BIFF @ Janesville 2014

Vets Roll

60 Yrs. Symphony / Vets Roll

Thu Feb 20, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Rotary River Center  Tickets

Sun Feb 23, 2014 –  2:00 pm — Rotary River Center  Tickets

Sixty Years of SymphonySixty Years of Symphony


Category:  Community, Music
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  G
Runtime:  30 min.
Director:  Beloit Janesville Symphony
Producer:  Beloit Janesville Symphony

Synopsis:

This retrospective film looks at the 60 year history of the Beloit Janesville Symphony, with a focus on the three conductors experience throughout each of their tenure in the Beloit Janesville Area.

Vets Roll Movie Poster

Vets Roll

Category:  Documentary
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  G
Runtime:  18 min.
Director:  Stephen Pickering
Producer:  Stephen Pickering

Synopsis:

200 WWII and Korean War Veterans and Rosie the Riveters.  100 Assistants. 10 Badger Buses.

4 days that will change their lives!  Follow along as we travel from Beloit, WI to Washington, D.C. as VetsRoll takes these men and women on a trip of a lifetime to visit the memorials that were erected in honor of their service to our country!

Learn how much this trip means to them because it gives these men and women the respect they deserve, which they often never got.

NOTE:  Synopsis are typically provided directly by the filmmaker themselves. Often English is not their first language. We ask reader’s understanding for less-than-perfect language and grammar

Irish in Janesville

Where Nature Seems to Smile

Irish in Janesville

Sat Feb 22, 2014 –  2:00 pm — Rotary River Center  Tickets

Irish in JanesvilleWhere Nature Seems to Smile:
The Irish in Janesville


Category:  Irish, Historical
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  G
Runtime:  48 min.
Director:  Dave Haldiman
Producer:  Dan Frediricks, Mike Reuter

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Synopsis:

Irish immigrants arrived at the perfect time for Janesville, Wisconsin. They helped to make this small town on the western frontier into a vibrant, successful city. Where Nature Seems to Smile shows us the quintessential American immigration experience, told in stories and family histories by the descendants of those immigrants.
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America 101

Comedy Short Slot (2014)

America 101

Lovers, Liars & Clowns

This trio of characters is drawn from the lyric of the hit Broadway musical number “A Comedy Tonight” and you will see all of them, and more, in this collection of hilarious takes on the human condition. Something familiar, peculiar, appealing, appalling, convulsive, repulsive…well, you get the idea. Something funny will happen on the way thru Beloit when you take in this slot of comedy shorts!

Mon Feb 17, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Domenico’s
Thu Feb 20, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Café Fromage #2
Fri Feb 21, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Bushel & Peck’s
Sat Feb 22, 2014 –  7:30 pm — My Apartment
Sun Feb 23, 2014 –  12:00 pm — Bushel & Peck’s

Community Partner:  Finley Dencker

America 101

America 101
Category:  Comedy, Satire
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  10 min.
Director:  Richard Speight Jr.
Producer:  Allan Hagan
Facebook:

Filmmaker AttendingSynopsis:

One man’s life becomes the lesson of the day when he takes a frenetic ride through his own twisted version of the American experience.

This is How You Die

This is How You Die
Category:  Comedy, Horror
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  6 min.
Director:  Michael Mohan
Producer:
Website:

Synopsis:

What if a machine could tell you cryptically, but with 100% accuracy, how you are going to die?

Ophelia: Love & Privacy Settings

Ophelia Love and Privacy Settings
Category:  Comedy, Student
Country:  Germany
Language:  German with Subtitles
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  4 min.
Director:  Bin Han To
Producer:  Heiko Schulze
Facebook:

Synopsis:

How exposed and public can your thoughts become before it gets embarrassing? Which dirty thoughts could get you into trouble? That’s the problem of our protagonist Hubert.

Anyone can clearly read his thoughts in a speech balloon floating above his head. In our film we accompany him on his challenging search for a girlfriend.

A comedy about ‘The End of Privacy’.

