Curated by Mia Bali, Anthony Figone, Taylor La, Krystopher Reyes, and Abigail Villanueva
Our collection of films branch out to tell a message. All of these films relate to time and culture, themes that never seem to expire and are always full of never ending stories. They all touch on emotion, mystery, and inner struggle. We invite you to take a journey and travel through time with us into The Past Reality.
My Body for Bok Choi (2017)
My Body for Bok Choi combines echoing sounds and narrative text with mirroring,
emotive visuals to recite reflections about the narrator’s mother’s past. The narrative short takes on an experimental tone by surfacing a voice-over piece of narrative set in 1906, raising questions to both the narrator writer and the audience about being a mother and a woman. With the film’s warm yellows and stand-out reds, the narrative becomes much more emotional and reflective of the past.
The film was selected to be a part of the 58th Annual Film Finals program in 2018. The director and writer of the film, David Mai, has as well been a participant in other film programs and festivals, and has also received multiple honorable mentions within the film and media industry.
Director: David Mai
Key Cast: Amy Lim
Format: Digital
Language/Country: English, U.S.
Running time: 3 minutes
Year: 2017
Editor: David Mai
Bite Me, Please (2018)
Living in a post-apocalyptic world can be hard, especially when you have overly cautious parents. In a society where zombies and humans coexist living side by side, Jack (Ben Rotenberg) struggles with explaining to his parents that having a friend as a zombie is totally safe. Written by Christopher Wooten and directed by Casey Beck, Bite Me, Please is a comedic short film that pays homage to 90’s era sitcoms while giving an interesting twist on what happens after a zombie apocalypse.
Country(ies): USA
Language(s): English
Year: 2018
Running time: 2.21 minutes
Director: Casey Beck
Producer: Asali Rasmussen Echols
Writer: Christopher Wooten
Editor: Christopher Wooten
With: Ben Rotenberg, Laura Long, Manyu Alina Yang, Christopher Wooten
Shoe Shiner (2018)
Contextualized in Chile 1989, this film narrates the story of Diego (Patricio Jara Marabolí), an 11 years old shoe shiner. The film portrays his struggle to survive in a grueling reality and the loss of his innocence. While committing honest work, he is taken away temporarily by authorities. His experience leaves him with a bitter outlook on the world around him. Andrés Gallegos, the director, writer, and cinematographer, has went on to become nominated for the ASC Heritage Award, but has successfully won titles such as “Best Narrative Short” and “Contribution to the National Culture” at festivals such as Festival de cine Latinoamericano independinte de Bahía Blanca, Festival Internacional de Cine de La Serena, International Film Festival Lebu, and The Film Series at Cine Gear Expo – A Tribute to the Visual Art of Filmmaking.
Country: Chile
Language: Spanish
Year: 2018
Running time: 17
Director: Andrés Gallegos
Producers: Shaira Abraham and Constanza Hevia
Writer: Andrés Gallegos
Cinematographer: Andrés Gallegos
Editor: Martin Amezaga
Music: Jorge Aliaga
Live at the Paris (2014)
Many films have the ability to transport the viewer into different worlds or even some of the most influential time periods in history, which is seen in full effect in Salvador Jimenez’s “Live at The Paris”. That brings to life the view that every artist has a dream of making it big one day and many of them will do anything in their power to make this possible, but some have it harder than others. Set in a 1940s jazz club scene, a short story of an ambitious young jazz musician named Cassy is trying to make his mark as a star in the world. It all looks up for Cassy when he is given a chance stardom, until he has to make the decision of his young life and career as an up and coming star. The true horrors of the racist views of the music scene of the 1940s is on full view as Cassy is forced to make his choice, which could possibly burn bridges and abandon his true family to give him the chance that he has always wanted.
Country : United States
Language : English
Year : 2014
Run Time 7:30 minutes
Director : Salvador Jimenez
Writer : Salvador Jimenez
Producer : Brooke Glasky & Justin Viz