Tuesday 11 July 2000

Phoenix Film Festival 2019



The Phoenix Film Festival is the premier festival from the Phoenix Film Foundation and the largest film festival within the city of Phoenix, now in its 19th year.

Last year's big expansion amounted to 97 features and 77 short films. This year's comparable, with 91 features and 80 shorts, though oddly one film counts towards both of those numbers. That doesn't count the 17 short films screening in the Arizona Student Film Festival.

And, of course, all that's excluding the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, which I still think of as a separate event even if it technically hasn't been since 2010. I maintain a separate index page for this year's IHSFFF.

The event runs from 4th to 14th April in 2017, including two weekends, which makes for a long but enjoyable event. The Phoenix Film Festival competition films screen early over the opening weekend with the usual award ceremony. The week that follows includes encore screenings, more showcase features and warms up to the IHSFFF taking over on the second weekend, which is also the time for Arizona shorts.

As is now usual, the weekday scheduling includes daytime slots, allowing many to see more films than was previously possible. An event pass has never been better value.

There are some minor changes to programming. The competition features expand from ten films to twelve. There's a Cultural Diplomacy block, which includes five features. The Showcase features include a number of classics, not just recent ones but titles going back to Duck Soup and The Invisible Man in the precode era. There are only two sets of Documentary Shorts this year, simply delineated A and B.

Here are all the films scheduled to screen this year, with titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference. Features are listed in alphabetical order per set. Shorts are listed in the order they're screening per set. Films screened as part of the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival are covered on a separate page.

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

Arizona Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Eleven Eleven 2018 Chris Redish IMDb
Killing Margery Keller 2019 Gordon Ian Green IMDb
Raising Buchanan 2019 Bruce Dellis IMDb

Competition Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Boom 2018 Jordan Albertsen IMDb
Cruel Hearts 2018 Paul Osborne IMDb
General Magic 2018 Sarah Kerruish & Matt Maude IMDb
The Grounds 2019 Peter O'Melia IMDb
Hudson Sean D. Cunningham IMDb
Off the Rails 2018 Damian Fitzsimmons IMDb
This World Alone 2018 Jordan Noel IMDb
Vanilla 2019 Will Dennis IMDb
Volition 2019 Tony Dean Smith IMDb
The Weight of Water 2018 Michael Brown IMDb
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin 2018 Arwen Curry IMDb
The Wrong Todd 2018 Rob Schulbaum IMDb

Cultural Diplomacy Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Fireflies 2018 Bani Khoshnoudi IMDb
The Fireflies are Gone 2018 Sébastien Pilote IMDb
Jan Palach 2018 Robert Sedlácek IMDb
Rusty Boys 2017 Andy Bausch IMDb
Secret Ingredient 2017 Gjorce Stavreski IMDb

LGBTQ Showcase
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Consequences 2018 Darko Štante IMDb
The Garden Left Behind 2019 Flavio Alves IMDb
Southern Pride 2018 Malcolm Ingram IMDb

