professor, Communications Department
Director, Paradise Film Institute
West Virginia State University
234 Cole Complex
Institute, WV 25112-1000
Office: (304) 766-3379
Fax: (304) 766-5100
dboyd@wvstateu.edu
http://www.danielboyd.com
Synopsis:
An elderly resident of an Appalachian trailer park wakes up one morning with a vision that God will visit the park later that evening and grant all the tenants a wish. The love-hate relationship this memorable group of wonderful characters have with their impoverished existence surfaces, in funny, often bittersweet ways, as the effects of floods, unemployment and family strife trigger fantasies of love, wealth, elaborate song and dance numbers and dreams of what's yet to be. Does God make it to the trailer park? Well, one thing's for sure, Life will never be the same in Paradise Park.
Keith
Albee Theater 925
Fourth Avenue, Huntington, WV
5:00 PM Documentary Finalist 68 min.
The Last Dance
Keith Newman
7673 Long Run Road Athens, OH 45701
7405917895
Documentary features David Hostetler's entire body of work, with a focus on "The Last Dance," a recent sculpture that is in the David Hostetler, Wood and Bronze Sculpture exhibition that opened Oct. 12, 2007 at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at SVSU. Producer Keith Newman and director Casey Hayward were given unlimited access to Hostetler and his vast archives; their film is the first documentary to feature him. An accomplished sculptor, Hostetler's work has been included in over 200 group shows and has been the subject of one-person exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States. His work also is in numerous public collections, including Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Kennedy Library, Boston; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; Columbus (Ohio) Museum of Art; Milwaukee (Wis.) Museum; Speed Museum, Louisville, Ky.; Montgomery (Ala.)Museum of Fine Art; and De Cordova Museum, Lincoln, Mass. "You will see the process from the moment the tree is cut down to the finished product, a beautiful female form, one of David's stunning women," said Newman. David Hostetler is a graduate of Indiana University and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University where he taught for 37 years. He retired from teach as a full professor of sculpture in 1985 and is now Professor Emeritus.
6:15 PM Feature Film Finalist 98:42 min.
Target Practice
Richmond Riedel
22156 Del Valle Street, Woodland Hills, CA, 91364
targetpractice07@yahoo.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/TargetPractice08
818 631 0772 (Cell)
818 340 5450(fax)
Synopsis
'... politics give way to pure, unadulterated action in Richmond Riedel's impressively mounted 'Target Practice' ... a relentless pace and astute storytelling ... Pic never lets up ... extremely tense and executed with great energy ...' - Robert Koehler, Variety
5 friends, on a weekend fishing trip in the mountains, stumble upon an undercover operation involving a CIA agent and a hidden training camp for homegrown terrorists. Suddenly these 5 normal, everyday guys find themselves caught in a deadly struggle for which they are completely unprepared -- a struggle that quickly escalates into a full-scale mini-war against a cunning, brutal enemy and against their own simmering hatreds, prejudices, and conflicting loyalties.
8:00 PM Feature Film Finalist 108 min.
Bronx Paradise
Wayne Gurman
2858 Lasalle Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10461
gmon1114@aol.com 646-964-2153 (Cell)
Production: William Lappe - Director (1st Feature)
http://www.bronxparadise.com/
Synopsis:
Ride
Shotgun with Wayne as he bulls his way through the Bronx, picking up
his trigger happy best friend, John (John Palaumbo) a racist mafia
killer with a penchant for violence. See Wayne as he stalks deadbeats
like ‘Harry the Jew’ (Dennis Paladino) or being shadowed by “The
Ghouls” “(Biagio Tripodi) an invalid attached to an oxygen tank,
whose dream is to become a cocaine dealer like his idol Wayne. To
make matters worse, “Little Mike” (Tim Cinnante) and Nicky (Peter
Bongiorno) two neighborhood psychos are robbing and killing in the
middle of the night and have plans of their own. While their boss
“Frankie Sunshine”, (Ralph Squillante) brightens the neighborhood
by cutting down anybody who gets in his way.
Its no joyride
for Wayne as he tries to keep his family together, his wife happy
(Brea Cola) and find his own “Bronx Paradise”.
“Bronx
Paradise” was written by Wayne Gurman and directed by William
Lappe. It is based on Wayne Gurman's life. Detailing his criminal
lifestyle, from 1984- 1999. He was arrested in 1999 and turned his
life around.
