23 minutes, 1999 35mm, Germany By Rainer Komers

The B 224 is one of the major highways leading through the Ruhr area, one of Germany's most industrial and most densely populated regions. It runs south and north again connecting Gladbeck, Bottrop, Essen, Wuppertal and Solingen.   B224 is a purely observation film, created from striking cinematography taken along this road corridor.   Made by acclaimed German filmmaker Rainer Komers, winner of a special jury prize at the 2005 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival for his film, "Nome Road System."  

Rainer Komers Film               
Moritzstrasse 102               
D-45476 Mülheim an der Ruhr
+49-208-77 94 38
r.komers@t-online.de

83 minutes, 2004 DV, Iraq By Stephen Marshall

In late 2003, two filmmakers from the Sundance award-winning Guerrilla News Network spent three weeks on the frontlines of the simmering guerrilla war in Iraq, gathering intelligence, dodging bullets, and capturing the untold stories of what has become the world's most covered, and misunderstood, conflict. BattleGround is an emotionally intense journey that will challenge the orthodoxies of Left and Right, and highlight the humanity of all sides of the conflict. BattleGround is a critical film for anyone who wants to understand the powerful forces that are sucking America deeper and deeper into a Middle Eastern quagmire. Is Iraq our generation's "Bright Shining Lie," or is it the frontline in a global battle for national survival? Or is to some combination of both ?

Silver Hugo Award, 2004 Chicago International Film Festival

Stephen Marshall/GNN
247 East 28th Street, 17D
New York, NY 10016
212-679-3324
www.gnn.tv
stephen@gnn.tv

99 minutes, 2005 16mm, USA By Margaret Brown

As a musician, Townes Van Zandt was legendary -- perhaps one of the greatest who ever lived, inspiring artists from Bob Dylan to Norah Jones to Steve Earle. As a man, a husband, and a father his life was as tragic and as beautiful as the songs he wrote. Townes was an enigma to his family, pinned between a deep longing for home and the nomadic lifestyle that was necessary for his livelihood. Director Margaret Brown's Be Here To Love Me is an artful, expertly directed portrait of both of these sides of Van Zandt and ultimately serves as an insightful look at the sacrifices, challenges, and consequences faced in pursuit of a dream. Haunting and lyrical, Be Here To Love Me combines emotional interviews with friends and family with never seen footage of Townes Van Zandt; from rare performance and interview footage to intimate portraits shot in Van Zandt's own home. It also includes appearances by many famous musicians including Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earle, and Emmylou Harris.

Erin Owens
Palm Pictures
(212)320-3684
erin.owens@palmpictures.com

42 minutes, 2004 DVCAM, Scotland By Doug Aubrey & Marie Olesen

Bedroom Radio is a story of Pirate radio broadcasting, Love, Life, and Death on a different Scottish frequency. Gary (DJ Allusion) and Yvonne (DJ Miss-Chief) are a young couple who live on a tough Paisley housing estate. Most nights they broadcast from their one bedroom flat on Gary’s pirate radio station: Allusion FM. In a world where the drug dealer and money lender rule, and where alcoholism and violence are an everyday reality, it is ironic that the only positive thing that this young couple can do for themselves is illegal. Pirate radio broadcasting is a criminal offence in the UK and although being a radio pirate carries with it the risk of either a hefty fine or prison sentence, the buzz of being a pirate has attracted a whole new generation of what Gary calls `Bedroom DJs’ to the airwaves. Giving voice to the disenfranchised, these pirates are perhaps the real sound of Scotland’s housing schemes. Bedroom Radio is an intimate and compassionate insight into life on the wrong side of the M8’s hard shoulder. It captures the highs, lows, dreams and tragedy of scheme life, yet remains a positive film about aspirations, hopes and dreams in a notoriously deprived area of Scotland.

