ASSETS

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International Shorts
Growing Pains
Joyie7star “Hot Chic Ku Mic”
Les Clefs
Lessons on the Improper Use of Objects
2 fathers, 3 babys
Lessons on the Improper Use of Objects
Wallpaper

International Features
Feneen – Elsewhere
This is Where I Meet You
materia
Finding My Color
Bubble
Clowning With Shakespeare
The Neighborhood Storyteller
Okinawa Coming Out Chronicles Mama Katsugi’s Hug-filled Road Trip
Pushpa The Rise-Part 1
Nobody Knows Casper
Stage Changers
Miles to go Before She Sleeps
4 Days to Eternity
Green is the New Black
The Ones Who Keep Walking
With This Breath I Fly
Oliver & The Pool
Zeria
The Desire to Live
Women’s Land
Medusa
Among Us Women
Strangers to Peace

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Summaries:

Fenen-Elsewhere – FENEEN is a journey into the urban music scene of Senegal. This project came about following the encounter between Italian producer Frank Sativa and Senegalese pop-star Leuz Diwane G and Italian-Senegalese rapper F.U.L.A.
Such is the origin of a song, a videoclip and a documentary of the same name (Feneen).
The documentary spotlights the fundamental rule of the urban subculture in debunking the stereotyped image of the Africa continent. It tells about the importance for young people to develop a civic conscience, and the chance to create concrete job opportunities in the music industry.
In Feneen, music becomes a metaphor of the way things are done in Africa and in Senegal in particular, that is, despite the lack of means, or sometimes precisely for the lack thereof, and often in order to make up for it. Music Documentary. Directed by Giulia Rosco. 60 min. Italy. International Premiere
This Is Where I Meet You – Actress Charlotte is struggling with her craft and even more with herself. She has messed up yet another audition and even her self-written apple tree monologue seems to be working against her. Frustrated by the realities of an artistic career and her fear of failing, Charlotte escapes on a camping trip to sunny Croatia with her boyfriend Georg. But the trip’s dynamic changes when their plans of a fun-filled couples vacation misfire: While Georg spends his time at a music festival in the hope of scoring a DJ gig, Charlotte is left stranded in the middle of nowhere. She embarks on a journey of her own, encountering happy campers Benno, a self-proclaimed shaman, and mysterious dropout Tami, to whom Charlotte feels an attraction. Both of them quickly become close companions on Charlotte’s journey of self-discovery. Narrative Feature. Directed by Katharina Ludwig. 81 min. Germany. Festival Premiere

Materia – How and why are new objects created? What place does craftsmanship and
design have in a digital and global economy? Materia originates from the desire to tell the process of creation, from the conception to the realization of objects and their importance in society. The documentary sets out to discover laboratories, shops and artistic studios in the city of Rome, underlining the importance of these activities in the urban space. Silver, ceramic, formica, stones, bronze, paper and more are the materials that are molded to give shape to ideas. Where does the inspiration come from, how does a project develop, what are the difficulties encountered along the way? Through the stories of various characters who explain how all these issues are addressed, we set off on a journey into creativity. Documentary Feature. Directed by Catia Ott. 50 min. Italy. World Premiere

Finding My Color – This movie is based on Arita porcelain and its kiln.Yui, a 14-year-old girl, lives as a single-parent family with her father Nobuo and her grandmother.Painting pictures with various colors is the only way for Yui to be herself. She never opens up to her father or friends in her day-to-day life.Then one day, she meets Miki, a pottery painter, and empathizes with Miki’s work. By coincidence, Miki and her father start dating, and Yui’s life changes. Narrative Feature. Directed by Junji Kojima. 105 min. Japan. Portland Premiere

Bubble – One evening,16-year old Eveliina’s life derails at a small local gas station when she sees her mother passionately kissing a woman. Eveliina tries to sabotage the affair at all costs to get her parents to fall in love again- or at least stay together. Eveliina realizes that she is the glue that holds her parents together: if she is in any trouble, her parents focus and regroup to support her. So Eveliina fakes depression and mood swings. Soon, the boundaries between the made up and real anxiety begin to blur, and Evelina is no longer sure of the truth, or even the usefulness of her actions. Narrative Feature. Directed by Aleksi Salmenperä. 105 min. Finland. World Premiere

Clowning with Shakespeare – Rajat Kapoor, an Indian filmmaker & actor collaborates with fellow actors from Bollywood to put up a theatre play that turns Shakespearean stories into a modern tale with an unconventional twist. Rajat’s clowning act of interpreting Shakespearean classics makes for an unbelievably appealing storytelling. The creative exploration of Rajat and his team is discomforting, entertaining, and addictive at the same time. Documentary Feature. Directed by Siddhartha More. 59 min. India. North America Premiere

