ANTS
USA, 2002, 14 MIN
DIRECTED BY CORY CLAFFEY-KOLLER
2ND US SHOWING
Armed with a complete lack of common sense, a proudly do-it-yourself kinda Dad dismembers an anthill with a power mower, then finds himself and his nine-year old son under attack by several million pissed-off ants.

IF YOU STEP ON A CRACK
USA, 2002, 18 MIN
DIRECTED BY JENNIFER ATKINS
WORLD PREMIERE
When the perennially second-place Chicago Cubs are your home team, losing becomes a permanent state of mind. But on the night before her breast biopsy, a worried woman refuses to give up hope.

THE QUALITY OF MERCY
USA, 2002, 12 MIN
DIRECTED BY STEPHEN MARRO
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
A chance meeting in an espresso bar between a distinguished older man and a beautiful, mysterious woman. Where does he know her from? Frank Rich, take note.

FOUR SIMPLE RULES
USA, 2002, 13 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY GEOFFREY O'CONNOR
WORLD PREMIERE
It's easy to play the field and win; you just have to follow the rules. If you blow them all in one night... well, then you've got a problem...

PATCHING CABBAGE
USA, 2002, 23 MIN
DIRECTED BY PETER RHOADS
WORLD PREMIERE
On Christmas Eve, 1983, a single mother scours Philadelphia looking for redemption in the strangest of places: a Cabbage Patch Kid for her daughter. With her daft neighbor Ryan in tow, Rhonda might as well be looking for the Holy Grail.

ESTRANGED
USA, 2003 14 MIN
DIRECTED BY TODD DOWNING
WORLD PREMIERE
A mentally ill woman (chillingly portrayed by NYC drag artist Flloyd) clings in lonely desperation to her ex by manipulating him with her disturbing hypochondria and bizarre delusions. Based on a radio play by Joe Frank, this is the latest work from the director of Jeffrey's Hollywood Screen Trick (FFF 2001) and Dirty Baby Does Fire Island (FFF 1998).

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SHORTS PROGRAM 2: SCARRED FOR LIFE
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 100 ½ MIN
Saturday, March 8, 12:15 PM at Park 3
Wednesday, March 12, 4:00 PM at Park 2

BUN-BUN
USA, 2002, 15 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY KATIE FLEISCHER
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
A little girl finds joy in the form of a stuffed rabbit. But the love of her life belongs to another. How far will her parents go to stop the tears? Can you say kidnapping?

LAST DAY
USA, 2002, 21 MIN
DIRECTED BY RON LAZZERETTI
WORLD PREMIERE
After ten years too many, it's time to move on. But after the drinking is done and the songs are sung, there's more he's leaving behind than just the office.

RULES OF LOVE
USA, 2002, 17 MIN
DIRECTED BY BRUNO COPPOLA
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
A love triangle set in 1963 between a priest, the woman who loves him, and God.

VIRGIN
USA, 2002, 20 MIN
DIRECTED BY DAVID MITCHELL
2ND US SHOWING
During a late-night quest to an abandoned church, 14-year-old Scott hopes to catch a fabled sighting of the Virgin Mary, but instead struggles through a night that shatters his illusions about the girl he has pined for since boyhood.

THE CUTMAN
USA, 2002, 27 MIN
DIRECTED BY YON MOTSKIN
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Downtrodden and broke, a ringside medic refuses to acknowledge his obsolescence in the boxing world, meanwhile trying to prove his worth to his long-estranged son who is a real doctor.

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SHORTS PROGRAM 3: CHILD'S PLAY
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 100 ½ MIN
Sunday, March 9, Noon at Park 3
Tuesday, March 11, 7:15 PM at Park 2

STREET OF PAIN
USA, 2002, 11 MIN
DIRECTED BY J-DOG AND T-MONEY
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2nd US SHOWING
The streets run red with revenge when a man confronts the creeps who made childhood hell. Rubber flies! Asphalt cries! Oh, and there's a girl in there somewhere, too...

