Intermediate Issues to Action

Please note, due to unforeseen circumstances, this program may change.

Born Sweet

Born Sweet

Directed by Cynthia Wade
USA  |  2010  |  28 min

Despite being only fifteen years old, Vinh Voeurn has accepted his destiny – to be sick for the rest of life with incurable arsenic poisoning. He longs to fall in love with a girl with long, smooth hair. He fantasizes about becoming a karaoke star, winning the affections of adoring fans. But his body is terribly scarred by illness and there is a good chance the arsenic will soon take his life like the girl who once lived across the road.

Vinh spends his days in his remote Cambodian village tending the cows and escaping into song with his family’s car battery powered karaoke machine. He worries he will never marry and live the life he wants for himself. A chance to be in a karaoke video about the dangers of arsenic allows Vinh to wonder if he truly knows his destiny.

Awards:Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking, Sundance Film Festival 2010
Best Documentary, Aspen ShortsFest 2010
First Prize, Festival Internacional de Cine Ambiental 2010

 

Elisha and the Cacao Trees

Elisha and the Cacao Trees

Directed by Rohan Fernando
Canada  |  2010  |  17 min

What links a village in Belize and millions of North American kids? Chocolate! Meet 13-year-old Elisha, the daughter of a cacao farmer in Belize. We learn about her daily life and her dreams as she and her father show how cacao is grown, harvested and turned into chocolate.

Flying Anne

Flying Anne

Directed by Joost Seelen
Netherlands  |  2010  |  21 min

Eleven-year-old Anne is a beautiful girl. The kind of girl you can’t take your eyes off. And the longer you look, the more you see her ‘tics’. Anne suffers from Gilles de la Tourette’s syndrome. This makes her body do things she doesn’t want, such as suddenly spinning around or licking everything. Anne sometimes finds it hard to cope with her illness, especially in school. She’s afraid that others will bully her or laugh at her. Anne therefore tries to keep her tics in check, although that isn’t easy. She prefers ‘flying’ through life, so you won’t notice anything. When flying, she’s at her best. The youth documentary FLYING ANNE shows how Anne lives life with her tics. Tics that, in the end, she doesn’t want to lose either.

 

Kavi

Kavi

Directed by Gregg Helvey
India  |  2009  |  19 min

KAVI is about a boy in India, who wants to play cricket and go to school, but instead he is forced to work in a brick kiln as a modern-day slave. Unsatisfied with his fate, Kavi must either accept what he’s always been told, or fight for a different life even if he’s unsure of the ultimate outcome.

Awards:Audience Award, Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles Grand Jury Prize, Best Short Film, USA Film Festival
Best International Short Film, Curtocircuito Short Film Festival

Our Boat is Our Address

Our Boat is Our Address

Directed by Shiropa Purna
USA & Bangladesh  |  2009  |  14 min

Shiropa’s documentary delves deep into the lifestyle of the bedey community and tries to reveal the obstacles they have to face regularly. Being extremely poor and always on the move, many of the Bedey children miss primary education. Shiropa’s film follows a woman who teaches some of the Bedey children. The documentary also discovers that even without proper education, some of the children are creative.

Awards:Judges Award for Excellence, Reel Teens Festival of New York

Warda

Warda

Directed by Louise-Marie Colon, Delphine Hermans
Belgium & Palestine  |  2008  |  5 min

Everyday Warda visits her grandmother to bring her food. But one day, a giant concrete wall is standing on her way…