Berkeley Video & Film Festival
2005
AWARDS
Official Selections
*****Grand Festival
Special Recognition Award
"Soldier of God"
- Mir Bahmanyar - Feature - 94:00 - World Premiere
A Knight Templar finds himself alone and hallucinating in the desert
- separated from his army. He meets a mysterious stranger - and together
they journey to a tragic fate.
Sat, Oct 29 - 9:08pm
"Apartment 202"
- Kelleth Chinn - Feature - 86:00 - Premiere
Two American roommates have their lives changed by a pair of beautiful
foreigners in this romantic comedy with an international perspective.
Fri, Oct 28 - 9:39pm
*****Grand Festival
Special Recognition Disc Makers Award
"Winning the Peace"
- Eli Akira Kaufman - Student Filmmaker - 18:00 - Premiere
An Iraqi-American Marine returns to Iraq to redeem his place of birth
only to destroy the People he hoped to save.
Fri, Oct 28 - 9:21pm
*****Grand Festival
Special Recognition Avid Award
"Weights and Measures"
- Tom Toro - Student Filmmaker - 7:00 - Premiere
A Building inspector brought to investigate a Japanese restaurant
becomes embroiled in a blackmail plot by the owner and his wife.
Sat, Oct 29 - 9:01pm
*****Grand Festival
Special Recognition Gorilla Awards
"V.O." - Peter
Bolte - Short Feature -14:00 - Premiere
Coincidence proves ironic when Sonny Di Luzzia succumbs to a twist
in fate.
Sun, Oct 30 - 9:49pm
"Carhenge: Genius
or Junk" - David Liban - Short Documentary
- 29:00 - Premiere
Carhenge is a to-scale replica of Stonehenge made out of junked cars.
This is the story of how it came to be and what obstacles the creator,
Jim Reinders, faced along the way.
Sat, Oct 29 - 8:12pm
"One Man's Treasure"
- R.G. Shalhoub - Ethnographic - 30:00 - Premiere
"One Man's Treasure" examines Syrian-American peddlers in
Boston as junque passion becomes obsession becomes demolition. Sanford
& Son redux Middle Eastern.
Sat, Oct 29 - 7:16pm
*****Grand Festival
Awards
SHORT FEATURE
"Winter Sea"
- Erika Tasini - Short Feature - 25:00 - Premiere
A secretive woman's intimate relationship to her brother is threatened
when an unexpected guest shows up for dinner at their eccentric mother's
house.
Sat, Oct 29 - 11:02pm
"OSANPO (Strolling
Along)" - Akira Matsuda - JAPAN - Short
Feature - 49:00 - U.S. Premiere
A young couple of Tokyo is "strolling along" in their neighborhood.
In modern days, young people are afraid to get into serious relationships.
This is a vivid film about a focus that modern Japanese society possesses
within and is a fanciful love story in new and realistic Docudrama
style.
Sun, Oct 30 - 7:22pm
"Sun After Darkness"
- Tomoe Umeda - Short Feature - 15:00 - Premiere
A self-centered journalist, who thinks he can do everything by himself,
starts to see something important in life when he is sent to San Francisco.
It is a film about trust and hope.
Sun, Oct 30 - 7:07pm
STUDENT FILMMAKER
"Contend"
- Gerson Sanginitto - Student Filmmaker - 11:00 - Premiere
"Contend" is about a man who fights no-holds-barred events
and has to overcome his own fears in order to become the best fighter.
Parallel to it, he goes through a difficult relationship with his
wife because of his unusual profession.
Sat, Oct 29 - 7:58pm
"Interlude"
- Christopher Hlas - Student Filmmaker - 12:00 - Premiere
A woman's near death experience results in her life flashing before
her eyes in a rhythmic and musical sequence, which chronologically
connects simple past experiences to her present encounter with danger.
Sat, Oct 29 - 10:42pm
"Induction"
- Elan Glasser - Student Filmmaker - 13:00 - Premiere
In 1970, Zack and Rico are called in for the Vietnam draft and must
choose between serving and a hilarious plan to fail their physicals.
Sat, Oct 29 - 8:48pm
"Snafu"
- Brett Weiner - Student Filmmaker - 24:00 - Premiere
"Snafu" is a dark comedy about a college student who tries
to be a hero by saving peers from his own fatal traps.
Sun, Oct 30 - 6:43pm
DOCUMENTARY
"From a Silk Cocoon"
- Satsuki Ina - Documentary - 59:00
The story of a Japanese American couple whose shattered dreams and
forsaken loyalties lead them to renounce their American citizenship
while held in separate American prison camps during World War II.
