Buffalo Niagara Film Festival - Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY, USA

 

Documentary - Documentary filmmaker Mishara Canino-Hussung follows her husband as he investigates an old family story about the role his mother played in a series of mysterious sightings in upstate New York in the early 1990s. Her husband, fellow filmmaker Bill Hussung, is skeptical of the stories, but hopes to please his mother as she battles cancer in New York City. What follows is a quirky and contemporary look at the power of mythology, with two surprise endings that are sure to leave audiences wondering about the true nature of the mysterious lights in the night sky just north of New York City.

Documentary - the inspirational story of Buffalo teacher Anna Klapakis who goes above and beyond her duties as an educator to make sure that her students have positive experiences within and outside of the classroom.

Documentary - It was in the late 70s that a youth culture evolved in the poorer parts of New York which combined several disciplines under the name of Hip Hop. Apart from the four classic elements of Graffiti writing, Diking, Breakdancing, and Rapping, the musical side of this culture was enhanced by a fifth element called 'Beatboxing'.__From the hardship of poverty and the lack of instruments, a pioneer was inspired to imitate drum rhythms with his mouth - his brilliance creating the term 'Human Beatbox'. __The documentary integrally covers a variety of musical technical abilities. A multilingual, unlimiting and has become and instrument applied in all genres of music. Showing how this modern style of music that has spread and continues to enrich the entertainment world.

Docuemtary - a history of the early years of the Buffalo, NY, punk scene -- one filled with talent, but which never saw much success. Instead, it was a celebration of creativity. This film is loaded with great stories , sound clips, photos and posters -- an example of what one scene was like that serves to show what it was like EVERYWHERE. Local legends featured include the Jumpers, Enemies, Pauline & the Perils, Fems, Mark Freeland, Paper Faces, Bernie Kugel, Dee Pop. There are features on the record stores, the art and the fashions of the times -- times of no money, but explosive energy.

Documentary - Tracing the footsteps of Swiss artist Karl Bodmer and German Prince Maximilian zu Wied, who traveled up north on the Missouri river to follow the Louise and Clark Expedition. Karl Bodmer left our world the largest collection of Indian native paintings and portraits. This feature documentary was shot at original places. A large Swiss-American non-profit cooperation featuring Indian natives like Chief Crow Dog and Crow Dog Jr from the Lakota tribe and the current art of the Joslyn Art Museum Nebraska.

Documentary - In a story where 'The Right Stuff' meets George Bailey, an American family legacy of land speed emerges from the rich and riveting history of Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Ab Jenkins lived in more innocent times, when business deals were cemented with a handshake and race cars were designed on the backs of envelopes. With almost superhuman stamina and boyish charms, Ab broke every land speed record at Bonneville. Seventy years later, the legacy lives on in his son, Marv, and his car, which looks like something Batman might have owned. To ensure Ab's legacy, Marv, 80, determines to restore the now-dilapidated 'Meteor.' After years of painstaking labor, the 12-cylinder, 4800-pound Meteor coughs back to like. Nearby, Marv quietly fades away.

Documentary - explores the lives of would-be record-breakers as they pursue their dreams of fame and fortune... sometimes both, usually neither.

Documentary - a conversation about Buffalo's low-income communities' efforts and struggles in revitalizing neglected historical neighborhoods by valuing the people and the places as assets.

Documentary - woman has a nightmare about the killing of her father by soldiers in a mountain village in Southern Burma. She wakes up. She is in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Burma border. She has already been here for six years but still this is not where her mind lives. Instead, it wanders between the realities of refugee life and dreams and day-dreams about Burma and the life she used to live. Filmed both in the refugee camps and throughout Burma by international award winning photographer, Timothy Syrota, Burmese Dreaming draws these reflections together into a simple and often compellingly human account of life in Burma under the current military regime.

