11 minute read
Shorts
CALLS TO ACTION SHORTS
MELTDOWN IN DIXIE
Director: Emily Harrold USA, 40 min A battle erupts in Orangeburg, South Carolina between the Sons of Confederate Veterans and an ice cream shop owner . TAKEOVER
Director: Emma Francis-Snyder USA, 38 min 1970 . A group of activists take over a decrepit hospital in the South Bronx launching a battle for their lives .
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE SHORTS
Saturday, October 30, 1:00pm, Clairidge 1 This program is co-presented by Partners for Health Foundation
GIVE AND TAKE
Director: Gareth Smit USA, 11 min An intimate look at the community fridge movement in New York City during the COVID-19 Pandemic . LEAD ME HOME
Directors: Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk USA, 38 min LEAD ME HOME captures the experience of some of the 500,000 Americans who experience homelessness every night from multiple perspectives .
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
THE FIELD TRIP
Directors: Meghan O’Hara, Mike Attie, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck USA, 13 min A group of fifth graders learn what it takes to get ahead in the modern American workplace .
HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY
Directors: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan USA, 12 min A disparate group of warehouse workers process newspapers for delivery on Christmas Eve .
THE ISOLATED
Director: Jason Giampietro USA, 15 min As New Yorker’s manage the early days of the COVID-19 shutdown, one resident struggles with loneliness and finding human connection . LARRY & ME
Director: Lisa Melmed USA, 12 min Herb Cohen shares memories of his 75-year friendship with Larry King .
R.I.P. T-SHIRTS
Directors: David Heilbroner, Kate Davis USA, 31 min A small custom T-shirt shop in Washington, DC, sees a generation of Black youth experience gun violence .
TEN LEAVES DILATED
Director: Kate Hinshaw, Ebony Blanding USA, 15 min A documentary that uses the make-believe world crafted by Cabbage Patch Kids to examine childbirth and motherhood in the American South .
FICTION SHORTS COMPETITION
CHECKS AND BALANCE
Director: Brian Smail III USA, 17 min A group of forgotten seniors create a mafia-esque scheme of stealing test answers and selling them to the institution’s wealthiest .
I’M LISTENING
Director: Mickey Sumner USA, 19 min A single mother starts up an unlikely friendship with Siri .
LILI ALONE
Director: Zou Jing China/Hong Kong/ Singapore, 22 min Lonely and poor, a young mother heads for the city in a bid to earn enough money to save her dying father . NO LONGER SUITABLE FOR USE
Director: Julian Joslin USA, 21 min A Syrian FBI informant and single father faces an impossible choice when one final chance to avoid deportation arises .
SOME STILL SEARCH
Director: Nesaru Tchaas USA, 16 min SOME STILL SEARCH follows the simultaneous stories of a woman in ICE detention, and the 5-yearold boy she’s left behind .
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
CRICKET
Director: Chris Suchorsky USA, 18 min A man wakes from a nightmare, only to be haunted by the sounds that inhabit his dreams .
DADDY ISN’T HERE RIGHT NOW
Directors: John Weselcouch, Sara Lindsey USA, 15 min Gwen is pushed to the brink of insanity after her husband misses date night .
DON’T FREAK OUT
Director: Casimir Nozkowski USA, 7 min A visiting alien sends a message home . A LOCKER ROOM NIGHTMARE
Director: Matt Berns USA, 7 min Gym locker rooms can be a scary place .
LUCKY FEET 2000
Director: Mary Dauterman USA, 4 min A woman gets a supernatural pedicure .
YOUNG FOREVER
Director: Stevie Szerlip USA, 14 min A Korean entrepreneur gets entangled in a pyramid scheme .
MONTCLAIR SHORTS
Friday, October 29, 8:00pm, MKA Upper School Available Friday, October 22 to Sunday, October 31, MFF Virtual Cinema
APRIL SHOWERS
Director: Caytha Jentis USA, 12 min A man and a woman meet on a park bench under unusual circumstances .
