DC Shorts Film Festival Guide (2018)

DCSHORTS

FILM FESTIVAL & SCREENPLAY COMPETITION SEPTEMBER 6-16, 2018

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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Table of Contents Welcome Letter from the Executive Director...7 Festival Sponsors...8

From the Office of Cable TV, Film, Music & Entertainment...10 Festival Highlights...12

Theaters & Venues...14

Ticket Information...16 About DC Shorts...19

Online Festival & Best of DC Shorts...20

Screenplay Competition...22

Celebrations & Parties...23

Filmmaking Workshops...25

Get Involved...26

Showcases of Films...28

International and LGBTQ Shorts...47

Time & Places and Real Reel Shorts...48 Animation and Youth Shorts...49

Comedy and Women’s Shorts...50

Ripped from the Headlines and Thrills & Chills Shorts...51 DC Shorts Jury Awards...52 End Credits...53

Schedule at a Glance...54 THE 2018 DC SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL GUIDE

Publisher: Randy Shulman • Editors: Kimberley Bush & Randy Shulman • Art Direction: Todd Franson - Cover Illustration: Scott G. Brooks • Original festival design and branding by Gene Cowan, Cowan Creative • A publication of Jansi Media, 1775 I Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 - 202-638-6830 - © 2018 DC Shorts Film Festival & Jansi Media - All Rights Reserved

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

Welcome

to the 2018 DC Shorts Film Festival

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IME COMPLETELY ESCAPES ME AND OUR TINY YET amazing DC Shorts team, to the point where we find ourselves engrossed in another extraordinary year of outstanding short films, as we continue to be the proud purveyor and presenter of the short film format.

This year, more than 1,200 films and 70 screenplays were submitted for consideration, and all of them took us on a mind expanding, soul searching, WTF are we doing, and WTF is happening journey. Our phenomenal programming team chose 125 diverse, compelling, vital, dramatic, and hilarious films created by filmmakers who hail from 30 different countries.

The movement within the film industry towards expanding the presence of women behind the camera, in the director’s role, is reflected in a notable milestone for DC Shorts.

With a total of 40 women directors, we offer more films directed by women than any prior year in the festival’s history. It highlights the mission of DC Shorts, to champion the art of filmmaking all-inclusively.

What you will spend 11 days experiencing may very well be game-changing.

With all of these amazing films comes the opportunity to meet and interact with the filmmakers at our Q&As and at our celebrations. If you are a filmmaker — accomplished or aspiring — we have workshops and seminars that can expand knowledge of your craft.

DC Shorts has always been proud to feature truly independent films and filmmakers. In this age of smartphones, tablets and computers, we are pleased to continue The DC

Shorts Online Film Festival. Explore more than 120 films from our secure online portal so that no matter where you are you can enjoy short filmmaking at its finest.

Each year, it becomes more challenging for reviewers and jurors to select for you riveting, compelling, extraordinary films that each run between two and 40 minutes. Since 2003, DC Shorts Film Festival has contributed to the way the world views the genre of short filmmaking.

This year’s assortment is no different. The filmmakers represented feature the best in modern-day cinematic creativity and offer insight as to how to cultivate the future we want to see — one that is full of hope, equality, imagination, uplifted voices, determination, humor, and vulnerability.

Are you ready for this cinematic ride? Join us! Sit back, absorb, engage and most of all enjoy the 15th Annual DC Shorts Film Festival.

ACTION!

Kimberley Bush

Executive Director DC Film Alliance DC Shorts Film Festival

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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Our Sponsors Luminary

Superstar

Producer

Technical

Crew

Cast

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

Supporting Cast

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Festival Highlights

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DC Shorts Party DC Shorts Party All Access Online FestivalEEING EVERY FILM AT THE THEATER IS NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE — WE Online Festival

Show Duration

DC Shorts Online Fes

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are showing a staggering 125 films! The DC SHORTS ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL is a great way to watch many of the films in the comfort of your home, or on the run using a smartphone or tablet. MORE INFO ON PAGE 20.

Q&A Party

We’re presenting ten SPECIAL SHOWCASES during the festival week. We will screen the largest collection of LGBTQ Shorts in D.C., as well as International, Historical, Documentary, Youth, Comedy, Animation, Womens, Thrills and Chills, and the always-popular Ripped From The Headlines. SPECIAL SHOWCASE INFO STARTS ON PAGE 47

Q&A

All Acces

The DC SHORTS SCREENPLAY COMPETITION is an incredible evening of live Lunch Show Workshop script readings where the audience determines the winner of a $2,000 grand prize! This year’s group of 6 diverse finalists, chosen from more than 70 screenplay submissions, hail from across the country. MORE INFO ON PAGE 22.

Lunch Show

Our PARTIES have become legendary! They’re a great place to meet filmmakers and make new friends. Join us for our Filmmaker Welcome Reception at Pepco Gallery and and take in the stars at THE CITY VIEW PARTY which overlooks the city from a private downtown rooftop. MORE INFO ON PAGE 23.

Awards

DC Shorts proudly presents jury and audience awards to our best films. These shorts are programmed into two BEST OF DC SHORTS showcases that are screened at the Miracle Theater on Capitol HIll on September 15th and 16th. It’s a great way to conclude the week and catch the selections that might go on to win an Oscar! MORE INFO ON PAGE 20.

Q&A

ABOUT DC SHORTS

Established in 2003, the DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition is an award-winning, internationally recognized film festival held every September in Washington, D.C. Recognized by MovieMaker Magazine, USA Today, and the Washington City Paper reader’s poll as one of the best film festivals in the world, DC Shorts champions short films and the filmmakers who create them. DC Shorts believes in the power of short films to democratize filmmaking, permitting diverse voices to be heard from around the globe. It proudly serves to present these voices to vast audiences every year in a welcoming, thought-provoking, and lively multiday event filled with filmmakers, industry leaders and film-lovers alike. The DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition is a program of the DC Film Alliance.

VIP/ALL ACCESS

VIP/ALL ACCESS

Lunch Show 12

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

WORKSHOP

WORKSHOP

Workshop

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&

Theaters

Venues

THE MIRACLE THEATRE

535 8th Street SE, Washington, D.C.

The Miracle Theatre is in the heart of Eastern Market/ Capitol Hill and holds 370 guests and offers modern projection and concert sound.

Driving The Miracle Theatre is located on 8th Street between E and G Streets SE. Metered street parking is available.

Metro The Miracle Theatre is located 2 blocks from Eastern Market Metro station. When you exit the station, turn right on to 8th Street.

Event Locations

Landmark’s E Street Cinema is a jewel of a theater, with multiple auditoriums and a gourmet concession stand, complete with a full bar.

Driving Landmark will validate parking for 3 hours at a reduced rate after 5 P.M. on weekdays and all day on weekends at the garage adjacent to the theater (entrance on 11th, between E and F Streets — the lot closes at midnight).

Limited metered street parking is also available.

Metro The Landmark E Street Cinema is located 2 blocks from the Metro Center station and 4 blocks from the Gallery Place station.

PEPCO EDISON PLACE GALLERY 702 8th Street NW Washington, D.C.

LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA

THE ROOF AT CARROLL SQUARE

MIRACLE THEATRE

THE LOFTS AT 600 F

555 11th Street NW Washington, D.C. 535 8th Street SE Washington, D.C.

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LANDMARK’S E STREET CINEMA Corner of 11th and E Streets NW, Washington, DC

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

975 F Street NW Washington, D.C.

600 F Street NW Washington, D.C.

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Ticket Information FILM TICKETS

Each showcase runs approximately 90 minutes, and includes 7 to 9 films from around the globe.

BUY AT DCSHORTS.COM

$15 + online service charge We highly recommend purchasing tickets online,

BUY AT THE VENUE

Box offices at each venue open 30 to 45 mins

as many shows will sell out in advance.

$15

before the first show of the day.

A NOTE FREE EVENTS

Free events require tickets for entry. We recommend

reserving online, as these events often sell out quickly.

PARTY TICKETS

All parties include light refreshments and a special selection

at least 21 years of age and present a valid photo ID at the door.

of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Attendees must be

Party tickets must be purchased in advance either online

BUY AT DCSHORTS.COM

$25 plus online service charge

BUY AT A VENUE

or at a venue box office. We cannot offer door sales.

$25

FESTIVAL PASSES

The ALL-ACCESS PASS allows entry into every screening,

The Festival Pass also includes:

party, and workshop — even the Best of DC Shorts!

• Priority seating at all screenings — you get in first!

• Priority entry to all parties — you get in first!

• DC Shorts T-Shirt (while supplies last) • Swag bag (while supplies last)

BUY AT DCSHORTS.COM

$125 plus online service charge

BUY AT A VENUE

$125

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DC SHORTS ONLINE FESTIVAL

We are very excited to bring you the DC Shorts Online Film Festival. More than 100 films may be watched from Friday, September 7th through Sunday, September 16th on any computer and most mobile devices.

Watch from a coffee shop, your office, or even in the comfort of your bed.

Within 24 hours after purchasing, you will receive an email with a unique access code and link to the online festival website.

BUY AT DCSHORTS.COM

$30 plus online service charge

BUY AT A VENUE

$30

TICKETING POLICIES

ONLINE SALES

IN PERSON SALES

EXCHANGES AND REFUNDS

Tickets may be purchased via our ticketing partner, TicketLeap.

We recommend that you either print your tickets at home/work, or use TicketLeap’s mobile app to present a “selfie ticket.” If you forget your tickets, or do not have access to a printer, don’t worry — we can still check you in at the door.

To purchase tickets and passes in person, please visit the DC Shorts Box Office at each venue. Box offices open 30 to 45 minutes before the first event of the day, and closes 30 minutes after the last event begins. DC Shorts accepts all major credit cards and cash. No checks accepted.

All ticket and pass sales are final. There are no refunds or exchanges of tickets, party or festival passes. Please familiarize yourself with our Seating Policy. There are no refunds for late arrivals.

SEATING POLICIES

All ticket and pass holders must be seated 15 minutes prior to showtime to guarantee a seat. After that time, pass holders will be admitted with the general audience on a space-available basis.

• 20 minutes before each showcase: Pass holders and filmmakers are admitted to the theater.

• 15 minutes before each showcase: Ticket holders

are sold at the theater door for $15.

are admitted to the theater.

• 10 minutes before each showcase: Unclaimed seats

A standby line will form 45 minutes before each screening time. What are your chances of getting in? Pretty good, since we usually release 10-20 tickets at the door.

We know that mistakes happen. If you present a ticket purchased in error, we will make every effort to accommodate you at another screening of your choice on a spaceavailable basis. Please visit the box office for details.

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

About Us

DC Shorts champions short filmmaking!

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HROUGH A SERIES OF REGULARLY SCHEDULED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, SCREENING OPPORTUNITIES, SHARING resources via online tools, partnering with film, arts and business organizations, and our annual DC Shorts Film Festival, DC Shorts provides opportunities for filmmakers of every skill level to explore and learn their craft while entertaining and expanding the horizons of audience members. The DC Shorts Film Festival was founded in 2003 by DC-based filmmaker Jon Gann, in response to the dozens of festivals where the focus wasn’t on the filmmakers and their craft. Jon decided to start his own event, focusing on the form he loves — shorts.

In 2006, the DC Film Alliance, a nonprofit arts organization, was created to present the DC Shorts Film Festival, and offer other programs and resources for Washington, D.C.-based filmmakers. The Alliance helped to bridge the gap between other area film organizations, foster a community for regional film festival directors, and sponsored monthly salons to educate filmmakers of all levels. In response to the needs of the industry, DC Shorts has recently rebranded many DC Film Alliance activities, re-tooled others, and now hosts year-round programming.

OUR PROGRAMS

COLLABORATIVE IMPACT: DC Film Alliance works closely DC WINS: DC Shorts WINS! are special showcases of award- with other grassroots film arts organizations on mutual topics winning films from previous DC Shorts, plus a few that we including Submissions, Promotion, Development, and more. wished we had been able to program. Some of the films have received Academy Award nominations. All of the films have won FILMMAKER RESOURCES accolades worldwide.

