Dir: Yoruba Richen
Website: promisedlandfilm.com
"Promised Land follows two black communities in South Africa that are trying to get land back they say their ancestors were removed from during apartheid. The land is currently owned by white landowners and the film follows the multi-year efforts of both groups to get and keep possession of the land. The Megkareng are an impoverished, semi-literate tribe who are up against a coalition of wealthy white farmers and developers who say the Mekgareng have no right to claim the land. The Molamus are an educated, middle – class black family armed with lawyers and financial resources. They are fighting Hannes Visser a white farmer who refuses to vacate the contested land. Visser says it is his business, his livelihood and that he has nowhere else to go. Through these stories, the epic battle over land and race is played out with very real consequences for all sides. The film raises the fundamental questions of what is a fair price to get justice for a historical wrong and who must pay. Promised Land is unique in showing both sides of the land conflict and examining the intense economic and political exigencies that land inequality has created in South Africa. The audience will see why many inside the country call the land issue 'the ticking time bomb' that has the potential to destroy the fragile racial compact that the new South Africa was built upon."

Dir: IGOR IGLESIAS GONZALEZ
Website: xiquexiquefilms.com
"Tom Ze has not always occupied a position of comfort on the Brazilian music scene over the last fifty years or so. This film gives us the opportunity to get closer to this artist throughout his long labour of unceasing experimentation, in which he has had the courage to break with established moulds and always refused what is considered "correct" and commercial. For all the unpleasant ups and downs encountered along the way - from ostracism to concealment – he has always been unflinching in his beliefs. Tom Zé's trip to Asturias (northern Spain) in 2008 serves as the narrative thread of this film, which delves into many aspects of his personality and career as an artist. From the Musical Experimentation Workshop he gave - the point of the trip - we are taken on a journey through his musical discoveries and his on-going research into music, since the seventies, when he began his work as a creator of instruments. His reflections, a very ample catalogue of archive images, coupled with glimpses of his many appearances in Sao Paulo and Europe as well as the opinions of important figures of Brazilian music constitute a brush that deftly paints a rich portrait of his life and his music, bringing us closer to this controversial and fascinating creator, surprising and endearing figure that he is. "

Dir: Ted Garland
Isaac Jones is an innkeeper in Weston, Massachusetts at the time of the American Revolution. He is a loyal to England and his tavern becomes a safe haven for British spies as they plan their famous march to Lexington and Concord. 'Allegiance: The Legend of Isaac Jones' tells the story of Isaac's reluctant change of loyalty in the time of war.

Dir: Guido Muzzarelli
Website: islandofthegondoliers.com
"A mysterious paper airplane lands into the lap of a young orphan boy named Carlo in 1911 Venice Italy. The cryptic writing on the paper plane reveals the author to be Leo Ghianti, the boy's long-lost godfather. Through the letter, Leo tells Carlo the story of how he met Carlo's parents 10 years earlier. It begins with Leo's obsessive search for the last survivors of a genocide on an island called Floracha, The people who inhabited the island were all massacred by the Venetian army, and their entire culture was wiped out. Rumors of Florachans hiding in the underground lead Leo to the last known survivor, an old gondolier named Luka. This old man has been forced to perform in a performing circus, retelling through puppetry a bastardized version of the genocide of Floracha that glorifies Venice and vilifies the Florachans. As Leo makes arrangements to meet Luka, the old man escapes from the circus prison through Gia, his granddaughter. Events intensify as Leo aids Gia, her husband Santo, and Luka to escape the pursuing circus leader Bruno Brunelli. Leo's letter to Carlo describes the tragic aftermath of the final confrontation with Bruno, and the narrow escape by Leo and Gia. In the end of the letter, Leo tells Carlo that he will be wating for him in Floracha when he is old enough to leave the orphanage. The film ends with the introduction of Leo's new foster father, Bruno Brunelli. "

