Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009

Festival highlights 15 short films from around the world

By Herald staff

The Tri-City Independent Fan Film Festival on Oct. 17 will feature 15 short-form films from around the world.

The festival at the Battelle Auditorium in Richland will include a special showing of A Hero In Time at 4 p.m.

The film festival began as the Columbia Basin Video Festival in 2000 and evolved into the Tri-City Independent Fan Film Festival last year, said Nat Saenz, an organizer.

"We wanted to show a type of film that normally would not be shown at the local theater or rented at the local video store," Saenz said. "Short films are an art form that tell a story in under 20 minutes, and that's not easy," he said.

Saenz added, "This year's film lineup has an international flair, with short films from around the world.

Admission is $3.

Here's the schedule:

◗ 6 p.m.: Indiana Jones and the Search for the Lost Idol -- Spanish film, directed and written by Fran Casanova. The story begins in Tenerife in 1948 where Indiana Jones is following the trail of some Spanish doubloons. The voyage continues on to Portugal where Indy meets Mr. Giovanni, an art collector, who tries to exchange the doubloons for a treasure from his past.

◗ 6:21 p.m.: The Urge -- independent Canadian film, directed and written by Chris Angus. The story centers around the horrifying truth behind the natural urges of a vampire and the realization that they are not different from other people.

◗ 6:24 p.m.: Tranquility, independent English film directed by Paul Jenkinson. The film follows the saga of a man deeply troubled by a recurring dream who seeks help from a therapist. As the therapist delves into his thoughts she discovers complex images and fears from the man's mind that provide an unforgettable journey through his childhood, marriage and the end of the world.

◗ ✜❂✞6:35 p.m.:Dreammaker, German independent film written and directed by Leszek Plichta. The film is about a dreammaker who makes beautiful dreams for people, but then chooses a solitary life so he can create his own dream.

◗ ✜❂✞6:50 p.m.: Makazie One, American film directed by Clutch. The film takes place in the Star Wars universe in the period between episodes 3 and 4. It follows an elite soldier who has been sent to track down and destroy an enemy to the Empire. When the two meet the action leads to a surprising ending.

◗ ✜❂✞7:10 p.m.: The Bug -- Dutch film directed and written by Marijn Smits. The film follows Mia, a lady who lives in a retirement home. One day her daughter gives her a cell phone in case of emergencies, but a bug in the phone turns Mia's life into a living hell.

◗ ✜❂✞7:25 p.m.: The Delivery -- German film directed and written by Till Nowak. In a gray, industrial and uninhabited future, an old man lovingly waters a flower, perhaps the last flower to exist. Then he receives a surprising package that could change the world, at least his world. A surrealistic fable about the world to come, the portrayal of a corrupt society infested by machines that has forgotten the human being, but where there is still hope flowers can grow again.

◗ ✜❂✞7:40 p.m.: Charlie Thistle -- American film directed and written by Bragi Schut Jr. Charlie Thistle dreams of a better world, one with color, where animals speak and trees grow indoors. Unfortunately, Charlie works for the Department of Normality, where change isn't tolerated. But there comes a time in every man's life when he has to stand up for what he believes in.

◗ ✜❂✞7:55 p.m. The Cobbler's Daughter -- American film directed by Donna Thorland. Inspired by the visual style of Edward Gorey and based on the fairy tale Rumplestiltskin, the film is about an artisan fallen on hard times who encounters a mysterious tinker. The tinker offers to sharpen all of the Cobbler's tools for free, but many years later the tinker returns for payment.

◗ ✜❂✞8:02 p.m.: The Death in Charge -- American film directed by Devi Snively. In the tradition of E.C. Horror Comics, this cautionary tale examines life through the eyes of Death, who gets derailed when an impatient single mom carelessly mistakes the scythe-carrying cloaked one for her tardy babysitter and leaves Death to care for her precocious 9-year-old daughter.

◗ ✜❂✞8:17 p.m.: Four Corners -- American film directed by Douglas Mueller. The crossroads of life is revealed to a cyclist when he encounters an unexplained traffic light.

◗ ✜❂✞8:28 p.m.: Marooned? -- American film directed by Ryan Nagata. A middle-aged science fiction nerd pretends to be his favorite space hero, but when he hits his head he is convinced he really is a space hero. Things get worse when he starts to suspect his role-playing buddy of being an enemy alien, and the fantasy suddenly becomes a matter of life and death.

◗ ✜❂✞8:42 p.m.: Dungeon & Dragon Inc. The Quest for the +5 Stapler -- American film directed by J Hanna. The film chronicles a young man's quest for a stapler strong enough to staple any paper, and his co-workers' misadventures along the way.

◗ ✜❂✞8:51 p.m.: The Hunt for Gollum -- English film directed by Chris Bouchard. The script is adapted from elements of The Lord of the Rings. It follows the Heir of Isildur as he sets out to find Gollum to discover the truth about the ring and to protect the future ringbearer.