I’VE BEEN A SWEEPER , directed by Ciarán Dooley, 12min, Ireland 2014,(Drama)
I’ve Been a Sweeper tells the story of The Sweeper (Eamon Morrissey & David Rawle) as he carries out his job cleaning the floors of iconic pubs across Dublin during his final day of life. Aware of his fate, and peacefully resigned to it, he reflects on the interesting journey which brought him from an innocent child to man of the world. The film is a blend of narrative and visual storytelling, aiming to capture a snapshot of a life lived less-ordinary.
Director Biography: Ciarán’s writing and directing career began with two full length stage plays, which were performed in Dublin in 2013. Following the success of these plays, Ciarán travelled to the U.S.A., where he studied directing under Academy Award nominated director, John D. Hancock.
THE TROUBLE WITH AOIBHE , directed by Ross Carey, 10min, Ireland 2014,(Drama)
Here in Ireland the abortion debate is at a fever pitch. Both sides have been personal, vivid, and intimidating; but not very human. We set out to put a strong narrative and a human face on the issue. As a character, Aoibhe is intensely human. Her humanity is the center of the story. Caring and unassuming, she only asks for the respect she gives others; which she has not been receiving.
This film is an examination of prejudice, and the courage it takes to stay true to yourself. We set out to address a hot topic without ever specifically mentioning the topic at all. This is the kind of hopeful tale I always wanted to tell.
EXTREME PINOCCHIO , directed by Pascal Chind, 25min, France 2014,(Comedy, Fantasy Film Noir)
Patrick, a dwarf junkie (and father-to-be) is desperately trying to clean up his act. Threatened by his drug dealers (the cat and the fox), to whom he owes a considerable amount of money, he accepts one last job: stealing cash from Gaetan, a psychopath who thinks he’s Geppetto… To get his money Patrick has to dress up as Pinocchio, and convince Gaetan to let him move in. But nothing goes according to plan…
GREAT , directed by Andreas Henn, 23min, Germany 2013,( Comedy, Drama)
GREAT – BASED ON A TRUE STORY Did the Nazis ever see Charlie Chaplin‘s “The Great Dictator“? May 10th, 1942: a relatively minor event on the brink of world history, which, had it not really happened, would certainly be worth of being dreamt up. All of Yugoslavia is occupied by Nazi-Germany. Nikola, a young Serbian projectionist, has had more than enough. Instead of emulating his violent Partisan friends, Nikola decides to teach the Germans a lesson all by himself. His weapon of choice: “The Great Dictator” by Charlie Chaplin. His target: a cinema for German soldiers right in the heart of Serbia. What happens there, Nikola couldn’t possibly have imagined in his wildest dreams. “A day without laughter is a day wasted.“ (Charlie Chaplin)
www.dogearfilms.com
SOPHIE , directed by Alex Lombard, 13min, USA 2014,(Drama Romance)
“Sophie” is a film about expectation, risk and reckoning. It follows a man’s journey from the straight and narrow path to the downward spiral of delusion. With slight of hand, it plays with the notion of protagonist and antagonist. It deals with issues of authority and self-governing in an overtly sexualized society. The narrative creeps to the edge of a cliff and as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, it drops the viewer over the edge. At once, the reckoning comes too late, but it does indeed come and at a very high price.
Director: Alex Lombard is an actress and writer who is making her directorial debut with “Sophie.” She has appeared in such films as “Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter,” “Inception,” “Man Without A Head” and “Snabba Cash 3.” Her TV credits include “Big Love” and “How I Met Your Mother.”
HOLDING IT TOGETHER , directed by Cal Duggan, 22min, Ireland 2014,(Comedy)
Programme 13, Sunday 5th of October, 18:00, The Sugar Club
Kate and Des have invited two other couples around for a dinner party, but have just heard some news that they do not wish to disclose tonight. Unknown to them, each of the other couples has a secret of their own. A comedy of errors ensues as each pair tries to deflect attention from their own story, and tensions continue to mount until finally the truth is revealed. Or is it?
SHEER MALICE , directed by Patrick McKenna, 28min, Ireland 2013,( Thriller, Drama)
Rachel is a hardworking and innocent everyday lady. In work, she is regularly being harassed by office sleaze, Jonathan. On her way home from work one evening, she is attacked and almost raped by an attacker wearing a nylon stocking mask, until she manages to fight him off. Upon returning home distraught and upset, Rachel finds her boyfriend, Dan, in bed with another woman. Left broken and vulnerable, Rachel turns to her best friend, Kate. Kate is a strong feminist, who harbours an intense dislike for men. Kate persuades Rachel that these kind of men need to be brutally punished. After being joined by Kate’s psychotic sister, Andrea, the three women spot Rachel’s nylon masked attacker, and Andrea later captures and drugs him. They take their prisoner to an abandoned warehouse where they tie him to a chair. The three women then dress up from head to toe in bizarre nylon outfits, and torture and kill their victim using hardware tools like hammers, axes and knives. The three killers then begin a campaign of capturing, torturing and then brutally murdering wayward men. Their campaign of terror causes Rachel to transform into a uncontrollable sinister sadistic killer.