Neighborhood Storyteller – War tragically pushed Asmaa out of her home country, Syria, where her destiny had been written as a wife and mother with only 16 years of age. Asmaa rebuilt her adult identity as the neighborhood storyteller and began using reading aloud to children for fun as a bridge to tackle critical issues in her new community at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. Six years later, with Asmaa’s first born daughter reaching adolescence, a flashback of her education deprived past emerges and inspires her to embark on a new read aloud project to empower teenage girls to build a future of opportunities she never had. Despite her complex living situation as a refugee and the community’s conservative mindset, Asmaa is determined to raise a conscious generation of successful women.The Neighborhood Storyteller is a documentary feature film that explores human resilience, the transition from child to adult and one’s capacity to turn hardships into an opportunity for self growth. Documentary. Directed by Alejandra Alcala. 50 min. United Arab Emirates. West Coast Premiere

Okinawa Coming out Chronicles “Mama” Katsuki’s Hug-Filled Road Trip – The coming out story of“Mama” Katsuki, the owner of the Shinjuku 2-chome gay bar “Kusuo”. In his late twenties, he leaves his hometown so he can be truly himself. Ten years later from that day, he comes out to his parents as gay.Now he can finally say he is on good terms with his family, but it took many conversations to reach this point.
This movie follows him as he visits his hometown of Naha City, Okinawa Prefecture, looking back on the time when he came out, talking with family and friends and opening about their true feelings. Documentary. Directed by Hiroaki Matsuoka. 103 min. Japan. North American Premiere

Pushpa The Rise – Part 1 – Pushpa Raj is a bastard child and grows up with full humiliation of not having a family name but at the same time is a determined person with full attitude. He joins work as daily wage worker and volunteers to smuggle red sanders, a rare wood that only grows in Andhra.
With the help of novel ideas to smuggle the red sanders, Pushpa quickly gains confidence of the smuggler syndicate and using all his might and intelligence he very soon rises in the ranks and becomes leader of red sanders smuggling network. But for not having a family name his engagement to his girl friend gets canceled. Though disheartened, Pushpa never loses his courage and reached the pinnacle.
While Pushpa is at his prime, a ruthless police officer Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat takes charge as SP and ridicules Pushpa for his lineage and humiliates him. Pushpa in his own style retorts and gives it back to him with an open challenge to Bhanwar that he will continue to rule the red sanders network and paves the way for the 2nd part of the film. Narrative Feature. Directed by Sukumar Bandreddi. 154 min. India. Festival Premiere

Nobody Knows Casper – Finding your place in the fast-paced internet life quickly becomes all-consuming. Documentary. Directed by René Odgaard. 72m. Denmark. International Premiere.

Stage Changers – Breakthrough theater company The Last Great Hunt chases the chance to take their award-winning storytelling to the world. Documentary. Directed by Ella Genevieve Wright. 60m. Australia. USA Premiere.

Miles to Go Before She Sleeps – YANG AI YUN, a retired middle school teacher turned firebrand activist, lays her life on the line to expose a nationwide dog theft ring that sends thousands of stolen pets to slaughterhouses year-round. Her undercover investigation leads her directly to the man behind the criminal enterprise, a well-respected community leader and model entrepreneur. Meanwhile, activists in solidarity with increasingly vocal pet owners pressure officials to enact China’s first animal protection law. Their efforts are met with resistance from an equally vocal and powerful business lobby. Events culminate in a showdown inside a province bordering Vietnam, when poachers catch wind of Yang’s new animal sanctuary. With local law enforcement turning a blind eye, poachers plan an ambush in broad daylight. Documentary. Directed by Mijie Li. 93 min. China. World Premiere

4 Days to Eternity – Germany, 19th century, Middle Rhein Valley. The dreamy Idilia (Lea van Acken) awakes injured in the midst of a gloomy castle ruin and can’t remember anything that happened before. When she discovers in horror that there is no escaping the towering castle walls, she begins a grueling fight for survival. Only her nebulous diary can help her decipher the past, which exposes a secret romance with Abyssinian actor Caven (Eric Kabongo), a performer in a human zoo exhibition run by her fiancé Franz Hagerberg (André M. Hennicke). Idilia’s written record, however, blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Narrative Feature. Directed by Konstantin Korenchuk & Simon Pilarski. 108 min. Germany. West Coast Premiere.

Green is the New Black – Green Is The New Black is a story of passion and purpose behind an ambitious environmental feat of one of Australia’s leading heavy music acts, In Hearts Wake.Green is the New Black is a carbon off-set documentary that captures the twists and turns of the band’s urgent mission to stop at nothing as they face backlash, bushfires and an unprecedented global pandemic.
Through conversation with creatives, experts and professionals such as Damon Gameau (2040, That Sugar Film), Tamara Smith (Greens Member for Parliament), AY Young (United Nations Young Leader), Jess Ducrou (Splendour In The Grass Festival founder), Heidi Lennfer (FEAT Artists), and Luke Logemann (UNFD Records), join In Hearts Wake as they uncover unsettling truths, face human adversity and discover inspiring solutions for a new earth-aligned way forward. Music Documentary. Directed by Jake Taylor & Caleb Graham. 93 min. Australia. US Premiere

