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The selection committee is currently viewing the 2009 film submissions. The festival program will be updated once all decisions has been made and the film makers have been notified

The following films were shown
at the 2008 Utopia Film Festival

 

10 Years of GATE/GAVA Animation
George Kochell, curator
Animated Short Films , 60 minutes

An all-ages program of animations made by students in the GAVA/GATE Animation Program over the past 10 years.  This program is free.  This event is co-sponsored by the Greenbelt Association for Visual Arts (GAVA), Greenbelt Access Television (GATE) and the Prince George's County Library System

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm at the Greenbelt Public Library

Alaska Far Away

Alaska Far Away: The New Deal Pioneers of the Matanuska Colony
by Paul Hill & Joan Juster
Feature Documentary, 91 minutes
East Coast Premiere

In the midst of the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal gave 202 destitute Midwestern farm families a chance to start over -- in Alaska. Awarded the Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival

Screening Saturday, October 25 at Noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

All Along

ALL ALONG
by Robert Masciantonio
Feature Narrative, 75 minutes
Maryland Premiere

Richard is a working family-man whose daydreams of being a rock star, professional wrestler, and ladies man are dominating his day-to-day mundane reality.  Can a mysterious woman help him unlock the mysteries of his midlife crisis?

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 5:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center

American Feud

view the trailer

American Feud
by Simone Fary and Richard Hall
Feature Documentary, 90 minutes

Greenbelt Premiere  Local Filmmakers

America is allegedly split between red and blue states, rural and city values, Christians and secularists, and Conservatives and Liberals.  But what do Conservatism and Liberalism really mean today?

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 5:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

 

The Anti-Global Warming League
by Russ Brandon
Short Narrative, 10 minutes

DC-Area Premiere

Warm weather in January has got some kids' hopes of a snow day at an all time low. They band together like super-heroes and try to attack global warming on their own. When their efforts aren't enough they reach out to the adults. Working together they all find that even when you get what you want, it might not come out how you want.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Kid Vids Program
(all ages welcome)

At Home in Utopia

At Home in Utopia
by Michal Goldman & Ellen Brodsky
Feature Documentary, 57 minutes

Maryland Premiere

A home of one's own is the American dream. But what happens when the dreamers are immigrants, factory workers, and Communists? A look back at a unique experiment to build a cooperative apartment house in New York which would cross the barriers of race, religion, convention, and sometimes even common sense.

Screening Friday, October 24, 7:00 pm (opening night film) at the Greenbelt Arts Center

also screening Saturday, October 25 at 2:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

August
view the trailer

August
by Jay Gammill
Short Narrative, 17 minutes

DC Area Premiere

Seventeen-year-old August feels he has to change his looks in order to fit in, ultimately deciding to undergo surgery to change his face to become the 'perfect image' of a high-school teenager.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center along with Pretty Ugly People

Beyond the Call

Beyond the Call
by Adrian Belic
Feature Documentary, 82 minutes

Maryland Premiere

Ed Artis, James Laws and Walt Ratterman are three middle-aged men whose idea of adventure is taking desperately needed food and medicine into the world's most forbidding yet beautiful places on Earth, the front lines of war.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 4:00 pm at the Academy Stadium Theaters

view the trailer

The Big Q

The Big Q
by Matthew Pecca
Short Narrative, 7 minutes

World Premiere

A comedy of errors about finding the perfect way to propose marriage.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center as part of the Shorts Program

BLAST!
view the trailer

BLAST!
by Paul Devlin
Feature Documentary, 78 minutes

DC Area Premiere

The human side of scientific pursuit comes to life as we follow an international team of astrophysicists on a risky adventure from the Arctic to the Antarctic to launch a revolutionary new telescope on a NASA high-altitude balloon in an effort to discover the origins of our Universe.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 6:00 pm at the Academy Stadium Theaters

Blood of Jesus

Blood of Jesus
by Spencer Williams, jr.
(free screening)

A morality tale about a woman who must choose between a virtuous rural life or the temptations of the city. A classic African-American film from the early 1940s, the film was written and directed by Spencer Williams, Jr. who is perhaps best known as Andy in television's Amos & Andy Show.  The screening is free and will be followed by a discussion with Kent Moore, recently retired Head of the Media Collection for Prince George's County Memorial Libraries.  This event is co-sponsored by the Greenbelt Association for Visual Arts (GAVA) and the Prince George's County Library System.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm at the Greenbelt Public Library

