2024 Wake Forest Film Festival – Playbill

2024

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2024

MARCH 1 – 2, 2024 PRESENTED BY WAKE FOREST RENAISSANCE CENTRE FOR THE ARTS

2024 WA K E F OR E S T F IL M F E S T I VA L WELCOME The Wake Forest Film Festival was created from the dreams of three like-minded women with a passion to evoke social change in their community: Cathy Gouge, Wake Forest Renaissance Center for the Arts Manager (2015–2019), Gauri Singh, filmmaker and resident, and Kimberly Soden, Cultural Arts Board member (2018–2020). These women discovered they shared the desire to bring awareness to the fast growing, diverse community of Wake Forest by creating a film festival that would attract independent film artists from across the globe.

After numerous meetings and conversations, festival founders Gouge, Singh, and Soden were joined by other community volunteers and a committee was formed to launch the first Wake Forest Film Festival in 2018. That first festival featured films from across the globe and attracted filmmakers and industry professionals.

The year 2024 marks the fifth year of the Wake Forest Film Festival. The two-day festival features 18 films selected in four categories: student, documentary, feature, and short. Plus, the addition of a special screening of Sloane: A Jazz Singer. These films shed light on issues and events that impact us all. Wake Forest welcomes filmmakers and industry professionals from across the United States and beyond to share their art of storytelling through the medium of film.

The festival would not be possible without the support of the Town of Wake Forest, our elected officials, the Renaissance Centre staff, the Town’s Communications team, and numerous volunteers.

Thank you all for your contributions and dedication to the arts in our community.

We hope our festival will bring light to your world and that you leave the Renaissance Centre enriched, enlightened, and entertained. Enjoy the festival.

Debbie Dunn Renaissance Centre Director

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2024 F IL M F E S T I VA L S C HE DUL E FRIDAY, MARCH 1 6:00 – 8:00

BLOCK 1 The Lobster Shift Hostage Alla Vita

8:00 – 9:45

Mozart War for the Woods Vax

BLOCK 2 Nothing in the Middle of Nowhere Glue Trap

9:45 – 11:00

MIX & MINGLE

SATURDAY, MARCH 2 1:00 – 2:45

BLOCK 3 Ex-Husband Hive Strawberry Mouthwash

3:00 – 4:45

Salted Earth Wilderness Therapy The Bathtub

SPECIAL SCREENING Sloane: A Jazz Singer

4:45 – 5:00

LIVE PODCAST Featuring the filmmakers of Sloane: A Jazz Singer

5:00 – 6:00

VIP DINNER

6:00 – 8:30

BLOCK 4 Amazing Gracie In the Pines Penelope’s Rules Ministry of Surf 3

B L OC K 1 THE LOBSTER SHIFT Director: John Caudill Writer: John Caudill Producer: Syd X. Porter Angus, a lonely grocery store worker, finds an unlikely friend in a lobster after working a long night shift.

HOSTAGE Director: Trevor Cebulskie Writers: Trevor Cebulskie, Anna Rodman Producer: Anna Rodman A group of friends celebrate their last night together with a friendly game that goes awry, exposing fears of the present and future.

ALLA VITA Director: Jaqueline Smith Writer: Jacob Israel Producer: Carter Normanly After her father, the don of a rich mafia family, suddenly dies, Francesca must fight for her rightful spot as the head of the family.

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B L OC K 1 MOZART Director: Natalie Burchert Writers: Kaitlyn Franck, Natalie Burchert Producer: Kaitlyn Franck Living in the shadow of her brother, Nannerl Mozart has always dreamed of being remembered as a famous composer. Born in a time when women were not allowed musical careers, she must find a new way to create her own legacy.

WAR FOR THE WOODS Directors: Sean Stiller, Geoff Morrison Writers: Sean Stiller, Geoff Morrison Producers: Tanya Talaga, Stuart Coxe, Nina Beveridge, Jolene Banning, Haley Morin 30 years after the War in the Woods, Stephanie Kwetasel’wet Wood and David Suzuki travel to Clayoquot Sound to question the legacy of the historic logging protests, and why battles are still being fought today to protect old growth forests.

VAX Director: Barak Shpiez Writer: Barak Shpiez Deep in the research laboratory of Triple Hills Pharma, an accidental discovery could save the lives of millions, unless it kills profits.

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B L OC K 2 NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE Director: Caleb Couvion Writers: Caleb Couvion, Luke Zobel Producer: Carolyn Davis Midwestern microwave salesman, Clement Supple, has the worst birthday, full of bad luck with work, relationships, and killers, and is faced with eternal doom unless he can find a way to break the cycle.

GLUE TRAP Director: Justin Geldzahler Writer: Justin Geldzahler Producers: Christopher Fox, Sara McFarlane, Justin Geldzahler, Norris Guncheon A good couple in a bad place plans a last-ditch cabin trip; but when an obnoxious third wheel arrives, they worry more that their relationship may be in danger.

YO U ’ R E I NV I T E D M I X & M I NGLE Please join us for an opportunity to Mix and Mingle with the filmmakers and industry professionals.

Friday, March 1 | 9:45 pm –11:00 pm Strike and Barrel (next door to the Renaissance Centre) Heavy Hors d’oeuvres | Everyone Invited! Please Come.

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B L OC K 3 EX-HUSBAND Director: Aubrey Smyth Writer: Greg Tito Producers: Lisa Donmall-Reeve, Danielle Beckmann, Greg Tito, Timothy Reese, Aubrey Smyth Allison Chambers is a sharp-witted workaholic executive at the top of her game. She receives earth shattering news and reconsiders her role as a mother, and her daily vodka-spiked lattes.