Documentary - explores the dominant medical paradigm, the current health crisis, and a healthier, more holistic system. Based on Gary Nulls groundbreaking book with statistical evidence of hundreds of thousands of injuries and deaths due to conventional medicine. It looks at the pharmaceutical industry, drug reps, medical schools, medical journals and the absence of real medical science. The lack of oversight by our regulatory agencies, private insurance firms and lobbying influence upon our legislators. The result is the American medical system is broken and it is time to create a new medical paradigm.

Documentary - In 2001, Bancroft piloted an initiative program enabled to create subtle, exciting works of art through a system developed by Artistic Realization Technologies (A.R.T.). The system makes it possible for medically disabled and mentally fragile people access to painting, photography, music and sculpture. The documentary follows three students involved with the program behind closed doors at the Bancroft School at Voorhees Pediatric Facility.

Documentary - following dedicated health workers engaged in a final battle to eradicate Guinea worm disease in Africa. For thousands of years the parasite has caused disabling misery, infecting people who drink water contaminated with the worm's larvae. In 1986, there were 3.5 million cases in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. But after a 23 year eradication campaign, the total number of cases dropped to 3,142 at the end of 2009. For nearly three years the film tracks teams of men and women as they fight to wipe out the last Guinea worms. Following the victory against smallpox, Guinea worm will be the next disease in the history of mankind to be eradicated.

Documentary - Yes Men meet the Ad and the Ego. In the spirit of the Corporation and Nothing so Strange, the two characters in this film have been termed as the Borats of the green world. Greenwashers blurs the line between green and greed, truth and believability, environmentalism and marketing. Following a pair of Greenwashers, the film illustrates the various strategies, sins, and consequences of greenwash.

Documentary - In 2008, a group of friends based in Seattle took part in an ongoing fundraising effort for water and education solutions in Ghana, West Africa. That fall, five of them visited Ghana to see the impact of their fundraising. Their trip was named 'Seattle to Ghana: Foundation of Hope.' While each participant started the journey with different motivations and expectations, what they saw and experienced during the trip were life-changing for all of them. This documentary follows the group through their fundraising, trip preparation, and their time in Ghana. It is a celebration of their unforgettable experience with the people of Ghana, and the heart connections that formed beyond the boundaries of continent and race.

Documentary - Nearly 17 years ago in France, on a cloudy evening, Air Inter takes off from Lyon-Saint Exupery, headed for Strasbourg. There are 90 passengers, and a crew of six. One hour later, nearing the German border and its destination airfield, the plan banks sharply left, circling Mont Sainte-Odile, and rapidly losing altitude. Minutes later, the Airbus 320 slams into the 2,500-foot mountain.__Documentary filmmaker Jim McSherry explores the lives of the families forever shattered by the crash. In their own words, seven families quietly recall that day - and the days since. Some live with more gratitude; some with more faith; some with pain so raw it's as if death struck 16 days ago, rather than 16 years.

Documentary - Interracial Marriages effect on children, spouses, religion, abuses and more.

Documentary - Actor/comedian Jim Breuer, best known from Saturday Night Live and the film Half Baked, set out in 2008 on his first stand-up tour in six years, taking his 84 year-old father along for the ride of his life. While struggling with the chores of caregiving and coming to terms with his father’s mortality, Jim is determined to strengthen their relationship while on the road. Funny and raw, More Than Me is an intimate story of growing up and growing old.

Documentary - chronicles a refugee's fight for survival and hope in the American rustbelt.

Documentary - examines the life and work of the legendary actress Pola Negri. She was the first European star to come to America and paved the way for Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich to follow. Yet, few people today know this magnificent actress or the dramatic events of her life including her engagements to Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino.

Documentary - illustrates how low literacy negatively impacts the lives of many Buffalo residents and documents the positive effects had by Read to Succeed Buffalo, an organization that works to empower communities by improving literacy.

Documentary - Conveying the human dimension of what it takes to make the city work, 'Round the Clock focuses on the struggles of four workers who are trying to obtain a just wage. It shows how the workers and a broad based coalition of activists are fighting back, taking action and working to bring about changes.

