Ai

The traces left by the era of the samurai are still with us today. From this rich history of this ancient warrior culture comes a tale of honor, vengeance and redemption with a dark, sense of meaningless fatality. It is the origin story of a cursed vigilante, Ai, hell-bent on disposing those responsible for her clan’s demise.The young female sensei and savoir, Yoshizo, has molded Ai into a deadly and ruthless warrior. When Ai injures her master in the heat of a training battle, Yoshizo demands that she kill him.Ai, angered and confused by this, flees the scene only to be assaulted by a group of samurai. Ai easily dispenses the samurai but the leader of the group, Kyuzaemon, takes her down. He exposes a birthmark on her wrist, a bizarre clue to her identity as a cursed child, confirming this is the girl he has been searching for.Ai tries to escape with no success. But Yoshizo makes a sudden return and forces Kyuzaemon to a deadly face off. Whoever wins the battle must then deal with Ai before her curse kills them both.Inspired by the great tradition of samurai cinema, Ai is an exploration of the era of the samurai and explores the themes of dormant fury for those who have lost loved ones and are driven to the point of madness with revenge.

 

 

Borderless

College student Elena Torres has developed an expert system for surviving in a world she cannot afford.  As long as she remains anonymous, and all alone, she'll be alright.  But when she meets an unlikely ally in collegiate Republican-at-large Jason Whitsell, she must decide whether she can trust him with her secrets.

Columbia Ave.

Frank Monaghan (Rhys Coiro), an organized smuggler goes on the run as a fugitive after he was busted with a shipment of drugs. Now, Frank's younger brother Tommy (Nicholas Gonzalez) takes it upon himself to help Frank survive on the run by stealing cars and selling them over the border to get money to him to move around. ICE Agents Horton (Michael Monks) and Delgado (Laz Alonso) pick up Tommy to grill him and scare him into giving up where his brother Frank may be hiding. Tommy now must throw the agents off of Frank’s trail by enlisting the help of his girlfriend and Sam the Lawyer (Bruce McGill) in a risky plan to get Frank out of the country immediately.

Compact Only

 

The Conversationalist

A mockumentary about a professional conversationalist. The film is a combination of interviews with the conversationalist covering his origins, professional techniques, the application process for a conversation, his preparation and research, and actual conversations he has with various clients. Through the conversationalist we document the complexity of human interaction and communication.

Crescendo

Steph, a young mother, lives in precarious conditions with JB, her abusive boyfriend. How will she get out of this nightmare drifting her towards violence?

Dandelion Dharma

In DANDELION DHARMA, a magical tale of love, loss and letting go, we first meet Trudy (Amanda Tepe), a distraught 20-something determined to rid herself of the final dredges of a failed romance. Brokenhearted, she stands in the community garden plot she shared with her fiancé, once a reflection of their vibrant love for each other, now a barren weed-filled piece of land. Suddenly, Trudy is interrupted by three mysterious women who appear on the garden path; reluctantly she listens as the eccentric women eventually befriend and ultimately beguile her with their stories.Emma Chaise (Mimi Cozzens) - an 80-year old feisty Brit and WWII fighter pilot; Liah Montez (Myriam Tubert) a 70-something Hispanic beauty and former owner of a whorehouse in Guadalajara, and "Mad" Sonja (Damara Reilly) - a hip reefer-smoking ex-dancer - are the best of friends who seem to know the most private details of Trudy's life. The three women surprise her with their power of persuasion, as they become intimate sharing laced brownies and shots of vodka, as well as stories of failed romance and their own "Mr. Wrong." Savoring every detail of their touching and humorous accounts, Trudy continues to fall under the spell of these quirky wise women.Following their tales of love, where "beginnings come from endings, endings from beginnings," Trudy's perception of life, love and reality changes, as she unexpectedly uncovers new meaning to "letting go."

Dinner With Raphael

A guy brings his fiancee home to meet his family, including his brother who thinks he's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Elegy

Nina hasn’t been to a wedding since she lost her husband two years ago. Raising a three and five-year-old on her own has served as a dependable excuse. When a childhood friend invites her to celebrate her nuptials, Nina can’t refuse. At the reception, she collides with JP, an adolescent crush with a contentious history. They spar at a table away from the celebration, and after a test has been passed, a long held secret is revealed. Elegy explores the opportunities tragedy can bring, and the challenges one must overleap in order to see its true potential.

