COMPETITION DOCUMENTARIES
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CUL DE SAC: A SUBURBAN WAR STORY
USA, 2002, 57 MIN, DIRECTED BY
GARRETT SCOTT
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Saturday, March 8, 12:30 PM at Park 2
Tuesday, March 11, 9:30 PM at Enzian
Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story details the story of Shawn Nelson, an unemployed plumber and ex-Desert Storm soldier who, in 1999, commandeered an army tank from a National Guard Armory in San Diego. His subsequent rampage through the archetypal suburb of Clairemont is both astonishing and alarming, with sensational yet disastrousresults. As Nelson's exploits play out, courtesy of a helicopter news crew, the film probes the history of the area--a defense industry mecca gone bust--linking the chain of events contributing to Nelson's failed dreams and Clairemont's ultimate demise. Interviews with Nelson's friends and colleagues, most of them current or former users of methamphetamines, shed light on the links between military-supplied speed and the ex-soldier's derisive actions.

Skillfully weaving source material ranging from testimonials and industrials to bizarre local news reportage, director Garrett Scott offers an insightful tale of cultural cause and effect, of human trial, error, and consequence.

PRECEDED BY

FERRY TALES
USA, 2002, 40 MIN, DIRECTED BY KATJA ESSON
WORLD PREMIERE
In Ferry Tales, filmmaker Katja Esson rambunctiously presents the women's powder room on New York's Staten Island Ferry as a site of female transformation, humanization, and liberation.

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LONG GONE
USA, 2002, 93 MIN, DIRECTED BY DAVID EBERHARDT AND JACK CAHILL
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Sunday, March 9, 1:00 PM at Park 2
Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 PM at Park 3
Long Gone is an intimate yet unflinching look at the lives of American hobos. Over a seven year period, the filmmakers document the lives of a handful of "tramps" as they criss-cross the country in empty boxcars, gather--family-reunion style--in remote trainyards, cook their meals over open fires in patches of scrub desert, and, in general, get into a plethora of trouble.

A Messianic Vietnam veteran serves as unofficial--and later, official--king of the hobos. Comically, the tramps get the best of a television news-magazine film crew. An elderly rail rider sickens and dies--in his memory the tramps chug from a bottle of communal booze and toss his ashes to the wind from a moving boxcar. The film veers from its twin themes of desperation and salvation with a lighthearted visit to the Annual Hobo Convention. And two love stories, not exactly tender, play out among four ill-fated, rail-riding idealists.

Winner of the Best Documentary Award and the Kodak Vision Award for Cinematography at the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival, Long Gone features original music by Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, and Charlie Musselwaite.

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LOS ZAFIROS/THE SAPPHIRES-
MUSIC FROM THE EDGE OF TIME
USA, 2002, 90 MIN, DIRECTED BY LORENZO DeSTEFANO
IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Sunday, March 9, 7:00 PM at Enzian
Friday, March 14, 2:00 PM at Park 3
Dynamic music, history, and heart intermingle in this engaging documentary on the 1960s Cuban musical phenoms, Los Zafiros, who created a sensation throughout their homeland and beyond with their unique blend of Doo Wop and R&B with Afro-Cuban rhythms and myriad Latin and Caribbean influences. Forty years after their mercurial ascent and thirty years after their breakup, the two surviving members reunite in Havana, leading the audience on a tour of their lives and their memories, with family members, fellow artists, and friends weighing in-creating a gorgeous paella of joy and sadness as well as a stirring portrait of post-revolutionary Cuba, with its complex geography of ambivalence and beauty. Vivid and moving, this film celebrates the brief life and complex times of a very special group, which will set the audience's hearts flying and toes tapping with a soundtrack that should not be missed.

PRECEDED BY

DISSIDENT: OSWALDO PAYA AND THE VARELA PROJECT
USA, 2002, 19 MIN, DIRECTED BY HEIDI EWING
IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
WORLD PREMIERE
A rarely acted-upon wrinkle in Cuban legislation allows citizens to open topics to public referendum via petition. Paya's determination to call for democratic reforms is as dangerous as it is heroic.

