Film List
2009 Ventura Film Festival Schedule/Calendar
20 Minutes 21 min
“20 Minutes” is a haunting tragic love story with a supernatural twist.
400 Years of the Telescope 57 min
The film is a visually stunning chronicle of the history of the telescope from the time of Galileo, its profound impact upon the science of astronomy, and how both have shaped the way we view ourselves in the midst of an infinite universe.
A New Color 14 min
A 13-year old girl has to make some difficult decisions as she witnesses her artist father fall further into mental oblivion.
A Song For Ourselves 35 min
Through animated photographs, intimate home movies, archival footage and songs of Chris Iijima, A Song For Ourselves shows how Chris’ music unleashed the contagious energy of the Asian American.
Alone Together 90 min
Two women, normally enemies, are forced to put aside their differences.
Baseball*oids 21 min
A film exploring the use of steroids and other performance increasing substances in professional baseball.
Begging for Billionaires
Begging for Billionaires: The Attack on Property Rights in America is the first feature-length documentary to expose how city governments seize private property from everyday citizens and give it to billionaire developers and Fortune 500 companies, absurdly justifying their actions as “community economic development.” Poor and disadvantaged families are forced out of their homes, sometimes with little notice. Good, hard-working Americans hold back tears as family histories are bulldozed to smithereens. Frantic homeowners scramble to rescue their life’s possessions as heartless demolition crews pulverize the walls around them. Historic neighborhoods, rich with ethnic history, are systematically wiped away despite their beautiful homes and carefully maintained gardens. The film’s action takes place in cities and towns throughout Missouri, one of the nation’s worst abusers of eminent domain power. Harassment, intimidation, media manipulation and hush money are all part of this dirty game.
Behind the Lines/Fighting a Wild Fire 48 min
A look behind the scenes of fighting a major wildfire.
Beneath the River 97 min
Evan and Sarah are young lovers struggling to survive in an old cottage on a small private island owned but now abandoned by Sarah’s family.
Blue Green 60 min
BlueGreen is a film exploring the human connection to the ocean through a surf-centric lens.
Boxing Day 86 min
On the day after Christmas, Emmy Towne brings her boyfriend, Darryl, home to meet her family.
Boyer 36 min
Up close and personal with World Champion (1978 & 1979) surfer and artist Lynne Boyer.
Bustin’ Down The Door 95 min
During the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, surfing was shaken to its core. A group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa sacrificed everything and put it all on the line to create a sport, a culture, and an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world.
Canned 10 min
A group of employees, expecting bonuses, are told that one of them will be leaving the company.
Carpet Racers 82 min SPECIAL SCREENING
A funny, yet dramatic, in-depth look inside the subculture of professional, competitive radio control race car drivers.
Caught in Paint 6 min
Capturing painter/sculptor Rita Blitt, painting on four-by-eight transparent surfaces while choreographer David Parsons and members of the Parsons Dance Company are seen in midair, through the painting, imitating the dancing lines of Blitt’s paint strokes.
Changing Keys 50 min
Minneapolis native Billy McLaughlin astounded audiences with his innovative guitar technique and composing style. In the late 1990s, he began to lose control of his hand and arm and was soon unable to play his own music. Many thought his career was over when he was diagnosed with focal dystonia, an incurable neuro-muscular disorder. Billy had other ideas: He began the arduous task of retraining himself to play left-handed, one note at a time. Suzanne Jurva followed McLaughlin during these years. Through her eyes, we witness his miraculous and inspiring story.
Chaturanga 125 min
Based on the novel by the Nobel Prize winning author Rabindranath Tagore, Chaturanga is the story of a love that is caught between conflicting worlds of ideas. Set in Colonial Bengal at the turn of the twentieth century, the film weaves a rich tapestry of crisscrossing desires and moralities.
Creator of God 63 min
This is the story of how a brain surgeon’s quest, starting as a teenager, finds answers to how and why the idea of God came into human existence and if God actually exists.
Cut Out 8 min
One man’s love for his cardboard cut outs goes a little too far…
Dropping In 83 min
First time documentary filmmaker JP Parcel tracks 42 year old wannabe pro-skater, Don Wimmer, on his quest to finally realize a long forgotten dream.