Documentary - Sharks are in trouble. Increasing demand for shark fins, for shark fin soup, is robbing the oceans of sharks and is negatively affecting our oceans ecosystems. Without sharks, our oceans will fail. Help save our sharks, and Save Our Seas.

Documentary - What happens when a scientist/philosopher from an impoverished African nation takes his American friend on a journey to the place where mankind began?  TANZANIA a Friendship Journey follows the story of Venance Ndibalema--who was born into poverty in Africa but found a way out through a college education in the United States—and Kristen Kenny—an American raised by an upper/middle class family—as they undertake a transformational trip to Venance’s homeland.  Their journey takes them from the urban center of Dar es Salaam, to the summit of mighty Mount Kilimanjaro and the sweltering plains of the Serengeti, and finally to the impoverished village where a Grandmother waits to see the grandson she thought was lost to her forever.  Along the way, cultural differences, disease, and a deadly illness threaten not only our travelers but the life of an innocent child.  Two friends, one journey, countless lives changed.     

Documentary - a celebration of the Asian contribution to American contemporary art.The film explores the life and work of the noted Indian painter Natvar Bhavsar. Born in Gujarat in 1934, Bhavsar settled in New York City, the very nerve center of the art world, in the mid-1960s where he still lives and works. The central theme of the film is the multicultural nature of Bhavsar's work and how that has influenced the trajectory of his career. Although it's common today for artists to work cross-culturally and find critical and commercial acceptance outside their own spheres of origin, Bhavsar was a pioneer who paved the way for subsequent generations of artists.

Documentary - An entire Kenyan community of 50,000 participates in an HIV testing and counseling campaign are provided with a CarePack of products to prevent malaria, HIV and diarrheal disease as encouragement to take an HIV test. For the first time, people line up by thousands to take an HIV test--including adult men, a previously hard to reach group for HIV testing. Stigma of testing and knowing HIV status is reduced. Attitudes towards HIV+ people is confronted and overcome. Film shows how lives of five people change over course of one year from when they learn their status. The CarePack campaign was conceived and funded by a private Swiss company. Results have broad implications for achieving national testing goals and achieving Millennium Development Goals.

Documentary - about Daniel Stolfi, a young actor who battled stage 3 lymphoma and then transformed his horrific experience into a comedic, yet deeply personal one man show.

Documentary - Now in its 75th year, the game of MONOPOLY has brought friends and families together on countless occasions and created millions of memories. This fascinating documentary, narrated by Zachary Levi, shows how the classic board game has become a worldwide cultural phenomenon, and follows the colorful players who come together to compete for the coveted title of MONOPOLY World Champion.

Documentary - documents the testimonies of Western New York Native American boarding school survivors who are trying to heal the wounds and break the cycle of inter-generational trauma caused by their painful experiences at the Thomas Indian School and the Mohawk Institute.

Documentary - celebrates Lorna C. Hill as a positive force in the Buffalo theater community through the testaments of her dedicated students and through a personal interview that sheds light onto her great strength as a director, teacher, and human being.

Western New York - In his search to understand his own disability, Asperger’s Syndrome, filmmaker and history buff Adrian Esposito questioned what it would have been like for him had he been born in 1944. What he found was shocking and what could be described as “horror” in its truest sense.

We Can Shine-From Institutions to Independence is a documentary about the state of institutions for the developmentally disabled in New York State from the 1900′s onward. The film chronicles the events that led to the Willowbrook Consent Decree as told by Bernard Carabello, one of its former residents who later founded the N. Y. State Self Advocacy Association.

 

Feature Film - It is 1972. An abandoned Mexican prison sits alone in the dusty Chihuahua desert. KGB mole Nikolai Dzerzhinsky waits for his contact from the Washington Post. Dzerzhinsky holds explosive evidence against the CIA; information he will trade for asylum in the United States. Special Agent Robert Harper must obtain this evidence and kill Dzerzhinsky or risk the end of his CIA career. As the two men hunt each other they discover that the sins from their past destined them for this deadly confrontation.

