Vail Film Festival

Night Call
When, on a routine patrol, a Black female cop living in and patrolling Inglewood gets called to a disturbance she is forced to make an unprecedented life altering decision.
17m/2017
Director: Amanda Renee Knox
Writer: Joseph Sousa
Producer: Miriam Anwari,Phabillia Afflack-Borja
Starring: Marlyne Barrett, Rachael Holmes, Delaney Williams, Matthieu Jean-Pierre
Filmmakers in attendance

Sputnik: The Shock of the Century
A documentary film, directed by an 8th grader, about the first leg of the Space Race, starting from its Nazi origins and culminating in the launch of the Sputnik satellite, all set to the backdrop of the Cold War.
10m/2017/World Premiere
Director: Summer Royal
Writer: Summer Royal
Producer: Summer Royal, Annamaria Miru
Starring: Summer Royal

Aaron
Aaron, a young man, returns home after a failed suicide attempt. There he meets his family and eventually co-workers who show concern and ask questions regarding his absence. Nevertheless, Aaron continues on his original trajectory.
2m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Aviva Neuman
Writer: Aviva Neuman
Producer: Brittany Northcross
Starring: Eli Gelb and Chris Roberti

Snowplow
Amir and Judy have been recently orphaned, and are living in an abandoned warehouse in order to avoid being split up by Child Protective Services. As Amir struggles to provide for his younger sister on his own, he receives an unconventional gift from a stranger that may be able to change their lives forever.
27m/2016/CO Premiere
Director: Mia Niebruegge
Writer: Mia Niebruegge and Christopher Greenslate
Producer: Joshua Valle
Starring: Mikelen Walker, Cassidey Fralin
Filmmakers in attendance

Vows
A man experiences conflicting feelings on what should be the happiest day of his life.
5m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Mark McKinsey
Writer: Ariana Fletcher, Mckenna Morison, Mark McKinsey
Producer: Catherine Anderson

Phototaxis
“Phototaxis” draws parallels between Mothman, a prophetic and demonized creature in West Virginia lore, and Narcotics Anonymous, the primary treatment program in West Virginia’s addiction epidemic. Rooted in nonfiction, this film contemplates synchronicity and the role of belief systems in perception; the tendency to assign supernatural meaning to tragedy and the unknowable; anonymous and apocryphal oral histories; and the moth to the flame. To visualize these narratives, natural materials and pastel-on-paper palimpsest animation are woven together using a multiplane and analog overhead projection.
7m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Melissa Ferrari

Bier & Calippo
Finally, holidays! Jojo wants to go on tour with her boyfriend Toni and his crazy band all summer long.
27m/2017/US Premiere
Director: Paul Ploberger
Writer: Paul Ploberger
Producer: Catrin Freundlinger
Starring: Maresi Riegner, Roland Düringer, Xaver Stockinger

Ovum
When a reclusive fisherman finds a giant egg on his desolate beach and decides to take it home, his life takes a big turn, for better or worse.
17m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Luciano Blotta
Writer: Luciano Blotta
Producer: Luciano Blotta, Sandra Iurcovich
Starring: Jayson Gladstone
Filmmakers in attendance


Unnatural Selection
Late for work, Julie, 35, gets harassed in the street by Karim, 25. Finally arrived in the company she works for, Julie discovers that the candidate with whom she must hold a job interview is none other than Karim. Determined to teach him a lesson, she will show him what unnatural selection is...
15m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Geneviève Delouche
Writer: Geneviève Delouche & Alban Ravassard
Producer: Alban Ravassard
Starring: Pamela Ravassard, Salim Fontaine, Aymeric Cormerais & Garlan Le Martelot


Fevah 
A heartbroken single mom is about to plunge into a new relationship when her child's father returns with a secret.
13m/2018
Director: Randall Dottin
Writer: Randall Dottin
Producer: Nikhil Melnechuk, Kelly Wydrk
Starring: Melissa Jackson, Russell Hornsby, La Royce Hawkins
Filmmakers in attendance


