WHEELS - Spirit Of Freedom Narrative
WHEELS is a dark-humored drama that follows the story of MICKEY (Donavon Thomas), a suicidal paraplegic who can’t kill himself no matter how hard he tries. In a desperate attempt to off himself, MICKEY offers the homeless junkie DRAKE (Patrick Hume) $500 to shoot him in the head. The transaction goes sideways, and a compassionate friendship is born. Lonely, outcasted and haunted by their pasts, the men hustle through the streets of Los Angeles, searching for a way to make life worth living again.
POVERTY INC - Spirit Of Freedom Documentary
Fighting poverty is big business, but who profits the most? “I see multiple colonial governors,” says Ghanaian software entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse of the international development establishment in Africa. “We are held captive by the donor community.” The West has positioned itself as the protagonist of development, giving rise to a vast multi-billion dollar poverty industry of NGOs, state and multilateral agencies, and for-profit aid contractors. The business of doing good has never been better.
Unfortunately, the results have been mixed, in some cases even catastrophic, and leaders in the developing world are growing increasingly vocal in calling for change. Drawing from over 200 interviews filmed in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. unearths an uncomfortable side of charity we are all too tempted toignore. The film invites the viewer to step into the shoes of local entrepreneurs and their colleagues, parents and their families, with expert commentary from public leaders, development economists, anthropologists, and others. From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. agricultural subsidies, the film challenges each of us to ask the tough question: Could I be part of the problem?
LEAVE TO REMAIN - New Visions
Stories are what stand between me and being sent back to a place worse than hell'. Omar, a charismatic Afghan teenager, is at the precarious juncture of having his refugee status decided. Then the arrival of a boy from back home threatens to change everything. Forced into a position where the outcome may be the difference between life and death, his only options are to tell the unbelievable truth or to tell a good story? For Omar, and thousands like him, who arrive alone and scared on our shores each year, the asylum system is a cruel game of chance. Based on real-life stories, Leave to Remain is a coming of age drama that depicts a world hidden from view. Featuring an original soundtrack from the hottest band of the year, Mercury Music Prize and Novello Award-winners Alt-J, this provocative debut feature from BAFTA winner Bruce Goodison, is brought to life by powerful performances from an ensemble cast of emerging talent, young refugees themselves and acclaimed actor, Toby Jones.
PERFECT DAY - Best Short Film
Desmond, an intellectual loner in a volatile high school, has devised a plan to reveal his affections to Aasha, the class beauty. He secretly writes her love sonnets, depositing them in her locker between classes.
Then, in the midst of the day’s chaos, he discovers he has his own secret admirer. All other concerns fade as he makes his way from clue to clue, hoping to find who is leaving him these cryptic notes.
As the last school bell rings, Desmond questions will he ever find love, or, as the tension at school escalates, even a safe way home.
special mentions to TOBACCO BURN
Based on an oral history from the W.P.A. Writers, Tobacco Burn is set thirty-five years before the Civil War at the height of American slavery. When two of the enslaved weigh the complexities of killing their overseer, each develop a different understanding towards violence, acting on which could cost all of them their lives.
Best Short Film (MVAAFF), Best Student Film (CIFF), Audience Award for Best Short Film (Gasparilla Film Festival, Palm Beach Film Festival)
and special mention to EN LAS NUBES
The difference between how we think romance should work and how it actually does is at the comedic heart of EN LAS NUBES, an exploration of cultural disagreements about intimacy, love, and marriage proposals in the age of YouTube.