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Audience Choice Awards Announced
Thanks to all the participating filmmakers and to all the audience members that voted!!! We are pleased to announce the audience choices for the best films at HHM Fest 2007. They are... - Fest Best!!! (top award) - Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
- True Favorite for Fiction Feature (best fiction feature)- The Cake Eaters
- Dynamo Doc (best documentary)- Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea
- Drawn To It (best animated film)- Glimpse
- Big Favorite...Short Film (best short film) - (2 way tie) Fool Me Once and Polaroid
The Festival Committee also created a special award to be given every year to a festival "stand out." - "Stand Up for the Stand Out" Award goes to Bad Dog and Superhero
FULL LENGTH FEATURES & DOCUMENTARIES (NR= Not Rated)
FLOAT NR; 79 min; 2007 Comedy Feature
Paul Kolsby, Kendra Sue Waldman
Blue Dog Films; Directed by Calvin Simmons
Float is a comedy about a Hollywood fool, Paul Greene, & the 'Oscar-worthy' movie he’s desperate to produce–about a floating women’s prison. As Paul navigates the Hollywood system, he is constantly confronted by failure & rejection; & just when it seems he has no lower to go, he finds a way to believe. He manages to capture the heart of a lovely actress when he stumbles into moderate success; the only problem is–Paul is far more comfortable with failure.
BAD DOG AND SUPERHERO NR; 72 min; 2006 Comedy Feature
Christian Hoff, Kenneth Hughes, Kevin Sizemore,
Trees of Shade; Directed by Kenneth Hughes
Bad Dog & Superhero is an obtuse urban piece about 2 buds: Bad Dog (Christian Hoff 2006 Tony Award Winner) and Superhero (Kenneth Hughes) seeking to do good in the world for oddly unknown reasoning. They support themselves by playing 3 chord songs at local dives. (Music by Mark Hart of Crowded House). This underground musical shows that no matter the absurdity of the attempts to do good it usually works out pretty well and helps make sense of some of the icky stuff in life too!
Filmmaker and Cast Member(s) scheduled to appear
CONFUSIONS OF AN UNMARRIED COUPLE NR; 73 min; 2007 Comedy Feature
Brett Butler, Naomi Johnson
Substance Production; Directed by Jason Butler, Brett Butler
Take a couple whose had a troubled past, throw in a strange attempt at reconciliation and ask each what they think happened. What you get is one very real, funny and confused account of a relationship. Meet Dan and Lisa, they're an unmarried couple.
Filmmaker and Cast Member(s) scheduled to appear
WITNESSING HEADLINES NR; 79 min Documentary Feature
Directed by Dana Gedrick and Barry Shaw
What happens when you turn the cameras around on the media! During one of the most publicized trials in the last decade. TAKE (Michigan Premier) Rated R; 99 min; 2007 Drama Feature
Minnie Driver, Jeremy Renner, Bobby Coleman, David Denman
Crossing Paths; Directed by Charles Oliver
The lives of two strangers - a struggling mother (Driver) and a gambling addict (Renner) - meet in tragedy. Years pass, and they must come to terms with themselves, and one another. UNKNOWN NR; 98 min; 2006 Suspense Feature
James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan, Joe Pantoliano
Rick Lashbrook Films; Directed by Simon Brand
Trust no one. Fear everyone. Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive.
Screenwriter scheduled to appear THE CAKE EATERS NR; 95 min; 2007 Drama Feature
Bruce Dern, Thomas Cavanaugh, Jayce Bartok, Kristen Stewart
The 7th Floor; Directed by Mary Stuart Masterson
Life can be as sweet as you make it... Two families are brought together by the return of one family's son -- a reunion that conjures up old ghosts and issues that must be addressed. THE METROSEXUAL NR; 84 min; 2007 Comedy Feature
Shaun Benson, Nick Paonessa, Colm Meaney, Bruce Weitz, Mya Harrison
The TCS Productions; Directed by Adam Kaufman
In “The Metrosexual”, which many are calling “Swingers” meets “Annie Hall,” Eric Bremer elevates “typical male behavior” with his obsessive attention to appearance, manners, and a preference for the finer things in life. Finally there is a label for the “gay” straight man – Eric is 'The Metrosexual'. THICKER THAN WATER: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES PART 1 NR; 90 min; 2007 Comedy/Horror Feature
The Sugar Factory Inc; Directed by Phil Messerer
Lara, a precocious Goth teenager, hates her cheerleader twin sister. One day she performs a voodoo ritual and soon after Helen dies in her sister's horrified arms. The family is grief stricken and then surprised when Helen suddenly returns, still wearing her body bag and covered in blood. Helen has become a vampire. Their world crumbles into atrocity as they find that keeping a vampire in your basement can have horrific consequences. Get ready for a spin on classic vampire mythology. CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE? NR; 82 min; 2006 Documentary
Jeff Smith, Clay Haynes, Arty Harris, Nick Adams, Sam Simon, Howard Dean
At Risk Films; Directed by Frank Popper
This documentary is the story of the 2004 Democratic primary for Missouri's 3rd District U.S. Congressional seat—a race to replace 28-year veteran and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt. It's told from inside the campaign of Jeff Smith, a 29-year old part-time political science instructor at Washington University. Ten people enter the race, but the leading candidate is State Representative Russ Carnahan, scion of Missouri's most powerful political dynasty. As the title suggests, it questions how we elect our political leaders in the age of Jack Abramoff, where moneyed insiders invariably carry the day. It shows what confronts fresh political faces with new ideas and passionate supporters when they go head-to-head against the political establishment and when they encounter a largely apathetic electorate.
Filmmaker and Cast Member(s) scheduled to appear YOU KILL ME Rated R; 92 min; 2007 Comedy Feature
Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Jayne Eastwood, Dennis Farina, Bill Pullman,
and Luke Wilson
Bipolar Pictures; Directed by John Dahl
Frank loves his job. He just happens to be the hit-man for his Polish mob family in Buffalo, New York. But Frank's got a drinking problem and when he messes up a critical assignment that puts the family business in peril, his uncle sends him to San Francisco to clean up his act. He starts going to AA meetings, gets a sponsor and a job at a mortuary where he falls for the tart-tongued Laurel, a woman who is dangerously devoid of boundaries. Meanwhile, things aren't going well in Buffalo where an upstart Irish gang is threatening the family business. When violence erupts, Frank is forced to return home and with an unlikely assist from Laurel, faces old rivals on new terms. DRUNK IN PUBLIC NR; 81 min Documentary Feature
Mark Allen, David Sperling
Directed by David Sperling
'DRUNK IN PUBLIC' is a documentary feature film chronicling the life of Mark David Allen, a young man arrested over 400 times. This film is a gritty look at the depths of alcoholism, the futility of the system & human survival. The time frame in which this film unfolds covers 12 years and although this is a fully completed stand alone project, the subject matter begs for more. Those who've seen glimpses of the film are left educated & asking questions, chuckling, but most of all, deeply moved. IT’S MY PARTY & I’LL DIE IF I WANT TO NR; 79 min; 2007 Comedy/Horror Feature
Adrienne Fischer, Danielle Nortum, Darcy Wood
Scotchworthy Productions; Directed by Tony Wash
In the 1930's, Jacob Burkitt painted over the windows of Burkitt Manor and locked his family inside the house. No one saw them alive again. When the sheriff finally decided to investigate, he discovered the entire family cut to pieces and placed in piles all throughout the house. Seventy some odd years have gone by and Sara's friends have decided to throw her a surprise birthday party in Burkitt Manor on Halloween night. A night of fun and laughter quickly turns to horror and screams as the evil within the house awakens and begins disposing of the party-goers one at a time. A nod to the slasher-horror films of the 80’s with a cameo by the master himself, Tom Savini. PLAGUES & PLEASURES OF THE SALTON SEA NR; 73 min; 2004 Documentary
Tilapia Film; Directed by Christopher Metzler, Jeff Springer
Hair-raising and hilarious, part history lesson, part cautionary tale and part portrait of one of the strangest communities you’ve ever seen, this is the American Dream gone as stinky as a dead carp. As narrated by legendary counter-culture filmmaker John Waters, there was time when the Salton Sea, tucked into the southeast corner of California was known as the Riviera of the West—a haven for jetsetters and vacationers. Originally created by accident, it’s now one of the country’s worst ecological disasters: a fetid, stagnant, salty lake, coughing up dead fish and birds by the thousands. Still, a hardy few have hung on there, hoping for help to come along and restore the lake to its former glory. STOMP! SHOUT! SCREAM! NR; 77 min; 2005 Comedy Feature
Claire Bronson, Cynthia Evans, Mary Kraft, Adrian Roberts
Stomp Shout Scream LLC; Directed by Jay Wade Edwards
A beach party rock & roll monster movie, takes place in 1966 & features an all-girl garage rock band and the legend of the Skunk Ape (the Florida Everglades version of Bigfoot). The Violas, are on tour when their van breaks down in a small southern beach town where local police are investigating the disappearance of a little girl's parents. The two leading men fall for Violas lead singer Theodora, but she seems to have no interest in them, possibly because of a mysterious past. Hector convinces the girls to stay in town when he offers to repair their van in exchange for playing his party, but the mysterious creature is still on the loose.
TWENTY TO LIFE: THE LIFE & TIMES OF JOHN SINCLAIR NR; 86 min; Documentary
Directed by Steve Gebhardt
John Sinclair first emerged out of his small-town Michigan background to forge a legendary course through the 1960s as a cultural activist, manager of the MC5, and Chairman of the White Panther Party. An early victim of the War on Drugs, he faced 20 years to life in prison for giving two joints to an undercover cop. The long campaign waged by Sinclair culminated in a massive John Sinclair Freedom Rally headlined by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Allen Ginsberg that resulted in Sinclair’s release from prison.
Filmmaker scheduled to appear FACTORY GIRL Rated R; 96 min; 2006 Drama Feature
Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen, Jimmy Fallon
The Weinstein Company; Directed by George Hickenlooper
The Weinstein Company; Directed by George Hickenlooper
A beautiful, wealthy young party girl drops out of Radcliffe in 1965 and heads to New York to become Holly Golightly. When she meets a hungry young artist named Andy Warhol, he promises to make her the star she always wanted to be. And like a super nova she explodes on the New York scene only to find herself slowly lose grip on reality... ARIZONA SEASIDE NR; 98 min; 2007 Comedy Feature
Roy Werner
Directed by J. Pil Pilegaard
A Kasakhstan factory worker with Nashville dreams is duped by a wannabe pimp and oddball gangster. Through a comedy of errors, she crosses paths with a sweet con-man moonlighting as a Robin Hood of stray animals. Both on the run from gangsters they end up at Arizona Seaside, a rundown motel in the middle of nowhere. Their short but very eventful stay has some unexpected consequences. SHORTS FILMS & DOCUMENTARIES
AN EVEN BRIEFER HISTORY OF TIME (Short Film Program #1) Canada
Directed by Karen Hanson
Forget Stephen Hawking. Raymond learns an important lesson on the true nature of time—he just hopes his girlfriend doesn't find out where he is tonight. 'An Even Briefer History of Time' is a cheeky look at privacy, truth, Kung Fu, and, of course, time in our rampantly voyeuristic world.