Killer Kart

Killer Kart
Category:  Comedy, Horror
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  R
Runtime:  15 min.
Director:  James Feeney
Producer:  Andrew Fairbank
Facebook Page:

Synopsis:

The shopping cart.  Four wheels, one basket, and tonight, for the closing crew of a small-town grocery store, a blood-splattered aluminum nightmare.

Hooba Jooba

Hooba Jooba
Category:  Comedy, Mature
Country:  Canada
Language: English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  2 min
Director:  Max Swiecki
Producer:
Website:

Synopsis:

Hooba is heartbroken after his ex-girlfriend breaks up with him; so it is up to his best friend, Jooba, to help him get back on track and enjoy life again.

Love and Germophobia

Love and Germophobia

category:  Comedy
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  R
Runtime:  11 min.
Director:  Tyler Spindel
Producer:  Tyler Spindel, Alex  Cohn, Mark  Hyatt, Jared Sandler
Website:

Synopsis:

If your girlfriend had the flu, would you still kiss her?  What about if she might have viral Meningitis?  For David (TJ Miller), the answer is simple.  Absolutely not.

Unfortunately, David’s girlfriend (Kelly Stables) doesn’t see it this way.

GENITAL EXTREME CLOSE-UP, Prologue to a Romantic Comedy

Genital Extreme Closeup
Category:  Drama, Erotic
Country:  Spain
Language:  Spanish with Subtitles
Rating:  R
Runtime:  13 min.
Director:  David Planell
Producer:  David Planell, David Planell, Laura Pugès
Facebook: N/A

Synopsis:

When you wake up with someone you met the night before anything can happen, even what you expect.

Dave vs Death

Dave vs Death
Category:  Comedy
Country:  Canada
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  12 min.
Director:  Patrick Hagarty
Producer:  Anneli Ekborn, Elli Weisbaum, Heather K. Dahlstrom
IMDb:

Filmmaker AttendingSynopsis:

From his deathbed, David Kane challenges the Grim Reaper to a game of chess. If Dave wins, his life is spared. For every piece lost, someone he cares about will die.

Hilarity ensues.

The Golden Ticket

Golden Ticket
Category:  Comedy
Country:  Canada
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  10 min.
Director:  Patrick Hagarty
Producer:  Heather K. Dahlstrom, Anneli Ekborn
IMDb:

Synopsis:

Bradley Moore is having a BAD day. He gets dumped, evicted, and fired all before lunch.

But when a stranger offers Brad a Golden Ticket, allowing him to act without consequence for the remainder of the day, Bradley’s day takes an unexpected turn.

NOTE:  Synopsis are typically provided directly by the filmmaker themselves. Often English is not their first language. We ask reader’s understanding for less-than-perfect language and grammar

Sign Painter movie poster

Sign Painters

Fri Feb 14, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Café Fromage #2  Tickets
Sat Feb 15, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Café Fromage #2  Tickets
Thu Feb 20, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Domenico’s  Tickets
Sun Feb 23, 2014 –  2:00 pm — Bagels & More  Tickets

Community Partners:  Century 21 Real Estate, Grinnell Hall

Sign Painters
Always hand paint


Sign Painter movie poster
Category:  Documentary / Culture
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  G
Runtime:  81 min.
Director:  Sam Macon, Faythe Levine
Producer:  Timm Gable, Jonah Mueller

Synopsis:

As recently as the 1980s, storefronts, murals, banners, barn signs, billboards and even street signs were hand lettered with brush and paint. But, like many skilled trades, the sign industry has been overrun by the techno-fueled promise of quicker and cheaper. The resulting proliferation of computer-designed, die-cut vinyl lettering and ink-jet printers has ushered a creeping sameness into our landscape. Read more

Channeling Movie Poster

Channeling

Sun Feb 16, 2014 –  2:00 pm — Bushel & Peck’s
Fri Feb 21, 2014 –  2:00 pm — Café Fromage #2
Sat Feb 22, 2014 –  5:00 pm — Club Impulse

Community Partners:  Phi Psi, US Cellular

Channeling
You’re only live once


Channeling Movie Poster
Category:  Drama / Sci-Fi
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  R
Runtime:  107 min.
Director:  Drew Thomas
Producer:  Gerry Santos, Laila Ansari

Filmmaker AttendingSynopsis:

A soldier returns home on bereavement leave to discover that his brother’s accidental death…wasn’t.

