Central Florida Film and Video Festival
Films on Showcase
Without Air
88 min. Narrative
"Without Air" is a slice of life about a young Memphis Blues singer/stripper
named Shay and her struggle to aspire, live , and love. Though she longs to be
"loved right" she is constantly on the run, distancing herself from comfort.
Shay is afraid of change, preferring instead to suffer through messy
relationship with boyfriend Radio. The film shows Shay interacting with unique
characters who add to the tapestry of her life. Each quietly urges Shay in her
process of self-discovery. Through refusing to consciously confront her "inner
self," Shay attempts to free herself from the cycle of pain through singing.
Her talent is the one thing that never fails her, and provides the film with
both compassion and incredible power.
Neil Abramson
5657 Wilshire Blvd. 5th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90036
T.V. Light
1 min. Experimental
This is a short story about remembering and comparing the light admitted from a
T.V. set and the day light on different days of the week.
Bob Kaputof
117 N. Crenshaw #4
Richmond, VA 23221
The Four Corners of Nowhere
110 min. Narrative
Duncan, a philosophical nomad hitchhiking across America, grabs a ride to Ann
Arbor, Michigan from Toad, a performance artist from the suburbs. Toad has
recently left home to begin a new life and is on his way to see his co-dependent
sister, Jenny. At this time, Jenny is engaged to a verbally abusive law student
named Calvin. Jenny is also working at a coffee house with Squeeze, a closet
genius who is living with her boyfriend, Hank. Hank is a brooding painter who
can't paint because he spends his time and creative energies baking cookies and
practicing being on the "Oprah Winfrey Show". In Ann Arbor, the civilians
listen to Julian, a sociopathic dee-jay whose frustration and pessimism goads
him to find the truth by cutting through '60s idealism, pop culture, and
politically correct bumper stickers. Once in Ann Arbor, Duncan encounters these
and other eccentric characters, and through his simple outlook and curiosity, he
changes their lives forever.
Steve Chbosky
295 Carmell Dr.
Pittsburgh, PA 15241
Wicked Beauties
26 min. Narrative
Set in the cotton fields of the deep South, "Wicked Beauties" is a dark comedy
which presents a boy's coming of age in a town obsessed with its annual Little
Miss Cotton Ball beauty pageant.
Robert Armstrong
P.O. Box 4391
New York, NY 10185
Five Spot
15 min. Narrative
A confrontational drama which never escapes the confines of a single room diner,
"Five Spot" explores the reactions of five strangers brought together when a
customer is wrongly accused of trying to leave without paying his bill. This
customer's only hope is Ryan, the sole witness to what really happened to his
money.
Jeff Dark
1346 University Center
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2084
Le Baton (The Stick)
27 min. Narrative
In this touching comedy, we follow Jacques as he bumbles his way through another
day. The newest member of an eccentric troop of trash men, we soon realize that
Jacques is despised by the group, so much so, that they are on the verge of
expelling him completely. To humor themselves, the decision is made to allow
him one last opportunity to prove himself. He must have the vast "Section One"
of the local park spotless before 5pm using "The Stick." What unfolds is a
story of sheer will, determination, and magic in Jacques' attempt to complete
this impossible task.
Ron Byron
1515 Manning Ave. #7
Los Angeles, CA 90024
When I Take Comfort
1 min. Animation
A meditation on the personal decline and fall of the creative process and the
rise of destructive tendencies.
Karl Staven
P.O. Box 965
New York, NY 10113
Joyful Day
20 min. Narrative
A young black man in "the hood" finds the true meaning of life from a modern-day
angel.
Harry Walters
3300 University Blvd. Ste. 160
Winter Park, FL 32792
The Golem
25 min. Narrative
"The Golem" is about a young graduate student grieving over the recent loss of
his grandfather. A series of strange murders leads the rabbi of an old
synagogue to suspect that the grandfather created a man of clay to protect the
"shul" from being torn down by greedy developer. Ed Asner stars.
Lewis Schoenbrun
1110 S. Bedford St. #8
Los Angeles, CA 90035
The Bridal Shower
23 min. Narrative
If your best friend was getting married, you'd throw her a bridal shower, what
friend wouldn't? The trickier question is - suppose you knew her new fiancee
was a cad: would you tell her or would you forever hold your peace? That's the
moral dilemma facing four modern southern debs - how's that for a contradiction
in terms? They jump to the startling conclusion that their best friend's one
true love is also their previous one night stands.
Starring Justine Bateman and Grant Shaud.