Showcase Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
All Creatures Here Below 2018 Colin Schiffli IMDb
All is True 2018 Kenneth Branagh IMDb
An American Tail 1986 Don Bluth IMDb
Back Fork 2019 Josh Stewart IMDb
Batkid Begins 2015 Dana Nachman IMDb
Before Sunset 2004 Richard Linklater IMDb
Beneath Us 2019 Max Pachman IMDb
The Biggest Little Farm 2018 John Chester IMDb
Brian Banks 2018 Tom Shadyac IMDb
Chronicle 2012 Josh Trank IMDb
Collisions 2018 Richard Levien IMDb
Connected: The Joe Polish Story Nick Nanton n/a
Cry-Baby 1990 6 7 John Waters IMDb
The Deer Hunter 1978 6 6 Michael Cimino IMDb
Disneynature's Penguins 2019 Alastair Fothergill & Jeff Wilson IMDb
Duck Soup 1933 6 5 Leo McCarey IMDb
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile 2019 Joe Berlinger IMDb
Fantastic Mr. Fox 2009 Wes Anderson IMDb
The Farewell 2019 Lulu Wang IMDb
Favor 2013 6 6 Paul Osborne IMDb
The French Connection 1971 6 6 William Friedkin IMDb
Geek, and You Shall Find Brad Faye n/a
Hail Satan? 2019 Penny Lane IMDb
Heart, Baby! 2017 Angela Shelton IMDb
In the Heat of the Night 1967 7 7 Norman Jewison IMDb
An Innocent Kiss 2019 Jason Shirley IMDb
The Invisible Man 1933 7 7 James Whale IMDb
Life without Basketball 2018 Tim O'Donnell & Jon Mercer IMDb
Little Woods 2018 Nia DaCosta IMDb
Live from the Astroturf, Alice Cooper 2019 Steven Gaddis IMDb
Loro 2018 Paolo Sorrentino IMDb
Lost Holiday 2019 Michael Kerry & Thomas Matthews IMDb
Midnight Cowboy 1969 6 6 John Schlesinger IMDb
Midnight Traveler 2019 Hassan Fazili IMDb
Mike Wallace is Here 2019 Avi Belkin IMDb
Mountain Rest 2018 Alex O. Eaton IMDb
Ode to Joy 2019 Jason Winer IMDb
Ophelia 2018 Claire McCarthy IMDb
Original Sin 2018 Jean Lee IMDb
The Proposal 2018 Jill Magid IMDb
Prosecuting Evil 2018 Barry Avrich IMDb
Red Joan 2018 Trevor Nunn IMDb
Speed of Life Liz Manashil IMDb
Spell 2018 Brendan Walter IMDb
Sprinter 2018 Storm Saulter IMDb
Stand by Me 1986 6 7 Rob Reiner IMDb
Summer Night 2019 Joseph Cross IMDb
Surprise Me! 2017 Nancy Goodman IMDb
Teen Spirit 2018 Max Minghella IMDb
Tell It to the Bees 2018 Annabel Jankel IMDb
Them That Follow 2019 Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage IMDb
The Tomorrow Man 2019 Noble Jones IMDb
Vita & Virginia 2018 Chanya Button IMDb
While I Breathe, I Hope 2018 Emily L. Harrold IMDb
The White Crow 2018 Ralph Fiennes IMDb
Wild Rose 2018 Tom Harper IMDb
Wildland 2019 Jeanette Nordahl IMDb

Unified by Film Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
The Charlie Movie 2017 Bobby Huntley IMDb
Inner City Rats Sam Garcia Southern IMDb

World Cinema Feature Films
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Curtiz 2018 Tamas Yvan Topolanszky IMDb
Doing Money 2018 Lynsey Miller IMDb
Families Like Yours 2017 Rodolfo Eduardo Moro IMDb
Finding Alice 2018 Pablo Fernandez IMDb
Modified 2017 Aube Giroux IMDb
The River Within 2018 Ivan Botha IMDb
What Men Long For 2018 Rudolf Havlik IMDb
Wolves Unleashed: Against All Odds 2018 Andrew Simpson IMDb

African American Directed Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Disco Head Lindsey Oblitey n/a
Pink & Blue 2016 James Parris IMDb
Gamers 2018 Searit Huluf IMDb
ASIA A 2018 Andrew Reid IMDb
Birth of Afrobeat 2018 Opiyo Okeyo IMDb
Trio 2019 Kevin Giles IMDb
White Noise 2018 Frida Perez IMDb
The Treadmill 2018 Stefan Dezil IMDb
Utopia Aimiende Negbenebor Sela IMDb

Animated Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Lullaby Theories: Babies & Babies & Babies Clara Lehmann & Jonathan Lacocque n/a
Toasted 2018 Chad Janusch IMDb
L' homme et le poisson Lewis Leon n/a
The Blues Crab 2018 Ari Rubenstein IMDb
The Seasons of Saguaro Sam 2018 Brian O'Connor IMDb
Novalis Chris Powell n/a
The Indies: An Animated Short 2018 DJ Tony Blake & Chaz Bottoms IMDb
Red Tape 2018 David St. Clair IMDb
Pour 585 2018 Patrick Smith IMDb
Bristled 2018 Scott Farrell IMDb
Mogu and Perol Tsuneo Goda n/a

Arizona Shorts A
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Lovers 2017 Nell Teare IMDb
Schwagged 2018 Adolpho Navarro IMDb
Cosplay vs. The World Katie Owens & Vic Rincon n/a
Sweetheart Chris Wilembrecht n/a
Tender Matches 2018 Cassandra Nicholson IMDb
Glitter Jeff Fields & Kannon n/a
Consortium: A Prologue 2017 Sheila Patterson IMDb
Levi Craig Dean Devine IMDb
Directions to Albuquerque Angela Houston n/a
Improbable 2018 Ryan Glauser IMDb

