I know you’ve all been frantically waiting for this, so here it is…the list of films to be shown at this year’s Snake Alley Festival of Film. These are in no particular order at this time.\
1-0 – A Barber starts cutting the boys hair while watching a Football game on TV.
A New Man – After his wife leaves him, Charles begins to assume the identities of strangers at a local coffee shop to avoid being alone.
Awakenings – The line between dreams and reality is blurred when a young woman in charge of two children is haunted by mysterious entities.
Bandito – ‘Bandito’ is an epic coming-of-age drama following the adventure of Jamie, a young boy who stows away to join his older brother on a highway truck heist.
Beneath Water – On the first anniversary of a traumatic life changing event, 16 year old Daisy attempts to get through to her increasingly withdrawn mother. Is her only solace beneath water?
Black Hawk’s Final Resting Place – The Sauk war chief known to the American settlers as Black Hawk, fought and lost a war in 1832 as he tried to retake his homeland. His grave was robbed in 1839 and the history books say his remains were destroyed in a museum fire in 1853. The history books are wrong.
Branches – Branches is an exploration of line, light, and sound: a moving drawing, a study in the relationship between order and chaos. Unsettlingly complex and entropic, yet deeply and abidingly orderly.
Buried Hearts – Buried hearts can be unearthed.
Butterfly Dreams – A young child laborer in India sees a way to pursue her dream to learn to read and write when an educated man comes to her village.
Chanterelle Rain – Chanterelle mushrooms are the treasured culinary gift of summer rains in Canada’s magical West Coat rain forest. Using stop motion with all manner of materials from plasticine to blossoms, blue berries,salal berries and dryer lint, international award wining animator Gail Noonan (Your Name In Cellulite, The Menopause Song) has created a lush and entertaining homage to the passion and obsession these members of the Fungal Royal Family inspire in mere mortals.
Charlie – No one ever listened to Charlie, until he stopped talking.’charlie’ is the story of a young man who goes hysterically mute when choosing to leave his abusive past behind. It’s Christmas Eve and he stumbles upon the Sanderson family who takes him in as their own. Charlie begins to bloom in this loving environment where perfect strangers have taken him in as one of their own. Starring Shawn Ryan (Bones), Jim O’ Heir (Parks and Rec), Mo Collins (MADtv), and Golden Globe Nominee Andrea Marcovicci.
Contract Removals – When a woman hires a removal man to take away something disturbing from her apartment, they both encounter more than they bargained for.
Conversation with a Cigarette – A cat and mouse game ensues when a man faces his greatest enemy: A Cigarette.
Cowboys – Martin is a finished actor, both professionally and personally. He is divorced, has no friends and a son he has not talked to for more than a year. But one fine day he will get a working offer his agent will not let him pass: to be companion of a 5 years old boy in a costume contest at the Amusement Park
Coyote Girl – A daughter cares for her early onset dementia ridden father who has become obsessed with coyotes.
Damn It, Mamet! – A writer questions his talent when a successful colleague recommends he read a book by famed screenwriter David Mamet.
Death to Cupid – When one man has an entire life of failed relationships he goes hunting for the person responsible.
DSL: A Cereal Intent – During an average cereal eating party, a man has to go to the bathroom from eating the Mexican cereal. When he comes out things get a little….. weird and two detectives get to the bottom of this.
Even The Walls – Even the Walls documents the unique connectedness of a public-housing development on the eve of its destruction. For more than 70 years, Yesler Terrace has been home to thousands of Seattle’s low-income residents and international refugees. Conceived as the nation’s first racially-integrated, public-housing development, Yesler now stands on the edge of a new social experiment: mixed-income, mixed-use housing. In 2014, the Seattle Housing Authority began selling off pieces of the 30-acre property to being the transition. This 27-minute documentary film takes you on an intimate journey inside the homes and memories of nine Yesler Terrace residents. Through interviews and cinematic portraits Even the Walls transcends the immediate question of relocation, and instead honors the history of Yesler’s residents and their neighborhood before they are lost.