Claudia Hoover
66 Glenbrook Rd.,
Stamford, CT 06902
The Idiom
3 min. Music Video
A group of dreamers.
Dan Myrick
5979 Vineland Rd.
Orlando, FL 32819
The Middle Of A Two - Tone Existence
28 min. Narrative
It's your basic vampire love story. Boy meets girl, boy loves girl, boy bites
girl, boy kills girl, boy misses girl. It's co-dependency with fangs.
Steven J. Holtzman
P.O. Box 618635
Orlando, FL 32861-8635
Our Bodies, Our Shells
5 min. Experimental
"Our Bodies, Our Shells" is a film better seen than described, or perhaps,
better said than done.
Michael Burlingame
217 E. 4th St. #2-C,
New York, NY 10009
The Novice
38 min. Narrative
Seeking Sainthood and the purity of soul, Teresa enters the convent. In a
struggle between her vows of chastity and her erotic longing, the film explores
the tension between the eroticism of the Catholic Church and Teresa's own
awakening sensuality.
Judy Hecht Dumontet
234 N. Lapeer Dr.,
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Spacemutt In The Cosmic Cannibal
12 min. Animation
Spacemutt and his newfound crew were sucked into a black hole, barely escaping
an imploding planet. Now they're attempting to go back through the black hole
by activating the gravity amplification system, bending space and time, bringing
them from point A to point B - a planet 300,000 light years away. Little do
they know it's inhabited by a subterranean cannibal who'd like them for lunch.
Jon DePew
5027 Patch Rd.
Orlando, FL 32822
The Storyteller
10 min. Narrative
Michael and Gabriel are two prisoners living in adjacent cells in a jail. Their
long time friendship is shaken by the fact that Gabriel's sentence is soon to
end. Neither of them know how to say good-bye.
Carlos Hagerman
245 E. 71st Apt.#5E
New York, NY 10003
Trouble
15 min. Narrative
An odd little kid with a secret confronts her mother, the "Queen of Denial."
Carrie Blank
333 4th St. #3I
Brooklyn, NY 11215
Out of Body Experience
24 min. Narrative
A young boy's parents are news reporters missing in Iraq during the Gulf War.
In the U.S., he and his grandfather utilize their shortwave radio to talk to
people in the Middle East. The story begins when the boy's grandfather hears
voices on the radio telling him he must die.
David Michael Brown
7922 Toler Ct.
Orlando, FL 32822
So Wrong They're Right
92 min. Documentary
"So Wrong They're Right" is a documentary encapsulating a 10,000 mile journey
around the U.S. in search of a group of 8-track (those clunky plastic
prerecorded cartridges from the '70s) fanatics , or 'trackers' as they have been
dubbed in the pages of 8-Track Mind Magazine, which served as the principal
inspiration for the film. This film follows the travels of 8-Track Mind Editor
Russ Forster and fellow 8-track enthusiast, Dan Sutherland in search of other
8-track minds. The result is over 20 interviews which delve into reminiscences,
rants, political diatribes, fantasies, fix-it tips, sales pitches, and
everything else defining the skeptical yet inquisitive mind of the '60s 8-track
enthusiast. It's not a film about nostalgia, as some might suggest; rather, it
serves as a statement of outrage from a population of consumers who are tired of
being told what to consume.
Russ Forster
P.O. Box 90
East Detroit, MI 48021
Geography Of The Imagination
15 min. Experimental
Using landscape as metaphor, this film mediates upon the influences of a life,
real and imagined. The influences are love, poetry, music, and of course, film.
Jan Andrews
217 East 100 South,
Alpine, UT 84004
Hills Like White Elephants
9 min. Experimental
A young man and woman stop at a roadside cafe to have a few drinks. The man
tries to intimidate the woman into getting an abortion she does not want.
It is a horrific tale of manipulation and control. The man seeks to exert his
subtle dominance in every way, especially through speaking and acting out the
woman's part in the film.
Sean Cusick
109 S. Osceola Ave. #4
Orlando, FL 32801
Dream Babies
17 min. Experimental
A series of dreams about babies, desire, and the ever present couch - as told
by a daughter of a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist social worker.
Karen Friedberg
914A Crain St. #3N,
Evanston, IL 60202
Joelfest/The Carnival Shout
14 min. Experimental
An animated film about the development of the carnival through the ages, from
heathen times until the present day. The carnival processions of many different
periods in history are represented with the help of three dimensional scale
models: from Teutonic times, in which the horse was honored, through to the
modern period, with its interest in worldwide themes.
