Zane

Jillian Carney Howell | US

Year: 2023

Run time: 15:00 min.

Synopsis:
After losing his job, a man with an intellectual disability and his advocate mother take on the challenge of finding an accessible and accommodating workplace in West Virginia.

Bio:
When Jillian Carney Howell was seven years old, Santa Claus brought her a Barbie video camera and her love of filmmaking was sparked. A native of Scott Depot, West Virginia, at the time, there were not many narrative film opportunities in the mountain state, so she learned to create her own: winning online video contests in middle school and lobbying her high school principal to let her take a screenwriting course. Carney Howell attended college at Marshall University and graduated with honors from University of North Carolina Wilmington's Film Studies program in 2017, where she wrote, directed, and produced her own narrative and documentary short films. Since January 2019, Jillian has been in Production Management at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California on the greatly anticipated "Frozen 2," "Raya and the Last Dragon," "Strange World," and several theme park attractions. Her latest project with Disney was on Walt Disney Animation's 100th Anniversary film, "Wish." When she's not working for the mouse, she's creating her own films and working with non-profits. Her comedy short film Professional Bully won audience choice awards and honorable mentions in film festivals across the country. In 2020, she started Shine On, WV, a non-profit that is an online social hub centered on short documentaries featuring West Virginian artists in and out of the state. As an alumna of actor Hugh O'Brian's Youth Leadership program HOBY, she has volunteered for the program hundreds of hours for over a decade and is currently the Director of Programs for the annual Southern California teen seminar site.

Sweet Press

Laura Iancu | US

Year: 2021

Run time: 7:00 min.

Synopsis:
In a small town in Virginia a young family forwards the tradition of Sorghum pressing and makes sweet autumn memories.

Bio:
Short Bio Laura Iancu is a visual artist working primarily in non-fiction & experimental video forms, with an expanded practice of 3D animation and immersive video game design. After studying Fine Art Pedagogy at Ovidius University on the Romanian shore of the Black Sea she traveled to the US and received an MFA in Photography and another in Cinematic Arts from the University of Iowa. Currently she teaches film production classes as Assistant Professor in the Cinema Program at the School of Performing Arts, Virginia Tech. Her work blends aspects of sound art, poetry, magic realism, pop/internet culture, gaming, gardening and the myriad mutations of contemporary technology.

Recently Laura has finalized a series of short documentaries in collaboration with local growers and scientists about soil vitality in biodynamic farming and also on traditions of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont regions of Virginia such as Sorghum Pressing.

Website
Instagram

Haunting

Tianming Zhou | China

Year: 2023

Run time: 13:23 min.

Synopsis:
"Why look for her?" I asked Hui, confused. He had made the decision to go to Europe to pursue an unrequited romance. He struggled to answer, but both of us would soon realize this journey to a foreign land would turn into a voyage to the past.

Bio:
Tianming Zhou (Alaric) is a Chinese filmmaker and photographer currently based in the USA. His work focuses on mental health, displaced memories, and the Chinese diaspora. Alaric grew up in Mainland China and completed his bachelor's degree in Hong Kong, where he developed a passion for street photography and film studies. Before pursuing his MFA at Duke University, he worked as a documentary editor and independent filmmaker for fictional films. His MFA experiences convinced him to further experiment with the boundary between fiction and non-fiction, frequently expressed through meta-films and docu-fictions. During this period, he also expanded his artistic practice into video art and expanded cinema installations.

Watermarks

Rishi Sethi | US

Year: 2024

Run time: 14:14 min.

Synopsis:
A short documentary chronicling the efforts of Ian Smith and dedicated volunteers as they use innovative techniques to bring new opportunities to underserved youth in Indiana County Pennsylvania; creating a community around the next generation of environmental stewardship. Along the way we meet environmental educators, mentors who were inspired by their own time in the program, and the youth who hold the key to a sustainable future.

