nwFilmCenter

34th Northwest Film & Video Festival

	Rose City Rumble DIRECTOR: ZACHARY ELLIOT KRONSER PORTLAND OR Portland's own Rose City Roller girls take to the track in this short profile of this local scrappy team. ( 7 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	MORRIS DIRECTOR: ADAM LOCKE-NORTON, RYAN WARREN SMITH, NATHAN FIELDER VANCOUVER, BC Well into his eighties, Morris decides it's time to come out of the closet. ( 6 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	BY MODERN MEASURE JUDGE'S AWARD: "CHALLENGING HOLLYWOOD" DIRECTOR: MATTHEW LESSNER NEHALEM, OR Two young Americans meet outside a Taco Bell in this stylish spree right out of the French New Wave. ( 6 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	ALL BROKE UP DIRECTOR: MARK O'CONNELL SEATTLE, WA Masterful manipulation of archival footage weaves an indictment of justifications for torture and for the complacency of those standing by. ( 4 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	Sometimes DIRECTOR: SCOTT AMOS VICTORIA, B.C. This reflection on the unintended dystopia of life is short, and, in its own way, sorta sweet. ( 0 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	CREAMERY BIRDS JUDGE'S AWARD: "LIFE IS MORE SUBTLE THAN WE THINK" DIRECTOR: BRIAN LIBBY PORTLAND OR This portrait of a creamery in Portland's central eastside observes the balletic movements of the birds that gather there. ( 3 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	DIGGERS DIRECTOR: CHERYL SLEAN SEATTLE, WA Two gravediggers pass the time speculating about the back-stories of the people they plant and getting to know each other in the process. ( 14 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	ASSUMED SIGHT DIRECTOR: SEAN FARRIS AUMSVILLE, OR Enchanting animation vivifies this sad story of a helpless eyeball tree. ( 6 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	THE JOURNAL OF JOHN MAGILLICUTTY DIRECTOR: MICHAEL PAULUS PORTLAND, OR A page from the journal of a man who whiles away the hours ruminating in his cabin in the woods. ( 6 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	PATTERNS 2 JUDGE'S AWARD: "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TROUBLED ENERGY" DIRECTOR: JAMIE TRAVIS VANCOUVER, BC In this second chapter off THE PATTERNS TRILOGY, (Part One played in last year's Festival) the identity of Pauline's mystery caller is revealed and Pauline's innocence is brought into question. ( 12 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 7 PM Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 8:45 PM	PATTERNS 3 JUDGE'S AWARD: "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TROUBLED ENERGY" DIRECTOR: JAMIE TRAVIS VANCOUVER, BC The vibrant, split-screen musical finale to THE PATTERNS TRILOGY finds Pauline and Michael revealing the enigmatic nature of their relationship through song. ( 18 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 at 9 PM	OPENING NIGHT PARTY THE CLEANERS AT THE ACE HOTEL / SW 10th & Stark Hop the streetcar and join us at The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel after the screening for some zesty sounds from DJ's Linger & Quiet (Genevieve Dellinger and Matthew Quiet), with snacky treats from Valentines, tasty cocktails from Aviation Gin, terrific ale from Sierra Nevada Brewing and invigorating TAZO tea. Admission $5 or FREE with screening ticket stub. ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 2:30 PM	SELLING OUT WORKSHOP Making your way as an artist has always been a dodgy proposition. If you're any good, temptations arise to coax you down the devil's path to commercial projects and that huge cancer to important groundbreaking art, fed and fattened artists. How does the Northwest filmmaker balance dedication to the art with the passion for bigger projects and a little financial comfort? In this sea of filmmaking fellowship, why do some filmmakers continue to ditch the Northwest for bigger markets? In the age of telecommuting, is that really necessary any more? Join us for a frank discussion-moderated by Warren Etheredge-with several Northwest filmmakers experiencing various degrees of temptation. Learn from their stories how you too can sell out- maybe you can even do it without compromising. ( 90 min ) FREE ADMISSION ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 4 PM	WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE WORKSHOP HOSTED BY WARREN ETHERIDGE So worked your ass off and bled a little but your film isn't exactly burning up the festival circuit. Is it you? Is it them? Is it something that might be easily fixed? You may have had plenty of unsolicited advice to go along with the rejection letters, but how about some straightforward advice from a pro? Today, we've invited Seattle film guru Warren Etheredge back to the Festival to take a look at the first five minutes or so of brave filmmakers' films and offer his (brutally honest) insight, delivered, with his trademark wit and good will. If you are interested in baring your cinematic soul, sign up by contacting lena@nwfilm.org. First come, first served as time allows In addition to curating, organizing and hosting all events for The Warren Report, Warren Etheredge is the President and Head of Development for LOCKSPRING PICTURES, served as the Curator for the 1 Reel Film Festival at Seattle's Bumbershoot and is one of the founding faculty of The Film School in Seattle. ( 90 min ) FREE ADMISSION ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	POTL: THE PENGUIN ON THE LEFT DIRECTOR: RICK GUINAN PORTLAND, OR On an ice flow where a penguin's life is subject to a walrus' appetite, a gun makes a difference. ( 3 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	THE SADDEST BOY IN THE WORLD DIRECTOR: JAMIE TRAVIS VANCOUVER, BC The traumas of childhood are heaped upon sad young Timothy in this colorful black comedy about life in a suburbia so disturbingly hyper-retro that it's impossibly and painfully nostalgic. ( 13 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	ATLANTIS UNBOUND DIRECTOR: LORI HIRIS MANHATTAN, MT Loosely contrived in flourishing hand-drawn animation from Francis Bacon's "The New Atlantis," our main character, Francis Galton, ponders the secrets of hereditary science. ( 14 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	OPERATION: FISH DIRECTOR: JEFF RILEY PORTLAND, OR A child's goldfish is abducted and an agent is dispatched to rescue it. ( 10 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	EVILUTION! DIRECTOR: LIBBEY WHITE BOZEMAN, MT Funny and frightening, White mixes archival footage and animation with real creationist rhetoric to cultivate alarm about this growing threat to science education. ( 15 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	MI AMORE DIRECTOR: ANDREW S. ALLEN PORTLAND, OR Love through the lens of an amateur. ( 3 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 7 PM Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 8:45 PM	HOW TO BREATHE DIRECTOR: NOAH STANIK AND SKYLER STEVER PORTLAND, OR Lush cinematography invigorates this sweet and thoughtful story of a latchkey youth—seemingly raised by voice message—who finally finds a human connection. ( 22 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Nov 10, 2007 at 9 PM	MONSTER CAMP DIRECTOR: CULLEN HOBACK PORTLAND, OR As the fashionableness of geekdom makes yet another resurgence, the Festival sets up camp with a likable group of misfits who invest weeks of their lives in heroic live-action role-playing adventures. These elaborate games act out Dungeons and Dragons-like storylines with brutal battles and fantastical homemade costumes. This is serious stuff and a curious social outlet for the player/organizers, and the microcosm creates its own dramas of jealousy, pride and romance. "A guaranteed festival crowd-pleaser. . . as endearing as it is amusing."—VARIETY. ( 79 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 2 PM	ARID LANDS DIRECTOR: GRANT AAKER, JOSH WALLAERT RICHLAND, WA Sixty years ago, the Hanford nuclear facility in southeastern Washington produced the plutonium for the first atomic bomb. Today, Hanford remains the focus of the largest environmental cleanup in history. ARID LANDS takes us to the mid-Columbia river region today, into a world of sports fishermen, tattoo artists, housing developers, ecologists, and radiation scientists living and working in an area experiencing rapid transformation and growth. It tells the story of how people have changed the landscape over time, and how the landscape has effected their lives. "Our film focuses on patterns that repeat themselves in communities all across the country. We hope it encourages thinking about geography in a way that is personal—to see it not just a catalogue of mountains and rivers, but as a cultural force that affects us daily." "A smart, comprehensive and beautiful film that tells the strange story of an environmental emergency happening right in our backyard."