Arizona Shorts B
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Imaginary Bullets 2018 Sean Oliver IMDb
Me. 2018 Alyssa Eshelman IMDb
Heart of Gold 2019 Justin Lee Stanley IMDb
Teaching in Arizona Lisa Molomot n/a

Arizona Student Film Festival
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Don't Move Madyson Tutt n/a
The Dognapping Inconvenience Jackson Stake n/a
Box of Crayons Chelsea Selestewa n/a
My Drive with Dick Brendan Alcott n/a
Paranoia Julio Ramirez n/a
Ang Pangarap Isa Soriano n/a
Transitions Michael Placenti n/a
Game Night Antonio Smith-Plata n/a
Allegory of Time Jason Breinholt n/a
Memory of Seth Tyler Watson n/a
Psyche Thomas Timberlake n/a
Interview with Eleanor Isa Soriano n/a
Copious Aaron Zier n/a
A Woman's Touch Kaelyn Starrs n/a
The Journey Abigail Drake n/a
How to Romance Casey Likes n/a
The Journey of a Dream Patrick Jackson n/a

College Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Lemonade Keegan Carlson n/a
Esta es tu Cuba 2018 Brian Robau IMDb
Homecoming 2018 Jennifer Blair IMDb
The Incident 2017 Meedo Taha IMDb
How to Live Your Life Correctly 2018 Xindi Lou IMDb
Snowball 2019 Paul Rivet IMDb

Documentary Shorts A
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Jim's Camelot 2018 Evan Falbaum IMDb
The Battle for Ranked Choice Voting 2018 Julie Mallozzi IMDb
Kenny Lukas Korver n/a
Dust Rising Lauren Schwartzman n/a
Forgotten 2018 Daniel Soares IMDb

Documentary Shorts B
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Live from the Astroturf, Alice Cooper 2019 Steven Gaddis IMDb
Out of the Shadows 2019 Adrienne von Wolffersdorff IMDb

Latino American Directed Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Without Shame David E. Valdez n/a
Abuela's Luck 2018 Ricky Rosario IMDb
Pozole 2019 Jessica Mendez Siqueiros IMDb
Manos que nos hicieron 2018 Julius Austin Olivas IMDb
A Period Piece Sylvia Ray IMDb
Her Body 2018 Juan Avella IMDb
ME 3.769 2019 Elaine del Valle IMDb
Paradise Terrace 2018 Pedro Perez Nuñez IMDb

Live Action Shorts A
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
The Parable of the Disappearing Recliner 2017 Elisabeth Gray IMDb
A Boy's Fear 2018 Samson Alli IMDb
Scrap 2018 Leena Pendharkar IMDb
Just a Question 2018 Roy Eisenstein IMDb
Jameson 2018 John Humber IMDb
A Cohort of Guests 2019 Todd Sandler IMDb
Eclipse 1996 Jason Ruscio IMDb

Live Action Shorts B
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Peggy 2018 Justin O'Neal Miller IMDb
Soliloquy 2018 Marion Kerr IMDb
Suncatcher 2018 Parker Croft IMDb
Every Other Weekend 2018 Josh Victor Rothstein IMDb
A Civilized Life 2018 Victoria Keon-Cohen IMDb
Disappearing Inka 2018 Nathan Cole IMDb
Never Land 2019 Brett Smith IMDb

Native American Directed Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Odd Timbre 2018 Matthew George IMDb
Crooked Lauren DeJolie n/a
Telling People You're Native American When You're Not Native is a Lot Like Telling a Bear You're a Bear When You're Not a Bear 2018 Joey Clift IMDb
Light 2016 Sarah Hennigan IMDb
Cowboy 2017 6 5 Boise Esquerra IMDb

World Cinema Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Melodi 2017 Michael Kam IMDb
Generations 2018 Sune Sorensen IMDb
Love Pool 2018 Asim Chaudhry IMDb
The Loss 2018 Machu Latorre IMDb
Over the Wall 2018 Roy Zafrani IMDb
A Wreck in Paradise 2018 François Zaïdi IMDb

No comments: