INTERNATIONAL SHORTS

In recent years more and more established filmmakers have been going back to shooting short films, acknowledging that shorts are an exciting and innovative genre in itself. For our three programs Plot to Shoot, Viva l’Animation, and The Surreal, Grotesque, Bizarre & Absurd we have scouted work that is standing out from the rest – the most intriguing stories, stunning animations and some pretty twisted dark tales. Best-Of compilations exclusively curated for IAFF08, 3 Films on Street Art, MK12’s “History of America” and a collection of video sound sculptures – discover some audio-visual gems screened out of competition.

BRAD DOWNEY, MIKOSA & KING ADZ:
3 FILMS ON STREET ART

Public Discourse
Dir. Brad Downey - USA - 2003 - 38 mins.

MIKOSA Mural
Dir. Andrea Staiano - NL - 2008 - 4 mins.

The Urban Cookbook
Dir. King Adz - UK - 2008 - 25 mins.

IAFF is proud to be premiering "The Urban Cookbook Film" - a stream-of-consciousness, short documentary full of raw poetics linked to music and street-art - by King Adz, a British filmmaker and writer. King Adz shot this doc on a road-trip through 5 cities - Paris, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and New York - whilst at the same time researching recipes for a cookbook with a difference: "THE URBAN COOKBOOK", a book with recipes for the young, urban, hip hop generation. http://www.vimeo.com/channel13267

IAFF08 artist-in-residence Brad Downey's first film "Public Discourse" is a documentary about street art with works by Swoon, Ellen Harvey, Keith Haring, JJ Veronis, and more - featuring music by Japanther.
http://www.braddowney.com/

Following the screening of the films, IAFF will be hosting a street
cooking party in de Balie Foyer where King Adz himself will be
cooking with the assistance of some of the coolest street artists in
the NL. In collaboration with Thames & Hudson and The American Book Center.

WORLDWIDE SHUFFLE

In recent years IAFF has built a dense network with numerous high-profile festivals
and organizations throughout the world. While home-grown talent from the DutchMix-selection is promoted at our partner festivals during the year, a best-of-selection from our partner festivals will be presented to a Dutch audience in IAFF’s exclusive WorldWide Shuffle. Our partner festivals and organisations are: Resfest Turkey, Resfest Korea, Resfest Brazil, Viewfest Turino, C/O Pop Köln and Stichting Kultprom Moscow.

ADVANCED BEAUTY

Advanced Beauty – 18 Sound Sculptures (UK/2008, 44 mins)
Advanced Beauty is an ongoing exploration of digital artworks born and influenced by sound, an ever-growing collaboration between programmers, artists, musicians, animators and architects.
 
The first collection is a series of audio-reactive 'video sound sculptures'. Inspired by synasthesia, the rare, sensory experience of seeing sound or tasting colours, these videos are physical manifestations of sound, sculpted by volume, pitch or structure of the soundtrack.
 
The films embrace unusual video making processes, the visual programming language Processing, high-end audio analysis and fluid dynamic simulations alongside intuitive responses in traditional cell animation. Each artist was given the same set of parameters to work within; to start, finish and exist within a white space, creating a seamless coherence, all sculptures sharing the same white environment.
 
Curated by design studio Universal Everything and musician Freeform, Advanced Beauty is an international collaboration, taking in a family of artists from London, Russia, New York, Japan, Buenos Aires, Glasgow to San Francisco.

PLOT TO SHOOT!

“A good story, well told” is a label that could be applied to all of the six shorts in Plot to Shoot! What many feature films cannot achieve in 90 minutes, the selected films of this programme accomplish within a much shorter time-span: An intriguing plot, interesting, multi-layered characters, a surprising turning point or a strong punch line are some of the ingredients that make these films stand out from the rest.

Fabryka, Maciej Adamek (Poland, 2007)
La Peau Dure, Jean-Bernard Marlin & Benoit Rambourg (France, 2007)
Historia de un letrero, Alonso A. Barreda (Mexico, 2008)
Soft, Simon Ellis (UK, 2007)
Traumalogia, Daniel Sanchez Arevalo (Spain, 2007)
Valuri, Adrian Sitaru (Romania, 2007) - WINNER BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT AWARD

FLAHERTY SHORTS

A selection of shorts from the 54th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar: THE AGE OF MIGRATION.

The Robert Flaherty Film Seminar is an annual showcase for cutting edge documentaries and experimental cinema founded in 1955. This year’s program, The Age of Migration, probed how hybrid documentaries, video blogs, and speculative histories have become connective tissues which collapse physical distances and accentuate emotional connections.  IAFF is pleased to bring over some of the top shorts from this year's seminar, with Steve Holmgren present for a special discussion of the works.  For more information visit www.flahertyseminar.org.