—Lance Kramer, WILLAMETTE WEEK. Best of the Fest–Hazel Wolfe Environmental Film Festival. ( 92 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 2 PM	Portrait #2: Trojan DIRECTOR: VANESSA RENWICK PORTLAND, OR A looming icon of the Columbia River Gorge-either a throwback to or preview of a nuclear age-gets its stoic comeuppance in this requiem for a heavyweight. ( 5 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 4 PM	HIGH & OUTSIDE DIRECTOR: PETER J. VOGT SEATTLE, WA In the 1970's Bill "Spaceman" Lee pitched for the Montreal Expo's and the Boston Red Sox before getting the boot from major league baseball for his "unorthodox" views. A natural athlete, self-styled mystic, social activist, and pressroom comedian, Lee advocated smoking marijuana to enhance a pitcher's focus, and offered controversial opinions on much more than baseball. Bean-balling corporate duplicity, he helped end the era of indentured servitude in baseball and was blackballed in '81 . . . or was he? Vogt's film provides a glimpse of an eccentric, entertaining personality, whose new memoir Have Glove, Will Travel: The Adventures of a Baseball Vagabond has just been published. ( 84 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	STREETCAR NAMED PERSPIRE DIRECTOR: JOANNA PRIESTLEY PORTLAND, OR Priestley's animated roller coaster ride through menopause both previews and celebrates—depending on your age—one of life's most thrill-filled experiences. ( 6 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	WILL OF THE WISP DIRECTOR: JODY THOMPSON VANCOUVER, BC An uplifting and heartfelt portrait of hope, documenting one woman's journey to overcome childhood assault and reclaim her body, her sexuality and herself. ( 10 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	READING NONFICTION DIRECTOR: CHERYL LOHRMANN PORTLAND, OR A look at the nuance of self-education, this experimental animation illustrates a strange mix of conviction and helplessness. ( 5 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	A LOVE POEM DIRECTOR: ANA VALINE VANCOUVER, BC This wispy, experimental video poem tells the story of one woman's experience of love, loss and liberation through an abstract landscape. ( 10 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	NO BIKINI DIRECTOR: CLAUDIA MORGADO ESCANILLA VANCOUVER, BC "I had a sex change once, when I was six or seven years old." Filled with humor, this story of a young girl who defies convention during her summer swim class is less about defining one's gender than about discovering personal strength. ( 8 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	THE HITCHHIKER DIRECTOR: JASON GOODE VANCOUVER, BC A beleaguered hitchhiker discovers that getting a ride may require more than he'd bargained for. ( 14 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	The secret of life DIRECTOR: PARDIS BARJESTEH PORTLAND, OR The secret is revealed with help from a poem by Denise Levertov. ( 3 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 6 PM Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 6:30 PM	SARI'S MOTHER JUDGE'S AWARD: "REGARDING THE PAIN OF OTHERS" DIRECTOR: JAMES LONGLEY SEATTLE, WA Filmed in Iraq over a period of a year, Longley (GAZA STRIP, IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS) follows a courageous mother over the course of a year as she struggles to get medical help for her 10-year-old son, Sari, who is dying of AIDS. An intimate, revealing portrait, SARI uncovers an aspect of life in Iraq that few outside the country have witnessed. ( 21 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 7:45 PM	CATHEDRAL PARK DIRECTOR: VINCENT CALDONI PORTLAND, OR Vai's parents, Basti and Miora, risked everything to escape their small, war torn country of Otisia and give their unborn child a better life. Now a teenager, Vai has little interest in her people's culture until she finds a box of hidden film revealing raw footage of a German documentary in Otisia, with her parent's as guides. With her friend Katie they begin making their own documentary to try and unravel what happened. This sets off a chain of events that bend the lines between the old world and the new and blur reality from fiction. ( 80 min ) ^ Top
Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 7 PM	MADE IN CHINA DIRECTOR: JOHN HELDE SEATTLE, WA Poking into his father's unusual childhood growing up in an American family living in pre-World War II China, Helde explores a unique perspective on "home." As he hoped, he also comes to better understand his father and his own family experience. In this warm personal documentary, home movies, photographs and interviews bring 1930's China alive in ways that make it seem both intimate and so very long ago and far away. ( 70 min ) ^ Top
Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 8:30 PM	OUTSOURCED DIRECTOR: JOHN JEFFCOAT SEATTLE, WA 32-year-old Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton) manages a customer call center in Seattle until he gets the bad news from his boss: his job has been outsourced. Adding insult to injury, he must go to India to train his own replacement. The chaos of Bombay assaults his senses and his new office there is paralyzed by cultural misunderstandings. As he gets to know his co-workers, Todd finds them disarming and thoroughly likeable. He realizes that he has a lot to learn—about India, America and himself—and that being outsourced may be the best thing that ever happened to him. "A crisp and precise cross-cultural comedy...a deep-dish family entertainment that is also a wry parody of Indian cinema's masala format."—LA WEEKLY. ( 103 min ) ^ Top
Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 8:30 PM	FIRST KISS DIRECTOR: GUS VAN SANT PORTLAND, OR A projectionist becomes enchanted with a woman in a film he is projecting. Starry eyed, he leaves the booth to get a closer look. (3 mins.) ^ Top
Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 8:30 PM	IT WAS A CRUSHING DEFEAT DIRECTOR: MATT MCCORMICK PORTLAND, OR Looking, searching, and spinning in circles. ( 4 min ) ^ Top
Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 7 PM	SECOND CHANCE Created through the Northwest Film Center's Young Filmmakers Program, this film made by teenagers involved in the juvenile justice system focuses on the positive experiences of peers learning about career pathways in healthcare, hospitality, public service, manufacturing and construction. As the story unfolds, and their own personal testimonials are woven into the narrative, the young filmmakers begin to imagine and experience positive change in their own lives and futures. ( 45 min ) Filmmakers in attendance. FREE ADMISSION. ^ Top
Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 8 PM	FINDING NORMAL DIRECTOR: BRIAN LINDSTROM PORTLAND, OR Brian Lindstrom's work (FROM THE GROUND UP, KICKING, HEART OF HARLEM) reflects an ongoing concern for social issues and for people who engage the challenges. His new film takes an unflinching look at the daunting difficulties faced by those overcoming addiction, and examines the dynamic within Portland's Central City Concern's recovery mentor program. With a 70% success rate, the program's strength lies in its ability to promote a strong sense of community and connectedness with peers and mentors, all former addicts committed to helping others as they help themselves. "The film is raw and real, filled with undeniable moments of pain and elation and human personality. It's impossible to imagine a more honest look at this all-too-common world."—Shawn Levy, THE OREGONIAN. ( 77 min ) ^ Top
Wed, Nov 14, 2007 at 7 PM	ELOQUENT NUDE: THE LOVE AND LEGACY OF EDWARD WESTON AND CHARIS WILSON DIRECTOR: IAN MCCLUSKEY PORTLAND, OR Smart. Sassy. Sexy. Charis Wilson is the most famous nude in photography. At age 92, she's still got it. With warmth, wit, and candor, Charis intimately shares her coming-of-age as model and wife to modernist photographer Edward Weston. Shot in vibrant high definition and blended with gritty black and white Super-8mm, this visual journey transports the audience to the riveting days in the 1930s when Charis and Edward changed photography. "Brilliant: part archival images, part historical reenactments filmed in the Oregon countryside, and all of it a meditation on love and loss."—Aaron Mesh, WILLAMETTE WEEK. ( 58 min ) ^ Top
