SHORTS: OBSESSIONS

Collectors, curiosity seekers, and compulsives. Flutter (USA/Canada, 8 min., Dara Bratt) explores a lonely retiree’s love of butterfly collecting, while Bug People (USA, 15 min., Paul Meyers) examines our odd aversion to insects. Tango (Brazil, 6 min., Louis Robin) questions racetrack attendees about gambling. Discarded photos lead to a search for vaudeville performers Derby & Groma (Canada, 17 min., Kara Blake). Rollerskating recaptures the past in Skate Yrself Clean (USA, 7 min., Janna Jude Brown). The Emergency Kit (USA/Denmark, 11 min., Christian Svanes Kolding) shows an expectant mother’s anxiety around impending disasters. Freeman Dyson reveals his never-realized Atomic Dream (USA, 26 min., Derek Lartaud & Melanie Ruiz) of nuclear bomb-powered space travel.

Co-presented with The Trade Commission of Peru in New York & Prom Peru

FLUTTER

There are over 18,000 different types of butterflies in the world. John only has 4,641. Flutter is a short observational documentary profiling John Bedford, a 76 year old amateur butterfly collector. Extending beyond the exotic and gorgeous butterflies, this is the reflective and meditative portrait of a lonely man seeking companionship in the arms of nature.

Director: Dara Bratt; Producer: Katie Knab; Cinematographer: Kat Westergaard; Editor: Abbie Carson; Music: Boombox Sound

Website: www.darabratt.com/portfolio/flutter/
Twitter: @darabratt

BUG PEOPLE

In this playful essay film, the filmmaker investigates our culture’s discomfort with all things many-legged.

Director: Paul Meyers; Producer: Paul Meyers; Cinematographer: Paul Meyers, Paul Donatelli, Ryan Malloy, & Sara Mott; Editor: Paul Meyers; Music: Chris Carlson

Website: www.pemfilms.com

Twitter: @pemfilms @bugpeoplefilm

TANGO

Tango is a reflection about what drives people to horse racing: fun, greed or an inclination for risk and its moral, financial and spiritual implications? This movie weaves a mosaic of opinions on the subject through many interviews and revealing images.

Director: Louis Robin; Producer: Louis Robin; Cinematographer: Louis Robin; Editor: Juliana Levy, Dianna Sirlin, & Louis Robin; Music: Mario Manga

DERBY AND GROMA

Building on a collection of photos found discarded in the streets of Buenos Aires, Derby & Groma pieces together a narrative surrounding a mysterious performing duo from a bygone era. The film paints a vibrant picture of Argentina during the 1920s and ‘30s and attests to the value of cultural artifacts to help recover a forgotten past while enlivening our imaginations.

Director: Kara Blake; Producer: Kara Blake; Cinematographer: Lee Towndrow; Editor: Kara Blake

Website: http://philtrefilms.com/films/derby-and-groma/

SKATE YRSELF CLEAN

Owner of a small floor cleaning business, 53-year-old Ricky Lee Robinson moonlights as a freestyle rollerskater while pondering nostalgia, his life and the American dream.

Director: Janna Jude Brown; Producer: Reilly Smith, Leigh Wulff, & Janna Jude Brown; Cinematographer: Leigh Wulff; Editor: Leigh Wulff; Music: LCD Soundsystem

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SkateYrselfClean

THE EMERGENCY KIT

A Brooklyn resident cheerfully prepares for the end of the world. The Emergency Kit documents the items that she sources to ensure her survival, but more importantly, this short film offers a wry and poignant portrait that playfully challenges the conventional profile of a ‘doomsday prepper.’

Director: Christian Svanes Kolding; Producer: Christian Svanes Kolding & Christina Mazzalupo; Cinematographer: Christian Svanes Kolding; Editor: Christian Svanes Kolding

Website: www.christiansvaneskolding.com/the-emergency-kit

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheEmergencyKit

Twitter: @cskolding

ATOMIC DREAM

In 1958, physicist Freeman Dyson became a lead scientist on Project Orion, a top-secret government program to design and launch a 5,000-ton, nuclear-bomb propelled spaceship. Dyson believed that he himself would be space bound, heading through the Milky Way, fulfilling his childhood dream of space travel. But in 1961, as worries about nuclear fallout grew, Dyson had to make a decision: would he would continue to support the project, or would he testify for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, effectively signing a death sentence for Project Orion and ending his dreams of traveling the solar system?

Director: Derek Lartaud & Melanie Ruiz; Producer: Derek Lartaud & Melanie Ruiz; Cinematographer: Derek Lartaud & Melanie Ruiz; Editor: Derek Lartaud & Melanie Ruiz; Music: Marsha Bowe

Website: www.atomicdreamfilm.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/atomicdreamfilm

Twitter: @AtomicDreamFilm