1997

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Cinequest is excited to have Jenni Olson back for the second year running. Last year's Trailer Camp was a great After Hours crowd pleaser, and we're expecting no less from this year's offering.

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Daniel Mellitz' La Femme Pickle (winner of The San Jose Visual Arts Film and Video Festival Award) is a mock-documentary about the ups and downs of a student film shoot. In the wake of Living in Oblivion, this film casts a refreshing and witty light on the process of shooting a low-budget film. Cat Calls, Wolf Whistles and Other Ordinary Dangers by Gail Huddleson consists in a series of lively and quick interviews of women and their feelings about being whistled at in the street.

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Set to the third movement of J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #3, Brandenburg by Jeffrey C. Vargas, a native of San Jose, is a Romeo and Juliet love story, complete with romance and tragedy. Alex Munoz was brought up in East San Jose and knows what he is talking about in Por Vida when he portrays the life of an innocent Latino youth who tries to find his roots in the persona of his missing father in Mexico. On the way, he finds love and comfort in the arms of a prostitute with a heart of gold. In How Else Am I supposed to Know I am Still Alive?

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Always a favorite of those of us a bit on the twisted side, this year's crop of "out-there" films that make up the Mindbenders series will not disappoint. David Munro, creator of the Cinequest favorite Bullethead, has returned with a surreal film about the desolate emotional landscape that trauma can create.

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Dating and mating are the subjects of this series of short films. That quest for Mr. or Mrs. Right is as timeless as it is annoying. Michael Clancy's Emily's Last Date chronicles Emily's last ditch effort to find a vaguely human male with whom to have a relationship. Marriage a la Mode is a fish-out-of-water comedy by Rick Hays. Our mail-order bride heroine, Svetlana, comes to America to her new husband, who promptly dies. The resulting hunt for a husband spins out of control.

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This year's comedy short series is an eclectic mix of films sure to bring a smile to your face. Joshua Porter's The Ride features a conflict between an affluent white man and an Afro-Caribbean woman on a New York subway which yields a deceptive outcome. With the use of "flashback fantasies," filmmakers Ginger Rinkenberger and Kathryn Pickford have created a deliriously paced comedy.

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How do you face old age, solitude, teenage frustrations, a child's cruel and disheartening world? All of the characters of these different stories find their own personal way to come to terms with their lives' predicaments. In Marcus Han's Burning Bridges, escaping yet another boarding school, Jeremy is left with the horrid prospect of staying at home with his neglecting parents.

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All the films in this section portray the twist and turns that life sometimes takes. Ruth Orkin: Frames Of Life by Mary Engel depicts the life and work of renowned photographer and filmmaker, Ruth Orkin (1921-1985). Narrated by Julie Harris, one of the many personalities that Orkin photographed, the film tells, among other stories, about how her most famous photograph, American Girl, originated. Utopia, by Frederick Rendina, chronicles the life of Miles, a wanna-be actor who lives in New York. One day, he receives a sarcastic and insulting note on his car.

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When you think of Cannes, it's probably because of it's annual star-studded film festival. But did you know that Cannes also plays host to an International Advertising Film Festival? Sixteen countries were represented by over 4,200 entries at this year's annual event. Whether loved--Got Milk?--or reviled--Mentos, the Freshmaker--advertising is undoubtedly one of the greatest forces in our lives. This compilation includes ninety-eight stellar, award winners presented in categories ranging from Food and Drink to Public Awareness.

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Hidden treasures can be found in the vaults of Warner Bros. Studios, and the newest from filmmaker/writer Paul Seydor is one of the greatest treasures to be found in the world of cinema. You see, Paul had some footage of the making of Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch brought to him, which not only blew him way, but left the executives at Warners awestruck. Seydor began editing.