ALPHABETICAL DESCRIPTION OF FILMS

The following alphabetical listing gives a brief description and presentation time of each offering included in this year's Film Festival. All films will be shown in the Medford Room. All information provided in the listing is for DVDs and does not include shipping charges, if any. All presentations will be shown in groups according to content area as indicated in the film schedule for each day (given at the beginning of each day's activities within the daily program). Notably, a special Encore! Presentation of last year's Film Festival winners will take place Thursday evening. Last year's winning films are so noted in the alphabetical listing below. A more complete description of each film will be available for your inspection in the screening room, and free brochures also will be available for most of the films. The names and addresses of participating film distributors are provided immediately following the present listingThe following alphabetical listing gives a brief description and presentation time of each offering included in this year's Film Festival. All films will be shown in the Medford Room. All information provided in the listing is for DVDs and does not include shipping charges, if any. All presentations will be shown in groups according to content area as indicated in the film schedule for each day (given at the beginning of each day's activities within the daily program). Notably, a special Encore! Presentation of last year's Film Festival winners will take place Thursday evening. Last year's winning films are so noted in the alphabetical listing below. A more complete description of each film will be available for your inspection in the screening room, and free brochures also will be available for most of the films. The names and addresses of participating film distributors are provided immediately following the present listing.

A REASON TO LIVE (52 mins)
Thursday 2:45 p.m.
A powerful new documentary about teen and young adult depression and suicide - penetrating, personal stories of despair and hope told by the young people themselves and their families. Josh, age 20, tried to jump off a bridge over a Dallas tollway. At 17, Haley swallowed 200 pills. And, at 22, Armekia cut herself repeatedly with a razor to relieve the pain. The honesty and openness of these individuals bring us face to face with a mental illness that can result in the third-leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds.
Media Projects, Inc.   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $50
Purchase Price: $199

AMERICAN OUTRAGE (56 mins)
Saturday 4:45 p.m.
American Outrage is the heroic story of Carrie and Mary Dann, feisty Western Shoshone ranching sisters who have been fighting the U.S. government for their land rights and human rights for 35 years. They have always grazed their livestock on the range outside their ranch in north central Nevada. That range is part of sixty million acres recognized by the U.S. as Western Shoshone land in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. Ignoring the treaty, in 1974 the U.S. sued the Danns for trespassing on U.S. Public Land without a grazing permit. Their dispute swept to the United States Supreme Court and eventually to the United Nations. Contrasting the Danns' personal lives and political actions, American Outrage examines why the United States would spend millions of dollars prosecuting and persecuting two elderly women grazing a few hundred horses and cattle in a desolate desert.
Bullfrog Films   (2008, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $295

APHASIA: STRUGGLING FOR UNDERSTANDING (14 mins)
Friday 2:45 p.m.
What if your ability to speak was taken away with no warning and you struggled to find words that just won't come? This is what happens to people with aphasia that affects more than 1 million Americans and 100,000 Canadians. This story is about two people faced with the daunting task of learning to speak again with considerable assistance from their compassionate families.
Filmakers Library   (2009, DVD)
Rental Price: $65
Purchase Price: $195

BECOMING AYDEN (47 mins)
Saturday 1:30 p.m.
Seventeen year-old Adina Scheim from Toronto is becoming a boy named Ayden. Her father, a conservative rabbi, has a hard time dealing with this transformation.
Filmakers Library   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $295

BETWEEN MADNESS AND ART (75 mins)
Thursday 1:30 p.m.
Between Madness and Art examines issues of the link between psychological states and the creative process, the relationship between psychosis and the artistic impulse, what can art works produced by mental patients tell us about artistic genius, and whether art therapy be helpful in the treatment of the mentally ill through the story of Dr. Hans Prinzhorn (1886-1933), a German student of psychiatry and art history. As Director of the Heidelberg Psychiatric Clinic in the 1920s, he was fascinated by the beauty and expressiveness of the drawings, paintings and sculptures of his schizophrenic patients. He began to study and preserve this art, eventually writing a seminal study, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, and by the time of his death had organized the largest collection of its type in the world.
Icarus Films   (2007, DVD)
Rental Price: $150
Purchase Price: $440

