Wednesday 26 July 2000

Apocalypse Later Film Festivals

In 2013, I was asked to put together a film festival for LepreCon, a small sci-fi/fantasy convention in Arizona, as their previous film festival efforts had floundered. I ditched their existing model, which was to treat it as a fundraising opportunity through submission fees, and set up something completely different.

I carefully selected 90 minutes of quality short sci-fi films from around the world, I brought some local filmmakers out for a Q&A, and I finished up with a feature. I also stipulated that the film festival be on the opening night, free of charge and open to the public. I screened to an appreciative crowd and some bought memberships to the con.

This success led to me programming a similar film festival for CopperCon later that year, then no less than eight events in 2014, including a trip to California to present two steampunk sets at San Diego Comic-Fest. I may well exceed that number in 2015 and I'm already planning some of what I'll be doing in 2016.

It certainly keeps me busy and out of trouble but I'm having a blast bringing amazing films to audiences who might otherwise have never seen them. I'm looking forward to expanding to other conventions, other cities and other states.

Here are all the films that I've screened at these various conventions, with titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference. The most recent event is at the top and the earliest at the bottom, with headers breaking up individual sets. FearCon is the only event where I've selected my sets primarily from submissions; almost everything else is researched and programmed by me.

Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic

LepreCon 41 - Phoenix, AZ (Jun 2015)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Japanese Doctor Who 2014 4 4 Joshua Kahan IMDb
Slipperssssssss 2014 4 4 Tuomas Hakala n/a
Focus 2014 5 5 Matt Chesin IMDb
Time Trap 2013 6 6 Michael Shanks IMDb
The Class Analysis 2014 6 6 Webb Pickersgill IMDb
Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer 2010 5 5 Andrew W Jones IMDb
Ouroboros 2014 5 5 Alexander Broderick IMDb
Losers 2013 5 5 Carlos del Rosario IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Fortress 2014 5 5 Dima Fedotof n/a
Flight Fright 2015 5 5 James Politano IMDb
Man vs Woman 2006 5 5 Juan Carlos Vargas IMDb
LiFi 2014 6 5 Preston Peterson & Jason Boesch IMDb
Step Forward 2013 5 5 Ben Jacobson IMDb
Evil Twin 2013 4 4 Christian Pfeil IMDb
RomantiCorp: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Computer 2014 5 5 Kirill Kripak IMDb
Double Trouble 2013 5 5 Andreas Climent & André Hedetoft IMDb
The Developer 2013 6 5 Robert Odegnal IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Chronoscope 2012 4 4 Mario Daoust, Vincent Laurin, Étienne Marcoux & Dominic Remiro n/a
Aether: The Rise of Specter 2015 4 5 Drew Hall & Horst Sarubin n/a
The Mechanics of Underwear 2011 5 5 Charlotte Bolton IMDb
Virus 2005 5 5 Stephen Amis IMDb
Sherlock Holmes and the Stolen Emerald 2013 4 4 Céline Terranova IMDb
Tempus ex Machina 2009 4 5 Andrew Fogel IMDb
Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo 2010 5 5 Joseph Gordon-Levitt IMDb
Valiant 2014 5 5 Robin Phillips IMDb

Phoenix Comicon 2015 - Phoenix, AZ (May 2015)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Steam Speed 2014 6 6 Andrew Ledenev n/a
Tea Time 2014 5 5 J Derek Howard IMDb
SPAGHETT-1 2009 5 5 Adam Varney IMDb
The Clocktower 2008 5 5 Cara Antonelli IMDb
Tick Tock 2014 5 5 Emma Needell & Jake Sally IMDb
The Mechanical Grave 2012 5 5 Jon Keeyes IMDb
Jeff Hunt Band - Caravan 2014 Katherine Stewart n/a

