RFH 2010, Cover Stories, Arts

Slaters Set Film Festival Schedule

Tue, Jun 28, 2011

Slater Brothers (Grant, Wade and Todd) Entertainment is back in August with its third annual Hamilton International Film Festival. Here is a tentative lineup for the weekend, and a look at some ofthe movies to be shown.

Thursday, Aug. 4

7 p.m

• Short Film: Nestle Purina's The Perfect Gift
• Short Film: Baby Boss (Created and Written By Colgate Graduates Gillian Vigman and Carrie Clifford) 
• Short Film: Mr. Stache (An American Express Submission)

All profits from Thursday night ticket's sales to benefit Hamilton Central School.

Friday, Aug. 5

• 6:30 PM Opening Reception at the Colgate Bookstore
• 8:15 PM  Short Film: Spare at the Hamilton Theater
• Short Film: Esha
• Feature Film: A Beginner’s Guide to Endings

 Saturday, Aug. 6 

• Noon Panel Discussion (The Business of Hollywood) at the Colgate Inn
• 1:30 PM Feature Film: A Journey in My Mother’s Footsteps
• 3:00 PM Feature Film: Mighty Jerome
• 6:15 PM Red Carpet Arrivals at the Palace Theater
• 7:00 PM Short Film: Nestle Purina’s The Perfect Gift                                              
• Short Film: Chobani’s Snow Angels
• Short Film: Bright (Written and directed by Shereburne native Benjamin Busch)                                         
• Feature Film: Score, A Hockey Musical                                                              
• 9:30 PM The Chobani Closing Night Party at the Colgate Inn

Sunday, Aug. 7 

• 12:30 PM Short Film: The Sea is All I Know (29 Min.)
• Short Film: Bright  (40 Min.) 
• 1:45 PM Raccoon and Crawfish (8 Min.)
• Feature Film: Patagonia Rising (85 Min.)

Here's a quick look at the films that will be shown.

A Journey in My Mother’s Footsteps (77 Min.) India/ Denmark 2010: Since the 1970’s, Jesse Rosenmeier has worked as an activist to improve the lives of orphans and street children in India, primarily in the cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai. Through her volunteer work approximately 400 children have gone on in adoption to Denmark, schools, orphanages and sponsorship programs have evolved. Hoping to understand her mother’s choices, Dina Rosenmeier, the youngest of six children, sets out on a journey in her footsteps. For every person who dedicates their life to a cause, their family makes a collective sacrifice…just like no words could possibly truly describe her mother’s experiences, no photos could depict them. 

SCORE A HOCKEY MUSICAL Canada 2011 Directed by Michael McGowan: Seventeen-year old Farley (Noah Reid) has the stickhandling skills of the next Sidney Crosby. Not that Farley has any idea who Crosby is. He’s led a sheltered life; home schooled by parents (Olivia Newton-John and Marc Jordan) whose idea of homework is trips to an art gallery or ashram. His best friend is Eve (Allie MacDonald), the girl who’s lived next door since they were both three. Much to the dismay of his parents, Farley loves to play shinny with the local rink rats (Dave Bidini, Hawksley Workman et al.). To their even greater dismay, Farley is signed to a major hockey league, where he achieves instant stardom, throwing him into a world of hype. This GLEE like inspired film has won national attention.

MIGHTY JEROME (83 Min.) Canada 2010 Directed by Charles Officer:  In 1959, at just nineteen years of age, Harry Jerome was Canada's most promising track and field star, and was on his way to the Olympics in Rome. By 1962, after suffering a gruesome leg injury, there was every reason to think that his racing days were over. But Jerome was not just a champion on the track; he was doubly determined off it. And so began his climb to what his coach, the legendary Bill Bowerman, called "the greatest comeback in track and field history." Through years of unparalleled political turbulence, personal challenge and racial conflict, Harry Jerome kept his head down and ran, displaying a strength of character and willful perseverance every bit as impressive as his record-setting athleticism. Filmmaker Charles Officer uses gorgeous monochrome imagery, impassioned interviews and astonishing archival footage to tell the runner's triumphant story, from his early days in North Vancouver.

PATAGONIA RISING (85 Min.) USA/ Chile 2010, Director: Brian Lilla,  Producer: Greg Miller: Deep in the heart of Patagonia, Chile flow two of the world’s purest rivers, the Baker and Pascua. Fed by vast glacial systems, these free-flowing watersheds drive biodiversity in temperate rainforests, estuaries and marine ecosystems. They are also the life source for Patagonia’s most tenacious residents. Gauchos, the iconic South American cowboys, endure relentless winds and long winters on remote ranches in these river valleys.

