Port Townsend Film Festival 2008

A group of men in their 40s meet daily at a typical café of Buenos Aires. It is the beginning of Spring: coats give way to bodies, and the group realizes that they can’t talk about anything but women. Duke, the café’s owner, based on the wisdom given by his years, reflects on the sensuality of Buenos Aires. Marcos tries new women conquest strategies. Sergio – the most shy of all - is not going through his best moments. Sebastian –an account executive - no longer meets with his friends due to his work duties. Rather distant from the group is Valeria, a tango singer, an impressive woman who has been sentimentally involved with each of the three men. A dramatic situation gathers these friends again, wakening them from their inertia. Passionate and nostalgic, sometimes a comedy and sometimes a drama, the story is a reflection of ourselves, in the midst of a city that remains a witness of life’s ups and downs - “The Big Chill,” Latin-style. Review: “Seductive, smart and Latin to the core, this impressive debut brims with characters and relationships observed with … intelligence and perceptiveness.” Awards: 2007 Mar del Plata Film Festival – Audience Award 2007 Toulouse Film Festival – Audience Award 2006 Valladolid Film Festival – Best “New Director” Print Source: Latido Films Email: oalonzo@latidofilms.com

Two irregular pegs don't quite fit into this world create one of their own. Can an isolated writer and a shy delivery girl find each other? Can she be the one to bring him out? Will he let her in. Print Source: Virginia@laughingdogpictures.com

Exploring the mystery of the creative process, the life and work of a master clay artist, Karen Karnes, who has worked with unbroken focus for over 60 years. A pioneer of the 20th century craft movement, Karnes worked uninterrupted until a fire destroyed her home and studio, and the kiln, full of luminous unbroken pieces, was the only structure left standing. This film is about not-knowing and discovery, and about the evolution of form in a body of work over a life time. It is an invitation to enter the creative process, to give the eyes and ears a feast and to be astonished by beauty.

The story about the late Port Townsend-based poet and painter Ed Cain who was afflicted with bi-polar disorder. The film is woven with interviews between Ed (Edward), the artist, and his make believe (alter ego) identical twin, Ed (Edwin), a chicken farmer. Edwin represents an insurmountable wall for Edward's attempt to express his creative spirit through art.

It took nearly 50 years, but an important piece of film is finally getting its first commercial run, according to the New York Post. “The Exiles” was shown first at the 1961 Venice Film Festival and two other festival where it won praise, but the film languished before an indifferent distribution system and was never picked up, surviving only in a low-quality 16mm print. Now restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and promoted by a savvy distributor, the film will play in selected theatres (including the Uptown) throughout the country this fall before being released on DVD. “The Exiles” presents one of the most honest portrayals of contemporary Native American life ever put to film, following three residents of LA’s working-class Bunker Hill neighborhood from Friday evening into Saturday morning. The film, as described by Nel Murray, “accentuates the fuzzy neon of bars and liquor stores, and moves to the rumble of the garage-rock band, The Revels. The three men roam from markets to parties, taking turns narrating, describing their boredom with the routine, and how much they miss the open spaces and sedate pace of the reservation. They manhandle their women, get into fights, and seem to go out of their way to avoid paying a check. But (director) Kent MacKenzie poeticizes their lapses, and lets the wandering and carousing culminate in a haunting climactic scene, in which dozens of Native Americans gather on a hill overlooking LA after the bars close, to beat drums and drink until they fall into an ecstatic stupor.” Poet and novelist Sherman Alexie, who grew up on the reservation and now lives in Seattle, will present the film and discuss its pertinence to the Native American experience. Print Source: Milestone Films Email: milefilms@gmail.com

At 52, travelling salesman Wolfgang Zenker is squarely in old school territory: he peddles the company’s “classic” clothing line to boutiques that cater to women over 35. When Wolfe loses his driver’s license, his son’s vacation plans take a back seat as he is roped into making sales rounds with his father instead of celebrating his high school graduation. Also making the rounds is successful sales rival, Steven, 33. As their paths cross, long-hidden secrets are revealed and things come to a heat – Petra Wehle. Variety’s review: “…’Fashion Victims’ is a clever comedy with a leading character so dislikeable he almost kills the laughs…(but)…the pic manages to overcome that -- and even redeem the jerk in…credible terms – lend(ing the film)…heart and depth....” Awards: 2008 Berlin and Beyond, San Francisco: Best First Feature 2007 Max Ophüls Festival: Won: Audience Award, Screenplay Award, Best Young Actor; Nominated, Max Ophüls Award 2007 Undine Awards, Austria: Won, Audience Award Print Source: Ariztical Entertainment Email: sales@ariztical.com

A Nazi soldier returns to his farm home at the close of World War II to convince his father to retreat with him to Berlin. He discovers that his father has a reason to stay that may change their relationship forever. Print Source: warzecharob@hotmail.com

Faubourg Tremé is a tale of hope, heartbreak and resiliency set in New Orleans’ most fascinating neighborhood. Shot largely before Hurricane Katrina and edited afterwards, the film is both celebratory and elegiac in tone. Faubourg Tremé is arguably the oldest black neighborhood in America, the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement in the South and the home of jazz. While the Tremé district was damaged when the levees broke, this is not another Katrina documentary. Every frame is a tribute to what African American communities have contributed even under the most hostile of conditions.. It is a film of such effortless intimacy, subtle glances and authentic details that only two native New Orleanians could have made it. Winner: 2008 Golden Gate Award, San Francisco International Film Festival In person: Director Dawn Logsdon Northwest Premiere Print Source: Serendipity Films Email: info@tremeoc.com

Shot in the first person by the actors themselves, “Fix” is a one-day odyssey through the myriad worlds of Los Angeles. Documentary filmmakers Bella and Milo race to get Milo’s brother, Leo, from jail to rehab before 8 pm, or Leo will go to prison for three years. Inspired by true events, the film follows the trio as they document their trip from a suburban police station through mansions in Beverly Hills, east LA chop shops, rural wastelands and housing projects in Watts as they attempt to raise the $6,000 deposit required to get Leo into the rehab clinic. In the end, it may take a drug deal to get the necessary cash for rehab. Advisory: simulated drug use. “Brash, cool, and energetic…a wild ride” – Variety “A bold new style and talent” – Oliver Stone Northwest Premiere Awards: 2008 Brooklyn International Film Festival: Best Narrative Feature, Best Male Actor 2008 Twin Rivers (Asheville, NC) Media Festival: Best Feature Film 2008 Vail Film Festival: Best Feature Film, Rising Star Award 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival: Heineken Red Star Award Print Source: Fix The Movie LLC Email: hobdylicious@gmail.com