DC Shorts utilizes the @DCSHORTSTOOLS Twitter feed to offer a daily collection of jobs, casting notices, and events from DC LAUGHS: DC Shorts presents their favorite comedy films over 20 D.C. area and national resources. Meanwhile, the DC with live performances by the area’s top stand-up comics! Each SHORTS TOOLKIT is an open email exchange to request 90-minute show combines film and live performance for a information from other filmmakers, post screening information, spectacular and lighthearted evening. and even sell old equipment. The DC Shorts Actors List allows for casting notices to be posted for more than 2,000 D.C. and MENTORS/CINEMATIC CONVERSATIONS: Through East Coast Actors.

Cinematic Conversations and Mentors, we encourage independent filmmakers to develop the skills to create OUR INITIATIVES outstanding media projects. Taught by film professionals and LOCAL INITIATIVES are programs, partnerships, film blocks, peers, these interactive sessions are designed to build upon one and panels that support the local film community. YOUTH another, developing the skills needed to better compete in the INITIATIVES are youth programs, partnerships, film blocks, and crowded field of filmmakers. panels that expose and educate youth of all ages on film and filmmaking that not only educate, but inspire. COMMUNITY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: DC Shorts is proud to INITIATIVES are programs, partnerships, film blocks, and present seminars for the Film Community on a variety of topics panels that support underrepresented and marginalized including Lighting on a Budget, Fundraising, Contracts, Film communities.

Reviewing, and more.

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ONLINE FILM FESTIVAL DCSHORTS.COM/ONLINEFEST

HROUGH A SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT WITH THE FILMMAKERS, MORE THAN 120 OF THE FILMS WE ARE SHOWCASING ARE DC Shorts Party available to watch online from any computer or smartphone. That is just about every film screening at the festival!

It’s a great way to see more films, rewatch the ones you fall in love with, and connect with the filmmakers. But hurry, the films OnlineareFestival available only from Friday, September 7th to Sunday, September 16th. Purchase access to this exclusive site online at dcshorts.com/

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onlinefest or at any DC Shorts Venue.

ONLY $30 (plus online service charge) After purchasing, you’ll receive an email with a unique access code and link to the online festival website.

BEST OF DC SHORTS

Q&A

MIRACLE THEATRE 535 8TH STREET SE PROCESS SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, AT 8 P.M. AND 10 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 16, AT 4 P.M., 6 P.M. AND 8 P.M.

ALL ACCESS 20

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DC Shorts proudly presents jury and audience awards to our top films.

These shorts are programmed into two BEST OF DC SHORTS showcases, screened at Miracle Theater on September 15th and 16th. It’s a great way to conclude the week — and catch the selections that might even go on to win an Oscar! Award winners are posted on dcshorts.com on Monday, September 10th.

Lunch Show

WORKSHOP

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HE DC SHORTS SCREENPLAY COMPETITION IS A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF screenwriting competition. A panel of reviewers, consisting of filmmakers, screenwriters, and critics reviewed over 70 screenplays and selected the top six to be performed for you! After a table reading, the audience will vote for their favorite, and one lucky screenwriter will walk away with a $2,000 prize.

Screenplay winners receive $1,000 in seed money to start their project and another $1,000 in finishing funds when the film is completed. The completed film will screen at an upcoming DC Shorts Film Festival. Meet all of the writers after the reading at the complimentary wine and cheese reception

The evening will also feature a screening of last year’s DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Winner, The Pharaohs.

THE MIRACLE THEATRE

PROCESS

FRIDAY, SEPT. 14, 7 P.M.

AT DEATH’S DOOR KATHERIN COOPER • WOODBRIDGE, VA

Daryl, a depressed teenager, stirs in his sleep from the constant nightmares. Every day is the same, he desires his mother’s affection and father’s guidance, but they are oblivious to their son’s cries for help

BY ANY OTHER NAME

STANDOFF TOM ZANCA • RAMSEY, NJ

A distraught scientist known for advancing human gene editing decades ago holds his grandchildren hostage in a tense standoff with negotiators over the true implications of his work.

WHITE FERRARI SARAH SMITH • LOS ANGELES, CA

Winnie tracks down her ex-lover, who betrayed her and absconded with their ill-gotten gains, to finally take back what rightfully belongs to her in this action short.

PETER KIMBALL • WASHINGTON, D.C.

We all know the story of Romeo & Juliet — or so we thought — but now we learn the true story of what really happened to the tragic lovers.

THE PHARAOHS

CHERRY GLAZED

Based on the screenplay that won the 2017 DC Shorts Screenwriting competition, The Pharaohs is a fictional dark comedy about a woman in a senior living facility who is rejected by her former friends — a group of “mean girls” — because of her failing health.

CHRISTINE SHERWOOD • ALTA LOMA, CA

A crime boss is forced to get her hands dirty to clean up her subordinates’ mess when they fail to handle a job.

SOMBRA CITY ELIAS PLAGIANOS • NEW YORK, NY

A romantic film noir set in the near future where murder for hire is legal - as long as you follow the rules.

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DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DIRECTOR: DAVID MALOUF • 18 MINS. • COMEDY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

Celebrate with Us!

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C SHORTS LOVES TO CELEBRATE OUR FILMMAKERS — AND our audience! All parties include light refreshments and a special selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Attendees must be at least 21 years of age and present a valid photo ID at the door. Save money by purchasing your tickets online.

For more information or tickets to any of our events visit festival. dcshorts.com/parties.

PUBLIC EVENTS

Open to the general public. However, an admission ticket is required.

CITY VIEW PARTY Presented by Akridge Saturday, September 8th • 7-9 P.M. Rooftop at Carroll Square • 975 F Street NW Near Metro Center (Red, Blue, Orange, and Silver Lines) Tickets: $25 Celebrate DC Short’s Opening Weekend under the stars atop the roof deck at Carroll Square. Dance the night away with DJ MIM and watch out for a special surprise performance you won’t want to miss!

PRIVATE EVENTS

These events are only open to All Access Passholders, visiting filmmakers, and invited guests. Don’t miss out — purchase an All Access Pass online or at any festival box office.

FILMMAKER WELCOME RECEPTION Presented by PEPCO Edison Place Gallery Thursday, September 6th • 7-9 P.M. PEPCO Edison Place Gallery • 702 8th Street NW Closest Metro: Gallery Place (Red, Green, and Yellow Lines)

FILMMAKER AWARDS BRUNCH

Presented by The Lofts at 600 F Sunday, September 9th • 11 A.M.-1 P.M. The Lofts at 600 F • 600 F Street NW Closest Metro: Gallery Place (Red, Green and Yellow Lines) Join us for our festival’s awards brunch, where the Jury awards are announced. Get to know the best of the best from this year’s festival and network with filmmakers from around the world while enjoying complimentary cocktails and food. Winning filmmakers are presented with a glass trophy and showered with prize packages!

SCREENPLAY COMPETITION RECEPTION Presented by Bar Deco Thursday, September 13th • 7-9 P.M. Bar Deco • 717 6th Street NW Closest Metro: Gallery Place (Red, Green and Yellow Lines)

By Invitation Only

Join this year’s screenwriters and their guests for an intimate mixer as we look forward to our Screenplay Competition.

SCREENPLAY AUDITIONS Presented by Landmark Theatres Friday, September 14th • 10 A.M. - Noon E Street Cinema 555 11th Street NW Closest Metro: Metro Center Passholders and Filmmakers Only Join us as we check out actors who will perform their monologue for our screenplay finalist. You can check out the winners at our Screenplay Competition table read!

DC Shorts welcomes our filmmakers and pass holders to our annual DC Shorts Film Festival. Each year we hold an exclusive party just for our passionate go getters and film lovers, featuring cocktails, food, music, a whole lot of fun!

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Filmmaking Workshops

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C Shorts is proud to present seminars for filmmakers of all levels. There is no charge for workshops, but a separate RSVP for each workshop is required. Visit festival.dcshorts.com/ events/workshops to attend.

Workshops SCREENWRITING: THE NEXT LEVEL

FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, NOON-2 P.M. LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA 555 11TH ST. NW (ACTUAL THEATRE NUMBER TBD)

ADVANCED DIRECTING TECHNIQUES FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 4-6 P.M. LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA 555 11TH ST. NW (ACTUAL THEATRE NUMBER TBD)

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You’ve written a solid screenplay. You’ve won a couple of script competitions. You’re even talking to producers. But you still haven’t sold anything. Learn A-list techniques that will elevate your writing, engage readers, and impact audiences. Topics will include compression, misdirection, restrictive point of view, foreshadowing, visual storytelling, and advanced techniques for writing description and dialogue that will leap off the page and launch your career.

The workshop will be led by George Andre Tittle, a working director and screenwriter, and former assistant to Academy Awardwinning director Barry Levinson. Tittle was a finalist for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ prestigious Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting.

What do professional directors do that no one taught you in film school? In this workshop, led by George Andre Tittle, you will learn many advanced techniques used by working directors — techniques that will immediately elevate your work. You don’t need a big budget or the latest 8K camera. It’s about understanding what’s happening in each scene, and choosing where you position the camera and every element in the frame to express it. Topics will include script analysis, the value of rehearsal, the actor-director relationship, point of view, how to develop a shooting plan, and developing a visual strategy.

SOUND FOR INDIES: BUDGETING & BEST PRACTICES FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 2-4 P.M. LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA 555 11TH ST. NW (ACTUAL THEATRE NUMBER TBD)

Sound is one of the most important aspects of any film. Join Mike Panfeld as he discusses finding the right balance between budget limitations and best practices to achieve stellar audio for your indie film.

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Get Involved!

Support Independant Filmmaking!

The generous support of individuals has allowed us to provide hundreds of thousands of individuals of all ages with high-quality programming over the past 15 years. As a year-round nonprofit arts organization, your support is needed to continue our programming, from the DC Shorts Film Festival to free education programs and screenings.

There are many ways to get involved and many ways to support us:

* Make a Donation Donate online today and contribute to the many initiatives at DC Shorts. Simply go to dcshorts.com/donate.

Make a donation through the mail. Check donations can be mailed to us at DC Shorts, 1317 F Street NW, Suite 920, Washington, D.C. 20004. For more information, email info@dcshorts.com or visit dcshorts.com/donate.

* Make a Matching Gift Workplace giving programs might allow you to double your gift. Contact your company’s Human Resources Department for specific details.

* Become a Partner/Advertiser The Festival offers exceptional sponsorship opportunities to meet your organization’s marketing and philanthropic goals. We also offer many advertising opportunities at our events, festival program guide, slideshows, website, and in our bi-monthly newsletter. By advertising, your organization will reach a community of loyal film fans and film industry professionals. For more information email info@dcshorts.com.

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E STREET CINEMA FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 6:30 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 5 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

BLESS ME FATHER DIRECTOR: PAUL M. HORAN • 16 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • IRELAND • D.C. PREMIERE

A parish priest is faced with a moral dilemma when a parishioner comes to deliver a confession that directly affects the priests own life. The priest is torn between his duty to offer forgiveness, and his personal reaction to this revelation.

MAMA

DIRECTOR: NICHOLAS BRENNAN • 7 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

The touching story of one incredible woman who has dedicated her life to delivering children in her village in rural Uganda.

MANSPREADING DIRECTOR: ABDELATIF HWIDAR • 8 MIN. • COMEDY • SPAIN • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

One hundred and sixteen seats, a crowded subway, a long distance to travel.

NEGATIVE SPACE DIRECTORS: MAX PORTER AND RU KUWAHATA • 6 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE

My dad taught me how to pack.

THE PHARAOHS DIRECTOR: DAVID MALOUF • 18 MINS. • COMEDY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

Based on the screenplay that won the 2017 DC Shorts Screenwriting competition, The Pharaohs is a fictional dark comedy about a woman in a senior living facility who is rejected by her former friends — a group of “mean girls” — because of her failing health.