Wild Wild West Con 4 - Tucson, AZ (Mar 2015)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Lindsey Sterling - Roundtable Rival 2014 Everdream n/a
Trial of the Mask 2013 4 4 Cory McBurnett & Bill Reichardt n/a
Step Forward 2013 5 5 Ben Jacobson IMDb
Valiant 2014 5 5 Robin Phillips IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Steam Speed 2014 6 6 Andrew Ledenev n/a
Tea Time 2014 5 5 J Derek Howard IMDb
Tick Tock 2014 5 5 Emma Needell & Jake Sally IMDb
The Clocktower 2008 5 5 Cara Antonelli IMDb
Cowboys & Engines 2015 4 4 Bryn Pryor IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Savant - Kali 47 2014 Mike Diva n/a
The Mechanical Grave 2012 5 5 Jon Keeyes IMDb
The Mechanics of Underwear 2011 5 5 Charlotte Bolton IMDb
1873: The Insidious Intrigue 2013 6 5 Steve Ziolkowski IMDb
Gurdybird - Defiant 'til Tyburn 2014 Tamsyn Swingler & Paul Betowski n/a
Title Year H D Director IMDb
The Deep 2010 5 5 PES IMDb
Sherlock Holmes and the Stolen Emerald 2013 4 4 Céline Terranova IMDb
SPAGHETT-1 2009 5 5 Adam Varney IMDb
Virus 2005 5 5 Stephen Amis IMDb
Jeff Hunt Band - Caravan 2014 Katherine Stewart n/a

FearCon de los Muertos! - Phoenix, AZ (Nov 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Night Mare 2014 5 5 Juan Carlos Camardella n/a
Sometimes It Comes 2013 5 5 Félix Llorente IMDb
Martyn 2013 5 5 Francesco Picone IMDb
Dust Jacket 2013 5 5 Kenneth Miller IMDb
Plush 2011 6 7 Ryan Denmark IMDb
Ghost Light 2014 5 5 P J Germain IMDb
Waterborne 2014 5 5 Ryan Coonan IMDb
Special 2014 5 5 Mikeal Burgin IMDb
Woodman and the American Woman 2013 6 5 Jesús Hernández IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Hellytubby 2012 5 5 Matt Iseminger n/a
Cowboy Ben 2014 5 5 Jon Shaikh & Scott Rawsthorne IMDb
Tin & Tina 2013 5 5 Ruben Stein IMDb
The Heebie-Jeebies 2014 5 5 Todd Slawsby IMDb
Night Guards 2014 5 5 Marko Marinkovic n/a
Sector C-17 2014 5 5 Tim Mattson n/a
Mr Dentonn 2014 5 5 Iván Villamel IMDb
Helsing 2014 6 6 Ryan Johnston IMDb
Bar Talk 2013 6 6 Lowell Northrop IMDb
Roulette 2013 6 5 Dídac Cervera IMDb

San Diego Comic-Fest - San Diego, CA (Oct 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
High TNT 2013 4 4 Kevin McGuiness IMDb
Tea Time 2014 5 5 J Derek Howard IMDb
Valiant 2014 5 5 Robin Phillips IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
The Mechanical Grave 2012 5 5 Jon Keeyes IMDb
The Wishing Skull 2013 5 5 Ben Juhl IMDb
1873: The Insidious Intrigue 2013 6 5 Steve Ziolkowski IMDb
Sprocky Spittoon 2013 4 4 Veronique Chevalier n/a

FANtasm - Avondale, AZ (Aug 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Fhtagn! 2009 5 5 Miguel Santín n/a
Closed Quarters 2014 5 5 Bonnie Sowle IMDb
All I Think of is You 2012 5 5 Shad Clark IMDb
Bar Talk 2013 6 6 Lowell Northrop IMDb
Air 2011 5 5 Keir Burrows IMDb
Restitution 2011 6 5 Justin O'Neal Miller IMDb
Cargols! 2011 5 6 Geoffrey Cowper IMDb
Where Terror Sleeps 2014 4 4 Jake Roberts n/a
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Bad Taste 1987 6 6 Peter Jackson IMDb