Feature Film - One fine morning, Benno finds sand in his bed. While he tries to ignore this at first, he soon must realize that he himself is loosing the sand. Day after day the sand increases and soon his time literally starts running short. Finally he is left no choice but to ask Sandra for help, who runs a small coffee shop under his apartment. Although Benno hates her with a passion, he started having dreams of her every night. What could Sandra and the dreams have to do with the sand?

Feature Film - The Ravenwood Theatre is 100 years old. Its current owner is Anna Martin. Unable to pay the back taxes on the old theatre, the bank is foreclosing. However, Anna is about to get some help of the supernatural kind! From beyond the grave return the Ghosts of the Ravenwood Theatre! The theatrical specters and Anna team up to save the Ravenwood by staging a show to raise money to save the theatre. However, there is a problem. The entire cast of the show is, well, dead, and though Anna and Toby can see the spirits, will anyone else? Can they save the Ravenwood Theatre by convincing an entire to audience to believe?

Feature Film - A quiet and understated debut feature that explores the inclination to define ourselves by the people who leave us. Amber is a young woman with a profound longing for a sense of family. When she discovers she is pregnant, her boyfriend leaves her while close friends insist that she get an abortion. Abandoned at every turn, Amber willfully seeks a safe haven in Gabe -- the father figure that left her and her dying mother a decade ago.

Feature Film - A young nude couple accidentally falls to their death from a roof. The world laughs. Jonathan doesn't. A sad-funny story of obsession turned inspiration, of life abundant, and the importance of connecting.

Feature Film - Behind the idea of a sharp, up-and-coming marketing rep, a familiar candy company - looking to boost the sales of an old favorite - starts a national contest. The old “How many licks does it take to get to the center?” conundrum from decades ago was never solved, and perhaps someone in the new millennium will have better luck.__In this mock-documentary, the crew of LICK has chosen to follow three unlikely contestants: A fifty-something filmmaker, a twenty-something scientist, and a teen-something boy with ADHD. All seem determined, but from the moment we meet them, it’s fair to question whether any one of them has an honest hope.__In watching each one of their unique paths to victory, we’re left to wonder: where did we find these bizarre people, and did the journey teach them anything?

Feature Film - One week in Louise's professional life, her interviews, her resumes, her briefcase, her rejections, her commitment._One week in Louise's personal life, her ex-boyfriend, her small flat, her friend's boyfriend, her dealer, her abortion.

Feature Film - Trying desperately to forget his roots, Henry is drawn back into the fray with his father when finances get the better of him.

Feature Film - is 9 sketches rolled into this hilarious feature length movie. You might ask, What do each of these sketches have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing! But a SINGLE DOLLAR BILL will link them all together! Every time the dollar is passed to a new character, a new sketch begins. The entire cast was born and raised in Western New York.

Feature Film - An absorbing study of self, identity, the nature of love and raw sexual desire. With unforgettable performances by the female leads and stunning cinematography, Nude Study will leave you bitten, sweetened, and reluctant to let the story go.

Feature Film - experimental, independent feature comedy film about three down-and-out, complete strangers who answer a Craigslist-like ad to drive a car from Los Angeles to Washington, DC. As these unlikely companions bumble their way across the US, they record their epic adventure using iPhones. In the end, because of their unexpected, new-found friendships, each finds a new lease on life and our heroes live happily ever after.

Feature Film - Feature - A dark comedy road movie about an aging slacker who goes on a road trip to find old friends because voices in his head tell him to.

Feature Film - After the comic death of legendary, hockey superstar and pugilist, Sure Shot Dombrowski, a group of loyal fans, led by sportswriter, Reg Locker, take a bus to the player's hometown - chronicling the left winger's life along the way.

Feature Film - Abraham lives deep in the heart of an industrial wasteland. His only companion is a giant machine. Inside the machine is a man and a woman who take care of Abraham's every need. Abraham drifts through daily life until a tiny singing cowboy bursts from his stomach and leads him into the wild.

