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The Fifth Annual Takoma Park Film Festival
Friday, November 17 - Sunday, November 19, 2006

Opening Night Program (1 hr. 28 min.)
Friday, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

A Short History of Sweet Potato Pie and How It Became A Flying Saucer
Documentary, 17:25
The true life story of Pearl Mallory's sweet potato pie and its magical effect on the elderly residents of St. Mary's Court Retirement Community.
Director: Nina Seavey, Takoma Park MD (in person)
Awards: Audience Award, DC Shorts Film Festival, IDA Distinguished Short Award 2006, nominee.

Black Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice
Documentary, 70:00
Black Diamonds charts the escalating drama in Appalachia over the alarming increase in large mountaintop coal mines. These mammoth operations have covered 1200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste; demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest; and flattened hundred of Appalachian mountain peaks. Citizen testimony and visual documentation interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists, and scientists create a riveting portrait of an American region fighting for its life--caught between the grinding wheels of the national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride, and natural beauty.
Director: Catherine Pancake, Baltimore MD
Website: Black Diamonds

Note: There will be an encore presentation of Black Diamonds followed by a Q & A between the director and local environmental activists Sunday, November 19th at 4:00 pm at Sangha (7014 Westmoreland Ave Takoma Park, MD 20912).

Kids' Shorts (30 min.)
Saturday, 12:00 pm - 12:30 pm

Pink Chum Chum, The Hair Fairy (2006)
Music Video, 6:00
A high-spirited song and dance video tribute to one woman's silken long hair. Original music was composed by Steve Hilmy, of the Electronic and Computer Music Studio at The George Washington University.
Director: Jeannine Mjoseth, Takoma, DC
Premiere.

My Monster Movie (2006)
Narrative Short, 3:00
A monster invades the living room of 6-year-old Zander while he is playing legos. He runs out to the backyard and gets his younger brother. With the aid of the Über Juice, they fight the monsters and drive them back to their nether realms.
Director: Dan Horstman, Frederick MD & Los Angeles CA
Premiere.

The Lego Problem (2005-2006)
Narrative short, 4:24
Legos come to life and wreak havoc on the household of two boys.
Directors: Julian Boilen and Ezra Wexler, Silver Spring MD
Premiere.

The Grocery Store Incident (2006)
Animation, 1:44
An animated argument in a grocery store.
Director: Isaac Axtmann, Silver Spring MD

Little Miss Muffin Sat in a ... Tree? (2006)
Animation, 3:03
A claymation cat is stuck in a claymation tree.
Collaborators: Aziza Azfal, Julian Boilen, Austin and Bazi Johnson, Celeste Robinson, with Laurie Stepp, Silver Spring MD

The Jumblies (2006)
Animation, 3:06
An animation based on the Edward Lear poem.
Collaborators: Laurie Stepp, Julian Boilen and Michelle Cooley-Klein, Silver Spring MD
Premiere.

Icy the Ice Cream Cone(2006)
Animation, 1:06
A pedestrian safety public service announcement.
Director: Alina Butareva

Sparky(2006)
Animation, 1:06
A fire safety public service announcement.
Directors: Jeremy Blair and Che Bouknight

Charlie the Chimp(2006)
Animation, 1:06
A fire safety public service announcement.
Directors: Jumi Bello, Jack Snyder, Janna Redmond

The Devil's Trademark(2006)
Animation, 2:00
An animation based on the novel Black Beauty by Anna Sewell.
Directors: Kamilah Foley, Ben Muller, James Swartz

A Story Changes an Attitude(2006)
Documentary, 2:00
A youth-produced documentary about Days End Horse Farm, a refuge for abused and neglected horses.
Directors: Sara Gregerman, Erica Horne, Yasmin Kadry, Rebecca Novello

Saturday, 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm Kids' Reception

Open to all youth artists, their families, and fans.