AQUI IBA EL HIMNO (HERE WAS THE ANTHEM)
USA/MEXICO, 2002, 21 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY SERGIO UMANSKY
IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
EAST COAST PREMIERE
The smug complacency of two well-to-do kids is shattered when they go on the prowl for marijuana in Mexico City.

THE BABYSITTER
USA, 2003, 15 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY GIDEON RAFF
WORLD PREMIERE
Sara doesn't know that her babysitter, Jimmy, is still a virgin, but through her precocious, aggressive, and overly curious nature, she coerces him into revealing more than he ever intended to.

FOURTEEN
USA, 2002, 18 MIN
DIRECTED BY THOMAS SUTHERLAND
WORLD PREMIERE
During a Thanksgiving holiday, 14-year-old Meredith's religious vow of silence is threatened by her chatty, agnostic, and formerly Socialist family.

TOM HITS HIS HEAD
USA, 2003, 10 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY TOM PUTNAM
EAST COAST PREMIERE
My house is haunted; I'm afraid to leave the house. The devil is in my bathtub, and I'm the Antichrist. I need help. And God help me, I'm helpless.

COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
USA, 2002, 25 MIN
DIRECTED BY JAMES PONSOLDT
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Strangely alone, worlds apart in their Appalachian home, a father and son both seek escape--but the mountains may hold only dead ends.

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SHORTS PROGRAM 4: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 96 MIN
Sunday, March 9, 2:00 PM at Enzian
Thursday, March 13, 7:30 PM at Park 2

FANATIK
USA, 2002, 21 MIN
DIRECTED BY ISMAIL ACAR
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Lonely, isolated, and homesick, a Turkish expatriate desperately grasps at a fleeting link to his homeland, risking everything for something no one else understands.

THE MORNING GUY
USA, 2002, 5 MIN
DIRECTED BY MARK W. GRAY
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Not everybody's at their best come 7 a.m., but like it or not, it's still a beautiful day in Los Angeles.

THE VEST
USA, 2002, 10 MIN
DIRECTED BY PAUL GUTRECHT
WORLD PREMIERE
You never know what a little girl will do... or why. Even if that little girl is you! A charming slice of childhood trauma, starring Enrico Colantoni of TV's Just Shoot Me, Kellie Waymire of TV's Six Feet Under, and Skye McCole Bartusiak of 24.

UNTITLED:003-EMBRYO
USA, 2002, 27 MIN
DIRECTED BY MIKE GOEDECKE
WORLD PREMIERE
An agoraphobic man receives a bizarre "dream-stealing" machine and must find six victims to secure the promised "ultimate fantasy" in this wildly ambitious and visually stunning black comedy.

REQUEST
USA, 2002, 12 MIN
DIRECTED BY JINOH PARK
A dark and haunting study in which an 8-year-old boy's awareness of human mortality is evoked after his mother dies.

THE PROVIDER
USA, 2002, 21 MIN
DIRECTED BY MATT SMITH
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
With a dilapidated old farmhouse as his only source of sustenance in a nightmarish "agricultural economy," a father must provide for his children by unspeakable means.

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SHORTS PROGRAM #5: ANIMATED SHORTS
Sponsored by Lure Design
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 87 ½ MIN
Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 PM at Enzian
Friday, March 14, 10:00 PM at Enzian
One of the festival's most popular and diverse programs returns with an all-new collection of 13 of the most unusual, entertaining, and sometimes disturbing animated works around. The stylistic range to be discovered in this nearly one-and-a-half hour celebration is truly amazing, and whether your taste leans more to the outrageous, the comical, or the thought provoking, this gathering has something for every animation lover. We are thrilled to be presenting three World Premieres, the most recent works from FFF veterans Emily Hubley and David Russo, and a host of other extraordinary talents just waiting to be discovered. Dive in!
*Note: Due to the adult nature of some of the titles in this program, it is not suitable for children.

THE F.E.D.S.
USA, 2002, 6 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY JENNIFER DRUMMOND
WORLD PREMIERE
Under the flourescent lights and piped-in muzak of a Texas-sized grocery store, the Food Education Demo Specialists struggle to keep their perky attitudes intact. Reminiscent of the animated documentary style seen in Roadhead and Waking Life, The F.E.D.S. is a very cool and hilarious look into the odd occupation of "slinging samples."