Wed, Nov 14, 2007 at 7 PM	THE STORYTELLERS DIRECTOR: JELLY HELM PORTLAND, OR Delve into the world of repertory theater with seven members of one of the oldest and largest repertory theaters in America, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. ( 28 min ) ^ Top
Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 7 PM	HEAR AND NOW DIRECTOR: IRENE TAYLOR BRODSKY PORTLAND, OR "After 65 years of silence, Paul and Sally Taylor decide to undergo cochlear implant surgery and explore a totally unfamiliar world–the realm of sound. In this deeply personal memoir, Brodsky documents her deaf parents' complex decision to undergo a risky and controversial medical procedure–the only one that can actually restore a sense. Paul and Sally met as children, married, and raised a family. They've shared a rich life together and have been active and accomplished members of the deaf community. Yet, at the age of 65, they decided they wanted to hear their first symphonies, to hear their children's voices; they wanted simply to hear. How will this operation transform them, their relationship with each other and their sense of identity within a deaf world they are leaving behind? This is a magical and deeply moving story of two people who embark on an extraordinary journey from silence to sound. The question is, what will they make of it, and what may they gain, or lose, forever?"—Sundance Film Festival. ( 86 min ) ^ Top
Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 7 PM	BLOOD ON THE FLAT TRACK: THE RISE OF THE RAT CITY ROLLERGIRLS DIRECTOR: LAINEY BAGWELL, LACEY LEAVITT SEATTLE, WA This meet and greet with the Rat City Rollergirls, a Seattle Roller Derby league, is filled with thrills and spills and profiles a team pulled together out of nothing but hard work and held together by the bonds of camaraderie. With names like Basket Casey, Betty Ford Galaxy, Shovey Chase, and D-Bomb, you know the bouts are fierce and while they are out for a good time, the broken bones are real and the grimaces should be feared. "Much more than miniskirts and fishnets stockings on wheels, The Rat City Rollergirsl are a refreshing reminder of what it is to be proud of your hometown athletes."—Seattle Film Festival. ( 95 min ) ROSE CITY ROLLERS & RAT CITY ROLLERS WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE. ^ Top
Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 8:30 PM	FIDO DIRECTOR: ANDREW CURRIE VANCOUVER, BC In the sunny, technicolor '50s town of Willard, a utopian world that recalls a cross between NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and FAR FROM HEAVEN, zombies have been domesticated to deliver the mail, mow the lawn and serve dinner. Every one has a zombie except 11 year old Timmy's family, whose patriarch once had a bad zombie experience. But Timmy's mom won't be the only one without one and when she brings a living dead servant home Timmy has a new best friend he names Fido. All that keeps Fido and his fellow zombies from eating their masters is an electronic collar. What begins as a small town story about a boy and his best friend becomes a sometime hilarious, biting satire about our world, the price of fear and the rewards of risking love. Sometimes, it takes an undead man to teach us all what it means to be alive. "It's madly funny—a treat for moviegoers who don't mind gnawed-off limbs with their high jinks"—NEW YORK MAGAZINE. "It won't make you bleed, just howl."—NEW YORK TIMES. ( 98 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 1:30 PM	ANIMATED YOUTH Where are the next animators coming from? Each year the Film Center's Young People's Film & Video Festival, held in July, showcases new Northwest talent. Please join us for this special all ages program drawn from the 31st Festival's winning entries. Included in the program is ALMOND, Richard Gillies, Adam Williams & Bryce Holley, Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, Beaverton: BIRTHDAY TREAT, Jon Kahl, Portland Waldorf School, Portland; BOX, Corinne Elliot, Arts & Communication Magnet Academy, Beaverton; CYCLES OF NATURE, Davis Elementary students, Davis Elementary & Northwest Film Center, Gresham; DRAWING CONCLUSIONS, Parker Kimball, Holy Family School, Portland; LARRY THE AMAZING SPIDER, Evan Farris, , Aumsville, OR; PENGUIN HOLIDAY, Fiona Bayh, Portland; THE CHASE, Alida Bevirt, South Eugene High School, Eugene; WE LOVE OUR LIBRARY, Tom McCall Elementary students, Redmond, OR. ( 25 min ) Free with Museum admission. ^ Top