BYRON CHIEF-MOON: GREY HORSE RIDER (48 mins)
Saturday 3:30 p.m.
Father of three, successful TV actor and artist and proud member of the First Nations two-spirited gay community, Byron Chief-Moon is a fascinating mesh of dynamic personae. But when he dances alone in the forest, the complexity of the real world washes away, and we can see his spiritual self take hold. The documentary explores Chief-Moon's identity in which his art and his life continuously cross boundaries.
Frameline   (2007, DVD)
Rental Price: $90 (with unpaid admission)
Purchase Price: $150

CHEAT NEUTRAL (13 mins)
Saturday 4:30 p.m.
Since the 1960s, concentrations of heartbreak, cheating, and jealousy in the atmosphere have risen dramatically. CheatNeutral.com offers a unique market-based solution to this essential problem of modern life. For the cost of a condom, those who have cheated on their partners can have their cheating ‘offset' by a global network of fidelity. This satirical documentary follows the rise of CheatNeutral.com, from the streets of Cardiff to the Houses of Parliament, sparking an important and timely debate about the inadequacies of carbon offsetting.
Bullfrog Films   (2007, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $30
Purchase Price: $150

EQUALITY U (90 mins)
Saturday 12:00 p.m.
Equality U tells the story of the Soulforce Equality Ride on their two-month, cross-country tour to confront anti-gay discrimination policies at 19 conservative religious and military colleges, and their experiences combating hatred, fear, and ignorance through direct action. Their goal: to engage in a dialogue with university administration and students, explaining the tragic consequences that discriminatory policies have had on LGBT lives. Some schools welcome them, while others have them arrested and prevent them from speaking to students. Can these young activists create social change, one university at a time? How will the road change them?
Frameline   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $90 (with unpaid admission)
Purchase Price: $250

FAT CHANCE (52 mins)
Friday 1:45 p.m.
When single mom and filmmaker Yuka Sekiguchi, overweight at nearly 200 pounds and fast approaching fifty, determines to lose weight in hopes of becoming healthier and happier, she decides to film her struggle, figuring that public humiliation will be a strong incentive to succeed. Although, along her journey, Yuka learns much from experts such as Dr. Gary Egger, founder of GutBusters, and plastic surgeon Dr. Sean Nicklin (on whom she develops a crush, renewing her interest in men after many years), her deepest insights are gained from her sessions with psychotherapist Dr. George Blair-West, a specialist in the psychology of overeating. Discovering the emotional roots of her overeating, Yuka comes to term with some deeply personal issues and, in the process, learns not just about her body, but also finds herself.
Icarus Films   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $100
Purchase Price: $390

GOOD DAYS, BAD DAYS (22 mins)
Thursday 12:00 p.m.
This intimate documentary profiles several individuals who love and support someone who is struggling with mental illness, examining the profound impact that these disorders can have on other family members.
Fanlight Productions   (2007, DVD)
Rental Price: $60/day
Purchase Price: $199

HER BRILLIANT CAREER (50 mins)
Friday 12:00 p.m.
Though working women have made progress in breaking through the infamous "glass ceiling" over the past decade, they still remain notably absent in the boardroom. Her Brilliant Career examines discrimination in the workplace and politics, and introduces the viewer to a controversial program for women executives in the U.S. Known as the "Bully Broad" program, its premise is that women must modify the appearance of aggressive behavior in order to make it in a man's world. Although some women attack the program as anti-feminist, executive coach Jean Holland claims 85% of her graduates get promoted within a year.
Filmakers Library   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $295

HIDDEN GIFTS: THE MYSTERY OF ANGUS MACPHEE (26 mins)
Thursday 1:00 p.m.
Hidden Gifts explores the mysterious relationship between artistic expression and mental illness through the story of Scotsman Angus MacPhee, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1946 and sent to the Craig Dunain Psychiatric Hospital near Inverness. Although MacPhee was a patient there for fifty years, in a case of elective mutism he spoke not a single word to any of the hospital staff. The sole expression of "the quiet big man" was his solitary weaving of clothes-including coats, gloves and boots-from grass, samples of which are seen on display in an art gallery.
Icarus Films   (2005, DVD)
Rental Price: $100
Purchase Price: $225