FUTBOLISTAS 4 LIFE DIRECTOR: JUN STINSON • 40 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

The film takes you into the lives of two Oakland high schoolers: One is a college hopeful and DACA applicant navigating the reality of his immigration status, while the other is an American citizen who lives in fear that her undocumented parents may be deported. These youth take solace in the game of soccer that lets them, if only for a moment, put their worries on the sidelines.

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E STREET CINEMA FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 7 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 5:30 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

GUNS FOUND HERE DIRECTOR: DAVID FREID • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

When there’s a gun crime in America, there’s only one place to go to trace the gun back to its owner: Martinsburg, West Virginia. That’s where the ATF’s National Tracing Center handles roughly 8,000 active traces per day — all while inside a government-mandated technology time-capsule that makes searching a database of gun owners impossible. With more gun stores in the U.S.A. than McDonalds, Starbucks, and supermarkets combined, there’s a lot of paperwork to manually sort through. And it’s truly a sight to behold.

MAMARTUILE DIRECTOR: ALEJANDRO SAEVICH • 12 MIN. • COMEDY • MEXICO • EAST COAST PREMIERE

The president of Mexico spends his final days in office making plans for his future. Everything looks in order until an international conflict interrupts his pleasant rest.

MINSTREL VS. PUPPET DIRECTOR: MARCUS AUBIN • 7 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

An artistic film illustrating the internal conflict many women, particularly women of color, experience surrounding the topics of brains and beauty. The film also depicts how this same conflict manifests externally with some women identifying with and relating more to their own internal level of intellect while others identify with and relate more to their external degree of beauty.

THE DRIVER IS RED DIRECTOR: RANDALL CHRISTOPHER • 15 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA

Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.

SACRILEGE DIRECTOR: CHRISTOPHE M. SABER • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • SWITZERLAND • D.C. PREMIERE

Money has gone missing in the mosque of Saint-Etienne. Saoud, the gang leader, is suspected.

SPARROW DIRECTOR: WELBY INGS • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • LGBTQ • NEW ZEALAND • D.C. PREMIERE

When the truth behind a family myth is exposed, a young boy finds the strength to stand up for himself in an unusual way.

KUBRICK BY CANDLELIGHT DIRECTOR: DAVID O’REILLY • 18 MIN. • COMEDY • IRELAND • EAST COAST PREMIERE

In 1973, Stanley Kubrick came to Ireland and brought the whole goddamn British Army. A light hearted romantic comedy set behind the scenes of the filming of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon. Narrated by Brian Cox.

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SHOW

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E STREET CINEMA FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 9 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 7:30 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

FOR A BETTER LIFE DIRECTOR: YASMIN MISTRY • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY/ANIMATION • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Sold for $100 at the age of 5, Fekri suffers through years of abuse before his plight is discovered. After almost a year of hospitalization and therapy Fekri moves into a group home where he finds support, mentorship, and eventual forgiveness towards the family that sold him.

A BEAUTIFUL VILLAIN’S GREED DIRECTOR: DOMINIQUE WILMORE • 2 MIN. • ANIMATION • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Inspired by Wynton Marsalis’ 2007 Jazz release Supercapitalism, the film combines bright visuals and upbeat music to show someone consumed with the art of consumption, and how this beautiful villain takes her addiction to retail to menacing new heights.

THE OVERCOAT DIRECTOR: PATRICK MYLES • 19 MIN. • COMEDY • UK • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A lonely social outcast gets a glimpse of what life is like for someone popular, and cannot let it go, even in death.

ABEYANCE DIRECTOR: CHARLES BEALE • 4 MIN. • SCI-FI/HORROR • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A malfunction in the stasis system leaves a man trapped in a state of sleep paralysis as he travels to colonize a distant planet: a journey destined to take twenty-seven years.

MY FIRST TIME DIRECTOR: JESS JACKLIN • 3 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A unexpected comedy with an unreliable narrator, My First Time tells the tale of the mourning of a first love.

THREE PAGES (TROIS PAGES) DIRECTOR: ROGER GARIÉPY • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

An unassuming middle-aged accountant learns he has only weeks to live. Rather than tell everyone, he determines to learn the three pages of a Bach adagio for piano he’d abandoned as a child. That accomplished, he performs the piece for his wife and friends, completing his life and thanking those who brightened it along the way.

SIDELINED DIRECTOR: GALEN SUMMER • 40 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

In 1978, several NFL cheerleaders posed in Playboy magazine after receiving approval from team management. But when the issue hit newstands, cheerleaders were fired, the San Diego Chargettes were disbanded, and the story made it to newspaper headlines, talk shows, and TV news around the country.

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E STREET CINEMA FRIDAY, SEPT. 7, 9:30 P.M. SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 8 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

HAIR WOLF DIRECTOR: MARIAMA DIALLO • 12 MIN. • COMEDY/ACTION • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

In a black hair salon in gentrifying Brooklyn, the local residents fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture.

A TAXI OF COLDNESS DIRECTOR: JOONHA KIM • 20 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • SOUTH KOREA • D.C. PREMIERE

A man rides a taxi late at night. When the taxi driver offers him chewing gum, he remembers his mother’s “drugged gum” story. Then the taxi driver says, ‘Did you hear about those criminal taxi drivers?’ But after repeated offers, the man accepts the gum after all.

THE PICK UP DIRECTOR: GIOVANNA CHESLER • 10 MIN. • COMEDY • LGBTQ • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Melanie, a teen resentful of her divorcing parents and craving independence, doesn’t like surprises. When Mom picks her up from swim practice and their trip gets derailed by a flat tire and a stranger, Melanie finds herself choosing a new road.

NEVADA DIRECTOR: EMILY ANN HOFFMAN • 12 MIN. • ANIMATION/COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

In this stop-motion animated comedy, a young couple’s romantic weekend getaway is interrupted by a birth control mishap.

EMPIRE ON MAIN STREET DIRECTOR: JESSICA CONGDON • 24 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LGBTQ • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A tireless entrepreneur jump-starts the transformation of a neglected vacation town, until her ambition pushes her to the brink.

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E-STREET CINEMA SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 11 A.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 10, 5 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

EDWARD HOPPER & MARSHALL’S HOUSE DIRECTOR: BOB BURNETT • 8 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA

A short visit through five generations of a family’s history, focusing on the artist, Edward Hopper, who captured their home one sunny Fall morning in 1932. This meditative short film, presents how the concept of family and an artist’s work can reach beyond the confines of a period.

TWEET-TWEET DIRECTOR: ZHANNA BEKMAMBETOVA • 11 MIN. • ANIMATION • RUSSIAN FEDERATION • D.C. PREMIERE

Our life is like walking on a tightrope. In times we are scared or lost we lose balance. When we are happy and excited we forget we walk on a rope. We can even fly! Main characters are girl Luba and her friend Sparrow. Silly Sparrow doesn’t know fear. By playing with him, Luba forgets she is on a rope.

SHADOW BOXER (SKYGGEBOKSER) DIRECTOR: ANDREAS BØGGILD MONIES • 22 MIN. • DRAMA • DENMARK • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Eight-year-old Luna lives alone with her mother Isabella, a professional boxer.

During an important match, Isabella is badly hurt and ends up in a wheelchair.

Luna takes on the lonely fight to encourage her mother to believe once again in becoming the fighter and mother who Luna knows, loves, and needs.

DICKY & FLO DIRECTOR: TREVOR KRAVITS • 8 MIN. • DRAMA/COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Flo is a sweet old taxidermist living in the Chicago neighborhood Albany Park.

She has a quirky habit of talking to corpses like her stuffed dog, hamster, and her deceased husband, Dicky. As she takes Dicky out on the town, the beautiful day takes her all around the city and closer to accepting Dicky is no longer there.

THE AVOCADO (EL AGUACATE) DIRECTOR: DARWIN SERINK • 11 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

After several unsuccessful attempts, Raul finally gets the courage to ask his co-worker, Rosa, out on a date. To his surprise, she says yes, but when the anticipated day arrives, Raul is met with an unforeseen event that changes his life forever.

63 BOYCOTT DIRECTOR: GORDON QUINN • 29 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA

In 1963, two hundred fifty thousand students boycotted the Chicago Public Schools to protest racial segregation. The film connects the forgotten story of one of the largest northern civil rights demonstrations to contemporary issues around race, education, and youth activism.

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ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

CAROLINE DIRECTORS: LOGAN GEORGE AND CELINE HELD • 12 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

When plans fall through, a six-year-old is faced with a big responsibility on a hot Texas day.

FENCE (GARDHI) DIRECTOR: LENDITA ZEQIRAJ • 15 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • KOSOVO • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Little Genti wants a puppy. He expresses his wish at the family gathering, after his friend Xeni shows at the door, with his dog friend Aja. This fires up discussion among the grown ups. Ignored by grownups and despite his mother’s disapproval, Genti joins Xeni and Aja on the street, continuing to find his new puppy-friend.

SIX MILES OUT DIRECTOR: HOSAM ABU DAN • 11 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Gaza fishermen sail into to the Mediterranean for the night to bring in a catch to eat and sell, an act of bravery, since the Israeli Navy prowls nearby ready to shoot.

LIFE AFTER DIRECTOR: RIA TOBACCOWALA • 13 MIN. • DRAMA • LGBTQ • USA

Nisha, a single mother and Indian immigrant, travels to New York City to clear out her daughter Zara’s apartment. Out of her element in the big city, Nisha discovers surprising new details about Zara. With help from her best friend and a stranger, Nisha uncovers the truth about her daughter’s life.

CREATURE FROM THE LAKE DIRECTORS: RENATA ANTUNEZ, ALEXIS BÉDUÉ, LÉA BRESCIANI, AMANDINE CANVILLE, MARIA CASTRO RODRIGUEZ, LOGAN CLUBER, NICOLAS GRANGEAUD, CAPUCINE RAHMOUN-SWIERCZYNSKI, VICTOR ROUXEL, ORIANNE SICCARDI, AND MALLAURY SIMOES • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE

In the ’80s, a manly and experienced monster hunter hero of a low-budget TV show, followed by his fat cowardly camerawoman, venture to a remote lake on the night of a full moon, when mysterious disappearances tend to occur.

SHAD RUN DIRECTORS: BEN DORGER AND BECKY HARLAN • 26 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

By the 1970s, shad fish numbers were so low that even the most seasoned anglers went home from a day on the river empty-handed. Overfishing, pollution, and a loss of habitat brought on by the construction of dams, threatened American shad not only in the Potomac but all over the east coast. This short documentary film chronicles the abundance, demise, and triumphant return of a native fish, highlighting the citizens who refused to let them fade away and those who are still united by the quest to fish the Potomac’s renowned shad run.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 1:30 P.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 10, 7 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

OPENING NIGHT

DIRECTOR: MARGARET BIALIS • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION/MUSICAL • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A man reflects on formative conflicts from his past with optimism, humor, and gratitude... with a musical twist. Look within...then dance it out.

THE LESSON (LA LECCIÓN)

DIRECTOR: HUGO GÓMEZ • 13 MIN. • THRILLER • SPAIN • EAST COAST PREMIERE Javier is a prestigious executive with a life full of luxury and money. He makes decisions that contribute to poverty and exploitation of families that that seem like only numbers for him. Everything will change when Oscar appears and gives him a lesson he will never forget.

TEETH

DIRECTOR: THOMAS HOGBEN • 11 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • UK • U.S. PREMIERE Every crooked lateral incisor or overzealous premolar tells a story, and Teeth is a short film exploring the relationship we have with these dental companions and how they impact our lives. The film explores our need to conform and our obsession with appearance in this age of the selfie, and questions how far should we go to look normal.

THE RED TREE (L’ALBERO ROSSO)

DIRECTOR: PAUL ROWLEY • 20 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • IRELAND • D.C. PREMIERE Narrated by renowned Italian actor Leo Gullotta, The Red Tree tells the little known history of Italian gay men being arrested and exiled to a remote island during Mussolini’s Fascist regime. An elderly man returns to the island of San Domino where 60 years before during the Fascist era he was imprisoned with hundreds of other men for being homosexual.

ROUND TRIP (SIVUV)

DIRECTOR: LOREN TRABELSI • 6 MIN. • DRAMA • ISRAEL • D.C. PREMIERE A young girl becomes compromised after she accepts kindness from a stranger on a bus.

THAT WAS AWESOME!

DIRECTOR: ARLEN KONOPAKI • 18 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE When a floor hockey team of adults with special needs gets pushed around one too many times off-the-court, they decide to stand up for themselves on-thecourt in the game of a lifetime.

BINI

DIRECTOR: ERBLIN NUSHI • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE At the outbreak of the Kosovo War, six year old Bini is only thinking about his most prized possession, a piece of candy. When suddenly he and his family are faced with life threatening obstacles, Bini learns that candy may not be the only thing of value he loses that day. War and family come together in this touching film about love, loss, and sacrifice.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 2 P.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 10, 7:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

TRUE LOVE IN PUEBLO TEXTIL (AMOR VERDADERO EN PUEBLO TEXTIL)

DIRECTOR: HORATIO BALTZ • 5 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA/CUBA/ • EAST COAST PREMIERE Nine-year-old Maribel explains to us how it feels to be stricken with the world’s oldest infliction: love.

TANIEL

DIRECTOR: GARO BERBERIAN • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • UK/ARMENIA • U.S. PREMIERE A historical drama focusing on the damages of war, both physical and emotional. War permeates the country and mass arrests take place across a city while the poet’s home is broken, his name ticked off the list never to return again — a casualty of the Armenian Genocide.

THE LIKES AND DISLIKES OF MARJ BAGLEY

DIRECTOR: TAYLOR STANTON • 14 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE In this innovative documentary, a family recreates itself using stop-motion animation. The film tells the lifelong struggle of Marj, the matriarch of the Bagley clan, to find happiness. Marj battles infidelity, broken noses, dysfunctional relationships, giant birds, and a fateful game of cards with her grandchildren. Through a combination of interviews and recreations, her family reflects on the legacy of a woman who they realize they may not understand.

THE SON, THE FATHER…

DIRECTOR: LUKAS HASSEL • 13 MIN. • HORROR/DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE The events on a young boy’s birthday have twisted consequences far into his future. The script on which The Son, The Father is based was a finalist in the 2016 D.C. Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

THE EDGE OF DAYBREAK

DIRECTOR: ALIX LAMBERT • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILM • USA • D.C. PREMIERE It doesn’t take a seasoned musician, engineer, or producer to marvel at The Edge of Daybreak and their sole record, Eyes of Love. Though rightly acclaimed for soulful melodies and passionate vocals, the record is ultimately infamous for having been recorded in one take at the Powhatan Correctional Center’s recreational area by a six-inmate group, each member — then serving sentences ranging between six and 60 years — whisked back to their cells as soon as they’d hit the last note on the final track.

TRANSMITTER RECEIVER (ÉMETTEUR RÉCEPTEUR)

DIRECTOR: VINCENT WILSON • 9 MIN. • SCI-FI/YOUTH • CANADA • EAST COAST PREMIERE In order to escape the monotony and boredom of the end of the school year, a young boy fabricates a transceiver-receiver to communicate with strangers in the sky. The bright imagination of a child is brought to life in this touching and beautiful film.

THE UNDERTAKER’S SON

Dir: THE AFFOLTER BROS. • 14 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • EAST COAST PREMIERE Despite his desire to do anything but, Christopher Redding is attending work with his father for the first time to learn the macabre family business. When the duo is faced with a tragic death, Christopher is pushed to his breaking point revealing a deeper conflict that simmers just below the surface. Set in a small frontier town circa 1867, this short Western examines the lives that are affected after the infamous gunfights, shootouts, and robberies so often depicted in the beloved genre.

SUN SHINE

DIRECTOR: WALKER HARE • 9 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE When an African American teenager gets a seemingly depressed white guy to open up, she discovers he’s on his way to commit a horrible act.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 4 P.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 10, 9 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

A LIFE LIKE THIS

DIRECTOR: ISAIAH TOUR • 12 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY/ANIMATION • NEW ZEALAND • D.C. PREMIERE A young New Zealander doesn’t know much about his father even though they have lived together for almost twenty-five years. Isaiah decides to make a film about his dad, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime in the hope that it will bring them together. Using animation the two work together to explore Huat’s untold refugee story.

BEFORE PRISON

DIRECTORS: EMILY HARGER AND OLIVIA MERRION • 8 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA Robyn Allen’s 20-year prison sentence for trafficking drugs is far more complicated than it appears. Abuse has plagued her family, and Robyn’s painful memories are just the tip of the iceberg.

MARGUERITE

DIRECTOR: MARIANNE FARLEY • 19 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE For several years now Marguerite, a diabetic woman in her seventies, has been getting daily visits from Rachel, her home health nurse. In spite of her declining condition, Marguerite has been gradually emerging from her loneliness as she experiences moments of tenderness and sensuality, under Rachel’s care.

PUSHING SKILLS

DIRECTOR: MICHAEL A KREHAN • 17 MIN. • DRAMA/SCI-FI • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A street-smart hustler uses his invention to give people extraordinary skills for few hours but finds himself in trouble when the wrong people hear about it.

JAB JAB

DIRECTOR: REUBEN MILLNS AND THOMAS HARRAD • 5 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • UK • U.S. PREMIERE A portrait of Grenada’s annual J’ouvert festival. Every year, thousands of Grenadians congregate in the middle of the night to “play Jab,” covered head-totoe in motor oil as a powerful symbol of remembrance, celebration and defiance.

WHAM

DIRECTOR: ROBERT BRUCE CARTER • 3 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE Two people fall violently in love on the sidewalk — and a ripple effect ensues.

FACING MECCA

DIRECTOR: JAN-ERIC MACK • 25 MIN. • DRAMA • SWITZERLAND • D.C. PREMIERE Pensioner Roli comes to Fareed’s assistance when the Syrian refugee is faced with the burial of his Muslim wife. Together they stumble into a bewildering forest of Swiss bureaucracy to which Roli finds a beautifully simple answer. A touching story of how one man helps a refugee during one of the largest refugee crisis in recent history. One small act of kindness can change the world.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 4:30 P.M. MONDAY, SEPT. 10, 9:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

LITTLE FIEL

DIRECTOR: IRINA PATKANIAN • 16 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • MOZAMBIQUE Guns are not killers. They are pieces of metal that can be reassembled into anything, including a little boy, a bird or a rose. Just as they make them, we can unmake them, one by one.

LET ME DANCE (LAISSEZ-MOI DANSER)

DIRECTOR: VALÉRIE LEROY • 17 MIN. • DRAMA • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE Mylène, 45, is a maid on a ferry boat. Tonight her colleagues are organizing a surprise party for her birthday. But on the gift voucher, Mylène reads her old name, a name that she doesn’t want to see anymore — her male name.

MOVING VIOLATION

DIRECTOR: LAURA HINSON • 12 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • USA A jilted bride finally faces the truth about her ex-fiancé after a newly-installed speed camera on her street pushes her to the edge.

OPEN YOUR EYES

DIRECTOR: ILAY MEVORAH • 14 MIN. • DRAMA • ISRAEL Ilana arrives for her monthly treatment at the eye clinic. Her doctor is absent and is replaced by Dr .Khoury. Ilana precepts herself as a liberal woman but there is no chance that an Arab doctor will give her a shot in the eye. Yohai, who understands that his mother is losing her eyesight, won’t let her leave.

MY GRANDFATHER’S MEMORY BOOK

DIRECTOR: COLIN LEVY • 4 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A personal reflection about an unusual sketchbook that captures a lifetime of memories, connecting three generations through drawings, writings and dialogue.

THE PECULIAR ABILITIES OF MR. MAHLER (DIE BESONDEREN FÄHIGKEITEN DES HERRN MAHLER)

DIRECTOR: PAUL PHILIPP • 29 MIN. • DRAMA • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE East Germany, 1987: The special investigator Mahler is said to have paranormal abilities. The police assigns him to solve the case of the 6-year-old Henry Kiefer, who is missing for weeks now, before this issue leads to political tensions with the West. But then he brings something to light that makes this family tragedy especially political.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 6:30 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 5 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

REMEMBERING PORT CHICAGO

DIRECTOR: ALEXANDER IRWIN • 9 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE In California’s Bay Area, a painful memory lingers of the Port Chicago disaster of WWII, when hundreds of the Navy’s first black sailors perished.

DIAPERS FROM MELQUIADES (PAÑALES PARA MELQUIADES)

DIRECTOR: GANDHI RAMOS • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • MEXICO • D.C. PREMIERE Domingo, goes to the market´s town to sell hats. Along the way, he takes the opportunity to visit his brother Melquiades, who is terminally ill.

OUR SONG TO WAR (NUESTRO CANTO A LA GUERRA)

DIRECTOR: JUANITA ONZAGA • 14 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • BELGIUM • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Crocodile-men, a mystic river, some kids that like fishing and a war that ends all share the same Colombian land — Bojaya. In this place, villagers have strange beliefs and celebrate the “Novenario” death ritual.

WANDERING EYES

DIRECTOR: MAKAN TALAYEH • 15 MIN. • DRAMA/THRILLER • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE The lives of two seemingly disconnected couples, each with an unapologetic cheating spouse, come together in a twisted tale of betrayal and revenge as all four cross paths in an unexpected way.

THE MUD

DIRECTOR: BRANDON LAKE • 6 MIN. • ANIMATION/DRAMA • USA A self reflection on the relationship between race, heritage, and stereotype, The Mud tells the story of a clay figure who struggles against outside forces that seek to overtake and disfigure his very essence.

Through dance and movement, he strives to understand and find himself.

OSTRICH

DIRECTOR: PATRICK WALSH • 14 MIN. • DRAMA • UK • WORLD PREMIERE Late at night in a Westminster bar, principled junior broadsheet journalist Will Hewitt meets with no-nonsense Deputy Finance Minister Pippa Thomas for a routine interview on recent government fines imposed on the world’s largest banks. Their early exchanges spark fireworks as liberal idealist grills conservative elite, but Will’s true intentions are soon revealed as he ambushes Thomas with accusations of financial and political corruption.

SEND US SMOKES

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DIRECTOR: MICHELLE KEE • 10 MIN. • DRAMA/MUSICAL • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE When 7-year-old Adelaide finds the care package of cigarettes she prepared for her father won’t be delivered to him as he serves on the front lines of World War I, she decides to embark on a fantastical adventure to take it to him herself.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 7 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 5:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

THE WORLD IS ROUND SO THAT NOBODY CAN HIDE IN THE CORNERS – PART I: REFUGE

DIRECTOR: LEANDRO GODDINHO • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE The journey of an African gay refugee seeking asylum in Germany.

THE WORLD IS ROUND SO THAT NOBODY CAN HIDE IN THE CORNERS – PART II: THE KISS

DIRECTOR: LEANDRO GODDINHO • 5 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE An African refugee visits the Gay Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

FUNERAL

DIRECTOR: LEAH SHORE • 8 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE When a pregnant woman delivers a convoluted speech to a gathering of family and close friends, she must face the consequences. She then retreats to a waiting room where the surreal meets the real by a water cooler.

CAMILLE (QUAND J’AI REMPLACE CAMILLE)

DIRECTORS: RÉMY CLARKE, LEÏLA COURTILLON, NATHAN OTAÑO • 7 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE Laure must replace a deceased swimmer in the relay swim team. The qualifiers are near and the team worries about their chances at winning. The grief and stress pushes Laura to obsess over the one she replaces, Camille.