Boyd's Negro School

Boyds Negro School: Historic Lives
by Ric Wagner
Short Documentary, 26 minutes

Greenbelt Premiere   Local Filmmaker

In early 20th Century small-town America, hope and pride resided in the one-room school.  This is the story of one such school in the town of Boyds, Maryland.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 3:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building along with Redemption Stone

Building Bridges

Building Bridges
by Andrew Flynn Soltys
Short Documentary, 19 minutes

Greenbelt Premiere   Local Filmmaker

The challenges faced by immigrant children struggling to learn English is given a face by the story of Ben, an elementary school student at Barnard Elementary School in Washington DC.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Kid Vids Program
(all ages welcome)

Camp Woz
view the trailer

Camp Woz: The Admirable Lunacy of Philanthropy
by Jarrad Kritzstein
Feature Documentary, 78 minutes

DC Area Premiere

Ten emotionally and behaviorally-challenged kids participate in the inaugural Dream Camp, a unique camping experience focused on community sensibility, creativity, independence, and computer technology.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 1:15pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

Cantata in C major

Cantata in C Major
by Ronnie Cramer
Short Animated Documentary, 8 minutes

Six-hundred-five film clips are assembled and used to create a piece of electronic music.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center as part of the Shorts Program

Canvas

Canvas
by Joseph Greco
semi-autobiographical drama, 101 minutes
Co-Presented with the Prince George's County Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

This debut feature from director Joseph Greco is the semi-autobiographical tale of a 10-year-old Florida boy, Chris (Devon Gearhart), who returns from a summer in Alaska to find his mentally ill mother (Marcia Gay Harden) hearing voices in the walls again and Dad (Joe Pantoliano) up to his neck in debts and distress. The beautiful photography wrings plenty of salt air and sunshine from the small-town Florida locale and there's a sweetener of a soundtrack with acoustic guitars and sad girl vocalists.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 2:00 pm at the P&G Theatre

 

D'entre les morts
by Alain Basso
Short Narrative, 29 minutes

U.S. Premiere

When Roger meets Pauline, she inspires him to create a remake of his favorite film, VERTIGO.  But all that glitters is not gold.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Late-Night Shorts Program (mature audiences only)

Dream Girlview the trailer

Dream Girl
by Michael Vincent
Short Experimental, 13 minutes
DC Area Premiere

A psychedelic dreamscape follows a woman from a bookstore on the crowded city streets to the tranquility of the beach.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Late-Night Shorts Program (mature audiences only)

FRONTRUNNER photo

FRONTRUNNER
by Virginia Williams
Feature Documentary, 90 minutes

Maryland Premiere

In Afghanistan's first democratic election ever, a woman defies tradition and runs for President of Afghanistan.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 2:00 pm at the P&G Theatre

Fury for Sound

FURY FOR THE SOUND
by Shelley Wine
Maryland Premiere

"A protest against clearcutting of the rainforest of British Columbia leads a group of dedicated women to the largest civil disobedience action in Canadian history."

Pre-Festival Event: Monday, October 20 at 7 pm
at the New Deal Cafe

This event is co-sponsored with The Reel and Meal at the New Deal, which is a monthly film series that explores vital environmental and social issues. There is no charge for admission. Food may be purchased at the event.

Gatastrofe en el Hotel del Gallo

Gatastrofe en el Hotel del Gallo
by Enrique Vargas Celis
Short Narrative, 4 minutes

DC Area Premiere

Managed by a young man just beginning his new job position, the Hotel del Gallo will be the site for all mayhem to come, as two bell boys go through hilarious situations.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Kid Vids Program
(all ages welcome)

God's Weekend photo

God's Weekend
by Quinn Wilson
Short Narrative, 11 minutes

World Premiere

A humorous juxtaposition of the mundane and the divine, as the most-worshipped supernatural being reflects on his daily life.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

Heaven on Earth

Heaven On Earth
by Bruce Weaver
Short Documentary, 25 minutes

World Premiere

How can communities living in the foothills of the Himalayas provide a glimpse into the global potential of permaculture?

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 4:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building
along with Shikashika and The Meaning of Tea

How to Cross a Border

How To Cross A Border
by Tim Parsa
Feature Documentary, 70 minutes

A well-heeled American expatriate in Mexico City crosses paths with a Mexican horse groomer intent on entering the U.S. to work, despite his lack of a visa.  What are the lines that separate countries, cultures, and individuals and why do some people choose to cross them?