Ties Poeth
Strijenlaan 1, 4835 RC,
Breda, Netherlands
Frank's Cock
8 min. Experimental
A foursided look at AIDS, a first person testament that is alternately funny and
sad, relating the meeting of two lovers and their sexual adventures. As the
story of their life is told by its survivor, the screen divides into four scenes
revealing the storyteller, footage shot inside the body, a montage of
performance art and gay porn. This division within the frame replicates the
effect of the virus, multiplying its deadly effects in a phantasmagoria of loss.
An elegy for a friend.
Mike Hoolboom
710-680 Queen's Quay West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2Y9
Torture Garden
2 min. Experimental
This is an artist's statement. Not a statement about all art, just my art.
You don't have to call it art, if you don't want to. It's an image captured
on plastic and emulsion. Sometimes I even edit on video. Does that make me
an artist? Maybe. Maybe not. Basically it's up to you, the viewer. I'm not
going to write at length about my art, I'm not even going to try to explain it.
If it makes you FEEL something, any emotion whatsoever, then I've succeeded.
So decide for yourself, and let me know what you think. "Torture Garden" is a
metaphor for my perception of the Big Apple.
Alyson M. Stephan
607 1/2 S. Willow Ave.
Tampa, FL 33606
SelbstPortrait
4 min. Experimental
This film is an exploration of the combination of traditional and digital
imagery. It is also an investigation of the integration of the Figure into the
digital environment. As a self-portrait it furthermore is a reflection of
events from past and personal experiences. This film contains 16mm footage,
Super 8, video, and 3D computer animation.
Claudia Herbst
5025 Williston St.
Baltimore, MD 21229
Platinum Lounge
13 min. Experimental
"Platinum Lounge" is a satirical look at contemporary America and its repulsive
attraction to crime. Deconstructing the mythology of the crime persona through
old Hollywood imagery of youth, sex, and glamour - spinning out of control -
crime has become big business necessitating packaging in a pretty face.
Ellen Piskorski/Marin Marinelli
130 Dartmouth St. #901
Boston, MA 02116
Sporatic Germination
5 min. Experimental
The life, death, and resurrection of Super 8 filmmaking. Super 8 can SHOOT TOO!
It will be followed by - "The Revolution of Super 8 Universe" - a work in
progress.
Rey Parla
110 Font Blvd #211
Miami, FL 33172
Roughly Cut
33 min. Experimental
This tape looks at the culturally - specific practice of neonatal circumcision.
The tape also operates on a personal level by literally examining the maker's
own poorly circumcised genitalia as well as feelings manifested by this slip
up - feelings of self mockery, ambivalence and finally, liberation. By
combining allegory, autobiography and performance with popular tabloid TV
footage and documentary strategies, a hybridized form is created that invokes
shifting narratives surrounding male subjectivity and representation. Further,
the tape explores our understanding of "normal" and "pathological" by raising
questions regarding how these notions are played out in terms of cultural
aesthetics, body modification/cosmetic surgery, psychoanalysis, male sexuality
and masculinity.
Niklas Sven Vollmer
3714 3rd Ave.,
San Diego, CA 92103-4112
Pimpy
13 min. Experimental
A film showcasing a glimpse into the world of Pimpy, a simple, seemingly ageless
young man who spends his days finding joy in the most basic daily routines, and
his father, Hemmy, a robust, but not unkind, disciplinarian who displays an
affection for butter and alcohol.
Jon Blackstone/Derek Turner
2006 Pine Ave.,
Snohomish, WA 98290
Nearing the Millennium
57 min. Documentary
A video biography about Florida's Poet Laureate, Edmund Skellings. Woven into
the story of Skellings' life are animations of poems written and performed by
the poet. With an engineer's vision, Skellings has researched and explored the
electronic augmentation of poetry for forty years as demonstrated by vintage
footage of Skellings' early performance and interviews. Fellow poets and
distinguished professors comment upon the significance of this unique poet's
contribution to the art of poetry. The presentation of poetry with three
dimensional supercomputer imagery is visually stimulating and reaches out to
the generation of the Information Age.
Diane Newman
220 Southeast 2nd Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
Distant Relations
16 min. Experimental
Inspired by the Picaresque literature from the 16th and 17th century Spain,
"Distant Relations" chronicles the misadventures of a young Mexican woman who
crosses the border to "the other side" for the first time in her life in search
of her lost uncle.
Greg Durbin/ Dan Boord
6026 Meade Ave.,
San Diego, CA 92115
Rave
30 min. Experimental
This is a montage of the sights and sounds of the underground rave scene as seen
through the eyes of Factory Visuals.