El Tio Facundo

 

Godforsaken

Godforsaken

High

Small-town pot dealer Alex Trent is a high school senior that utilizes his nearly invisible social status to profit off of—and enjoy—the recreational use of marijuana. The film depicts a few days of Alex’s life, and in that time we are introduced to his family, supplier, and clients; all of which are part of the small and antiquated mountain community of Big Bear Lake, CA. Alex’s disconnection seems to be a typical teenage occurrence in his family's eyes, so they remain oblivious to his habit and lucrative business, though both his father and brother are local sheriff deputies. The variety of clients Alex interacts with, ranging from fellow students to housewives, illustrate that he and many of those around him all live double lives due to their habit. Each character wears a neutral facade while in the public eye, but when alone with Alex and his product, they are free to express themselves

The Highly Contested Election For Payette County Sheriff

A modern twist on the classic Westerns of old, “The Highly Contested Election for Payette County Sheriff” tells the tale of a shooting war that breaks out between rural Idaho neighbors—Sheriff Thompson and the Tucker family—over pent up frustrations regarding water rights. The Sheriff strikes first by secretly hiring the Bad Ass Chicks—a gang of roving outlaws--to drive the Tuckers from their ranch. When Pa Tucker refuses to leave his ranch, the Bad Ass Chicks gun him down in cold blood and issue an ultimatum to the rest of the Tucker Family that they have two days to depart or suffer a similar fate. The Tuckers—unaware of the Sheriff’s role in Pa’s death—appeal to the Sheriff for help, who promises protection. But Ma Tuckers is dubious about the Sheriff’s competence, so the Tuckers hire a mercenary gunslinger named Delroy off the Internet to come defend their interests. Delroy arrives in Payette County and the stage is set for the climatic show-down in the Tucker corral. Stumbling unawares into the midst of this brouhaha is the hapless Delbert, the ex-husband of Lucille Tucker. Freshly released from prison, Delbert arrives in Payette County loudly proclaiming his intention to kill Lucille—a plan that is quickly thwarted by the locals, with a little help from the gunslinger Delroy.

 

Jack The Reaper (Formerly -Death's Door)

'Jack the Reaper' is a Dark Comedy. Jack Farber (David Moscow) witnesses a mugging down a dark alley. Instead of helping the victim, he panics, only to see the man be killed in front of him. The next day a pattern begins of people dying in Jack's presence. Day after day a new person meets their end. What Jack assumed was a coincidence now has him believing it is a curse. Jack decides to flee the city and goes out to the country to get miles away from any persons, but he is greeted by a hunter who has a serious injury. Jack takes the hunter to the hospital, where the hunter passes away. Jack decides to embrace the curse rather than fighting it and takes a job at the hospital where death is an every day occurrence. Months go by and Jack gets a call for his estranged father. There is no one better to test the curse out in Jack's mind. His father, who stole $25,000 from his grandmother, is the one person he wished death upon. Jack's father turns out to be a changed man and he and Jack reconnect, but unfortunately for both of them the curse takes Jack's father too. The next day Jack vows to stop the curse for good. He searches the city to find someone to save, thinking if he could just save one person the curse would end. For hours he scowers the city, but just when he gives up death finds him. A man is about to be hit by a car and Jack saves him only to find out that the heartbroken man wanted to die. Jack convinces the man to get help and takes him to the hospital. Before going home Jack confesses his sin of not helping the man in the alley and tells the priest his story and how he saved the heartbroken soul he just brought in. Midnight passes and Jack believes the curse to be over. Jack asks the priest for forgiveness, but receives nothing in return. He goes to the other side of the confessional to find the priest has indeed passed away. Discouraged but not broken, Jack heads out the door ready to take on the curse another day.