Geeks4Good Charity Show for Oakwood Creative Care - Mesa, AZ (Jul 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Logan Must Make Star Wars 2014 5 5 Nathan Blackwell IMDb
Bar Talk 2013 6 6 Lowell Northrop IMDb
Old Jazz 2012 5 5 Elena Albán Lombao, Cintia Fernández Patallo, Josep Miquel Jové Company & Lorena López Pérez n/a
Secret Identity 2011 6 6 Tyler MacIntyre IMDb
Present Tense 2013 5 5 Jaz Garewal IMDb

Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival 2014 - Jerome, AZ (Jun 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Red Sand 2012 6 6 Caleb Evans IMDb
The Duel 2012 5 4 Robert Garcia IMDb
Black Gulch 2003 5 5 Michael Strode IMDb
Secret Identity 2011 6 6 Tyler MacIntyre IMDb
The Wishing Skull 2013 5 5 Ben Juhl IMDb
Gadget 2012 4 4 A J Young IMDb
Logan Must Make Star Wars 2014 5 5 Nathan Blackwell IMDb
Terminus 2014 5 5 Angel Ruiz n/a
Present Tense 2013 5 5 Jaz Garewal IMDb
Heart Pumping Oil 2014 5 5 Ben Juhl IMDb
Closed Quarters 2014 5 5 Bonnie Sowle IMDb

LepreCon 40 - Phoenix, AZ (May 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Logan Must Make Star Wars 2014 5 5 Nathan Blackwell IMDb
Trial of the Mask 2013 4 4 Cory McBurnett & Bill Reichardt n/a
Terminus 2014 5 5 Angel Ruiz n/a
Timeholes 2013 5 5 Ben Mallaby IMDb
The Secret Keeper 2011 6 6 Bears Fonté IMDb
Present Tense 2013 5 5 Jaz Garewal IMDb
Elephants Dream 2006 4 4 Bassam Kurdali IMDb
Sight 2012 6 6 Daniel Lazo & Eran May-Raz IMDb
Evergreen 2006 6 6 Iphigeneia Kotsoni IMDb

Wild Wild West Con III - Tucson, AZ (Mar 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
A Gentlemen's Duel 2006 5 5 Sean McNally & Francisco Ruiz-Velasco IMDb
Legacy 2012 5 5 Adam Floeck IMDb
Airship Dracula 2012 5 5 Mike Roberts IMDb
Invention of Love 2010 5 5 Andrey Shushkov IMDb
Consurgo 2009 5 5 Tom Hankins, René Hoekstra & Gijs van Kooten n/a
High TNT 2013 4 4 Kevin McGuiness IMDb
Sprocky Spittoon 2013 4 4 Veronique Chevalier n/a
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Dr Grordbort Presents: The Deadliest Game 2011 5 5 James Cunningham IMDb
Gadget 2012 4 4 A J Young IMDb
Tinkerbell 2011 5 5 Nicholas Humphries n/a
The Anachronism 2008 5 5 Matthew Gordon Long IMDb
The Wishing Skull 2013 5 5 Ben Juhl IMDb
The Watchmaker's Son 2008 5 5 Brandon McCormick n/a

DarkCon 2014 - Phoenix, AZ (Jan 2014)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Exoids 2012 6 6 Aristomenis Tsirbas IMDb
Perspective 2011 5 5 Mehmet Can Kocak IMDb
Consurgo 2009 5 5 Tom Hankins, René Hoekstra & Gijs van Kooten n/a
Old Jazz 2012 5 5 Elena Albán Lombao, Cintia Fernández Patallo, Josep Miquel Jové Company & Lorena López Pérez n/a
Sebastian's Voodoo 2008 6 6 Joaquin Baldwin IMDb
High TNT 2013 4 4 Kevin McGuiness IMDb
Retina 2003 Violet Suk & Martin Koch n/a
Reign of Death 2009 6 6 Matthew Savage IMDb
ROSA 2011 5 5 Jesus Orellana IMDb
The Wishing Skull 2013 5 5 Ben Juhl IMDb
Frank DanCoolo: Paranormal Drug Dealer 2010 5 5 Andrew W Jones IMDb
The Maker 2011 6 6 Christopher Kezelos IMDb
Helsing 2014 6 6 Ryan Johnston IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Eyeborgs 2009 5 6 Richard Clabaugh IMDb