REVIVAL , directed by Nadav Lazare, 24min, Israel 2014,(Comedy,Drama)
Hemi and Noga, a religious Jewish couple in their early sixties, live a quiet, protected life in a little village where all the residents are Orthodox Jews. Hemi is a bible teacher who loves his topic, but he seems to be failing more and more at getting his young students to look at the bible texts with an open mind. His wife Noga is a private math tutor but she has a past from before her Hemi days… in her youth she was bass guitarist for the punk rock band “Lobby”. One day Hemi hears on the radio that the lead musician is going to try and get the band back together. He assumes his wife will have nothing to do with the project but she soon proves him wrong. Her re-awakened love affair with the guitar, the music, the band and possibly its leader leads to conflict in the couple’s home and forces its way into every aspect of their lives, including Hemi’s bible class. Eventually Hemi has no choice but to reevaluate entirely the meaning of community.
www.maale.co.il
HIGH HOPES , directed by Guy Davidi, 14min, Palestine 2014(Documentary)
In 1997-1998, many Bedouin refugees living under Israeli Occupation were forcibly displaced by Israel to a garbage dump. During that entire period, the Oslo Peace Process was ongoing, with ‘high hopes’ for peace. Similarly, today’s peace talks are taking place while a plan exists to forcibly displace another 3,000 Bedouin refugees from the Jerusalem Periphery, and then subsequently 27,000 Bedouin and other Palestinian herders in Area C in order to expand settlements (moreover, up to 70,000 other Bedouin inside Israel in the Negev Desert, are to be displaced under the Prawer Plan). This all calls into question Israel’s commitment to peace, its willingness to allow a viable Palestinian state to come into existence or its attitudes towards Palestinians generally. HIGH HOPES (with the song “High Hopes” as its soundtrack, donated by Pink Floyd), is made from archive material of the initial displacements of 1997-98, and the corresponding expansion of Ma’ale Adumim settlement. Witnesses to that displacement were the late Faisal Husseini and the late Edward Said. The situation has only grown worse during the current period, when talks are again taking place, and Israel is both expanding settlements and formulating plans for the mass displacement of Bedouin Palestinians.
www.jahalin.org
LAME LAMBS , directed by Yunus Yildirim, 12min, Turkey 2014,(Drama, Emigration)
The film starts with a little girl crying right next to a dead man’s body, trying to wake him up. Then after losing hope, the little girl walks up to the mountains and feels weak and falls. She sees some people passing by from far and she faints. Neco is a Kurdish nomad who had to sell his late brother’s wife Avjin to Huseyin as a second wife. However, he has a conflict that he does not want to separate Rinde, Avjin’s daughter, from her mother. They load their horses with the injured lambs they have and start the journey from the mountains where their nomad group inhabits to the little town of Kanires. After a long mountain trip under warm summer sun, they reach to the butcher store in the town and sell the lambs for some cash. Then he meets Huseyin in the small coffee shop. He does sell Avjin to Huseyin but even though he insist on not separating the mother and the daughter, Huseyin rejects having the kid. Avjin gets in the car with Huseyin and Neco holds the Rinde as she cries for her mother’s leaving in this difficult situation where everybody was desperate. Neco goes back to the mountains with Rinde at night in order to go back to their nomad camping site. On the way back, when it is totally dark, Neco gets shot by unknown people. And the film ends with approaching flashlights.
HOME MADE , directed by Mark Sheridan, 13min, Ireland 2014(Drama)
Home Made tells the story of a man who enters Dublin’s St Stephens Green Park with a tray of cupcakes and a personal mission.
What transpires is his interactions with the other park visitors which illuminate more about him and what has led him on this mission to reconnect with the world.
Programme 14, Sunday 5th of October, 20:00, The Sugar Club
HUMANEXUS , directed by Ying-Fang Shen, 10min, USA 2013,(Animation)
The human race has long searched for meaningful interpersonal connections. Tools and technologies have made it easier to reach out and share ideas, but each presents a new, unforeseen challenge. We must always ask: “Is this what we want? What do we want?”
RAMBLER , directed by Patrick Quagliano, 24min, USA 2014,(Crime, Action)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caO6BNP6lSs
Several Crime Syndicates in London have just discovered they have all hired the same hit man to kill one another. Now they’ve put a massive bounty on his head. He’s a scarred up punk who calls himself, RAMBLER.
MARIA , directed by Mariana Marques, 17min, UK 2013, (Drama, Melodrama Sexual)
http://vimeo.com/user15901353/mariatrailer
Maria, a Portuguese young girl, marries with the love of her life some hours before he is taken to the Colonial War in Africa. She has only time to say goodbye before she becomes a married girl left behind with the other women from the village. In a family where love and fear are not spoken out loud, she is offered a new room for her marital bed. Clara, her middle sister, tries comfort her in her loneliness and protect her from Rosa, the provocative younger sister. The girls sleep together night after night exploring the sensations of their own bodies in the innocence of their ignorance. When the husband writes from Africa that he won’t come back, and the young José comes to invite Clara to the ball, Maria’s pride and jealousy speak louder than rational thought.
TORN , directed by Karen McGrath , 6min, Ireland 2014,(Comedy)
What happens when two women want the same thing? What happens when one of the two, not naturally inclined to assert herself now decides to defend her patch? Torn is the unlikely comedy that follows. Torn, the short film was written by the Smart Blonde Production company (written, produced and directed by women) for female actresses in a bid to create roles for women which would challenge men’s portrayal of women in films.
RECOIL , directed by Richard Keaney, 20min, Ireland 2014(Drama)
Ryan is distraught after taking revenge for his girlfriend’s murder. Coming to terms with the reality of his actions
and the loss he has suffered, the heartbroken man begins to psychologically unravel. All the while, outside forces
attempt to envelop him in a claustrophobic web of cynicism and brutality where memories are skewed and he
must ultimately question his own humanity.
SUMMER OF TOM , directed by David Lueza, 28min, France 2014,(Comedy)
Tom, english musician arrives in Paris to compose his first film score. But Lola, his neighbor, a french actress whom he fall in love with and Stan, her ex boy-friend who settles in her flat, won’t help him at all… A bilingual Franch-british comedy, mixing Rear Window and Something about Mary.