IT'S A DIFFERENT WORLD (28 mins)
Thursday 3:45 p.m.
It's A Different World follows three autistic children in one family: Scott (11), Stephen and Katie Turner (10-year-old twins) over the course of two years. Each child was given a video camera to help explore their thoughts and feelings. This technique led to unique documentation of each child's changing perspective on being autistic. The film is a captivating glimpse into three different faces of autism, and viewers can expect to have some of their preconceptions challenged.
Filmakers Library   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $75
Purchase Price: $250

IT'S STILL ELEMENTARY (51 mins)
Thursday 7:15 p.m.

KIDS + MONEY (33 mins)
Friday 10:00 a.m.
An original short film by award-winning filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield, kids + money is a conversation with young people from diverse Los Angeles communities about the role of money in their lives. From rich to poor, Pacific Palisades to East L.A., kids address how they are shaped by a culture of consumerism. In kids + money, Greenfield takes the cultural temperature of a generation imprinted by commercial values. Born of the extremes of poverty and wealth that define the Los Angeles landscape, kids tell their stories in a series of interview-based "portraits."
Bullfrog Films   (2007, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $45
Purchase Price: $195

LEST WE FORGET: SILENT VOICES (42 mins)
Thursday 4:15 p.m.
Documenting the least-known part of the civil rights movement, these are the first-person stories of people with developmental disabilities Ñ labeled "mentally defective" Ñ who were sent away to state institutions. It also features the voices of the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters who were left behind, as well as pioneering professionals and advocates who put their own lives and careers in jeopardy to change the system.
Fanlight Productions   (2007, DVD)
Rental Price: $60/day
Purchase Price: $249

MASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH (50 mins)
Thursday 11:00 a.m.
Why did a shy student with no criminal record commit the worst gun rampage ever at a U.S. college? Psychologists, professors and witnesses try to understand what went wrong.
Filmakers Library   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $350

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: COGNITIVE & LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT (20 mins)
Friday 9:30 a.m.
Between ages 6 and 12, children's minds expand as their thinking becomes more logical and more organized. Learn strategies to foster strong cognitive development, stages of reading and writing development, the role memory plays, and how intelligence is measured.
Learning Seed   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: N/A
Purchase Price: $99

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD: SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (24 mins)
Friday 9:00 a.m.
Between ages 6 and 12, children develop many of the social skills they'll use through adulthood. They form self-concepts and self-esteem, build new kinds of relationships, and begin to regulate more of their own behavior.
Learning Seed   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: N/A
Purchase Price: $99

PASSION AND FURY: THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN: ANGER (43 mins)
Thursday 8:15 p.m.

SECRECY (80 mins)
Saturday 9:00 a.m.
In a single recent year the U.S. classified about five times the number of pages added to the Library of Congress. We live in a world where the production of secret knowledge dwarfs the production of open knowledge. Depending on whom you ask, government secrecy is either the key to victory in our struggle against terrorism, or our Achilles heel. But is so much secrecy a bad thing? This film is about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. By focusing on classified secrets, the government's ability to put information out of sight if it would harm national security, Secrecy explores the tensions between our safety as a nation, and our ability to function as a democracy.
Bullfrog Films   (2008, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $95
Purchase Price: $295

SIMPLY LOVE (48 mins)
Saturday 2:30 p.m.
41 Years after the lovers Marcel and Marijke parted, a letter of request arrives from the Municipality Search Service looking for Marcel, who has now transitioned into a woman called Marcella. His old love Marijke has not forgotten about her Marcel. The fire rekindles and soon marriage is in the picture. Can love conquer all obstacles?
Frameline   (2006, DVD)
Rental Price: $90 (with unpaid admission)
Purchase Price: $200

SOLDIERS OF CONSCIENCE (54 mins)
Thursday 10:00 a.m.
Soldiers of Conscience reveals that far more soldiers decide not to kill than we might expect. Made with official permission from the U.S. Army and filmed in high definition video, Soldiers of Conscience includes never-before-seen footage of basic training and the war in Iraq, with an original soundtrack from an Academy Award winner and composer. It is a realistic yet optimistic look at war, peace, and the power of the human conscience.
Bullfrog Films   (2007, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $250

