CURRENT FILMS BY DAY

The 2012 Utopia Film Festival is being held in Greenbelt, MD from October 13-21 at the following locations:

Greenbelt Arts Center, 123 Centerway
Greenbelt Municipal Building, 25 Crescent Road
P&G Theatre, 129 Centerway
New Deal Cafe, 113 Centerway 
Academy Theaters at Beltway Plaza Mall, 6198 Greenbelt Road

Please visit our Contact Us page for directions to all of these film festival locations.

Saturday, October 13th

Greenbelt: A Model Community 
DIR Martin Huberman; PROD Megan Searing Young. US, 2010, color, 11 minutes.
Greenbelt’s history comes to life through interviews with current residents, Greenbelt pioneer children, and historians. It also features rare newsreel footage, dozens of historic photographs, and contemporary scenes of Greenbelt today, all beautifully filmed by Martin Huberman of Video Art Productions on behalf of the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum.
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Saturday, October 13th at 11 a.m. and again on Sunday, October 21st at 11 a.m. (Free to the Public)

The City   
DIR Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke; PROD Henwar Rodakiewicz. US, 1939, black and white, 43 minutes.
Made to be shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair, The City is the classic New Deal documentary about the Depression-era birth of the utopian "green towns."
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Saturday, October 13th at 11 a.m. and again on Sunday, October 21st at 11 a.m. (Free to the Public)

Home: The Langston Terrace Dwellings
DIR Barr Weissmann; PROD Barr Weissmann. US, 1991, color, 57 minutes.
The Langston Terrace Dwellings, which is twenty-five blocks from the U.S Capitol, was the first federally funded housing project in 1937. Project architect Hilyard Robinson was determined to create a decent, attractive development enhanced by natural materials and public art. "Home: The Langston Terrace Dwellings" examines this New Deal utopian housing project for African-Americans--the first public housing project in Washington, D.C. and the second in the nation.
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Saturday, October 13th at noon (Free to the Public)


Monday, October 15th

The Koch Brothers Exposed: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program with the Reel and Meal Film Series
DIR Robert Greenwald; PROD Laila Ashaq, Jeff Cole, Robert Greenwald, Natalie Kottke, Crystal Page. US, 2012, color, 52 minutes.
This full-length documentary film on Charles and David Koch--two of the world’s richest and most powerful men--is the latest from director Robert Greenwald (Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price, Outfoxed, and Rethink Afghanistan). The documentary examines the billionaire brothers efforts to bankroll a vast network of organizations that work to undermine issues ranging from Social Security to the environment to civil rights. Reel and Meal is a monthly film series at the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt, MD exploring vital environmental, animal rights, and social justice issues.
Showing at the New Deal Cafe on Monday, October 15th at 6:30 p.m. (Free to the Public)


Saturday, October 20th

There Are No Heroes   
DIR Kyle Stevenson; PROD Maggie Jane Leitch, et al. South Africa, 2011, color, 40 minutes.
Several years after a nuclear power plant in Cape Town had a meltdown, a young single mother and factory worker, Drew, must fight to survive in a dystopian future ruled by a sinister pharmaceutical company called DARCORP. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of There Are No Heroes at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACyT1f5oatU
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 11:00 a.m.

Vittorio, Capitan Pistone...e tutti gli altri  
DIR Mara Consoli; PROD Maurizio Carta, Mara Consoli. Italy, 2011, color, 55 minutes.
Vittorio has something in common with Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Charles Bronson, and 30 million other people: Vittorio, the filmmaker's father, has Alzheimer's disease. This documentary moves back and forth in time, between report and poetry, beyond words, and towards the essence of things. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 11:00 a.m.