With 72 hours to solve the mystery, Jonah assumes his brother’s identity, and enters a world of voyeurism and exhibitionism that’s as dangerous as it is addictive – a world in which people broadcast their lives in real time to as large an audience as possible. Read more

Jimmy in the Pienk

Jimmy in Pienk

Sun Feb 16, 2014 – 5:00 pm — Bushel & Peck’s
Thu Feb 20, 2014 –  7:30 pm — Club Impulse
Fri Feb 21, 2014 –  2:00 pm — La Casa Grande
Sat Feb 22, 2014 –  2:00 pm — La Casa Grande
Sat Fri Feb 22, 2014 – 7:30 pm — Bushel & Peck’s

Community Partners:  First Class Cosmetology School, Totally Tan Inc.

Jimmy in Pienk
Khaki is the new pink


Jimmy in the Pienk
Category:  Comedy / Romance
Country:  South Africa
Language:  English subtitles
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  93
Director:  Hanneke Schutte
Producer:  Zaheer  Goodman-Bhyat

Filmmaker Attending

Synopsis:

JIMMY IN PINK is a quirky comedy about Jimmy Bester, a rugged seventh generation corn farmer who can give an accurate five-day weather forecast by simply sniffing the wind. Read more

Street Pulse

Fri Feb 14, 2014 –  7:30pm — Café Fromage #1  Tickets
Sun Feb 16, 2014 –  12:00 pm — Café Fromage #1  Tickets

Community Partner:  GIFTS Men’s Shelter | Janesville

Street Pulse
A Story of Hope and  the Homeless


Street PulseCategory:  Documentary, Urban
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  PG
Runtime:  68 min.
Director:  Marc Kornblatt
Producer:  Marc Kornblatt

Filmmaker Attending

Synopsis:

Robert and Angel, a homeless couple, are trying to make a normal life for themselves. When we first meet them, they are living under a bridge and biking four miles every day to downtown Madison, Wisconsin where they sell Street Pulse, a newspaper about people such as themselves.

The two met on the street just months after Robert’s release from prison. Now 51, Robert served 26 years for a terrible crime. Angel, 22, diagnosed as bi-polar, was kicked out of her family’s home for repeated bouts of binge drinking. Separated in age by nearly 30 years, they are as unlikely a couple as one might meet, yet they are not only devoted to each other, they are gradually working their way off the street, through hard work and support of a network of volunteers and social services providers.

Street Pulse, the documentary, chronicles Robert and Angel’s life together from the balmy days of summer through the harsh Wisconsin winter. Along the way, we meet other homeless newspaper vendors whose struggles and small successes bring to life the world of a group of people often ignored while trying to survive on the margins of society.

Songs composed and performed by street musicians create a soundtrack that provides another layer of authenticity to this documentary and helps tell the story of the people featured in the film.

NOTE:  Synopsis are typically provided directly by the filmmaker themselves. Often English is not their first language. We ask reader’s understanding for less-than-perfect language and grammar

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Date America Movie Poster

Date America

Date America
8 Dates, 8 States, 1 Road Trip.