FAUVE

DIRECTOR: JEREMY COMTE • 16 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE Set in a surface mine, two boys sink into a seemingly innocent power game with Mother Nature as the sole observer.

RED VELVET (

)

DIRECTORS: MAHMOUD SAMIR AND YOUSSEF MAHMOUD • 15 MIN. • COMEDY/ DRAMA • EGYPT • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE When Nancy suffers from a sudden cardiac arrest in a morning, her only chance of survival lies in the hands of her oblivious five years old son, Asser.

PAINTED CITY

DIRECTOR: CAITLIN CARROLL • 26 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA Painted City explores the history of Washington, D.C.’s community murals and the preservation issues they face in rapidly changing neighborhoods by following one local woman’s efforts to study and save them.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 9 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 7 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

CUBEMAN (KOCKAEMBER)

DIRECTOR: LINDA DOMBROVSZKY • 19 MIN. • DRAMA • HUNGARY • D.C. PREMIERE An elderly man is unable to accept that he is made to retire and his life takes a dramatic turn, when he realises that he cannot finish the work of his life.

QUEENS IN TRAINING

DIRECTORS: DEANNA DEL CIELLO AND ANNA MOLINARO • 15 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • LOCAL FILMMAKER Two young African-American girls learn to play chess competitively and apply those skills to obstacles of race and gender as they prepare for a citywide co-educational tournament in Washington, D.C.

REVERIE

DIRECTORS: EMILY DEWOOLFSON AND KATY HANNAH • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION • USA • LOCAL FILMMAKER • WORLD PREMIERE A girl dreams of the way she wishes the world could be... or perhaps the way the world already is.

DEJA VU (DÉJÀ VU)

DIRECTOR: OLIVIER LABONTE LEMOYNE • 9 MIN. • THRILLER/HORROR • CANADA • U.S. PREMIERE A young woman meets with her best friend in a local diner to tell him about the fantasy she recently accomplished. But when a mysterious man enters, she is struck by a feeling of deja vu. Everything around her starts to resemble a nightmare she’s had.

HOLLY GOES TO THERAPY

DIRECTOR: CAT VENTURA • 15 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE A troubled woman participates in an unconventional therapy session.

PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.

DIRECTOR: RAYKA ZEHTABCHI • 25 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • INDIA The story of a quiet, profound revolution taking place for women in Northern India, where the stigma of menstruation limits their potential.

Without sanitary products or proper education about their bodies, millions of girls end up missing school or dropping out entirely once they begin their periods. But in a modest room in a rural Indian village, local start to produce and sell thousands of pads to local women in an effort to improve feminine hygiene.

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SATURDAY, SEPT. 8, 9:30 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 7:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

SPACE BUTTHOLE

DIRECTOR: DAVID CHAI • 8 MIN. • ANIMATION/COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE In the annals of mankind, we will realize that humans have been mistreating Mother Nature for far too long. It was only a matter of time before the universe blasted back.

Please join us in experiencing a warning from the deepest bowels of the galaxy. Can humanity squeeze out a solution before it goes to pot? Don’t stall to find out!

END OF THE LINE

DIRECTOR: JESSICA SANDERS • 15 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A lonely man goes to the pet store and buys a tiny man in a cage and the two must learn to get along, or at least co-exist...which will not be easy!

THE LAST DANCE

DIRECTOR: CHRIS KELLER • 8 MIN. • DRAMA/SCI-FI • UK • EAST COAST PREMIERE In the not-too-distant future, an old man works alone in his garage — click-click-clicking the hours away on an old desktop computer. His name is Hugo, and he’s making something — something great. Today, the not-too-distant future will become the nottoo-distant past.

POKER NIGHT

DIRECTOR: MICHAEL THOMAS TAYLOR • 9 MIN. • COMEDY/THRILLER • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE Bill always hosts poker night. It’s just kind of his thing. This time, though, things get considerably out of hand. In a sick turn of events, friends are pitted against one another to survive.

EMERGENCY

DIRECTOR: CAREY WILLIAMS • 12 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE Faced with an emergency situation, a group of young Black and Latino friends carefully weigh the pros and cons of calling the police. People of color have the internal conflict of desiring to move freely in this country but fearing they are not able to do so.

Emergency is a timely commentary on an issue that plagues many people of color in our country today — fear of police.

THE LAST GREAT AMERICAN WHALE

DIRECTOR: ALEX HUEBSCH • 15 MIN. • MYSTERY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE John’s just lost his child. His marriage is falling apart. His career is being taken over by younger, faster, smarter people. So what’s he to do? He flees his life for the freedom and adventure of the ocean and a dying American Dream, but a vicious circle always seems to bring him right back to where he started.

VIEW

DIRECTOR: GABRIEL GALLINDO • 15 MIN. • THRILLER • BRAZIL • EAST COAST PREMIERE The most famous Brazilian Youtuber is kidnapped and forced to continue posting vídeos in captivity, asking her fans to donate her ransom via a crowdfunding campaign.

LABORATORY CONDITIONS

DIRECTOR: JOCELYN STAMAT • 17 MIN. • DRAMA/SCI-FI • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A physician investigating a missing body disrupts an unlawful experiment. Starring Marisa Tomei and Minnie Driver.

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E STREET CINEMA SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, NOON TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 9 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

THE JOURNEY TO ICELAND (EL VIAJE A ISLANDIA)

DIRECTOR: CÉSAR VALLEJO DE CASTRO • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • SPAIN • D.C. PREMIERE Maybe all this happened to me, the meaning of my life is to help all people coming from behind me to be able to do something as human as dying, but to die without suffering.

OCULUS MALUS

DIRECTORS: FÉLIX BENICOURT, MAXIME BLIN, MATHIEU BOUZARD, CAMILLE BULLET, VALENTIN CHOTEL, ADRIEN KOTTELAT, QUENTIN MASINGARBE AND DORIAN MOUTY • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE • EAST COAST PREMIERE A crazy scientist creates special glasses in order to examine some little creatures that are invisible to human eyes. These creatures may just explain a good proportion of our little daily annoyances.

WHO DECIDES

DIRECTOR: MYLISSA FITZSIMMONS • 8 MIN. • DRAMA/HORROR • USA • D.C. PREMIERE Death can no longer be denied. A sick woman and a young girl engage in a discussion about who decides when it’s your time to die.

HIATUS

DIRECTOR: KEVIN HAEFELIN • 12 MIN. • COMEDY • SWITZERLAND • D.C. PREMIERE A philosophy teacher discusses religion in class. In the street he is confronted with his subject matter in an unexpected way.

LABOR

DIRECTOR: CECILIA ALBERTINI • 13 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE A surrogate mother faces a harrowing dilemma when asked to abort the baby she carries for another woman.

MARCH FOOL (POISSON DE MARS)

DIRECTORS: PIERRE-MARC DROUIN AND SIMON LAMARRE-LEDOUX • 14 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • CANADA • EAST COAST PREMIERE Struggling with depression, Louis is dragging himself out to his despicable brother’s birthday party with his despicable sister. When he finds out that they are planning a prank on him for April Fools Day, Louis takes it a little too much on a personal level.

PIETAS

DIRECTOR: ROB WATERS • 4 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE Sometimes the toughest part of your day is explaining it to a loved one.

POT OF GOLD: THE ORIGIN OF THE JAPANESE BIDET

DIRECTOR: DAIEI ONOGUCHI • 20 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE Why are Japanese so obsessed with bidet toilet? A curious filmmaker goes on a journey to answer the question.

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E STREET CINEMA SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 12:30 P.M. TUESDAY, SEPT. 11, 9:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

THE ROAD BETWEEN US

DIRECTORS: JOANNE FEINBERG AND KATHERINE ROSELLI • 14 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE A father and son bicycle 2,701 miles across America on Route 66. They discover that the road between them is the life path that connects.

DO NO HARM

DIRECTOR: MARIELLE WOODS • 8 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A short film about a combat medic attempting to hold on to humanity in the midst of a war much bigger than himself. A medic’s job is to fix people up, but how does that obligation reconcile with someone who is trained to fight and may be asked to kill?

WEEDS

DIRECTOR: KEVIN HUDSON • 3 MIN. • ANIMATION/COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE Weeds tells the story of a dandelion, rooted on the wrong side of the driveway in a barren yard surrounded by dry dirt and dead grass. Just across the concrete lies another yard, where the sprinklers spray water endlessly, and the greener grass holds the promise of a better life. While watching helplessly as its fellow weeds wither away and die, the dandelion faces a decision: take action or suffer the same fate.

EVIE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT

DIRECTOR: DAWN FIELDS • 9 MIN. • DRAMA/HORROR • USA • D.C. PREMIERE After the loss of her mother, Evie rebels against her father and his over-thetop Christmas spirit. Evie learns a scary lesson, however, when she opens her Christmas presents before Christmas morning.

MAGIC ALPS

DIRECTORS: ANDREA BRUSA AND MARCO SCOTUZZI • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • ITALY • D.C. PREMIERE An Afghan refugee arrives in Italy with his goat and seeks political asylum for both of them.

GYPSY’S KISS

DIRECTOR: PAUL MURPHY • 9 MIN. • COMEDY • UK • D.C. PREMIERE A widow with a distant son, Judith is alone, and takes life as she finds it.

Devoting her life to her late husband Fred and her son wasn’t easy, but she never sought thanks and never complained. So every year she marks the anniversary with a pilgrimage to his grave, and every year she’s reminded just how much Fred meant to her.

SABER ROCK

DIRECTORS: THOMAS LOCASTRO AND MATTHEW LOCASTRO • 30 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA A flamboyant, fiercely loyal interpreter named Saber Rock helps turn the tide of Helmand Province, Afghanistan against the Taliban and towards the support of coalition forces. As his successes mount, so do the threats against him.

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E STREET CINEMA SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 2:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12, 5 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

CASEY

DIRECTOR: SHANRICA EVANS • 6 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A teenager with gender dysphoria witnesses the physical assault of a transgender woman.

ZERO GRAVITY

DIRECTOR: THOMAS VERRETTE • 17 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE An 11-year-old Mexican-American girl competes in a middle-school program to control robotic satellites aboard the International Space Station, as part of a nationwide competition to inspire marginalized youth.

BLOOM

DIRECTOR: KIERAN WHEELER • 7 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • AUSTRALIA • U.S. PREMIERE When Andrew comes home from a weekend away and finds a single rose petal in his bed, he becomes convinced that his girlfriend has cheated on him.

WEEKENDS

DIRECTOR: TREVOR JIMENEZ • 15 MIN. • ANIMATION • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A young boy shuffles between the homes of his recently divorced parents. Surreal dream like moments mix with the domestic realities of a broken up family in this hand animated film set in 1980s Toronto.

WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE

DIRECTOR: HONORA TALBOTT • 13 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE When a Mexican American couple moves into a trendy, gentrifying L.A. neighborhood, two hipsters invite themselves over to offer a “warm welcome.” But as the night goes on, it’s clear these neighbors are not what they seem: cold pressed, cold brewed, and cold blooded.

CELLS

DIRECTOR: RAYMOND WOOD • 12 MIN. • THRILLER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE When a reputable doctor finds himself held captive by a group of masked intruders, he struggles to understand their motives while being forced to answer why billions of dollars go wasted each year in the name of medical research.

HOW TOMMY LEMENCHICK BECAME A GRADE 7 LEGEND

DIRECTOR: BASTIEN ALEXANDRE • 10 MIN. • COMEDY • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE Ophelia is an 11-year-old girl who lives with a complex: she’s never been kissed.

First, find a suitable candidate: Tommy Lemenchick. Second, orchestrate a situation that leads to her first kiss. At school the following day, we discover how Tommy Lemenchick became a Grade 7 legend.

BENEATH THE INK

DIRECTOR: CY DODSON • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE In a time when society’s belief systems are seemingly changing, or even reverting in time, one Ohio tattoo artist Billy Joe White is challenging his community by saying “bring me your mistakes.” A timely look at hate and racism in the western foothills of the Appalachian region that reveals heartfelt stories of change and redemption.

