BLOCK CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FILMS:
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5TH AND MAIN (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Just another day in the city? I think not!
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Collin Mapp
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Collin Mapp grew up in Valencia, CA and graduated from Hart High School. Received a BA in Film at the University of Utah and and an MFA in Digital Art at Bowling Green State University. Has lived in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Utah, New York City, and Ohio and loves them all. Loves the energy of a city but longs for the spirit of the midwest. Dreams of the Wild West, comets, and 50’s music. Top five favorite movies are Royal Tenenbaum’s, Raising Arizona, Back to the Future, Home Alone, and Amadeus. Biggest animation inspiration is Norm McLaren. Hobbies include drawing, reading, board games, and projects. Always, always projects.
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ALL THIS LOVE (UK)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A Skeleton struggles to let go of an ex
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Ben likes making films and telling stories. From an early age, it was clear a good, well-crafted story was important to him. Back then they sometimes called it lying, but nowadays it’s considered all good fun and he is happy to swap his stories, ideas, and direction for money, which makes his wife and children happy as they like to buy things. Ben has been nominated and won awards for many of his films, which is always lovely. Recently his debut short film ‘La Merde’, won ‘Best Comedy’ at the IOMFF 2018. A ridiculous comedy based on a true story as it happens but we’ve changed it a bit to protect Emma’s dignity!
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BURIAL (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A kid with dreams of pop stardom takes a shot at the biggest name in the biz.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences, Mild Sensuality
DIRECTOR: nesto
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Music Video
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: nesto is a writer and director. His work has been shown on outlets like Comedy Central, Billboard, Vice, Blumhouse.com and What Youth. They’ve also played in film festivals like London Short Film Festival, Cucalorus and the Portland International Film Festival.
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CAR STEALERS (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: RAYNA, a girl with a supernatural ability to pick locks, helps ZEKE, a charismatic misfit, break into a car. Afterwards, he asks her to join his gang: ‘The Car Stealers,’ a group of ethical car thieves who steal back stolen cars. After Rayna steals a bike, Zeke introduces her to the Car Stealers and unveils their mission: when he was a kid, he was supposed to inherit his dad’s sick 2001 Lexus. Unfortunately, an evil repo man, HERBERT FRANKLIN, got it first. The Car Stealers steal back the Lexus. But the owner of the stolen bike is waiting at their headquarters with a gun. Bob the dog (a member of Car Stealers) has a heart attack and Rayna quits the gang.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language
DIRECTOR: Christopher Guerrero
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS (2): Best Web Series, Best Ensemble Cast – Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Chris Guerrero’s work at BuzzFeed, Super Deluxe, Studio 71 and with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has garnered billions of views all across the Internet. The creative mind behind some of BuzzFeed’s biggest properties, Chris explores story-telling at a breakneck speed in the dynamic world of 21st Century filmmaking. A Latino from the central valley of California, Chris loves making bizarre comedy with a socially-conscious edge.
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CHATROOM (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A woman vies for attention from her cult leader.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Violence
DIRECTOR: Maegan Houang
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (2): Best Music Video, The Minerva Award
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Maegan Houang is a writer and director based in Los Angeles. Born and raised in East Lansing, MI, she grew up watching Hong Kong movies her father showed her on repeat. She currently works on the Starz show COUNTERPART as a staff writer on Season Two for which she wrote episode 207 “No Strings Attached” and co-wrote the finale “Better Angels” with creator/showrunner Justin Marks. Maegan also directed several acclaimed music videos. Her video for Mitski’s “Happy” was featured as #3 Best of the Year in Fact Magazine. Tom Breihan of Stereogum said that if he had made a best music video directors of 2016 List, her name would be #1. Her video for Skylar Spence’s “I Can’t Be Your Superman” received a Vimeo Staff Pick and was nominated for a UKMVA. Her work has been featured in 1.4, Noisey, Videostatic, Promo TV News, Shots Magazine, and Fangoria among others. In 2015, she made 1.4’s Long List for Brilliant Filmmaking. She recently received a VSCO Voices Grant to direct a short film she wrote entitled IN FULL BLOOM starring Kieu Chinh (THE JOY LUCK CLUB). The film is currently on the festival circuit.
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CHILDREN OF SCOTLAND (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A bagpipe music video that celebrates the legends and lore of Celtic cultural heritage.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Jess Dansie
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: First evolving into a DP from a Studio Photographer, now Jess Dansie is making her debut as director with “Children of Scotland.” She received a Certificate of Completion at UCLA’s 2018 Summer Film Production Program and has created videos on YouTube that have garnered millions of views. Her work as DP for a short film called “D-Minus” received a nomination at Austin’s Comedy Short Film Festival 2019 for Best Cinematography. She hopes to one day direct full-feature films that are fun for families and that rival classics like “The Princess Bride.” Her work can be viewed at https://www.joshuatreemedia.com
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COCKROACH BRAIN (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Mantooth’s lead singer J Mantooth goes to bed as himself and wakes up completely different! How long till his band reaches their limit of sympathy?