Date America Movie Poster
Category:  Comedy / Documentary
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  86 min.
Director:  Bob Murray
Producer:  Bob Murray

Filmmaker Attending

Synopsis:

Wisconsinite Bob Murray finds himself in the awkward position of being a bachelor at 34 while all of his peers are settling down and starting families. Read more

Jake Squared Movie Poster

Jake Squared

Jake Squared
Life is Stranger Than Life


Jake Squared Movie Poster
Category:  Comedy / Romance
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  R
Runtime:  101
Director:  Howard Goldberg
Producer:  Howard Goldberg, David K. Wilson, Elias Koteas

Synopsis:

Jake Klein, 50, sets out to make a movie. He hires an actor to play himself and throws a big party. His idea is to shoot the heck out of it and see what he gets. But, everything spins out of control as different, unexpected people show up. Read more

B-Side Movie Poster

B-Side

B-Side
Love is so damn catchy


B-Side Movie Poster
Category:  Comedy / Romance
Country:  US
Language:  English
Rating:  PG-13
Runtime:  97 min.
Director:  Amos Posner
Producer:  April Lamb

Filmmaker Attending

Synopsis:

MIKE ZUMSTEG is a DJ for an underground internet radio station he helped found. APRIL SIMON is a fading pop star on what she expects to be the final tour of her career.

When April writes in to Mike’s show after he randomly makes a joke at her expense, the two end up meeting and forming an unlikely relationship.

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Circle the Wagen movie poster

Circle the Wagen

Circle the Wegen
a buddy / roadtrip / docu-dramedy


Circle the Wagen movie poster
Category:  Comedy / Documentary
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  PG
Runtime:  87 min.
Director:  Ryan Steven Green
Producer:  Charles Pecoraro, David Torstenson

Synopsis:

Tired of being beat down, discouraged & scared by day-time talk shows & nightly news, the filmmakers of Circle the Wagen were fascinated & uplifted when they learned about the A.I.R.S. List; the Aircooled Interstate Rescue Squad. In addition to being the only way Dave could think of to save his 1972, baby blue Volkswagen bus, (stuck half-way cross the country after the first failed attempt); it was by FAR the most intriguing. Read more

Buddies - Colegas

Colegas (Buddies)

Colegas (Buddies)
The funniest comedy of the year


Buddies Movie Poster
Category: Adventure / Comedy
Country: Brazil
Language:  Portuguese
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 100 min.
Director: Marcelo Galvão
Producer: Marcelo Galvão

Synopsis:

“Buddies” is a road movie that shows the simple things in life in a poetic light, through the eyes of 3 characters with Down syndrome, who run away from the institute where they live to gain their freedom. Read more

Putzel Movie Poster

Putzel

Putzel
Sometimes you have to cross the street to find true love…


Putzel Movie Poster
Category:  Comedy | Jewish
Country:  U.S.
Language:  English
Rating:  R
Runtime:  88 min.
Director:  Jason Chaet
Producer:  Rick Moore, Sheri Davani

Synopsis:

For some, life is an adventure filled with opportunities to excel, and worlds to explore. But for Walter Himmelstein, a young man endearingly known as Putzel, life literally doesn’t go beyond his family’s fish store and his community on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Normany Wash - Lawrence Beale Smith | They Drew Fire

They Drew Fire

They Drew FOre

Combat Artists of World War II

Friday: 4:oo pm  –  Rock County Historical Society
Sunday:  12:00 pm  –  Cheese People/ Nikki’s Café

They Drew FireCategory: Documentary
Country: Canada
Language: English
Rating: 
Runtime: 56 min.
Director:  Brian Lanker
Producer:  Bonni Cohen
Website:  They Drew Fire

During World War II more than 100 U.S. servicemen and civilians served as ‘combat artists’. They depicted the war as they experienced it with their paintbrushes and pens. Their stories have never been told, and for fifty years their artwork, consisting of more than 12,000 pieces has been largely forgotten — until now.

This Web site is a companion to the PBS documentary They Drew Fire, which originally aired in May 2000. Here you will find an extensive art gallery displaying the pieces shown in the film, as well as other paintings by the combat artists. Many of these images have been hidden from the public eye since the time of the war. In addition, biographies of the artists themselves help fill out their stories as seen in the film. The site also provides a page of resources, including information about the history of World War II combat art programs, addresses of museums where the art is kept, and information about the filmmakers, for viewers interested in learning more.