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E STREET CINEMA SUNDAY, SEPT. 9, 3 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12, 5:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

BLACK, I AM (NEGRA SOY)

DIRECTOR: LAURA BERMÚDEZ • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • HONDURAS • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE A beautiful and touching story of the Afro-Caribbean Garífuna people in Honduras, focusing on three women and a girl who tell of their aspirations, happiness, and being there for each other.

DOUBLE TAP

DIRECTOR: WAKA BROWN AND STAN KANG • 10 MIN. • COMEDY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • WORLD PREMIERE Buffy has a secret: She’s in love with her boss, Dan, but can’t admit it, choosing instead to stalk him on Instagram. That is, until she accidentally “double taps” on one of his posts which leads to wildly unsuccessful attempts to cover her tracks. The script Double Tap is based on was a finalist in the 2017 DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

IT’S THE DYSTOPIAN FUTURE!

DIRECTOR: BENJAMIN FOLSTEIN • 2 MIN. • ANIMATION • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE A giddy jaunt through the future that may come to pass…

NIGHT CALL

DIRECTOR: AMANDA RENEE KNOX • 18 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE On a routine patrol, a black female cop patrolling Inglewood gets called to a disturbance and is forced to make an unprecedented life-altering decision.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

DIRECTOR: TAREK ROEHLINGER • 12 MIN. • DRAMA • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE Two soldiers in the everyday life of Paris are guarding an official building. An abandoned bag, curious onlookers, and a crazy tramp move the situation to a climax, as the lines between normalcy and danger disappear.

THE HOBBYIST

DIRECTOR: GEORGE VATISTAS • 9 MIN. • THRILLER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE A neo-noir thriller centered around a mysterious druggist visited by Sangstrom, a seemingly ordinary man in search of an undetectable poison. He winds up getting more than he bargained for from the sagacious alchemist. Based on the 1961 short story by Fredric Brown.

TO BREATHE FREE

DIRECTOR: DAVID BARNHART • 16 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE To Breathe Free follows the 5-year journey of a Syrian family fleeing the war in Homs to the refugee camps in Jordan and starting a new life in Washington, D.C. Using home movies, phone video, family photos and interviews with family members and former refugees, this short documentary gives an intimate and unique perspective not seen in current media reporting on the refugee crisis.

CIVIL

DIRECTOR: STEPHEN TAKASHIMA • 17 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE A black door-to-door salesman struggles to make his first sale when he spots a Confederate flag hanging on the wall of his potential client.

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SPECIAL SHOWCASES

T

he 18 Showcases on the previous pages were designed to exhibit the breadth and depth of short filmmaking, including a variety of genres and styles. The Showcases on the following pages present films in a thematic presentation with each film relating to a topic or style.

YOU’RE NOT FROM AROUND HERE (INTERNATIONAL SHORTS) E STREET CINEMA WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12, 7 P.M. MAMARTUILE DIRECTOR: ALEJANDRO SAEVICH • 12 MIN. • COMEDY • MEXICO • EAST COAST PREMIERE

The president of Mexico spends his final days in office making plans for his future. Everything looks in order until an international conflict interrupts his pleasant rest.

SACRILEGE DIRECTOR: CHRISTOPHE M. SABER • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • SWITZERLAND • D.C. PREMIERE

The money has gone missing in the mosque of Saint-Etienne. Saoud, the gang leader, is suspected.

OPEN YOUR EYES7 DIRECTOR: ILAY MEVORAH • 14 MIN. • DRAMA • ISRAEL

CINEMA 10% (LGBTQ SHORTS) E STREET CINEMA WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12, 7:15 P.M.

THE WORLD IS ROUND SO THAT NOBODY CAN HIDE IN THE CORNERS – PART I: REFUGE DIRECTOR: LEANDRO GODDINHO • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE

The journey of an African gay refugee seeking asylum in Germany.

THE PICK UP DIRECTOR: GIOVANNA CHESLER • 10 MIN. • COMEDY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Melanie, a teen resentful of her divorcing parents and craving independence, doesn’t like surprises. When Mom picks her up from swim practice and their trip gets derailed by a flat tire and a stranger, Melanie finds herself choosing a new road.

LET ME DANCE (LAISSEZ-MOI DANSER)

Ilana arrives for her monthly treatment at the eye clinic. Her doctor is absent and is replaced by Dr Khoury. Ilana considers herself a liberal woman, but there is no chance that an Arab doctor will give her a shot in the eye. Yohai, who understands that his mother is losing her eyesight, won’t let her leave.

DIRECTOR: VALÉRIE LEROY • 17 MIN. • DRAMA • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE

FENCE (GARDHI)

THE WORLD IS ROUND SO THAT NOBODY CAN HIDE IN THE CORNERS – PART II: THE KISS

DIRECTOR: LENDITA ZEQIRAJ • 15 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • KOSOVO • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Little Genti wants a puppy. He expresses his wish at the family gathering, after his friend Xeni shows at the door, with his dog friend Aja. This fires up discussion among the grown ups. Ignored by grownups and despite his mother’s disapproval, Genti joins Xeni and Aja on the street, continuing to find his new puppy-friend.

THREE PAGES (TROIS PAGES) DIRECTOR: ROGER GARIÉPY • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

An unassuming middle-aged accountant learns he has only weeks to live.

Rather than tell everyone, he becomes determined to learn the three pages of a Bach adagio for piano he’d abandoned as a child. That accomplished, he performs the piece for his wife and friends, completing his life and thanking those who brightened it along the way.

SHADOW BOXER (SKYGGEBOKSER) DIRECTOR: ANDREAS BØGGILD MONIES • 22 MIN. • DRAMA • DENMARK • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Eight-year-old Luna lives alone with her mother, Isabella, 32, a professional boxer. During an important match Isabella is badly hurt and ends up in a wheelchair Luna takes on the lonely fight to encourage her mother to believe once again in becoming the fighter and mother who Luna knows, loves, and needs.

Mylène, 45, is a maid on a ferry boat. Tonight her colleagues are organizing a surprise party for her birthday. But on the gift voucher, Mylène reads her old name, a name that she doesn’t want to see anymore — her male name.

DIRECTOR: LEANDRO GODDINHO • 5 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE

An African refugee visits the Gay Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

THE RED TREE (L’ALBERO ROSSO) DIRECTOR: PAUL ROWLEY • 20 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • IRELAND/ITALY • D.C. PREMIERE

Narrated by renowned Italian actor Leo Gullotta, this short documentary that tells the little known history of Italian gay men being arrested and exiled to a remote island during Mussolini’s Fascist regime. In the film, an elderly man returns to the island of San Domino where 60 years before during the Fascist era he was imprisoned with hundreds of other men for being homosexual.

LIFE AFTER DIRECTOR: RIA TOBACCOWALA • 13 MIN. • DRAMA • USA

Nisha, a single mother and Indian immigrant, travels to New York City to clear out her daughter Zara’s apartment. Out of her element in the big city, Nisha discovers surprising new details about Zara. With help from her best friend and a stranger, Nisha uncovers the truth about her daughter’s life.

SPARROW DIRECTOR: WELBY INGS • 15 MIN. • DRAMA • NEW ZEALAND • D.C. PREMIERE

When the truth behind a family myth is exposed, a young boy finds the strength to stand up for himself in an unusual way.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

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ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE E STREET CINEMA WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12, 9 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

DIRECTOR: THOMAS HOGBEN • 11 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • UK • U.S. PREMIERE

Every crooked lateral incisor or overzealous premolar tells a story, and Teeth is short film exploring the relationship we have with these dental companions and how they impact our lives. The film explores our need to conform and our obsession with appearance in this age of the selfie, and questions how far should we go to look normal.

TANIEL

LITTLE FIEL

War permeates the country and mass arrests take place across the city whilst the poet’s home is broken, his name ticked off the list never to return again — a casualty of the Armenian Genocide. A historical drama focusing on the damages of war, both physical and emotional.

Guns are not killers. They are pieces of metal that can be reassembled into anything, including a little boy, a bird or a rose. Just as they make them, we can unmake them, one by one.

DIRECTOR: GARO BERBERIAN • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • UK/ARMENIA • U.S. PREMIERE

KUBRICK BY CANDLELIGHT

DIRECTOR: DAVID O’REILLY • 18 MIN. • COMEDY • IRELAND • EAST COAST PREMIERE

In 1973 Stanley Kubrick came to Ireland and brought the whole goddamn British Army. A lighthearted romantic comedy set behind the scenes of the filming of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon. Narrated by Brian Cox.

THE DRIVER IS RED

DIRECTOR: RANDALL CHRISTOPHER • 15 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA

Set in Argentina 1960, this true crime documentary follows the story of secret agent Zvi Aharoni as he hunted down one of the highest ranking Nazi war criminals on the run.

SEND US SMOKES

DIRECTOR: MICHELLE KEE • 10 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

When 7-year-old Adelaide finds the care package of cigarettes she prepared for her father won’t be delivered to him as he serves on the front lines of World War I, she decides to embark on a fantastical adventure to take it to him herself.

DIRECTOR: IRINA PATKANIAN • 16 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA/MOZAMBIQUE

THE EDGE OF DAYBREAK

DIRECTOR: ALIX LAMBERT • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

It doesn’t take a seasoned musician, engineer, or producer to marvel at The Edge of Daybreak and their sole record, Eyes of Love. Though rightly acclaimed for soulful melodies and passionate vocals, the record is ultimately infamous for having been recorded in one take at the Powhatan Correctional Center’s recreational area by a six-inmate group, each member — then serving sentences ranging between six and 60 years — whisked back to their cells as soon as they’d hit the last note on the final track.

EDWARD HOPPER & MARSHALL’S HOUSE

DIRECTOR: BOB BURNETT • 8 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA

A short visit through five generations of a family’s history, focusing on the artist, Edward Hopper, who captured their home one sunny Fall morning in 1932. This meditative short film, presents how the concept of family and an artist’s work can reach beyond the confines of a period.

EMPIRE ON MAIN STREET

DIRECTOR: JESSICA CONGDON • 24 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

THE PECULIAR ABILITIES OF MR. MAHLER (DIE BESONDEREN FÄHIGKEITEN DES HERRN MAHLER)

A tireless entrepreneur jump-starts the transformation of a neglected vacation town, until her ambition pushes her to the brink.

East Germany, 1987: The special investigator Mahler is said to have paranormal abilities. The police assigns him to solve the case of the 6-yearold Henry Kiefer, missing for weeks now, before this issue leads to political tensions with the West. But then he brings something to light that makes this family tragedy especially political.

ANIMATION DOMINATION

DIRECTOR: PAUL PHILIPP • 29 MIN. • DRAMA • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE

THE REAL REEL (DOCUMENTARY SHORTS) E STREET CINEMA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 @ 9:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

THE ROAD BETWEEN US

DIRECTORS: JOANNE FEINBERG AND KATHERINE ROSELLI • 14 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A father and son bicycle 2,701 miles across America on Route 66. They discover that the road between them is the life path that connects.

OUR SONG TO WAR (NUESTRO CANTO A LA GUERRA)

DIRECTOR: JUANITA ONZAGA • 14 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • BELGIUM • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Crocodile-men, a mystic river, some kids that like fishing and a war that ends all share the same Colombian land — Bojaya. In this place, villagers have strange beliefs and celebrate the “Novenario” death ritual.

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E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 5 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

NEGATIVE SPACE

DIRECTOR: MAX PORTER AND RU KUWAHATA • 6 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE

My dad taught me how to pack.

REVERIE

DIRECTORS: EMILY DEWOOLFSON AND KATY HANNAH • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

A girl dreams of the way she wishes the world could be — or perhaps the way the world already is.

WEEDS

DIRECTOR: KEVIN HUDSON • 3 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A dandelion is rooted on the wrong side of the driveway in a barren yard.