Falling to Pieces – When young widow Cassandra seeks out the recipients of her husband’s organs, each meeting proves more disastrous than the last.
Fear – A woman struggles with little things that build to mammoth proportions.
Ferdinand Knapp – Ferdinand Knapp is the pre-eminent actor of French theatre, revered by all. In preparing for a new play, the lines between his character’s malevolent personality and his own begin to blur.
Fishing For Unicorns – Fishing For Unicorns tells the story of Joe Everett, a surfboard maker whose passion for fishing has led to an obsession with catching the world record largemouth bass. His obsession has taken over his life.
Goran – Joy and frustration as constructed by Goran Gostojic of Novi Sad.
Guilty – A man is dragged into a dark room and subjected to an unorthodox interrogation. His interrogator, an unusually pleasant young woman, refuses to tell him why he’s there and seems to know more about him than she’s letting on. As she plays with his head and questions the nature of his marriage, he begins to doubt his own story…
Hollywood Gals – HOLLYWOOD GALS is an eye-opening documentary short film about 4 women trying to make it in Hollywood. Filmmaker Jack Truman follows 4 actresses in Los Angeles of different ages and cultures, who share their thoughts, lifestyles and dreams in a unique, underground experimental film.
Hyena´s Blood – We are in 1973. A corrupt cop helps the new born DEA to burn down the poppy fields in Mexico.
I Owe You – Father-to-be Cam owes his perfect life to his estranged friend Todd. But when Todd shows up one night with a body in his trunk and calls in the debt, Cam must choose between an awful trip into darkness and having his own terrible secret revealed.
Innocent – Micky is a man who wakes up hungover one day in bed with Elsa, a mentally handicapped young woman.
Invisible Sister – For the past six years, documentary filmmaker Jamie Rogers has been disconnected from her adopted sister, Kelly, for reasons that her parents refused to explain. Through a series of personal interviews, Jamie explores the events starting with Kelly’s adoption from Peru, leading up to her separation from the family. A story of immigration, childhood, betrayal and love, Invisible Sister takes its viewer to the heart of deeply embedded family secrets.
J.K. The Reaper // ‘Exodia’ – Music video shot with little time and zero budget in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Junk Girl – There once was a girl who was made up of junk.She looked really dirty,and she smelled like a skunk.She was always unhappy,or in one of her slumps-perhaps ‘cause she spentso much time down in the dumps.The only bright moment was from a guy named Stan.He was from the neighborhood garbage man.He loved her a lot and made a marriage proposal,but she already thrown herself in the garbage disposal.
Lapsus – Terry is reading a comic book in a laundry. That is when his memory playing tricks on him.Terry is a victim of an unknown phenomena that literature considers as a Lapsus memoriae or a slip of memory.
Lennis Moore: Woodcut Print Artist – A documentary about more than an artist, reflecting on bygone farming days, rural landscapes, and inspirations, Lennis Moore lets us into his life and his truly Iowan persona: ‘It’s just a lot of hard work and you keep doing the craft and the more you do the better hopefully you become.’. Filled with Lennis’ woodcut prints, archival photographs, and Iowa landscapes, this film is a departure into a beautiful geography few of us know.
Man in the Can – Man in the Can chronicles the personal journey of a minor league rodeo clown trying to make it to the major leagues before he gets too old or taken out by a bull. Rodeo clowning isn’t just Ronald’s job, it’s his calling. Ronald is the first person in his family to leave Mississippi, and he spends most of the year on the rodeo circuit in Texas and the South with his dog and pet skunk. The film provides an inside look at the tight knit rodeo community and small-town America, but it’s a universal story about following your dream, second chances, and the sacrifices that come along with pursuing your passion.
Meaningful Gestures – A fast-talking comedy in which two siblings try to put aside their personal differences and disdain of each other in order to cook a meal for their parents on their anniversary, even though they’re on the verge of divorce.
Nona – Nona, is based on Stephen King’s most disturbing short story. When a Boy meets a Girl on the road and they fall in love, you’d better not try to stop them.