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Luminaris

Short Slot 1

Thursday:  2:30 pm – Bushel & Peck’s
Friday: 6:30 pm – Cheese People/ Nikki’s Café
Saturday:  6:30 pm –  Speakeasy 2
Saturday: 4:00 pm – Katie’s Cup

Luminaris

Luminaris | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: Argentina, Spain
Language:
Rating: G
Runtime: 6 min.
Director: Juan Pablo Zaramella
Producer: Sol Rulloni

In a world controlled and timed by the light, a common man has a plan that could change the destiny.

CatCam

CatCam | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 15
Director: Seth Keal
Producer: Seth Keal
Website:  CatCam The Movie

Mr. Lee, an adopted stray cat, routinely disappeared from his North Carolina home for days on end. Intrigued by Mr. Lee’s whereabouts, his owner Juergen, a German engineer, created a camera designed to fit around the feline’s neck. Engineered to capture continuous photographs, Juergen hoped to discover the mysterious life of his cat. After many unsuccessful attempts, Mr. Lee returned with the camera intact and photographic evidence of his travels. Intrigued by his findings, Juergen published the photographs on the Internet, unaware that his small invention would send shock-waves around the world and alter his life forever.

Old Country Lullaby

Old Country Lullaby | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 7 min.
Director: Marc Kornblatt
Producer: Marc Kornblatt
Website:  Old Country Lullaby

‘…and you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your home…’

The quote comes from Deuteronomy and is known the world over by Jews as a symbol of home. The words appear in a passage that children learn to recite from early on and are found, hand-written in Hebrew on parchment, inside the mezuzah, a cylinder-shaped container that Jews place on the right side of their doorposts as a sign of their faith..

In OLD COUNTRY LULLABY, my 7:30-minute dramatic short, the past and future merge as Jules and his daughter Mira pack up their last boxes and take down the mezuzahs in anticipation of selling their home. Lunch is waiting for them across town at their new apartment, but Jules has trouble leaving.

Sitting on the floor in his daughter’s empty bedroom, he can’t remember a certain lullaby he used to sing to her when she was a baby. It may be a small matter to Mira, but to Jules the niggun (Hebrew for wordless melody) he learned from his grandfather seems significant. To him it represents his connection to his ancestors, the old country they left behind and the culture they brought to America.

Singing the tune in its entirety strikes Jules as an important way of holding onto his past as he himself grows older and moves on. He needs Mira’s help to remember.

Transthreeded

Transthreeded | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: Spain
Language:
Rating: G
Runtime: 2 min.
Director: Andres Vidal
Producer: Andres Vidal

Earth, the next target.

Quest for Energy

Quest for Energy | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 10 min.
Director: Vinit Parmar
Producer: Ryoya Terao

QUEST FOR ENERGY encourages us to think about our energy consumption and way of life to get closer achieve zero impact on our environment.

Four million islanders want electricity. For eons, they had survived in the dark, lit by dim kerosene lamps. They still burn wood for fire. Millions live like this around the world.. The people of the Sunderbans live less than hundred miles away from Kolkata, India, residing in the largest wetland in the world adjacent to one of the most populated urban areas.

This World Heritage site boasts about two hundred fifty wild, white Bengal tigers, only fifty-two of the hundred-two islands are human-inhabited. These islanders have witnessed massive flooding and realize their islands will be under water because of rising sea levels from climate change. Two islands recently disappeared. The UN reports that 75% of the landmass will be under water due to climate change. Four million islanders risk losing everything, their homes, farmland, animal stock, and their lives.

In the 1990s, the West Bengal government commissioned the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency to electrify its off-grid population without contributing to the degradation of the tender wetland ecosystem. Low cost coal is not an option.

The residents voted to acquire clean energy. Now, three of the fifty-two occupied islands have electricity from a hybrid mini-grid power plant that uses wood to make a biogas, without producing climate-changing emissions. Replenishment of used wood through plantation of new trees makes this process sustainable. But, only about six hundred homes enjoy an electrical connection. How about the other forty-nine islands?
These islanders power their CFL bulbs, fans, television sets, DVD players, cell phones, computers and other appliances from large renewable charged batteries.