Dir: Jennifer Maas
Website:wheedlesgroovemovie.com/
"Thirty years before grunge music put Seattle on the map, late 1960's groups like Black on White Affair, The Soul Swingers, and Cold, Bold & Together filled airwaves and packed clubs every night of the week. Many groups started to receive widespread attention with invitations to perform on national television and collaborate with mainstream acts. Just as many of the groups were on the verge of breaking out, the fickle public turned its ear to disco, and Seattle's soul scene slipped into obscurity. In 2001, local collector DJ Mr. Supreme started uncovering Seattle's soulful past after finding a dusty Black on White Affair 45 called 'Bold Soul Sister' in a 99 cent bin at a Seattle Center record show. By 2003 he had a rough impression of a once-thriving scene and a hefty collection of Seattle soul and funk 45s, some of which were fetching upwards of $5,000 on the collector circuit. Supreme approached local record label Light In The Attic with the idea of releasing a Seattle soul and funk compilation. Light In The Attic spent twelve months tracking down artists and fleshing out the story of Seattle's funky past, and the result was a CD compilation entitled Wheedle's Groove. At the CD release party in August of 2004, a line of nostalgic 60-somethings and funk-hungry 20-somethings wrapped around the building as the musicians inside, now janitors, graphic designers, and truck drivers, look back at careers derailed and prepare to perform together for the first time in 30 years. "

Click Here For More Details On The: Animation Festival
An exciting series of 8 short animations, by different artists.
Seed - The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger - The Hybrid Union - Skylight - The Lift - Dancer and the Red Ball - No Naked! - Insurgency of Ambition

Dir: Kevin James McMullin
Website: exit117movie.com
Kevin James McMullin's debut drama "Exit 117" is a melodic group portrait of New Jersey youth and the kaleidoscope of hopes, fears, and laughs that is their last summer together. Told in a series of interconnected vignettes, characters confront adulthood in different ways. Brian (John Blakeslee) says goodbye to relationships he has outgrown while Melissa (Kathleen Mallon) and Tommy (David A.K) try desperately to preserve their adolescence. Matt (Matthew Strickland) and Sammy (Christopher Azara) dream of escaping their small town in pursuit of destiny, while Grady (McMullin) and Janine (Kristen Brunelli) defend their suburban middle-class life. As these characters fight and love and hope their way through this summer of transition, they reminisce about the past and dream about the future.

Dir: Bradley Cox
Website: whokilledcheavichea.com
"One sunny morning in 2004, a motorcycle pulled up to a corner newsstand in Phnom Penh. Chea Vichea, the president of Cambodia's garment workers union, looked up from his paper--and was executed on the spot. Under pressure from human rights groups and foreign aid donors, the police quickly arrested two local men. They were sentenced to twenty years in prison. Were they guilty, or was their conviction part of a larger plan? WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? follows the story with footage shot as events unfolded, reaching far beyond the police station and the courtroom, to the top of the ruling party. It's a front-row seat to a world of corruption, calculation, and courage that will leave you breathless. (Note: As of May 1, 2010, WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA? has been declared illegal by the Cambodian government.) "

Video music series from around the world.
Let Me In - Let It All Burn Down - Love Me or Hate Me Music Video - Philadelphia Chickens - Re-creation - Ruse of Fools-The Flood - S T R E T C H - 'The Light' Dj Easeback feat Prince Lord - TIL MY VOICE IS GONE - Vou Mandar Pastar - Winkie: Truth It Is - Maranda- 646

Dir: Bryan Litt
"A young man returns from his mothers funeral expecting to resume the daily high school routine only to have the direction of his life changed by learning lessons in the power of both love and truth. "

Dir: Titus Grupp
Mayhem ensues when genetically altered wolf hormones end up in a batch of crack.

Dir: Andras Novak
The life of a young successful model is suddenly driven to despair. In the hopeless situation she finds out who she can rely on... others and herself. Yet most unexpectedly hope itself knocks on the door.

Dir: Marta Masferrer
Website: conlangthemovie.com
Conlang, short for constructed language, is a universal story set in the unique world of conlanging. A comedy about secret crushes, extreme linguistics and the language of love, it tells the story of Carl, 26, an unemployed conlang enthusiast. Even though Carl has no trouble creating new languages, he has a hard time finding the words to express his feelings to Libby, his secret crush. One day, Carl has a chance of becoming president of the Constructed Language Society, a club of people joined by their passion for invented languages. But between battling misguided Esperantists and mastering Klingon, will he be able to share his true feelings with the girl he adores?