Girl of the Sky 
A 15 year old Ukrainian girl with an unwanted reputation is forced to stand up to her past.
11m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Ariel Martin
Writer: Ariel Martin, Raphael Elisha
Producer: Tatiana Shevchuk, Ariel Martin
Starring: Kireeva Alexandra, Dmitruk Vladislav, Sobolevskiy Roman
Filmmakers in attendance


Bigfoot's Love Slave
A story through music, about the everlasting power of love and one hairy hunk.
4m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Heather Tom
Writer: Beau Cassidy
Producer: Victor Mazzone, Max Rose
Starring: Alice Lee, Darren Bluestone
Filmmakers in attendance


Game
A new kid in town shows up at the high school boys basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team?
15m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Jeannie Donohoe
Writer: Jeannie Donohoe
Producer: Joey Horvitz
Starring: Rick Fox, Nicole Williams, Jamie McShane, Tye White, Charles Parnell, Dominique Columbus, Michael Purdie


Who Decides
A sick woman and a young girl engage in a discussion about who decides when it's your time to die.
7m/2018/CO Premiere
Director: Mylissa Fitzsimmons
Writer: Mylissa Fitzsimmons
Producer: Mylissa Fitzsimmons, Kristen Murtha, Brenden Hubbard
Starring: Jenny O'Hara, Addison Eckert, Leonora Pitts
Filmmakers in attendance
 
Night Dancing
Every night, a lonely man sees a beautiful young woman dancing outside his window. He is transfixed by her. Wonders if she's real. Then things become more complicated....
6m/2016
Director: Barney Cokeliss
Writer: Barney Cokeliss
Producer: Barney Cokeliss, Caryn McLean
Starring: Jason Thorpe, Louise Tanoto, Jacob Ingram-Dodd, Alister Cameron

The Killing Game
Max is the best hitman in town, a gun for hire with killer looks. Loved by women and feared by the bad guys, he serves his own brand of justice to the criminals of Shanghai’s dark underbelly. Taking out local mob boss ‘Pretty Boy’ Wang shouldn’t be a problem for him. But all is not what it seems, and Max’s world threatens to unravel.
22m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Andrej iliev
Writer: Andrej Iliev
Producer: Luo Tong
Starring: Nick Xu, Emilie Ohana, Yangpeng Li, Xiangyi Fang


The Obituary
A penniless writer who dreams of penning the great American novel takes a job writing obituaries to pay the bills. When he shows up to a man’s home to get a statement regarding someone’s passing, he’s confronted with a life or death situation of his own.
14m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Jonathan Thompson
Writer: Norm Leonard
Producer: Johnny Cannizzaro, Hilary Smith
Starring: Johnny Cannizzaro, Anthony Geary
Filmmakers in attendance


Do You Like Me Like This?
A girl is waiting for her bus in suburbia when a boy comes along. An unconventional romance unfolds as the girl tries to get his attention.
7m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Miryam Jacobi
Writer: Miryam Jacobi
Producer: Miryam Jacobi, Jack Barry
Starring: Ella Hope-Higginson, Tim Earl


In Wonderland
In Wonderland is the story of a life together.
10m/2017/World Premiere
Director: Christopher Haydon
Writer: Iona Firouzabadi
Producer: Daisy Cooper
Starring: Louise Brealey, Arthur Darvill

The Language of Ball
A lonely teenager, new to the city, is forced out of his comfort zone one morning on the basketball court.
9m/2017
Director: Ramón Rodríguez
Writer: Ramón Rodríguez
Producer: Ramón Rodríguez, Karina Silva
Starring: Eshan Bay, Justin Ahedo

Uncle Silas
Maureen, exhausted from child birth, must summon a mother's strength to fight for redemption or choose to let go from a dangerous, self-destructive force: her family. A brother and sister stripped to their most bare and piercing, the two confront choices as only siblings can.
15m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Sayra Player, Rebecca Brillhart
Writer: Sayra Player
Producer: Rebecca Brillhart, Rich Pecci
Starring: Kevin Kane, Sayra Player
Filmmakers in attendance

Internet Gangsters
Two New York hitmen sent to whack an informant hiding out in Los Angeles discover technology is The Mob's real enemy.
6m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Sam Friedlander
Writer: Eddie Alfano
Producer: Kristin Campbell-Taylor & Eddie Alfano
Starring: Eddie Alfano, Rich Grosso, Michael Maino
Filmmakers in attendance

The Faces of PHACS
Three American young adults born with HIV share their experiences growing up HIV positive, their goals for the future, and their hopes for the future of HIV research.

