Of Dolls & Murder Directors: Susan Marks; PROD John K. Dehn, Susan Marks
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
One Track Mind Directors: Jeremy Workman; PROD Matthew Spain, Jeremy Workman
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
Opening Our Eyes: Global Stories About the Power of One Director: Gail Mooney; Producer: Erin Kelly
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
Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz Director: Stefan Immler; Producer: Cathy Abel, Tom Abel, Stefan Immler, Tom Walker
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.
The Parachute Ball Director/Producer: Peter Boothby;
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
Record Paradise: The Musical Life of Joe Lee Director: Michael Streissguth; Producers: Michael Streissguth, Luke Baker
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
Record Paradise: The Musical Life of Joe Lee Director: Michael Streissguth; Producers: Michael Streissguth, Luke Baker
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
Roadmap to Apartheid DIR Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson; PROD Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson
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
Room to Breathe Director: Russell Long; Producer: Russell Long, Gail Mallimson
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
Rusti Escapes! Director/Producer: Pamela Davis;
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
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)
The Source Director: Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille; Producers: Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille, Holly Becker
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
Suddenly Zinat Director/Producer: Navid Azad;
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
There Are No Heroes Director: Kyle Stevenson; Producer: Maggie Jane Leitch, et al
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
Through Bloodshot Eyes Director/Producer: Amanda Sodhi;
A glimpse into how family violence perpetuates itself. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Urban/Rural Landscapes 6: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program 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.
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.
Vittorio, Capitan Pistone...e tutti gli altri Director: Mara Consoli; Producers: Maurizio Carta, Mara Consoli
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