Feature Film - Late at night, a prisoner Han pointing fearfully at fellow inmate Lu, and screaming repeatedly,'murderer!' What was she doing? The police officer Ping takes on the case. She begins by reviewing Lu's incarceration murder case file. Just from the materials on file, it appears to be a very normal murder case of a wife losing control because her husband's abject crassness, resulting in a tragedy of murder. From her contact with Lu, the police officer Ping learns that despite her mild and powerless appearance, she has another very aggressive personality that manifests itself in extreme situations. Proceeding from her professional sensitivity and sense of responsibility, the police officer Ping begins to have doubts about Lu's conviction for murder in the first place.

Feature Film - After the accidental death of their only son, Rita and Alfred feel such remorse that they engage in a fierce fight of mutual destruction. Guilt confronts them with a painful recognition: obsessed by their selfish little needs, they forgot to love their son. As truth is revealed, all their inner demons are unleashed. They haunt and prick them on a road to hope or to damnation, whilst they desperately try to make amends for all those things they left undone in the past.

Feature Film - Grover, an eighteen year old boy struggling with one of life’s great questions, “Does size matter”, goes on a journey of self-discovery as he attempts to woo the girl of his fancy. Funny and entertaining, this coming of age comedy is about over-coming your insecurities and finding out just how big your heart really is.

Feature Film - a dark comedy...an urban fairy tale. It deals with hope, despair and family secrets. This Indie film invokes the ethos of Voodoo, Christianity and Eastern Mysticism...and answers the riddles of the cosmos, sort of. It is set in modern-day California, but its roots are firmly embedded in Buffalo, New York and Northern New Jersey Italian-American culture......Benny Miccicci is in trouble with a demonic loan shark. He is reluctant to get his girlfriend, Bernice, involved in his dilemma, however, she comes to his rescue by invoking help from the 'other side.' Uncle Louie, a notorious hit-man long dispatched from this earth is summoned to help his hapless nephew and take charge of the situation...sort of.

Feature Film - Fred and Deb's marriage isn't what it used to be; they love their son, they love each other, but their lives don't feel fulfilled. They look around at the lives of their friends, both single and married, and feel they are missing out. Deb has an anonymous online friend that she chats with that is in a similar situation to her and after a while, they begin to urge each other to cheat. Deb goes online to try and find the passion she misses and falls into a journey of adultery. The whole time she shares her experiences with her online 'friend', the one anonymous person she can talk too, and he shares his adultery with her...the only thing is, Deb's online friend, is Fred.

Feature Film - Julie (Martie Ashworth), a sweet, subdued career housewife seems perfectly content in her life with her record player, houseplants, and cooking, despite her irritable husband William (Larry Strauss, in the performance of a lifetime) of 40 years whose hobbies are sleeping and watching tv. Provoked into a sudden state of fear – Julie’s innocent eyes become watchful and suspicious, and her perception of reality makes a dark shift. William is the unsuspecting victim faced with his own mortality – guilty of bad decisions and haunted by karma. Between them is an escalating war. If the cycle is to break, both must be awakened to the raw reality of a true life or death choice…

 

Music Video - 'Bring Yourself' is a stunning music video created by animator and 'Adult Swim' veteran Dan Bigelow for the Chicago rock band Oh My God. The featured song is included on the band's critically acclaimed release The Night Undoes the Work of the Day. 'Bring Yourself' is a beautifully illustrated, heart-wrenching depiction of one man's life spiraling out of control.

Music Video - Vegas simply can't handle some guys.

Music Video - When a retired musician happens across a picture frame from his youth, he discovers that he can use the frame to view memories from his past.

Music Video - I was asked by the hip-hop group Stormshadowz to create a video for their new song 'Malcolm X.' I included scenes from protests in Oakland following the jury verdict on the Oscar Grant murder case, in front of a Malcolm X mural in San Francisco, and interesting local spots in Oakland and Berkeley.

Music Video - Portland Cello Project's new music video features Pily, a lovable crustacean of mixed origin, who struggles to escape his underwater home when it becomes threatened by pollution.

