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MCCLA's Video Fest is proud to be celebrating it's fifth consecutive year.
We received 49 videos from which our juror, Peter Bratt has selected 17 videos to present at our two day festival. Five of these videos will receive awards in each of our categories and four videos will receive cash prizes.
Video Fest 08 is focused on people's existence and their surroundings, the relationships that develop between the human being and nature, community, family and their social surroundings.
JUROR: PETER BRATT
Writer, Director and Producer of the critically acclaimed independent film "Follow Me Home" and also director and Producer of "Mission Street Rhapsody", upcoming full length feature film.
THE BEST of the VIDEOFEST 2008 - EXISTENCE-CO-EXISTENCE
$1000 prize
" AGAINST THE GRAIN: AN ARTISTS SURVIVAL GUIDE TO PERU "
Directed by Ann Kaneko
(2008) color, 64 mins., documentary
US-Peru-Japan
In 1989, Alfredo Márquez used an image of Mao in an artwork. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. For every artist, the need to create and be heard is as basic as food and shelter. But what happens when you live in a country where the state clamps down on free thinkers, forcing artists to censure themselves? Four Peruvian visual artists, including Márquez, defy this tyranny through their work and ignite change, challenging ordinary people to speak out. These struggles and commitments raise the question: Is freedom of expression a right or a privilege?
"I base my documentaries on personal testimonials to hopefully allow the individuals in the films to tell their own stories. In Against the Grain, I concentrated on their roles as artists and less on their personal lives. Because this film explores the subject of art and focuses on the role of artists in society, it could lend itself to a less formally conventional approach. Yet I ultimately chose to use interviews to structure the story because I felt this was the most effective means of making their message accessible and through which a broad audience could identify with these artists." -Ann Kaneko
2nd place - Best of the Video Fest
$300.00 prize
" A SPECIAL NIGHT "
Directed by Leopoldo Rivera
(2007) color, 3:25 mins., short fiction
San Leandro, California
A perfect night, teenage love, and the worst outcome.
“My interest in filmmaking began when I was in high school, after graduating from a multimedia academy. It was then when I decided to take video production to the next level. As an artist, I’ve found that filmmaking is my medium of self-expression. My favorite part of making a film is to tell a story trough visuals and sound, and to exclude dialog as much as possible”. -Leopoldo Rivera
2nd place - Best of the Video Fest
$300.00 prize
" LOS OJOS DE JAVIER " (Javier Eyes)
Directed by Sergio Carvajal
(2007) color, 7:38 mins., short fiction
Austin, Texas
Javier wakes up one day and his eyes had walked out on him. The premise may sound somewhat fantastic, and extremely fictional; however, this happens more often that one could really imagined.
"Loa Ojos de Javier" is a short narrative written, and produced on 3 days, by a crew of 4 people under a budget of 50 dollars. It was made for the coalition of Texans with Disabilities. The film deals in a light, somewhat comedic way with the serious issues of disability of the soul and loss of identity.
Best Youth Video $300.00 prize
" SOMETIMES I WISH "
Directed by Joan Sanchez (15 years old)
(2007) color, 10:47 mins., documentary
San Francisco, California
Sometimes I Wish: Young people share their real feelings about being abandoned by their fathers.
Jonathan Sanchez is a young filmmaker attending San Francisco Downtown High School. Also a talented musician, Jonathan is interested in a career in the arts.
Best Short Fiction
CHARCOAL TRAFFIC
Director: Nathan Collet
(2008) color, 7 mins., short fiction
Somalia, Africa
Charcoal Traffic is the dramatic story of two brothers trapped in a murderous cycle of environmental and cultural devastation in Somalia.
The brothers' story shows the other war in Somalia - pitting the fragile environment and the pastoral way of life against charcoal producers - out to make money whatever it takes. The first fictional film shot in Somalia in over 15 years, Charcoal Traffic was filmed entirely on location in northern Somalia featuring a local cast with no previous acting experience.
Best Experimental
" CUANDO YO SOÑABA UN MUNDO AL REVES "
(When I used to dream an upside down world)
Directed by Jorge Dalton
(2005) color, 25 mins., experimental-documentary
El Salvador
A strange voyage into childhood, a lost paradise that we rediscover through an innocent and dangerous game which unleashes love, truth, virtues and yearnings. A poem built in an unusual way, utilizing unusable cinematographic materials.
Best Experimental
" CORAZON QUE NO SIENTE, OJOS QUE NO VEN "
Directed by Miguel Olvera
(2007) color, 6:47 mins., experimental-documentary
San Francisco, California
This project was inspired by a striking image in a mural titled
"materialist displacement" which is on the corner of 24th and Folsom
Streets; this disturbing image confronts two supermarket carts, one is the reflection of reality, the other the reality of a dream.
Best Animation
LOS ABC´s QUE VIVAN LOS MUERTOS!
Directed by John Jota Leaños
(2006) color, 5 mins., experimental
San Francisco, California
Do you remember your ABCs? We think you do! Sing along with this group of animated Mariachi social documentarians who will guide you through imperial history that will make you laugh, cry, and wonder why.
Best Video del Barrio
" WHY I RIDE: FROM LOW TO SHOW "
Directed by Ruben Palomaris
(2007) color, 41 mins., documentary
San Francisco, California
Why I ride is an entirely youth produced documentary company. The history, activism and policity of lawriding in the Mission District w/ the emerging scraper car culture in East Oakland
SELECTED VIDEOS
" RIOS "
Animation
Director: Romero Alves, Brazil
Rios is a trip down a river in brazil where sounds and images combine to make abstract references to the germination of the Manguebit movement
" PAPIROFLEXIA "
Animation
Director: Joaquin Baldwin, Paraguay-Los Angeles
Papiroflexia (Spanish for “Origami”) is the animated tale of Fred, a skillful paper folder who could shape the world with his hands. Originally created as a poem by the director, it was turned into a short animated film created in the UCLA Animation Workshop.
" CONVERSATIONS II "
Documentary
Director: Marianela Vega Oroza, Peru-US
“Conversations II” offers an intimate look at the female universe, a journey in time through evocative images and testimonies of women from the same family. The personal search of a daughter in the life of her mother and grandmother, confusing the experiences of 3 generations.
" SOLEDAD IS GONE FOREVER "
Short Fiction
Director: Mabel Valvidiezo, San Francisco, CA
A film about a young woman in search for the truth about her father. This drama explores the chilling consequences of political persecution through the eyes of a Chilean photographer living in San Francisco.
" YUICHI "
Animation
Director: Aaron D. Guadamuz, San Francisco, CA
Hand drawn animation introducing Yuichi the electronics wizard who finds a simple way to create physical and mechanical monstrosities in his lab powered by Boston Terriers.
" IT IS A LIFESTYLE NOT A LIFE "
Youth Video
Victorino Cartagena, San Francisco, CA
Its about a man facing his alcoholic issue.
" SEA CHANGE "
Short Fiction
Director: Hannah Lew, San Francisco, CA
Experiencing Life on Two Different Dimensions of Reality. Film was shot in new Orleans and in San Francisco
" MY FATHER HAD NO SON "
Short Fiction
Director: Amanda Vigil, San Francisco CA
After the unexpected death of her father, Alma struggles with her grief while working to help support herself and family.
SF VIDEOFEST 2008 - Dates of screening:
October 17 and 18 at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Theater