Solar panels purchased from local solar shops can be seen on rooftops and straw huts. A local hospital’s solar panels has permitted emergency operations using simple lights and modern vital-sign machines and cured illnesses by administering vaccines kept in cold storage.

For cooking – burning firewood and kerosene, caused burns and even deaths and smoke inhalation problems. Now, manure pits supply ample natural cooking gas from fermented cow manure for a safe and fast cooking experience. It produces zero emissions.

Simple sustainable technology has saved lives, and transformed an off-grid village into a thriving city of entrepreneurs, bustling with energy, and the conveniences of appliances. Imagine what can be done for the rest of the off-grid world still living in the dark.

Filmmaker AttendingCracked

Cracked

Category: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 5 min.
Director:  Terence Campbell
Producer: Terence Campbell
Website:  Terence Campbell
Facebook: Cracked

Every shot is a pan of broken eggs.

Kaloo School

Kaloo SchoolCategory: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 11 min.
Director:  Sahra Mosawi
Producer: Asmita Shrish
Website:  Kaloo School
Facebook:  Kaloo School

In between the famous Mountain in rural north Afghanistan there is a village with 2500 families with just two schools for children. Every child spent about 5 hours everyday to go to the school, which is hard and sometimes impossible especially for girls in unsafe environment. But now people in Afghanistan are more aware about education and have freedom of giving their children a full privilege of education. People from villages understand the importance of educating their children regardless of boy or girl.

This documentary is a symbol of present Afghan life, with some hope for their future trying to build better country and explores life of the people in a period of time to show how their way of life change in a positive way after NATO invasion. The aim is to bring to light the human stories in the world’s most dangerous and deprived regions. To show how they live in this situation, fighting for the better tomorrow.

Milo

Milo | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: Italy
Language:  n/a
Rating: G
Runtime: 9 min.
Director: Simon Pietro De Domenico
Producer: Simon Pietro De Domenico

The storm of silence will be a very common weather phenomenon in 2012. Milo, a boy of 7 years, lives in a world all its own and he does not like ‘outside’ interference. For this reason, one day he decides to record the storm of silence in order to isolate himself in his world.

Old Angel

Old Angel | The MovieCategory: Short Film
Country: Taiwan
Language: Taiwanese w/ English subtitles
Rating: G
Runtime: 5 min.
Director: Dony Chiang
Producer: Dony Chiang

Old Angel once hurt his wings. He came to the forest to mend his wings among the colossal trees. His wings have healed, but he’s been here for a long, long time.

So long that he’s forgotten how it feels to fly. But he just can’t forget, the last time he tried to flap his wings, that excruciating pain, that crushing despair he felt. Time and again he’s walked to the edge of a cliff, at the edge of the trees, but he’s never summoned enough courage to fly.

The autumn leaves have nearly all fallen, and migrating littleangels arrives near the Colossal Forest. Dim rays of light piercing from the forest catch the eye of one Little Angel. He feels an mysterious force pulling on him, as if it is saying, something needs him. He halts in his tracks, before starting toward its source. . .

Smile

Smile | Matteo PianezziCategory: Short Film
Country: Italy
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 8 min.
Director: Matteo Pianezzi
Producer: Matteo Pianezzi

Behind a clown’s makeup there is always a man with his story: the story of his life, that could be happy or not funny at all, even if his clothes and his makeup let us think something definitely smiley. If the Clown is a mime too, it would not be possible to ask him to tell us his story: he would not answer us. The only thing left to do is follow him to see where he takes us, and understand where he is going. We will find out that the Clown, the Mime and the Man are the same person, inevitably.

Bottle

Bottle | Kirsten LeporeCategory: Short Film
Country: USA
Language: English
Rating: G
Runtime: 6 min.
Director: Kirsten Lepore
Producer: Kirsten Lepore

Animated on location at a beach, in snow, and underwater, this stop-motion short details a transoceanic conversation between two characters via objects in a bottle.

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