Utopia Film Festival

Greenbelt, Maryland • October 19-21, 2024


2012 Films: A-M

UFF Film History  |  2012 Films: N-Z

After the Factory   
Director: Philip Lauri PROD Michal Gruda, Andrew Jenson, Philip Lauri, Steven Craig Oliver.

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
Another Journey: Tales from Southern Sudan's Homeless Generation   
Director: Julia Maserjian PROD Robin Heydenberk.
 
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.
Anthem   
Director: Mark Hildebrand; Producers: Mark Hildebrand, David Hildebrand, Julien Jacques, Eric Lund, Jason Vaughan

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
Arc of Light: A Portrait of Anna Campbell Bliss   
Director: Cid Collins Walker Producers: Cid Collins Walker, Richard W. Walker, Felicia Barlow Clar, Tom Fish

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
Circle Square   
Director/Producer: Dylan Glynn

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
Detropia   
Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady Producer: Craig Atkinson

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
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.
Encounters
Directors: Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins; Producers: Mélanie Carrier and Olivier Higgins

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
Ernest Borgnine on the Bus   
Director: Jeff Krulik Producer: Joyce McConnell

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
Every Other Day Is Halloween   
Director: C.W. Prather; Producer: C.W. Prather, Dick Dyszel

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
Finding Manjushri   
Director: Dolma Gunther; Producers: Al Donnelly, Dolma Gunther

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
From Here to Obscurity: The Best of Travesty Films   
Director: Rich West; Producer (of film compilation) Dave Nuttycombe

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
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. 
God Has Arrived 
Director/Producer: John Urich-Sass;

"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
Greenbelt 75th Anniversary Films: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program 

The City   
Director: Ralph Steiner, Willard Van Dyke; Producer: Henwar Rodakiewicz

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." 
Greenbelt: A Model Community 
Director: Martin Huberman; Producer: Megan Searing Young

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. 
Greentowns USA: A New Deal   
Director/Producer: June Finfer

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.
Home: The Langston Terrace Dwellings
Director/Producer: Barr Weissmann

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.
How Fred Burke was Captured in 1931   
Producer: The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

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.
In the Footsteps of Newton
Directors/Producers: Nancy Rodgers and Elizabeth Winters

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
Kinderblock 66: Return to Buchenwald   
Director: Rob Cohen; Producers: Steven Moskovic, Martin Pohl, Brad Rothschild, Paul Turlick, Sasha Vitelli
 
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
The Legend of Merv Conn
Director/Producer: Jeff Krulik

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
Picture
Marwencol   
Director: Jeff Malmberg; Producers: Jeff Malmberg, Tom Putman, Matt Radecki, Chris Shellen, Kevin Walsh

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
Memsaab is Good Now?   
Director/Producer: Adrienne Ostberg

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
My Little Demon   
Director: Steven James Creazzo; Producers: Steven James Creazzo, Meghan Gonyo

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

UFF Film History  |  2012 Films: N-Z

Utopia Film Festival