Music Video - Nothcote (So Hungover) is a comedic music video that pokes fun at the Melbourne Hipster scene. The Song is performed by The Bedroom Philosopher. Directed by Craig Melville.

Music Video - The first documented performance of traditional Japanese drums (Wadaiko) and Black Gospel music. This unique music video combines a 300 voice Japanese Black Gospel choir, an American gospel singer and a twelve member Wadaiko troupe. Shot in a large hall in Tokyo with four HD cameras this is a music video that breaks new ground in music and in showing how people from the East and the West can work together.

Music Video - A look behind the scenes of a making of a LIVE music video.

 

Short - Traversing the boundaries of imagination and memory, John J. Fink's semi-autobiographical Analog follows a young couple, Wade - a long haul trucker and his wife Diana as they come to terms with an open secret they must break to their son.

Short - It's 1992 and Kurt Cobain's screams roar from every car stereo. Grunge rules. Seattle is the new rock n' roll center of the universe. Teenage runaway Chloe has big dreams, and her heart set on getting out of New Jersey and heading out to the West Coast to start a band. Before she hits the highway with her bass-playing, pot-dealer boyfriend, Slater, she desperately needs to see her best friend Michelle one last time...

Short - Detective Jack Peterson is a decorated Cop that stands for a law abiding society and justice for all. But when the natural balance of life turns against his son's health, he will soon realize that the only way to save his son's life will be by breaking the same laws he was sworn to protect.

Short - Michelle Roland loves game shows but isn't sure about her career as a bait and tackle employee. When a handsome nomadic stranger becomes her coworker she begins to wonder if small town living is her way of life.

Short - DIScerning disABILITY is a documentary film on the elusive notion of disability and the multiple meanings people assign it. Is it a powerful identity we define and embrace...? A negative label thrust upon us?... A social construction meaning everything and yet nothing at all?... With sentiments from noted scholars and everyday people, DIScerning disABILITY forces its viewers to reexamine notions they previously held and thought they understood.

Short - Against her mother-in-law's wishes and her husband's preference, Dottie, a woman with questionable cooking talent, determines to take on Thanksgiving dinner. And although the frozen turkey (which she's named Pickle) remains uncooperative, in the end, unforgettable tastes are tasted and new culinary allegiances are forged between Dottie and her husband Dale.

Short - Pablo leaves Mexico and heads to the United States for his opportunity of a lifetime, to live the 'American Dream'. Experiencing tremendous hardship since his arrival, Pablo decides to call his sister Sofia and pleads with her to join him in America. Having just received her letter of acceptance to the University of Guadalajara, Julia forfeits this opportunity for the love and concern she has for her brother and agrees. Together they both experience, share and endure continuous human hardships in what becomes a devastating nightmare leading to false hopes

Short - The family that watches tv together, statys together...?

Short - Take a journey through the eyes of a young boy, a journey on which he finally comes face to face with the realities of adulthood and must abandon world of superheroes.

Short - A metaphysical discussion about the meaning of life and our existence here on earth takes a turn into the unknown.

Short - In this day and age, when everything is documented and even cell phones have cameras, one woman has no souvenirs or photos of her beloved mother.

Short - Mission Rajasthan,it's a short film 21.23 minutes.The movie is shot in India,Rajasthan.It's based on terrorism. Three terrorists hire a small kid to bomb a Hindu village by telling him that he has put small toys on the huts of the houses.

Short - What if fortune could be planned? If you were able to fulfill any of your desires - provided you were prepared to suffer?
The students Lenny and Daniel try to find an answer to these questions, following the absurd theory that you only have to expose yourself to accidents in order to gain happiness. But unfortunately this theory claims a steady stream of victims.

Short - A man has a near head on collision with an old friend from his past, which leads them to discover an aspect of their relationship they never knew.

Short - Six friends get together for a friendly game of poker. 

One of them (Dillon), a drug dealer, fails to pay a huge debt to his supplier.