SET SET SPIKE
USA, 2002, 6 MIN
DIRECTED BY EMILY HUBLEY
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Festival veteran Emily Hubley (Pigeon Within, FFF 2000 and One Self: Fish/Girl, FFF 98), creator of the animated sequences for Hedwig and the Angry Inch, returns with this poetic meditation on motherhood and volleyball. A mix of live action and animation, this "temporal collage" stars Miriam Shor (Hedwig) and features music by Yo La Tengo.

BATHTIME IN CLERKENWELL
USA, 2002, 3 MIN
DIRECTED BY ALEX BUDOVSKY
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Featuring music by "(The Real) Tuesday Weld," also known as English musician Stephen Coates, this retro-looking piece tells about the great revolution of the British cuckoos, who bravely take over London and force all the people to move inside cuckoo clocks.

ROOF SEX
USA, 2002, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY PES
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Stop-motion at its most lurid! XXX Chair-on-Chair Action!! And a great punch line to boot!!!

THE MAN WITH THE SMALLEST PENIS IN EXISTENCE AND THE ELECTRON MICROSCOPE TECHNICIAN WHO LOVED HIM
USA, 2002, 8 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY PATRICK O'BRIEN
WORLD PREMIERE
A tender love story of infinitesimal proportions from Augenblick Studios, stylish creators of Drunky (FFF 2002) and Ramblin' Man (FFF 2001).

UNEARTHED
USA, 2002, 8 MIN
DIRECTED BY CHRISTINA SPANGLER
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Alone and exposed in the aboveground world once it's been freed from the soil, a potato fights for survival and is given the gift of sight. The bizarre adventures of this ambulatory spud is one of three vegetable-themed stop-motion films made by the filmmaker at the Rhode Island School of Design.

A CONVERSATION WITH HARIS
USA, 2001, 6 MIN
DIRECTED BY SHEILA M. SOFIAN
In this touching documentary rendered in painting-on-glass animation, an 11-year-old Bosnian immigrant to the U.S. recounts the effect of the war upon his family.

CALL OF THE WILD
USA, 2002, 8 MIN
DIRECTED BY JULIA SARCONE-ROACH
Whimsical, surreal, and gorgeously colored using a traditional hand painted cel technique, this endearing film features animals in spinning houses engaging in small domestic adventures, their lives connected by a phone line.

SEE THE TRUTH
USA, 2002, 8 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY JEROLD HOWARD
A clever, lighthearted look at the family structure and how perceptions are transferred from generation to generation. Stop-motion claymation is used to illustrate the story of a well-meaning parent as he attempts to pass along his own bias to his young child.

PAN WITH US
USA, 2003, 4 MIN
DIRECTED BY DAVID RUSSO
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Incorporating handcrafted animations within time-lapsed urban environments and set to an early Robert Frost poem, this latest work from the director of the extraordinary Populi (FFF 2002) imagines the spirit of Pan (the ancient Greek woodland god) moving amidst a modern world. Awarded honorable mention at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

THE BOX MAN
USA, 2002, 5 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY NIRVAN MULLICK
In this mysterious stop-motion claymation work inspired by a Kobo Abe novel, a man encounters a cardboard box and makes a disturbing discovery when he looks inside.

THE FREAK
USA, 2002, 6 ½ MIN
DIRECTED BY ARISTOMENIS TSIRBAS
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
He's happy. He's different. He's in big trouble? In a future where blind conformity is the law, a dentally challenged, brightly garbed being brings hope for all things fantastic and atypical. Wildly inventive computer animation with a message, The Freak won honorable mention at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

ETERNAL GAZE
USA, 2002, 16 MIN, DIRECTED BY SAM CHEN
WORLD PREMIERE
How different is "seeing" from "being"? Inspired by the life of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, Alberto Giacometti, this stunningly detailed, mostly b&w computer animated work follows the artist on a journey that melds his work to his tortured soul.

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