Radio Fishtown
28 minutes, 1990 VHS, USA By Henry Ferrini

The only one-man radio station in the country, battles corporate avarice and an FCC Goliath who threaten his only love, his broadcast license. The view is transported from the quaint fishing town of Gloucester, Massachusetts to the serried streets of New York City in an effort to track the solitary, radio broadcaster. Simon Geller, always heard but rarely seen is remembered by his listeners who both hated and revered him. A recluse who spoke to thousands, creating an island of individuality in a sea of soul destroying samesness. Alive with Classical music, Radio Fishtown creates a shifting, non-linear portrait of this enigmatic man while debunking the myth that working people don’t listen to Classical Music.

Henry Ferrini
hferrini@aol.com
978-281-2355

Rain in a Dry Land
82 minutes, 2006 miniDV, Kenya/USA By Anne Makepeace Montana Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

Rain in a Dry Land is the tale of two remarkable families, both refugees from the 1991 civil war in Somalia, who find new homes in urban America, one family in Springfield, MA, the other in Atlanta, GA. This film captures the poetry, humor, and astonishing resilience of these new Americans as they show us our world through fresh eyes.

www.makepeaceproductions.com

Reading the Water: Lectures in Home Video Ecology from the Gulf of ME
42 minutes, 2007 HDCAM, USA By Niklas Sven Vollmer World Premiere Documentary Short Competition

Reading the Water: Lectures in Home Video Ecology from the Gulf of ME is a shot at emotional intimacy with my photographer-naturalist father via a really expensive camera. This high-definition (HDCAM) experimental ‘home video’ and personal-poetic essay mobilizes the coast of Maine—my marine biology and naturalist professor-photographer father's area of expertise and the sandbox of my youth—as a metaphor for exploring the depths of masculine relationships and family ecology across three generations of men.

niklas@gsu.edu

Rebel Without Applause
74 minutes, 2004 DVCAM, United Kingdom By Tamara Barschak

Rebel Without Applause is a observational film about the life and times of the "Comedy Terrorist" an English comedian who made a "profession" out of hijacking high profile social and cultural events and whose most notorious gatecrash was the birthday party of Prince William in June 2003. Dressed as Bin Laden in pink ballroom gown, fake beard and red Cinderella slippers, the Comedian scaled the walls of Windsor Castle causing one of the most serious Royal security breaches in 20 years and catapulting himself to overnight international notoriety and the ubiquitous fifteen minutes of fame. The film looks at what happens when a man accidentally becomes extremely famous and unwittingly finds himself the center of a media frenzy.

Tamara Barschak
Production company is Desiderata Productions
Flat 4, 176 Walm Lane
London NW2 3AX
tamara.barschak4@ntlworld.com
www.comedy-terrorist.com

Reel Paradise
113 minutes, 2005 Digital Betacam, Fiji/USA By Steve James and Gita Saedi Montana Premiere Special Presentation

Reel Paradise tells the story of John Pierson's family at the end of a year-long adventure on a remote island in Fiji. Here, they ran the 180 Meridian Cinema, showing free movies to the locals. John Pierson is a noted indie film maven, author of the widely celebrated book, Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes, who, together with his wife Janet, created the IFC cable show Split Screen. In one story for the show, John and family went to Fiji in search of the "world's most remote movie theater."

www.reelparadise.com

Refrigerator Mothers
57 minutes, 2002 Beta SP, USA By David E. Simpson

It is America of the 1950s and 1960s, when a woman's most important contribution to society is generally considered to be her ability to raise happy, well-adjusted children. But for the mother whose child is diagnosed with autism, her life's purpose will soon become a twisted nightmare. Looking for help and support, she encounters instead a medical establishment that pins the blame for her child's bizarre behaviors on her supposedly frigid and detached mothering. Along with a heartbreaking label for her child, she receives a devastating label of her own. She is a "refrigerator mother". Refrigerator Mothers paints an intimate portrait of an entire generation of mothers, already laden with the challenge of raising profoundly disordered children, who lived for years under the dehumanizing shadow of professionally promoted "mother blame." Once isolated and unheard, these mothers have emerged with strong, resilient voices to share the details of their personal journeys. Through their poignant stories, Refrigerator Mothers puts a human face on what can happen when authority goes unquestioned and humanity is removed from the search for scientific answers.

