2020 FILMS A-B
°28
6 min. | France | Retrospective
Friday, Septermber 25 | 7 pm | Camelot
Otalia Caussé
In Lisbon, a German married couple is about to get aboard the legendary n°28 tramway, but how does someone react when the brakes are suddenly gone and you are about to embark on a wild, breathtaking race... with a baby on board?
Actually, Iconic: Richard Estes
68 min. | USA | World Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 11 am | Camelot
Olympia Stone
Admired by artists ranging from Salvador Dali to Chuck Close, Richard Estes is a humble icon of modern art. Despite having avoided media attention throughout his long career, he has been called the “king of photorealism,” a movement he helped launch in the late 1960s. Now age 87, he is ready to reveal the techniques and inspiration behind his art.
Alchemy
10 min. | USA | West Coast Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | Noon | Camelot
Remington Long
Bonnie Ohara is a mother, artist, and founder of a one-woman cottage micro bakery offering handcrafted sourdough bread in the old world tradition. Friendship, poetry, and a little bit of magic are all a part of the community built around Bonnie and the Alchemy Bread Co., located in downtown Modesto, in the heart of California's San Joaquin Valley.
48 Hours With Muhammad Ali
16 min. | USA | West Coast Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 11 am | Camelot
Daniel Glynn
In July 1974, photojournalist Peter Angelo Simon got a loud knock on his hotel room door at 4.30 am. "Grab your pants and your camera. The Champ is running," said a gruff voice from behind the door. The Champ in question was Muhammad Ali & Peter's assignment was to go deep into the inner circle of perhaps the most famous man on the planet at that time.
Afterlife
12 min. | USA | US Premiere
Monday, September 29 | 7 pm | Camelot
Ryan Rundle
As a 33-year-old Bulgarian-born swimmer, Mihail (Mike) Alexandrov had spent the majority of his life in the pool, surpassing the lifespan of most professional swimmers. But despite a strong mind, the body knows its own age. Here, we follow the struggle of an aging athlete to reconcile the inevitability of retirement while training for a spot on the Olympic team for Tokyo 2020.
The Alchemy of Mountains
3 min. | Belgium | US Premiere
Friday, September 25 | 11 am | Camelot
Anna-Maria Montonen
This short illustrative animation features some bizarrely humorous dialogue with ones self about the effects mountaineering can have on a person's mind and body. It seeks to highlight awareness around women's mental health and well-being, and to centers on outdoor-adventure sports among women, a proven factor in increasing both physical and mental health.
605 Adults, 304 Children
14 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Monday, September 28 | 11:30 am | Camelot
Michael Mahaffie
An immersive and intimate documentary filmed entirely by The Peoples Temple in Jonestown. In the 1970s, a religious group of people followed their leader to Guyana. Together, they built a new community full of life and love. It seemed like a utopia that no one wanted to leave. In the end, 605 adults and 304 children never did.
Agniyogana
64 min. | Australia | Palm Springs Premiere
Friday, September 25 | 1:30 pm | Camelot
Emma Balnaves
Offering an experiential collage of action and stillness, light and darkness, sound and silence, we explore the richness of traditional Hatha Yoga teachings and the deeply connected states of heart, mind, and freedom delivered to sincere truth seekers. This is a reconnecting of the human spirit to the true meaning of "yug," the connecting root of all yogas.
All I Have To Offer You Is Me
13 min. | USA | California Premiere
Sunday, September 27 | 5 pm | Camelot
Dillon Hayes
In 1990, Larry Callies was an aspiring country-western singer on the verge of signing a record deal with MCA Nashville. But when he developed a degenerative vocal cord disease that took his voice and ended his singing career, Larry had to start over completely. In this film, we follow Larry as he finds his voice again.
Almost 40
Filmed and edited exclusively using an iPhone 8 Plus, this film captures the beauty of America during this first-time director's cross-country road trip, mostly on Route 40.
17 min. | USA | World Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 1:30 pm | Camelot
Mike Monroe
The Animator
An animator takes his anger out on the source of his frustration... his puppets. (Note: This screening is adult-themed and contains horror scenes that may not be suitable for children.)