Sat, Oct 29 - 2:25pm
"Homeland: Four Portraits
of Native Action" - Roberta Grossman - Documentary
- 88:00
Five remarkable Native American activists dedicated to protecting
their lands against environmental hazards, preserving their sovereignty
and ensuring the cultural survival of their people.
Sun, Oct 30 - 4:06pm
"Video Out"
- Paul Vlachos / Meredith Finkelstein - Documentary - 83:00
Avant-Garde artists and clubland VJ's tell the story of live video
art over the last 30 years.
Sun, Oct 30 - 2:43pm
"Oakland Raider Parking
Lot" - Jason Blalock - Documentary -
23:00
The Oakland Raiders fans have a reputation of being as violent and
dangerous as the football team they love.
Fri, Oct 28 - 8:58pm
"Beyond the Wall"
- Gorham Kindem - Documentary - 60:00 - West
Coast Premiere
"Beyond the Wall" explores important parallels between infringements
upon own civil liberties in the 1960s and today; examining the constitutionality
of the USA PATRIOT ACT.
Sat, Oct 29 - 6:03pm
ARTS
"Hot Afternoons have been in Montana"
- Ken Kimmelman - Arts - 15:30 - West Coast Premiere
Based on the 1925 "Nation" prize-winning poem by Eli Siegel,
this dramatic montage shows how a hot afternoon in Montana is related
to the whole world.
Sun, Oct 30 - 5:55pm
"Musica Dos Mestres
Vol.1" - Bira Almeida - Arts - 40:00
The glimpse into the personalities, colors and moods of sound that
comprise the deep but elusive essence that is Capoeira, experienced
through its music.
Sun, Oct 30 - 2:03pm
MUSIC VIDEO
"The Good The Bad and The Beautiful"
- Matt Knudsen - Music Video - 5:45
A western-themed, sepia-toned embellishment on Los Angeles based quintet
"You Me and Iowa's" single, highlighted by a single, continuous,
uninterrupted steadicam shot.
Fri, Oct 28 - 8:48pm
"Arts of Forgetting"
- Carol Vernallis - Music Video - 6:00
This video aims at subtle connections between music and image: one
goal is to bring new improvised music to a wider audience.
Sat, Oct 29 - 11:27pm
ANIMATION
"Zoom Suit"
- John Taddeo - Animation -9:00 - West
Coast Premiere
Clothes make the man - or in this case - the boy, in this superhero
Cinderella story.
Sun, Oct 30 - 8:11pm
"Vitiligo"
- James Stranahan - Animation - 20:00 - West
Coast Premiere
A lone puppet descends into a fantastical nightmare world where inorganic
manifestations rule supreme.
Sat, Oct 29 - 4:12pm
"Learning to Try"
- Diane Jones - Animation - 3:45
This animated short produced in MAYA features a bee finding his wings
among a colorful landscape of bubbles & flowering plants.
Fri, Oct 28 - 8:54pm
"Integrated Presence"
- Geer DuBois - Animation - 2:17
The city has a unique energy that surrounds everything within in it.
As we move through the streets, the energy becomes a part of us just
we become part of the urban environment.
Sat, Oct 29 - 8:09pm
EXPERIMENTAL
"Dell Hell"
- Neil Ira Needleman - Experimental - 17:00 - West
Coast Premiere
My battle with Dell as the world went to hell.
Sun, Oct 29 - 6:26pm
"Soshi"
- Caz McIntee - Experimental - 19:00
Based on The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon written in Japan in the 10th
century, the juxtaposition of the ancient Japanese text and culture
with the contemporary provides striking parallels between the ancient
and modern human condition.
Sat, Oct 29 - 3:53pm
"Hello, Goodbye"
- Jerry Sangiuliano - Experimental- 7:23
Experimental movie created in After Effects with hundreds of talking
heads.
Sat, Oct 29 - 10:54pm
COMEDY
"The Tip"
- Sage Drake & John Westernoff - Comedy - 13:30
Spirit of Chaplin & Keaton movies, a young man follows a business
woman who accidentally left ninety dollars in his restaurant.
Sat, Oct 29 - 5:22pm
EDUCATIONAL
"Polar Bears of the Canadian Arctic"
- Fred Heiman - Educational - 25:00
Today, the major threat to the polar bear is global warming. Arctic
ice is receding at an alarming rate, reducing the hunting season of
the world's largest land predator.
Sat, Oct 29 - 1:03pm
YOUNG PRODUCER
"Anthony in the Key of B"
- Ethan Kuperberg - Young Producer - 20:00 - West
Coast Premiere
After receiving his first "B", Harvard-set Anthony is forced
to question his priorities as his dreams literally go up in flames.