The Legend of Merv Conn
DIR Jeff Krulik; PROD Jeff Krulik. US, 2007, color, 45 minutes.
Merv Conn was the King of the Strolling Accordionists. From the White House to your cousin's Bar Mitzvah, he spent over 70 years entertaining Washington, D.C. This documentary was compiled in honor of his 87th birthday. Merv sadly passed away last year at the age of 91, and this screening is in his honor. Part of the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at noon

Ernest Borgnine on the Bus   
DIR Jeff Krulik PROD Joyce McConnell. US, 1997, color, 45 minutes.
Legendary underground filmmaker Jeff Krulik (Heavy Metal Parking Lot) presents a cross-country journey with the late movie star Ernest Borgnine in his deluxe travel bus as he visits landmarks, meets fans, philosophizes about life, and revisits his incredible career. Part of the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 1 p.m.

Through Bloodshot Eyes
DIR Amanda Sodhi; PROD Amanda Sodhi. India, 2011, color, 2 minutes.
A glimpse into how family violence perpetuates itself. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at noon

Suddenly Zinat   
DIR Navid Azad; PROD Navid Azad. Iran, 2012, color, 21 minutes.
Simin, a 35 years old teacher, has been renting her child, Nafas, from a drug addicted woman, Nasibeh, for 4 years now. As Nasibeh's husband is being released from life sentence, Nasibeh wants her child back. Now Simin confronts a reality that will change her life forever. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at noon

Roadmap to Apartheid   
DIR Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson; PROD Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson. US/Israel/South Africa, 2011, color, 95 minutes.
Ana Nogueira is a white South African, and Eron Davidson is a Jewish Israeli. Drawing on their first-hand knowledge of the issues, the producers take a close look at the apartheid comparison often used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Part of Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of Roadmap to Apartheid at www.roadmaptoapartheid.org
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at noon

Record Paradise: The Musical Life of Joe Lee   
DIR Michael Streissguth; PROD Michael Streissguth, Luke Baker. US, 2012, color, 53 minutes.
Roll with Joe Lee--black sheep of a blue-blood Maryland family, owner of one of the nation's most successful record stores, and an irreverent musical impresario. Leading an unruly parade of musicians, collectors, and disc jockeys, Joe has sold records to generations of music fans and produced, booked, and managed some of the Baltimore-Washington area’s most beloved blues and rock acts, including the tragically zany Root Boy Slim. Opinionated, brash, and unabashedly entertaining, Joe leads the camera through the studios, record shops, basements, and concert venues where music lives in Baltimore and Washington. Featuring the music of Ray Charles, The Nighthawks, The Lost Boys, and Root Boy Slim. Part of the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 2:00 p.m.

Arc of Light: A Portrait of Anna Campbell Bliss   
DIR Cid Collins Walker PROD Cid Collins Walker, Richard W. Walker, Felicia Barlow Clar, Tom Fish. US, 2012, color, 51 minutes.
Anna Campbell Bliss is a pioneering artist, architect and designer who has devoted her life to the creation of works of art that explore the complex intersections between art, technology, science, nature, poetry, mathematics, and architecture. Arc of Light looks at the astonishing range of Bliss’s work, from small painterly and digitally based studies of color and light to architectural site commissions of immense scale. It also puts her work in art-historical context and traces her Modernist influences, including the Bauhaus artists of the 1920s. Part of both the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program and the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 3 p.m.

Another Journey: Tales from Southern Sudan's Homeless Generation   
DIR Julia Maserjian PROD Robin Heydenberk. US, 2011, color, 15 minutes. 
In the 1980s, more than 25,000 young Sudanese children were forced to flee their rural villages as heavily armed troops attacked. Barefoot and terrified, the boys began a long, brutal journey that spanned decades and thousands of miles across Africa. Most did not survive, but four who did survive tell their stories of surviving starvation and gunfire while while burying their young friends, and they share their plans to return to their homeland and build a peaceful South Sudan. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 2:00 p.m.

Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald   
DIR Rob Cohen; PROD Steven Moskovic, Martin Pohl, Brad Rothschild, Paul Turlick, Sasha Vitelli. Czech Republic/Germany/Israel/US, 2012, color, 97 minutes.
Four men imprisoned as young boys by the Nazis in the notorious Buchenwald concentration camp return to commemorate the sixty-fifth anniversary of their liberation. Kinderblock 66 revisits the efforts of the camp's Communist-led underground to protect and save Jewish children arriving in Buchenwald toward the end of the Holocaust, and of Antonin Kalina, the head of the block who was personally responsible for saving 904 boys in Buchenwald. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 2:00 p.m.

From Here to Obscurity: The Best of Travesty Films   
DIR Rich West; PROD (of film compilation) Dave Nuttycombe. US, 1973-2011, color and black & white, 90 minutes.
Travesty Films began as a collection of high school chums churning out no-budget slapstick sci-fi Super-8 comedies in their back yards in blatant homage to their heroes, the Three Stooges. Through the mid-1980s, the group created 11 short films, including Intestines From Space, Cloning Around, Alcoholics Unanimous, and Insurance Salesmen From Saturn becoming a cult force in the Washington, D.C. area through screenings at the Biograph Theater in Georgetown. They also produced the album Teen Comedy Party, the book-on-tape Cheap Stories, and a Christmas radio program. They once even opened up for Weird Al Yankovic. From Here to Obscurity is Travesty's self-produced documentary about itself, a project absolutely no one asked for. Enjoy. Part of both the Local Film Program and the Halloween Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 4:00 p.m.

In the Footsteps of Newton
DIR Nancy Rodgers and Elizabeth Winters; PROD Nancy Rodgers and Elizabeth Winters. US, 2012, color, 42 minutes.
Seven Hanover College (Indiana) students take a life-changing journey to find out how a farm boy from humble origins ends up buried among kings in Westminster Abbey. The students follow in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton, from his early life on the farm at Woolsthorpe Manor, to his student days in Grantham and academic life in Cambridge, to his final years in London. They find that to study Newton is not only to study math, physics, and astronomy, but also theology, chemistry, economics, philosophy, and the connections between Newton's story and their own lives and futures. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of In the Footsteps of Newton at http://math.hanover.edu/newton/
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 4:00 p.m.

Room to Breathe   
DIR Russell Long; PROD Russell Long, Gail Mallimson. US, 2012, color, 76 minutes.
Leading the district in disciplinary suspensions and juggling overcrowded classrooms with eroding learning environments, overwhelmed administrators in a San Francisco public middle school are left with a stark choice: repeat the cycle of trying to force children to listen, or conduct an unconventional experiment using meditation that may provide the children with the social, emotional, and attention skills that they desperately need. The question is whether it’s already too late. Confronted by defiance, contempt for authority figures, and poor discipline, a young mindfulness teacher from Berkeley tries to succeed in opening the childrens' minds and hearts. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of Room to Breathe at https://vimeo.com/47294651
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 4:00 p.m.

Every Other Day Is Halloween   
DIR C.W. Prather; PROD C.W. Prather, Dick Dyszel. US, 2009, color, 90 minutes.
The amazing and funny true-life story of Washington, D.C.'s television personality Dick Dyszel, whose popular television characters Count Gore De Vol, Bozo, and Captain 20 continue to inspire generations of fans and artists. Featuring rare never-before-seen footage along with interviews with writers like Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), filmmakers such as Jeff Krulik (Heavy Metal Parking Lot), as well a new generation of horror hosts John Dimes (Dr. Sarcofiguy) and Jerry Moore II (Karlos Borloff). Dick Dyszel's career and impact shows how art can sometimes come back to re-influence itself and how the best days will always be ahead. With a special appearance by Count Gore de Vol! Part of both the Local Film Program and the Halloween Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 6 p.m.