10:00 PM Short
The Paradigm Shift
Jon Barr
1030 E. Lancaster Ave, #518
Bryn Mawr,PA,19010 P: 4844310891
ahjudah@temple.edu
Keith
Albee Theater 925
Fourth Avenue, Huntington, WV 
11:00 AM WV Film Office www.wvfilm.com
Workshop on incentive programs available to film makers in West Virginia
West Virginia Film Office
90 MacCorkle Avenue SW
South Charleston, WV 25303
Toll-Free: 866.6WV.FILM (from within the U.S. and parts of eastern Canada)
Fax: 304.558.1662
Web: www.wvfilm.com
PAMELA HAYNES, Director
Main: 304.558.2200, x-382
Mobile: 304.550.1871
E-mail: phaynes@wvfilm.com
JAMIE COPE, Location Services Manager
Main: 304.558.2200, x-324
Mobile: 304.541.4133
E-mail: jcope@wvfilm.com
11:45 AM Young Film Maker Finalist 25 min.
The Dying Western
Colin Studebaker
15 S Shafer St Apt 502, Athens, OH, 45701
colin.studebaker@gmail.com
614-296-3261 (Cell)
In The Dying Western, Howard obsessively pursues his dreams to be the next John Wayne, but has only been successful at playing dying extras in western movies. Set in 1960’s Hollywood, Howard’s steadfast commitment to his work gets in the way of his relationships at home as he practices for his roles by faking his death on a near-nightly basis. These playful imitations grow competitive when his wife June is diagnosed with cancer and Howard becomes convinced that she is trying to “out-die” him.
12:15 PM Young Film Maker Finalist 11:00 min.
Canines
Blake Pruitt
905 Mulligan Lane, Westminster, MD 21158
4108769997
Canines is a documentary about the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) Police K9 Unit. Created in the summer of 2007, this 11-minute film provides an insight into the daily life of the people who protect our buses, subways, and transit systems.
12:30 PM Short Film Finalist 11:32 min.
Open Air
David Paterson
Anjours Inc.
67 Bourndale Rd North, Manhasset, NY 11030
dlpaterson22@hotmail.com
5168693163 (Home)
Producer: Damon Shalit
Director: Shira-Lee Shalit
Synopsis
I
n
an unnamed conflict in an unnamed country, two women, DREENA,
('Munich's' Lynn Cohen), and Anna, (Agata Domanska) struggle to
maintain some form of
normality in their lives,all the while trapped from fleeing their homes due to an unseen sniper, who keeps the two women forever on guard.
1:00 PM Workshop Featuring: Daniel Boyd
Boyd, a West Virginian, has degrees in Communications (West Virginia University) and Filmmaking (University of Arkansas).
Beginning his filmmaking career making documentaries, Boyd’s early projects took him from the hobo “jungles” of the U.S. (HOMELESS BROTHER) to the war-torn mountains of Guatemala (MARCOS DE SAN MARCOS).
Several of Boyd’s short narrative films were featured on regional and national television in the early and mid-eighties.
His first feature film, CHILLERS, was released in 1988. Currently in international video and television distribution, this horror feature was awarded the Silver Scroll for excellence from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films in Los Angeles.
Boyd’s second feature, a science fiction/comedy, STRANGEST DREAMS, premiered on the USA Network in 1991. It is currently in domestic and international video and television distribution.
Boyd’s third feature film, PARADISE PARK, a dramatic-fantasy, received Gold Awards at the Houston International Film Festival and the Chicago International Film Festival, was selected for the Breckenridge Festival of Film and the American Film Institute’s, American Independents series. Currently distributed by Vintage Home Entertainment as HEROES OF THE HEART.
A professor of communications at West Virginia State University since 1985, Boyd has actively involved his filmmaking students in his professional projects. In 1994, Boyd established the Paradise Film Institute at WVSU for the purpose of supporting filmmaking in the state through resource services, production support, foreign exchanges and continuing education. PFI currently has active travel/study/production exchange partnerships with film schools in Tanzania (School of Fine & Performing Arts, University of Dar Es Salaam), Russia (The AllRussian State Institute of Cinema), the Czech Republic (Film Academy of Performing Arts), Venezuela (Escuela de Cine y Television) and Belize (Ministry of Culture).
As a U.S. Fulbright Scholar, Boyd taught the first filmmaking and screenwriting classes at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, during the 98-99 academic year in East Africa.
Recipient of a 2002 Fulbright Alumni Award, Boyd partnered with theUniversity of Dar es Salaam on the pilot program TeleDrum (teaching filmmaking to American and African students while producing films for
international aid organizations), resulting in the award-winning films, “Duara” and Sound the Drum.”