ESCAPING OHIO
Director: Jessica Michael Davis USA, 16 min After discovering that Sam intends to leave their small town for new adventures, JJ dares her to give him 24 hours to prove why Ohio is worth sticking around for . EXPOSURE
Director: Alex Tomeo USA, 17 min A NASA darkroom photographer spots something out of the ordinary after the Apollo 11 mission . FLORA BOREALIS
Director: Casey Friedman USA, 10 min Two gay men struggle with depression in a ruined environment .
IMAGINATION STATION
Director: Jerry Harney USA, 12 min Tim, a budding professional, is visited by his favorite children’s television character in an effort to teach him one final lesson.
RAT RACE
Director: Stefanie Sparks USA, 12 min A young woman struggling to survive becomes addicted to lucrative, high-risk drug trials .
MSU NEW VISIONS
Friday, October 22, 7:30pm, Clairidge 2
Montclair State University College of the Arts, School of Communication and Media, Filmmaking BFA Program presents New Visions 2021. A showcase of visually compelling, emotionally powerful short films created by MSU’s top student filmmakers. 7 O’CLOCK
Director: Adam Chhour USA, 11 min A young doctor navigates his way to work at a hospital with the weight of two diseases hovering around him .
THE ART OF COLORED MUSH
Director: Charlee Reiff USA, 4 min A profile on claymation and visual effects artist Spaghetti Jesus .
FEVER
Director: Alyssa G . Mullings USA, 9 min A visit to the Fever Club sees one woman experience herself like never before .
THE FIRST DAY
Director: Colin Keyes USA, 15 min A high school freshman confronts an unorthodox bully on the first day of school .
LEGAL PARADISE
Director: Jake Wisotsky USA, 19 min Dave meets a homeless man that steals his hardearned cash and changes his life forever .
MOB MENTALITY
Director: Anthony Chidichimo USA, 15 min A young busboy doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut in front of the mafia. OUT OF MIND.
Director: Angelica Rosario USA, 10 min Hunter struggles with the death of a loved one .
REMEMBER WHEN
Director: Paola Ossa USA, 15 min A young boy must find his 8-year-old sister when she goes missing in their unwelcoming trailer park community .
ROCKET POP
Director: Tim Jones USA, 7 min Mike’s night is turned upside down when a homeless drifter comes spouting word of the incoming apocalypse .
SUNFLOWERBOY
Director: Trevor Stephney USA, 5 min Johnson is faced with the choice of a lifetime: his girlfriend Erika, or his artificially intelligent girlfriend .
THE TOYMAKER
Director: John R . Caccamo USA, 20 min An old toymaker finds an unexpected solution for a young girl who’s in need of an escape from her abusive home life .
NJ SHORTS
BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Director: Brielle Cruz USA, 18 min A girl consumed by her own teen angst finds comfort in pretending she’s the main character of an ‘80s brat pack movie .
DEAR FUTURE ME
Directors: Sarah Klein, Tom Mason USA, 13 min Maplewood Middle School students participate in a rite of passage .
FINDING BEAST
Director: Olivia Accardo USA, 17 min Olivia returns to New Jersey to rescue the ghost of her childhood cat from her family’s home before it’s too late . ONE ALL THE WAY
Director: David Baram USA, 24 min Three Jersey guys search for the world’s greatest Hot Texas Weiner, but along the way, discover what happened to their hometown of Paterson, NJ .
SICKLY
Director: Byron Leon USA, 9 min A luckless Brooklynite searches through the night for medical care in an unfamiliar city .
SOMEONE WILL ASSIST YOU SHORTLY
Director: Jon Levenson USA, 14 min A hospice nurse’s panic and isolation come to light as he cares for his abusive and cognitively impaired father .
NJ SHORTS COMPETITION
COUSINS
Director: Mandy Marcus USA, 13 min A Brooklyn teenager reunites with her Guyanese cousin .
DON’T GO TELLIN’ YOUR MOMMA
Directors: Topaz Jones, rubberband . USA, 35 min A view into artist Topaz Jones’ and America’s Black Identity through 26 individual scenes . SAFE
Director: Ian Barling USA, 16 min On a winter night in Atlantic City, the manager of a defunct casino must reckon with his parental failures when his unruly son needs help out of an illicit bind .