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Ryan Bayne is an exciting local Idaho filmmaker and musician who has been writing, shooting and editing music videos in Boise and all over.
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COMPETITIVE MOURNING (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A man stalks his prey on the streets of Los Angeles, but on this occasion picks the wrong person to mess with.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Violence
DIRECTOR: Kevin Beauchamp, Mando Lopez
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Music Video
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: MANDO+KEVIN are a Los Angeles based directing duo. They are Mando Lopez and Kevin Beauchamp. Mando Lopez is currently Morrissey’s bassist. He previously was in the band FEAR as well as The Breeders. Kevin Beauchamp is a member of the Art Director’s Guild. He has art directed commercials/promos for the feature film Deadpool, Audi, Honda, Keurig, Volvo, Apple, and many more. He also has a background in special mechanical effects working with artists such as Daft Punk, Radiohead, Gorillaz, Lady Gaga, and countless others.
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CROP DUST (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Pursued by a killer scarecrow, two young women hold on for dear life.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language
DIRECTOR: Thomas Nicol & Andrew Gleason
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Thomas Nicol and Andrew Gleason are filmmakers based out of Champaign, Illinois.
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DEVIL’S LEVEL (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Rock’s legendarily fucked up band the Dwarves take no prisoners on this eye popping hell ride.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Violence, Sensuality, Strong Sexuality, Adult Content
DIRECTOR: nesto
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: nesto is a writer and director. His work has been shown on outlets including Comedy Central, Vice, Billboard, and Blumhouse.com as well as film festivals around the world. His latest short film “Gut Feeling” premiered at the 41st Annual Portland International Film Festival. What Youth magazine named his music video for The Memories in its top 10 list for 2017. Sadly, it lost to Kendrick Lamar.
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FLYTRAP (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Charles falls into a germaphobic hysteria living under the unsanitary habits of his roommate. Narrated by the protagonist, we witness his petty yet paranoid reality unfold as he delivers a confession email to his unreliable advisor, Mr. Waters.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language
DIRECTOR: Connor Bland
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Connor Bland is currently a 2nd Year MFA at the UCLA Animation Workshop Born and raised in the bustling metropolis of Sacramento, CA. He finished his BFA at DePaul University where he originally found his love for animation and filmmaking. While character animation has been his foundation, he eventually strives to direct animated features that stir emotions through compelling storytelling.
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FUSE (GERMANY)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A mousetrap snaps shut, a market place awakens. A group of men heatedly discuss how to kill the animal in the little box. One after the other, they try to trump each other’s sadistic fantasies, and even a stranger’s suggestion to let the creature loose, turns out to be a sick manipulation. But as the macabre game unfolds and spirals out of control, both victim and tormentor suffer the same fate.
RATINGS GUIDE: Strong Language
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Shadi Adib was born in Tehran. Her passion for drawing lead her to a B.D. as graphic designer from Tehran’s Fine Art Faculty and her M.A. as animation director. After that, she worked in Tehran as a concept designer and animator, until she moved to Germany to study at the Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
Already at the beginning of her lateral entry program, her initial project “Filmfabrik” was chosen to be the ITFS Trailer for 2015. Alongside further contributions in third-party projects like “Ich kenne ein Tier”, Shadi developed and animated two films for the Haus der Geschichte Stuttgart as part of the 150th birthday of Carl Lämmle, which were presented until summer 2017 as part of the exhibition. The ad, one of those two films which were produced for the event, was running as part of the Filmschau Baden-Württemberg und earned lots of positive response. In Tehran she worked on her shortfilm “Like a Dream” (“Best Film” 4th Tehran Urban Film Festival) and on the many times awarded short „Alzheimer“ (i.a. “Golden Prize for the best animation” 8th Tehran Animation Festival) as screenwriter, concept artist, and animator. She completed her work on her latest short “Fuse” in 2017. The film was drawn entirely on paper and features among others Nick Cave as one of the main voice actors.
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GINGERFALL: RECKONING (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: Inspired by dark fantasies like Game of Thrones and the beloved childhood board game Candyland, Gingerfall: Reckoning transports you to a world of sugar and vengeance. Combat and crumbshed fill the fields of the gingerbread kingdom. The people have risen up to destroy the tasty tyrants in their candy cane thrones! Let their castle walls crumble like cookies! The revolution is upon us my brethren, and it shall be… delicious!
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Kris Theorin
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Kris is a director, animator, editor, and VFX artist. He has created content for several national brands including LEGO, Tube Heroes, Tongal, Zooppa, StikBot and SOAP Creative. Stop motion animation is one of his specialties but he is equally as talented creating 2D animations, live action short films and commercials.
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MEDIOCRITY FOR MICAH DAHL (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A hand drawn animated music video by Drew Danburry that’s perhaps a bit weird and maybe even experimental.