After the Factory   
DIR Philip Lauri PROD Michal Gruda, Andrew Jenson, Philip Lauri, Steven Craig Oliver. Poland/US, 2012, color, 45 minutes.
Detroit, Michigan has been running on fumes since the fall of the auto industry, and Poland’s textile industry in Lodz has been hanging by a thread since the fall of communism. In both cities, their populations have fled, their unemployment has spiked, and now, they’re both knee-deep in the pressures of re-building their economies. Change is inevitable. And as the people in each city propel Detroit and Lodz into the future, a trans-continental dialogue is allowing the global community to see how these fallen giants, troubled as they are, just might be the innovators writing the new rulebook for next-generation cities. One of two films in the Utopia Film Festival examining the plight of Detroit. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 6 p.m.

The Parachute Ball   
DIR Peter Boothby; PROD Peter Boothby. UK, 2011, color, 21 minutes.
Set during World War II on a secluded farm in Kent, two elderly and eccentric women are unexpectedly called to duty one night when they discover an unconscious German pilot hanging from his parachute in their tree. Before he can regain consciousness and escape, the ladies decide to take him captive, but when his co-pilot comes looking for him, a battle of wits ensue. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 8:00 p.m.

Anthem   
DIR Mark Hildebrand; PROD Mark Hildebrand, David Hildebrand, Julien Jacques, Eric Lund, Jason Vaughan. US, 2012, color, 61 minutes.
Telling the story of The Star-Spangled Banner and the music of the War of 1812, Anthem features Maryland’s role in the creation of our national identity. Part of the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 8:00 p.m.

One Track Mind
DIR Jeremy Workman; PROD Matthew Spain, Jeremy Workman. US, 2005, color, 29 minutes.
Philip Ashforth Coppola has devoted all of his free time in the last thirty years to cataloging and archiving an obsession. Using his own resources, this humble New Jersey printing press operator has self-financed a multi-volume study of his true passion: the cathedrals of mosaic, faience, terra cotta, tile, and steel that are New York's 496 subway stations. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 8:00 p.m.

Marwencol   
DIR Jeff Malmberg; PROD Jeff Malmberg, Tom Putman, Matt Radecki, Chris Shellen, Kevin Walsh. US, 2010, color, 83 minutes.
On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar in Kingston, NY, by five men who beat him literally to death. Revived by paramedics, it was soon discovered that Mark had suffered brain damage and physical injuries so severe even his own mother didn’t recognize him. After nine days in a coma and 40 days in the hospital, Mark was discharged with little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, Mark decided to create his own. In his backyard, he built Marwencol, a 1/6th scale World War II-era town that he populated with dolls representing his friends, family, and even his attackers. After a few years, Mark started documenting his miniature dramas with his camera. Through Mark’s lens, these were no longer dolls--they were living, breathing characters in an epic WWII story full of violence, jealousy, longing, and revenge. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 8:00 p.m.

My Little Demon   
DIR Steven James Creazzo; PROD Steven James Creazzo, Meghan Gonyo. US, 2011, color, 76 minutes.
A fast-paced, claustrophobic fable about how far a mother will go to save the life of her child, as well as her very own soul. Part of the Halloween Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 10:00 p.m.

Of Dolls & Murder   
DIR Susan Marks; PROD John K. Dehn, Susan Marks. US, 2011, color, 67 minutes.
Narrated by iconic filmmaker John Waters, Of Dolls & Murder exposes an unimaginable world of miniature homicides. Lurking inside this surreal collection of dollhouse dioramas thrives a criminal element that is all too real. These “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death” reveal a dystopic rather than an idealized version of domestic life. Created as a teaching tool by an unlikely grandmother Frances Glessner Lee, the Nutshells are home to violent murder, prostitution, mental illness, adultery, and alcoholism. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program, the Local Film Program, and the Halloween Program
View a trailer of Of Dolls & Murder at http://www.ofdollsandmurder.com/
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Saturday, October 20th at 11:00 p.m.

Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz   
DIR Stefan Immler; PROD Cathy Abel, Tom Abel, Stefan Immler, Tom Walker. US, 2012, color, 94 minutes.
Every jazz tune has a starting point--a simple note--from which it rises. Oxygen for the Ears showcases jazz's rich history through candid interviews with living legends, rare recordings, and original music played by contemporary stars. This film shows how jazz history was made and how jazz continues to be made in Washington, D.C. today.
Part of the Local Film Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Saturday, October 20th at 10 p.m.