And everyone sings.
Sat, Oct 29 - 3:30pm
"Rain"
- Rachel Weiler - Young Producer - 2:48
Non-narrative visual poetry about rain.
Fri, Oct 28 - 8:45pm
****Best of
Festival Awards
FEATURE
"Welcome to September"
- Pattie Kelly - Feature - 89:00
A young man's obsession for a woman in a painting turns his world
upside down forcing him to choose between fantasy, reality, obsession
and love.
Sun, Oct 30 - 8:20pm
"Night of the Chupacabra"
- Ted Rivera - Feature - 89:00
When an alien being crash lands on the remote location of the latest
"reality" show, sinister agents from the Project Blue Book
arrive to restore order by any means necessary. This film is an action
packed, thrill ride parody of the sci-fi/action film genre.
Sun, Oct 30 - 10:03pm
SHORT FEATURE
"What is Funny?"
- Teo Guardino - Short Feature - 7:00
A lonely king forces Jesters to dance before him and finds the key
to laughter is locked within a forbidden chest.
Sat, Oct 29 - 8:41pm
"Before I Go"
- Heiko Hahn - GERMANY - Short Feature - 22:00 -
U.S. Premiere
Walter has decided to put his ailing wife in a nursing home. On the
day she is leaving, he must make her understand his actions.
Sat, Oct 29 - 4:32pm
STUDENT FILMMAKER
"Bee Goldin"
- Ryan Silveira - Student Filmmaker - 3:51
The disconnected nature of American society and the beauty of connection.
Inspired by photography artist Nen Goldin and performance artist Vanessa
Beecroft.
Sat, Oct 29 - 3:34pm
"Jogo Perigoso"
- Diallo Jeffery - Student Filmmaker - 5:35
A rhythmic piece featuring a capoeira performance by "The Capoeira
Arts Cafe" of Berkeley.
Sun, Oct 30 - 1:57pm
DOCUMENTARY
"Fountain of Youth"
- Luis "Fountain of Youth" Ramos Louie, Louie - Short
Documentary - 6:00 - West Coast Premiere
A ringside capsule of "club boxing" at a famous NY gym,
featuring a bout with Louie Louie and a boxing champion. Luckily,
Louie Louie survives.
Sat, Oct 29 - 7:52pm
"The Pursuit of Pleasure"
- Maryanne Galvin - Documentary - 52:00 - West
Coast Premiere
Seven diverse women explore the evolution of female sexuality and
pleasure since the U.S. Women's Movement over 40 years ago.
Sat, Oct 29 - 1:33pm
"Long Live Tai O"
- Chan Wai Tong - HONG KONG - Documentary - 22:00
- U.S. Premiere
This film aims at encouraging elderly people in Hong Kong to treasure
their lives and live bountifully.
Sun, Oct 30 - 1:35pm
"Dear Mr. President:
Republican National Convention Protests in NYC"
- Phil Gorn - Documentary - 8:00
Joe Esteves (brother of Martin Sheen) interviews protesters during
the Republican Convention in NYC.
Sat, Oct 29 - 5:55pm
ARTS
"Street-Game"
- Jessica Iapino - ITALY - Arts - 3:20 - U.S.
Premiere
The camera in movement, shooting from above, black and white images
which run with the same energetic rhythm of the music, busy following
someone barefoot playing "innocently" a game with a grid
drawn on the ground with chalk. But instead of the traditional grid,
the chalk traces the shape of a molecule: the heroin molecule.
Sun, Oct 30 - 6:11pm
ANIMATION
"America The Beautiful"
- John Cannizzaro - Animation - 7:15 - West Coast
Premiere
The latest animated short from director John Cannizzaro ("50
Feet That Shook The World" 2004) is a dark satire of the history
of the United States of America.
Sat. Oct 29 - 7:03pm
"How The Elephant
Got Big Ears" - Richard Randell - Animation
- 7:30 - Premiere
African man, Kenya, tells a traditional Sonbura story followed by
his account of going to primary school in Boragoi, Kenya.
Sun, Oct 30 - 1:27pm
"Jack and Middy Retire"
- Chelsea Walton - Animation - 4:30
A cautionary tale about staying connected to the surrounding environment
despite everyday distractions of modern technology.
Sat, Oct 29 - 1:28pm
EXPERIMENTAL
"Liver-Colored Dew"
- Peter Bolte - Experimental - 6:00 - West Coast
Premiere
Obsessive layering and stylized video reversals come together to present
everyday images of aesthetic beauty juxtaposed against images of a
sometimes compromised and haunting nature.