Across the concrete lies another yard that holds the promise of a better life.

While watching as its fellow weeds wither away and die, the dandelion faces a decision.

FOR A BETTER LIFE

DIRECTOR: YASMIN MISTRY • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Sold for $100 at the age of 5, Fekri suffers through years of abuse before his plight is discovered. After almost a year of hospitalization and therapy Fekri moves into a group home where he finds support, mentorship, and eventual forgiveness towards the family which sold him.

CREATURE FROM THE LAKE

DIRECTORS: RENATA ANTUNEZ, ALEXIS BÉDUÉ, LÉA BRESCIANI, AMANDINE CANVILLE, MARIA CASTRO RODRIGUEZ, LOGAN CLUBER, NICOLAS GRANGEAUD, CAPUCINE RAHMOUNSWIERCZYNSKI, VICTOR ROUXEL, ORIANNE SICCARDI, AND MALLAURY SIMOES • 5 MIN. • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE

An experienced monster hunter hero of a low-budget TV show, followed by his cowardly camerawoman go to a remote lake where mysterious disappearances tend to occur.

TWEET-TWEET

are faced with life threatening obstacles, Bini learns that candy may not be the only thing of value he loses that day.

TRUE LOVE IN PUEBLO TEXTIL (AMOR VERDADERO EN PUEBLO TEXTIL) DIRECTOR: HORATIO BALTZ • 5 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA/CUBA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Nine-year-old Maribel explains to us how it feels to be stricken with the world’s oldest infliction: love.

FAUVE

DIRECTOR: JEREMY COMTE • 16 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

Set in a surface mine, two boys sink into a seemingly innocent power game with Mother Nature as the sole observer.

RED VELVET (‫)تيفليف دير‬

DIRECTOR: MAHMOUD SAMIR AND YOUSSEF MAHMOUD • 15 MIN. • COMEDY/DRAMA • EGYPT • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Luba plays with her friend Sparrow, who doesn’t know the meaning of fear.

When Nancy suffers from a sudden cardiac arrest in a morning, her only chance of survival lies in the hands of her oblivious five-year-old son, Asser.

CAMILLE (QUAND J’AI REMPLACÉ CAMILLE)

TRANSMITTER RECEIVER (ÉMETTEUR RÉCEPTEUR)

DIRECTOR: ZHANNA BEKMAMBETOVA • 11 MIN. • RUSSIAN FEDERATION • D.C. PREMIERE

DIRECTORS: RÉMY CLARKE, LEÏLA COURTILLON, NATHAN OTAÑO • 7 MIN. • FRANCE • D.C. PREMIERE

A woman obsesses over a deceased swimmer she replaces in a relay race.

NEVADA

DIRECTOR: EMILY ANN HOFFMAN • 12 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A young couple’s romantic weekend getaway is interrupted by a birth control mishap.

WEEKENDS

DIRECTOR: TREVOR JIMENEZ • 15 MIN. • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A young boy shuffles between the homes of his recently divorced parents.

Surreal dream like moments mix with the domestic realities of a broken up family.

SPACE BUTTHOLE

DIRECTOR: VINCENT WILSON • 9 MIN. • SCI-FI • CANADA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

In order to escape the monotony and boredom of the end of the school year, a young boy fabricates a transceiver-receiver to communicate with strangers in the sky.

ZERO GRAVITY

DIRECTOR: THOMAS VERRETTE • 17 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

An 11-year-old Mexican-American girl competes in a middle-school program to control robotic satellites aboard the International Space Station, as part of a nationwide competition to inspire marginalized youth.

HOW TOMMY LEMENCHICK BECAME A GRADE 7 LEGEND DIRECTOR: BASTIEN ALEXANDRE • 10 MIN. • COMEDY/YOUTH • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

Ophelia is an 11-year-old girl who has never been kissed. She finds a suitable candidate in Tommy Lemenchick, and we discover how Tommy became a Grade 7 legend.

DIRECTOR: DAVID CHAI • 8 MIN. • COMEDY/SCI-FI • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A warning from the deepest bowels of the galaxy. Can humanity squeeze out a solution before it goes to pot?

MY GRANDFATHER’S MEMORY BOOK

DIRECTOR: COLIN LEVY • 4 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A personal reflection about an unusual sketchbook that captures a lifetime of memories, connecting three generations.

OPENING NIGHT

DIRECTOR: MARGARET BIALIS • 5 MIN. • MUSICAL/COMEDY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A man reflects on formative conflicts from his past with optimism, humor, and gratitude, with a musical twist.

YOUTHFUL INDISCRETIONS E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 5:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

BINI

ROTFLMAO (COMEDY SHORTS) E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 7 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

MANSPREADING

DIRECTOR: ABDELATIF HWIDAR • 8 MIN. • SPAIN • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

One hundred and sixteen seats, a crowded subway, a long distance to travel.

FUNERAL

DIRECTOR: LEAH SHORE • 8 MIN. • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

When a pregnant woman delivers a convoluted speech to a gathering of family and close friends, she must face the consequences. She then retreats to a waiting room where the surreal meets the real by a water cooler.

PIETAS

DIRECTOR: ROB WATERS • 4 MIN. • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Sometimes the toughest part of your day is explaining it to a loved one.

DIRECTOR: ERBLIN NUSHI • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

At the outbreak of the Kosovo War, six year old Bini is only thinking about his most prized possession, a piece of candy. When suddenly he and his family DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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HIATUS

DIRECTOR: KEVIN HAEFELIN • 12 MIN. • SWITZERLAND • D.C. PREMIERE

A philosophy teacher discusses religion in class. In the street he is confronted with his subject matter in an unexpected way.

HOLLY GOES TO THERAPY

DIRECTOR: CAT VENTURA • 15 MIN. • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A troubled woman participates in an unconventional therapy session.

END OF THE LINE

DIRECTOR: JESSICA SANDERS • 15 MIN. • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

MARGUERITE

DIRECTOR: MARIANNE FARLEY • 19 MIN. • DRAMA • CANADA • D.C. PREMIERE

For several years now Marguerite, a diabetic woman in her seventies, has been getting daily visits from Rachel, her home health nurse. In spite of her declining condition, Marguerite has been gradually emerging from her loneliness as she experiences moments of tenderness and sensuality, under Rachel’s care.

A lonely man goes to the pet store and buys a tiny man in a cage and the two must learn to get along, or at least co-exist.

BLACK, I AM (NEGRA SOY)

OCULUS MALUS

A beautiful and touching story of the Afro-Caribbean Garífuna people in Honduras, focusing on three women and a girl who tell of their aspirations, happiness, and being there for each other.

A crazy scientist creates special glasses in order to examine some little creatures that are invisible to human eyes. These creatures may just explain a good portion of our little daily annoyances.

THE LIKES AND DISLIKES OF MARJ BAGLEY

DIRECTORS: FÉLIX BENICOURT, MAXIME BLIN, MATHIEU BOUZARD, CAMILLE BULLET, VALENTIN CHOTEL, ADRIEN KOTTELAT, QUENTIN MASINGARBE AND DORIAN MOUTY • 5 MIN. • ANIMATION • FRANCE • EAST COAST PREMIERE

MY FIRST TIME

DIRECTOR: JESS JACKLIN • 3 MIN. • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

A unexpected comedy with an unreliable narrator, My First Time tells the tale of the mourning of a first love.

THAT WAS AWESOME!

DIRECTOR: ARLEN KONOPAKI • 18 MIN. • USA • WORLD PREMIERE

When a floor hockey team of adults with special needs gets pushed around one too many times off-the-court, they decide to stand up for themselves on-the-court in the game of a lifetime.

EMERGENCY

DIRECTOR: CAREY WILLIAMS • 12 MIN. • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Faced with an emergency situation, a group of young black and Latino friends carefully weigh the pros and cons of calling the police.

DIRECTOR: LAURA BERMÚDEZ • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • HONDURAS • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

DIRECTOR: TAYLOR STANTON • 14 MIN. • ANIMATION/DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

In this innovative documentary, a family recreates itself using stop-motion animation. The film tells the lifelong struggle of Marj, the matriarch of the Bagley clan, battles infidelity, broken noses, dysfunctional relationships, giant birds, and a fateful game of cards with her grandchildren. Through a combination of interviews and recreations, her family reflects on the legacy of a woman who they realize they may not understand.

PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.

DIRECTOR: RAYKA ZEHTABCHI • 25 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • INDIA

The story of a quiet, profound revolution taking place for women in Northern India, where the stigma of menstruation limits their potential.

Without sanitary products or proper education about their bodies, millions of girls end up missing school or dropping out entirely once they begin their periods. But in a modest room in a rural Indian village, local start to produce and sell thousands of pads to local women in an effort to improve feminine hygiene.

I AM WOMAN

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES

E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 7:15 P.M.

E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 9 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

MAMA

GUNS FOUND HERE

DIRECTOR: NICHOLAS BRENNAN • 7 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

The touching story of one incredible woman who has dedicated her life to delivering children in her village in rural Uganda.

ROUND TRIP (SIVUV)

DIRECTOR: LOREN TRABELSI • 6 MIN. • DRAMA • ISRAEL • D.C. PREMIERE

A young girl becomes compromised after she accepts kindness from a stranger on a bus.

BEFORE PRISON

DIRECTORS: EMILY HARGER AND OLIVIA MERRION • 8 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA

Robyn Allen’s 20-year prison sentence for trafficking drugs is far more complicated than it appears. Abuse has plagued her family, and Robyn’s painful memories are just the tip of the iceberg.

MINSTREL VS. PUPPET

DIRECTOR: MARCUS AUBIN • 7 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

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An artistic film illustrating the internal conflict many women, particularly women of color, experience surrounding the topics of brains and beauty.

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

DIRECTOR: DAVID FREID • 10 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • LOCAL FILMMAKER • USA • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

When there’s a gun crime in America, there’s only one place to go to trace the gun back to its owner: Martinsburg, West Virginia. That’s where the ATF’s National Tracing Center handles roughly 8,000 active traces per day — all while inside a government-mandated technology time-capsule that makes searching a database of gun owners impossible. With more gun stores in the U.S.A. than McDonalds, Starbucks, and supermarkets combined, there’s a lot of paperwork to manually sort through. And it’s truly a sight to behold.

THE AVOCADO (EL AGUACATE)

DIRECTOR: DARWIN SERINK • 11 MIN. • COMEDY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

After several unsuccessful attempts, Raul finally gets the courage to ask his co-worker, Rosa, out on a date. To his surprise, she says yes, but when the anticipated day arrives, Raul is met with an unforeseen event that changes his life forever.

OSTRICH

ABEYANCE

Late at night in a Westminster bar, principled junior broadsheet journalist Will Hewitt meets with no-nonsense Deputy Finance Minister Pippa Thomas for a routine interview on recent government fines imposed on the world’s largest banks. Their early exchanges spark fireworks as liberal idealist grills conservative elite, but Will’s true intentions are soon revealed as he ambushes Thomas with accusations of financial and political corruption.

A malfunction in the stasis system leaves a man trapped in a state of sleep paralysis as he travels to colonize a distant planet: a journey destined to take twenty-seven years.

DIRECTOR: PATRICK WALSH • 14 MIN. • DRAMA • UK • WORLD PREMIERE

VIEW

DIRECTOR: GABRIEL GALLINDO • 15 MIN. • DRAMA/THRILLER • BRAZIL • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Most famous Brazilian Youtuber is kidnapped and forced to continue posting vídeos in captivity asking her fans to donate her ransom via a crowdfunding campaign.

CASEY

DIRECTOR: SHANRICA EVANS • 6 MIN. • DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

A teenager with gender dysphoria witnesses the physical assault of a transgender woman.

STATE OF EMERGENCY

DIRECTOR: TAREK ROEHLINGER • 12 MIN. • DRAMA • GERMANY • D.C. PREMIERE

Two soldiers in Paris guard an official building. An abandoned bag, curious onlookers, and a crazy tramp move the situation to its climax. The lines between normalcy and real danger disappears.