SUPERSTAR
Director: Jordan Hidalgo USA, 15 min A homeless man attempts to keep his individuality despite being dehumanized by everyday society .
OUT SHORTS
Saturday, October 23, 1:30pm, Clairidge 1 Available Sunday, October 24 to Sunday, October 31, MFF Virtual Cinema Presented in partnership with Out Montclair
THE BEAUTY PRESIDENT
Director: Whitney Skauge USA, 10 min In 1992, Joan Jett Blakk made a historic bid for the White House as one of the first openly queer write-in candidates .
BRUISED FRUIT TASTES SWEETER
Director: Jake Kolton USA, 10 min A couple tries to mend their fragile relationship after a sudden car accident .
THE CORONATION
Director: Dhruv Sud USA, 13 min A young boy sneaks out from his parents’ home in New Jersey to see his drag queen friends in New York City . CUPIDS
Director: Zoey Martinson USA, 10 min Three kids set out to find their beloved bus driver a date before summer begins .
PURE
Director: Natalie Jasmine Harris USA, 12 min A young girl grapples with her own insecurities and fears on the eve of her cotillion ball .
WHEN I’M HER
Director: Emily Schuman USA, 15 min Michael finds refuge and liberation by assuming an alter ego: a sparkly turbanwearing, Russian ballet instructor named Madame Olga .
SHORTS FOR ALL AGES
Available Friday, October 22 to Sunday, October 31, MFF Virtual Cinema This program is co-presented by Horizon Foundation for New Jersey
CUPIDS
Director: Zoey Martinson USA, 10 min Three kids set out to find their beloved bus driver a date before summer begins .
DEAR FUTURE ME
Directors: Sarah Klein, Tom Mason USA, 13 min Maplewood Middle School students participate in a rite of passage .
THE FIELD TRIP
Directors: Meghan O’Hara, Mike Attie, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck USA, 13 min A group of fifth graders learn what it takes to get ahead in the modern American workplace . IMAGINATION STATION
Director: Jerry Harney USA, 12 min Tim, a budding professional, is visited by his favorite children’s television character in an effort to teach him one final lesson.
SOUNDS BETWEEN THE CROWNS
Director: Filip Diviak Czech Republic, 15 min A homeless musician was kicked out of the city after the queen saw his face . Although the guards destroyed his instrument, he didn’t lose the motivation to fix it.
STUDENT SHORTS
AIN’T NO MERCY FOR RABBITS
Director: Aliza Brugger USA, 16 min When Gramma gets sick, Roan must learn to survive on her own in a world without drinkable water .
BEAU
Director: Constance Tsang USA, 16 min An emerging artist is set to unveil her latest installation .
MUNKIE
Director: Steven Chow New Zealand, 15 min When Rose’s tiger parents’ tough love, dominance and manipulation become too much to bear, she hatches a violent plan of revenge with devastating consequences . TEJANO NIGHT
Director: Alexander Rosales USA, 13 min An awkward MexicanAmerican is forced to tag along on his cousin’s night out after butchering his Spanish pronunciation in front of his family .
TRAPSTAR
Director: Beru Tessema UK, 21 min Ade tries to save his sister but discovers his real life mirrors the reality of Hamlet, the character he is rehearsing .
SHORTS BEFORE FEATURES
230 HERTZ
Director: Brad Barber USA, 4 min Bianca visits a speech therapist in an unlikely place .
Playing with THIS IS JESSICA (page 101):
Sunday, October 24, 3:00pm, Clairidge 4
PARTY LINE
Director: Lydia Cornett USA, 7 min At the early voting line in Ohio’s most populous county, civic duty is a public performance .
Playing with PRESIDENT (page 97):
Friday, October 29, 5:30pm, Clairidge 4
Saturday, October 30, 3:00pm, Clairidge 5
THE WIND AND THE KITE
Directors: Robert Machoian, Keely Song USA, 7 min A powerful meditation on marital strife expressed through dance .
Playing with PARIS, 13TH DISTRICT (page 93):
Tuesday, October 26, 7:00pm, Clairidge 1
Wednesday, October 27, 7:00pm, Clairidge 1