Ralph Haslacker, Factory Visuals
6800 Willoughby Ln
Orlando, FL 32812
Token For Your Thoughts
16 min. Narrative
Grant is a hack poet who likes to write about his favorite thing, the
streetcar. Riding the streetcar is a time where Grant can watch and learn as he
silently absorbs other passengers' lives. However, he finds himself in a
psychiatric fitness assessment interview after he decides one day to listen to
his heart instead of his head.
Adam Reid
44 Harelock St.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6H 3B5
Goodbye Socrates
37 min. Narrative
This is a film about love, compassion, immigrants, a suitcase and a couple of
childlike angels. The drama sets out to highlight the constant yearning many
immigrants have of returning to their native land in the latter stages of their
lives. It also emphasizes the difficulty of working in and adapting to a new
country. Most of all, the film underlines the love and respect that people have
for one another, epitomized in this particular story by Socrates' unending
devotion to his wife and her wishes, even after death had taken her from him.
James Babanikos
2601 NW 23 Blvd. #181
Gainesville, FL 32605
Dykes On Bikes
7 min. Documentary
This video captures the exhilaration at the women's motorcycle contingent
gearing up to spearhead San Francisco's annual Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day
Parade, a parade mainstay for many years. The thunderous roar of their
motorcycles is the signal to the enthusiastically cheering crowd that the
parade is underway. Interviews with these freewheeling participants, during
the final moments leading up to the opening of the big event gives insight into
the togetherness, sensuality, and fun shared by women who love to ride.
Hans Gelke & Paolo Broggi
396 Connecticut St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Trinity
19 min. Narrative
On board a B-29 Superfortress bound for San Francisco, the military crew and
its mysterious cargo are force to crashland in the United States Southwest.
Here amidst the rubble and ruin of their own destruction, they find the plane
crash was not an accident.
Eric Fleming
5555 N. Tamiami Trail
Sarasota, FL 34243
The Catch
14 min. Narrative
"The Catch" is a twisted tale of love, jealousy, and magic's most dangerous
trick - the bullet catch. Twelve magicians have been killed while attempting
this stunt. This film is a glimpse into the lives and psyche of an underground
performance group that may just produce the thirteenth casualty.
Bill Fritz
2111 Princeton Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
The Understudy
85 min. Narrative
"The Understudy" is an intelligent and delightful offbeat tragic-comedy of
mistaken identity with an existential twist. The story entwined the unlikely
fates of Sam Bennet, an amnesiac understudy who thinks he is Hamlet, and Marta,
a Berlitz-babbling Hungarian with visa trouble. Attempting to abandon their
own pasts, the two collide, only to discover that what was once cast off
inevitably lands back at one's feet.
Scott Crocker
PO Box 1326, 17
E. Carbonate, Hailey, ID 83333
Drive Baby Drive
13 min. Narrative
Two couples out for a drive find themselves increasingly trapped by one man's
nihilistic obsession. Flirtation begets betrayal, love conquers nothing in
his mission to right the wrongs trapped inside the claustrophobic car. As they
pick up speed, it becomes clear the trip is an act of absolution, fiery
redemption is at hand.
Paul Rachman
8564 Treenblin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Memory Lane
16 min. Narrative
Twelve year old Eric spends a strange night in the woods and returns
home a man.
Jim Taylor
179 Orchard St. #11
New York, NY 10002
Tongue
25 min. Narrative
One touch of Joe Wagner's tongue to any object tells him more than he'll ever
want to know about it. So how does he kiss someone when he doesn't want to
know everything that's ever been in her mouth? He doesn't. Enter Anna, his
new coworker at Leo's Florist. To kiss, or not to kiss? That is the question.
Let the madness begin. "Tongue" is an offbeat romantic comedy about a man
haunted by an unusual ability: A super sense of taste.
Andy Zare
1346 University Center
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2084
Baby Oil
15min. Narrative
"Baby Oil" is the story of one woman's shower and portrait of three fossilized
lives. Sarah, caught by herself in an unexamined life, lives with her
boyfriend, a charming narcissist with a story to tell and tell again. Sarah
retreats from him, and in a trip through the trash finds her own story.
Michael Cavanaugh
55 28th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
Laura Sobers
30 min. Narrative
"Laura Sobers" is a contemporary dark comedy about a group of addicts and
alcoholics who live on the fringe of the Los Angeles recovery movement.