Sunday, October 21st

Greenbelt: A Model Community 
DIR Martin Huberman; PROD Megan Searing Young. US, 2010, color, 11 minutes.
Greenbelt’s history comes to life through interviews with current residents, Greenbelt pioneer children, and historians. It also features rare newsreel footage, dozens of historic photographs, and contemporary scenes of Greenbelt today, all beautifully filmed by Martin Huberman of Video Art Productions on behalf of the Friends of the Greenbelt Museum.
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Saturday, October 13th at 11 a.m. and again on Sunday, October 21st at 11 a.m. (Free to the Public)

The City   
DIR Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke; PROD Henwar Rodakiewicz. US, 1939, black and white, 43 minutes.
Made to be shown at the 1939 New York World's Fair, The City is the classic New Deal documentary about the Depression-era birth of the utopian "green towns."
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Saturday, October 13th at 11 a.m. and again on Sunday, October 21st at 11 a.m. (Free to the Public)

Circle Square   
DIR Dylan Glynn PROD Dylan Glynn. Canada, 2012, color, 2 minutes.
A circular character named O who is representative of humankind becomes suffocated by cubes (representative of all forms, thoughts, structural forms, etc.) of his own invention, until he explodes (his ego dies) and he returns to being a circle (is enlightened). Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program and the Short Films Program
Showing as part of the Short Films Program at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at noon

Memsaab is Good Now?   
DIR Adrienne Ostberg; PROD Adrienne Ostberg. US, 2011, color, 8 minutes.
Shirley Deane left the United States in 1956 to work her way around the world as an accordionist. After making her way through Europe, the Middle East, and most of Africa, Shirley left the accordion behind to search for life's meaning. Standing against death threats, she published the first "Who's Who" of Black South Africans, and was cured of asthma by an unani hakim in Kashmir, India. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing as part of the Short Films Program at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at noon

Rusti Escapes!
DIR Pamela Davis; PROD Pamela Davis. US, 2012, color, 20 minutes.
Finding a home for a 275 lb. orangutan was not an easy task, especially for Rusti. After years of waiting, hoping and people fighting for him, there seems to be a light at the end of a long tunnel, but unfortunately, the tunnel took many turns before he could consider himself happy. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Film Program and the Short Films Program
View a trailer for Rusti Escapes! at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnODVn4E3uQ
Showing as part of the Short Films Program at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at noon

Finding Manjushri   
DIR Dolma Gunther; PROD Al Donnelly, Dolma Gunther. Australia/India, 2012, color, 21 minutes.
A scholarly young monk embarks upon an intriguing journey only to discover that the wisdom he seeks is closer than he imagines, and much stranger than he could possibly envisage. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program and the Short Films Program
View a trailer of Finding Manjushri at www.findingmanjushri.com
Showing as part of the Short Films Program at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at noon

God Has Arrived 
DIR John Urich-Sass; PROD John Urich-Sass. India/Mexico, 2011, color, 51 minutes.
"This story is a personal experience of how I found God, or how God found me. It is a story that began when I first questioned myself about the origins of man, questions that took me to the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico in search of answers. To my surprise, those answers lay hidden on the mountains of Rajastan, India. I not only found the origins of man, I found the origins of my own existence. I found the mind of God. There is no greater truth that I can leave behind to my son, than the truth God stamped in my heart." - John Urich-Sass, director  Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program and the Short Films Program
Showing as part of the Short Films Program at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at noon

GAVA/GATE Kids' Animation: A Utopian Film Festival Special Program
In this program produced by Greenbelt's GAVA/GATE animation studio, the work of animation instructor George Kochell and his group of talented young students is on display.
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Sunday, October 21st at noon (Free to the Public)

