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Interrobang Film Festival

The Interrobang Film Festival, presented by Des Moines Arts Festival, is a three-day IMDb-verified Festival. It is a juried show, including public showings and talkbacks with Directors. Filmmaker submissions are accepted in nine categories and are juried by a panel of peers. In 2024 the Festival screened 50 films from fourteen countries. Interrobang Film Festival is held at the east end of the Des Moines Arts Festival inside the (air-conditioned) Des Moines Central Library (1000 Grand Avenue).
Information about the 2025 Festival can be found below.

 

Special thanks to the Des Moines Area Community
College Video Production Students.

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The Interrobang Film Festival is a three-day IMDb-verified Festival. It is a juried show, including public showings, talk backs, and panel discussions. Filmmaker submissions are accepted in eight categories and is juried by a panel of peers. The Festival screens an average of 40 films per year. The 2024 Interrobang Film Festival will be June 28 - 30 at east end of the Festival inside the (air-conditioned) Des Moines Central Library. Submissions for the 2024 festival open on Film Freeway on September 8, 2023.

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APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR 2024

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2024 Timeline

December 31, 2023: Early Bird Deadline
 
February 11, 2024: Regular Deadline
 
March 10, 2024: Late Deadline
 
April 1, 2024: Extended AND Final Deadline
 
May 13, 2024: Notification Date
 
June 28-30, 2024: Interrobang Film Festival
 
Award Winners Announced at the Festival on Sunday, June 30 at 1 p.m.

Interrobang Film Festival 2024 Award Winners

Best of Show

Traces of Rocco

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Best Feature Documentary 

Heart Sisters

 

Best Short Documentary 

It’s For You: Ephemeral Art & The Death of the Public Phone 

 

Best Feature Narrative 

Orbital

 

Best Short Narrative 

Pitage

 

Best of Iowa

Parts and Pieces

 

Best Student Film

Electra Wasp

 

IFF Producers Choice

Feedback Loop

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Interrobang Film Festival 2024 Recap video 
Credit: Hannah Carlton

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 11 a.m. - 12:12 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 12:12 p.m. - 1:34 p.m.
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 1:34 p.m. - 2:35 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 2:35 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 3:50 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room A: 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room B: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
TV-Web-Media Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room B: 1:00-1:40 p.m. 
TV-Web-Media Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room B: 1:40 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. 
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Friday Room B: 3:00 p.m. 
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 11 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Student Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Panel Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 3:05 p.m. - 4:10 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 4:10 p.m. - 4:35 p.m.
Shorts - Experimental - Music Video Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 4:35 p.m. - 5:45 p.m.

Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room A: 5:45 p.m. - 5:55 p.m.

Student Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room B: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 

Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room B: 3:00 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
Student Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room B: 3:40 p.m. - 5:10 p.m. 

Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Saturday Room B: 5:10 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room A: 11:00 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
Animation Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room A: 11:20 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Student Feature + Awards Schedule + Panel Discussions

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room A: 2:00 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room A: 3:10 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
Shorts Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room A: 3:35 p.m. 
Feature Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room B: 11:00 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.
TV-Web-Media Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room B: 12:10 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
Feature 
Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room B: 2:00 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.
Feature 
Schedule

Interrobang Film Festival
Sunday Room B: 3:10 p.m. - 4:07 p.m.
Feature 
Schedule

Friday, Room A Showings

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It’s For You: Ephemeral Art & The Death of the Public Phone 

Directed by: Ryan Steven Green
Producer: Ryan Steven Green
Run Time: 00:28:50
Category: Documentary Shorts
Country of Origin: United States

Best Short Documentary

Utilizing such varied materials as concrete, papier-mâché, and blown-out tires, disparate Los Angeles street artists give new life to the dwindling remnants of the city’s public payphones by repurposing them as canvases for unique expressions of a moment in time. With the streets as their gallery, our heroes defy vandalism laws, maintenance crews, haters, and history itself to deliver a moment’s levity to the right kind of passerby. By keeping its focus on the artists, the phones, and the ephemeral nature of both art and technology, this short documentary thoughtfully invites its audience to appreciate what’s being lost as the world moves on. 

Cocoon

Directed by: Saeed Bojnordi 
Producer: Saeed Bojnordi
Run Time: 00:15:00
Category: Narrative Shorts 
Country of Origin: Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Musa suffered a nervous shock in the aerial bombardments of the war and has woven a mental cocoon for himself and avoids others. This loneliness has turned him into an artist painter, but the void of love in his life is evident. 

