ANIMATION FILMS

THE TRAIN, directed by Javad Matouri & Mohamad Amin Hamedani (IRAN). A person riding a flying bicycle in the sky , full of happiness. During the story we realize that he is running a geared seat which is running a monster factory mechanism. Gradually we realize he trapped in slavery’s cycle. 2 minutes

ANIMATION FILM FOR KIDS

DRONE FILMS

FEATURE DOCUMENTARY FILMS

FEATURE FILMS

SHORT DOCUMENTARY FILMS

SHORT  FILMS

SHORT  FILMS FOR KIDS

JA BE JA (SWAPPED), directed by Milad Nasim Sobhan (IRAN). Hamid is in a phase in his life that must find an attraction for his silent and unattractive life. This path leads to search in finding a double for himself. But this is not all. 15 minutes 

SHORT MULTI-MEDIA FILM

MUSIC VIDEOS

ADINA E – CHANGING, directed by Yoni Goodman (ISRAEL). A music video I did for Adina E’s song “Changing”. Took some time to make but I’m very happy with the result. The Art was done by the incredible Maayan Shinar and the animation was done by myself and the also incredible Sefi Gayego! 4 minutes 

JEU DE SCÈNE, directed by Joe Hoster / Edouard Lichtenauer (SWITZERLAND). Self-mockery of an unknown classical composer in the 21st Century.  6 minutes

SAVANNAH, directed by Imogen McCluskey (Australia). ‘Savannah’ is the debut music video from Sydney-based artist Ivy-Jane Browne, in collaboration with Fat Salmon Productions. Dark synth-pop with ‘Under the Skin’ vibes, the video tells the story of a woman with dark power over men, and in turn their power over her. They are her prisoners and captors, her shadows and obsessions, her victory and her downfall, her prize and her punishment. 4 minutes

THE LAST LAUGH, directed by Ivar Aase (NORWAY). At a 20 year anniversary, the boys from school reunite with the class bully, and the party quickly turns as sour as their liquor. Bitterness, blues and drunkenness are all ingredients in this rural music video from Norwegian artist General Forsamling, directed by Ivar Aase. 5 minutes

COPY SHOP, short multimedia film, directed by Virgil Widrich (Austria/Luxembourg). The surrealistic story of an everyman who works in a copy shop and copies himself over & over until he fills the whole world. The film “Copy Shop” consists of nearly 18,000 photocopied digital frames, which are animated and filmed with a 35mm camera. It won 35 international awards, won an Oscar nomination and was shown in over 200 festivals and in many cinemas and TV channels worldwide. 12 minutes.

FAST FILM, short film, directed by Virgil Widrich (Austria/Luxembourg). “Fast Film” provides a tour de force through film history, from its silent beginnings to present-day Hollywood. Bits of found film and different types of animation illustrate a classic chase scene scenario: A woman is abducted and a man comes to her rescue, but during their escape they find themselves in the enemy’s secret headquarters. The filmmakers printed out some 65,000 individual images from 300 films, folded them into paper objects, arranged them in complex tableaux, and then brought them to life in an amusing & memorable way with an animation camera. Over 300 festival invitations, winner of 36 international film awards. 14 minutes

BACK TRACK,short film, directed by Virgil Widrich (Austria/Luxembourg). Virgil Widrich’s short film is a 3D-remix of feature films from the 1950s and 60s which were projected on glass and photographed in 3D. A unique & fascinating way of telling a story and creating a film. 7 minutes

2017 Moondance Selected Films

You can now  & comment on each film after you view them!

♦ All of these 2017 Moondance selected films are also winners in those categories!

♦ ♦ indicates the festival director’s top choice films

 

♦ ♦ FEAR, LOVE & A TINY RED CAR, Feature film, directors: Salvo Campisano, Filippo Arlotta (Italy) 93 minutes. An intense, beautifully filmed dark comedy story that will surprise and thrill you until the last frame. A tiny red car drives off with a screech of tires in a rustic Italian village, and a man begins his wild run to catch it. During the chase, the man finds himself involved in a series of very strange encounters with a diverse cast of odd characters who will help him in his struggle to achieve self. Time passes, the tiny red car is always farther away. What will happen at the end of the countdown ? This film also won the 2017 Moondance for Best Actor (Salvo Campisano), Best Film Score (Alexander Cimini) & Best Supporting Actor (Lucia Fossi).

