Film Schedule:

Friday, November 10, 2023

7pm: International Shorts Program

The Great Find (2022)
Director: Cacau Araugo
A Brazilian visitor to New York City documents the “unspoken culture of hand-me-downs” that dot the streets, saving items from the landfill while enriching the lives of their new owners.
Cacau de Santana Araujo is a Brazilian filmmaker based in New York City. In 2022, she was featured as a Rising Artist in a segment at PBS/Thirteen. She is an MA candidate in Documentary Filmmaking at The New School in New York.
Q&A with the filmmaker

Heading South (2021)
Director: YuanYuan
Mongolian Girl Chasuna visits her father in the big city and meet an unwelcome addition to the family.
Yuan Yuan is a Chinese born writer-director. Heading South won the Jury Prize at Hong Kong International Film Festival, and Best Student Film at DGA, Palm Springs and Aspen ShortFest. Yuan graduated from NYU Tisch Grad Film program in 2022

Natural Disasters – (2023).
Director: Tiffany Jiang
This found footage film is an exploration into “natural disasters” within the home or family structure. The writing mixes explanations of natural disasters and personal recollections.
Jiang is a Chinese-American filmmaker who makes short documentaries related to identity struggles, cultural taboos, and personal traumas. She received her M.A. in Media Studies from The New School in May 2023.

Family in Exile (2021)
Director: Fatima Matousse
Lost opportunities, repression and dreams in the lives of a family of women.
Fatima Matousse is an independent Moroccan filmmaker and 2016 Fulbright Grantee. In 2018, Matousse graduated with an MFA in Documentary Film at the City College of New York (CUNY). “Family in Exile” has won multiple international awards.

 Long Bien Story (2010)
Directors: Do Thu Huong, Le Thanh Hang, Do Phuong Linh
Long Bien Bridge is a Hanoi landmark that was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, but stands as a symbol of Hanoi’s resilience.

Beyond the Scrap Yard (2012)
Director: Nhat Hoa
A sympathetic look at Hanoi’s oft-maligned Scrap Ladies, who come into the city from their rural farms to recycle scrap to support their children.
“Long Bien Story” and “Beyond the Scrap Yard” were part of a Fulbright Media Lab project at Hanoi University led by filmmakers from The New School for Social Research, NYC.

Untitled [feature-in-progress]. (2022)
Director: Maliyamungu Muhande
“Soukouma” [working title] is an autoethnographic documentary investigating Soukous as a portal across continents, reflecting on cultural displacement and cultural connection from afar.
Maliyamungu Muhande is a Congolese non-fiction filmmaker, artist and educator based in New York.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

11:00 to 12:30 pm: Ocean Shorts Program

The Custodians (2023)
Director: Arthur Neumeier
Over the last 40 years, commercial over-fishing and bottom trawling have turned Scotland’s once-thriving west coast waters into sparse, lifeless deserts. The film follows the work of four locals from the West Coast of Scotland who are reclaiming their natural coastlines. They’re restoring wildlife, creating sustainable industries and showing us how we can work with, not against, our ocean.
Neumeier gained experience shooting a wide variety of content for lifestyle, action sports, and outdoor brands. His latest work in collaboration with Patagonia shows how three ocean preservation initiatives work to protect marine life and life at large.

 Evidence of Us (2021)
Director: James Q Martin (aka “Q”)
The film reveals the long shadow of pollution, overconsumption and waste cast by plastic use. From the bottom of the Grand Canyon, to our oceans, and even to our own backyards, this film, produced by QMedia, questions what it means to be good stewards of our shared home.
Martin (aka “Q”) is an acclaimed adventure photographer and award-winning filmmaker whose work has been featured worldwide and hopes to raise awareness for issues facing our communities worldwide, and to unite people taking steps to preserve and protect these places for future generations.

 Tiger (Shark) King   
Director: Tiger (Shark) King
More than 20 years ago conservationist and diver Jim Abernethy discovered the affectionate side of large predatory sharks after removing a fishing hook from the jaws of a tiger shark. Since then, he has removed thousands of hooks from sharks in the warm, clear waters off the Bahamas and has brought divers to safely encounter these apex predators with the goal of destigmatizing sharks as mindless killers.
King is directed by and filmed and edited by Mexico City-based filmmaker Clayton Conn – you can follow him on IG @clayton.conn or also on Twitter @claytontconn to see more of his work. Shot on location at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas this year.