SON (Short Film Program #1) United Kingdom
Directed by Daniel Malloy
'Son' tells the story of an underground theatre Director and the possessive grip he holds over his female colleague and her young son James. James' unhappy world unfolds in the confines of the theatre's vaults where soon reality and fiction become indistinguishable. LIFE IN TRANSITION (Short Film Program #1) Animated California
Directed by John R. Dilworth
'Life in Transition' is a visual & symbolic journey depicting the continual transformations of life. John Dilworth is an Academy Award Nominee for Best Short Film, Animated FOOL ME ONCE (Short Film Program #1) California
Directed by Paco Farias
Maureen Ackerman (Sharon Lawrence), a clever, coquettish housewife, starts her day like any other -- the morning crossword, tea, breakfast. She sees off her husband (Tom Irwin) with an obligatory kiss and a wave. Then her lover (Carlos Gomez) shows up. After seducing her, he gives her a beautiful diamond necklace and challenges her to get it past her husband. Intrigued by both the diamonds and the dare, Maureen concocts a plan and what follows is a fast game of deception and greed. Paco Farias is a returning filmmaker to HHM Fest. In 2006, his short films Broken and Yellow Hammer were featured. FORGED (Short Film Program #1) Short Documentary Texas
Directed by Sarah Gibson
Behind the ruckus guitars and screeching growls lies the powerful passion of metal music and the bands that perform it. Within the darkness of metal a ray of Christian light continues to grow. Doug Van Pelt, editor of HM magazine, Sealed by Blood, and Betrayed by a Kiss, two unsigned bands, discuss their passion for metal.
EVERYTHING WILL BE O.K. (Short Film Program #1) Animated California
Directed by Don Hertzfeldt
A series of dark and troubling events forces Bill to reckon with the meaning of his life - or lack thereof. SUNDANCE WINNER: Grand Jury Award, Best Short Film
SHOULD (Short Film Program #1) California
Directed by Jorge-Luis Pallo
What happens to a man when he watches all he holds dear slip through his fingers? Tino is a tormented young man who has spent his entire life fighting to survive and the only person he had left to call family is his best friend Gabe. When Tino's girlfriend is killed in a car accident, Tino holds himself up in his apartment cycling downward in a spiral of pain, guilt and self-pity. Does Tino choose a path from which he can never return, or does he make the choice to redeem himself in the eyes of his dead girlfriend? DEAR SWEET EMMA (Shorts Program #1) Animated North Carolina
Directed by John Cernak
As the search is given up for Emma's husband, Tucker, a private look reveals that Emma has a secret & uncontrollable dark side. The sweetest angel & favorite citizen of Fishtickle would indeed pose an uncomfortable dilemma for all if her problem were ever found out. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GAVIN BUCKMASTER (Short Film Program #1) California
Directed by Brinn Daniels
One day, Samantha Minor decides that all of the frustration in her life is due to one person from her past…Gavin Buckmaster. Samantha adored Gavin in high school and when she finally got up the nerve to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance he shot her down in front of the whole school. Ten years later Samantha realizes that was the event that changed her life, and it wasn't for the better. So she decides to head back to her small hometown, find Gavin, and make him fall in love with her. AWOL ( Short Film Program #2) California
David Morse, John C. McGinley
Directed by Jack Swanstrom
A Twist of Fate Can Be Torture. 1972 Vietnam. An American soldier is caught in a mysterious twist of fate, torturing his mind and body. Escaping will take wits, and require a gun. CHEAP DATE (Short Film Program #2)
Directed by Mike Bell
Intimate moments are difficult when you have roommates.
This film includes “Adult/Mature” content. DIE FLUGBEGLUITERIN (Short Film Program #2) Germany Directed by Marcin Glowacki
Where desire ends and addiction begins. A film about the amount of food in a society which has lost its proportions. JOYRIDE (Short Film Program #2) Animated North Carolina
Directed by John Cernak
Don’t Tread on Me. What ‘THE MAN’ wants, ‘THE MAN’ gets...and if you don’t pay attention it will all go by in the blink of a sound bite! ORDINARY ANGELS (Short Film Program #2) Washington
Directed by Todd Downing
Seen through the eyes of the frustrated Afriel, field commander Micah must lead his cadre of rough-and-tumble angels through a gauntlet of Fallen mischief, including illegal soul harvesting. A documentary film crew follows these 'ordinary angels' as they defend innocent mortal souls and give interviews about their function in the celestial order. The story culminates in a standoff between Micah's squad and Lucifer's enforcers at a suburban crack house. SLUM NOIR (Short Film Program #2) Animated
Directed by Jahmad Rollins
Children of the slums survive shadow buried streets hidden behind masks. Chasing after a masked young girl carrying a mysterious box. CAUGHT IN PAINT (Short Film Program #3) Short Documentary Kansas
Directed by Rita Blitt
A video capturing painter/sculptor Rita Blitt painting on four by eight foot transparent surfaces while choreographer David Parsons & members of the Parsons Dance Company are seen in mid-air, through the painting, imitating the dancing lines of Blitt's paint strokes. Lois Greenfield, who collaborated in this union of paint, dance & photography, made dynamic photographs as she, too, was being filmed. POLAROID (Short Film Program #3) Michigan
Directed by Matt Cassatta
A group of friends find a magical camera whose pictures predict the future. Matt Cassatta is a returning filmmaker to HHM Fest. His short film Two Guys and a Mannequin was featured in 2006.