Kitty Rashomon (1 hr. 40 min.)
Saturday, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Kitty Rashomon
Narrative Feature. 1:40:00 min.
Two critics making a documentary discover the truth about a mysterious teenage filmmaker. Or do they? Enter the strange dark world of Kitty Williams, where nightmares haunt the daylight hours and nothing is quite what it seems.
Director: David Minton, Takoma Park MD (in person)

Generation Engaged (43 min.)
Saturday, 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Wolf Whistle (2006)
Documentary, 6:35
Women and girls speak to how they feel about being subject to wolf whistles and other forms of street harassment.
Director: Hawa Touré, Silver Spring MD (in person)

A Fresh Look At Metro Access (2006)
Documentary, 5:37
Kara Nicole Jones, a young woman with cerebral palsy, takes her audience for a ride on Montgomery County's troubled paratransit system, MetroAccess. In the video, she interviews people knowledgeable about the problems and discusses her experiences.
Director: Kara Nicole Jones, Silver Spring, MD (in person)

Finding Our Turf (2006)
Documentary, 21:00
A youth-produced video about the nature of teen space in downtown Silver Spring.
Director: Lisa Jaeggi, Silver Spring MD

Woody Guthrie: Spokesperson for the Common Man (2006)
Documentary, 10:00
A short documentary about how the singer overcame hardship and personal tragedy to become a spokesperson for the common man.
Director: Melissa Mergner, Silver Spring MD

Mayhem (60 min.)
Saturday, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Program contains simulated violence and adult themes.

?
Animation, 1:06
A short hand-drawn animation created by a 16-year old student in which "Monkey" and "Mouse" have an animated altercation.
Director: Andy Thomas, Silver Spring MD
Premiere.

Nervous Habit (2006)
Narrative short, 9:30
A strange and panicked woman arrives at a car dealership, telling the salesman that she needs a car and get to the airport to escape from her pursuing husband. The salesman agrees, not knowing what secrets she hides.
Director: Avi Edelman, Silver Spring MD (in person)
Premiere.

Suicide Café (2006)
Narrative short, 7:04
A bitter dark comedy about a café that specializes in serving up suicides to customers...with a satisfaction guarantee. A dissatisfied customer returns for her third (and final) visit.
Director: Ronald Keith, Alexandria VA
Premiere.

Creepy (2006)
Narrative short, 39:00
A thrilling and frightening story of two young boys left alone for the night with a serial kidnapper on the prowl.
Director: Rod Haxton, Silver Spring MD (in person)
Premiere.

Public Space, Personal Histories (1 hr. 35 min.)
Saturday, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Long Branch (2006)
Experimental video, 1:00
Shot during a dog walk on the bike path behind Garland Avenue by the artist as he was preparing to leave Takoma Park. "This video is dedicated to Birdy (my dog) and Steve (my upstairs neighbor at 8007 Garland)."
Director: Justin Plakas, Spartanburg SC
Maryland premiere.

Carousel of Memories (2005)
Documentary, 26:49
For generations of Washingtonians, a ride on the Glen Echo Park's Dentzel carousel is a treasured memory. Their recollections evoke the carousel's many roles over time: from an amusement park ride, to a symbol for the civil rights movement, to an endangered work of art.
Director: Cintia Cabib, Chevy Chase MD (in person)

Public Witness (2006)
Documentary, 1:07:00
This is the story of George W. Bush's first day as President, told by supporters and protesters, and featuring local music from Brendan Canty, Fugazi, and Youth Brigade.
Director: C.W. Prather, Arlington VA (in person)
Maryland premiere.
Website: Public Witness

Talk to Me (1 hr. 13 min.)
Sunday, 1:00pm - 2:30 p.m.

Plain English (2002)
16mm experimental film, 9:00
Breakfast/Lunch with Be-aku and Kurosawa/Mifune. Dialogue courtesy of English as a second language records circa 1960.
Director: John Standiford, Baltimore MD

The Third Tongue (2002)
16mm experimental film (shown on video), 14:00
Through exploring the process of a non-native speaker's practicing English, the film represents a fear engendered by a sense of loss of historical identity in post-colonial society.
Directory: Kwang-Ju Son, Amsterdam NL

Marko Potatovic (2005)
Animation, 5:41
A 3D animation of a conversation between the former President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic and his son, Marko, about plastic surgery. Based on a telephone conversation recorded by Croatian intelligent agents.
Director: Aaron Oldenburg, Baltimore MD.

Palindrome (2000)
16mm experimental film, 11:00
The circular has collapsed itself into a straight line. This is a film about the mechanism of desire and the desire to become formless.
Director: Rebecca Reynolds, Catonsville MD (in person)
Award: Honorable Mention, Onion City Film Festival, 2001

Walls (2006)
Narrative Short, 12:47
A young woman runs desperately through the late night streets of New York. Finding herself in a deserted subway station, she encounters an enigmatic loner--a self-proclaimed "modern-day hobo" who invites her to take a closer look at the complexities hidden in simple things.
Director: Emerie Snyder, Takoma Park MD
Premiere.