Everything Bad is Good 60 min
The system is corrupt and the present template of treating cancer is a dismal failure. It is about what we are eating. It is all about nutrition, eliminating stress, eliminating chemicals, detoxing the body, and most of all eliminating pharmaceutical drugs.
Fierce Light 97 min
The 2006 murder of friend and fellow media-activist Brad Will in protest-torn Oaxaca, Mexico, is the impetus for Ripper’s journey, which takes him to the flash points of spiritual activism around the world.
Free to Choose/West Papua 9 min
A piece on the indigenous people of West Papua and their strggle for independence from Indonesian rule.
From River To Sea 80 min
After a devastating divorce, filmmaker Susan Fink’s life is at a crossroads: she is 36, without a home of her own, and living with her daughter in her mother’s one-bedroom apartment. She embarks on a journey of discovery across Eastern Europe–seeking advice and learning about herself along the way.
Hard Working Man 10 min
Animated comedy short about a singer songwriter who moves to Los Angeles and his redneck cousin who follows soon after.
Hector Corp. 10 min
A thriller about a company, Hector Corporation, that must take extreme measures to manage their employees with unexpected executioners.
Holy Water 12 min
Katerina is 15 and repressed, just like every other girl in her Catholic private school. But unlike the rest, she dares to try to figure out what to do with her hormones. And they take her precisely where she never thought she’d go…
Identity Theft 66 min
After winning 50 million dollars in the lottery, Matt thought that he’d found the perfect woman one evening when he met Karen…she was smart, gorgeous and wanted him for his body…only trouble was that’s all she wanted from him. Upon waking the next morning Matt discovers that his mind has some how be transferred into Karen’s body…
In Another Life 20 min
In a world of academia where religion, philosophy, and politics are often debated by intellectuals, our protagonists meet. Their identities, their religion and the history of their blood stained land inspires a fight so violently charged with passion, they are changed forever.
Intangible Asset Number 82 90 min
The search for an enigmatic South Korean shaman, and the inspiration found on the journey, renews a jazz musician’s faith in the power of music.
LIVE: A MUSIC AND SURFING EXPERIENCE 70 min
Ventura filmmaker David Parsa’s “[LIVE] dances through each decade and shows why surfing and music go together like Shaun Tomson and tubes. You’ll be strumming your six string and waxing up before the credits.” – SURFING MAGAZINE
Marfa
Short film about 12 piece ensemble, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, by Peter Klein.
Mango Tango 98 min
MANGO TANGO is a cutting edge romantic comedy. Marlene, a New York City dance teacher, is driven to therapy by the increasingly neurotic men she meets. A vacation in the German Alps turns out to be her biggest challenge yet…
MOMz Hot ROCKs 91 min
MOMz HOT ROCKs is an original music documentary on the emergence of mom rock bands, 2004-2007. Turning the rock genre on its belly, they are the first children of the rock and roll generation to be louder than their kids.
Myths, Magic & Monsters 50 min each (250 min total)
5 films about the incredible things that can be found in Indonesia; Hobbits, Seas, snakes, beasts and Superhuman.
Noah’s Arc 51 min
Noah’s Arc offers a powerful look into the life story of Noah Snyder, charting his unique journey from childhood on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to becoming a world-renowned professional surfer. The real story, however, involves the true power behind Noah’s character, and the many lives that have been affected by it.
Oil & Water
Two kayakers embark on the longest-ever biofuels-only road trip – 35,000 kilometers from Alaska to Argentina in a retro-fitted Japanese fire truck named Baby. They converted their regular diesel engine to run on any kind of natural oil and followed an endless summer journey for over a year through 16 countries. They collaborated with schools, local governments, farmers, agricultural research centers and media to conduct demonstrations advocating for the use of alternative energy all along the way. Come ride along with the boys and see how their epic journey unfolds.
Original Child Bomb 57 min
Inspired by Thomas Merton’s poem, ORIGINAL CHILD BOMB shows the human cost of nuclear weapons. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are depicted through declassified footage, photographs, drawings and testimonies of mothers, brothers and soldiers.
6 Frank Merle Comedy Shorts 70 min
Morgan’s Last Call, Yum Yum, What Joan Knows, Couple Crush, Business Lunch, Package for Maxwell
Pinot: Escape from Wall Street 90 min
On March 9, 2005, Wall Street trader and investment banker Jamie Kutch, then 31, started a thread on a popular Internet wine bulletin board: “My entire life is changed. I am moving from NYC to California to make Pinot Noir…. Keep an eye out for ‘05 Kutch Pinot Noir in 2 years.”