CopperCon Revolution - Mesa, AZ (Aug 2013)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Freeborn 2010 5 5 Carlo Treviso IMDb
Chameleon 2012 6 6 Samuel Lemberg IMDb
Ellie 2012 6 5 Ricky Lloyd George IMDb
R'Ha 2013 6 5 Kaleb Lechowski IMDb
Secret Identity 2011 6 6 Tyler MacIntyre IMDb
Doctor Glamour 2011 5 6 Andrew W Jones IMDb
Archetype 2011 6 6 Aaron Sims IMDb
Tears of Steel 2012 5 5 Ian Hubert IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
The War of the Worlds: The True Story 2012 5 5 Timothy Hines IMDb

LepreCon 39 - Mesa, AZ (May 2013)
Title Year H D Director IMDb
Rampage: Project Vermillion 2012 5 5 Justin Calen Chenn IMDb
Red Sand 2012 6 6 Caleb Evans IMDb
The Duel 2012 5 4 Robert Garcia IMDb
Second Chances 2013 4 4 Jon Ray IMDb
We are One 2012 5 5 Andrew David Clark IMDb
Black Gulch 2003 5 5 Michael Strode IMDb
The Guy Knows Everything 2012 6 6 Joops Fragale IMDb
Title Year H D Director IMDb
The Constant Epiphanies of Billy the Blood Donor 2007 4 4 Nathan Blackwell IMDb

Monday 24 July 2000

Charlie Chaplin Centennial


A few years ago, a friend of mine experienced something that he found shocking and he shared it with me. I not only found it shocking too, but felt like I should do something about it and the result is this project which will run throughout 2014.

It's all about Charlie Chaplin, the greatest name in film comedy, and just how recognisable he is and was.

Only a couple of years into his career, which began at Keystone Studios one hundred years ago as I write, he had become not only the most recognisable actor in the world but arguably the most recognisable image too. Wherever on the globe you might happen to be, the locals would know the silhouette of his most famous character, the Little Tramp, whom he portrayed in the majority of his films.

Today, a century later, the modern equivalent might be the golden arches of McDonalds, the MTV logo or Mickey Mouse's ears, but surely the Little Tramp hasn't been forgotten? Well, apparently so, as my friend discovered.
That friend is Jim Politano, a local filmmaker who won an IFP Phoenix Audience Favourite award for his short film Love Sucks and who cast my better half in his thematic follow up, The Sisters of St Mary's. The occasion was the Intro to Cinema class he was attending at Scottsdale Community College (SCC), run by Ed Everroad. The spark was a textbook, Flashback: A Brief History of Film, by Louis Giannetti and Scott Eyman.

I have a copy of this book too, but mine is the third edition with Forrest Gump on the cover. The edition Jim had was a custom 2006 edition for SCC with a cover depicting Charlie Chaplin dressed as the Little Tramp and standing next to an old furnace.

It's a scene from his 1925 classic, The Gold Rush, which the American Film Institute voted the 74th greatest American picture of all time in their original Top 100 list and the early film aficionados at SilentEra.com voted the 6th greatest silent movie.

The class Jim was in numbered about thirty, most of them young adults of the sort of age you'd expect to be in a college class but with a handful of mature students too. A dozen or so were working through the film program at SCC. While such students would surely expect to learn something about the history of film in an Intro to Cinema class, you might also expect them to have brought at least a little background with them.

Yet the student in front of Jim turned round and asked him, 'Who is this dude on the cover?' A few of these folk had at least heard of Chaplin but nobody except Jim apparently knew who he was.

That is a scary thought. The Little Tramp has deteriorated from being the most recognisable image in the world to being an unrecognisable 'dude on the cover' of a textbook. The man who did more than anyone to move screen comedy forward from its juvenile slapstick days to something approaching high art has been forgotten by even students in a cinema class. I can hear the collective sigh of classic film fans everywhere at this news. To use a quote the people in this class might have recognised, it's 'as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.'