The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) is the only nationwide research network focused on studying the health of children and young adults in the U.S. born with or exposed to HIV and advancing care recommendations for millions of children growing up affected by HIV around the world.

17m/2017/World Premiere

Director: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick, Staffan Hildebrand
Writer: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick
Producer: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick
Starring: Andrew, Dominique, and "Maria"
Filmmakers in attendance

De Colores
Aura has cleaned the houses of other people for 30 years. But soon she will become the owner of many apartments. De Colores follows Aura Taibel, a woman who came to the U.S. to work as a housekeeper, a sweet lamb, quiet and unassuming to some; but soon emerged as a sharp business woman, a fierce tiger.

17m/2017/CO Premiere

Director: Luz Marina Zamora
Producer: Luz Marina Zamora
Starring: Aura Taibel
Filmmakers in attendance

Dragtivists
Dragtivists is a short documentary about the intersection of activism and drag performance. The movie follows Rayfield Lawrence and Caithe Alexander, two college students in Lawrence, KS whose activism and drag personas intersect in order to rise in revolution.

7m/2017/CO Premiere

Director: Savannah Rodgers (director), Alex Robinson (co-director)
Writer: Savannah Rodgers
Producer: Savannah Rodgers, Madison D. Lacy
Starring: Rayfield Lawrence, Caithe Alexander
Filmmakers in attendance

Top Row
At Napa High School, in California, a teacher named Travis Rogers has created A place for freshman boys where they are free to be themselves.
The film follows Travis and the progress and development of these 14-15 year old freshman boys in choir class, from January to the March 20th 2017 Spring Choir Competition. Imagine 70 boys in one class- most whom have never sung a note in their lives, some who don't really know how to sing, or, think singing is for sissies. Watch as they find community and comradery, and a safe place on campus where everyone is accepted, and in the process become seasoned choral performers. Watch as they compete like athletes on the playing field of chorus risers to take top row, while discovering a love for singing and joy in music.

18m/2017

Director: Karin Argoud
Producer: Karin Argoud
Starring: Travis Rogers and the Napa High Freshman Men’s Choir

Description Coming Soon

Free and open to the public.

Bedtime Story 
Bedtime Story is a dark comedy about a cash strapped literary agent who hatches a plan to turn a mediocre writer into a best selling novelist. It’s a sweet sardonic tale that explores the truism that all success is relative, and if as an artist, you eventually find your audience, it may not be the audience you’d hoped for.
15m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Kevin Alejandro
Writer: Adrian Cunningham
Producer: Exec. Producer, Leslie Alejandro / Exec. Producer, Kevin Alejandro/ Producer, Sascha Rasmussen
Starring: Patrick Fischler (Madmen/Happy), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica/Lucifer), Henry Simmons (Agents of Shield)
Filmmakers in attendance

Pushing Night Away 
A meeting between Eddie, who wants to kill himself, and Kate, who is fighting to keep herself alive.
22m/2016/CO Premiere
Director: Jade Hærem Aksnes
Writer: Jade Hærem Aksnes
Producer: Siv Aksnes & Niels Peter Hærem
Starring: Julian Hærem Aksnes, Dagny Backer Johnsen, Anton Styve

The Duel
Two grizzled gunfighters meet for a duel in the Old West.
5m/2016/CO Premiere
Director: Amanda Barnes and David Speck
Writer: Michael Guzniczak
Producer: Amanda Barnes
Starring: Kevin Mosteller, Michael Guzniczak, Todd Risenmay, Brian Sturges, Colin Stevenson, Amanda Barnes, Daniel Gutierrez, Natalie Erickson, Anthony Caruso, Josh Willis, Bethania Markus