Playing for Change: Peace Through Music 73 min
Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.
Promise Ring 13 min
Tom was devastated when his first wife left him and he swore that would never happen again. Tom tries to avoid marriage by giving his girl friend, Julie, a promise ring.
Riding Giants 105 min
Riding Giants is a 2004 documentary film directed and narrated by Stacy Peralta, a famous skater/surfer who helped define modern skateboarding. The movie traces the origins of surfing and specifically focuses on the art of big wave riding. Some of the featured surfers are Greg Noll, Laird Hamilton, and Jeff Clark, and surfing pioneers such as Mickey Munoz.
Ring of Fire – 5 Films 60 min each (300 min total)
Spice Island Saga, Dance of the Warriors, East of Krakatoa, Dream Wanderers of Borneo, Beyond the Ring of Fire.
“It was a form of meditational surrender and possession by a higher form of energy which first drew us to Indonesia. Isolated for long periods amongst little-known peoples, our sole defense lay in a complete vulnerability to our host’s way of being and seeing. Living amongst them, I felt that we were drawing closer to the shadow screen beyond which lay a much subtler and perhaps more dangerous adventure. Trance and possession of every form were all around us.” — Lawrence Blair filmmaker
Road Block 5 min
Two struggling actors decide to take a road trip to burn off the stress of the big city and to try and overcome a career ending writers block.
Santa Susana 15 min
A James Day short film, SANTA SUSANA is shot on location in Ventura County in Corriganville Park in Simi Valley.
SIMPLICITY 4 min
The Love!
String of the Kite 24 min
It’s a small kite with a very tall tale. Take a heartwarming journey with Kevin as he relives another tall tale in his grandfather’s life.
Sunrise, Sunset
The first one runs 50 minutes. These are 24 hours in the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, from the beginning of his day which starts, by the way, at 3 am till dusk when he goes to bed. During that nominal, or better to say cumulative day, the film crew followed the Dalai Lama in his morning fitness training, his walk along the residential alleys, his prayers and meditations.
Surfers Without Borders 34 min
Riding the wave of a global transformation towards sustainability and unity amongst cultures.
The Endless Summer 90 min
The Endless Summer is the archetypal tale of two California surfers, Mike Hynson and Robert August, hitting the road to follow summer and surf around the world. Somehow, even when they had no luck with the surf, something would happen. They’d meet someone (like future world champ Nat Young) and something happened.
The Sky was Angry 22 min
“The Sky was Angry” is a documentary about the real-life story of children who took refuge in a theater in Beirut during the Israeli war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
The Underground 39 min
Indy surf movie by long time Ventura resident and professional surfer Sean Hayes.
The Wounded 15 min
Violence threatens a group of college students when a local teenager leads them on a hike through the sprawling wilderness.
The Women and the Waves 48 min
“The Women and the Waves” is a documentary surf film that explores the lives of female surfers who, through the decades, have chosen to paddle head first into the male dominated sport of surfing and found a place of their own.
Tipping Point 54 min
An environmental documentary about global warming.
Two Months In Baja 78 min
Indy surf movie by local Ventura surfers about a surf trip to Baja.
VERITAS 15 min
A funny short about an overbearing mother’s obsession that his son apply, be accepted, and attend Yale.
Vincent’s Final Moments 8 min
The final moments in the life of Vincent van Gogh.
Vitruvius’ Toybox 7 min
It is structured around a piece of original electronic computer music that was composed on the desktop computer. The film explores the relationship between motion graphic techniques, electronic music and the use of traditional graphic design ideas from print media as a way of visually organizing an animated film.
Walking on Water 90 min
”Walking On Water” invites you to come along and see the world through the eyes of two kids as they embark on the trip of a lifetime. Luke and Tyler are given the opportunity that most young surfers only dream about.
Water Man 49 min
Join Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama, Gerry Lopez and Rob Machado, along with Chris, Keith and Dan Malloy as they venture into the heart of Indonesia, into a hidden paradise of colossal barrels and perfect waves.
WITHOUT 13 min
The story is a surreal journey into an infinitely flat desert, where 2 men who have been wandering for what may have been an eternity meet. Will they be friends or foes? Embrace each other or push each other away?