The Last Days Of Shishmaref

The Last Days of Shishmaref is a documentary about the first actual victims of global warming. Shishmaref is the sole settlement on Sarichef, an island in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska.The nearest towns are over 150 kilometers away. The island is inhabited by a small number of Inupiaq families.In the past few years the settlement has become the arena of a twofold far-reaching and growing drama. The increasing influence of the `white man', resulting in the arrival of satellite television, mail-order shopping for western clothes and food, and obligatory education, has caused a deep schism between different generations of Inupiaq. At the same time another threat slowly but persistently jeopardizes the village, with immense consequences for the future. The sea becomes frozen over much later in the year than in the past due to climate change. As a result, each year, the winter storms terrorize the island for much longer, causing enormous damage to its coastline. Large areas of Shishmaref have already crumbled into the ocean. It has been predicted that the whole of Shishmaref will disappear in less then ten years time. The Inupiaq are facing a forced move to the main land.Despite the alarming situation and the growing political awareness of the Inupiaq, the film will not be ideological or didactic. The Last Days of Shishmaref will, through the portrayal of the concrete and irreversible drama which takes place at the island, address universal themes of identity and transcendence.

Letters In The Sand

This film explores a young man's journey through society in search of understanding and companionship. In an homage to Chris Marker's Sans Soleil, the film uses evocative language and images from Southern California and the Pacific Northwest to examine themes of solitude, alienation, and uniqueness. This film paints a picture of the struggle for individuality in the face of a hostile world.

Looking Thru The B-Sides

“Looking Thru The B-Sides” follows the adventures of a skater named “Ollie” as he is off on a quest to find his lost skateboard. What starts off as a casual trip to the skate park, turns into a wild trip down the rabbit hole and ends up in a way that Alice In Wonderland could never imagine. What trip would be complete without a butt-chinned painter, skating underwear, and bacon to grind on? Part adventure, part love story, always ready for the unexpected – come along as we go Looking Thru The B-Sides.Action Sports network FUEL TV has long understood the creative connection between skateboarding and art. This piece was originally conceived as short film to inspire creativity for our audience. Knowing that we needed something really special, we turned to long-time collaborator Saiman Chow who was just starting a new production company. Saiman has produced lots of fantastic work for FUEL TV in the past and he jumped at the idea of creating what I’m sure you will agree is true work of art.

Milk Crate

Charlie leaves his row house on a summer morning and as always, places his milk crate in the parking spot in front of the house. The row houses are close and the street is narrow and this is the way it is done in Pittsburgh's South Side neighborhood. Mohawk, a young Japanese man is moving in to the neighborhood. He spots a parking spot right in front of his new apartment although it is curiously blocked by an abandoned milk crate. No problem, in fact the crate will come in handy with the move in. Floral Duster observes this breach of neighborhood protocol from her window. Charlie returns to see his spot taken and his crate missing. In Polish, Floral Duster tells Charlie what transpired when just then Mohawk returns, tosses the milk crate in the trash and gets in his car to leave. He ignores the two older people on the sidewalk speaking in a foreign language. Charlie is beside himself. Both Charlie and Mohawk tell their tale of the day's events to friends at local watering holes. Charlie returns to find Mohawk again in his spot but cannot communicate with him. Later that day Charlie sets a trap and waits outside on the sidewalk for Mohawk to return. It is a warm summer day and Charlie falls asleep. He awakes to find his spot once again occupied by Mohawk's car. That's it; stern measures are called for. Mohawk returns and again parks in the spot. Floral Duster comes out and confronts him in Polish and broken English about the faux pas. Mohawk takes the milk crate and leaves. Charlie returns to see the spot empty but the crate missing. He goes down the street and turns the car around to leave when Mohawk pulls up. The two cars come to a stop face to face and both men exit. Each are unaware of the others intentions. Charlie and Mohawk find their way to common ground as the long day fades into evening.

Moonlight Sonata

O'Connells are an affluent, highly-cultured San Francisco family, normal on the surface but deeply troubled by certain secrets that Tom, a successful architect, believes should be left uncovered. His wife Alice is encouraged by her long-time psychiatrist to undergo hypnotic-therapy to uncover them, with the hope of helping her depression and anxiety.

What extremes Tom would go to in order to stop his wife from recovering her painful, repressed-memories? Murder? Would his shady business dealings with the local mafia help his problems at home or lead him to a path of total chaos and destruction?

With surprising twists and turns along the way, the audience will find out the answers at the cliffhanger-climax of this highly suspenseful psychological-thriller.

Please watch short TRAILER at: www.moonlightsonatamovie.com
 

Not Here, Not There

It's like being in two places at once, like walking in between, because the body is in one place and the heart is in another.When a family of six Costa Rican siblings separates through illegal immigration, uncertainty arises about where home really is.