2 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Sunday, September 27 | 7:30 pm | Camelot
Trent Shy
Asteroid Season
In a lonesome frozen land, a feisty hermit lives a charmed life, but catastrophic change waits just around the corner to transform her environment and change her outlook. When an enormous asteroid arrives overhead, her sheltered reality faces a cosmic shake-up. In the course of losing the world she knows, the hermit just might find the companionship she’s always hoped for.
4 min. | Canada | Palm Desert Premiere
Sun., September 27 | 6:30 pm | Civic Ctr Pk
Earthstar Smith
Ama
Filmmaker Georgie Yukiko Donovan explores the story of the Ama divers - the last of Japan's 'women of the sea' and their fight to preserve their 3,000 year old way of life.
15 min. | UK, Japan | California Premiere
Tuesday, September 29 | 2:30 pm | Camelot
Georgie Y. Donovan
Are You Recording?
A fly-on-the-wall display of lives changing, and time passing, told through an unanswered question.
3 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 9 pm | Camelot
Cruz Moore
Atrevidos
Residing in the Bronx for 50 years, Julio has seen the highs and lows of his neighborhood. But in 1995, the U.N. held their 50th Anniversary. While the Mayor at the time invited most of the world leaders to various dinners and events, Julio decided to have a dinner of his own and invite Fidel Castro to his Sierra Maestra.
12 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Monday, September 28 | 9 pm | Camelot
Jorge Gomez
America's Finest Ambassadors
Since World War I, American servicemen and women, after fighting a war and sometimes even during a war, truly became "America's Finest Ambassadors." The interaction with children by servicemen and women helped relieve some of their hunger, their longing for love and attention, plus often filled their need for medical assistance as well.
60 min. | USA | Palm Desert Premiere
Mon, September 28 | 6:30 pm | Tristone
George Ciampa
Ashes To Ashes
Winfred Rembert, the only living survivor of a lynching, a Star Wars fanatic, and leather artist, develops a friendship with Doctor Shirley Jackson Whitaker who is on a mission to memorialize the forgotten 4,000 African Americans lynched during the Jim Crow era. Together, their journeys of healing intertwine.
25 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Sunday, September 27 | 5 pm | Camelot
T. Rees, R. Ozturk
Baby Hers
A short film that explores the innate love and universal bond between all mothers and their children, and questions whether even the best queso in Texas is enough of a reason to tear the two apart.
15 min. | USA | World Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 5 pm | Camelot
Susan Rosenzweig
Ballet After Dark
19 min. | USA | West Coast Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 7:30 pm | Camelot
Barbara K. Asare-Bediako
Real people. Real stories. Real lives. This short documentary combines the realness of cinéma vérité and videologue with the sometimes imaginary world of social media and animation to follow the journey of a trauma survivor’s attempt to create a healing space in present day Baltimore.
Beyond The Sky
13 min. | USA | California Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 11:30 am | Camelot
Andrei Zakow
An immersive journey through the crowds and chaos, and drama and dust of the Giant Kite festival in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, Guatemala. 'Beyond The Sky' (Más Allá Del Cielo) shows us how devoted teams fight together to send their massive creations into the sky and make safe passage for the honored spirits allowed to return only on this day.
The Bird & The Whale
7 min. | Ireland | Palm Desert Premiere
Sun., September 27 | 6:30 pm | Civic Ctr Pk
Carol Freeman
This a story about a young whale struggling to find his voice. After straying too far from his family to explore a shipwreck, he discovers its sole survivor is a caged songbird. Together they struggle to survive, lost at sea.
Behind The Paradise
30 min. | Ecuador | California Premiere
Tuesday, September 29 | 2 pm | Camelot
Alain Chaviano Aldonza
During the last centuries, our technical and technological development has transformed the environment as never seen before. Looking for comfort, we have covered the ground with asphalt, disconnecting ourselves from an essential part of our nature, the Earth. However, there are still places where you can get that connection with our life, culture and history.
Bienvenus
17 min. | Spain | US Premiere
Sunday, September 27 | 11 am | Camelot
Ana Puentes Margarito
Nuria wants to volunteer in an immigration ONG. She must take care of Pape, Chiaka and Salif, three boys her age. But Nuria can't communicate with them and they don't trust anyone. Frustrated, she decides to leave, but while doing so, the real connection and discovery of each other happens. After this, their lives will never be the same.