Isolated and largely undeveloped Patagonia and its people are caught in a heated conflict surrounding a proposal to build five large hydroelectric dams on the Baker and Pascua Rivers. Promoted as “clean” energy, the project’s cultural and environmental impacts would forever alter the region. Alternatives exist. Clean energy experts are proving the viability of solar, wind and geothermal resources developed much closer to demand and infrastructure.

Over the past century more than 45,000 large dams have redefined the course and health of the planet’s rivers with disastrous impacts that continue to unfold. Tracing the hydrologic cycle of the Baker from ice to ocean, Patagonia Rising brings voice to the frontier people caught in the crossfire of Chile’s energy demands. Juxtaposing the pro-dam business sector with renewable energy experts, the documentary will bring awareness and solutions to this global conflict over water and power.

BRIGHT (40 Min.) USA 2011, Directed by Benjamin Busch (Sherburne native): BRIGHT carries us into the life of Troy, played by Eric Nenninger (Malcolm in the Middle, Generation Kill, Glory Daze), a character who has built a world to protect himself from a paralyzing fear, and is encouraged to become brave by his blind adopted father Irwin, played by Robert Wisdom (The Wire, Prison Break, Burn Notice). It is a story that we can all live in. The cast is a stunning collection of actors to include Emmy Award Winner Glynn Turman (The Wire, In Treatment), Andre Royo (The Wire), Barry Kramer (Seinfeld), and Marc Menchaca (Generation Kill). BRIGHT is a contemplative film built for interpretation on several levels: that of a simple human drama, as a metaphor for the impossible search for childhood, as a metaphor for a spiritual journey, and as a story about the conflict between the natural and the artificial. The dialog is carefully crafted, sometimes cryptic, and there is weighed symbolism in every frame. The film plays against the bias of sex, dissolves race, and refuses to answer questions. It restores wonder to the film experience. Edited to move at the pace of real thought, it was made for an intelligent viewer to experience and go home discussing. It also happens to be beautiful.

Mr. Stache (10 Min.) USA 2010, Director: Jac Schaeffer: Mr. Stache always believed he had an inner mustache. Now he's wearing it on the outside. Where it makes way more sense....Mr. Stache is the 2010 winner of "My Movie Pitch," a contest launched by American Express to help bring unique independent movie ideas to life.

A Beginner’s Guide to Endings (93 Min.) Canada 2010, Producer(s): Nicolas Tabarrok, John Kozman; Director: Jonothan Sobol: Duke White (Harvey Keitel) hasn’t been an ideal father to his five boys. An inveterate  gambler who never experienced a windfall he couldn’t blow within twenty-four ours, he has come to the end of his rope, literally. Years ago, he signed up his three eldest sons for unsafe drug test that turned out to have dire consequences: the boys’ life expectancies have been substantially reduced. Upon receiving the news after their father’s funeral, the sons return to their fammily home in Niagara Falls, where they respond to eminent demise in different yet equally hilarious ways.

 Esha (14 Min.) Canada 2011, Director: Reza Dahya, Producer: Shaffin Haji: Starring Albina Naharand and Khalid Klein, Esha is a modern day love story rooted in the cultural backdrop of people changing their names to fit into western society. This Film was recently part of the Short Film Corner at Cannes and the India International Film Festival in Tampa.

The Sea Is All I Know (29 Min.) USA 2011, Director: Jordan Bayne: The Sea is All I Know is a testament to the strength and resilience of the soul. When an estranged couple, Sara and Sonny, come to the aid of their dying daughter, the experience sends them spiraling into spiritual crisis, and emotions they do not understand. In the end, this experience renews their lives, transcends their loss of faith, and even death itself. Award winning writer/director Jordan Bayne collaborates for the first time with 2009 Oscar nominee Melissa Leo (Frozen River) and critically acclaimed Peter Gerety (The Wire) on a film that will make you consider- what is a selfless act of love. 

The Raccoon and Crawfish (8 min.) Oneida Indian Nation 2011: Four Directions Productions is proud to present The Raccoon and The Crawfish, based on the story from the oral tradition of the Oneida Indian Nation, now brought to life through 3D animation. Presented is stunning High Definition, this is the story of a fateful meeting of a scheming crawfish and his mortal adversary, the hungry raccoon.

Baby Boss (2 Min.) USA 2 Created and Written By Colgate graduates Gillian Vigman and Carrie Clifford: Some people never grow-up … and then they run a company. The Nuthouse series continues.

Spare ( 9 Min.) USA 2010 Producer: Gabrielle Almagor, Executive Producer: Scott Rosenfly: Leo and Frank are gangsters. Leo is number one and Frank is his right hand man. Their relationship is based on mutual respect, but when Leo crosses the line, Frank decides to avenge the old mafia way. When Frank’s flimsy plan to whack Leo is tempered by a flat tire Leo flees the scene, the two gangsters embark on a case deep into the woods where they ultimately unravel a dark secret and realize that the truth is complicated.