Page 4 • CEDAR STREET
Times • December 6, 2013
Monarch Film Festival Tickets Now On Sale
The long-anticipated second annual Monarch Film Festival will return on Wed., Dec. 11 and Thurs., Dec. 12 beginning at 4:15 p.m. at Lighthouse Cinemas in Pacific Grove. This two-day event features works from nine local film professionals and students as well as documentaries, features and shorts from all over the world. The awards ceremony and second screening featuring the winning selections will be the following day, Dec. 12 at 6:00 p.m. Join us in celebrating cinematic achievements from independent film makers, and enjoy the “Local’s Corner” – films made exclusively by local film makers and students showing on the big screen, giving our home town a chance to support the local film making community.
Individual screening tickets available online or at-the-door for only $10 general admission (feature or full length documentary) or a $10 special package price (shorts/ local shorts/ student narratives/ student shorts and short documentaries), $7.50 for students/military and seniors. All day, general and package tickets can be purchased online at: www.monarchfilmfestival2013.bpt.me or at the door. Discounted tickets (students/military/ seniors) only available at the door. Official schedule can be found online at www.monarchfilmfestival.com/ festival-2013. For more information email: info@ monarchfilmfestival.com or visit www. monarchfilmfestival.com
An example of the films screening:
LOCALS CORNER EXTRAORDINARY ORD By Eric Palmer (Previously synopsized) DECEMBER 11, 7:05PM
MONARCH MOVEMENT By Robert Pacelli (Previously synopsized) DECEMBER 11, 6:25PM
What Makes Us Human by Kellen Gibbs As the cars pass by on a normal street corner, we find ourselves following in the footsteps of a man living on the streets. Tattered and dirty, the man (Hugh) appears to be like any normal homeless beggar on the street corner. Life, however, is often more complicated than it seems at first glance. Director Kellen Gibbs takes the audience through the eye-opening and heart-wrenching tale of loss and consequence that is often unrecognized by most. DECEMBER 11, 9:20 PM
The Song by Marwan Hussein Felix, an aloof, deep thinking San Francisco youth in his mid-twenties embarks on a journey of self-discovery as he seeks his “other half” and finally becomes complete. Seeking completion through relationships, he wallows in despair at his failures, yet holds strong to his convictions to righteousness. Walking the lonely straight and narrow path, he is about to find himself in a situation where it is do or die, and his decision will make all the difference. DECEMBER 11, 6:25 PM
The People Watcher by Matthew DiPietrio
The Fight for Water: A Farm Worker Struggle
Documentary film puts human face to California's Water Wars
The award-winning documentary film, "The Fight for Water: A Farm Worker Struggle," which put a human face to the California Water Crisis and the environmental decision that impacted a farm-working community in the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley, will screen as the "Official Selection" at this year's International Monarch Film Festival, Dec. 11 and 12 at the Lighthouse Cinemas. The film was recently awarded Best Documentary at the 2013 Viña de Oro International Film Festival and will screen Wed., Dec. 11 at 8:30 pm with a Q & A after the film with the filmmaker. Tickets for the screening can be purchased online at www.monarchfilmfestival. com/festival-2013 or www.thefightforwaterfilm.com/monarch or at the Lighthouse Cinemas, located at 525 Lighthouse Ave. The film, which documents a march held by farmers and their farm workers, spanning across the Westside of the California Central Valley to the San Luis Reservoir in order to fight for their water, has won accolades and worldwide recognition. It has screened at more than 10 film festivals, including film festivals in Malaysia and the Czech Republic. It has received runner-up honors in the categories of Best Documentary in Cinematography and Best Documentary Political Film at the 2013 Action on Film International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for Excellence in Filmmaking. The documentary follows a group of farmers and their farm workers who describe how federal water measures in 2009 contributed to thousands of people being displaced from their jobs and fields going dry while refuges that protect a threatened fish species received all of the water designated for them. Because of that, the government had to declare the affected area a disaster and was forced to provide humanitarian food assistance for more than 200,000 people, many of whom were migrant workers who did not have other means to turn to. Lois Henry, newspaper columnist for The Bakersfield Californian, reviewed the film and found it to be "moving", "compelling" and "pretty impressive". "People should see this film," she stressed. "It's important that we understand that perspective of what the 'Water Wars' mean on a really, really human scale." The film was produced by Juan Carlos Oseguera, a filmmaker who was raised in the California Central Valley by parents who were migrant farmworkers. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and has been a published film critic. This is his first feature length documentary. Oseguera, 39, understood the struggle farmworkers were facing and set out to document the their plight as a lesson to be learned and as a voice to be heard. Yet in his quest to understand this water situation, he uncovered class, social and environmental politics behind water access and distribution in California, and the ripple effect it has on all of us. Hollywood actor Paul Rodriguez, who helped organize the water march in the style of Cesar Chavez, is featured in the film for his activism in this cause. Major political figures from throughout the state, and community leaders representing the Central Valley community, who stood in favor and against the water cause, also appear on the film. Arnold Schwarzenegger also makes an appearance. For more information about the film, the film festival screening and requests to screen the film, visit: www.thefightforwaterfilm.com www.facebook.com/thefightforwaterfilm
The People Watcher is a story about a man who frequents a park to watch his favorite recurring “characters.” One day while people watching a man sits down on a bench across from John and stares him down giving no reason for his stare. This man continues his regimen of staring John down for the next few days until John takes measures to find out who the staring man is and what he wants. DECEMBER 11, 4:45PM
Posey by Billy DaMota
POSEY is the story of Linda Flemming (Sally Kirkland), who must take her ailing grandmother, Posey to a senior care facility. She suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and in a desperate move to avoid the inevitable, Posey escapes. While her loved ones search for her, Posey finds herself in a situation that changes her life forever. DECEMBER 11, 7:30PM
The Right Regrets by Ralph Senensky Vancouver, BC. Englishman, Charles Wickham, doesn’t notice he’s being followed. A woman seats her herself across the room in a cafe holding a menu up to partially shield her face. Lily McHenry’ eyes zero in on Charles and the scene goes into flashback. Antique Book Fair, Monterey: The attraction is instant between Lily and Charles (who’s a rare book dealer). It’s a perfect weekend, the two are in love. Except...The rub is whenever Lily talks about visiting Charles in Vancouver he changes the subject. Suspicious, she confronts him. He continues to be evasive but asks Lily to be patient, that he has a decision to make, but must make it alone. Now Lily decides to find out just who the mysterious Charles Wickham really is and what he’s hiding. Afraid of losing Charles but not afraid of the truth, she carries out a scheme that could end up being the first regret of her life. DECEMBER 11, 8:00 PM
The Bikini Shop by Ami-Su Lawless
Synopsis not available at press time. DECEMBER 11, 7:55 PM
Dust by Shane Book A young poet’s final evening with his girlfriend sparks memories of an afternoon spent with his ailing grandfather. Adapted from Shane Book’s National Magazine Award-winning poem, an exploration of the nature of grief becomes a poetic meditation of water, skin and dust. DECEMBER 11, 4:35PM