The supplier shows up at the game, giving Dillon three hours to get the money. If he doesn't return, the friends will be killed.

The supplier tells the friends, they are going to continue playing poker, and any one of them who has more chips than he does gets to live (even if Dillon doesn't come back).

Now the friends must play for their lives, as the villain turns them against each other.

Short - After Evan's plan to take his best friend Chris on the cross country road-trip of a lifetime is derailed by Chris' girlfriend, he exacts sweet revenge using a slip-n-slide and cupcakes.

Short - A war veteran attempts to reconcile with his family after he is treated with post traumatic stress.

Short - When Frank's flimsy plan to whack Leo is tampered by a flat tire and Leo flees the scene, the two gangsters embark on a chase deep into the woods where they experience unforeseen intimacy...

Short - Los Angeles has been overtaken by a virus known as Sudden Death Syndrome, a disease that causes its victim to die suddenly and has only one symptom... spontaneously breaking into well-choreographed song and dance.

Short - Blood, sweat and skill dominate this collaboration of Japanese and American stone cutters to erect two huge ramparts on a hilltop overlooking the Pacific. Without using cement or any other binding material the masons stack 300 tons of stone in 9 days to complete the work.

Short - With a nod to Hemingway, a teen's journey to find true love with an alluring carnival barker ends on the last night of his summer vacation. Pain, glory, misery or hope? Which will he find at the carnival?

Short - Three emotionally stressed roommates attempt to stop a thief from stealing fruit off their backyard fence.

Short - On a rainy night in a concentration camp, a fearsome Nazi General is forced to depend on a condemned Jewish Doctor to save his dying only son.

Short - Thinking he's alone in an unknown Motel, a middle-aged man tries to make the best of it, with dire results. Based on a graphic novel.

Short - In a story of survival in an economically collapsed Detroit, a young woman named Isabel struggles to get by. All alone, desperately seeking work, and on the verge of eviction from her apartment, she hits the streets as a part of the world's oldest profession. Ashamed and tormented, she refuses to give up, having faith that hope and redemption are just around the corner. In a world growing smaller, and exponentially more dangerous, can Isabel find the strength to carry on?

Short - A sequence of famous men and women through out history that leads to a uniquely emotional and intriguing conclusion.

Short - Victor James and his sidekick, Darcey Collins, hired by a compulsive gambler named Dirk Mendelson, siege an underground card game in an attempt to forcibly persuade the operator, Randall Smith, that a long standing debt does not need to be repaid. But when the duo meet Smith, a cagey veteran gambler with a nose for trouble, things don't go quite according to plan. Victor James is a story about decisions - and the unforeseen consequences that can come from making these decisions.

Short - an annual one day round-robin wiffleball tournament wherein 48 men from all over the country gather in Eastern Washington to play wiffleball. Most of the participants are in their 30s or 40s, married with children, highly educated and well-employed. The film documents the joy they take in being able to revert to the simplicity of their youth, if only for a day, while also showing the conflicts that arise from the inescapable responsibilities that come with jobs, relationships and families.

 

Student - the compelling story about a girl named Amanda, a popular and carefree seventeen year old high school student who had it all. A wealthy family, great friends and a handsome boyfriend, Ryan. However, Amanda risked all of that when she decided to drink and drive, and in an instant she lost it all. Amanda's life turns from carefree teenage bliss into her own living nightmare as she tries to come to terms with the tragic results of her own decisions.

Student - the story of a young girl learning to share her imagination and hold onto hope in a dark and dangerous reality.

Student - After a workplace affair, Andre has fallen in love with his boss, Lynne. When Lynne recommits herself to her husband Andre is left emotionally damaged. His attempts to win Lynne back fail and he is further hurt and alienated when she has him fired. He goes into work emotionally distraught and determined to exact his revenge on Lynne.

Student - West Texas, 1862. A young farmhand ecstatic at the return of his beloved uncle from the War soon learns that his uncle is hiding a dangerous secret.