Bryan Root
1054 Carmona Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
The Belligerents
27min Narrative
"The Belligerents" displays the lives of five people living in a cramped
apartment building. These tenants are linked in a special way. They are at
war with each other. Each person's sick but playful hatred of the other
tenants is shown in a number of quirky engagements. As the days roll by, the
concept of "neighbor" is redefined.
George Jenne
407-D McCauley St.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Angel, Arizona
11min Narrative
An unfortunately true tale of crushed dreams and stale chips.
Kevin Haasarud
2049 Century Park East, Ste 4200
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Buy My Film
3 Min. animation
A less than serious self promotional piece, in mixed media animation.
John Schnall
65 Clinton St.
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Meeting Mr. Subian
26 min. Narrative
A drifter named Irving becomes convinced that God somehow exists in human form
in his city and decides to look for him.
Ben Rock
PO Box 948033
Maitland, FL 32794-8033
Leftovers
15min Narrative
A short film about the relationship between a chronically single guy and
the mold in his refrigerator. A right-on look at slacker love using leftover
Chinese food as a metaphor for a relationship that lingers - late night
desperation - answering machine outpourings and all.
John Derevlany
203-18 38th Ave.
Bayside, NY 11361
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"Without Air" is a slice of life about a young Memphis Blues singer/stripper
named Shay and her struggle to aspire, live , and love. Though she longs to be
"loved right" she is constantly on the run, distancing herself from comfort.
Shay is afraid of change, preferring instead to suffer through messy
relationship with boyfriend Radio. The film shows Shay interacting with unique
characters who add to the tapestry of her life. Each quietly urges Shay in her
process of self-discovery. Through refusing to consciously confront her "inner
self," Shay attempts to free herself from the cycle of pain through singing.
Her talent is the one thing that never fails her, and provides the film with
both compassion and incredible power.
Duncan, a philosophical nomad hitchhiking across America, grabs a ride to Ann
Arbor, Michigan from Toad, a performance artist from the suburbs. Toad has
recently left home to begin a new life and is on his way to see his co-dependent
sister, Jenny. At this time, Jenny is engaged to a verbally abusive law student
named Calvin. Jenny is also working at a coffee house with Squeeze, a closet
genius who is living with her boyfriend, Hank. Hank is a brooding painter who
can't paint because he spends his time and creative energies baking cookies and
practicing being on the "Oprah Winfrey Show". In Ann Arbor, the civilians
listen to Julian, a sociopathic dee-jay whose frustration and pessimism goads
him to find the truth by cutting through '60s idealism, pop culture, and
politically correct bumper stickers. Once in Ann Arbor, Duncan encounters these
and other eccentric characters, and through his simple outlook and curiosity, he
changes their lives forever.
In this touching comedy, we follow Jacques as he bumbles his way through another
day. The newest member of an eccentric troop of trash men, we soon realize that
Jacques is despised by the group, so much so, that they are on the verge of
expelling him completely. To humor themselves, the decision is made to allow
him one last opportunity to prove himself. He must have the vast "Section One"
of the local park spotless before 5pm using "The Stick." What unfolds is a
story of sheer will, determination, and magic in Jacques' attempt to complete
this impossible task.
If your best friend was getting married, you'd throw her a bridal shower, what
friend wouldn't? The trickier question is - suppose you knew her new fiancee
was a cad: would you tell her or would you forever hold your peace? That's the
moral dilemma facing four modern southern debs - how's that for a contradiction
in terms? They jump to the startling conclusion that their best friend's one
true love is also their previous one night stands.
Starring Justine Bateman and Grant Shaud.
10 min. Narrative
This video captures the exhilaration at the women's motorcycle contingent
gearing up to spearhead San Francisco's annual Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day
Parade, a parade mainstay for many years. The thunderous roar of their
motorcycles is the signal to the enthusiastically cheering crowd that the
parade is underway. Interviews with these freewheeling participants, during
the final moments leading up to the opening of the big event gives insight into
the togetherness, sensuality, and fun shared by women who love to ride.
"The Understudy" is an intelligent and delightful offbeat tragic-comedy of
mistaken identity with an existential twist. The story entwined the unlikely
fates of Sam Bennet, an amnesiac understudy who thinks he is Hamlet, and Marta,
a Berlitz-babbling Hungarian with visa trouble. Attempting to abandon their
own pasts, the two collide, only to discover that what was once cast off
inevitably lands back at one's feet.
An unfortunately true tale of crushed dreams and stale chips.
A short film about the relationship between a chronically single guy and
the mold in his refrigerator. A right-on look at slacker love using leftover
Chinese food as a metaphor for a relationship that lingers - late night
desperation - answering machine outpourings and all.