“A heartbreaking account of the terrifying descent into autism and the culture of blame that left a gaping hole in so many lives. It is also a cautionary tale underscoring the harm wrought by arrogance.”
 - Boston Herald

Kartemquin Films
1901 W Wellington Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-472-4366
zak@kartemquin.com
www.kartemquin.com

Relative Freedom
9 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA By Joe Kuehne Northwest Premiere MiniDoc Competition

Relative Freedom documents the director’s journey to interview members of his immediate family about their feelings on his homosexuality. Over the course of three days, the director and his filmmaking team traveled from Washington, D.C. to Ohio and Michigan to interview his parents and five siblings. The film documents the family’s difficulty reconciling their love for their son/brother with their firm religions beliefs. Ultimately, Relative Freedom addresses our changing definitions of family. This film was made in just five days as part of the International Documentary Challenge.

www.documentarychallenge.org

Relative Freedom
9 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA By Joe Kuehne Northwest Premiere MiniDoc Competition

Relative Freedom documents the director’s journey to interview members of his immediate family about their feelings on his homosexuality. Over the course of three days, the director and his filmmaking team traveled from Washington, D.C. to Ohio and Michigan to interview his parents and five siblings. The film documents the family’s difficulty reconciling their love for their son/brother with their firm religions beliefs. Ultimately, Relative Freedom addresses our changing definitions of family. This film was made in just five days as part of the International Documentary Challenge.

www.documentarychallenge.org

Return of the Scorcher
28 minutes, 1992 Beta SP, USA By Ted White

Return of the Scorcher is a spirited celebration of the bicycle that asks why this cheap, clean, quiet, and healthy method of transportation isn’t more widely used in America. In the 1890’s, when the speed of a bike was considered amazing, “Scorcher” was a euphemism for bicyclist. Today, most of the world relies on the bicycle for basic transportation,while in America it’s now used primarily for recreation.

The Video Project
PO Box 411376
San Francisco, CA 94141-1376
www.videoproject.net
yogi@videoproject.net

Return to Kandahar
65 minutes, 2003 Beta SP, USA By Paul Jay and Nelofer Pazira

Nelofer Pazira, the star of the feature film Kandahar, returns to Afaganistan to search for her childhood friend Dyana, whose story inspired the film. Landing Kabul, 13 years after her family left Russian occupied Afganistan, Nelofer unravels her past and the history of her country while searching for Dyana. The epic journey takes her to Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif, where Dyana’s uncle last had contact with her family. Nelofer journeys across a broken land, smashed by war with the Russians, years of anarchy under the “Northern Alliance,” the Taliban and now by America’s “war on terror.”

Bullfrog Films
PO Box 149
Oley, PA 19547
610-779-8226
video@bullfrogfilms.com
www.bullfrogfilms.com

57 minutes, 2000 DVCAM, USA By Jeff Spitz

In 1997 a white man identifying himself as Bill Kennedy from Chicago showed up in Monument Valley with a silent film called Navajo Boy which he says his late father produced in the 1950s. Seeking to understand his father’s work on the Navajo Reservation, Kennedy returns the film to the people in it. When Cly family matriarch, Elsie Mae Cly Begay, watches the film she is amused to see herself as a young girl and delights in identifying other members of her family. Elsie recognizes her late mother in the old film as well as her infant brother, John Wayne Cly, who was adopted by white missionaries in the 1950s and never heard from again. When John Wayne Cly learns about the return of “Navajo Boy” in a New Mexico newspaper, he contacts the Clys in hopes that they are his family. The Return of Navajo Boy sets in motion John Wayne’s unforgettable return to his blood brothers and sisters in an emotional reunion in Monument Valley.

Groundswell Films
1917 west warner
Chicago, IL 60613
p 773.975.9534
f 773.975.0699
www.groundswellfilms.com

The Rich Have Their Own Photographers
60 minutes, 2007 DVCAM, USA By Ezra Bookstein and Scott Feinstein World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

In 1957, Milton Rogovin was declared “The Top Red in Buffalo” by The Buffalo News. Consequently, Rogovin's political voice was silenced. Society shunned him and his friends disappeared. As an optometrist active in the local unions and helping to register Black voters, Rogovin refused to remain quiet and found a new political voice - the camera. He began documenting Buffalo’s poorest residents, photographing the disenfranchised and the marginalized. For Rogovin, his prints are his protests and represent his fight for social justice.

www.therichhavetheirownphotographers.com

23 minutes, 2004 miniDV, USA By Dawn Smallman & Vanessa Renwick

While confined to a psychiatric ward at age 50, Richart Tracy made this discovery: If you want to get out of the hospital start making art like this. They will get rid of you - fast! This documentary takes a trip through his Art Farm yard, his eccentric art, original methods and his genius mind (not to mention what he hides in his basement).