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 8:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

Hungry
view the trailer

Hungry
by Trent
Short Narrative, 8 minutes

East Coast Premiere

A man wakes up one day and searches his house for food, but finds nothing but bare cupboards.  He uses the spare change around the house to go buy lunch, but runs into people who seem to be more hungry than him and ends up with nothing.  Or does he?

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

In the Panyard

In the Panyard
by Keli Ross-Ma'u
Short/Feature Documentary, 45 minutes

DC Area Premiere

The filmmaker, a music student from the U.S., gets an insider's experience of playing the steel pan in Trinidad and discovers a community bond in the process.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 6:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building
along with On the Trail of Jack Thorpe

Kicking a Can

Kicking a Can
by Matt Mashburn
Short Fiction, 11 minutes

DC Area Premiere

In a place teaming with motion, but devoid of humanity, a city comes to life and with it a man who takes his place in the concrete jungle. Amid his daily errands, a tin can catches his eye and takes him on a journey away from order.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

The Meaning of Tea

The Meaning of Tea
by Scott Chamberlin-Hoyt
Feature Documentary, 74 minutes

DC Area Premiere

In a era dominated by corporate mass-marketing and fast food, we take a journey around the world to learn more about the tradition, culture, and human connections made possible by tea.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 4:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building
along with Shikashika and Heaven on Earth

Memory Sticks

Memory Sticks
by Kristin Holodak
Short Narrative, 13 minutes

DC Area Premiere Greenbelt Filmmaker

If technology could help you remember everything is there anything you'd be willing to forget?

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

Most Latszom, most nem latszom

Most látszom, most nem látszom
"Now You See Me, Now You Don't"
by Attila Szasz
Short Narrative, 30 minutes

Maryland Premiere

It seemed like an ordinary day. Dad is experimenting in the lab, Mom is at home cooking, while their son is playing. But this day Dad brings something home from the lab. And the next morning the son becomes invisible.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Late-Night Shorts Program (mature audiences only)

view the trailer

On The Trail of Jack Thorp Photo

On The Trail of Jack Thorp
by Susan Gervasi
Documentary, 30 minutes

DC Area Premiere Greenbelt Filmmaker

The story of a song collector who, in the late 1800s, made a 1500-mile horseback journey through New Mexico and Texas in search of authentic cowboy songs.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 6:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building along with In the Panyard

Phases of the Moon

Phases of the Moon
by Jack Ofield
Short Animation, 7 minutes

East Coast Premiere

Young lovers try to define commitment until life engulfs them and sends them gasping into the careless world.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Late-Night Shorts Program (mature audiences only)

Pretty Ugly People photo
view the trailer

Pretty Ugly People
by Tate Taylor
Narrative Feature, 89 minutes

DC Area Premiere

After a successful gastric bypass operation, a newly thin Lucy decides to assemble her former college friends in order to finally celebrate the death of the "old" self and feel equal to her "pretty" friends. However, her friend's lives aren't so pretty anymore and Lucy's idea of a perfect reunion leads to hilariously disastrous results.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 7:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center along with August

Princess Alisanne

Princess Alisanne
by Jennifer Mathews
Short Fiction, 15 minutes

East Coast Premiere

A princess must overcome obstacles in order to attain the freedom she so deeply desires from the oppressive traditions of her kingdom.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

 

Ralph's Not Normal
by Marc Leitzel
Short Animation, 4 minutes

World Premiere

Bittersweet childhood memories of Ralph, a man who, in retrospect, was a bit... odd.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center

Redemption Stone
view the trailer

Redemption Stone-
The Life and Times of Tom Lewis

by Tom Dziedzic
Documentary Short , 30 minutes

DC Area Premiere Local Filmmaker

Tom Lewis recounts the aftereffects of poverty, social upheaval and rebirth that shape his unique American journey and help him decide to turn his own hardship into hope for a new generation of children.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 3:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building
along with Boyd's Negro School

Bobby Kennedy

RFK
by Mark Sobel
Feature Documentary, 90 minutes

DC Area Premiere

A detailed study of the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, and the 40-year battle to have the case re-opened.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 7:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

