SHORTS PROGRAM:

Clips from BIG NOISE FILMS
ZAPATISTA, BLACK & GOLD, THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Richard Rowley is a 25-year-old co-founder of Big Noise Films , a radical media collective whose pioneering digital aesthetic is rapidly changing the way that political documentary is made. His first film, ZAPATISTA, documents the Mayan peasant uprising in Chiapas, Mexico. BLACK&GOLD is the story of the Latin King and Queen Nation, the largest street gang in New York, and their attempt to transform themselves into a Black Panther-style street political organization. His latest film, THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE is a passionate account from the WTO protests in the streets of Seattle.

CLOSER
2000, 20 minutes
Directed by: Tina Gharavi

This stunningly shot documentary is a character study of a 17 year old lesbian, Annelise Rodger. Fiction and documentary collide as scenes from her life are reenacted for the camera. As director Tina Gharavi says, "CLOSER is trying to find a new way to tell a lesbian story about being young, being at the cusp of adulthood, and finding our identities."

FANSOM THE LIZARD
2000, 9.22 minutes
Directed by: Evan Mather

Based on family folklore, Fansom the Lizard is the true story of a pet lizard who travels from his home in Louisiana to Las Vegas in search of adventure. This 9-1/2 minute short film dramatizes these adventures of Fansom and is characterized by a vibrant fusion of hand-drawn and computer generated animation. Fansom the Lizard was shot on Super-8.

BUENA VISTA FIGHT CLUB
2000, 1.50 minutes
Directed by: Evan Mather

Set within the context of a glossy furniture catalog, a trio of musicians go on a bloody rampage. This film is guaranteed to discourage your next spending spree at the mall. Shot in Mather's Seattle, New York City, and Helsinki studios.

Clip from EARTHEN VESSELS
2001
Directed by: Carlos Cantu

Being alive is uncertain business. Control is an illusion. Love, although difficult to realize or recognize, insulates us from the bangs and bumps of life and helps us to survive, whether it comes from God, a family member, romantic partner, or friend. Earthen Vessels is the story of a family confronting these issues during a homecoming three years after the death of an adult son. The story explores important issues about life in an age when humankind is more technologically capable than it has ever been, can transcend time and place with communications and information technologies, can look back at the Earth from God's perspective, and can delude itself into thinking there is less uncertainty and that its has more control of the world than any other generation.

THE STATION
1998, 13 minutes
Directed by: Aaron Woolfolk

A chance encounter between a young African American man in rural Japan and two young Japanese girls brings about an embarrassing misunderstanding.

Episode of UNDERCOVER BROTHER
Series created and produced by Urban Entertainment

Disguised as mild-mannered Anton Jackson, he's harmless enough for white people to trust him, but as Undercover Brother he's secretly working for The Brotherhood in its never-ending battle against The Man.

SYNCHRONICITY
2000, 7 minutes
Directed by: Hans Uhlig

Trailer of COULD BE WORSE!
2000
Directed by: Zachary Stratis

They sing (it's dreadful)! They dance (sort of)! - but this doesn't stop director Zack Stratis from casting his real Greek-American family in his first feature, COULD BE WORSE! This genre-busting cinema verite/musical extravaganza is a beautifully self-indulgent movie within a movie.

FAMILY
1999, 15 minutes
Directed by: Stephen Patrick Foery

A fusion of personal voice documentary and art video which details the coming out experiences of the videomaker--from first talking about his sexuality on WXPN-Philadelphia's public radio show "Gaydreams" at age 18, to finding an influential gay mentor on the Internet, to ultimately coming out to his father in a tension-filled, on-camera interview three years later.