Jim's experience resonated with me for a few years until I realised at the tail end of 2013 that the coming February would mark the centennial of Chaplin's debut on film in the Keystone farce comedy, Making a Living. The time seemed ripe for me to revisit the 36 films he made in 1914 and review them from the perspective of how they evolved over that year because of the new approaches that Chaplin was bringing to the screen.

Another trigger was the new availability of these films in remastered editions in the Flicker Alley DVD box set, Chaplin at Keystone. This contains all 34 of the extant shorts that Chaplin made at Keystone Studios in 1914 (Her Friend the Bandit is still presumed lost), along with the first American comedy feature, Tillie's Punctured Romance, and half of the recently rediscovered short, A Thief Catcher, featuring Chaplin as a Keystone Kop. Flicker Alley will release the entire short later this year in The Mack Sennett Collection, Vol 1, which I've happily pre-ordered.

I'd seen the majority of these films before, but only in public domain prints that are readily available for cheap, or viewable for free online at the Internet Archive or even YouTube.

These are frankly awful: they're washed out to the degree that it's usually tough to ascertain any detail whatsoever and they're often incomplete because of skipped frames and missing reels. I wasn't particularly impressed when I worked through them most of a decade ago.

Watching them afresh from the Chaplin at Keystone box is a revelatory experience. They're certainly not the classics that Chaplin would go on to make in later years, but they're much better than I could ever have believed from the cheap public domain prints. Now I can see faces and subtleties that bring whole new life and meaning to the films. Even the original intertitles have been restored.

Don't just take my word for it. SilentEra.com has compared the different releases of some of these films and found most seriously wanting. As an example, here's their comparison of versions of Making a Living. Unless someone discovers Her Friend the Bandit or works some sort of new digital magic, Chaplin at Keystone is likely to remain the only recommended release of these films. It can be bought here at Flicker Alley's website.

Flicker Alley did Chaplin's legacy a great service with this box set. Hopefully I can add a little more to that with this set of reviews.

I'm working through them slowly, as if it was 1914 not 2014, and posting each review a hundred years to the day from its original release.

Note: I've now completed this project, which will see book form in January 2015. However, I'll continue to review Chaplin's films on their centennials, beginning with his Essanay films of 1915 and 1916. The next review to post will be His New Job on Sunday, 1st February, 2015.

Here are all the films Chaplin appeared in during 1914, with titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference.

My ratings for films reviewed are from fresh viewings from Chaplin at Keystone. Those for films not yet reviewed are from viewings of public domain prints almost a decade ago. With a third of the films revisited, my ratings have generally increased by a point or two.

Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic

Charlie Chaplin's Films for Keystone
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Making a Living 1914 3 3 Henry Lehrman IMDb
Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal 1914 3 4 Henry Lehrman IMDb
Mabel's Strange Predicament 1914 4 4 Mabel Normand IMDb
A Thief Catcher 1914 3 3 Henry Lehrman IMDb
Between Showers 1914 4 4 Henry Lehrman IMDb
A Film Johnnie 1914 5 5 George Nichols IMDb
Tango Tangles 1914 4 4 Mack Sennett IMDb
His Favorite Pastime 1914 4 4 George Nichols IMDb
Cruel, Cruel Love 1914 4 4 George Nichols IMDb
The Star Boarder 1914 5 5 George Nichols IMDb
Mabel at the Wheel 1914 4 5 Mabel Normand IMDb
Twenty Minutes of Love 1914 4 4 Joseph Maddern & Charles Chaplin IMDb
Caught in a Cabaret 1914 4 4 Mabel Normand IMDb
Caught in the Rain 1914 5 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
A Busy Day 1914 4 5 Mack Sennett IMDb
The Fatal Mallet 1914 4 4 Mack Sennett IMDb
Her Friend the Bandit 1914 Mack Sennett IMDb
The Knockout 1914 4 4 Mack Sennett IMDb
Mabel's Busy Day 1914 2 2 Mack Sennett IMDb
Mabel's Married Life 1914 4 4 Mack Sennett IMDb
Laughing Gas 1914 5 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
The Property Man 1914 5 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
The Face on the Bar Room Floor 1914 4 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Recreation 1914 4 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
The Masquerader 1914 5 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
His New Profession 1914 4 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
The Rounders 1914 5 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
The New Janitor 1914 5 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Those Love Pangs 1914 4 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Dough and Dynamite 1914 6 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Gentlemen of Nerve 1914 3 3 Charles Chaplin IMDb
His Musical Career 1914 4 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
His Trysting Place 1914 5 4 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Getting Acquainted 1914 5 5 Charles Chaplin IMDb
His Prehistoric Past 1914 3 3 Charles Chaplin IMDb
Tillie's Punctured Romance 1914 4 4 Mack Sennett IMDb