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Game Over

Directed by: Saeed Mayahy & Miriam Carlsen 
Producer: Saeed Mayahy & Miriam Carlsen 
Run Time: 0:28:24 
Category: Documentary Shorts  
Country of Origin: Turkey

In a basement in Istanbul a group of illegal Afghan teenage boys are determined to smuggle themselves into Europe – a utopia far away. Caught in the no-man's land between childhood and adulthood they fearlessly play a dangerous game of destiny over and over again. But at what cost? 

The Bamboo Dialogues 

Directed by: Johan Erik Granberg
Producer: Johan Granberg
Run Time: 01:22:00
Category: Feature Length Documentary
Country of Origin: Qatar

​Bamboo have had a soft voice in the contemporary material discourse. The film seeks to amplifies this soft voice and showing possibilities and challenges for this miracle plant. The Bamboo Dialogues is the second movie in a series, portraying the versatile and sustainable material—bamboo. It follows the successful documentary Bamboo—the Tradition of the Future. 

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Parts & Pieces

Directed by: Bruce James Bales 
Run Time: 00:04:11
Category: Documentary Shorts  
Country of Origin: United States

Best of Iowa

Parts & Pieces is a documentary short about the McGuire family's love for rare British Triumph vehicles and how those vehicles came to be a family tradition. The film centers around the patriarch, Chuck, and the story of how he came to possess so many triumphs over the years. 

Traces of Rocco

Directed by: Marina Resta
Producer: Marina Resta 
Run Time: 00:16:46
Category: Found Footage
Country of Origin: Italy

Best of Show

Traces of Rocco is a journey across the Basilicata of the past and of the present, in search of the iconographical and metaphorical traces of the Southern Italian poet, social researcher and politician Rocco Scotellaro. Developed as part of Zavattini Prize 2018/2019, it's a documentary short-film that juxtaposes heterogeneous audiovisual materials, -archival and shot ad hoc with observational style- generating a short-circuit among the past and the present. 

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Pitage

Directed by: Ali Khaledi 
Run Time: 00:10:00
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran

A prison guard who agreed to execute a death sentence because of leave, but...

Best Short Narrative

11:53

Directed by: Michael O’Connor 
Run Time: 00:09:20

Category: Narrative Shorts 
Country of Origin: Germany

Two sisters look forward to celebrating the fact that one of them has overcome a serious illness. But an insurmountable obstacle stands in the way, until a photograph reveals a magical solution. 

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How Do You Ask Consent of a Microbe? Questioning Coexistence in the Anthropocene at the Gowanus Canal 

Directed by: John A Richard
Run Time: 00:19:58+ Talkback
Category: Documentary Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

SCOPE Collective members Heather Parrish, Elizabeth Henaff, Léonard Roussel, Seth Wenger, and movement artist, Nola Smith, respond artistically to the unique biome that has formed in the toxic waters of the Gowanus Canal through their collaborative installation and performance work, "Precipitate".

Best Feature Documentary

Heart Sisters

Directed by: Christopher Phillips
Producer: Christopher Phillips
Run Time: 01:04:00 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Documentary
Country of Origin: United States

"Heart Sisters" tells the story of two girls, ages 6 and 2, from separate families who formed a close bond while living in a pediatric hospital as they both awaited life-saving heart transplants. Alongside their emotional journeys, this hour-long documentary takes viewers into the operating room and shares insights from medical professionals on all that goes into coordinating a heart transplant. 

The epitome of independent film, “Heart Sisters” was directed, produced, written, recorded and edited entirely by one person and is the debut feature-length film from Christopher Phillips, a self-taught filmmaker and photographer. 

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Social Media Monster

Directed by: Peter John Ross
Producer: Isa Rainer, Peter John Ross
Run Time: 01:17:00 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Documentary
Country of Origin: United States

When Matthew came to St. Joseph Missouri, no one knew how he would use social media to disrupt the lives of so many people. This documentary looks at how people can get away with doing incredible amounts of damage with little to no consequence. Even when they threaten to commit acts of terrorism at nuclear facilities.

