Victoria Independent Film Festival

VICTORIA INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL

November 22nd and 23rd, 2008

Session Times

Saturday 22nd November		Beaufort Community Centre 27 Pratt St, Beaufort
12.30pm
Elegy for the Elswick Envoy	25	Disabled artist Nancy Willis is in search of a home for her much loved, but aging car - the Elswick Envoy. This unique small car was designed to be driven directly from a wheelchair. As she prepares to take possession of an ultramodern adapted Renault, Nancy sets out on a mission to ensure that her Elswick will not vanish without trace from motoring history. In this personal road movie, Nancy can see her own struggle for continuing mobility mirrored in the increasingly unreliable performance of her battered old car. This witty and moving film is a fitting tribute and final farewell to a distinguished old friend.	UK	Nancy Willis
Recovered: Journeys through the Autism Spectrum and Back	57	RECOVERED Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back is a true, amazing story of recovery from Autism Spectrum Disorder as told by four children, their parents and the therapists who treated them. Each child received services from the Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD), including assessments, supervision, parent/teacher training and one-on-one behavioral therapy. The film presents documentation of therapy sessions along with interviews of the children who are now teenagers, their parents, therapists and the founder/executive director of CARD. Their combined stories illuminate both their struggles and triumphs while providing hope to families of newly diagnosed children that recovery is indeed possible.	USA	Michele Jaquis and Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh

2.00pm
Roller Derby Dolls	26	In the sprawling outer suburbs of Brisbane, a revolution is brewing. A sassy group of women from all walks of life has a dream: to resurrect the lost sport of full-contact roller derby in Australia.Led by their president Evil Doll, and despite none having experience in business, the roller girls have set up a roller derby league, one of 220 now dotted around the globe. Born in the United States in the 1920s, full-contact roller derby took off around the world before fading into obscurity in the 1980s. Thirty years later, it has sprung up again, driven by the passion of suburban women: nurses, artists, tattooists and driving instructors' wives and mothers by day, hell on wheels at night. Many are heavily tattooed and pierced, living lifestyles out of step with mainstream society. Roller Derby Dolls is a story of female empowerment, friendship and struggles - all on old-school roller skates.	Australia	Phoebe Hart
Operation Mural	55	Forty-five years after their clandestine mission, three Mossad agents return to Casablanca to retrace their steps in a humanitarian mission whereby 530 Jewish children reached Israel in 1961, under the guise of holidays in Switzerland. This film vividly documents how “Operation Mural” succeeded beyond all expectations. The key actors relive their undercover activities, as well as many precious testimonies of children and key Mossad figures in Israel and the Littmans in Switzerland. The film was filmed in Switzerland, Morocco and Israel. Documentary. 55 mins, Israel. Hebrew with English subtitles.	Israel	Yehuda Kaveh

3.30pm		Some Violence. Mature audiences only.
Stolen Youth	14	We all start as angels... As the inhabitants of a quiet rural village enjoy their Sunday lunch a young tear-away embarks on a violent and destructive tour. His opportunism leads him out of the village to the meticulous home of a single man, where he stumbles on a terrifying secret.	UK	Leon Chambers
Massacre at Virginia Tech	59	Early in the morning on 16 April 2007, on the Virginia Tech campus in America, Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and wounded 23 others before turning his gun on himself. It was the deadliest shooting in peacetime US history. Who was this deranged young man and what had caused him to meticulously plan and carry out this tragic event? How had Cho tipped over the edge to become a killer? Using extensive access to key witnesses, this moving and gripping film delves into the mystery of how Cho, a young man with no criminal history, became a mass murderer.	UK	Jonathan Hacker

5.00pm
What I see when I close my eyes	30	This short documentary looks at how several of Phnom Penh's 20,000 street kids are being helped by Mith Samlanh / Friends International. The children's stories range from the simple wish of a young girl to have enough soap, to the bold dream of a teenage boy to help drug addicts kick their habit and find work. Much of the film is told through the life-sized self portraits the children draw of themselves-an art project inspired by the film's title: What I see when I close my eyes.	Cambodia	Leslie Hope
Ayaa: A Hero's Journey	48	Ayaa: A Hero's Journey explores the connection of two individuals whose lives should have been worlds apart. A Canadian Aboriginal soldier and a Dutch child. However one brief encounter in the middle of a World War II battlefield in Holland bonded them together forever, resulting in a series of unexpected miracles.	Canada, Netherlands	Jason Margolis