"Directors Renwick and Smallman hit the cinematic jackpot when finding the subject for their documentary, Richart."   - Portland Mercury.

Far Away Films, LLC
1148 SE 50th Ave.
Portland, OR 97215
(503) 295-6832
www.farawayfilm.com
velvethammer00@hotmail.com

58 minutes, 2004 miniDV, USA By Greg Snider & Dawn Smallman 2005 Big Sky Award

Through eighty years of riding, ranching and writing, Ridin’ & Rhymin’ profiles the courageous life and living legacy of renowned cowgirl poet Georgie Sicking. Whether she’s on horseback, driving hundreds of cattle through a mountain range or onstage, reciting to hundreds of fans, this documentary captures her remarkable history and the reach of her fame. Returning to the places that shaped her poetry, Georgie rides the vast western range. But when a flash flood destroys her house, she is forced home, to once again rebuild her life. When she receives news of the death of her youngest son, Georgie's strength and insight turns hardship into verse. Georgie’s words preserve western heritage and capture her life as top hand, rancher, farmer, roper, barrel racer, wife, mother, honored writer and storyteller. Ridin’ & Rhymin’ catches an intimate view of this spirited icon who has blazed her own trail.

Far Away Films
(503) 295-6832
velvethammer00@hotmail.com
www.farawayfilm.com

Riding on Impulse
7 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA By Marianne Zugel, Toni Matlock, Tonya Easbey and Greg Twigg World Premiere MiniDoc Competition

Riding on Impulse presents a fresh view of contemporary western living. The film is a poetic illustration of the personal fulfillment that motivates the committed, outdoor enthusiast. In the mountain town of Missoula, Montana, the adventures of local characters reveal the key to their personal sense of freedom and quality of life. With an original score by resident musicians, the liberating rhythm of strings leads the viewer on a reflective and inspiring journey. This film was made entirely in just five days as part of the International Documentary Challenge.

www.documentarychallenge.org

Rise and Shine
91 minutes, 2006 miniDV, USA By Justin Adler World Premiere Documentary Feature Competition

Rise and Shine portrays high school theater arts teacher, Charlotte Brown, her students, and the challenges they face while competing in speech and debate tournaments in Texas. For the past 45 years, Ms. Brown has been building a nationally-recognized theater department. Many of her former students have become Hollywood actors, politicians, lawyers, college professors, and writers for film and television. From the first tournament of the year to the Texas State Championship, Rise and Shine redefines the meaning of victory and exposes the true value of one teacher's dedication.

www.smilerfilms.com

Rivers and Tides
90 minutes, 2001 35mm, Germany By Thomas Riedelsheimer

Rivers and Tides is an extraordinary journey into the world and mind of Scottish sculptor Andy Goldsworthy. A land-artist who uses materials from nature to make site-specific works, Goldsworthy allows the elements to have the last say in his beautiful creations, as his ingenious patterns of wood, leaves, stone and ice move and erode over time. German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer followed the artist for over a year in several outdoor locations, intimately documenting his improvisational process and capturing the serene spectacle of his works and their delicate changes.

Roxie Releasing
3125 16th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
415.431.3611

112 minutes, 2002 16mm, USA By Rick Derby

This heartfelt documentary traces the inspirational journey of Jerry Richardson and the Lady Chieftains, a high school basketball team, from the small Navajo community of Shiprock, New Mexico. Fresh out of college, Jerry accepts a challenge to turn a group of shy, quiet young women into fighters on the basketball court. What results is a story of winning, losing and the bumps along the way. As the girl's struggle to overcome prejudice and self-doubt, Jerry draws a parallel from his own pain growing up African-American in the forced-integration of the South. A bond of outsiders is forged that allows the man and his team to rise above the odds and emerge as champions. Rick Derby focuses on the Navajo's serene and spiritual philosophy in contrast to the harshness of their isolated environment. A coming-of-age story that everyone can relate to, you can't help but cheer.

“A thought-provoking and emotionally forceful American story; a real-life
narrative in which race, class and gender collide to shatter prejudice.”
 - San Francisco Bay Guardian

Rick Derby
107 West 75th Street, #3B
New York, NY 10023
shiprock@verizon.net

6 minutes, 2004 miniDV, USA By Sonja Watson

Rod Crawford, Washington State's only professional arachnid researcher, reveals what drives his interest in the animal kingdom and how he relates to the human world.

Sonja Watson
1111 15th Avenue #5
Seattle WA 98122