Bryony McIntyre
Scottish Screen
249 West George St
Glasgow G2, Scotland
bryony.mcintyre@scottishscreen.com
www.scottishscreen.com

84 minutes, 2005 HDCAM, Canada By Larry Weinstein

BEETHOVEN'S HAIR traces the unlikely journey of a lock of hair cut from Beethoven's corpse and unravels the mystery of his tortured life and death. The story unfolds tracing the past generations of owners, culminating in the futuristic science that reveals Beethoven's "medical secret".   Set to a lush score of some of Beethoven's most glorious music, the film explores the world of forensic testing in sharp relief against the romance of 19th century Vienna and the horrors of 20th century Nazi Germany. Along the way, this film sheds new light upon the cause of Beethoven's various maladies, including his deafness, as well as accounting for his volatile personality and perhaps even the nature of his great art.

Rhombus Media Inc.
99 Spadina Ave. Suite 600
Toronto, Canada M5V 3P8
(416) 971-7856
www.rhombusmedia.com
rhombus@rhombusmedia.com

13 minutes, 2007 miniDV, USA By Les Blank Special Work-in-Progress Screening

An intimate portrait of legendary documentarian, Richard Leacock, directed by legendary documentarian, Les Blank. Screening with another Les Blank work-in-progress, Butch Anthony, this is a rare opportunity for a public audience to engage one of the greatest living documentarians about his work. Les Blank will be in attendance to field questions about the direction of his new work immediately following the two short films.  

www.lesblank.com

71 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA By Maryam Kashani World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

Leaving Iran for San Francisco in the 1960, my father and his friends maintained a friendship that would span over forty years, through cultural revolutions and political events that changed the world around them. By interweaving the history of oil relations between the U.S. and Iran with personal mishaps, achievements, and relationships, Best in the West explores the possibilities and limits of freedom, and the importance of friendship throughout this struggle.  

myrmur@gmail.com

50 minutes, 2004 Beta SP, Israel By Tszach Nissenboim & Sylvain Beigeleisen

For two years a film crew documented the daily routine of the Alons, a family of settlers from a settlement near Ramallah. Against the mundane backdrop of familial quarrels and pleasures, the family’s sense of dread from an ever-imminent danger mounted like a ring, which slowly was closing in tighter and tighter.
On June 19, 2002 the coverage of the Alon family took a terrible turn. Noa Alon and her granddaughter, Gal, were killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem.

Ruth Diskin
Marketing & Distribution
13, Diskin St.
Jerusalem, 96440 Israel
Tel. 972-2-5610094
ruthdis@netvision.net.il
/www.ruthfilms.com/html/fs_beyond_mountains_of_darkness.html

82 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA /Afghanistan/Philippines By Adrian Belic Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

Ed Artis, James Laws and Walt Ratterman are three middle-aged men whose idea of adventure is taking desperately needed food and medicine into the world's most forbidding yet beautiful places on Earth, the front lines of war. The three men are self-styled Knights of Malta, and in 1995, they formed Knightsbridge International, a unique humanitarian aid organization, whose motto is 'High Adventure and Service to Humanity.' Artis explains: 'We're not there to change anybody's politics, we're not in the God business, and we pay our own way.'  

www.wadrirum.com

52 minutes, 2004 DV, India/Canada By Lindalee Tracey & Peter Raymontl

On December 2, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, leaked poisonous methyl isocyanate gas, killing at least 15,000 men, women and children. Hundreds of thousands more were permanently maimed. Union Carbide is now owned by the Dow Chemical Corporation. Twenty years later, amid charges of corruption, graft and suppression of medical and environmental research about the tragedy, the victims are still not adequately compensated and cared for. Journalist Raajkumar Keswani, whose prediction of the Union Carbide disaster proved prophetic, documents the legacy and introduces us to the leading scientists, doctors and activists in his search for justice.