Blieschow
10 min. | Germany | SoCal Premiere
Sunday, September 27 | 7:30 pm | Camelot
Christoph Sarow
Vast plains, colorful scenery, a red dog that seems to reach into the sky. This is how Tom experiences summer in Blieschow, his grandfather’s farm. He feels overwhelmed by the exuberance of nature and finds himself in a constant competition with his cousin, who is seemingly better at everything. Envy starts to grow in little Tom.
Berkowitz
14 min. | USA | Palm Springs Premiere
Tuesday, September 29 |1:30 pm | Camelot
Casey Skinner
Sometimes therapists, life coaches, and psychiatrists are actually worse off than their patients. This film is about those people. Four self-centered shrinks attempt to help everyone with their flaws, while being completely blind to their own. With zero self-awareness, these four often turn a minor inconvenience into a full-on crisis.
Bigger Than Life
30 min. | Germany | Palm Desert Premiere
Tues, September 29 | 11 am | Tristone
Adnan Softic
In Skopje, the capital of Northern Macedonia, the government wants to fabricate national history - with a monumental building plan worth over 80 million Euros. Does it sell? Do we believe the city to be the origin of Europe and its cradle of ancient high civilization as they try to stage it? Who has the power to construct history? A music film in four acts.
Borneo's Vanishing Tribes
23 min. | USA | World Premiere
Friday, September 25 | 4 pm | Camelot
Kent Wagner
In the forests of Borneo, a native community struggles to protect its ancestral homeland from an industry poised to destroy one of the Earth’s oldest and most bio-diverse rainforests. Borneo's Vanishing Tribes offers a glimpse into the lives of those who are most at risk, the Dayak "people of the forest," who have relied on the forests for thousands of years.
Breaking The Chain
62 min. | USA | World Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 5 pm | Camelot
Neel Parekh
It’s a fate far worse than death for countless animals: a life sentence of isolation and deprivation, without love, respect, or even basic care. Their only hope is the Community Animal Project, a dedicated field team fighting on the front lines against a national epidemic of animal overpopulation and neglect.
Broken Words
9 min. | USA | West Coast Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | 9 pm | Camelot
Eric Scott Fisher
An exploration of the importance of language through dark humor and satirical characters, we see it all here: from the regret of words unspoken, to the corruption of words through political rhetoric and nationalism, and ultimately, how dangerous that rhetoric can be - and has been - on culture, social justice, and human history.
Butterfly
1 min. | USA | Palm Desert Premiere
Sat., September 26 | 6:30 pm | Civic Ctr Pk
Xi (Jake) Wang
In the mysterious cave, the butterfly meets the Butterfly Man, who is the combination of many other butterflies. They dance until they are all on fire and blown away by the wind.
Brewed In Palestine
17 min. | USA | World Premiere
Saturday, September 26 | Noon | Camelot
Emma Schwartz
This intimate portrait of the Taybeh Brewery in Palestine, the first craft brewery on the West Bank, reveals the daily realities of one resourceful Palestinian family living and working under Israeli occupation.
The Burning Man Fantasia
47 min. | USA | TBD
TBD| TBD | TBD
Jeff Marx, Andrew Hawkins
Brave the dust and come see the Playa Pops Symphony Orchestra perform at The Temple and at Center Camp. Shot at Burning Man 2018 with 10 dusty Insta360 cameras. classical music and contemporary songs intermingle with Playa magic and editing mayhem. Bring your goggles and drink a lot of water.
Bright Lights
14 min. | Australia | West Coast Premiere
Tuesday, September 29 | 5 pm | Camelot
Charby Ibrahim
63-year-old ‘Sharon’ has been addicted to poker machine gambling since those machines first arrived in Australia in 1992. A 25-year addiction to this form of gambling has cost her almost everything... and very nearly her life, in this short, fully-animated documentary, voiced by Claudia Karvan.
But Honey, You Look Fine
10 min. | Australia | US Premiere
Friday, September 25 | 11:30 am | Camelot
Jennifer Leonforte
We follow along with Gabby as she takes the first, important steps to recovery in a long, lifetime battle with Bulimia. Among the levels of examination in the film are societal conditioning that may have caused the situation to develop in the first place.