The Other Side Of Paradise

'The Other Side of Paradise' is a highly entertaining comedy about a girl named Rose who embarks on a journey of self-discovery on the way to her first gallery opening. Along the way, she picks up Alex, the newly single friend she's always had feelings for, and her misfit younger brother Jamie, who recently was released from prison. On the road trip, the trio encounter off-the-wall characters and hilarious cameos that chew up the Texas countryside. In the end, the three must come to grips with their own issues of trust, abandonment, love, and ultimately hope.

The Price to Pay

 

Scavenger

After a year of sobriety, Jameson, a former addict, wakes up to one of the worst days of his life and tries to acquire his old favorite designer drug from his former dealer, who sends him on what becomes a wild scavenger hunt to prove his integrity.

Slice of Pie

Gleaned from Rick Hall’s small town stories called “spellbinding” by the New York Times, “Slice of Pie” is a romantic comedy with an unlikely hero. Carter’s a middle-aged divorcee with his eye on Juanita, the waitress at the local diner. In an attempt to woo the girl of his dreams he waxes philosophical about the merits of pie. But when James, the used car dealer of dating, makes his move on Juanita, subtly is out the window. Carter pops the question, Juanita accepts and Carter thinks he has the wind at his back. But in the open prairieland of central Illinois, the wind can change direction rather quickly. Slice of Pie is a cinematic slice of life chock full of the bittersweet moments set against a back drop of quirky locals that Carter grew up with. Oh yeah, and a dead dog named Burt. Humorous and heartfelt, this touching film reminds you to always save room for a Slice of Pie.

Spaceman On Earth

In 1950's America, a little green alien frames a superhero, Spaceman, as a communist. Spaceman must fight his way through car chases, shoot outs, jet packs, and monster fights to prove his innocence!

Tales From The Catholic Church Of Elvis!

The Mother Lode of all Dichotomies: the One Holy Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, and Fabulous Las Vegas! In 'Tales from the Catholic Church of Elvis!', Mercy Malick wraps the two together in a tightly-wound package that skips happily and harrowingly through eleven years as a Catholic schoolgirl living in Sin City, USA. With a passing nod to everything from Monty Python to Benny Hill, way beyond South Park and Napoleon Dynamite, and well on the far side of recent films like Little Miss Sunshine and the Farrelly Brothers fare, 'Tales' is a remarkable immersion in a world all its own. Staged within the framework of a shockingly schlock Vegas stage show at the eponymous Catholic Church of Elvis, 'Tales' follows a young girl from her early fascination with Vegas glitz, accompanied by prayer, of course, along a time-twisting series of adventures that bring into delightful juxtaposition brain-boggling epiphanies that include colostomy bag as alternative to babies, and pizza box as indoor-outhouse. Much like our surrogates, the peripatetic audience of the Catholic Church of Elvis, we stagger out of 'Tales' into the garish neon night among the crowds of loafers, losers, and legitimately weird, our consciousness raised a bit, and our heads still reeling at what it must have been like to grow up Catholic in the least Catholic place on the map, and marvelng about the inspirational true story of turning bad experiences into strengths.