Student - An eccentric filmmaker has made a film that creates a neurologically triggered abortion its pregnant viewers! Upon great public upheaval, the filmmaker is detained and ordered to face the women who have knowingly committed aborticide via his film.

Student - A lawyer who breaks away from reality after the discovery of his wife having an affair with his best friend.

Student - Chayal is a half-feature documentary which follows five anti-air force soldiers from the Israeli Defense Force. The documentary deals with topics of fear, friendship, romance, gender equality, war, politics, family, and religion. In a country where mass media tends to objectify other countries, this documentary attempts to humanize soldiers from the middle east.

Student - 'Homecoming' tells the story of Carl Connor, an aging high school football coach in the twilight of his career facing the extinction of his legendary football program. Connor must rally the town, team, and himself to put together the first winning season in years and save the program for the future generations of the school.

Student - Sarah is a young woman shunned from her family for being with a man of a different religion. Her conservative mother, Ilana, is left fighting with the need to respect her husband's wishes, her own personal belief, and the love for her only child. Sarah and Ilana have lived separate lives and both have struggled to move post the rift that may never be repaired. They now realize that it's time to sit down face to face and see if they can reach common ground and become a family again, or if they must go their separate ways, possibly for good.

Student - Follow a group of Canisius College students on an enlightening journey as they travel to the Deep South to tour the locations of many important events in the Civil Rights Movement. During the nine-day, 5-state trip, the group met with activists who participated in and led what many would characterize as the most significant reform movement in American history.

Student - An everyday young man is reluctantly forced into a great adventure across exotic, dangerous terrain with the assistance of diverse characters after realizing an ancient Mayan Codex with priceless value to the medical community is locked in his long-detached father's art collection. The obstacles are raised when they discover the over-controlling father buried himself with all of his treasures somewhere in the world as a final, spiteful challenge to his son. Once in the unforgiving wilderness they must battle for every step of their twist-laden quest against not only the elements but the father's greedy ex-partner.

Student - When 15-year-old Connie ventures out at night, a lingering glance at a stranger leads to a series of events that will push her understanding of sex, violence and family to the limits. With this new adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' prize-winning story 'Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?' Alexa Barrett does nothing to soften the inevitable unspoken brutality of the original work.

 

Western New York - Set in the historic Allentown district of Buffalo, NY. In a wintery world where someone's always watching, the voyeuristic video thriller Apt. 17 follows the lens of a lonely video artist, who captures his work from high above the streets where he shoots his subjects looking out from behind his apartment windows. After recording a series of unwilling victims, the video arist in apartment 17, slowly finds he's not the only one watching, when his work becomes a revolving door into a "Hitchcockian-world," where the threat of violence alsways looms just beyond the camera's view.

Western New York - An intimate portrait of the challenges, successes and assimilation of an Hispanic immigrant community in rural America. 

In 1986 Mexican immigrants moved to upstate New York looking for a safer and more tranquil way of life. They had immigrated to Newburgh New York, but, deteriorating economic conditions, crime and inferior schools lead them to find a better situation for their families. Twenty years later, the Hispanic Immigrant community in Fleischmanns accounts for at least 30% of the population. 

Discover the ways these families have assimilated into the community through successful businesses and successes of the second generation children in the local School system. 

The village of Fleischmanns is a bright spot of hope as two cultures reach out to each other in friendship and understanding.

Western New York - Home Again' is a brief and poignant interview with an Iraqi war veteran.

Western New York - In his search to understand his own disability, Asperger’s Syndrome, filmmaker and history buff Adrian Esposito questioned what it would have been like for him had he been born in 1944. What he found was shocking and what could be described as “horror” in its truest sense.

We Can Shine-From Institutions to Independence is a documentary about the state of institutions for the developmentally disabled in New York State from the 1900′s onward. The film chronicles the events that led to the Willowbrook Consent Decree as told by Bernard Carabello, one of its former residents who later founded the N. Y. State Self Advocacy Association.

Western New York - a quirky black comedy that examines the predatory lending practices of the US banking system.