HIVE Director: Vianelli C. De Leon Writers: Vianelli C. De Leon, Will Henderson III Producer: Vianelli C. De Leon

Hive is a dark comedy sitcom with strong visual, comedic and narrative inspiration from The Office and Parks and Rec.

STRAWBERRY MOUTHWASH Director: Mackenzie Marsteller Writers: James Knowles, Mackenzie Marsteller Producers: Alex Archipov, Evan Ramseur A teenage girl clings to the memory of her troubled older sister through memories triggered by objects in their bathroom.

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B L OC K 3 SALTED EARTH Director: Ben Hemmings Producers: Joseph Coppolino, Ben Hemmings Executive Producers: Jon Cox, Jeanette Miller, Holly Michael

Salted Earth plunges us into the heart of an invisible and creeping crisis that’s transforming the Mid-Atlantic – the inexorable rise of sea levels.

WILDERNESS THERAPY Director: Nate Wiggins Writers: Nate Wiggins, Mariah Mannin Producer: Mariah Manning Venturing into the controversial world of wilderness therapy programs, this documentary explores the delicate balance between the beneficial power of nature and the negative encounters experienced by participants during their time in camp, ultimately questioning the worth of enduring such hardships for the potential benefits nature can provide.

LA BANYERA (THE BATHTUB) Director: Sergi Marti Maltas Writer: Sergi Marti Maltas Producer: Josep Pi Ramon Riera is taking a well-deserved bath when his cell phone suddenly rings. On the other side of the line is Clara, a girl who insistently tries to sell him life insurance.

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2024 S P E C I A L S C R E E NING SLOANE: A JAZZ SINGER Director: Michael Lippert Executive Producers: Stephen Barefoot, L. Taylor Arnold, Michael Lippert “Carol Sloane, one of the unsung heroes among jazz singers of the 20th century, is the subject of a brand-new documentary, a portrait of an almost-star who lived the jazz life, practicing her craft at night, ‘round about midnight, and working day jobs to pay the bills...” – Jazz writer Joe Vanderford. Sloane: A Jazz Singer chronicles the life and career of little-known jazz legend Carol Sloane. The documentary film follows this enduring artist as she returns at age 82 to record a live album at Birdland in September 2019. From there, the film looks back on Sloane’s remarkable career, with iconic vintage clips from her appearances on CBS Talent Scouts, on the Steve Allen Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and more. Cameras follow her in 2018 and 2019 for multiple engagements, to the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Connecticut, and to a multiday residency with the jazz studies department at Duke University.

Intimate interviews are shared with fellow artists and musicians, including esteemed jazz historian and editor Dan Morgenstern, pianists Bill Charlap and Mike Renzi, noted jazz vocal artists and others who’ve left marks along the path of the life of Carol Sloane.

LIVE PODCAST The audience will have the opportunity to experience a genuine conversation with the 2024 Wake Forest Film Festival filmmakers. The podcast will be led by Isaac Duque, one of the Renaissance Centre Technical Operations Specialists. This year he will be speaking to Stephen Barefoot and the filmmakers of Sloane: A Jazz Singer. Barefoot has more than 25 years experience in performing arts production, presenting and administration. While he’s spent most of his career in various endeavors within the field of performing arts and artist representation, it was his peripheral involvement in Minnow Media’s 2017 documentary The Malpass Brothers:

Heading Home that gave birth to a deep desire to “do another one.” So here the team comes together again, telling the life story of Carol Sloane – a world-renowned jazz singer Barefoot first met when he was a 20-something bartender at a club called “The Frog” in Raleigh. Come join us and be a fly on the wall in this year’s Live Podcast.

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B L OC K 4 AMAZING GRACIE Director: Micah Caronna Writer: Sarah LeJeune Producer: Micah Caronna After the sudden death of her sister, an irresponsible and self-involved young woman is granted custody of her niece and nephew.

IN THE PINES Director: Dugan Bridges Writers: Greg de Deugd, William H. Capps, Michael A. Huggins Producer: Greg de Deugd With their lives at stake, three young people must rely on their love and friendship to defy the forces of hate and violence that set their world ablaze in turn-of-the-century North Carolina.

ABOUT THE AWARD SCULPTURE

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The 2024 Wake Forest Film Festival awards were created by artist Jordan Parah. The awards are miniature replicas of the sculpture, “Dancing in the Moonlight,” that currently lives outside the Renaissance Centre welcoming all who visit. The nine-foot sculpture is created from painted stainless steel and was on display in Roanoke, Virginia and Pitt County, NC, before finding its permanent home in Wake Forest. “Dancing in the Moonlight” was purchased in 2022 by the Public Art Commission of Wake Forest with funds donated from the Friends of the Wake Forest Library.

B L OC K 4 PENELOPE’S RULES Director: Inayah Jackson Writer: Cameryn Chesnut Producer: Alexandra Archipov After the death of her father, Penelope just wants to be left alone.

When her neighbor, Wendy, befriends Penelope, she’s forced to let love into her life.

MINISTRY OF SURF Director: Collins Reagan Writer: Lisa S. Reagan Producer: Keith C. Reagan An intimate look inside the healing power of water & surfing on autistic children and the surfers who offer “one perfect day” to kids worldwide for free. Featuring Izzy Paskowitz.

THANK YOU TO OUR VOLUNTEER FILM JUDGES Jonnie Anderson

April Cannon

Nickea Griffin-Crepsac

Gauri Singh

Mathew Bainbridge

Ele’Jah Carter

Debra Horton

Kim Soden

Michele Barnes

Amanda Cochrane

Andrew Kaveler

Gary Ushino

Dr. Chester Branch, MFA, MA

Cameron Davis

Trinna McGinnis

Alan Watkins

Candace Davis

Mary Petretich

Edward White

Kensington Brown

Claudia Davis

Louis Roussell

Mengyao Mia Zhang

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