 

Trailer only.

♦ A SKYTRIBE CHRONICLE, Short multi-media Film, Director, Gregg Lauer, (USA) 15 minutes. Director’s statement: Director’s statement: “I was flying high on a very successful art career, my paintings selling well, living the artist’s dream in Boulder, Colorado. Filled with daring and replete with connections, I moved to California to hit it big. I did not. Eight months later, after a complete failure-to-launch, and the utter inability to paint, I admitted defeat and let go of my artistic dreams and aspirations. Clawing my way back to Colorado, trying to escape the nightmare of California, my vehicle broke down twice on the Nevada border and I gave up. Out of the ashes of self-defeat, stranded in café in the desert, a mysterious event occurred, by which the following 20 years of art-making were completely inspired.”

♦ COOKING THE EARTH, animation film, directors: Michele D’Acosta & Eliza Wyatt (UK) 3 minutes. Cooking The Earth is a dystopian vision of climate crime. This animated & iive-action short film is a journey into the chaotic world of a turbulent chef – and is a satire on the planet we are “baking” in the 21st century.

♦ GAME, short film, director: Jeannie Donohoe (USA) 16 minutes. The director is also a former Moondance short film winner, for “Lambing Season”. She was selected from over 4,600 applicants to write and direct “Game” for Lexus Short Films, produced by the Weinstein Company. GAME is a story about going all the way, pursuing your dreams, and playing at the top of your game.  AJ doesn’t see herself as a girl basketball player. She sees herself as a basketball player. She asks the world to do the same. The relationship between Coach and AJ, over the course of the short film, speaks to the willingness to reward ambition, hard work, and equal talent with equal opportunities.

♦ HANOOZ NA (NOT YET), short film, director: Arian Vazirdaftari (Iran) 15 minutes. It`s 21 year-old Hasti’s Birthday. She studies abroad and her parents in Iran want to congratulate her via Skype. But…well, you can imagine what happens, when the old world meets the new world.

♦ ♦ JIMMORTAL, Filmed TV Pilot, Directors: Owen Weber & Hunter Bradley (US) 30 minutes. “Silicon Valley” meets “Louie”. Jim and Lyle are Millennials…just not from this millennium. They’re the youngest old guys, you’ve ever met. But a freak fire and a meeting, with potentially world-changing consequences, unwittingly puts the brothers on a crash course with the fate of all humanity, eternity and, if Jim can help it, the end of it all.

♦ KARMA, animation film, director: Zhaoyu Zhou (USA) 4 minutes. A boy meets a strange fish in a mysterious forest.

♦ KOSNIN, short film, director: Sara Seligman (USA) 12 minutes. 10-year old Héctor wants to ‘fly,’ like the voladores in his community. His single mother can’t afford the costs, but Héctor is determined to achieve his dream, and through hard work and a little help, sets out to do what others in his community have done for generations – FLY.

♦ LEARNING TO DRIVE, short film, director: Roderick Stevens (USA) 19 minutes. Inspired by the true story of a feisty young man with Down syndrome, determined to become independent and to convince his scatterbrained brother to teach him how to drive.

♦ MOODY WINTER, short drone film, director: Jurgis Kreilis (Latvia) 4 minutes. To appreciate the beauty of the winter you don’t necessarily need colorful sunrise, sunset or bright sunlight through the day. Winter can be insistent, surly and moody. Clouds can hang, barely move and once bright sky can turn grey, and snow falls, while freezing temperatures “burn” the air. We went out and created this aerial drone film to demonstrate the different winters of Latvia.

♦ NIOFAR, short documentary film, director: Hugo Lemant (France) 7 minutes. Niofar tells the story of a French girl who went to Senegal to meet  its inhabitants, in the hope of becoming integrated. The film is a visual poem on the meeting: “I” against “you”, “he” who is a stranger, but the three blend into “us”. In the Wolof language, Niofiar means “to be together”. The film is an ode to sharing and cultural exchanges.

♦ ORIGIN, feature documentary film, director: Mary Jo Ramsey-Smith (USA) 57 minutes. Exploring the perils of the ever-expanding human presence on the planet. Seeking transformative ways to change the way we think/speak/act toward one another … and this world. ORIGIN is an exploration based on the work of philosopher Jean Gebser in The Ever-Present Origin.

