WFF BLOGS: August 27, 2013 • Hudson Valley Catskills
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SHORTS SNEAK PEEK - PART VIII

The 14th Annual WOODSTOCK FILM FESTIVAL Provides Sneak Peek at 2013 Lineup,
starting with its SHORT FILMS selections as it leads up to 125+ events beginning October 2-6 festival

Leading up to the official reveal of the full festival lineup, WFF is bringing you a bi-weekly sneak peek at the ten unique short film programs that have made the cut for 2013. Check out these special previews to gear up for the full reveal later this season. Past reveals include the programs Conversations, Dystopia, Family, She Won, She Too, Short Docs I and Short Docs II.

Separately, coming announcements will provide special highlights of some of the premieres of the full-length documentaries and narratives from across the country and the globe, as well as special honorary awards, expected appearances and exciting events. The full lineup of over 125 films, panels, concerts and events will be announced at the beginning of September. If you are interested in a full festival pass, they are very limited and online at FULL PASS.

Whoops!
Featuring Horrible Things (Les Choses Horribles), The Interviewer, Night Giant, Penny Dreadful, and Spooners.

"Whoops," the eighth of our featured shorts programs, comments on the theme of unexpected consequences. "Whoops" features films from Australia and Canada, as well as around the U.S.

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HORRIBLE THINGS (LES CHOSES HORRIBLES)
Dédé, Carole and Steve aren't horrible people, they just did horrible things. Negligence, forgetfulness, larceny. Ugly things, with dark consequences. Eaten by guilt, they try to buy back their faults by buying things. Horrible things. A darkly comic look at guilt and consequences.

Director Vincent Biron works primarily as a cinematographer, on works such as Denis Côté's Bestiaire,while directing small personal films on the side. Les choses horribles is his fourth short film.

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THE INTERVIEWER• East Coast Premiere
Thomas Howell gets more than he bargained for in his interview at a prestigious law firm; an insult about his tie, a rendition of Harry Potter, and the chance to change the lives of a father and son.

The Interviewer is directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith and Robin Bryan.

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NIGHT GIANT
After being haunted by a Night Giant in the streets of Echo Park, a young man contacts a Giant Hunter to help him destroy his problem. A suspenseful deadpan comedy set in a black and white twilight zone world.

Director Aaron Beckum's short films have screened internationally and have won several awards including an Achievement in Direction award from the Director's Guild of Canada.

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PENNY DREADFUL
When Dennis is asked to help abduct a nine-year-old girl, he is eager to take the job. The plan is a simple one: Dennis and another man will grab the girl after school and take her out to the desert until the ransom from her father is paid. But Holly, Dennis's girlfriend, has other ideas. Penny Dreadful is a story of a kidnapping gone terribly wrong.

Penny Dreadful premiered at Clermont-Ferrand in February where it won the Prix du Public (Audience Prize). The film has also received awards from the LA Comedy Shorts Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival, the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Independent Filmmaker Project and the National Board of Review, among others.

Director Shane Atkinson is a graduate of Columbia University's Graduate Film Program.

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SPOONERS • New York Premiere
Buying a bed can lead to some unexpected consequences, particularly when one is using SmartBed technology. After convincing his husband to retire their old lumpy futon, Nelson is forced to come out in a spectacular way while shopping for a new bed at Drowzy's Mattress World.

For over fifteen years, Director Bryan Horch has made films and interactive media to educate, entertain and effect social change. His film work spans topics from reproductive health, LGBTQI issues, human rights and Deaf Culture to comic narrative shorts, music videos and PSAs.
Spooners won the audience favorite awards at Seattle International Film Festival, Philadelphia QFest, and the Jury award at Cineslam in Vermont.

WFF’s NARRATIVE SHORTS programming has featured an amazing array of emerging filmmakers who have gone on to make feature films. Some of the many filmmakers who have gone on to make inroads in the industry include Benh Zeitlin (Glory at Sea – Beasts of the Southern Wild), Cary Fukunaga (Victoria Para Chino – Sin Nombre, Jane Eyre), Jonas Carpignano, Andrew Okpeaha Maclean (Sikumi – On the Ice), Rob Meyer (Aquarium – A Birders Guide to Everything) and Luke Matheny (God of Love – Lovesick).

Many of these same filmmakers have also received honors at the Woodstock Film Festival (Zeitlin, Fukunaga, Maclean, Meyer, Matheny) with several going on to get Academy Award nods. Luke Matheny won best student film at the 2010 WFF for God of Love prior to winning the 2011 Oscar. Andrew Bowler’s Time Freak was an award finalist at the 2011 WFF prior to receiving a nomination at the 2012 Oscars. Shawn Christensen won best short film at WFF for Curfew prior to winning the 2013 Oscar. Christensen recently wrapped the feature version of the short.

whoops
A few filmmakers from 2012 shorts program at the filmmaker bash.
Photo: Jacob Hutchings


The 2013 selections will also include an ANIMATION PROGRAM curated by Bill Plympton and Signe Baumane, and sponsored by Blue Sky Studios. Stay tuned for more information about the 2013 Woodstock Film Festival shorts program. We already have our favorites for Oscar, let's see if you agree!

About the Woodstock Film Festival:
Hailed by Indiewire as "A true American Maverick Among Fests" and praised by actor Ethan Hawke as "among the finest of a dying breed: a festival that isn't trying to sell you anything, but simply and beautifully celebrating the art & craft of filmmaking", the Woodstock Film Festival premiers exceptional films, hosts the most talented emerging and established professionals in the movie industry; presents A-list concerts, panels and parties, and creates stimulating, innovative programming year-round.

The Woodstock Film Festival is a non-profit, 501c3 with a mission to present an annual program and year-round schedule of film, music and art-related activities that promote artists, culture, inspired learning and diversity.

The Woodstock Film Festival celebrates 14th year, October 2-6, 2013, with an extraordinary line-up of fiercely independent films, panels, concerts and special events in Woodstock, Rhinebeck, Kingston, Rosendale and Saugerties.