RATINGS GUIDE: Family
DIRECTOR: Drew Danburry
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS: N/A
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Drew Danburry has independently toured and released records since 2002. He’s released over 400 songs on over 20 albums/13 EPs and played 750 + shows worldwide. Oh yeah…also he’s a filmmaker who’s premiered films around the globe. Whether in Moscow, Russia, the United Kingdom or in Austin, Texas. Plus, he is also a barber who can give you a beautiful haircut and a skateboarder among many other things.
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THE BRAVE HEART (UK)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A quirky and surrealistic action/comedy film; where a brave heart takes a journey inside the body to try to sort out the problems of a hungover morning.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Luca Schenato, Sinem Vardarli
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Sinem Vardarli, Italian/Turkish director and animator born in Istanbul and based in London. She studied animation filmmaking and graduated in Media Design from the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan in 2003. Her first animated short film Fingers Tale (2014) have screened internationally at several major festivals. In 2016, she co-directed a commissioned animated documentary short ‘A pistol against my head’. She contributed to the animated Tv series Floogals in 2017 as Animation Director for NBC/Universal. In 2018 she co-directed independent short film The Brave Heart with Luca Schenato. She is the co-founder of Luca&Sinem director collective where she creates animated commercials, short films and original content. Luca Schenato is born in North Italy. After studying advertising and graphic design at the New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan in 2000, he started to work as art director/director in various animation studios, while teaching animation filmmaking at the NABA Academy in Milan. In 2010 he cofounded his own animation studio with Sinem Vardarli, together they co-directed and produced numerous Tv commercials and shorts. He wrote and directed short films including The Waste Land (2010), Fingers Tale (2013), co-directed a commissioned docu-short film A pistol against my Head and his latest short film The Brave Heart (2018).
He lives in London (UK), where he works as Director/Art director from his own studio Luca&Sinem and currently develops a Tv series and a feature film.
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TOE (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: A starving boy eats a toe he finds sticking out of the ground. Later that night, something ghastly comes to his bedroom wanting it back.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Violence, Nudity, Language
DIRECTOR: Neal O’Bryan, Chad Thurman
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Neal O’Bryan is a graduate from the film/video program at Columbia College Chicago. He works as a full-time photographer specializing in portraiture and concert photography. When he is not taking pictures, he is watching horror movies and reading twisted tales by Roald Dahl, Ray Bradbury and H.G. Wells. Chad Thurman is a Chicago-based comedy writer who originally hails from Louisville, KY. Some of his work can be found in the books, “Trump’s America: Buy This Book And Mexico Will Pay For It” and “Welcome To The Future, Which Is Mine, by Not Elon Musk”, as well as The Onion, where he is a features contributor.
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WIDDERSHINS (UK)
SYNOPSIS: The life of a pampered gentleman is seamlessly automated by machines, but his orderly existence is thrown into chaos when he chooses to pursue a free-spirited woman, against the advice of his robot butler.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences
DIRECTOR: Simon P Biggs
AWARDS WINS / NOMINATIONS (1): Best Animated Short
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Simon P. Biggs is a writer, director and animator. He is best known as a scriptwriter for his short film, High Maintenance, which was made during the Berlin Talent Campus and mentored by legendary Korean director Park Chan-wook. It subsequently toured numerous film festivals around the world, including Telluride, Seattle and Raindance, and won more than twelve festival awards, highlights being an L.A. BAFTA, a US Comedy Award and a Student Oscar. His recent animated project, Testament of Gideon Mack, was nominated for Best Animation at the BAFTA Scotland Awards. He has also animated a series of shorts for Alain de Botton’s School of Life and has just completed his first feature screenplay.
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WITHORWITHOUT (USA)
UTAH PREMIERE
SYNOPSIS: film-slash-music video for the Berlin-based band Parcels. The all-too-real fears of home invasion create an unexpected and genius backdrop for the track “Withorwithout.”
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Strong Violence
DIRECTOR: Benjamin Howdeshell, Milla Jovovich
AWARDS NOMINATIONS (1): Best Music Video
DIRECTOR’S / FILMMAKER’S BIO: Benjamin Howdeshell grew up as a study in contrasts with the gift of an unexpected turn of events. Raised in Wyoming, he is the firstborn son of an immigrant mother, whose determination powered her from an island in the Philippines through medical school to become a well-respected psychiatrist, and an Iowa farm boy, who pursued his passion toward a Ph.D. in chemistry. From an early age, Benjamin was either skiing or making movies. He made an endless array of films with his friends and enjoyed local celebrity in his mountain town as a nationally ranked alpine skier and the Wyoming State Champion. He most recently directed an original short film commissioned by 20th Century Fox and set in the aftermath of Ridley Scott’s “Alien,” in celebration of the 40th Anniversary of that iconic piece of film history.
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