SIX MILES OUT

DIRECTOR: HOSAM ABU DAN • 11 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES • NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Gaza fishermen sail into to the Mediterranean for the night to bring in a catch to eat and sell, an act of bravery, since the Israeli Navy prowls nearby ready to shoot.

BENEATH THE INK

DIRECTOR: CY DODSON • 13 MIN. • DOCUMENTARY • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

In a time when society’s belief systems are seemingly changing, or even reverting in time, one Ohio tattoo artist Billy Joe White is challenging his community by saying “bring me your mistakes.” A timely look at hate and racism in the western foothills of the Appalachian region that reveals heartfelt stories of change and redemption.

SUN SHINE

DIRECTOR: WALKER HARE • 9 MIN. • DRAMA/COMEDY • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

When an African American teenager gets a seemingly depressed white guy to open up, she discovers he’s on his way to commit a horrible act.

THRILLS AND CHILLS

DIRECTOR: CHARLES BEALE • 4 MIN. • SCI-FI/HORROR • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

WANDERING EYES

DIRECTOR: MAKAN TALAYEH • 15 MIN. • DRAMA/THRILLER • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

The lives of two seemingly disconnected couples, each with an unapologetic cheating spouse, come together in a twisted tale of betrayal and revenge as all four cross paths in an unexpected way.

EVIE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT

DIRECTOR: DAWN FIELDS • 9 MIN. • DRAMA/HORROR • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

After the loss of her mother, Evie rebels against her father and his over-thetop Christmas spirit. Evie learns a scary lesson, however, when she opens her Christmas presents before Christmas morning.

CELLS

DIRECTOR: RAYMOND WOOD • 12 MIN. • THRILLER/DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

When a reputable doctor finds himself being held captive by a group of masked intruders, he struggles to understand their motives while being forced to answer why billions of dollars go wasted each year in the name of medical research.

THE SON, THE FATHER...

DIRECTOR: LUKAS HASSEL • 13 MIN. • HORROR/DRAMA • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

The events on a young boy’s birthday have twisted consequences far into his future. The script The Son, The Father is based on was a finalist in the 2016 DC Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

DEJA VU (DÉJÀ VU)

DIRECTOR: OLIVIER LABONTE LEMOYNE • 9 MIN. • THRILLER/HORROR • CANADA • U.S. PREMIERE

A young woman meets with her best friend in a local diner to tell him about the fantasy she recently accomplished. But when a mysterious man enters, she is struck by a feeling of deja vu. Everything around her starts to resemble a nightmare she has had.

WHO DECIDES

DIRECTOR: MYLISSA FITZSIMMONS • 8 MIN. • HORROR • USA • D.C. PREMIERE

Death can no longer be denied. A sick woman and a young girl engage in a discussion about who decides when it’s your time to die.

A TAXI OF COLDNESS

DIRECTOR: JOONHA KIM • 20 MIN. • DRAMA • SOUTH KOREA • D.C. PREMIERE

A man rides a taxi late at night. When the taxi driver offers him chewing gum, he remembers his mother’s “Drugged Gum” story. Then the taxi driver says, “Did you hear about those criminal taxi drivers?” But after repeated offers, the man accepts the gum after all.

E STREET CINEMA THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 9:15 P.M.

ALL DC SHORTS FILMS ARE UNRATED AND MAY CONTAIN MATURE THEMES. SCHEDULE/FILMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

POKER NIGHT

DIRECTOR: MICHAEL THOMAS TAYLOR • 9 MIN. • COMEDY/THRILLER • USA • EAST COAST PREMIERE

Bill always hosts poker night. It’s just kind of his thing. This time, though, things get considerably out of hand. In a sick turn of events, friends are pitted against one another to survive.

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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DC SHORTS JURY AWARDS

D

C SHORTS IS PROUD TO OFFER BOTH AUDIENCE AWARDS AND JURY AWARDS. THE Jury is comprised of local, national, and international industry professionals. Some of the winning films will screen in the Best Of The Fest Showcases September 15th and 16th. See page 20 for screening times and watch the website for titles.

The 2018 DC Shorts Film Festival Jury DOCUMENTARY GREG BISHOP - Programmer and Content Manager at the Atlanta Film Society SEAN FLANAGAN - Writer/Producer, Magnetbox Films SAMANTHA STARK - Video Journalist for The New York Times, Director U.S. NARRATIVE JOSEPH CARR - Artist Services Director at Indie Memphis Film Festival JEANNIE DONOHOE - Writer/Director of Game (Jury Award Winner DC Shorts U.S. Narrative Competition 2017) BRIAN SPATH - St. Louis International Film Festival Narrative Shorts Programmer INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE IAN HUNT DUFFY - Director/Producer at Failsafe Films and Director of Gridlocked (Jury Award Winner DC Shorts International Narrative Competition 2017) JAMIE GRECO - Senior Programmer at Raindance Film Festival GREG SORVIG - Director of Film Programming at Heartland Film

LOCAL FILMMAKERS ANDRE HEREFORD

Contributing Editor, Metro Weekly and Programming Co-chair, Reel Affirmations Film Festival

Show Durati

CAROLYN HOEHNER

Program Coordinator at the Washington Jewish Film Festival and Washington Jewish Music Festival ARIEL LEE

Director of Programming at the Washington West Film Festival ANIMATION AMANDA QUAID

Director/Actor and Director of Toys (Jury Award Winner DC Shorts Animation Competition 2017) KEITH CARTER

Director/Animator, Quality Cheese Productions SHANNON LEWIS

Executive Producer, Passion Animation Studios

JURY AWARDS Award for Outstanding Animated Film Award for Outstanding U.S. Narrative Film Award for Outstanding International Narrative Film Award for Outstanding Documentary Film Award for Outstanding Local Film Award for Outstanding First-Time Filmmaker 52

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

End Credits

DC Shorts would never happen without the incredible volunteer staff of judges, ushers, venue managers, and interns. We appreciate their dedication, positive energy, camaraderie and fun spirit — during the festival and all year long.

FESTIVAL STAFF

Kimberley Bush, Executive Director Joe Bilancio, Director of Programming Jasmine Bryant, Assistant Director of Programming Raedorah Stewart, Venue Manager Matt Welker, Venue Manager Chris Rothermel, Director of Global Development (Jan.-May 2018)

FILM AND SCREENPLAY REVIEWERS Alexander Putz Alisha Scott Andrea Turnbough Ashley Trick Benjamin Patch Bonnie Rowan Candace Brenner Carlos A.Sanchez Cheryl Wiggins Daphne Macy David Joyner Diane Murdock Duygu Eruçman Elise Gurney Erin Fowler Evy Barry Grace Choi Gwen Petty Irelene Ricks Jeffrey Simpson Kat Cooper Kenyatta Skyles Kimberly Sapre Krystle Kline Lenore Yaffee Garcia Leslie Kenna Malikkah Rollins Mansoor Ahmed Marlie Austin Megan King Michelle Mangano Nicole Bryant Nina Lescher

Nouran Ragaban Patty Rhule Pete LaMaster Rudi Rudolph Sam Henderson Shannon Madden Somair Feroz Theresa Horne Thomas Rondinella Vicki Steinwurtzel SPECIAL THANKS Alex Kogan Alexis Rodriguez Amy Austin Angie Gates Anglatette Glymph Anthony Green April Mandell Ariel Lee Arlene Kaminsky Brenna O;Malley Cassandra Mil Chris Garlock Chris Huntley Christian Oh Cori Dioqino Dara Sanders David Rorabaugh Dee Sanae Dewey Tron Dylan Frayser Echo Xie Elena Moscatt Emily Aguilar

Emily Morrison Emma Mankey Hidem Erica Ginsburg Ericka Boston Gediyon Kifle George Andre Tittle Heidi Nel Herbert Niles Huda Asfour Jacob Crawford Jeff Gray Jenna Nicole Salmon Jiho Sohn Jo-Ann Neuhouse Jody Kilbasa John Mason John Parker John Wang Juliet Main Kala Guess Kaylinn Solazzo Kenneth Davis Keyonna Jones-Lindsay Kyle Bragg Lela Singh Liz Rubando Luke Crowe Marga Varea Maria Akay Marshall Nord Maura Mazurowski Melissa Bisagni Melissa Houghton Mike Panfeld

FESTIVAL INTERNS

Adam Rarey, Programming Marlie Austin, Programming Matthew Hao, Filmmaker Hospitality Coordinator Sam Danish, Filmmaker Hospitality Coordinator Stephen Michael Kuster, Public Relations

Miranda Johnson Naomi Johnson Nell Minow Odessa Ghadar Paul Bruce Pierre Walcott Randy Shulman Rene Caitlin Campbell Rong Wang Sarah Cohen Scott Brooks Shamia Holloway Steffanie Finn Sonny Izon Sylvia Blume Tanya Hilton The Team at The Lofts At 600 F The Team At IPitch Todd Franson Tony Tribby Tracie Hovey Zachary Poli Zhibo Lai Festival website developed by Patrick Calder, The Design Foundry Festival Marketing and PR by Peter Morgan, Morgan Ink. Marketing, LLC

DC SHORTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Anne O’Leary Carolyn Rogers Christian Oh Dan Casey Nataliya Zalevska Zhibo Lai

The DC Shorts Film Festival is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

DC Shorts is a non-profit organization that serves and strengthens the media arts in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

More information at dcshorts.com ARE YOU A FILMMAKER OR WRITER? Get ready to enter your film or script for DC Shorts 2019. Visit our website dcshorts. com in January 2019 for rules and special early-bird entry discounts. Who knows?

You might have your project enjoyed by hundreds of people next September!

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

53

Festival at a Glance E Street Cinema Theater A

E Street Cinema Theater B

Miracle Theatre

7:00 Filmmaker Welcome Reception

Thurs., 9/6 12:00 Workshop: Screenwriting 2:00 Workshop: Sound 4:00 Workshop: Directing 6:30 Showcase 1 9:00 Showcase 3

7:00 Showcase 2 9:30 Showcase 4

Sat., 9/8

11:00 Showcase 5 1:30 Showcase 7 4:00 Showcase 9 6:30 Showcase 11 9:00 Showcase 13

11:30 Showcase 6 2:00 Showcase 8 4:30 Showcase 10 7:00 Showcase 12 9:30 Showcase 14

Sun., 9/9

12:00 Showcase 15 2:30 Showcase 17 5:00 Showcase 1 7:30 Showcase 3

12:30 Showcase 16 3:00 Showcase 18 5:30 Showcase 2 8:00 Showcase 4

5:00 Showcase 5 7:00 Showcase 7 9:00 Showcase 9 9:15 Showcase 10

5:15 Showcase 6 7:15 Showcase 8

Tues., 9/11

5:00 Showcase 11 7:00 Showcase 13 9:00 Showcase 15

5:15 Showcase 12 7:15 Showcase 14 9:15 Showcase 16

Wed., 9/12

5:00 Showcase 17 7:00 You Are Not From Around Here 9:00 Another Time And Place

5:15 Showcase 18 7:15 Cinema 10% 9:15 The Real Reel

5:00 Animation Domination 7:00 ROTFLMAO (Comedy Shorts) 9:00 Ripped From The Headlines

5:15 Youthful Indiscretions 7:15 I Am Woman 9:15 Thrills And Chills

Fri., 9/7

Mon., 9/10

Thurs., 9/13

Fri., 9/14

10:00 Screenplay Auditions

Sat., 9/15

Sun., 9/16

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Other Locations (see page 14)

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

7:00pm City View Party

11:00 Filmmaker Awards Brunch

7:00 Screenplay Competition 8:30 Screenplay Reception 8:00 Best of DC Shorts Show A 10:00 Best of DC Shorts Show B 4:00 Best of DC Shorts Show A 6:00 Best of DC Shorts Show B 8:00 Best of DC Shorts Show A

DC Shorts Film Festival 2018

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