The Invaders
When a girl is followed home, she finds herself facing a sinister force that threatens her entire existence.
7m/2017/World Premiere
Director: Mateo Márquez
Writer: Mateo Márquez
Producer: Claudia Murdoch, Carrie Radigan, Alastair Murdoch
Starring: Isra Elsalihie, Greta Murdoch, Alastair Murdoch, Alvaro Uccello, Keith Boratko, Ashley Siflinger, Joseph Aquino, Sean Kenealy
Filmmakers in attendance

Love on the Line
Love On the Line is an embroidered animated documentary that looks at how Diana and Sacha first met each other on an online dating site.
4m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Nicole McKinnon
Writer: Nicole McKinnon
Producer: Nicole McKinnon
Starring: Diana Janicki and Sacha Wheeler

Cuddle Buddy
A depressed woman must come to terms with her own vulnerability when she hires an eager Professional Cuddler on Christmas Eve.
10m/2016/CO Premiere
Director: Max Barbakow
Writer: Diana Irvine & Isabel Shill
Producer: Constanza Castro
Starring: Diana Irvine & Isabel Shill

Santa Claus
On Christmas night, two lonely neighbors come together to share a meal. Despite having little in common, they attempt to make a meaningful connection before the holiday comes to a close.
15m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Jeff Man
Writer: Yosilu Chen, Jeff Man
Producer: Jeff Man
Starring: Yosilu Chen, Jeff Man
Filmmakers in attendance

The Real Thing
The trip home for a soldier is surreal, everything has changed. His daughter has a rough day at school, as most are for a trans teen. When she comes home and finds him standing on his room, she doesn't know how to react or what to expect.
7m/2017/CO Premiere
Director: Brandon Kelley
Writer: Brandon Kelley
Producer: Jon Gestal, Christie Gestal, Barbara Racanelli, Lori Kelley, Bill Kelley, Mike Racanelli
Starring: Sophia Grace Giannamore
Filmmakers in attendance

The Faces of PHACS
Three American young adults born with HIV share their experiences growing up HIV positive, their goals for the future, and their hopes for the future of HIV research.

The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS) is the only nationwide research network focused on studying the health of children and young adults in the U.S. born with or exposed to HIV and advancing care recommendations for millions of children growing up affected by HIV around the world.

17m/2017/World Premiere

Director: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick, Staffan Hildebrand
Writer: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick
Producer: Claire Berman, Megan Reznick
Starring: Andrew, Dominique, and "Maria"
Filmmakers in attendance

De Colores
Aura has cleaned the houses of other people for 30 years. But soon she will become the owner of many apartments. De Colores follows Aura Taibel, a woman who came to the U.S. to work as a housekeeper, a sweet lamb, quiet and unassuming to some; but soon emerged as a sharp business woman, a fierce tiger.

17m/2017/CO Premiere

Director: Luz Marina Zamora
Producer: Luz Marina Zamora
Starring: Aura Taibel
Filmmakers in attendance

Dragtivists
Dragtivists is a short documentary about the intersection of activism and drag performance. The movie follows Rayfield Lawrence and Caithe Alexander, two college students in Lawrence, KS whose activism and drag personas intersect in order to rise in revolution.

7m/2017/CO Premiere

Director: Savannah Rodgers (director), Alex Robinson (co-director)
Writer: Savannah Rodgers
Producer: Savannah Rodgers, Madison D. Lacy
Starring: Rayfield Lawrence, Caithe Alexander
Filmmakers in attendance

Top Row
At Napa High School, in California, a teacher named Travis Rogers has created A place for freshman boys where they are free to be themselves.
The film follows Travis and the progress and development of these 14-15 year old freshman boys in choir class, from January to the March 20th 2017 Spring Choir Competition. Imagine 70 boys in one class- most whom have never sung a note in their lives, some who don't really know how to sing, or, think singing is for sissies. Watch as they find community and comradery, and a safe place on campus where everyone is accepted, and in the process become seasoned choral performers. Watch as they compete like athletes on the playing field of chorus risers to take top row, while discovering a love for singing and joy in music.