Dir: James Byrne
Website: byrnefilms.com
"A theater artist recruits a stranger to photograph her eccentric life for an upcoming performance piece. What does she really want? Is he an impostor? Moments of truth, embarrassment, and joy are revealed in this relationship drama about second chances. "

Dir: Michael Mierendorf
Website: Give Us Your Poor
"A 15-year-old girl from Duluth, Minnesota, out on the streets and homeless again, writes a song about what her experience is like. Recording artist Natalie Merchant (formerly of 10,000 Maniacs) hears the song, hears demo tapes of other homeless artists and musicians, and pulls together a band made up of people from all over the country who are currently or previously homeless to record the song. She has less than three days to arrange and record the song - in a process that normally takes weeks or months – with people who have never met. The recording session in Boston was a volunteer effort; there was no budget to accommodate the effort. One musician drove across the country in a car that had no business driving that far. Boston hotels donated rooms, local restaurants donated food. Finally, working with several artists who have never set foot in a recording studio, Ms. Merchant completes the track. Nichole Cooper, the girl who wrote the song, lived the experience of her lyrics: 'It was really hard. Everything I sing about in that song really happened. I have had to steal so I could eat..."" I have robbed people because I couldn't get a job and I needed money..."" Nichole's song became one of the first tracks of a new CD, ""Give US Your Poor"", featuring artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Jewel, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Seeger and many others, collaborating with unknown artists who are currently or recently homeless. In the end, a song written by a homeless girl to express her isolation became a celebration of community by men and women of various age, race, and housing situations: a song that rocks for the world to hear. "

Dir: Joel Moffett

Poi Dogs is the story of two local Hawaii teenagers and their awkward attempts at expressing a budding romantic interest in each other. Toa, a tough-acting lineman on a crappy high school football team, has just lost the big game. Distraught and alone, he drives home on his old ramshackle moped, which breaks down in the shadow of an abandoned sugar mill. Anela, the tough-acting tuba player on his teams marching band, walks up and tries to console Toa. Ashamed, Toa pushes her away. After a tense fight, Toa and Anela find common ground by overcoming their pride and accepting each others help. In the end, Poi Dogs illustrates the first small step towards love by two guarded teenagers.

Dir: ROBBY REIS
Website: suhafilm.com
This film documents the life of a young graffiti writer as she marks her way through Montreal's graffiti art sub-culture. Her personal accounts unfold through her self discovering narration, which is delivered as a soliloquy unbeknown to her.

Dir: Fred Zara
Website: averagecommunity.com
"Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, a post-industrial wasteland of abandoned factories, neglected row houses and urban decay. Trenton is a relic of America's once-thriving manufacturing economy, the kind of city most of us have long since forgotten. But for Fred Zara, a 30-something family man living an average suburban life near downtown Orlando, it's not so easy a place to forget. Growing up in Trenton in the mid-1980s, Fred went by the name of Fred Fatal, played drums in a punk-rock band called Prisoners of War, and was filled with so much teen angst that he managed to get himself kicked out of high school before reaching the 10th grade. "Average Community" follows Fred on a 900-mile journey back to his hometown to confront his troubled past, and the troubled people in it, in the hopes of understanding how the person he was made him into the person he is. Fred is joined by his two older brothers, one a disheartened New York journalist, the other a free-spirited Seattle musician, as he reunites with old friends, revisits painful memories and tries to make sense of what it meant to grow up in a dying city. "

Dir: Jonathan Zelenak
Website: sneakersandsoul.com
""You should always have a perfect bed and comfortable shoes, because when you're not in one, you're in the other." This is the credo of Johnny-boy Bailey's late father, Murray, a man whose passion for life and love for adventure was an inspiration to all. It is also the credo that has haunted Johnny-boy, an overworked and under-enthused lawyer from South Jersey who finds himself trapped in a routine as dull as the black loafers he spends every day in. When Johnny-boy inherits a pair of blue sneakers and a key to a mysterious New York City apartment from his father, he is given a chance to find a new direction for himself and live up to his father's legacy. With his best friend, Ace, by his side Johnny-boy slips on the sneakers and the two embark on foot for a journey spanning the state of New Jersey to the Big Apple. It's a trip that will not only bring them to the brink of friendship, but also give them a chance to rediscover the connections that matter most in this world. "

