Shorts Programs

Playing in front of The Story of Plastic Spain, 2019, 14 min.

This film feels funnily familiar because it takes some of the famous tropes of spaghetti westerns from a time gone by, and gives it a clever twist. What is significantly less clever is the real-world message that this doc conveys. It appears the iconic sets for these famous films have now been trashed with, well, trash. Luckily, there is an effort afoot to right this wrong and clean up the mess left behind.

DIR/PROD David Regos

AKASHINGA

On the Edge Shorts USA, Zimbabwe, 2019, 14 min. The illegal hunting and killing of elephants has been an enormous challenge for Zimbabwe. In an effort to combat this scourge, the country has established an elite troop of rangers, all of whom are women, and called Akashinga. The film, executive produced by James Cameron, shows how the women’s training is brutal and rigorous, but their commitment unwavering, motivated by a steadfast belief in their mission.

DIR Maria Wilhelm

PROD Kim Butts, Drew Pulley, Maria Wilhelm

Chasing Ghosts

Science In Action Shorts USA, 2019, 16 min.

This all-too-true film is the stuff of myth and legend where obsessive people have strange yet intriguing quests that take them to alluring landscapes. The people in this story are scientists and photographers. The setting is a murky, muddy, alligator, and snake-filled swamp in a remote part of Florida, a character in itself. What consumes them is the Ghost Orchid, a rare and enigmatic flower. Their mission: to identify the pollinator - which remains unknown.

DIR/PROD Eric Bendick

Counter Mapping

Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2018, 10 min.

Jim Enote, a traditional Zuni farmer and director of the A:shiwi

A:wan Museum and Heritage Center, is working with Zuni artists to create maps that bring an indigenous voice and perspective back to the land. The goal, to counter Western notions of place and geography while challenging the arbitrary borders imposed on the Zuni world.

DIR Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften

PROD Adam Loften, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Epoch

Playing in front of Public Trust USA, 2018, 2 min.

This short is a visual poem about our land told through the aerial eye of Google Earth. We are challenged through this lens to understand how both resilient and fragile this planet truly is.

DIR Kevin McGloughlin

PROD Adam Loften, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

FERRYMAN AT THE WALL

Offbeat Green Shorts USA, 2018, 16 min.

Nature knows no borders we learn in this short documentary spanning all three countries in North America. We begin down south, where we meet the Ferryman of the title and other compelling local characters with a smart take on what is actually happening in this controversial landscape. A hop north reveals that what is happening south of the border is wildly similar to what’s mirrored on the Canadian side, proving nature does not take sides.

DIR David Freid PROD Mor Albalak

GOLDEN

Science in Action Shorts USA, 2019, 8 min.

Eagles are an iconic raptor in this country but not an easy species to study. It requires long travels to remote landscapes and feats of derring-do, like rappelling into eagle’s nests. Perhaps, in part, it is those extra degrees of difficulty that drew Caitlin Davis to this challenging work, but it is, in fact, something that she actually dreamed about as a child. Once you meet Caitlin Davis in Golden, it will all make sense.

DIR Charles Post PROD Charles Post, Dan Holz

LOST WORLD

USA, 2018, 16 min.

National interests can end up creating some unusual unforeseen situations. Lost World tells a surprising story of how the small but financially ambitious city-state of Singapore dredges sand from under Cambodia’s mangrove forests to create an artificial “natural” landscape. Seen through the eyes of a Cambodian woman who knows how important mangroves are to ecosystems, we witness how much she and her country is losing in this unfortunate exchange.

DIR Kalyanee Mam

PROD Kalyanee Mam, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Adam Loften

Lowland Kids

On the Edge Shorts USA, 2019, 22 min.

Of course, it is hard to know, but it is estimated that there will be 150 million people across the world who will become refugees because of the climate crisis and the attendant rising seas. Lowland Kids looks at the first Americans who will be forced from their homes. These people reside on the Isle de Jean Charles along the Louisiana coast, including a pair of teenagers who are desperately hoping to stay on the island where their family has lived for generations.

DIR Sandra Winther PROD William Crouse, Lauren Avinoam

MATTHEW MODINE’S RIPPLE EFFECT

Playing in front of Current Sea USA, 2019, 8 min.

For almost four decades, Matthew Modine has been making movies, leaving a real imprint on audiences. His own deeply thought-provoking directorial efforts are less known. With Ripple Effect, Modine, a long-time activist and environmentalist, seeks to find what famed ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau called “wavemakers,” the remarkable people making extraordinary efforts to save our seas. Modine will be in attendance in Dallas at the second screening if his shooting schedule allows it.

DIR Matthew Modine, Andrew Klein

PROD Adam Rackoff, Matthew Modine

MELTED

USA, 2020, 5 min.

Melted imagines the future of the world if nothing is done to address the global climate crisis. The year is 2098, the ice caps have melted and all the snow is gone. The world we live in is barren, dry, dystopian and inhospitable to human life. The pursuit of adventure remains as the protagonists seeks the thrill of skiing. Budding filmmaker and professional skier, Sierra Quitiquit makes her directorial debut with this beautiful and emotionally provocative plea to protect what is dearest to her - snow, the natural world and this beautiful planet.

DIR Sierra Quitiquit

Nobody Dies In Longyearbyen

Offbeat Green Shorts

USA, 2018, 9 min.

Longyearbyen, Norway, the world’s northernmost city, creates a challenge for people who live there: you are not allowed to be buried there. The permafrost preserves bodies in its icy embrace. Of course, it is tragically melting, creating new disturbing challenges, like the recent flooding of the famous Seed Bank in Svalbard. What the smartly directed film really wants to know is what zombie viruses - or people - could emerge from this arctic underground?

DIR David Freid PROD Mor Albalak