After life-threatening encounters while filming MAKUTANO on Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) in 2004, Boyd decided to take a break from filmmaking and move more into publishing. Returning to his still photography roots, Boyd and fellow professor, adventurer wife, Robin Boyd, formed VentureMedia. Boyd did the photography for Robin's book MOUNTAIN BIKER'S GUIDE TO WEST VIRGINIA (Quarrier Press), and since has written and/or photographed dozens of articles on adventure travel and extreme sports for numerous publications. The Boyds’ 2nd book with Quarrier Press, CYCLIST'S GUIDE TO WEST VIRGINIA RAIL-TRAILS, is due out in 2008.
While researching an article in the fall of 2004, Boyd was able to experience a life-long dream of working in professional wrestling. Three years-plus later, the article has evolved into a book in progress on working inside the world of independent pro wrestling. Since forming the tag team of "The Grapes of Wrath," Boyd (Professor Danger) and fellow middle-aged wrestler, Death Falcon Zero, have worked well over 100 matches, for nearly a dozen federations. Boyd also worked for Rings of Europe in Austria in the spring of 07.
A former National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, Boyd has also won awards in documentary, horror, comedy and dramatic filmmaking, as well as screenwriting. He was named, "Filmmaker of the Year" by the WV Filmmakers Festival in 2003. Two of Boyd's archeology documentaries, RED SALT & REYNOLDS (04) and GHOSTS OF GREEN BOTTOM (05), won national Telly awards, and both were regional Emmy nominees. In 2006, Boyd was inducted into the West Virginia Country Music Hall of Fame for his contributions to the music genre through his film work.
3:00 PM Documentary Finalist 68:30 min.
BONECRUSHER
Michael Fountain
WriteBrain Films 329 Mulberry St. , Lewes, DE 19958
mondofount@aol.com 917 414.9332 (Cell)
Citizenship: U S A
In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a young coal miner named Lucas Chaffin toils one mile underground in a dangerous mine. Despite the harsh working conditions, Lucas takes
fierce pride in the fact that he’s carrying on a family tradition. A fourth generation miner, working inside the earth is more than just a job to Lucas. He believes it’s his duty; a responsibility symbolized
by
the old coal hammer that he uses. It is the same hammer that was used
for 26 years by the man he loves more than anything: his father,
Luther Chaffin.
Luther—nicknamed “Bone Crusher” — was
once a strong, handsome man. But now, at age 61, he’s withered and
sick; cancer-causing coal dust has ravaged his lungs. And he knows
his fate. He watched
his
own father die this way. But instead of worrying about himself,
Luther is more concerned for Lucas. He wants his son to get out of
the mines before it’s too late, but Lucas can’t bring himself to
quit—no matter what the cost.
This film is an intimate,
moving account of the love between a father and son, and the
unbreakable bond they share. It’s also a stark journey to the coal
fields of Dante, Virginia where a tight-knit community of miners and
their families face their harsh life with a toughness and camaraderie
as enduring as the earth itself.
4:30 PM Micro Finalist 2 min.
A Bad Case of Lycanthropy
Michael Valentine
3140 Brereton Court Huntington, WV 25705
3046547364
michaelvzool@aol.com
4:40 PM Micro Finalist 4 min.
Null
Jacob Richardson
In this surrealistic and impressionistic short critique of Western medicine's obsession with pills, a patient suffering from some unknown illness attempts to relieve his condition...With adverse effects.
4:50 PM Short Film Finalist 27 min.
Bears Discover Fire
Gordon Bell
673 Sterling Place Apt.1 Brooklyn, NY 11216
5027411690
5:30 PM Feature Finalist 76 min.
Teen - Aged
Lane Middleton
712 Currituck Drive Raleigh, NC 27609
9197877530
Synopsis
Michael Wilson was always afraid of being who he wanted to be. At 17, when Michael finds himself in a hospital after a car accident, he has a realization that will change his life forever.
This sudden realization shows Michael how fragile life is, and that living it to the fullest, not caring what others think, is in fact the way to live.
6:45 PM Awards Ceremony - Cocktail hour
10:00 PM Feature Festival Presentation
Keepsake
Filmmakers: Paul Moore - Director / Writer (writer),
Todd Gilpin - Cinematographer / Editor,
Todd Allen - Composer,
Bill Huff - Production Designer
http://www.keepsakethemovie.com
Synopsis:
Janine is a young woman on her way to a new life when a freak accident strands her on a deserted highway and a call for help soon becomes a fight for survival.
Janine soon finds herself trapped in a world of torture and depravity. Imprisoned in a cellar and given only thirty days to live, Janine must contend with both the ghosts of her past and the demons of her present in an effort to survive her ordeal.
As the true nature of her situation becomes apparent, Janine realizes that she is caught in a grisly game where there is only one ultimate goal... to stay alive.