Friday 21 July 2000

Filmstock 2014

Filmstock runs a set of four film festivals every year in the four corner states: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. In addition to running a competition in each state each year, Filmstock cycles some of the winners around to screen as special engagements in other states, effectively working as its very own festival circuit.

I had a blast at the Arizona part of Filmstock 2013 and I'm looking forward to the three days this year at the Harkins Valley Art in Tempe and the festival parties at Rúla Búla.

Here are all the films screening at each of the four events this year, with titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference.

Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic

The Pursuit of Happiness
Sophie's Fortune 2014 Chris Cronin IMDb
The Joneses 2014 Alejandro Montaya Marín IMDb
The Things My Father Never Taught Me 2012 6 5 Burleigh Smith IMDb
Happily Ever After 2012 5 5 Yonni Aroussi & Ben Genislaw IMDb
The Princess and the Musician 2014 Alejandro Montaya Marín IMDb
Love Notes 2013 5 5 Ryan Scheer IMDb
S is for Bird 2012 Matt Sadawski IMDb
Mean Teddies Tyler Novo n/a
SuperFuzz 2013 6 6 David Towles-Moore IMDb

Student Shorts Showcase
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
O-Star 2014 Dima Otvertchenko IMDb
Rabbit and Deer 2013 Péter Vácz IMDb
Dirty Laundry 2013 4 5 Gustavo Martin IMDb
First Lesson in Love 2012 5 5 Tomer Werechson IMDb
12 Likes 2013 Anne Chlosta IMDb

Short Docs, Big World
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
A Beautiful Waste 2012 5 5 Jon Kasbe IMDb
Keeper of the Mountains 2013 5 5 Allison Otto IMDb
Backyard 2013 Deia Schlosberg IMDb
Wild New Brave 2014 Oakley Anderson-Moore IMDb

The Human Experience
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Ballad of the Boatman 2014 Andy Kastelic IMDb
For Lotte 2013 Viviane Andereggen IMDb
Puget Sound, WA Djochoua Belovarski n/a
The Last Piper 2013 4 4 Iain Forbes IMDb
Inseparable 2007 6 6 Nick White IMDb
Fix 2014 Colton Moyer IMDb
Insecurity 2013 5 5 Robert Brink IMDb

Shorts in the Dark
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
A Stray 2013 5 5 Hayden Blades IMDb
Hellyfish 2014 Patrick Longstreth & Robert McLean IMDb
Melon Head 2013 Andy Fortenbacher IMDb
Mr Bear 2011 Andres Rosende IMDb
Call Girl 2014 Jill Gevargizia IMDb
Service 2014 Jerry Pyle IMDb

Short Docs, Big World
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Strong 2014 Nelson Carayannis n/a
A Beautiful Waste 2012 5 5 Jon Kasbe IMDb
Ice 2013 Barry Stevenson n/a
Sky is Not Empty! 2014 Yaser Talebi n/a
Backyard 2013 Deia Schlosberg IMDb
Wild New Brave 2014 Oakley Anderson-Moore IMDb