Sat, Oct 29 - 7:46pm
"A Tour of Bruce's
Colon" - Bruce Bortin - Experimental
- 10:35 - Premiere
A personal record of one person's experience of a rather invasive
medical procedure, and it's not always pretty. Mr. Bortin approaches
this middle-aged rite passage with unblinking honesty, tempered with
humor.
Sun, Oct 30 - 6:15pm
"Earth and Moon in
Love" - David Finkelstein - Experimental
- 21:00 - West Coast Premiere
Shelley's interplanetary romance, in a musical setting for two countertenors,
with animated illustrations.
Sat, Oct 29 - 5:01pm
"Subway"
- Mark Mamalakis - Experimental - 6:12 - West
Coast Premiere
"Subway" turns the public transportation experience into
an expression of instinct, imagination & personal freedom.
Sat, Oct 29 - 4:54pm
ETHNOGRAPHIC
"Bwiti" -
Joel Lawrence Holzman - Ethnographic - 5:00
A short visual glimpse into an all night Bwiti ancestral worship ceremony
of the Masango tribe in Southern Gabon Central Africa.
Sat, Oct 29 - 7:11pm
EDUCATIONAL
"The Stand-Up Physicist: Why Quantum
Mechanics is Weird" - Douglas B. Sweetser - Educational
- 27:00 - West Coast Premiere
Part of the Stand-Up Physicist series, half hour chats by Doug Sweeter
about his theoretical physics research. This show tries to explain
why quantum mechanics has to be the way that it is.
Sun, Oct 30 - 1:00pm
YOUNG PRODUCER
"Girl with Bad Luck"
- Mischa Minkler-Green - Young Producer - 4:30
A short film about a girl always trying to look good and be good,
and always receiving bad luck... until she makes a realization.
Sat, Oct 29 - 3:24pm
"Infrared"
- Alan Ransil - Young Producer - 2:30
A package comes to the door containing a TV remote controller that
can be used to control people. What would you do?
Sat, Oct 29 - 1:00pm
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ADDITIONAL
AWARDS
Following Award Winners will be considered for future screenings.
*****Grand Festival
Awards
DOCUMENTARY
"Outside In"
- Buff & Cynthia Whitman-Bradley - Documentary
"Beyond
Treason" - William Lewis & Joyce Riley -
Documentary
EXPERIMENTAL
"Cellular Activity: Animation"
- Neil Ira Needleman - Experimental
****Best of
Festival Awards
FEATURE
"Close Encounters of the 4th Kind
- Infestation from Mars" - Elliott Haimoff -
Feature
"Soulmates"
- Ralph Groemping/Jean Sugerman - Feature
"Talkers
Are No Good Doers" - Julian Hoeber
- Feature
SHORT
FEATURE
"Jack & Jill"
- Josh Ergas - Short Feature
"The Chessmen"
- Kenneth S. Kokka - Short Feature
STUDENT
FILMMAKER
"Pure Malice"
- Ann Pirvu - Student Filmmaker
"Vom O
Rama" - Rachel Wolther - Student
Filmmaker
"Final
Blues" - Carlos Dorsey - Student Filmmaker
"So
Here I Am" - Jean Andrews - Student Filmmaker
"Left
Behind" - Bryan McKown - Student Filmmaker
"The
Exchange" - Byron Karabatsos - Student Filmmaker
DOCUMENTARY
"A Good Strong Roof"
- Tony Gault - Documentary
"Call
me Malcolm" - Joseph Parlagreco - Documentary
"Corridor
of Shame" - Charles T. "Bud" Ferillo
- Documentary
"Georgeva"
- Doug Harris - Documentary
"Healing
Our Spirits" - Lexie Tom & Michael Shepard
- Documentary
"Homecoming"
- Vivian Wong - Documentary
"Pipe
Dreams: people of the Cameroon pipeline" - Terri
Hathaway - Documentary
"The
Galapagos Island" - Steven Willoughby - Documentary
"The
Mpassa: A Second Chance" - Joel Lawrence Holzman
- Documentary
"Romania:
Paint the Door Open" - Elizabeth Upton - Documentary
ARTS
"Pas de Deux"
- Barbara Grandvoinet - Arts
"Three"
- LaDonna Witmer & Michelle Brown - Arts
MUSIC
VIDEO
"Love Song"
- Maria Davis-Angelina Productions - Music Video
EXPERIMENTAL
"Consenting Adults"