Thru

Thru

Tied To A Chair

Winner, Best in Festival, Heart of England Film Festival, 2009 “Tied to a Chair was a true comedy thriller - I laughed nearly all the way through it and Bonnie put a lot of herself into the leading character. It was truly brilliant.” - Nick Hudson, Director, Heart of England Film Festival The movie begins on the last day of Naomi Holbroke’s marriage. After 9,125 consecutive burned dinners, each one of which results in a quarrel with her husband, she admits her failure as housewife to a high-ranking British government official and sets off to reclaim the acting career she gave up “for him” twenty-five years ago.In France at a small film festival, she meets Billy Rust, a man her age who directed a legendary cult film twenty-five years ago and has done nothing since. He’s in Europe looking for actors for his next film and Naomi falls in love with…his script, particularly with the sequence in which the girl gets tied to a chair. Alas, the part calls for a “name or a much younger woman with a much more voluptuous figure” but Naomi perseveres and extracts a promise of a screen test in New York after getting Billy to tie her to a chair in his hotel room. Unfortunately Billy falls asleep right after making this promise, leaving Naomi to get herself out of his room, and down the stairs to the hotel lobby still tied to the chair.Bruised but hopeful, Naomi arrives in New York for her screen test. On the way in from the airport the taxi driver takes all her money and then stops on the highway and tells her to get out. Worried about being late for her screen test, Naomi tricks him and steals the taxi. She arrives at the screen test with several police cars chasing the stolen taxi but encounters a larger problem when she gets to Billy Rust’s loft: his body, or at least a body with the same taste in neckties, is lying beheaded on the floor surrounded by detectives and crime scene techs.Whatever trouble she is in now pales by comparison when Detective Peter Farrell barges in: the taxi driver is a suspected member of a cell that has been linked to a huge amount of dynamite stolen from construction sites around the city, and he wants the woman who was driving that taxi.Farrell is not so easily convinced that Naomi just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and Naomi has the feeling that for the first time in her life she may be in exactly the right place at the right time. And indeed, by the end of the film, after a number of increasingly dangerous mishaps and an equal number of increasingly brilliant stratagems (including confronting her father and other frightening people from her past) Naomi has foiled the plot and saved the city, though it is unclear how this will help her acting career. Naomi Holbroke is an unlikely hero for a movie, but just as a lot of evil is done by people who are sure they are right, a lot of good can be done by someone who’s used to being wrong. We need people like Naomi, even if they do bring our dry cleaning bills up.

Unlikely Prophets

What do a college dropout, a redneck named Slippery, an atheist televangelist, a con artist father and son, a video game-addicted wanna-be-thug, a hearse-driving buddhist, and a Crusade of Miracles have in common?Life for Reed Farris is not looking too good when he returns from college to live with his aunt. A ridiculous ultimatum and a series of misfortunes set our hero up for a collision with a corrupt local televangelist and an assortment of unsavory characters.

Why Am I Doing This?

LESTER NILES (Anthony Montgomery) is a struggling African-American stand-up comedian who’s trying to make it doing comedy showcases and open mikes while working a day job as one of the most hated men in Los Angeles… a meter maid. His stand-up is purely observational and political, with a straight-up style like Jon Stewart or Seinfeld. Unfortunately, it seems like everyone in the industry, as well as his half-brother and manager KENNY (Joe Torry), wants him to be the next Martin Lawrence, pushing him to do angrier, edgier kind of material. Lester doesn’t know what to think anymore… should he be himself and keep struggling, or does he have to change who he is to make it? In addition, he has to deal with his extremely attractive but manic-depressive fashion model Mom, NATALIE (Valerie Pettiford), who’s divorcing his tired senior citizen Dad, CLIFF (Obba Bobatunde) . Lester is also madly in love with beautiful East Indian-American NIRA (Sheetal Sheth), who seems to like him a lot, but not enough to give him a chance at boyfriend-hood.Lester's best friend, TONY CHANG (Tom Huang), is a struggling Asian-American actor who can only seem to get auditions for parts as Chinese delivery boys or sushi chefs with bad accents. He loves acting, but everywhere he turns seems to be a dead end for his career. He feels even worse when he runs into his friendly actor nemesis, the famous TIM CHUNG (Teddy Chen Culver) whom he hates because Chung and John Cho get all of the few good Asian male parts that are available. Tony’s younger brother, DANNY (Dion Basco), is a wanna-be Asian hip-hop thug, who races his lowered Scion on weekends and looks forward to dropping out of college. Tony has to deal with keeping Danny out of trouble while trying to fend off his nagging older sister, DONNA (Tamlyn Tomita), who implores him to get a job in her company. Meanwhile, Tony works multiple jobs to pay the bills, one of them being Spider-Man for kids’ parties. At one of the parties, he falls for a girl in a Pink Bear costume, KATIE (Lynn Chen), later trying to establish a relationship with her. Tony also hangs out with hot wanna-be actress AMBER (Emma Caulfield), who pretty much just uses him for his car and beer money… but Tony can’t admit to himself he only hangs out with her because she’s hot.Together, Tony and Lester support and help each other in their fight to keep the Hollywood dream alive while still trying to deal with family and getting a girl. The film follows them and those around them as they all learn a little about themselves in a story that’s about more making it in Tinseltown; it’s about learning how to be true to your soul in the background of living in a city where cultures and race are forced together, ultimately effecting how you live.

You Shouldn't Have

The cancellation of brunch reservations sets off a series of mishaps for one family that turns their Mother's day into a day they won't soon forget.