BLOCK CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FILMS:
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APEX
SYNOPSIS: APEX explores the emergence of a higher life form, the convergence of intelligence and higher consciousness in the primordial void of infinite potential. A portal through which something greater has emerged.
DIRECTOR: Stuart T. Birchall
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Birchall, a self taught artist, has been writing and directing since 1998. The multiple award winning director quickly established himself as one of the most prominent and original music promo directors in the rock scene. Working with the likes of ‘Bring Me The Horizon’, ‘Young Guns’, ‘Bullet For My Valentine’, ‘Cradle Of Filth’ ‘Architects’ & ‘Enter Shikari’, for Sony, Virgin EMI, Columbia & Universal.
His dark and broody asthetic translated well through his short films conceptual design and photography. An enigmatic all round artist who is not afraid to challenge audiences and break conventions.
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ARMCHAIR DREAMING
SYNOPSIS: This is the 2nd music video from musician Angie Shyr’s Jackie Highway mobius-strip writing project. It is an illuminated snowglobe of wonder emerging from the beauty and harmony of our hopes & dreams come to life.
DIRECTOR: Gilbert Trejo & Frankie Latina
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: N/A
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BE MY REBEL
SYNOPSIS: Children dream of what they will be as adults and adults dream about their childhood. But sometimes, when orderly life becomes paralyzed in routine, adults need the inner child to bring about change: “Be my rebel”, the first collaboration of the two music legends Nena and Dave Stewart, premiered at Nenas 40th anniversary on stage. The accompanying video by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Virgil Widrich transfers the story into a dreamlike, glass mirror world that is powered by Dave Stewart at the controls of his classic modular synthesizers. At the typewriter: Nena as an annoyed bookkeeper, who threatens to disappear soon with her flower dress in her flower wallpaper. But the inner dialogue works in both directions and soon takes effect: rebellion changes the past – and thus also the future.
DIRECTOR: Virgil Widrich
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Virgil Widrich, born 1967 in Salzburg, works on numerous multimedia and film productions. His first feature film is “Heller als der Mond” (“Brighter than the Moon”). His short film “Copy Shop” won 35 international awards and was nominated for the Oscar. “Fast Film” premiered in Cannes 2003 and won 36 awards until today. His newest feature film is “Night of a 1000 Hours” (2016). Virgil Widrich lives in Vienna/Austria.
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CLOAK THE NIGHT
SYNOPSIS: Cloak the Night explores the power interplay between man, women and dogmatic institution as represented through
surrealist symbolism.
DIRECTOR: Aleks Sakowski
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Driven by strong visual narratives, Aleksander’s looking glass focuses on spaces in time that often go unnoticed, it finds beauty within beasts, and projects our entropic virtual flux.
In between building his own sci fi universe, he has worked across many of the mediums in animation and live action production, combining inter-disciplinary skills with an ever evolving quality for directing. He strives for esoteric excellence treating each project like a film resonating with a new generation of storytellers.
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DISSIMULATE
SYNOPSIS: “Dissimulate” by Inoculum paints a dystopian portrait of a surreal world where the populace is controlled not through physical force, but through distraction. Everyday people locked in an unbreakable staring contest with the almighty screen while outside a group of anonymous agents gather, the books pile higher and higher, and the gasoline pours down…
DIRECTOR: Jordan Miller
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Jordan Miller is an award-winning filmmaker, musician and producer living in the greater Washington DC area. He has produced and directed numerous music videos and short films, and released his first directorial feature film, “The Red Effect”, in early 2017 to praise and awards from both the Queens World Film Festival and the San Fransisco Black Film Festival. Jordan has most recently completed his directorial short horror film, “Three”, as well as producing and editing the dark thriller short, “17 Locust St”.
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DISTINCT
SYNOPSIS: A young woman is trapped in an abstract world haunted by an audience of one.
DIRECTOR: Leah R. Brown
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Leah R. Brown is an American video director and editor. Her work experience includes: short documentaries, commercials, music videos, fashion editorials, and experimental films.
She enjoys collaborating with other artists and musicians on personal video projects which tend to be of the art house/avant garde genre with recurring themes in fashion, science fiction, the unknown, and the weird.
She just released her first broadcast commercials for Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant and is currently working on her first short film, a sci-fi thriller, set to be in production 2019.
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EUPHORIA
SYNOPSIS: An artist is kidnapped by his fan base and dragged to face off with his 6 year old daughter to confront the dark side of fame.
DIRECTOR: Wynter Rhys
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Wynter Rhys is an award winning visionary director, writer, and editor from the Seattle area. Her signature aesthetic and storytelling style represents the controversial and abstract thoughts that push the boundaries of society and common thinking. She wants her films to ignite raw truth and get under an audience’s skin. As a director, she begins and instills the story, but she believes the story evolves and resolves itself within the mind of her audience – which is precisely the reason why her films are so psychological. Universally human, undeniably chilling, and beautifully visceral – this is the foundation of every piece she creates.
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FUTURO
SYNOPSIS: Hop on a bus to the land of the partying dead and insane.
DIRECTOR: Diego Tucci
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Born in Buenos Aires in 1983, started his career as a Producer in 2005.Leading the production company Refugio Films he produced commercials and music videos for the most renowned and influential artists of the region, such as Gustavo Cerati, Maná, among others.In 2014 directed his first music video “Fantasmas” for the Argentinian band Miranda! marking the beginning of a new stage.In 2015 his video for “Hola mi vida” by Tan Bionica was nominated for Best Music Video of the Year at the Gardel Awards (Argentina). Also “No llora” by the Uruguayan band El Cuarteto de Nos was nominated for Best Music Video at the Graffiti Awards (Uruguay) and Best Short Form Music Video at the Latin Grammy Awards.