6.30pm
Passage	21	A chance encounter between two strangers pushes both to come to terms with past decisions made.	USA	Angela How
Six Seconds of Freedom	53	Six Seconds of Freedom is the story of the Angola Prison Rodeo told through the eyes of the participants... convicted rapists and murderers. They do not practice. When it's rodeo time they simply put on hats and spurs and become cowboys. Often referred to Gladiators without the Lions, the Angola Prison Rodeo pits man against beast in some of the most unusual rodeo events ever witnessed. So hang on, it's one of the wildest rides you'll ever take.	USA	Jeff Smith

8.00pm
Calling	40	The Calling explores a relationship between the monotony of Western living and young men's romantic notions of adventure and martyrdom. Exploring the mass movements that dominate global politics today, Kershaw examines the parallels between extremist movements across the political spectrum as he asks the question: What drives a young recruit to fanatical obedience? Kershaw uncovers why the militant Neo-Nazi is so similar to his communist counterpart. How the jarhead marine undergoes indoctrination like the Islamist suicide bomber in Palestine or Kashmir. Kershaw explores the nature of fundamentalist thinking and the death of traditional Religious value as he corners the young men willing to risk everything for the infamy and honour of self-sacrifice.	Brazil, Canada, France, India, Israel, Palestinian Territories, USA, United Kingdom	Stuart Kershaw
Water Bearer	52	The quest for fresh water leads Indonesians of Catholic and Muslim descent to work together, along with Quebecer Gilles Raymond, to establish direct democracy, after thirty-two years of dictatorship. A road movie in wich solidarity overcomes defeatism, and generosity wins over corruption.	Canada	Pascal Gelinas

Sunday 23rd November		Beaufort Community Centre 27 Pratt St, Beaufort
12.30pm
Tripswitch	2	A master scientist has finally finished his greatest achievement. And now, history beckons.	UK	Anthony Sutcliffe
Evil Twin	4	A girl falls in love with a man she sees on her mother's funeral... Since that she cannot forget that man, so she starts to find out who he is. At the end she meets him again but also finds out the truth she never wants to know...	USA	Yun Wang
Animal Instincts	5	Animal Instincts is an action packed claymation of epic proportions. A cow and a sheep battle it out in a fight for ultimate farmyard supremacy. Animal Instincts is an action packed claymation of epic proportions. A fight breaks out between a cow and a sheep after the sheep steals some flowers. The cow doesn't take too kindly to the devious sheep, but the sheep isn't one to stand down from a fight no matter how far it takes them. The farmyard is transformed into a battleground as the animals use whatever they can get their hooves on as they desperately try to kill one another.	Australia	Cameron Edser, Michael Richards
Bulb	6	A man realises that after changing a light bulb in his lounge the whole room has shifted to a different reality. Further changes of the bulb reveal new environments. After becoming complacent about his ability to shift through these different settings one of the bulb changes causes a woman to appear in the room. Her motives are unclear but she has a particular interest in the man's supply of light bulbs.	New Zealand	David Collins
String and Girl	6	String and girl is a story about a string who wants to get the attention of a little girl. Full of optical illusions, the film's primary goal is to take the viewer from one scene to the next in strange and surprising ways. Whether an entire room morphs or a simple perspective change leads to an unexpected image, String and Girl's content mirrors the ever-changing flexibility of a string. Next door lives a precocious little girl who only wants to jump on her bed. When the string offers affection to the girl, through attention and gifts, will the little girl notice?	USA	David Bazelon
Patience	7	Patience is a moving tale set on a hospital ward and focuses on the relationship between two elderly women. In neighboring beds but separated by a screen, Constance has a view of a park and Vera listens to her descriptions of what is happening outside. Although entertained, Vera is also envious of this view of the outside world and eventually the desire for her own window becomes overwhelming.	UK	Robert Hackett
Black Button	7	It’s premise is simple yet intriguing: if you couldn’t get caught, would you kill a stranger for $10 million? Mr Roberts finds himself awoken inexplicably in a white room. A man sits before him at a desk and in between them stands a black button. If Mr Roberts pushes it, he will receive a briefcase filled with millions of dollars. Or he can take the key to the door and leave penniless. The catch? Pushing the button will result in the death of a human being. What would you do?	Australia	Lucas Crandles
Come back sweet heart	8	A story about finding the balance between freedom and constraint. The Character lost his heart and struggled to get his heart back. Try to explore the true meaning of being a person with the desire for freedom, but also living under some forms of constraint at the same time.	USA	Chang-Pei Wu
Head, Heart & Balls... or Why I gave up smoking pot	16	A young musician named Pete must overcome his insecurities, his overbearing parents, and a pot-induced anxiety attack in order to get to Woodstock and lose his virginity with the girl of his dreams. Cast: Adam Carolla, Houston Graham, Angelica Magana.	USA	Peter Foldy

2.00pm
Razorhead	2	A strange man decides his only way to salvation is to be found through a rather brutal haircut.