THE OFFERING (Short Film Program #3) Canada
Directed by Paul Lee
'The Offering' is an elegiac meditation about the passing of life, told through the story of love and friendship between a Japanese monk and the novice who came into his life, from their initial encounter to their final parting. DOUBLE TALK (Short Film Program #3) Switzerland
Directed by Julien Ezri
A man is sitting in a restaurant, waiting. Another man enters and sits down, and here begins an interesting seduction scene! FLYAWAY (Short Film Program #3) Animated North Carolina
Directed by Danny Oakley
A little wooden plane, despite the price it must pay, does the impossible and joins a world it could only dream of. GLIMPSE (Short Film Program #3) Animated Ohio
Directed by Dustin Grella
Glimpse, an experimental nine minute animated short, using stop motion photography, which started as a study of the life of artist and painter Willem de Kooning, evolved into a stream of consciousness narrative concerning freedom from imprisonment, and the impermanence of life. Drawing on top of slate from deserted schoolhouses, the artist used hard pastels to create a dark, uncertain world, sometimes concrete, sometimes abstract. With the camera set up with a timer on sixty-second intervals, the artist hand drew the forty-five hundred stills necessary to complete the nine-month project. With a soundtrack from Lower East Side native, Gary Michael Millus and animation by emerging artist and animator Dustin Grella, the narrative takes on a dreamlike quality better experienced, than explained.
C YN (Short Film Program #3) Florida
Directed by Alex Ferrari
Cyn is a twisted tale by writer/director Alex Ferrari about Cynthia, a young woman who is taken away by two psychopaths (Mr. Sugar and Otto) in the middle of the night. Cyn quickly turns the tables on them and soon the night becomes a cat and mouse mind game. While this drama is unfolding a lone figure watches from a close circuit monitor. Who is Cynthia and what the hell is going on in this twisted tale?' MY NAME IS WALLACE (Short Film Program #3)
Directed by Rob Pondillo
Wallace Waverly is a sheltered, high functioning mentally challenged 38-year-old man who has lived with his mother all his life. Upon her death, Wallace finds himself alone and lonesome, One day, as he browses through the personal section of a newspaper he sees an ad that reads: “Lonely? Need Love? Call 1-900-HOT BABES “My Name is Wallace,” while a sweet and touching comedy, is also a story of personal salvation, and is a very different kind of love story. SHORT FILM: GONE (BILL MADDEN) (Short Film Program #3) California
Directed by Andrew Watson
Bill Madden brings the worlds of film and music together with a metaphorical environmental warning alert. This compelling video raises questions, fusing art, social commentary, and music to spark debate on what it means to be alive and grapple with the consequences of environmental change. The video communicates the need to reverse the effects of climate change while there's still time. Film is directed by Andrew Watson of Current TV, an interactive cable channel founded by Al Gore. JAKOB AND THE ANGELS (Short Film Program #3) California
Directed by Ronald Lehman
Jakob tries everything he can think of to evict the angels who have invaded his attic to sing hallelujahs day and night. Finally, he calls the exterminators. A rather diabolical team of pest killers arrives, and when Jakob accepts their offer to fix his angel problem, they promptly launch a miniature Armageddon in his attic. As Jakob's life is bombed into 'angel-proof' solitude, he wishes he'd left well enough alone. Based on a short story by Audrey Niffenegger, author of the best-selling science fiction novel, 'The Time Traveler’s Wife. THE MUSHROOM TEA (Short Film Program #3) Animated Michigan
Directed by Viktoriya Gruzdyn
The Mushroom Tea is a tale that constantly builds in intensity and surprises once a young girl becomes unsatisfied with the quality of the food she eats, and goes to search for something better. On her way to an exotic destination, a little girl is assured that she will come across what she is looking, not realizing that she may become a victim for the food. In the absence of the dialogue, and its bizarre and disturbing visual imagery, the ending may leave you shaken to the core.