Curated by Chi-hui Yang,
Selection by Steve Holmgren.

FROM ALEX TO ALEX, Alison Kobayashi - Canada - 2006 - 6 mins.
SKATE MANZANAR, Renee Tajima-Peña - USA - 2001 - 6 mins.
GREEN DOLPHIN, Oliver Husain - Canada - 2008 - 15mins.
A PORTRAIT OF SINO-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP, James T. Hong - Ger - 2007 - 4 mins.
THE BACKYARD BORDER, Lee Wang - USA- 2008 - 6 mins.
TARRAFAL, Pedro Costa - Portugal - 2007 - 15 mins.
FALSE FRIENDS, Sylvia Schedelbauer - USA - 2007 - 5 mins.
LIFE IN FOG, Bahman Ghobadi - Iran - 1995 - 27 mins.
DAN CARTER, Alison Kobayashi - Canada - 2006 - 15 mins.

THE SURREAL, GROTESQUE, BIZARRE & ABSURD

If you feel strangely at home in the bizarre, surreal and grotesque worlds of Cronenberg, Lynch, Tim Burton, or Takashi Miike – meet the new generation of like-minded directors. All four short films in this program have one thing in common: they bring an element of dark humour to an eerie reality of twisted minds.

Capricious Robot, Koichiro Tsujikawa - Japan - 2007 - 39 mins.
Spider, Nash Edgerton - Australia - 2007 - 10 mins.
Missing, Matthieu Donk - Belgium - 2007 - 10 mins.
Terminus, Trevor Cawood - Canada - 2007 - 8mins.

CONTEMPORARY KOREAN SHORTS

Each year, IAFF will invite a guest to curate a program based on the country, topic, artist, or genre. This year, we invited a Korean filmmaker and film critic Kim Kyung-Mook to present a vibrant selection of new films coming from his country. In recent years, the rise of Korean cinema worldwide continued relentlessly. It seems that no other cinematography managed to conjure arthouse quality, technical innovation and pure entertainment in their productions as much as Korean cinema.

Phantom Sonata, Ahn Sun-Kyung (2007)
Amusement Epitome, Son Kwang-Ju (2006)
Third Tongue, Son Kwang-Ju (2003)
The Conversation with Dr.Mouse, Kim Sook-Hyun

MK12’s “THE HISTORY OF AMERICA"

Dir. MK12
Animation - USA – 2008 – 31 mins.

Astronauts fighting Cowboys leads to the creation of the US of A!
 
There are few stories better known or more beloved that the American Origin story. Indeed, any American schoolchild can recite at least a few lines from the Declaration of Independence, or tell you about Paul Revere's infamous Midnight Ride.
Except none of it is true... Centuries of campfire stories have spun America's history into a fanciful tale filled with myths and half truths. MK12's History of America is here to set the record straight. Set against the warm sin of Las Vegas and the cold vacuum of space, this is the true story behind the story -- one which chronicles the epic struggle between the Astronauts and the cowboys as they fight for life, liberty and justice for all.
 
A visually dynamic mix of rotoscoped live action shot against a greenscreen and the latest computer animation techniques, The History of America is a hilarious celebration of distinctly American iconography.
http://www.historyofamerica.tv/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2z3T1RrL7g

VIVA L'ANIMATION!

Viva l’Animation! – Old Skool vs. New Skool/2D vs. 3D/Classic vs. FX Mix

IAFF’s animation-program features an eclectic mix of all animation-subgenres, from stylish motion graphics to quirky slices of life rotoscoped in Flash, from computer-generated stories to artistic drawings in motion. Some of these animations are funny, some are dark, some have a plot and others just look stunningly beautiful.

Follow Suit, Willehad Eilers (NL, 2008)
A Letter to Colleen, Andy & Carolyn London (USA, 2007)
L’Amort, Chloe Mazlo (France, 2008)
Nico y Tina, Rodolfo Pastor (Spain, 2007)
Flickermood, Sebastian Lange (Germany, 2008)
When You Get to the Woods, Justin Magness (NL, 2008)
Hezurbeltzak,una fosa comun, Izibene Onederra (Spain, 2007)
With Delicate Risk, Dane Webster (USA, 2007)
Live 11, Rimantas Lukavicius (Lithuania, 2006)
Mater, Paolo Bonfiglio (Italy, 2007)
The Bird, Sung Gil Kim (South Korea, 2007)