Shorts for Laughs!
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Mile High Evan Nix n/a
Happily Ever After 2012 5 5 Yonni Aroussi & Ben Genislaw IMDb
Love Notes 2013 5 5 Ryan Scheer IMDb
Moving Buddies Evan Nix n/a
Zugzwang 2013 Yolanda Centeno IMDb
The Joneses 2014 Alejandro Montaya Marín IMDb
Dollar Night Marco Antonio Martinez IMDb
A Ride Towards the Sea 2014 Damien Stein IMDb
O-Star 2014 Dima Otvertchenko IMDb

Drama Salad
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Moving Day 2014 Samuel Z P Thomas IMDb
Insecurity 2013 5 5 Robert Brink IMDb
Apparition 2013 5 5 Jahanara Saleh IMDb
Old School 2013 Ilker Çatak IMDb
Festus 2014 Shawn Snyder IMDb
The Last Piper 2013 4 4 Iain Forbes IMDb
Inseparable 2007 6 6 Nick White IMDb

The Pursuit of Happiness
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Sign Heist 2014 Connor Rickman IMDb
Steve from Accounting vs The Shadow Dwellers 2012 5 4 Patrick & Paul Gibbs IMDb
The Joneses 2014 Alejandro Montaya Marín IMDb
O-Star 2014 Dima Otvertchenko IMDb
Insecurity 2013 5 5 Robert Brink IMDb
Shooting Oliver 2013 Daniel Clements IMDb

Shorts in the Dark
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Mr Bear 2011 Andres Rosende IMDb
A Stray 2013 5 5 Hayden Blades IMDb
For Clearer Skies 2012 Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi IMDb
The Routine 2014 Brian Groh IMDb
Asami 2014 Daniel Farkas IMDb

Short Docs, Big World
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Backyard 2013 Deia Schlosberg IMDb
Wild New Brave 2014 Oakley Anderson-Moore IMDb
Strong 2014 Nelson Carayannis n/a
Ice 2013 Barry Stevenson n/a
Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution 2013 Matthew Vandyke IMDb
Ladies' Man 2014 Lee Quinby IMDb

Drama Salad
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
The Last Piper 2013 4 4 Iain Forbes IMDb
Balius 2013 Kenneth Larson IMDb
A Little Scar 2014 Jahanara Saleh IMDb
Inseparable 2007 6 6 Nick White IMDb
A Ride Towards the Sea 2014 Damien Stein IMDb
Scrabble 2014 6 6 Cristian Sulser IMDb
The Window 2013 Adam Morse IMDb

Flashback
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
SuperFuzz 2013 6 6 David Towles-Moore IMDb
Vinyl 2010 Jay Lee IMDb
Prometeo 2012 Ignacio F Rodó, Josep M Gifreu & Laia R San Juan IMDb
The Window 2013 Adam Morse IMDb
Next Day Delivery 2010 Jeremy Clayton & Bobby Shook IMDb
Paint Life Beautiful 2012 Brandon Barnard & Mark Susan n/a

Animated Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
The Prize Inside 2014 Reece Porter IMDb
Crocodile 2014 Wendi & Wenting Wu IMDb
To Edgar 2013 Ewa Łuczków IMDb
Welcome to Fantasy Island 2014 Lena Greene n/a
The Pride of Strathmoor 2014 Einar Baldvin IMDb
A Ride Towards the Sea 2014 Damien Stein IMDb
Pseudo Evolution 2014 Alexandre Juruena n/a
Really Bad Movie! 2013 Jasin Sloan IMDb
Chloé 2014 4 4 Quentin Nigues n/a
The Astronomer's Sun 2010 Simon Cartwright & Jessica Cope IMDb
Jinxy Jenkins, Lucky Lou 2014 Michael Bidinger & Michelle Kwon IMDb

The Darker Side of Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Scrabble 2014 6 6 Cristian Sulser IMDb
The Routine 2014 Brian Groh IMDb
For Clearer Skies 2012 Alfredo Salvatore Arcilesi IMDb
Red Stains 2013 Magdalena Lauritsch IMDb
Belly of the Whale 2014 5 5 Kyle Gerkin IMDb
The Only Man 2013 6 6 Jos Man IMDb
Mr Bear 2011 Andres Rosende IMDb