18m/2017

Director: Karin Argoud
Producer: Karin Argoud
Starring: Travis Rogers and the Napa High Freshman Men’s Choir

Love Wins
Two 80-plus year old women fell in love and raised a family in suburban New Jersey during a time when doing so was strictly taboo. All this in spite of a husband, italian-catholic guilt and the law. Now, after being together, living in the closet for 45 years, they got married and are now proud, flag-waving members of a social movement that has changed the course of the history of marriage.

27m/2016/CO Premiere

Director: Robin Camp
Writer: Robin Kampf
Producer: Robin Kampf
Starring: Jan Moore and Emily Sonnessa

Filmmakers in attendance


To a More Perfect Union: US v. Windsor

U.S. v Windsor is a feature-length documentary that tells a story of love, marriage, and a fight for equality. The film chronicles unlikely heroes -- octogenarian Edie Windsor and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, on their quest for justice. Upon the death of her spouse, Edie was forced to pay a huge estate tax bill because the government denied federal benefits to same-sex couples– and Edie’s spouse, Thea Spyer, was a woman. Deeply offended by this lack of recognition of her more than forty-year relationship with the love of her life, Edie decided to sue the United States government – and won. Windsor and Kaplan’s legal and personal journeys are told in their own words as well as through interviews with members of their legal team, movement activists, legal analysts, well-known supporters, and their opponents. Beyond the story of this pivotal case in the marriage equality movement, the film also tells the story of our journey as a people, as a culture, and as citizens with the promise of equal rights.

63m/2017

Director: Donna Zaccaro
Producer: Paula Heredia

When a substance abuse counsellor gets arrested for a DUI and returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls, she learns that her estranged father is dying of cancer and wants her to form a bond with her teenaged half-sister that she’s never met, in this family drama from writer-director Molly McGlynn.

84m/2017

Director: Molly McGlynn
Writer: Molly McGlynn
Producer: Matt Code
Starring: Aya Cash, Sara Waisglass, John Ralston, Melanie Nicholls-Kings

In Tribal Justice, we meet two powerful California Indian judges, Yurok Judge Abby Abinanti and Quechan Judge Claudette White, as they forge innovative justice systems in order to keep their people out of prison, prevent children from being taken from their communities, and stop the school-to-prison pipeline that plagues their young people. Their justice is personal, dedicated, harking back to age-old traditions to help tribal members live in the modern world. Vérité footage of these judges’ lives and work form the backbone of the documentary, while the heart of the film follows several cases in and out of their courtrooms. Taos Proctor faces life in prison when we meet him in Abby’s court. Judge Claudette White invokes the Indian Child Welfare Act to reunite a nine-year-old boy with his family. Meanwhile her teenage nephew faces felony charges for breaking into cars. Tribal Justice shows these judges restoring rather than punishing offenders, modeling restorative justice in action.

87m/2017

Director: Anne Makepeace
Writer: Anne Makepeace
Producer: Anne Makepeace, Ruth Cowan
Starring: Abby Abinanti and Claudette White, Chief Judges in their respective tribes

A selection of short films from this years festival.

Leo is an aspiring superstar stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. Leo sees disco balls in the scales of the fish he slices. Everyone who slices fish all day, daydreams – Leo’s are glamtastic.
After years of getting beat up by his former best friend, Leo has learned to fight back – his skills catch the eye of his cannery boss, an amateur boxer who offers to train him to be a fighter.

88m/2017/CO Premiere

Director: Shaz Bennett
Writer: Shaz Bennett
Producer: Melanie Miller, Diane Becker, Shaz Bennett, Jean-Pierre Caner
Starring: Martin L. Washington Jr., Maya Washington, Matt Dallas, Christopher O’Shea, Jason Scott Lea, Margaret Cho