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MAMA/M.A.M.A.: MUNCHAUSEN SYNDROME BY PROXY
USA, 2002, 100 MIN, DIRECTED BY NONNY DE LA PENA
WORLD PREMIERE
Saturday, March 8, 7:30 PM at Park 2
Thursday, March 13, 4:30 PM at Enzian
From the producer of Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997 FFF) comes this provocative investigation of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a perplexing psychological disorder where a mother secretly but deliberately harms her child in order to get the sympathy and praise of others and the attention of the medical community. What emerges over three years of scrutiny are disturbing questions related to the medical profession's arrogant use of the diagnosis, the possible contribution from the pharmaceutical industry, and its grievous impact on families. Or is Mama really responsible? Is this syndrome an authentic phenomenon or is it a witch-hunt? What are the moral implications of a society that fails to question the science behind the disorder, blindly lending faith to its sensational existence? The deeply disturbing MAMA/M.A.M.A. closely follows three cases, allowing the audience to absorb all points of view and determine who the real abusers are.

PRECEDED BY

OCULARIST
USA, 2002, 8 1/2 MIN, DIRECTED BY VANCE MALONE
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Art and science intertwine in the adept hands of Fred Harwin, a medical illustrator who unites the dexterity of a skilled craftsman with an artist's textural caress in his unique creations: custom acrylic eyes.

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MY FLESH AND BLOOD
USA, 2002, 83 MIN, DIRECTED BY JONATHAN KARSH
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Monday, March 10, 7:15 PM at Park 3
Thursday, March 13, 2:00 PM at Enzian
My Flesh and Blood is a wrenching but wonderful saga of unconditional love depicted over a year in the life of Susan Tom, foster mother to a quirky assemblage of eleven special-needs children. Far from sentimental, this inspiring film explores not only those special needs but also the resulting personalities formed when a child is born, for example, without legs.

The filmmaker skillfully juxtaposes peaks of hilarity and joy with valleys of frustration, fear, and despair. As with all families, complicated relationships abound. An older child is resilient and determined in his battle with cystic fibrosis but struggles simultaneously with a bipolar disorder. He rattles the family by threatening to kill one of his "freaky" siblings. The abrupt death of one of the clan is heartbreaking but in the end solidifies family interdependence and togetherness.
Holding it all together is extraordinary foster mom Tom, a model of instinctive nurturance and compassion in this admirable story of the power of familial love. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Documentary Directing Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

PRECEDED BY

I USED TO BE A FILMMAKER
USA, 2003, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY JAY ROSENBLATT
WORLD PREMIERE
Jay Rosenblatt, an acknowledged master of the short film, juxtaposes industry jargon with child's play in this tender cinematic valentine to his infant daughter.

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POWER TRIP
USA, 2002, 85 MIN, DIRECTED BY PAUL DEVLIN
IN ENGLISH AND GEORGIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Saturday, March 8, 2:45 PM at Park 2
Tuesday, March 11, 7:00 PM at Enzian
Power Trip is an epic story about a nation in transition, astonishingly well produced, directed, and edited by Paul Devlin, who dazzled 1998 Florida Film Festival audiences with the crowd-pleasing SlamNation.

When AES Corp., the massive American "global power company" purchases the privatized electricity distribution company in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia, they become enmeshed in a political and cultural power struggle. As AES struggles to train the formerly communist populace that they must now pay for electricity, everyone from the meter readers to the Energy Minister devise ever more clever ways of stealing it. In an environment of pervasive corruption, political intrigue, and street rioting, Devlin captures the hot tempers and high drama as AES struggles to keep the lights on. Winner of two awards at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival.

PRECEDED BY

IN GOOD FAITH
USA, 2002, 22 MIN, DIRECTED BY KELLY DAVIS AND MEGAN LARDNER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
A small Mississippi community attempts to balance the rights of the individual against the needs of the state with the arrival of a Nissan automotive plant.

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SHELTER DOGS
USA, 2002, 74 MIN, DIRECTED BY CYNTHIA WADE
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Monday, March 10, 9:15 PM at Enzian
Wednesday, March 12, 3:30 PM at Park 3
Shelter Dogs features a cast both human and canine-all doing the best they can to cope with life in the shelter. The humans, particularly Sue Sternberg (an animal welfare pioneer who has created Rondout Valley Kennels, a model animal shelter in Upstate New York) and her heroic staff, develop creative ways to keep their canine charges sane and adoptable. Their methods include moving dogs from cages to "adoption rooms," decorated with chairs and blankets, in order to smooth the (hopeful) transition from the shelter to a loving home. Critical to the film is the exploration of euthanasia vs. politically correct no-kill options in sheltering animals, which makes one reassess the meaning of "humane." While the stories of individual dogs are heartrending, the film avoids exploitive sentimentality; rather, the tone that emerges is one of compassion for the dogs who will never go home and joyful grace for those who do.

