FILM SYNOPSIS
Cherry
99 min Narrative Feature Thursday, State Theatre, 8:15pm Saturday, Delta College, 3:30pm
Director: Jeffrey Fine Producer: Matthew Fine, Sam Kitt
Starring: Kyle Gallner, Laura Allen, Brittany Robertson, Esai Morales, D.C. Pierson, Matt Walsh)
When Aaron starts classes at his Ivy League College, he’s ready for the tough curriculum but not for the complications that come from meeting a nontraditional student in his art elective. Upon meeting and falling for Linda, a 34-year-old former wild child, he immediately meets her 14-year-old similarly reckless daughter. The result is one of the oddest love triangles to grace the screen. Filmed entirely in Kalamazoo, the film explores just how the rules of attraction work and just how relative they can be.
The Happy Poet
85 min Narrative Feature Sunday, State Theatre, 6:30pm
Director: Paul Gordon Producer: Paul Gordon, David Hartstein
Starring: Paul Gordon, Jonny Mars, Chris Doubek
Floundering after completing his creative writing degree, Bill (Paul Gordon, who also wrote and directed), takes out a small bank loan and opens his own organic food stand out of a hotdog cart. Met with various levels of adversity in a difficult market, he passively yet earnestly sticks to his principles with the help of two slacker companions. Made for anyone who’s ever had a small dream in a seemingly oppressive world, this film offers a glimmer of hope during hard times.
Budrus
78 min Documentary Saturday, State Theatre, 8:30pm Sunday, State Theatre, Noon
Director: Julia Bacha Producer: Ronit Avni, Julia Bacha, Rula Salameh
Budrus is an award-winning feature documentary film about a Palestinian community organizer, Ayed Morrar, who unites local Fatah and Hamas members along with Israeli supporters in an unarmed movement to save his village of Budrus from destruction by Israel’s Separation Barrier. Success eludes them until his 15-year-old daughter, Iltezam, launches a women’s contingent that quickly moves to the front lines. Struggling side by side, father and daughter unleash an inspiring, yet little-known, movement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that is still gaining ground today. In an action-filled documentary chronicling this movement from its infancy, Budrus shines a light on people who choose nonviolence to confront a threat. The movie is directed by award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha (co-writer and editor of Control Room and co-director Encounter Point), and produced by Bacha, Palestinian journalist Rula Salameh, and filmmaker and human rights advocate Ronit Avni (formerly of WITNESS, Director of Encounter Point).
Lebanon, Pa
100 min Narrative Feature Saturday, State Theatre, 6pm Sunday, Delta College, 4pm
Director: Ben Hickernell Producer: Ben Hickernell, Charles St. John Smith III, Jeff Schirmer
Starring: Josh Hopkins, Samantha Mathis, Mary Beth Hurt, Rachel Kitson, Ian Merrill Peakes
Brought to rural America when his father dies, Will (Josh Hopkins from TV’s Cougar Town) begins to question his own role in the world as he settles his father’s affairs. Convinced to remain in the small town after forming friendships with a school teacher (Samantha Mathis) and a 17-year-old relative (Rachel Kitson), Will finds himself at odds as the conservative values of the place challenge the futures of all involved. The story offers a sensitive account of the nation’s cultural divide.
El Monstro Del Mar!
75 min Narrative Feature Saturday, State Theatre, 11pm
Director: Stuart Simpson, Claire Mueller Producer: Stuart Simpson, Fabian Pisani
Starring: Karli Madden, Kate Watts, Kyrie Capri, Nelli Scarlet
Three gorgeous but deadly femme fatales hole up in an Australian beachside community hoping to lay low. But they somehow anger a dark presence in the town, and the result is blood, blood, blood. Can they survive? Do they deserve to? This fun and campy monster film is the perfect Late Show.
I Am That Girl
96 min Narrative Feature Friday, State Theatre, 8pm Sunday, Masonic Temple, 2pm
Director: B. Hayward Randall Producer: Grace Rowe, Michael Jaworski, Nathan Swisher
Starring: Grace Rowe, Michael Jaworski
Portrait of an aging party girl, Maxine (Grace Rowe, who wrote the script) is deep in debt and deep into her next martini until she meets “Noodle” (Michael Jaworski), who reluctantly invites her camping in the Sierra Mountains. A fish out of water, this material girl at first flails but soon confronts a deeper version of herself when she discovers Noodle’s sobering secret. Equal parts slapstick and drama, the film delivers a cure for shallow materialism.
Deforce
97 min Documentary Sunday, State Theatre, 4pm
Director: Daniel Falconer
Producer: Andrew Rodney
This documentary focuses on the How and Why of Detroit’s current predicament, looking beyond the auto industry to focus on gentrification, political corruption, and educational neglect. Examining historical movements from a sociological perspective, the film answers some fundamental questions about “the nation’s most racially divided city.” Rich with raw data, the film is anything but dry, pondering whether this is the fate of other American cities to come.