♦ ♦ THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (Старик и море): Composer: Joanna Moradiellos (Australia) 21 minutes. This unique film is a 1999 paint-on-glass-animated short film directed by the famed Russian animator, Aleksandr Petrov, based on the classic short novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, and tells the tale of Santiago, an ageing Cuban fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin out in the Gulf Stream, off the coast of Florida. The film has won many awards, including the Academy Award for Animated Short Film. This is a new, modern soundtrack to this film, written in 2017, and has won the 2017 Moondance for Best Film Score. All music and audio is composed, performed and mixed by Joanna Moradiellos. The music comes from the heart and the film score certainly does this stunning and amazing film justice, as the composer interpreted the artist’s pictures and Hemingway’s symbolic story with her music. Moondance International Film Festival 2017 has full & exclusive permission from The Production Studio, Pascal Blais, Canada, and award-winning director/animator Alexander Petrov. Russia, to screen this film with Joanna’s new soundtrack.

♦ PARSIEN (LIMIT) (RATED R), short film, director: Javad Daraei (Iran) 8 minutes. A lonely man in a quiet village neighborhood asks for help from people he see passing by, until someone suddenly enters his home…

♦ THE PAST WE LIVE IN, short film, director: Jérôme Weber (Luxembourg) 15 minutes. Félix celebrates his 92nd birthday in the company of his family, as his past catches up with him. “The Past We Live In” is the story of a former forcibly recruited WWII soldier, who now suffers from dementia and relives an emotional wartime friendship by confusing his 7-year old nephew with an old friend from the second World War.

♦ ♦ THE SERVANT, animation, director: Farnoush Abedi (Iran) 10 minutes. A frustrated writer, on the verge of suicide, catches an insect in a glass, and instead of following his first impulse and killing it, he lets the bug grow. Over time, however, it earns a different and more gloomy function, and soon they fight a match for the roles to be reversed between them: Which one will be the champion?

♦ THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, music video, Director: Fabio D’Andrea, ((UK), 6 minutes. A father, coping with the loss of his wife, strives to maintain a sense of harmony and stability in the life of his young daughter, who dreams of becoming a ballerina princess.

♦ ♦ THINK FAST, short film, director: Bridget Stokes (US) 12 minutes. The film tells the story of a powerful woman, constantly surrounded by oppositional forces, who manages to dig deep and find the grit it takes to persevere. But what happens when everything you’ve worked for is suddenly ripped apart by a ringing phone? In Sara Wagner’s case, all hell breaks loose. Then RING! Sara answers, but It’s a desperate Wrong Number Caller who misdialed a suicide hotline! A ready-to-jump teen on speaker, and a ticking clock. It’s now or never, if Sara must save a life to save her career, and she’s got to THINK FAST!

♦  TOGETHER AS THE WIND BLOWS, music video, director: Jose Manalang (Japan) 6 minutes. This is a vibrant music video about the plight of Filipino workers searching for greener pastures abroad.

♦ WEAVERS OF IMAGINATION, short documentary film, directors: Sadegh Jafari (Iran) 21 minutes. This is the story of a group of talented blind men and women who weave intricate Persian carpets by using Braille. Weaving carpets requires precision and sight and it is difficult even for the sighted people. These unsighted people think that if there was a place where the sighted people did not bother & ridicule them, they would have a better life.

Directed & Produced by MONAREX HOLLYWOOD

Yangzhou – A City of Timeless Culture

A true gem in modern China

We follow in the footsteps of Marco Polo, who meticulously recorded his fascinating observations of Yangzhou’s epic cultural heritage in his bestselling book “The Travels of Marco Polo,” which for over 700 years never went out of print. Strategically situated on the junction of the famous Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, Yangzhou has been one of the most prosperous cities in China since ancient times because of its flourishing trade in salt, silk and grain. The lavish mansions and gardens of rich salt merchants are a unique testimony to the wealth of this city that attracted poets, painters and writers from all over the Middle Kingdom. Since time immemorial exquisite arts and crafts have been a treasure trove of his acclaimed city of timeless culture, recipient of the United Nations Habitat Scroll Of Honor. The Slender West Lake is a major tourist attraction and reflects the eternal spirit of Yangzhou where myth and legends come alive. Within Jiangsu Province, the charming city of Yangzhou is regarded as home to the most beautiful women in China and a favorite destination of past Emperors who wished for rest and relaxation. Again, Monarex artfully explores this region of China, offering a taste of what treasures are held in this 5000 year-old culture. (30 minutes) Directed by Chris D. Nebe & JJ Osbun 