If You Give a Beach a Bottle            
Director: Max Romey
An exploration of the complicated relationship between humans and plastic. A film crew documenting the cleanup of shorelines after the Tohoku tsunami leaves the team shocked by their experience.  But by the end of the trip, the crew had a hull full of hundreds of pounds of ocean plastics and Max had a sketchbook full of ideas. The result is this short film, which has traveled the globe.
Romey is an award-winning storyteller. Based in Anchorage, AK, Romey uses his unique blend of watercolors, animation and videography to highlight complex environmental problems affecting his Alaskan and global communities.

Bring the Salmon Home      
Director: Shane Anderson
Captures the emotions, courage, and determination of the Klamath River tribal communities as they host a 300+ mile run from ocean to headwaters in support of the largest river restoration project in history — the removal of four Klamath River dams.
Anderson is an Emmy-winning documentary director and producer focusing on natural history, environmental justice, river restoration, and salmon recovery in the American West.

Earth              
Director: Ben Weiland
Join a journey into the obscure reaches of Iceland with surfers Dane Gudauskas, Tanner Gudauskas, Heidar Logi, and Elli Thor, who make their way to an unchartered valley via car, snowmobile, and tractor, to camp out on the beach and catch some incredible waves.
Weiland is known for his documentaries centered on surfing in some of the most remote and coldest frontiers around the globe, from Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula to the Alaskan Aleutians.

1:00-2:30: Comedy Shorts Program

Beginners Luck (2020)
Director: Casey Feigh
A team of strangers makes it all the way to the championship where they face the perennial champs, in this tale of a small bowling league changing people’s lives.
Feigh is a comedic director, actor & writer whose films include the award-winning “Beginner’s Luck.” He is the creator of Holy **** Improv, a comedy show featuring the best improvisers in Los Angeles.

Miss Patti  (2022)
Director: Kate Hamilton
Patti, a seemingly deferential cleaning woman, cheerfully endures the passive-aggressive condescension of her hipster employers Lauren and Lily… that is, until Patti is left alone in the house and her secret profession is revealed.
Hamilton is a writer, director and producer with a BFA in Theatre from Boston University. She co-founded female-driven production company Queen’s Gambit Films, who’s most recent short film won the audience award at SXSW.

 I Can Change (2020)
Director: Jim Jenkins
The night before his wedding, an underachiever receives the power to stop time, so he attempts to make major life changes his fiance? wants him to make, all before morning.
Jenkins is a NY-based commercial director who has shot such notable film figures as Joe Pesci, Adam Driver, Sigourney Weaver, Willem Dafoe and Martin Scorsese. After years of working in 30 and 60 seconds, this is his first short film.

Lilith and Eve  (2022)
Director: Sam de Ceccatty
When the first woman on Earth meets… the first-first woman on Earth…A short comedy animation and feminist re-imagining of the Adam and Eve myth, in which Eve accidentally bumps into Lilith, Adam’s first wife and equal.
French American director De Ceccatty is a winner of BBC Comedy Writers’ Room and featured on the BBC Talent Hot List. His latest adult comedy animation Lilith & Eve, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2022 and was awarded a Vimeo Staff Pick.

My Eyes Are Up Here (2022)
Director: Nathan Morris
A disabled woman sets off on a mission to get the morning after pill. The only thing in her way is… everything
Nathan made award-winning documentaries in New Zealand before he set sail for London. His first short film, “At Dawn,” won Directors Choice at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.

Death and Ramen (2023)
Director: Tiger Ji
After botching his suicide, a ramen chef goes on an unintended late night odyssey with the Grim Reaper. They share a bowl of noodles and discover what it means to be human.
Tiger Ji is a writer/director from Hong Kong. An NYU graduate, Tiger’s films blend East-West tones. Now based in New York, he’s adapting “Death and Ramen” into a feature.