Short Films by Young People and Adults: A Utopian Film Festival Special Program
Twelve imaginative short films by young people and adults, which include:
Not One of Us (2 minutes) A film about bullying from a young director's perspective.
Freedom (6 minutes) Constricted by the routine of everyday life, young Maya strives to escape society's barriers.
Franklin County, PA (2 minutes) Take a quick trip with this youthful filmmaker around Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
Letting Go (8 minutes) A girl grieves after the death of a loved one but discovers it's okay to go on--just as the land around her goes on.
Cardboard (10 minutes) Homelessness in America is a national tragedy. Faced with adversity, what would you do to keep your family together?
Let Me Go (16 minutes) Held captive by an insane man seeking money, will Casey Walker survive?
Our Utopia Is (2 minutes) Young Baltimore filmmakers explore their visions of utopia.
Utopia (5 minutes) Can Baltimore become a utopia?
Wait in Silence (14 minutes) Trying to change her image, a teenage girl immerses herself in the grittier side of life but loses herself along the way.
UltraGirl/Vise (3 minutes) An animated tale about a female superhero female.
Maryland Sentient (3 minutes) Images of Maryland insects set to atmospheric music.
The Wheel (16 minutes) A whimsical, visually imaginative Steampunk science fiction tale of a dutiful young man, fated to maintain the balance of the world - and his mischievous sister, determined to test the balance.
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Sunday, October 21st at noon (Free to the Public)

How Fred Burke was Captured in 1931   
PROD The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). US, 1932, black and white, 30 minutes.
A long-suppressed FBI documentary about how residents of a small Missouri town--including a future Greenbelt official--helped capture a St. Valentine’s Day Massacre gangster.
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Sunday, October 21st at noon (Free to the Public)

Greentowns USA: A New Deal   
DIR June Finfer; PROD June Finfer. US, 2009, color, 57 minutes.
An investigation of "greenbelt" towns planned and built in the US in the 1930s during the Depression, and how they fare today. Greentowns USA is also a case study in the history of city planning, architectural preservation, community participation, democratic involvement, and the attachment to home.
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Sunday, October 21st at 12:30 p.m. (Free to the Public)

The Source   
DIR Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille; PROD Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille, Holly Becker. US, 2012, color, 98 minutes.
The Source Family was a radical experiment in '70s utopian living. Their outlandish style, popular health food restaurant, rock band, and beautiful women made them the darlings of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. But their outsider ideals and the unconventional behavior of their spiritual leader, Father Yod, caused controversy with the local authorities, which led to them fleeing the country. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at 2:00 p.m.

*****
Urban/Rural Landscapes 6: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program
Approximately 90 minutes.
This special collection of experimental films is curated by experimental filmmaker Chris Lynn and is the sixth experimental landscape program to be included in the Utopia Film Festival. Filming locations include China, Portugal, Canada, and more. See the world through a different lense.
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Sunday, October 21st at 2 p.m. (Free to the Public)

Films in the Urban/Rural Landscapes 6 program include:

The Luminous Passage 
DIR Ryan Marino
A meditation on the passage of time and light, an evocation of the season of autumn. This film was shot during consecutive autumns in New York, Maine, and New Hampshire.

Hudson River Landscapes 
DIR Patrick Tarrant
Recorded from a 24th floor window on Broadway, Hudson River Landscapes maps the elevated terrain of Manhattan’s Upper West Side where laborers and layabouts, while displaced from the city beneath them and framed by the river behind them, function like secret agents in an unscripted spy drama.

Broad Channel 
DIR Sarah J. Christman
Over the course of four seasons, the nuances of everyday activity are examined along one narrow stretch of public shoreline in New York City’s Jamaica Bay. Moments of recurrence and change cycle through an ecosystem rooted in migration.

Morning Fisherman
DIR Chris H Lynn
A piece from the Reconstructing Scenic views from Seventeenth Century Chinese Landscape Painting series. Shot at Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing, China.