One of Those Couples – [Eyeroll] Becky & Roger are ‘one of those couples.’You know. They finish each others’ sentences.Don’t be like Becky & Roger.
Onyx Window – When Cal takes a new job, he loses the one person he cared about. But is his universe as it seems? Or is there more going on?
Poor Sailor – ‘Poor Sailor’ chronicles the misadventures of a farmer who decides to leave his quiet and simple life in the mountains to embark on a great adventure at sea.
Run – David Kroll performs George Strait’s hit “Run”
Safe Space – Patrick and Sara lives a love story. But they are also fighting together for refugee rights in Berlin.When harmless advance turns into a sexual assault, the group is forced to rethink their aims and the private story grows to an unwanted public dimension.
Savage Hero – 2 years after the World Trade Centers went down, A 9-11 Widow is confronted by a NYFD Batallion chief who has just found out she did something, in his eyes, as unforgivable on September 10th, 2001.
Scared To Death – When obsessed horror fan John Squires answers a late night knock on his front door, his seemingly average movie night turns into a hilariously hellish nightmare complete with zombies, sexy girls, a satanic priest and very big knife.
Scheherazade – In an audition, the unseen man behind the camera is asking the young actresses to share their dark personal stories. How much are they willing to share? What is this really about?
Seagulls – When a young showman visits a new town he struggles to fit in. Seagulls follows Ryan as he attempts to bond with a group of local boys. The film explores the subtle differences in the lives of these teenage boys and how cultural bonds are deeply ingrained and are never far from the surface.
Shakespeare with Noodles – Shakespeare With Noodles delivers The Bard like he’s never been seen before. This unique little troupe emphasizes fun and letting kids be kids. Hear how it began and why it’s so successful from the woman who started it all.
Shotgun Wedding – Melissa is pregnant and pushing Carmine down the aisle to get hitched before she gives birth.
Silenced – Amanda Peters, a deaf woman visiting her friend, arrives to find John being held hostage by a mob. She hides and tries to understand what is going or call for help but with no avail. As the situation get more tense, she realizes that she is about to watch an execution, and is faced with the option of personally getting involved to try to save her friend or running away and saving herself. The odds are stacked against her, after all she is a middle aged woman with a disability, going up against three armed mobsters.
Slope Park – A thirty year old man and a twelve year old girl meet at a local park.
Solve For Y – A cerebral architect tries to determine the cause of his attraction to a young woman.
Spearhunter – Deep in the wilds of rural Alabama, a spear-hunter proclaims himself the world’s greatest and erects a museum dedicated to his own bizarre obsession. In this atmospheric and darkly funny documentary, an offbeat cast of lovers, acolytes, and critics of the megalomaniacal spear-hunter remember his distinctive tactics both for killing and for leaving a legacy.
Special – When their daughter is kidnapped by human traffickers, a mother and father desperately struggle against revealing an important family secret to investigators, that could ultimately lead to her safe return.
Sprint to the past – The film tells the story of one of the most beautiful sports-rowing, about the fate of its athletes and their memories in our days. It is the story about the three friends, their sporting rivalry in the early 1980 es and about the situation in the sport in our days.
Take a Penny – Nick is dealing with old love, new love and the end of a year that saw nine friends pass away.
That Night – Lovers who loved and lost meet and misunderstandings are resolved as their past is viewed through the prism of a 20 year class reunion.
The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread – Without the Iowan entrepreneur, Otto Rohwedder, no one would have ever said, ‘It’s the best thing since sliced bread.’ Here is the story of the invention of the bread slicer, The invention that every other invention is compared to. Was it easy for him to get to market? No. Was sliced bread initially sold to women to improve their sex appeal? Yes. Was slicked bread banned by the U.S. Government during World War II? Yes.
The Dangle – When down on his luck American spy Tom Ryder comes face to face with the world’s greatest mercenary in 1975 Moscow he decides to take matters into his own hands… but she has other plans.