- Neil Ira Needleman - Experimental
"Mission
Statement" - Shalom Gorewitz - Experimental
"No
Signal" - Neil Ira Needleman - Experimental
ETHNOGRAPHIC
"Niger: Magic& Ecstasy in the
Sahei" - Hisham Mayet - Ethnographic
EDUCATIONAL
"Ecogeomorphology"
- Elizabeth Upton - Educational
"Masters
of Capoeira Vol.1" - Bira Almeida - Educational
"Butterfly
Metamorphosis" - Chan Wai Tong - Educational
YOUNG
PRODUCER
"Shades of Grey"
- Alan Ransil - Young Producer
"Morituri"
- Rachel Weiler - Young Producer
"Pre$idency"
- Stefan Popescu / Zack Weinberg - Young Producer
"The
Dance" - Jennifer Lim - Young Producer
"The
Mean, Lean, Green Bean" - Denali Anne Wilson
- Young Producer
"Ocean's
First" - Laheeb Quddusi - Young Producer
"Listen"
- Mischa Minkler-Green - Young Producer
MOCUMENTARY
"Lost in the Thinking"
- Damon Packard - Mocumentary
"Mondo
Packard Revisited" - Damon Packard - Mocumentary
***Awards
of Excellence
FEATURE
"Friends Like These"
- Sebastian Moreira - Feature
"The
Big Muddy" - Steven Willoughby - Feature
"The
Church of Fat Tony the Archangel" - Roberta Kenyon
- Feature
"Starslyderz"
- Garrin Vincent Hajeian - Feature
"The
Barren Pine" - John Boggi - Feature
SHORT
FEATURE
"Bodox Detox"
- Eddie Yaroch - Short Feature
"Houston"
- Matt Jenkins - Short Feature
"In
the Sunset" - Melinda Busch & Jean-Pierre
Duboucheron - Short Feature
"WORK"
- Emio Tomeoni - Short Feature
"Lessons
Lost" - Mercury Bar Productions - Short Feature
"Room
666" - Gabriel Foley - Short Feature
"Eternal
Prophecy" - Psych Stevens - Short Feature
"Market
Penetration" - Eric Innocent & Andy Wang
- Short Feature
"Come
Sunshine" - Chan Wai Tong - Short Feature
"Forgetting
Who I Am" - Chan Wai Tong - Short Feature
STUDENT
FILMMAKER
"Alter Ego"
- Brian J. Kim - Student Filmmaker
"A
Twenty-First Century Tale" - Ashley Triffletti
- Student Filmmaker
"Don't
Worry - I'm a Rap Star" - Rachel Wolther - Student
Filmmaker
"Eracesure"
- Justin Lenoy - Student Filmmaker
"The
List" - Annarose Foley - Student Filmmaker
"The
Package" - Carlos Dorsey - Student Filmmaker
"Soft
Skeleton" - Patrick Cunningham - Student
Filmmaker
"Gravity"
- Seth Camillo - Student Filmmaker
"22
Feet" - Seth Camillo - Student Filmmaker
"Between"
- Seongho Heo - Student Filmmaker
"Lost
Cause" - Bryan McKown - Student Filmmaker
DOCUMENTARY
"Dick Ho: Asian Male Porn Star"
- Jeffrey Lei - Documentary
"Saving
Newburgh" - Merle Becker - Documentary
"You
Bet We're Going Back to Sea! The S.S. John W. Brown" -
Matt Jenkins - Documentary
"Yucatan
Diary" - Robert Lee Leach - Documentary
"It's
Not Something We Talk About" - Melanie Parker
- Documentary
"As
Is: A Downsized Life" - Maryanne Galvin - Documentary
"Parallel
Worlds" - Dave Puls - Documentary
"Memorial
Day Salute" - Luis Ramos - Documentary
"Sideshow:
My Day at the Kobe Bryant Rape Trial" - Shiela
E. Schroeder - Documentary
"The
Great Race" - Stephen Gregory - Documentary
ARTS
"Thomas" -
Richard Randell - Arts
MUSIC
VIDEO
"'Sahara' Music Video"
- Jarmo Siimento - Music Video
"Why
Don't You Love Me" - Joel Lawrence Holzman -
Music Video
"Sugar
in Wartime" - David Presley - Music Video
"Arise"
- Marc Edwards Minor - Music Video
"Long
Shadow" - Dean DeBlois - Music Video
EXPERIMENTAL
"CHICKENanonymous" -
Dave Burns - Experimental
ETHNOGRAPHIC
"Capital: Impressions of Early
Empire" - Leigh & Jason Morfoot - Ethnographic
/ Experimental
EDUCATIONAL
"Seeking Hearth"
- The Movie - Ken Moshesh - Educational
"Best
of Magic Key" - Luis "Fountain of Youth"
Ramos Louie, Louie & Magic Key Production - Educational