STRAIGHTLACED - HOW GENDER'S GOT US ALL TIED UP (66 mins)
Friday 10:45 a.m.
With a fearless look at a highly charged subject, Straightlaced unearths how popular pressures around gender and sexuality are confining American teens. From girls confronting media messages about body image to boys who are sexually active just to prove they aren't gay, this fascinating array of students opens up with brave and intimate honesty about the toll that deeply held stereotypes and rigid gender policing have on all of our lives.
GroundSpark   (2009, DVD)
Rental Price: $50
Purchase Price: $99

STUFFED (20 mins)
Thursday 12:30 p.m.
Some people can't seem to throw anything away. This engaging documentary invites us to enter the mind of the compulsive hoarder, while dispelling the stereotype that all "packrats" are isolated elderly derelicts. Hoarding is widely thought to be related to OCD, but this film notes that recent studies suggest it may be a neurologically distinct condition.
Fanlight Productions   (2006, DVD)
Rental Price: $60/day
Purchase Price: $219

THE CAREGIVERS (46 mins)
Thursday 5:00 p.m.
Follows brain cancer patients and the loved ones who care for them as they face painful and frightening medical procedures and their side effects, while trying to balance hope and realism in the face of a discouraging prognosis.
Fanlight Productions   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $60/day
Purchase Price: $249

THE DHAMMA BROTHERS (76 mins)
Friday 3:00 p.m.
An overcrowded maximum-security prison-the end of the line in Alabama's correctional system-is dramatically changed by the influence of an ancient meditation program. Donaldson Correction Facility becomes the first maximum-security prison in North America to hold an extended Vipassana (meaning "to see things as they are") retreat for convicts, an emotionally and physically demanding course of silent meditation lasting ten days. The Dhamma Brothers tells a dramatic tale of human potential and transformation as it closely follows and documents the stories of the prison inmates who enter into this arduous and intensive program.
Bullfrog Films   (2007, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $95
Purchase Price: $275

THE WATER FRONT (53 mins)
Saturday 5:45 p.m.
With a shrinking population, the post-industrial city of Highland Park, Michigan is on the verge of financial collapse. The state of Michigan has appointed an Emergency Financial Manager who sees the water plant as key to economic recovery. She has raised water rates and has implemented severe measures to collect on bills. As a result, Highland Park residents have received water bills as high as $10,000, they have had their water turned off, their homes foreclosed, and are struggling to keep water, a basic human right, from becoming privatized. The Water Front is the story of an American city in crisis but it is not just about water. The story touches on the very essence of our democratic system and is an unnerving indication of what is in store for residents around the world facing their own water struggles. The film raises questions such as: Who determines the future of shared public resources? What are alternatives to water privatization? How will we maintain our public water systems and who can we hold accountable?
Bullfrog Films   (2007, DVD, VHS)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $250

TRACES OF THE TRADE: A STORY FROM THE DEEP NORTH (86 mins)
Saturday 10:30 a.m.
Katrina Browne was shocked to uncover her New England family's deep involvement in the Triangle Trade, and invited two hundred family members to join her on a journey to explore their family's past. Only nine came, ranging from a 71-year-old Episcopal priest to a County Commissioner from Oregon. Intrepid, intellectually and morally engaged, and a little too polite and "Protestant" for at least one among them, they retrace the Triangle Trade from their ancestors' Bristol cemetery to the slave castles of Ghana and the ruins of a family plantation in Cuba.
California Newsreel   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: N/A
Purchase Price: $195 (Colleges, Corporations, Gov't Agencies) 49.95 (High Schools, Public Libraries, HBCUs and qualifying Community Organizations)

WHY DO WE MARRY? (45 mins)
Friday 1:00 p.m.
This heartwarming film explores why people of a variety of ages, cultures, and gender orientation, still want to marry in an era when it is socially acceptable for couples to live together, forgoing wedding vows.
Filmakers Library   (2008, DVD)
Rental Price: $85
Purchase Price: $250

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