Bio:
Rishi Sethi is a first-generation Indian-American filmmaker, film educator, and CEO of Malhari Media. He brings vital and impactful stories to the screen by exploring issues such as the environment, education, Indian culture, and the arts & music scene in Pittsburgh. His latest documentary Watermarks, a short film focusing on watershed conversation in Pennsylvania, premieres this summer and continues his award-winning collaboration with the non-profit organization Watersmith Guild. He has produced a wide variety of works from narrative to commercials across a range of budgets, and worked on sets for Netflix, CNN, and Amazon. As a well-experienced and licensed drone pilot, he also provides an aerial dynamic to commercial, documentary, and narrative storytelling. His experience allows him to connect academic, business, non-profit, and community stakeholders with the film industry. He has taught at La Roche University since 2018 when he helped build the new Film Studies program. He is a member of the Pittsburgh Film and Media Educators Alliance who has also taught at Point Park University, Shady Side Academy, and the Pittsburgh Center for Arts & Media. Rishi holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the University of Oxford and Bachelor of Arts (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics, Business, and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Nature of Art

Beth Davison | US

Year: 2023

Run time: 4:32 min.

Synopsis:
The Nature of Art is more than just a film about art; it's a story of finding magic and meaning in life's unpredictable journey, portrayed through the transformative power of nature and creativity. Using nature as her canvas, Elizabeth finds solace and expression through creating art from natural elements in the wilderness that become alive on the screen.

Bio:
Sociologist turned documentarian, Beth Davison (PhD) is a faculty member and Co-Director of AppDocs at Appalachian State University. Some of her documentary projects that have screened in film festivals, museums, on PBS and internationally, include The Denim Dynasty, Eva & Moe, Dulatown, DocuAppalachia, and Saving the Virginia Big-Eared Bats. She works ongoing with many community partners including her work with the National Park Service to produce short historical videos screened at the Blue Ridge Parkway, National Park Service Visitor center in Blowing Rock, NC.

Who has seen the Wind?

Johansson Panu | Finland

Year: 2023

Run time: 5:00 min.

Synopsis:
How does it feel to live next to 170 year old creatures? This short impressionistic film documents an old forest area called Mortin männikkö in Rovaniemi, Northern Finland. As an array of glimpses and moments the film tries to summarise a decade of life next to this vivid & forested tableau vivant. The Poem: Who Has Seen the Wind? Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by - Christina Rossetti, 1872

Bio:
Panu Johansson is a media artist and an experimental filmmaker from Finland. He works with moving image, photography and sound. His works have been exhibited in various festivals, exhibitions and microcinemas since the year 2000. Reoccurring themes in Johansson's work are memories, landscape, the history of experimental film and cultural history. When working with moving image he prefers analogue film, though he is open to all materials. Johansson collects images and sounds eagerly and also likes to use "found footage” materials whenever possible. His works could be described with terms such as landscape film, diary film or personal film.

Three Colors

Lana Gredelj | Croatia

Year: 2024

Run time: 9:56 min.

Synopsis:
Three Colours is an omnibus film composed of three stories: yellow, green and blue. Three Colours is a short film about the perception of life after a personal loss. Using experimental visuals, land-art and soundscapes, the natural world becomes a decor to express the unsayable. With this short film, Three Colours, we wanted to show that a growing number of people are leaving Croatia, their families, homes, villages, and cities in search of a better job. That is why a little girl sends a letter to her dad who has gone to work in a distant country. In that letter, she recalls the time when dad was at home with the family and the time she spent in nature with him. She actually tells her dad that all the time when he is not with her, cannot be turned back. Because right now, while she is in her childhood, she needs him the most. Through a letter about three colours, she sends him love, time, feelings that she needs so much now. We wanted to tell the audience that family is very important in this world, especially for us children, and all those who have one should value it very much.

Bio:
My name is Lana Gredelj. I am 14 years old and I live in Kutina. I was born in Zagreb on 3rdAugust 2009. I have been a member of the school film group since the fifth grade. The mentor of the film group in our school is technical education teacher, Mr Goran Šporčić. Every year the group makes several successful films (feature, documentary, experimental). Some of them have received awards at international festivals. Since the group started, many pupils have been involved in its activities, expressing their creativity in this way.