HOLM AWAY FROM HOME (Short Film Program #4) Short Documentary Illinois
Directed by Rob Federighi
Doug Holm is a 33 year old logging truck driver from Michigan's Upper Peninsula who takes his first ever trip to the big city of Chicago. Although the film is mostly a comedic documentary, there is a sentimental thread throughout the film about the significance of 'home' to each of us. WILLOW GARDEN (Short Film Program #4) North Carolina
Directed by Jim Havercamp
'Willow Garden' tells the tale of a young man who becomes caught in a deadly love triangle and must decide whether to follow his heart or his father's twisted advice. Shot in an expressionistic, film noir style, 'Willow Garden' tells the back-story of one of America's strangest murder ballads. The striking black and white cinematography by Steve Daniels gives the film the feeling of a dark fable, fueled by the characters' elemental passions. QUINCY AND ALTHEA (Short Film Program #4) New York
Directed by Doug Lenox
While the rest of New Orleans rebuilds, a bickering married couple searches for a divorce amidst the wreckage spawned by Hurricane Katrina. ONE SKIN (New Explorations) California
Directed by Gudrun Cram-Drach
Mary is confronted by different paths of womanhood… independence at a cost or the confinement of traditional roles. In her efforts to rise above these limiting scenarios, Mary is offered a glimpse of freedom in the bird she seeks as well as a potential solution in the actions of a rebellious little girl. COFFEE (New Explorations) Animated Canada
Directed by Nolan
A Day in the life of a coffee fanatic who can't quite function normally without a few pots. In this classically animated short, things go from bad to worse as something as simple as getting a cup of coffee unexpectedly becomes a test of self control. GIBTOWN: A DYING HISTORY (New Explorations) Short Documentary Florida
Directed by Jess Orsburn & Matthew D’Amato
An intimate documentary about a town where the neighbors are marvels and where the back yards are filled with Ferris wheels, exotic animals, and rundown concession stands. Gibtown is the nickname for Gibsonton, Florida, the retirement and off-season refuge for lontime carnival and circus workers. The town was, at one time considered the oddest place in America. This is the place they call home. ROSE COLORED GLASSES (New Explorations) Michigan
Directed by Andrew Fortenbacher
Elizabeth remembers the joy and love that she felt during the relationship with her ex-boyfriend Nick. She is determined to rekindle the relationship despite her sister's efforts to discourage her. Upon arriving at Nick's apartment to reunite with him, Elizabeth is greeted in a very different manner than she had hoped for. SOMETHING OVERHEAD PLUMMETING (New Explorations) Michigan
Directed by Joseph Kolean
Something Overhead Plummeting is the exploration of one man's recent romantic failures. Instead of explicitly showing what went wrong, the film focuses on shots of natural splendor (brilliant sunsets, flowing creeks, and passing clouds) and short sequences of elation and conflict to represent each relationship. KNOCK KNOCK (New Explorations) Alabama
Directed by Amir Motlagh
A comedian with a hot online following is served up a dish of cold reality when an old girlfriend appears in Knock Knock, the latest dramatic short from director Amir Motlagh MARY (New Explorations) Louisiana
Directed by Paul Catalanotto
Three years have passed since Mary was tragically raped. Forever changed, she now finds herself falling from one abusive relationship to another. However, Mary has caught the attention of Michael, a young man with the hopes of saving her from this abusive cycle. Unfortunately, Mary isn't interested in a 'good guy'. MAZE (New Explorations) New York
Directed by Neal Dhand
There's more than one way out of a maze. Aaron meets Susan on his package delivery route and immediately becomes enamored. The problem is that Susan lives with William. Aaron's mental state becomes more and more fragile as his obsession grows
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