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GIANT WOMEN, MICRO-BUDGET
SYNOPSIS: A trophy wife, two classically trained actresses, a veteran director and his very unique crew make cinema history. Giant Woman, Micro-budget is celebration of super low budget filmmaking as we experience a very eventful day of production of the film Mecha-Fembot Vs Giantess Attacks. The talents of director Jeff Leroy and his cast: Vlada Fox, Tasha Tacosa and Rachel Riley are on full display in this action packed documentary.
DIRECTOR: Jason Kartalian
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Jason Kartalian is an American film producer, director and writer. He was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, his mother was a jewelry craftsperson and his father was the actor Buck Kartalian. Jason graduated from the film program at California State University Northridge. His first feature Pedestrian, was selected to numerous film festivals and won the best picture and best screenplay award at the AFMA Film Festival and the Best Screenplay Award at the Long Island Film Expo.
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KA KA KA KA
SYNOPSIS: A conspiratorial choir tries to establish absolute power by destroying the individuality of the Boxmen Troop. Although the choir seems to have accomplished their goal, chaos threatens to erupt at any moment.
DIRECTOR: HannaXueou Yu
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Hanna Xueou Yu is a San Francisco filmmaker. She strives to make films that are visually beautiful, while evoking deep emotions.
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OMPHALOSKEPSIS
SYNOPSIS: A young woman confronts her umbilical obsession with uncanny results.
DIRECTOR: Will Berry
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Will Berry is a writer/director/cinematographer finishing his senior year at Brown University. Originally from Maine, he launched his filmmaking career in Nashville, Tennessee by directing “The Little Stage” (2016) and “Nashedonia” (2017). This past fall, he had the honor of writing and directing “Omphaloskepsis” for Brown Motion Pictures.
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PAPRIKA
SYNOPSIS: In the mid sixties, a beautiful lady invites men in her stylish apartment. Her actions are spied by a man in black.
DIRECTOR: Gwen Francois
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Gwen François is a french commercial, film and music video director. He directed many commercials for prestigious brands like Adidas and music videos where the sound is always the support of the storytelling. With the short film « Number », he shows how, by the use of music & simple close-ups, he can tell a smart story. In 2010, he founded a production company, named Skill Lab, with Julien Becker where they produce live action, animation & documentary projects.
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PHOTOTAXIS
SYNOPSIS: “Phototaxis” draws parallels between Mothman, a prophetic and demonized creature in West Virginia lore, and Narcotics Anonymous, the main treatment program in West Virginia’s addiction epidemic. Rooted in nonfiction, this film contemplates synchronicity and the role of belief systems in perception; the tendency to assign supernatural meaning to tragedy and the unknowable; anonymous and apocryphal oral histories; and the moth to the flame. To visualize these narratives, natural materials and pastel-on-paper palimpsest animation are woven together using a multiplane and analog overhead projection.
DIRECTOR: Melissa Ferrari
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Melissa Ferrari is an experimental animation artist who seeks to acquaint mythologies of the past with contemporary ideas through the lens of philosophy. In exposing peripheral histories, she seeks to unveil the mystery and wonder that lies in the shadow of nonfiction, rather than fiction. Ultimately, her practice is compelled by a desire to critically traverse philosophical ideas in an art made by hand.
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RELAX, IT’S PROBABLY JUST A PARASITE
SYNOPSIS: A hypochondriac tries to figure out what’s ailing him. Hopefully it’s just a parasite.
DIRECTOR: Joel D. Benjamin
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Transplanted to Chicago atop rampaging bison from northwest Iowa, Joel Benjamin is a School of the Art Institute graduate spending most of his time moving things around pixel by pixel. He is adjunct faculty of both SAIC and DePaul University teaching 2D and 3D animation and is an award-winning animator and film-maker.
Joel started the minuscule Motion Graphics company Electricbeard Productions and works as a motion designer on both corporate/commercial projects as well as more creative ones. Most of his free time is spent working on either developing carpal tunnel, or producing animated shorts.
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RUN THIS
SYNOPSIS: Journey the urban streets of China in this groovy hip hop treat from Asia.
DIRECTOR: Arden Tse
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Arden is originally from Hong Kong, and spent his youth in England. He completed his Bachelor’s in Film & TV Production at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles where he continues to rock your world.
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THE LEAGUE OF STEAM:
THE INVITATION TO ARMAGEDDON
SYNOPSIS: A Steampunk Musical! In 1888, on a mission to save the world, The League of S.T.E.A.M. (a team of steampunk monster-hunters) take a roller coaster down into Hell to face off with The Devil.
DIRECTOR: Trip Hope & Paul Hough
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Trip Hope is the Creator/Producer of The League of S.T.E.A.M. He’s produced feature films, The Human Race & Innocent Blood, and The Division web series. He’s a notable artist in the steampunk community.
Paul Hough directed The League of S.T.E.A.M. musical special “The Invitation to Armageddon”. He’s the director of feature films, The Human Race and The Backyard. He loves musicals and dance movies!
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U.S. BUTCHER
SYNOPSIS: People sometimes disappear in this remote area, but these crimes are never investigated. The reason for this is the Sheriff and his maniac family.
DIRECTOR: Aleksey Smirnov
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: In 2002, I started my creative career in the gaming industry. I’ve gone the way from 2d\3d and texture artist, to the head of visual effects department. From 2009 to this day I am a freelance artist in the company “CGF”, which specializes in creating visual effects for the film industry. I have experience of VFX-supervising projects.
Since 2016, I have been working as ART director in companies “Svetoforma” and “Stunning content”. Both of these companies specialize in 3D projection mapping show. Founder of “Zlo production”. Screenwriter, director and producer of music videos.
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