Esperanto Novjorko (2005)
Documentary: 20:00
La Universala Lingua was invented by L.L. Zamenhof, a teenager living in Warsaw's Jewish ghetto who wished to end clashes between ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups. Surviving the atrocitites of the 20th century, it spread worldwide. Meet the Esperantists of New York City who keep Zamenhof's language and dream of international peace and communication alive.
Director: Pilar Rau, Baltimore MD and New York, NY
Maryland premiere.

In The City ( 1 hr. 51 min.)
Sunday, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

In Order Not To Be Here (2002)
16mm experimental film, 33:00
An uncompromising look at the ways privacy, safety, convenience and surveillance determine our environment. Shot entirely at night, the film confronts the hermetic nature of white-collar communities, dissecting the fear behind contemporary suburban design. An isolation-based fear. A fear of irregularity. A fear of thought. A fear of self. By examining evacuated suburban and corporate landscapes, the film reveals a peculiarly 21st century hollowness...an emptiness born of our collective faith in safety and technology. This is a new genre of horror movie, attempting suburban locations as states of mind.
Director: Deborah Stratman, Chicago IL
Awards: Humboldt International Film Festival: best experimental, March 2003; Ann Arbor Film Festival: best experimental & best narrative integrity, March 2003; Media City Film Festival: honorable mention, February 2003; CinemaTexas Int'l Film Festival: gecko award for best short film, September 2002; Chicago Underground Film Festival: best experimental, August 2002; THAW Film/Video Festival: best of the festival, May 2002

Contested Streets (2006)
Documentary, 57:00
Contested Streets explores the history and culture of New York City streets from pre-automobile times to the present. This examination allows for an understanding of how the city - though the most well served by mass transit in the U.S. - has slowly relinquished what was a rich, multi-dimensional conception of the street as public space to a mindset that priorities the rapid movement of cars and trucks over all other functions.
Director: Stefan Schaefer, New York, NY
Website: Transit Alternatives

Finding Our Turf (2006)
Documentary, 21:00
A youth-produced video about the nature of teen space in downtown Silver Spring.
Director: Lisa Jaeggi, Silver Spring MD

Panel Discussion on the Urban Environment
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Moderator: Steve Mencher, former NPR producer and Owner, Mensch Media

Black Diamonds, Encore Presentation at Sangha
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Black Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice
Documentary, 70:00
Black Diamonds charts the escalating drama in Appalachia over the alarming increase in large mountaintop coal mines. These mammoth operations have covered 1200 miles of headwater streams with mining waste; demolished thousands of acres of hardwood forest; and flattened hundred of Appalachian mountain peaks. Citizen testimony and visual documentation interwoven with the perspectives of government officials, activists, and scientists create a riveting portrait of an American region fighting for its life--caught between the grinding wheels of the national appetite for cheap energy and an enduring sense of Appalachian culture, pride, and natural beauty.

Followed by a Q & A with director Catherine Pancake, Bill Price (Sierra Club EJ Resource Coordinator, Central Appalachia) and others.
Sangha is located at 7014 Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912.
Director: Catherine Pancake, Baltimore MD (in person)
Website: Black Diamonds

Closing Night Program (3 hrs)
Sunday, 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm

The Long Haul of A. I. Bezzerides (2005)
Documentary, 52:00
A new documentary on the Greek-American crime novelist and screenwriter, featuring clips from his best known films and interviews with his collaborators and younger writers who have been influenced by his work.
Director: Fay Lellios, Los Angeles CA
Executive Producer: George Pelecanos, Silver Spring MD

Local authors George Pelecanos and Jim Grady in conversation

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Narrative feature shown on 16mm film, 1:44:00
Director Robert Aldrich's 1955 film noir classic is back on the big screen. And it's as vibrant, thrilling, and - yes - shocking, as ever. In Kiss Me Deadly, cynical private investigator Mike Hammer (a magnetic Ralph Meeker) is drawn into an underworld conspiracy after witnessing the brutal murder of mystery blonde, Christina (Cloris Leachman). The razor-edged dialogue, unflinching violence, and anti-hero protagonist influenced a generation of noir filmmakers. David Mattin, BBC
Director: Robert Aldrich, Screenplay: A.I. Bezzerides