PRECEDED BY

OCOEE: LEGACY OF THE ELECTION DAY MASSACRE
USA, 2002, 26 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY SANDRA KRASA AND BIANCA WHITE
Descendants of both the lynch mob and the lynched expose the events that ensued when two black men tried to vote in 1920 Ocoee, Florida. Once home to one of the state's most prosperous African American communities, now this Central Florida town must confront its past in an effort of reconciliation and healing.

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SPEEDO
USA, 2003, 80 MIN, DIRECTED BY JESSE MOSS
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Sunday, March 9, 2:15 PM at Park 3
Thursday, March 13, 9:30 PM at Enzian
Ed "Speedo" Jager is obsessed with smashing cars. As one of the country's top demolition derby drivers, Speedo says, "It's an addiction, like nitro-methane in your veins." Jesse Moss's remarkable verité documentary captures Speedo's rambunctious life both on-and-off the track over a two-year period of intense racing, from the Riverhead Raceway in New York to the Eastern Regional Championship in Fellsmere, Florida. Speedo's passion leads him to clash, often humorously, with fellow drivers, referees, derby organizers, and even awards presenters, but that same obsession also threatens to destroy his marriage and tear his family apart. Through it all, Speedo keeps plugging away as his life changes in completely unexpected ways.

Speedo is an affectionate portrait of a truly original American and a fascinating journey into the dangerous, bare-knuckled world of demolition derby.

PRECEDED BY

SIGNED, STAMPED, DATED: THE STORY OF THE TYPING EXPLOSION
USA, 2002, 29 MIN, DIRECTED BY GINA MAINWAL
WORLD PREMIERE
Three Seattle women, each named Diane and dressed as '60s secretaries (hairdos and all), type poetry-on-demand on vintage typewriters. Stupendously entertaining!

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STATE OF DENIAL
USA, 2002, 86 MIN, DIRECTED BY ELAINE EPSTEIN
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Saturday, March 8, 5:15 PM at Park 2
Friday, March 14, 4:30 PM at Park 3
AIDS is ravaging South Africa (estimated 4.7 million current cases), yet the government maintains an obstinate skepticism regarding the relationship between HIV and AIDS. Why this commonly accepted truth is stonewalled in a country that so recently overcame the blight of apartheid is the stuff of political paralysis and financial/medical malfeasance. Filmmaker Elaine Epstein enters this quagmire well equipped with an insider's view. Having worked in AIDS and public health in South Africa, she navigates her camera into the halls of government as well as the homes of the suffering. Along the way, she interviews notable politicians and health care professionals and captures the heroic voices of local activists who are risking life and reputation to improve the situation even the smallest bit. With images of pain, outrage, defiance, and hope, the film is an insightful investigation of humanity persevering in the face of unimaginable atrocity.

PRECEDED BY

DIAGNOSIS
USA, 2002, 11 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY ALLISON MAREK
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
An affecting black-and-white portrait of a young woman encountering life-changing information, this film is memorable in both subject matter and style.

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TRIBUTE
USA, 2002, 89 MIN, DIRECTED BY RICH FOX AND KRIS CURRY
Sunday, March 9, 4:30 PM at Enzian
Wednesday, March 12, 9:30 PM at Park 3
Friday, March 14, 9:45 PM at Loews
Tribute is a humorous and at times heartbreaking look at the world of tribute bands and their fans. Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11, Traffic), and produced and directed by husband-and-wife team Rich Fox and Kris Curry, this self-proclaimed "rockumentary" is less about the music and more about the people who act out their rock and roll fantasies by pretending to be members of KISS, Journey, The Monkees, Queen, and Judas Priest. Fox and Curry show us everything: tense band meetings, energetic performances, torturous (and extremely funny) auditions, difficult costume changes, and obsessed fans, but always treat their subject with dignity, giving the film a warm humanity and great humor. What could have been a silly exercise in pop-culture exploitation is, in their talented hands, a wise examination of identity, ambition, and love of performance disguised as an entertaining and hilarious rock 'n roll exposé.

PRECEDED BY

THE KING AND DICK
USA, 2002, 8 MIN, DIRECTED BY SCOTT CALONICO
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
The real dirt behind the legendary meeting of two of the 20th century's most famous, larger-than-life characters, Elvis and Nixon, who join forces in the war on drugs.

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