2007 Winter Film Festival

What is that you’re watching? You’ll see in the next 90 minutes! Michelle Roderick, a local talent, is now living in New York City. This is one of her pieces.

There’s plenty of fanfare as nature takes big bites out the Marblehead shoreline. Steve Webster is the Creative Director at Impact Design, an independent creative firm located in Marblehead. Steve also designed the 2006 Festival logo.

Set up as an old-fashioned silent movie, this film shows what happens when a desperate director needs to rescue his play from the clutches of a temperamental actor just before its first performance. Steven Stuart Baldwin, a Beverly filmmaker who is the director of Playomatic Media, created this film as part of the nationally based 48 Hour Film Project which requires participants to create a film from concept to finished product in 48 hours. Steven’s film won the local award for best acting and best editing and was voted an audience favorite.

He sees you when you’re sleeping…he knows when you’re awake…and by the time he gets to you, he knows what you deserve. Another short piece by the Creative Director of Impact Design.

A documentary about a famous fishing schooner, built in 1929
to compete against Nova Scotia for the International
Fishermen’s Cup, this film is not only the story of the rise and
ignominious fall of a famous schooner but also a story of the
times in which she sailed. Barry O’Brien is the head of North
Shore Communications Group, a company in Gloucester that
provides marketing and training tools via web, print and video
media.

An experimental music video about the need to connect. This is the third film we’ve shown by Swamspcott’s Emily Roberts (now a student at Brown University), and she never fails to surprise.

In this reflective, meditative film, a young man reflects on the meaning of his life and what he wants for the future. Matthew Ecclesiastre, a poet, story writer, filmmaker and photographer, made this film in cooperation with RAW Art Works, the non-profit organization in Lynn that offers children and teenagers the opportunity to express themselves in a variety of art forms.

A seemingly normal family has an unusual tradition, which is
the focus of the film. The repellent nature of this tradition
brings into question the way we acquiesce to damaging
traditions and practices. Todd Davis is a director, editor, and
producer whose production company, orLater Productions, is located in Boxborough. His film is based on a published short
story by Phil LaMarche. Note: This film contains graphic
images of physical injuries.

A young woman reflects on her sisters and, although they annoy her, is still willing to accept that they resemble human beings…at least for now. A stay of execution by a Lynn filmmaker who is a  student at North Shore Community College and a member of the RAW Arts group.

Angela Santora, whose RAW Arts film was shown in the Film Festival last year, is back again with a RAW Arts music video that asks the eternal question, Is There One Person Who Is Meant For Me? Ms. Santora is now in her first year at the Massachusetts College of Art. Aaron Legere is in his first year at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Little Mary by Sandra Powers. 4:45 minutes This film is
inspired by gothic films from the silent era and the aesthetics
of experimental films from the 1950s and sixties. It’s set in a
theatre with bizarre and sinister goings on. Get in contact with
your own internal puppetmaster—or puppet. Sandra Powers is
a filmmaker from Jamaica Plain whose works have been
shown in Boston, Providence, Miami, the Netherlands, and
elsewhere.

You could call Jimmy’s House of Hugs a late night cable TV infomercial from another planet…or you might say “What a great idea!  Someone should open up something like this in Marblehead!” You be the judge. Another film from the talented and prolific Julia Radochia. Note: This film contains strong language in parts.

This is an animation about a woman’s testy relationship with her cat, Milton.  Who will win in this clash of Big Egos? Courtney Davis is a Texas filmmaker who has produced, directed, and acted in both feature-length and short films. Note:  This film contains strong language in parts.

There’s a good chance that you’ve never seen a film like this. The title is Spanish for “Fair Use,” a legal term which refers to the justified use of copyrighted materials without payment of royalties, and which refers to the film itself, “found footage” of a 1959 Mexican hospital melodrama. The real story is told with the use of subtitles as the characters suddenly realize that their film has been hijacked by an “experimental filmmaker”.  Coleman Miller has been making films for twenty years (for MTV and Lollapalooza, among others) and Uso Justo won the “Best of the Fest" award at the prestigious Ann Arbor Film Festival.