2003

Running time: N/A

Following in the inspiring tradition of Norma Rae and Erin Brockovich, Sonia Valent?n's Bitter Sweat gives viewers a vivid look at simple people fighting against overwhelming odds for better working conditions. Set in a Puerto Rican fish-cleaning factory, the film focuses on a group of female workers struggling to hold onto their jobs as massive layoffs and heated protests swirl around them. The volatile atmosphere culminates when their boss is found murdered one morning-quickly turning the story into a clever "whodunit" that Agatha Christie would drool over.

Season:
2003
Premiere status:
World Premiere
Director:
Sonia Valent?n
Cinematography:
P.J. L?pez
Cast:
Domingo Quinones, Alba Nydia Diaz, Gladys Rodriguez, Sonia Valent?n, Yamaris Latorre, Yvonne Curo, Luisa Justiniano, Elsie Moreau
Editor:
David Cochran
Producer:
Alba Nydia D?az
Language:
Spanish with English subtitles

Running time: N/A

A wonderful 3D animated look at the birth of a sprout-from the geniuses at PDI/Dreamworks

Season:
2003
Director:
Scott Peterson

Running time: N/A

Maija Di Giorgio was a comedian on the verge of big time success. Then one night in front of executives from HBO, she inexplicably cracked, shouting obscenities at the audience and walking off stage. Thus, her career as a stand-up was finished. So, Maija sets out on a two-year quest to find out what went wrong and to try to resurrect her dreams of making people laugh.

Season:
2003
Premiere status:
World Premiere
Director:
Maija Di Giorgio
Cinematography:
Jody Del Giorno
Cast:
Richard Belzer, George Carlin, Maija Di Giorgio, Whoopi Goldberg, Kenneth R. Sim
Editor:
Maija Di Giorgio
Producer:
Richard Belzer

Running time: N/A

Bret Packard is an American hero. He's rich, famous, and the best baseball player in the world. But Bret is bored. With nothing left in baseball to conquer, Bret has decided to play a new game in which only he will come out the winner. Bret's best friend on the team is Tod, who fears a young pitcher, Ricky, is being groomed to replace him. Bret offers Tod a deal-if Tod hits more batters than Ricky, Bret will insure that Ricky is traded.

Season:
2003
Premiere status:
World Premiere
Director:
Daniel Kraus
Cinematography:
Michael Caporale
Cast:
Mark Mench, Justin Smith, Traci Dinwiddle
Editor:
Daniel Kraus
Producer:
Jason Davis, Allen Serkin, Damian Lahey, Daniel Kraus

Running time: N/A

An elderly gay man confronts memories of a long lost love when a young surfer enters his life.

Season:
2003
Director:
Dan Castle

Running time: N/A

What does a filmmaker from L.A. do when she's invited to her mother's tenth year memorial service in Athens, Greece? With this question in mind, director Angeliki Giannakopoulos sets out, camera in hand, on a heartfelt, intensely moving quest to discover the history of her family and her homeland of Athens, where her mother's memorial ceremony was to take place.

Season:
2003
Premiere status:
WORLD PREMIERE
Director:
Angeliki Giannakopoulos
Cinematography:
Joseph Lee
Editor:
Angeliki Giannakopoulos
Producer:
Denise Ezell
Language:
English, Greek with English subtitles

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In 25 Kids and One Dad, Huang Hong's directorial debut is a warm, touching comedy reminiscent of Zhang Yimou's latest films (Not One Less, Happy Times). It gives the viewer a sharp look at working-class conditions of rural China without sacrificing the delicate balance of comedy. 

Season:
2003
Director:
Huang Hong
Cinematography:
Wang Xiaolie
Cast:

Huang Hong, Li Lin, Lei Kesheng, Siqin Gaowa, Yu Lan, Huang Zhaohan

Editor:
Zhou Xinxia
Producer:
Ni Wei, Zou Ling
Language:
Chinese with English subtitles

Running time: N/A

"I heard the news today, oh-boy..." Like recent films Almost Famous and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Noah Stern's 7 Songs is an ode to rock music. Micah (Chris Eigeman-Metropolitan, Barcelona), a gifted songwriter, is at the most pivotal day of his life struggling to finish his record while writer's block, an immoral record label, and crumbling relationships impede the process. Most of all, however, Micah struggles to find an excitement for life and music that he has lost.

Season:
2003
Director:
Noah Stern
Cinematography:
Kristian Bernier
Cast:
Chris Eigeman, Lola Glaudini, Terry Camilleri, Chaka Forman, Douglas Weston, Nic Harcourt
Editor:
Greg Tennant
Producer:
Marc Ambrose

Running time: N/A

They say nothing in this world takes the place of persistence.

Ross is in the wrong job. He's a middle class kid trying to be a bouncer at a nightclub. The harder he tries to succeed, the harder his struggle becomes. Can persistence succeed where aptitude fails?

Drawing from personal experience of an unsuccessful stint as a barman, Paul Cotter's black comedy tries to answer the question, "Can persistence succeed where aptitude fails?" Heroic wisdom suggests it can. But what does life say? JEFF FARNSWORTH is Paul Cotter's independent film debut.

Season:
2003
Director:
Paul Cotter
Cast:
Joe Calarco, Dan Flannery, Mia Manolis, Rich Komenich, John Sierros
Editor:
Bob Ackerman
Producer:
Marie Frick, Paul Cotter
Executive Producer:
Stella Nwimo, Christina Varotsis
Language:
English
Genre:
Unassigned
Sound:
Paul Rodgers, Mark Devos

Running time: N/A

The text in the video is taken from OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY by Stanley Milgram

"Volunteers are invited to a laboratory under the pretence of participating in a study about the effects of punishment on learning. They are instructed by an experimenter to administer an electric shock of increasing intensity every time a "learner", strapped into an electric chair, makes a mistake. How many people, if any, would go right up the scale to 450 volts." back cover of Obedience to Authority, Stanley Milgram.

Season:
2003
Director:
Pekka Sassi
Genre:
Unassigned
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