Lunch Tattoo (2022)
Director: Nicholas Luciano
Two friends get their first tattoo in an attempt to break their family’s anti-tattoo legacy. An indie comedy featuring Los Angeles tattoo artists and the actors’ parents.
Luciano is an indie film director, writer, producer and video editor based in Los Angeles and “Lunch Tattoo’” was an official selection at Dances With Films, DC Shorts and festivals throughout the country in 2023.

3:30-5:00: Local/Regional Shorts Program

Chishkale: The Blessing of the Acorn
Director: Linda Mai Green
Bernadette Smith, from the Manchester band of Pomo Indians, weaves the story of her Tan Oak conservation efforts in Northern California into a contemporary Indigenous dance piece created to honor the sacred, traditional food of California Natives. The “Acorn Dance” is performed on Sogorea Te’ Land Trust in Huichin on Ohlone Territory (Albany, CA). Produced by Hover Pictures and Dance Mission Theater with support from the California Arts Council.
Green is a filmmaker based between San Francisco and Mendocino County.

He Won’t Belong  (2023)
Director: Dominic Mercurio
In the midst of a storm on a desolate strip of California’s lost coast, two strangers begin to uncover each other’s past.
Mercurio is an award-winning San Francisco based filmmaker and musician. He was selected as a 2023 SFFILM FilmHouse Resident. Born and raised in the SF Bay Area, Mercurio has a B.S. in Digital Film and Video Production from the Art Institute of California – San Francisco.
Q&A with the filmmaker

A Skate Park Would be Nice
Director: Kai Leeper-Sale
These are reasons why should have a skate park in point arena. Featuring, vince, james, matt, sergio, Mickey, and Derek
Leeper-Sale grew up between Point Arena and San Francisco. Currently, he os attending SFSU and makes videos with his friends for their creative project Huskm3dia.

Grounding Light  (2022)  
Director: L. Scott Jones
A film featuring local Fred Mitouer, internationally known for his groundbreaking somatic therapy and his work with the author as well as other clients. He has recently introduced Somatic Agency™ as the latest evolution of his work.
Jones is a filmmaker / shooter / editor who has been a video production professional for over 20 years, with clients including the Indianapolis Colts, NBA Entertainment, NCAA, ESPN, CNN, MSNBC, Inside Edition, and the Late Show with David Letterman. He has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Egypt and is an avid drummer, scuba diver, and yoga practitioner.
Q&A with the filmmaker

Witch and the Wand
Director: Jason Belleza
A clumsy and passionate little witch girl named Zoe is learning to make her wand.
Made over the span of a semester, the short is the first project of Pending Animations, founded by college students at Cal State Fullerton. The group has been making animated short films in order to understand what it will be like working in a team through the animation pipeline.

Pomo Land Back: A Prayer from the Forest
Director: Evan-Marie Petit
“A Prayer from the Forest” honors the vital movement towards indigenous-led stewardship and rematriation of California forest lands. The film is a heartfelt document of an alliance-building, inter-tribal gathering in February 2022, led by the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, calling for protection and co-management of the 48,652-acre Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
Petit hails from the red earth of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Georgia, the original homeland of her ancestors, the Aniyvwiya (Eastern Cherokee). She is a visual storyteller and eco-cultural activist at heart; a photographer, documentary filmmaker. Her work is driven by the belief that amplifying these stories and the wisdom they contain is healing and vital to creating new paradigms for the culture at large.

Garcia River
Director: Sashwa Burrous – Coldwater Collective
As the saying goes, there was a time when you could walk across the Garcia River on the backs of coho salmon. After years of planning, the team at The Nature Conservancy has broken ground on one of the largest in-stream restoration projects in California to restore this important salmon habitat.
The Coldwater Collective is a production company motivated to share solution-oriented stories about our changing planet and social virtue.
Q&A with the filmmaker

5:30-6:30: Closing Reception (not a stand alone event, comes with the $75 ticket)

7:00-8:30: Feature film “Town Destroyer” with Peggy Berryhill, includes the short “Ghosts”

Fest Date: November 10 - 11, 2023

Location: Arena Theater, 214 Main Street, Point Arena, CA 95468

Ticket prices:
$12 for one program
$50 Festival pass for all 5 programs
$75 Festival pass + Closing Reception (includes food and drink) limited tickets available

Click here for more information.