De Luce 1: Vegetare
DIR Janis Crystal Lipzin. The colors and light of a garden are transformed by Janis Crystal Lipzin’s alchemical experiments with the film material and photochemical processes.

Watercolors
DIR Ann Deborah Levy
Colors, patterns, and images reflected on the surface of a pond mirror changes in seasons and weather over the course of a year to create this “painting in motion.”

Underfoot and Overstory
DIR Jason Livingston
Local environmentalists,the Friends of Hickory Hill Park, work to protect nearly 200 acres of unique urban parkland in Iowa City, Iowa. The organization’s mission statement must be produced. The inaugural Hickory Hill Park calendar must be completed. Nature images run parallel, collide, or drift beside the demands of group writing, open space, and the park’s changing boundary.

*****

Opening Our Eyes: Global Stories About the Power of One   
DIR Gail Mooney; PROD Erin Kelly. US/Argentina/Australia/Nepal, 2011, color, 61 minutes.
They are two people--a mother and a daughter--who embarked on a journey around the world to document and film the stories of individuals--ordinary people--who are following their own dreams, passions, and ambitions and doing extraordinary things. They filmed 11 subjects on 6 continents. They believe in the power of one--the power of the individual, the power that each one of us has to effect positive change. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of Opening Our Eyes: Global Stories About the Power of One at https://vimeo.com/21598761
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Sunday, October 21st at 2:00 p.m.

Encounters
DIR Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins; PROD Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins. Canada, 2011, color, 50 minutes.
At the summer solstice, a group of young Aboriginals from the Innu and Huron nations and young Quebecers travels the Jesuits' ancestral trail, 310 km of land and water which links Lac Saint-Jean and Quebec City. Some embark on this journey to follow their ancestors' trail, others for a unique experience with nature or as a personal challenge. One thing is certain; throughout this 21-day long adventure, they must learn to know themselves better and rise above prejudice. From laughter to silence, with stories and moments of introspection, a simple encounter turns into a profound learning experience. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer of Encounters at http://mofilms.ca/inuit/64/?lang=en
Showing at the P&G Theatre on Sunday, October 21st at 3 p.m.    

Detropia   
DIR Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady PROD Craig Atkinson. US, 2012, color, 91 minutes.
Detroit's story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century--the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow, the rise of manufacturing and the middle class, the love affair with automobiles, the flowering of the American dream, and now...the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, Detropia sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution. As houses are demolished by the thousands, automobile-company wages plummet, institutions crumble, and tourists gawk at the "charming decay," the film's vibrant, gutsy characters glow and erupt like flames from the ashes in the Motor City as it struggles to survive post-industrial America and begin envisioning a radically different future. One of two films in the Utopia Film Festival examining the plight of Detroit. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
View a trailer for Detropia at https://vimeo.com/45929284
Showing at the Greenbelt Arts Center on Sunday, October 21st at 4:00 p.m.

Docs in Progress: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program 
Become a part of the filmmaking process! Docs In Progress returns to present two new documentary works-in-progress for your constructive critique. The films being screened are Christopher Richmond's I'm Paying for this Microphone about the exclusion of independent candidates from televised presidential debates and Nemo 1934: Searching for Everett Ruess about the legacy of a teenage artist and adventurer who mysteriously disappeared in the Southwest desert in the 1930s.  
Taking place at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Sunday, October 21st at 4:00 p.m.
(Free to the Public)

Utopia 2012 Filmmakers' Forum: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program
Enjoy refreshments, meet filmmakers, ask questions, and learn more about the craft of independent filmmaking.
Taking place at Beltway Plaza Academy Theaters on Sunday, October 21st at 7:00 p.m.
(Free to the Public) 

Utopia 2012 Award Winners: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program
If you missed a film, you may still have a chance to see it. Check out the film festival's Web site to find out which films won this year's awards and which ones will be rescreened at the festival's best-in-show program.
Showing at Beltway Plaza Academy Theaters on Sunday, October 21st at 8:00 p.m.
(Free to the Public)