The Ones Who Keep Walking – From Africa 30 under 30 film maker Amarachi Nwosu, The Ones Who Keep walking is an exploration of what it takes to push things forward. The documentary looks at what happens when people are able to liberate themselves creatively and the rich vibrant World it creates when there are those freedoms. Never heard before stories, and in-depth conversations give an insight into how sheer determination and a pioneering spirit is bringing authentic African expression to the world. Documentary. Directed by Amarachi Nwosu. 48 min. UK. World Premiere

With This Breath, I Fly – At the height of the international occupation of Afghanistan, two women – Gulnaz, raped and impregnated by her uncle, and Farida, on the run from an abusive husband – are imprisoned on charges of “moral crimes” by an Afghan justice system that is supported by billions of dollars of aid money from the European Union.
Shot over ten years, “With This Breath I Fly” follows these two courageous women as they fight for their freedom against a patriarchal Afghan society determined to keep them bound to tribal culture, while exposing the complicity of the European Union in censoring their voices, and how the international press – and our documentary – forever alters the course of their lives. Documentary. Directed by Sam Frenc and Clementine Malpas. 78 min. UK. Portland Premiere

Oliver & the Pool – Oliverio sets the urn that contains his father’s ashes on the table next to the poolside chaise lounge. He grabs his phone and types in a word: aneurism. Oliverio’s father died during a family dinner, just after his parents announced that they were getting divorced. His mother already had a new man in her life. Oliverio, a 13-year-old only child, installs himself on the chaise lounge and decides that he will stay right there. From that very spot he continues his life – mourning, observing, learning to forgive, and falling in love. Narrative Feature. Directed by Arcadi Palerm-Artis. 100 min. Mexico. Oregon Premiere

Zeria – Gaspard is the last man on Earth. Zeria, his grandson, is the first human to be born on Mars.
Gaspard tells him about his life, his fears, his loves… in the hope that Zeria will come to see him before he dies… Zeria would be the first human being to return to Earth without having ever known it…Narrative Feature. Directed by Harry Cleven. 61 min. Belgium. West Coast Premiere

The Desire to Live – Stories of the indigenous people of Artsakh, after the recent 44 day war with Azerbaijan and suffering a devastating loss of lives and land. The desire to live is really a right to live on their lands and be protected by the threat of war, genocide and crimes against their humanity. Documentary Feature. Directed by Mariam Avetisyan. 90 min. Armenia. Portland Premiere

Women’s land – Women’s land” tell the story of five women farmers around the world, working the land, which plays a key role in the planet’s food production. A tribute to some of these women, invisible but essential links in the chain who ensure subsistence agriculture every day and everywhere on earth. Documentary Feature. Directed by marion Gaborit. 77 min. France. Portland Premiere

Medusa – Romane and Clemence are between 25 and 30 years old, they are sisters and live together. Romane has to look after Clémence, who is disabled since they had a car accident, when teenagers. Romane was not hurt, but Clemence had a cerebral vascular accident which lets her completely unable to speak and to walk in a normal way.
One night, while Clemence is asleep, Romane decides to go out. That night, she will get back home late with Guillaume, her new boyfriend. Day after day, Guillaume will gradually feel invested in a duty : make Clemence recover her speech and the use of her legs. But over the days, the complicity between Clemence and Guillaume will become more and more unbearable for Romane. Narrative. Directed by Sophie Levy. 86 min. France. Portland Premiere

Among Us Women – Among us women follows young farmer Huluager Endeshaw (25), who is awaiting the birth of her fourth child. Swimming in a river of change, Hulu finds herself caught between modern and traditional systems of midwifery in her rural village of Megendi. On one hand, she regularly attends check-ups at the local health post and follows the advice from medical midwives. On the other, Hulu is apprehensive of a system in which she feels unheard, turning to the traditional midwife Endal Gedif (70) for support and comfort. Although Endal is aware of Hulu’s needs, she can only do so much with her limited resources. Complications during Hulu’s home birth stress the conflicts between the ladies in scrubs and the women on fields. Surrounded by many varying female perspectives, Hulu wrestles with the role she is expected to play as a mother, a wife and a woman. To unravel her personal wants and needs, she takes the film’s narrative into her own hands, exploring her burning past and her uncertain future. Both because of her fellow women and despite them, Hulu holds on to the desire to define her own path and gradually unveils the secrets she has kept close to her chest.Documentary. Directed by Sarah Noa Bozenhardt & Daniel Abate Tilahun. 93 min. Germany. North America Premiere

Strangers to Peace – Three former child soldiers face retribution, anxiety, and danger as they attempt to rebuild their lives after leaving the FARC guerrilla army and the bloody Colombian conflict. Strangers to Peace intimately captures the personal stories of Dayana, the market vendor navigating her new identity as a trans woman; Ricardo, the young father secretly clinging to his communist ideology; and Alexandra, the indigenous child soldier, who was forced to leave her family behind in the Amazon. Their stories are told through the lens of filmmaker Laura Angel, who herself was a victim of FARC violence. Documentary Feature. Directed by Laura Bibibana Angel Rengifo & Noah David DeBonis. 86 min. Colombia. West Coast Premiere

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