The Serena Variations

Directed by: Warren Fischer
Producer: Warren Fischer, Tyler Ben-Amotz, John Walter 
Run Time: 00:28:00
Category: Narrative Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

A young female violinist with undiagnosed autism spirals out of control as she works on a new opus with a domineering composer, embarking on a psychedelic journey that both pushes her to the edge of mental collapse and fuels her creative power.

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Friday, Room B Showings

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Ballet

Directed by: Evgeniy Sangadzhiev
Producer: Sergey Bondarchuk, Aleksey Kiselev, Anastasia Koretskaya, Aleksandr Kosarim, Anton Volodkin, Fedor Bondarchuk, Maksim Rybakov, Vyacheslav Murugov  
Run Time: 00:52:00
Category: Web/TV Series pilot
Country of Origin: Russian Federation

The Soviet ballerina in the past, and now the world-famous choreographer Ruta Meyers returns to Russia to stage a ballet at the Bolshoi Theater. Ruta is forced to restore relations with people who have become key personalities in the Russian ballet, but most importantly — with the art director of the theater and her former partner Andrey Pronin. 

Lily's Turn

Directed by: Rouhollah Hejazi
Run Time: 00:40:00
Category: Web/TV Series Pilot
Country of Origin: France

Through a mysterious book, Lily discovers that she and her family have lived in many times and places, and now it is Lily’s turn to decipher the book and find a valuable painting of her ancestors to make a choice that gives meaning to all these lives. 

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ORBITAL

Directed by: Maysam Hassanzade
Run Time: 01:12:00
Category: Feature Length Narrative
Country of Origin: Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran

A musician who’s lost his lover, seeks to unravel the story. He’s suspicious of everything, even his greatest dream; to become like Freddie Mercury.

Best Feature Narrative

Love and Irony

Directed by: John A Biesack
Producer: John A Biesack
Run Time: 01:50:00 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Narrative
Country of Origin: United States

The search for an authentic life leads an existential bike mechanic to discover the universal truths and transformative powers of love. 

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Saturday, Room A Showings

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One Day Without Him

Directed by: Oleksandra Vinnichuk
Run Time: 00:14:00
Category: Student Shorts 
Country of Origin: Ukraine 

A girl addicted to her smartphone is forced to be without her phone on an important day for her. She discovers the world beyond the smartphone screen. Will she be able to get into the office and get a job?

Fishpaste

Directed by: Price J Jacobsen 
Producer: Price J Jacobsen 
Run Time: 00:28:48
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: United States

A fierce master warrior and his partner in training must assemble a team in order to defeat his arch-nemesis. 

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ELECTRA WASP

Directed by: Wasan Hayajneh

Producer: Joseph O’Hailey, Tatiana Teixeira, Darayell Wright
Run Time: 00:06:00
Category: Student Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

Best Student Film

ELECTRA WASP is an experimental animated psychobiography about the death and life of trailblazing pilot Amelia Earhart. It is a retrospective of her emotional world and an exploration of what drove her to pursue her passion for flying.

Running To Remember

Directed by: Lauren E. Johnson 
Producer: Nicholas Stange
Run Time: 00:22:38 + Talkback
Category: Student Shorts
Country of Origin: United States

Running to Remember is a documentary about Cathy Powers, a gold star mother who started running to remember the veterans who served our country. She runs to honor her son, Senior Airman (SrA) Bryce Powers. Along her running journey, Cathy meets veterans from around the country, letting them know they are loved and remembered for their service. With the help of Wreaths Across America, Cathy has run over a thousand miles within all 50 states, as well as raising 11,215 wreath sponsorships for Arlington National Cemetery. 

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Layaway 

Directed by: Kaitlyn T. Busbee

Producer: Kaitlyn T. Busbee, Hanna Gray Organschi, Kai Swanson 
Run Time: 00:12:57 + Talkback
Category: Student Shorts
Country of Origin: United States

Left by their mother to fend for themselves, two siblings in Iowa learn to live by their own code, until a choice becomes a secret that tests their trust in each other.

Dwight in Denmark

Directed by: Cristopher Lee Anderson
Producer: Cristopher Lee Anderson
Run Time: 00:26:46 + Talkback
 Category: Documentary Shorts
Country of Origin: Not Specified

Saving Tunes from Extinction is a film about an easy-to-ignore old man from rural Iowa who is a culture hero. Dwight Lamb has been an important and influential old time folk fiddler and Danish button accordion player in the American midwest for decades, but now he is significant in Denmark, also. The film is a feel-good story about music, dance, friendship, community, history, and the power of memory.   