Dir: Mark Cabaroy
Website: imarkfilms.com
"The beautiful blind psychic Carly St Johns is on a quest to track down the dangerous career criminal Randy Meyers with the help of her police department liaison Lieutenant Razzinksy. When fate traps Randy and Carly in the same hotel room, they must match wits in a psychological game of cat and mouse to see which one of them will get out alive. "

Dir: Tomax Aponte
Website: tunerthefilm.blogspot.com
In the early part of the 19th century piano tuning was recognized as a specialized skill. Today, tuners all over the world train for a period of five to seven years to acquire the necessary skills to be considered a Master Tuner. The patience, concentration and zen like precision required was an easy draw to a man who had always been fascinated with art and artists. He himself could not create a masterpiece but what he did have was a gift for listening and a taste for murder. In this first glimpse of Donato, we are left with more questions than answers. Is he a true artisan, a craftsman pursuing perfection or is he preying on the weak to satisfy a darker urge?

Dir: Dusty Mancinelli
Website: inflofilms.com
Eileen, an unhappily married woman, finally decides to put an end to her affair. After a wild and passionate farewell, her lover takes a quick shower. Eileen is dancing in the next room when suddenly...THWACK!...her lover slips on a bar of soap and cracks his head open. Eileen walks into the bathroom. There's blood everywhere. He's dead. This looks bad. In a state of panic, she decides to "clean up" the mess and get rid of the body. As new obstacles arise, Eileen's simple plan begins to spiral out of control...

Dir: Tiffani Yoon
A young girl got molested by step-father and became a prostitute.

Dir: Christopher Radcliff
Middle-aged waitress Bonnie spends her nights working in a 24-hour diner. When a mysterious young stranger enters the restaurant, Bonnie finds herself immediately drawn to him. But when she realizes that he may not be who she thought he was, she is faced with an unexpected awakening.

Dir: Amel J. Figueroa
Website: thequietones-movie.com
A young man's rapid decent into madness fueled by memories of a distant past of painful family experiences. Main character Michael Rose believes a normal relationship in the form of a blossoming new love interest may save him from his own demons, only to find that recurring nightmares and memories of the past are too strong for any one love to quiet. {"Hush" is based on Figueroa's short story "It's Always the Quiet Ones"

Dir: Mark Henderson
"In 2003 Mark Henderson was one of eight backpackers taken hostage whilst trekking in the Colombian jungle. What had started as an innocent tourist adventure, ended up as 101 terrifying days of captivity and uncertainty about his future. Eleven months after his release Mark received an email from Antonio, one of his kidnappers, and one of the other hostages received a facebook friend request from Antonio's girlfriend, another of their captors. That email was the start of a five-year correspondence between hostage and kidnapper that eventually drew Mark back to the one part of the world he thought he'd never see again and face to face with the man who had once held the key to his freedom. My Kidnapper is an emotional journey into a kidnapping, told from all sides. This deeply personal, authored documentary follows Mark and three of his fellow hostages as they return to the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern Colombia, the place where they lived out their worst nightmares. As they travel deeper into the jungle, they discover the truth behind what happened to them, come to understand how they all dealt with the ordeal and finally have the chance to confront two of their kidnappers."

Dir: David Whitney
Website: kandaharbreak.com/
"Kandahar, Afghanistan. 1999 A team of British mine clearance engineers are working for the Taliban government in the scorching deserts of Southern Afghanistan, clearing the vast minefields after decades of conflict. Amidst the draconian laws of this extremist regime, one of the team, Richard Lee, an ex-British Army bomb disposal expert, falls foul of corrupt local police chief Ashiq Khan, who then instigates a manhunt to find and kill the infidel. Now embroiled in a deadly game of intrigue and betrayal, Richard must escape on foot across the border into nearby Pakistan, but during his journey he is ambushed by a force of rebel guerrillas, enemies of the government, who agree to help him flee the vengeful Taliban. "