Roal Dahl's Three Little Pigs

Roald Dahl's Three Little Pigs
by Enrique Vargas Celis
Short Narrative, 7 minutes

DC Area Premiere

A different take on the classic fairytale.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Kid Vids Program
(all ages welcome)

Second Skin

Second Skin
by Juan Carlos Pineiro
Feature Documentary, 90 minutes

DC Area Premiere

An intimate look at people whose lives have become transformed by the virtual worlds in online games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and Second Life.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 1:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center

Shikashika

Shikashika
by Stephen Hyde
Short Documentary, 11 minutes

Greenbelt Premiere

A family extracts glacial ice from the Andes to make snow cones in the city.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at 4:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building along with Heaven on Earth and The Meaning of Tea (74')

Sunlight & Babies

Sunlight and Babies
by Kimberly Craig
Short Documentary, 13 minutes

Glimpse into an American subculture, breaking the stereotypes and stigmas associated with truck drivers.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 10:00 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Late-Night Shorts Program (mature audiences only)

view the trailer

This American Gothic photo

This American Gothic
by Sasha Waters
Feature Documentary, 63 minutes

East Coast Premiere

Small town America past and present is seen through the perspective of Eldon, Iowa, the town where Grant Wood found the inspiration for his famous painting, American Gothic.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Municipal Building

Throw Down Your Heart

Throw Down Your Heart
by Sascha Paladino
Feature Documentary, 97 minutes

Greenbelt Premiere

American banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck travels to four countries in Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo and forge connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at Noon
at the P&G Theatre

Tracker

Tracker
by Steffan Schulz
Short Narrative, 7 minutes

DC Area Premiere

Trackers scour the earth to purge the planet of bio hazardous materials.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center
as part of the Shorts Program

Nanjing Sunday

Urban/Rural Landscapes (Experimental)
Chris Lynn, curator
Experimental, 120 minutes

August-Vanessa O'Neill-(4min 30)-Impressions and presences evocated through a hand-working of glimpses, of lighted moments.

Polar-Scott Nyerges-(1min 35)Apocalyptic inner visions of the polar ice caps plight.

All that Remains-Ryan Marino(8:25)A study in Light, textures and ghosts that make up the abandoned.

Nanjing Sunday-Chris Lynn(5:00min)-Nanjing, China is explored through fragments of sound and light. Glimpses of the everyday are revealed

Tower-Roger Beebe-(5min)A world of wonders lies just a glance away from the famous tower.

Bus Stop-Chen Sheinberg-(2.5min)-A fascinating bus ride through Tel Aviv edited in the camera while shooting.

Deconstruction Sight-Dominic Angerame-(14min)Angerame begins an investigation into the excavations that are supposed to help the city into the twenty-first century. The 'time lapse' images radiate a pre-cinematographic purity that sharply contrasts with the industrial hell evoked by the excavators.

Ghosts and Gravel Roads-Mike Rollo-15.45-An inventory of lost memories and places, the sun bleached landscape of Saskatchewan serves as a metaphor for displacement, a framing of emptiness and absence.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at Noon at the Greenbelt Community Center

Water Color

Water Color
by Aaron Davidson
Short Experimental Music Video, 3 minutes

World Premiere

An ordinary trip to the beach turns into an impressionistic painting on film.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at noon at the Greenbelt Municipal Building as part of the Kid Vids Program
(all ages welcome)

When Kiran Met Karen
view the trailer

When Kiran Met Karen
by Manan Katohora
Feature Narrative, 102 minutes

Maryland Premiere

Kiran seems to have it all: a burgeoning Bollywood career, a handsome fiancee, and a clear future.  Until one day she meets Karen, a film journalist who makes Karen question whether she should follow her heart.

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 8:00 pm at the Academy Stadium Theaters

World Has Ended photo

The World Has Ended
by Alan Haley
Animation, 5 minutes

Greenbelt Filmmaker

Screening Saturday, October 25 at 3:30 pm at the Greenbelt Community Center as part of the Shorts Program

Yokes & Chains photo
view the trailer

Yokes and Chains: a Journey to Forgiveness and Freedom
by Michael Lienau
Feature Documentary, 90 minutes

World Premiere

An international group goes on an emotional and controversial adventure into the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade as they travel along former slave routes and engage in a public display of apology, with white Europeans and Americans walking in replica yokes and chains.

Screening Sunday, October 26 at Noon at the P&G Theatre