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Call Them Athletes

Directed by: Torin Jade Ives  

Producer: Kelly Jankowski  
Run Time: 00:18:40 + Talkbacks
Category: Documentary Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

In exchange for disrespect and a lack of funding, collegiate dancers give more than their all to their schools. Three midwest dance teams showcase the accomplishments and talents of their programs, and reveal the dark side of dance team.

Symphonic Distress

Directed by: Marco Joubert
Producer: Marco Joubert
Run Time: 00:10:00
Category: Music Videos
Country of Origin: Canada

The music came first: a mixed contemporary piece by composer Yuliya Zakharava, in which instrumentalist Pamela Reimer plays a piano score, while also triggering prerecorded sequences and incorporating vocal and percussive elements. Asked to provide a visual component for the work, I was struck and conquered by its intensity and beauty from the very first listen. Although both the music and the film are in themselves apolitical and stateless, the wish to collaborate and the urgent impulse to express ourselves through art have been exacerbated by the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The intention, therefore, while avoiding any direct reference to war, is to tacitly evoke certain universal emotions born out of its consequences: fear, suffering, outrage, vulnerability, abnegation, hope. 

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Twilight Garden Opaque Ocean

Directed by: Simon Dickel
Run Time: 00:03:11
Category: Music Video  
Country of Origin: Germany

A filmic meditation on loss, solitude, and relationality made from found and archival footage (Normal 8 and Super 8) originally filmed in the UK and Italy in 1962, 1975, and 2006. The music is Bleedingblackwood's song "Twilight Garden Opaque Ocean" from his album "If You See the Sky, You're Almost There" (Mai Lei Bel 2023). 

Resurrection under the Ocean

Directed by: Serkan AktaÅŸ
Producer: Serkan AktaÅŸ 
Run Time: 00:02:57
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: Turkey

"Resurrection under the Ocean" is about the resurrection of a man who was helplessly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, after falling to the bottom of the ocean, with a symbolic narrative. 

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Lady Revel – Jeanette (Official Music Video) 

Directed by: Wesley Rebarcak
Producer: Wesley Rebarcak
Run Time: 00:04:35 + Talkback
Category: Music Video
Country of Origin: United States

Jeanette does everything in her power to get out of a dentist appointment. A music video for the band Lady Revel. 

Chasing Greatness: Wrestling Life

Directed by: Danny Wilcox Frazier
Producer: Jason Brummond 
Run Time: 00:57:55 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Documentary

Country of Origin: United States

“Chasing Greatness: Wrestling Life,” provides viewers an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the Iowa wrestling program. The documentary follows the Iowa wrestling program’s 2021-22 season – from the first practice in October 2021 to the NCAA Championships in Detroit in March 2022. The film crew attended and filmed every Hawkeye team gathering, practice, dual meet and tournament.

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Life With a Flower 

Directed by: Eli Turner
Run Time: 00:03:10
Category: Student Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

A man connects with nature through a simple act. 

Painting

Directed by: Shijie Ye
Producer: PingPing Zhuang, Song Wang
Run Time: 00:06:05
Category: Student Shorts
Country of Origin: China 

In layers of fog, the past keeps stacking up, and the alternation of reality and fantasy makes Jiang Rong, the painter, forced to face the inner world... 

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Saturday, Room B Showings

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PAPER PLATES

Directed by: Brian Nguyen 
Producer: Brian Nguyen, Aimee Gauley 
Run Time: 01:45:38 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Narrative
Country of Origin: United States

Four robbers are stranded in a village credit union after immediately botching a would-be series of bank heists in rural midwest America. 

The Satchel 

Directed by: Joseph Stevens
Producer: Aaron Bandy, Emily Giuffre, Lisa Vannatta 
Run Time: 00:14:53 + Talkback
Category: Narrative Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States

Riding aboard a steam locomotive in the heart of the Wild West, a mysterious traveler enlists the help of a seasoned outlaw to retrieve his stolen satchel, which contains a deadly secret. After the success of our Marty Robbins-inspired Big Iron short film, our team decided to delve into the Western genre once more, expanding to a bigger, more complex, fully original Western tale. Witness the power and grandeur of a real Class 30 2-8-2 "Mikado" steam locomotive, the thundering hooves of real-life horses, and the raw authentic Western outback of Rusk, Texas - all achieved on an ultra-low budget. 