CHINA NET – An Economic Miracle

“China Net” is a film about China’s Internet that documents the impact the Web has had on the Chinese economy. China often gets a bad rap for the way the Internet is treated within its borders. While there are some valid points of discussion on that front, after spending years in China, we also see a different side of that story. This film takes a look at how the Internet has affected China’s economy through the stories of industry leaders and everyday people. In less than 40 years China has lifted more than 700 million of its citizens out of extreme poverty. The Internet is partially responsible for this unique achievement and continues to be a dynamic force in the country’s unprecedented socio-economic development. (60 minutes) Directed by Chris D. Nebe & JJ Osbun  

Burma Road – Flying Tigers

The Burma Road was a WWII military supply line built by hand through treacherous terrain… it was the only supply line that China had in the fight against Imperial Japan. The Burma Road was built out of dire necessity. China stood no chance of fending off the Imperial Japanese invasion without a supply line. Such a road was thought to take more than five years to build, even with modern machinery… but the Chinese built it in less than one year with their bare hands! The same determination that built the Burma Road also built the airfields used by the infamous Flying Tigers, American Volunteer Group (AVG). The charismatic Lt. General Claire Lee Chennault developed innovative fighting tactics for his ragtag P-40 squadrons that broke the Japanese grip on China. Without a secure hold on China, the Allied Forces were then able to destabilize Japan in the Pacific and ultimately force their surrender. (56 minutes) Directed by Chris D. Nebe & JJ Osbun  

Land of Legends

Hubei Province in subtropical Central China is the Land of Legends and a Thousand Lakes. It dates back to the 7th Century BC, when it was home to the powerful state of CHU. The epic history of Hubei includes the heartbreaking tale of MULAN, the young courageous woman immortalized in the DISNEY hit movie and the evolution of Wudang KUNG FU made world famous in the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Today, Hubei is home to the THREE GORGES DAM the largest Hydro Electric Plant in the world. This marvel of innovative engineering controls the raging torrents of the mighty Yangtze River, the bloodline of 5000 years of Chinese culture. Hubei is a Hi-Tech center, but its rich history is always present. Time honored traditions prevail in sacred BUDDHIST monasteries and on the Holy Mountain of TAOISM, which inspires the faithful with this eternal mantra of LAO TZU: “Nature has its way and everything has a place where it belongs. Those who tamper with nature will harm it and lose it!”. (90 minutes) Directed by Chris D. Nebe & JJ Osbun 

 

Secrets of the Silk Road

Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Genghis Khan’s Mongol Warriors, Mullahs, Monks and Merchants all traveled the legendary Silk Road in search of fame and fortune. The Silk Road connected China with Central Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe. It was history’s most famous and fabulous trade route. Experience the mythical past and the mysteries of the East! Revel in this magic adventure and discover the fascinating ancient culture of modern China’s remote Western Region. (90 minutes)Directed by Chris D. Nebe & JJ Osbun

 

MAKING OF PU’ERH TEA

Tea is one of the most influential products in world history and it all started here, in China. The manufacturing of pu’erh tea, one of the most cherished varieties, is still done in the traditional fashion in rural areas of China. (3 minutes) Directed by JJ Osbun

Outstanding Film Recommended by Moondance

The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard

THE UNRULY MYSTIC: SAINT HILDEGARD

Feature documentary film, directed by Michael M. Conti (USA)

Discover why Saint Hildegard is considered to be the patron saint of creativity, and about her continued impact today. This 12^th-century abbess became famous as a Christian Mystic and visionary, as well as a musical composer and writer, and whose natural medicine is still practiced in Europe today. Saint Hildegard is venerated around the world for her widely recognized impact on today’s theologians, artists, musicians, the medical profession, and educators. The film is an homage to her, but is also a call to all of us, to listen, to still ourselves and to heed the call of our souls and whatever unruly messages exist within. The filmmaker traveled internationally to capture many of the stories you will see in this beautifully visual, memorable and inspiring film. The film evokes a calling: that sweet spot of creativity that we all yearn to discover and utilize, an inherent desire, which is also deeply spiritual in nature. (65 Minutes) Available in English, German, Spanish and Japanese