Roll Out, Cowboy
75 min Documentary Friday, Masonic Temple, 9pm Sunday, Masonic Temple, Noon
Director: Elizabeth Lawrence
Poducer: Warren Boutin
Starring: Chris Sand
Intertwining the spirit of small-town America with the ever-changing currents of popular culture, this documentary follows Chris “Sandman” Sand, better known as “The Rappin’ Cowboy” as he embarks on his tour and tries to bring culture to his hometown of Dunn Center, North Dakota (population 120). One part Roy Rodgers, another part Dr. Dre, Sand “rolls out” across the country during the 2008 presidential election, giving us a portrait of those lost parts of the country immune to marketing and corporate entertainment. Think Woody Guthrie alive and well in 2010!
November Requiem
56 min Documentary Sunday, Delta College, 2pm
Director: Brian Belanger
Producer: Anne Belanger
This documentary chronicles the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley in November of 1958. Known as the “Queen of the Great Lakes,” the boat and its crew are recalled by family members and the only living survivor. The tragedy hit hardest in the small town of Rogers City, Michigan, taking the lives of twenty-five local men. In the tradition of Ken Burns’ storytelling, remarkable scenery and old photography are used, along with rare footage of the wreckage, with an emotional musical score.
Broken Dreams
80 min Narrative Feature Sunday, State Theatre, 2pm
Director: David Crabtree
Producer: Anna Marie Esparza
Starring: Eddie Navarro, Jake Olson, Kelsey Ford, Nicole Gerth
A love triangle forms when budding director Johnny (Eddie Navarro) finds he has feelings for his best friend’s (Jake Olson) girlfriend (Kelsey Ford). Meanwhile, Johnny learns about trust through his deep relationship with his friend and film subject, a 3-foot-8-inch agoraphobic (Nicole Gerth). Combining the pressures of making art, handling his crush, and surviving the real world, Johnny finds himself in the thrall of an unexpected addiction. Exploring themes of passion and craving, this is the story of what we choose to commit to when we are young.
Blondes in The Jungle
47 min Narrative Feature Friday, Masonic Temple, 11pm
Director: Lev Kalman, Whitney Horn Producer: Lev Kalman, Whitney Horn
Starring: Andre Frechette III, Trevor Hoff, Coogan Martin, Travis Nutting, Ingrid Schram
Just as its title suggests, three affluent college students trek through the Honduras Jungle seeking drugs and their own sense of self-importance. Set in the 1980s, these blondes reflect on everything inane, from pop culture references to meta-conversations concerning their own survival. Highly satirical and deeply funny, the film intentionally goes nowhere until we reach The Jaguar God. Then events get truly weird.
Earthling
115 min Narrative Feature Saturday, Masonic Temple, 3:30pm
Director: Clay Lifford
Producer: Adam Donaghey, Barak Epstein
Starring: Ameilia Turner, Rebecca Spence, William Katt, Peter Greene
When Judith (Amelia Turner) wakes up from a car crash, she senses a change. She knows things she shouldn’t and has strange visions she can’t explain. Seeking answers, she stumbles upon a group of odd wanderers also plagued by mysteries. Judith can either believe their tale of an alien race or try to go back to her normal life. This labyrinth of a science fiction tale focuses on provocative characters to solve its riddle.
X’s and O’s
95 min Narrative Feature Friday, Masonic Temple, 6pm Sunday, Delta College, Noon
Director: Kedar Korde
Producer: Kedar Korde, George Themelis
Starring: Clayne Crawford, Jill Bennett, John Wynn, Jude Marte, Kel Mitchell, Lynn Chen, Sarah Mason, Warren Christie
A close-knit group of college friends navigate the tricky waters of monogamy and relationships in this quirky romantic comedy. One graduate research scientist becomes obsessed with his dream girl who plays with him like a rat in a maze, a hip-hop wannabe acts superior to his girlfriend because he is afraid of her and a classic “player” realizes that he wants out of the game. Everyone learns a lesson in love.
Covered
58 min Documentary Saturday, Masonic Temple, 11am
Director: Beverly Yuen Thompson
Producer: Beverly Yuen Thompson
How many tattoos are enough? And what if you’re a woman? This documentary explores the world of heavily tattooed women and female tattoo artists in the United States. College professor Beverly Yuen Thompson travels the country talking to women about the stigmas associated with being female and in love with tattoo culture. From artists to teenagers Thompson gets responses concerning gender, power, and, of course, ink.
Drawing With Chalk
87 min Narrative Feature Saturday, Delta College, 6pm
Director: Todd Giglio Producer: Christopher Springer Isaac Jeganathan
Starring: Christopher Springer, Pooja Kumar, Todd Giglio, Susham Bedi, Brennan Giglio
Stuck in their dying mill town, two aging band mates and best friends, Jay and Matt (Christopher Springer and Todd Giglio), must confront their limitations as they approach 40. Will they ever get anywhere with their music, even if their music is good? Can they even continue their adolescent fantasy with family pressures mounting? This tale examines the price of making art and asks difficult questions concerning when and how to quit or compromise.
Joel and Julie
58 min Narrative Feature Saturday, Masonic Temple, 1pm
Director: Andrew Sarno
Producer: Andrew Sarno, Angela Rose Sarno, Betsy Wickham, Kelly Malizia
Starring: Joel Malizia, Julie Malizia, Robert Malizia
Real life siblings star as the title characters that must either confront or ignore each other when their father admits to them that he is gay. Infused with their own quirks and personalities, the brother and sister take the news differently as they each cope with other developments in their personal lives. This neo-realism account of family is a refreshing take on the small dramas in life that often threaten to overwhelm us.