The Dare Side of the Moon – In order to prove to each other their bravery two iconic counts are pushing the vampire stereotypes to extreme.
The Future Perfect – THE FUTURE PERFECT A time travel movie that take place in the space between then and now. One man is hired to do a job that makes him question every impulse in his body, until he sees a future he cannot unlearn. A sparse, minimalist sci-fi story about the endless nature of grief, starring Zachary Quinto (Star Trek; Margin Call), Robert Baker (Mad Men;Texas Rising), and featuring music by Son Lux (Looper; The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby). Dir. Nick Citton. RT: 12:17
The Lost Mariner – The Lost Mariner is an animated interpretation of Dr. Oliver Sacks’ case study found in his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. It uses photographs to visualize the rare memory condition of patient Jimmie G.
The Memory of Martin Fugue – When Anna accidentally hits Martin with her car, causing him to lose his memory, she sets out to get rid of the problem and return him home. Martin, on the other hand, has motives of his own as he can only remember one thing. He has to be somewhere.
The Pen – Unsure what to do with her day, imagination brings joy to a bored girl. When a peer begins to bully her fantastic antics, the girl’s joy turns to anger and focuses on the bully. Regretting her retaliation, can she find a way to rectify her actions?
The Simple Gift of Walnut Grove – The Simple Gift of Walnut Grove is a short film about the life of an early 20th century Danish immigrant named Hans Hansen, as told by his son, 96 year old Walter Hansen. Hans emigrated from Denmark to the United States in 1899 and built a farm out of the native timber he found alongside a marginal piece of land on the Cedar River near West Branch, Iowa. The farm has been in continuous operation for over a hundred year weathering both the Great Depression of the 1930’s and the farm crisis of the 1980’s. Within this historical narrative, emerges themes of masculinity and the dynamics of a father-son relationship forged under the harsh conditions of the early Midwestern settlement and the American immigrant experience.
The Sound of the Road – The story is about fake loves. A boy and a girl meet each other in the street. After a while they get married. After a period of time living together and having some conflict they have a baby. …….
The Struggle of Libations – A man undertakes a night-long odyssey across Dublin as he questions his only meaningful relationship – the one he maintains with his ever loyal post-work pint.
The Wake-up Call – A young wife/mother becomes unsure of herself and her place in life as she is trapped somewhere between the fundamental need for security and the burning desire for adventure, surprise, and a bit of danger.
The Woods – A quiet post-apocalyptic drama, The Woods follows a lone woman struggling to survive in a desolate snowscape, while on a quest to take care of personal business.
This Was My Son – A powerhouse film, THIS WAS MY SON is the true story of the American Civil Rights icon, Mamie Till, and the tragedy that inspired her to spend her life battling social injustice and racial prejudice.
Tick Tock – the beautiful thing is not the goal you achieve, it is the road that takes you there with hope!
Tickle – We all know how 80s horror movies start: a babysitter and a little boy alone in a house. When things go bump in the night, are they the imagination of a scared little boy, or is someone – or some thing – in the house with them?
To Have and Withhold – We all make mistakes, but do we all own up?
Tom in America – Everyone has a secret.
Une Libération – On the eve of the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation during World War Two, Juliet, an American resistance member, risks her life by descending into the underground tunnels of Paris to deliver a secret message. However, a final deadly encounter with a pair of German deserters threatens to destroy the very thing she has been fighting for.
Urgent – A suffering man short on time and in need of relief finds obstacles, peril and humiliation. A story that connects with humanity at its most inherent primal nature.
Walk Away – Trapped in a corporate wasteland, a man finds himself attached to his work beyond his control, while his past returns to show him an escape.
Witches Tree – The grave site of 3 witches leave supernatural powers for those that seek them.
Zebra – Chance mingles the fate of a vet from Barcelona zoo, a skin head and a female orangutan about to give birth.
As you can see, it’s an impressive list. What’ll be even more impressive will be the fun you’ll have when you attend this film festival which is rapidly becoming one of the most beloved film festivals on the circuit.
Snake Alley Festival of Film 