National Film Board of Canada
1-800-542-2164
http://nfb.ca/

55 minutes, 2007 DVCAM, Australia By Camille Hardman and John Fink World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

Once upon a time there was a prosperous sugar producing town in tropical Australia called Tully. When Brazil dumps its sugar stockpile on the global market, the townsfolk call a meeting to save Tully from financial disaster. One man proposes to build The World’s Biggest Gumboot in honor of Tully’s record rainfall. Ron Hunt, the town elder, hires the famous Bryan Newell to build the boot, putting local artist Roger Chandler’s nose out of joint. As the boot's cost grows out of hand, its construction is delayed by rain! After all of this bother, will the boot save Tully from ruin?  

www.bigdreamers.info

Billy
20 minutes, 2003 miniDV, USA By Kerri Yost

In Billy, a minimalist documentary approach lets us examine the daily life of a homeless man in an affluent Midwestern college town. What originally starts as a how-to guide to creating a home without a house, the documentary slowly evolves into an introspective look at why Billy lives on the streets and how he can continue to do so in spite of spiraling health problems.

The subject speaks for himself, eloquently and sometimes humorously revealing his own compelling history as a forgotten Vietnam veteran and giving us first-hand insight into life on the streets. In a few concise scenes we meet Billy on his own terms, and we are left asking our own questions about the disenfranchised wandering through America’s heartland.

Kerri Yost
607 Paris Ct.
Columbia, MO 65201
573.443.6805
http://www.bumsparadise.com/

Blue Fish
21 minutes, 2005 miniDV, USA By Rao Fu

A film about the decisions and sacrifices we all have to make in life. A promising young pianist is forced to choose between his musical aspirations and his family.

Rosie Fu
5455 Kiowa Dr. #39
La Mesa, CA 91942
(626)807-1513
furaofilms@yahoo.com

Bluegrass Journey
68 minutes, 2003 miniDV, USA By Ruth Oxenberg and Rob Schumer

This passionate and affecting performance documentary celebrates the virtuoso artistry and joyous community of contemporary bluegrass music. Musically depicting many of the traditional roots and some of the more far-reaching branches of the genre, BLUEGRASS JOURNEY employs verite footage, thoughtful interviews, and vividly captured extended performances to weave a seamless tapestry that transports and enraptures the devoted fan and newcomer alike. Featuring some of the most celebrated practitioners of this traditional-sounding but still evolving musical form, the film presents a sonically rich and visually stunning portrait that often leaves viewers suppressing applause and cheers after each number. Musical performances by such bluegrass luminaries as the Del McCoury Band, Peter Rowan, Tim O'Brien, Tony Rice, Jerry Douglas, Rhonda Vincent, Nickel Creek, and many others, create an indelible impression that leaves no doubt about why this timeless music has exploded in popularity in recent years. Exhilarating, joyous and rich, intelligent and timely, BLUEGRASS JOURNEY will leave you wanting to hear more.

http://www.bluegrassjourney.com

Bob Smith, U.S.A.
85 minutes, 2005 miniDV, USA By Neil Abramson

A hilarious new documentary that provides a view into American culture through the eyes of seven men named Bob Smith. The filmmakers traveled across the United States documenting the lives of the Bob Smith's. Despite their common names, the men vary greatly in profession, age and religion - from septic tank repairman to yoga instructor; from twenty eight to eighty-eight years old; from Evangelical Christian to Evangelical Atheist. As each man's story unfolds in their own words, intimate portraits are drawn; creating a poetic, non-judgmental and highly entertaining document of American life.

Neil Abramson
2814 Haddington Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90064
310-710-1998
www.bobsmithmovie.com
abramson.n@comcast.net

83 minutes, 2002
35mm, United Kingdom

By Simon Pummell
& Janine Marmot

77 minutes, 2006
miniDV, Cambodia/USA

By Skye Fitzgerald

Montana Premiere
Asia Docs Series

80 minutes, 1995
16 mm, Canada

By Heather Frise

70 minutes, 2007
miniDV, Mexico/USA

By Robert Kelly

Northwest Premiere

5 minutes, 2003
miniDV, USA

By Jordan Plotsky

6 minutes, 2003
miniDV, USA

By Kate Haug

30 minutes, 2005
DVCAM, USA

By Sarah Prior & Monica Bigler

20 minutes, 2007
miniDV, USA

By Les Blank

Special Work-in-Progress Screening

32 minutes, 2006
Digital Betacam, USA/Israel

By John Reilly

Northwest Premiere
Documentary Short Competition