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The Dream I’ve Never Had 

Directed by: Majid Halvaei

Run Time: 00:15:00
Category: Narrative Shorts 
Country of Origin: Iran, Islamic Republic of  Iran

An old man needs someone to tell him stories to fall asleep. So he hires a girl as a roommate and they make a contract, as long as she tells him stories at nights, she can live in the extra room that he has in his apartment. Tonight, the girl is invited to her friend's birthday party and she is looking for an excuse to leave... 

Never Not Yours 

Directed by: John Klein, Stephen Kniss
Run Time: 01:21:53 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Narrative
Country of Origin: United States

Three siblings in their 30s, Michael, Ellie, and James drive to their family cabin to visit their parents Jonathan and Maddie. But when their mom and dad unexpectedly announce their divorce, chaos ensues.

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Gangs of Kazan 

Directed by: Zhora Kryzhovnikov

Producer: Fedor Bondarchuk, Dmitry Tabarchuk, Maxim Rybakov 

Run Time: 00:50:00
Category: Web/TV Series pilot   
Country of Origin: Russian Federation

Late 1980s. Teenager Andrew from an intelligent family ends up in a street youth group, in which he is taught to live according to “man” concepts.

Sunday, Room A Showings

Hunky Dory

Directed by: Steven Vander Meer
Run Time: 00:06:00
Category: Music Videos
Country of Origin: United States

Hunky Dory juxtaposes scenes of animal life with images of human existence, observing the quirky and unexpected ways in which we are similar. The meticulously hand-drawn animation is a visual smorgasbord, moving and morphing in perfect time to the banjo music of Béla Fleck and his bandmates in My Bluegrass Heart. 

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Feedback Loop

Directed by: Thomas Nelson

Run Time: 00:04:44
Category: Narrative Shorts     
Country of Origin: United States 

IFF Producers Choice

Feedback Loop explores our relationship to technology, fringe ideas, and commercials. Would conspiracy theories and misinformation spread the same way if we weren’t so significantly lonely? What makes otherwise rational and educated people fall into cesspools of dangerous rhetoric that make them act against their own self-interest - and who reaps the benefits? This short film takes inspiration from science fiction, body horror, and Saturday morning cartoons.

Dokra Keu Bojhey Na

Directed by: Sneha Das, Monjima Mullick 
Run Time: 00:07:44
Category: Documentary Shorts
Country of Origin: India

Dokra Keu Bojhey Na (Incomprehensible Dokra) is an animated documentary that explores the perils that the 4000 year old craft of Dokra faces in West Bengal, India. We converse with artisans and its sellers to discuss the lack of patronage that may lead to its extinction and the possible ways to revive the craft as well the poor living conditions of its artists. 

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Crossroads

Directed by: Piper Peña Hadley 

Producer: Kaytlyn Bunting, Anna Butcher, Grace Maddox 

Run Time: 01:17:00 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Narrative 
Country of Origin: United States 

Fresh off failing her citizenship test, Naomi finds herself struggling to accept her circumstances when she learns her friend, Marissa, has passed. At Marissa’s funeral, Naomi randomly swaps bodies with Marissa’s brother, Chance, a college student struggling to come out to his family, especially now that he has no support after his sister’s death. Now living as one another, Chance and Naomi must learn to exist in the other’s body and figure out how to return to their own lives. 

Two Men One Pool

Directed by: Andrej Iliev

Producer: Lisa Xu  
Run Time: 00:13:08 
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: Slovakia

A low level executive on vacation is having a hard time relaxing when a flamboyant stranger suddenly appears out of thin air on the other side of the pool. Things quickly go south. 

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Somewhere to Stay 

Directed by: Amirhossein Hatami 

Producer: Amirhossein Hatami, Mohammad Amir Maboodi  

Run Time: 00:15:00
Category: Feature Length Narrative 
Country of Origin: Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran

Concealing a devastating secret about his daughter, a father has told everyone that she is missing, while pretending to search for her alongside his son. They venture into an abandoned forest to ensure the secrecy remains hidden. The son, unable to bear the burden of this concealed truth any longer and weary of his father’s behavior and beliefs, takes a step that profoundly impacts their family’s life. 

