Driftwood

The year’s most spectacular Live Action short films.

3 young women encounter car trouble on the way to a Dragonsclaw concert during a rainstorm. They are forced to go seek help, where one by bloody one they are attacked by a masked maniac and hung on meathooks. Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Madly explores love in all its permutations in six short films from a vibrant group of filmmakers representing Japan, Argentina, the UK, the US, India, and Australia. All forms of love are on display in this anthology. And all manners of feelings expressed from jubilance to depression are done so strongly.

An experimental short by Bryan Demers

Short musical film paying a tribute to samba composer Zé Ketti, one of the greatest popular artists of Brazilian music. In a jam session, in the late composer's house in Inhaúma, a neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, a group of friends get together to play his music while a "feijoada" (typical Brazilian food with black beans)is being cooked in the kitchen. The samba-players, first-rate samba stars themselves, remember Ketti's great hits in a homage to the man who was best known as "a voz do morro" ("the hill's voice" - but hill as a metaphor for a place where poor people build their shacks in slums, in opposition to city, where middle-class people live in Rio). Among the guests, names of the traditional "samba-school" Portela and ex-partners. Also, the presence of a black hat on an empty chair, represents the composer himself, who died in 1999, after a life of many accomplishments in music, and appearance in three of Dos Santos's films: "Rio, 40 Graus", "Rio Zona Norte" and "Boca de Ouro".

In this show, Neville narrates stories about his struggles with his age, bring orphaned, adulthood, death, depression, divorce and suicide. This isn't the only thing that doesn't make it a regular stand up special, it's also that he's doing sitting down. He treats his audience like is therapist and pretty much leaves them bereft of hope but bloated with laughter. It's dark, it's poignant, it's melancholic but it's hilarious. Considered one of the comics with the darkest material in India, Neville doesn't disappoint. The topics he deals with are narrated anecdotally, making them approachable. He doesn't make fun of them; he makes fun about them. Afflictions, vulnerabilities and flaws are a part of human beings and Neville takes his feelings about them, analyses and then presents them. It's a perspective of someone who is going through them. And you see him crumble and rise with each story, you can also see him going downhill.

Parker, a successful advice columnist, and her best friend Aaron have been inseparable since childhood. She knows everything about him, including the fact that he doesn't love his fiancé. Desperate for help, Parker pens an anonymous letter to her own column asking for advice. Unexpectedly, she learns about her own feelings instead.

Donna Lee Shelby, a mentally challenged girl who lives in Forest Haven, an institution for the developmentally disabled, meets Ricardo Thornton, a fellow resident. When Forest Haven is closed by a court order, Donna and Ricardo venture into the real world on their own.

A high school romantic dramedy, based on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing."

In the 1930s a young fellow, Simon Chalumet, is sent to a military school by his overbearing father, an ex-soldier who has little sympathy for his son's more gentle temperament, or for his interest in films.

Through real charming images, toys and animations this video presents the domestic, farm and forest animals to the preschool children. Using a rich musical score by Beethoven, Strauss, Chopin and the wonderful Brazilian songs that tell stories of animals, Bebe Mais: Bichos entertains and educates at the same time. Based on studies showing that music has a role in mental and emotional development of children, the video encourages logic, concentration and creativity while providing a unique opportunity of union and pleasure between parents and children. Carefully designed to entertain and stimulate baby's immense resources, the video also presents curious characters, who - like young children - are discovering the world around them.

Portrait of a troubled peasant family. The film tells the story of two times widow Anna Belova who lives together with her brother Mikhail. Blending the two personalities, Kosakovsky characterizes the true Russian soul: she is the rational worker, honest and strong - he is the drunken poet, the idealist, his philosophy fades into radical nonsense time after time.