Fresh Off the Docs
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Children of the Holocaust 2014 6 7 Zane Whittingham n/a
Slomo 2013 Joshua Izenberg IMDb
Be with Me 2013 5 5 Michael Terrill IMDb

The Fast and the Fun
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
O-Star 2014 Dima Otvertchenko IMDb
The Joneses 2014 Alejandro Montaya Marín IMDb
Bright Eyes 2013 5 5 Jamie Rivera IMDb
Should've Been an Engineer 2011 5 5 Jason Smart IMDb
Stolen Afternoon 2014 5 5 Aaron Kes IMDb
Sheltered Love 2014 Alex Italics IMDb
Focus 2014 5 5 Matt Chesin IMDb
Running Down Pathe 2013 Mateo Trujillo-Hobbs IMDb

Critically Acclaimed Docs
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Wild New Brave 2014 Oakley Anderson-Moore IMDb
Strong 2014 Nelson Carayannis n/a
Ice 2013 Barry Stevenson n/a
Backyard 2013 Deia Schlosberg IMDb
Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution 2013 Matthew Vandyke IMDb

Drama Salad
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Decimation 2013 Wade Jackson IMDb
Rab da Vaasta... 2013 Chakravarty Devulapalli IMDb
Final Stroke 2013 Anne Chlosta IMDb
Tu & Eu 2011 Edward Shieh IMDb
Moths 2014 Andy Fortenbacher IMDb

Filmstock Arizona 2013

Filmstock runs a number of film festivals every year in the four corner states: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. In addition to running a competition in each state each year, Filmstock cycles some of the winners to screen as special engagements in other states, effectively working as its own festival circuit.

Filmstock has been running since 2009 but I'm new to it with the Filmstock Arizona 2013 screenings that are coming up at Tempe Pollack Cinemas between 5th and 7th December.

The event runs over three days with a number of selections of short films, introduced by local actors of note. This event will see selections presented by James Ray, Greg Renfro, Victoria Paege, Shane Dean, Tiffany Shepis, Laurie Love and Greg Bronson.

Here are all the films screening at this event this year, with titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference.

Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic

Documentary Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Into the Black 2012 5 5 Dae Hyun Song IMDb
A Beautiful Waste 2012 5 5 Jon Kasbe IMDb
Keeper of the Mountains 2013 5 5 Allison Otto IMDb

Drama in Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Elegy for a Revolutionary 2013 5 5 Paul Van Zyl IMDb
Inseparable 2007 6 6 Nick White IMDb
Brightwood 2012 5 5 L Gabriel Gonda IMDb
Insecurity 2013 5 5 Robert Brink IMDb
Ta 2013 5 5 Kunlakan Chanakan Mamber IMDb

Actors' Showcase with Animated and Art Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Highway Duel 2013 4 4 Auburn Hodgson Setlogelo IMDb
Ritz & Spitz 2012 4 5 Kirby Ann White IMDb
Apparition 2013 5 5 Jahanara Saleh IMDb

Comedy in Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Love Notes 2013 5 5 Ryan Scheer IMDb
Silent Treatment 2013 5 5 Mark Lobatto IMDb
Spare Real Gun 2012 4 4 Jayme Davis IMDb
The Things My Father Never Taught Me 2012 6 5 Burleigh Smith IMDb
The Worst Best Man 2013 4 4 Kenny Colt IMDb
El Western 2013 5 5 Ivan Malekin IMDb
Happily Ever After 2012 5 5 Yonni Aroussi & Ben Genislaw IMDb
SuperFuzz 2013 6 6 David Towles-Moore IMDb

High Drama
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
A Stray 2013 5 5 Hayden Blades IMDb
Those That Play Your Clowns 2013 6 5 John M Broadhead IMDb
The Last Piper 2013 4 4 Iain Forbes IMDb
Menschen 2012 5 5 Sarah R Lotfi IMDb