Portland Track features films by Portland filmmakers. For more information, contact: heather @ portlandfilm . org

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ASSETS

SHORTS:
Elatio
Everybody Goes to the Hospital
MAD / WOMAN
Midnight Rhythms
Reply from Mailer-Daemon
Safe and Seen on 82nd
Salada’s Home
Zombies Like To Watch
Western Exit
Where Do You Go?
Visions
Deferment
ANOTHER STORY
Metal
Safety First
Superfan
Julia
A Device To Save The World
Black Girl From Portland
Shattered

FEATURES:
Because We’re Family
ELEMENTAL, redefining our relationship with wildfire
Grandma’s Roses
Light Attaching to a Girl
Live Out Loud
Silent Voices
Winston Fleary and the Big Drum Nation Dance
Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts

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Summaries:

Elatio- A mysterious signal from outer space elicits equally mysterious reactions from its listeners, from total bliss to violent death. This film comprises three parts: a 50s-style newsreel, black-and-white moving photography, and a psychedelic finale. Experimental Short. Directed by Ioana Cherascu & Garrett Schroeder. 7.12 min. USA. Portland Premiere

Everybody Goes to the Hospital – Based on a true story, EVERYBODY GOES TO THE HOSPITAL is a stop motion animated exploration of physical, psychological, and familial trauma, telling the tale of 4-year-old Little Mata (writer/director Tiffany Kimmel’s mother) as she’s taken to the hospital in late 1963 with appendicitis. Animated Short. Directed by Tiffany Kimmel. 9.02 min. USA. Oregon Premiere.

Mad / Woman – A woman beaten unconscious by her husband searches her mindscape for a way out. Inspired by the songs of genre-fluid indie rocker Storm Large and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic feminist short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” this musical phantasmagoria continues in the surrealist tradition of Queer Cinema pioneers Jean Cocteau and Derek Jarman. Narrative Short. Directed by Marc Acito. 14.50 min. USA. West Coast Premiere

Midnight Rhythms – In this conceptual, poetic narrative, a young gay man struggles with his sexual identity and spirals into the world of drunken facades and midnight afterthoughts, questioning who he is and if he’s willing to take the risk to be his truest self where others can see. Narrative Short. Directed by Quincy Woo. 15.50 min. USA. Portland Premiere

Reply from Mailer-Daemon – While attempting to reach her estranged mother, a video game streamer becomes tethered to the manifestation of an automated email reply bot. Sci-Fi Short. Directed by Cosmo Spada. 17.17 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Safe and Seen on 82nd – A short exploring music and movement as we follow the emotional journey of a pedestrian, a person of Asian descent, unseen by the world around them. Dance Short. Directed by Dawn Jones Redstone. 3.50 min. USA. World Premiere

Salada’s Home – Salada and her family arrived in Portland as refugees in need of stable housing and support to begin again. With the help of their new community, they were able to find resilience to rebuild their lives. 5.22 min. Directed by Zach Putnam. USA. Portland Premiere

Zombies Like To Watch – Lucy brings Brian home after a great first date, but Brian doesn’t know that Lucy has a very particular kink. She likes to have her caged zombie watch her have sex with other partners. Narrative short. Directed by Rollyn Stafford. 7.15 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Western Exit – Three estranged sisters reluctantly reunite over a hopeful inheritance. Narrative Short. Directed by Scott Ballard, 13 min. USA. Portland Premiere

MAITA ‘Where Do You Go?’ – A dream doctor gives a struggling couple virtual encounters with giant dream monsters, hoping to bring them to a place of common understanding. Things take an unexpected turn when the dream-induction equipment begins to malfunction…Music Video. Directed by Luke Borsten. Performed by MAITA. 3.38 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Because We’re Family – Dysfunctional siblings reunite to witness the cremation of their mother. Back under one roof for the holidays, all decency is lost when a feud over her ashes tests the boundaries of family and a Christmas Eve tradition becomes difficult to digest. Narrative. Directed by Angela Teresa Stern & Christine Nyhart. 90 min. USA. Festival Premiere

ELEMENTAL – As fire seasons grow longer, more destructive and more deadly, it is clear that our approach to reducing wildfire risk is failing. This film brings cutting edge science and indigenous knowledge into focus. It forces us, from city dwellers to seasoned fire professionals to rural citizens , to question what we believe and offers a science based way forward to live and thrive with fire. Documentary. Directed by Trip Jennings. 79 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Grandma’s Roses. – GRANDMA’S ROSES is a raw, intimate documentary exploring the labor & love women invest in their families and communities. As the director processes the life of his own grandmother, he travels across the country to hear the stories of dynamic, wise, and courageous women who’ve lived boldly in the face of sexism and racism. He expands upon the familiar notions of grandmothers as centerpieces of family life by also showcasing their contributions outside of the home as workers and community members, and reflects on the expectations set for them by society. Documentary. Directed by Jordan Thierry. 82 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Light Attaching to a Girl – Suffocated by an overbearing father and two older sisters who soak up any attention that comes their way, Clare is desperate to escape. She plans a trip to Iceland by herself where she can experience nature, and make her own decisions for the first time in her life. Light Attaching to a Girl poetically drifts between the interior and exterior life of an adolescent, as she reckons with haunting memories of her childhood even as she takes her first steps into adulthood. Narrative Feature. Directed by Laina Barakat. 62 min. USA. West Coast Premiere

Live out loud -Live Out Loud is a feature documentary about the transformative power of filmmaking. Shot over one year, our doc tells the stories of three people experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon as they are empowered and begin to heal from childhood trauma by learning to make films in a grant-funded class. Their backgrounds are as diverse as their projects. Sumaiyya, a white woman in her 60’s who’s a recovering heroin addict and former sex worker, makes a self-portrait. David, a black man in his mid 20’s who wants to be a film director, writes and directs a Halloween dramedy. John, a gay, white, fan fiction writer in his early 30’s experiments with stop motion animation as a new artistic medium. To varying degrees, their shared journey puts each one of them on a better path. Documentary Feature. Directed by Melissa Gregory Rue. 86 min. USA. Oregon Premiere

Silent Voices – Donna Hayes lost her grandson to unjust police violence and has yet to see institutional justice. “Silent Voices” is not only the story of her own grandson but 6 other true stories about police violence. Written in an emergent and collaborative writing process with surviving family members of others killed by the Portland-metro police and filmed during the covid era by a volunteer production team. Documentary. Directed by K. Kendall. 50 min. USA. Festival Premiere

Winston Fleary and the Big Drum Nation Dance – Music Documentary. Directed by John Melville Bishop. 68 min. USA. World Premiere

Buffalo Soldiers – Buffalo Soldiers: Fighting on Two Fronts – against the enemy and the racism of the country they served. Black men seeking better lives in the U.S. Army after the Civil War enlisted in exchange for full citizenship as promised by the 14th Amendment, but we’re denied this right by the Jim Crow laws established in the Reconstructionist South. Despite that, these patriotic men helped lead the United States expansion westward; they built and guarded the Pacific Railroad and served as park rangers in places like Yosemite. These soldiers fought bravely in the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, and the Mexican Punitive Expedition, but the Buffalo Soldiers also participated in the subjugation of Native peoples as the United States appropriated tribal land, the persecution of striking silver miners in Idaho, and against Filipinos fighting for independence during the Spanish-American War, resulting in a complicated legacy. Documentary. Directed by Dru Holley. 60 min. USA. World Premiere

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