Inheritance

Directed by: Benjamin Schmidt

Producer: Alannah Schmidt, Benjamin Schmidt
Run Time: 00:29:37 + Talkback 
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: United States

While sorting through the belongings of his deceased estranged uncle, John discovers some dark secrets and realizes he may have inherited more than he bargained for. 

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Savant

Directed by: Grace Maddox

Producer: Diego Carlos   

Run Time: 00:07:42 + Talkback
Category: Student Shorts 
Country of Origin: United States  

When Bridget, a college senior, faces losing her best chance at grad school, she decides to take matters into her own hands, and she won't let anyone stand in her way. 

Skulk

Directed by: Max Ward

Producer: Athanasia Bartzoka
Run Time: 00:06:32
Category: Narrative Shorts
Country of Origin: United Kingdom

In the dead of night, creatures slink throught the streets of London. Foxes howl to warn when they are close. A woman wakes up in the night to the sound of foxes and shortly after notices a strange figure outside her home. 

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The Meaning Of a Ritual

Directed by: Natalie MacMahon 

Producer: Natalie MacMahon, Camilo Zamorra   

Run Time: 01:24:00 
Category: Feature Length Narrative  
Country of Origin: Germany  

An empathic, young plant doctor gifted with extrasensory powers and an emotionally fragile, isolated artist, must rescue each other to rediscover the essence of living. 

A coming of age story about two women from different generations, who have more in common than they are willing to admit. 

Sunday, Room B Showings

Shift: The RABGRAI Documentary 

Directed by: Kelsey Kremer, Courtney Crowder

Producer: Carol Hunter, Kathy Kieliszewski
Run Time: 01:00:34 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Documentary
Country of Origin: United States

Can you find yourself in the middle of nowhere? Can you find yourself in the middle of nowhere? 
“SHIFT” tells the story of RAGBRAI — the world’s oldest, largest and longest recreational bicycle ride —through ground-breaking photography and intimate interviews with three bicyclists and a pair of community leaders. Grappling with triumphs and tragedies, the group searches for peace, clarity and redemption, pushing themselves to their limits and changing their lives in the course of a weeklong ride across Iowa. 

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Crosses In The Dust

Directed by: Christine Kane

Producer: Aaron Hosé, Irene Pons, Christine Kane, Tim Reid 

Run Time: 00:51:18 
Category: Feature Length Documentary   
Country of Origin: United States  

At the Arizona-Mexico border, the Sonoran Desert has been weaponized as part of the "Prevention Through Deterrence" policy, which has cost the lives of thousands of migrants since its inception in the mid-1990s. CROSSES IN THE DUST follows a law professor and her students as they assist organizations fighting the ongoing immigration crisis along the border while honoring those who have perished on their journey into America. 

An Open Door – Temple Grandin 

Directed by: John Alexander Barnhardt

Producer: John Lee Fetservand, Grant Braun Boerner, Ashley Wilcox, Rachael Anne Mild, John Alexander Barnhardt, Kevin Lee Kirchner 
Run Time: 00:59:30 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Documentary
Country of Origin: United States

An Open Door is the international award-winning documentary that reflects on the influential life and work of Dr. Temple Grandin as a champion of the humane treatment of livestock, autism rights, and inclusive neurodiversity by employing her gifted insights from her personal experience with autism and visual thinking. The film speaks with Dr. Grandin, her colleagues, industry professionals and those she has influenced to celebrate her groundbreaking life, lessons learned and lasting legacy. An Open Door is directed by award-winning filmmaker John Barnhardt and presented by Colorado State University. 

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In the Silence

Directed by: Adam A Orton

Producer: Beau Batterson 

Run Time: 00:47:00 + Talkback
Category: Feature Length Narrative    
Country of Origin: United States  

David and his wife Sam move to the country to cope with the tragedy of losing their son, but discover that their new home is haunted. 

2025 Timeline 
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November 1, 2024: submissions open on Film Freeway

December 31, 2024: early bird submission deadline

February 9, 2025: regular submission deadline

March 9, 2025: late submission deadline

March 30, 2025: extended (and final) deadline

May 16, 2025: selection notification

 May 23, 2025: material deadline for selected films

June 27 - 29, 2025: Festival

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