Join our Social Networks:

• Full August 2009 Calendar and Schedule, click here

R.I. INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ENCORE SCREENINGS FROM 2009

Fourth Wednesday of the Month

Travel the world without leaving the state!

2009 RIIFF Encore Screenings

The Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is pleased to bring back our popular "Best of Fest" programming showcasing films that screened during our 2009 Festival.

Upcoming Programming Dates:

February 24, 2010:

SchizoFredric
Directed by Andy Poyiadgi 
2009, 17 min., United Kingdom
Fredric has lost the fire in his belly and wants it back. After signing up for an unorthodox self-improvement program, Fredric is forced to watch his life play out, while a new improved version of himself walks in his shoes...

Underwear
Directed by Tomer Gendler 
2009, 15 min., USA
Being deaf, the two communicate via an old, tethered clothesline that joins their two buildings across a fantastical distance. The premise unfolds as Leon attempts to convince Frida that although her beauty, talents and everything else has faded, there is plenty of life in life. He does so by sending messages & messages written on underwear.

My Son the Pornographer
Directed by Peter Campbell
2008, 45 min., Canada
MY SON THE PORGNOGRAPHER is a love story between a father and a son. Art, a graying, somewhat old-fashioned Victoria, British Columbia filmmaker, struggles with his conservative moral values regarding sex when he visits Mohawked and tattooed Kole who works as a writer, cameraman and, worse still in Art's eyes, actor in the pornography business in Prague. Appalled about the sexual abuse Kole experienced as a child and believing that Kole's current lifestyle is directly linked to that sad past, Art hopes to get Kole out of an existence that, in Art's eyes, is negative and soul-destroying. Against the backdrop of the beautiful city of Prague, Art and Kole strive to reconcile their relationship and their perceptions of a difficult past. Thrown into the realm of hard-core pornography, Art finds a surprising humanity among the denizens of this world even as he continues to urge Kole to leave it. The two men challenge each other and argue their beliefs. Kole, who never graduated from high school but has been invited to join Mensa, is more than a good match for his father's arguments as the two face off. As the story unfolds, Art convinces Kole to return to Canada to confront the past in the hope that Kole will begin healing his troubled life. In Ottawa, Art hires a private detective to track the abuser. When the detective picks up leads on the trail of the abuser, Art discovers how close to violence he himself can come. Meanwhile, Kole is troubled both by Art's urgings to report the abuse to the police and his own past troubles with the police. Where does trust lie?Conflict and anger mark this sometimes painful and yet surprisingly humourous film. Art goes places he thought he would never go and ultimately it is Kole who teaches Art a life lesson.Set in Prague, Czech Republic, Victoria, British Columbia and Ottawa, Ontario, MY SON THE PORNOGRAPHER follows the journey of two men as they reflect on the stresses and strains that tear families apart, parental responsibility, moral values, guilt and life choices. Ultimately it is the story of love between a father and a son.

March 24th:

The Curiosity of Penny Parker
Directed by Ryan Hanson 
2009, 6 min., Canada
The curious story of Penny Parker takes place on a very extraordinary day. After a delightful morning, she struggles to follow her cell phone-distracted mother. Lost amongst the animals of the urban jungle, Penny decides to put a child's rhyme to the test, stopping her mother in her tracks

Pawnshop
Directed by Andrew Bush 
2008, 7 min., Canada
Filmmakers/Biographies/Director Andrew Bush and writer Evany Rosen are members of the cutting-edge sketch comedy troupe Picnicface, gaining notoriety around the world with millions of view on Youtube, and over 25 thousand subscribers to their videos. 'Frickin' Picnicface just cranks out the goods'- Will Ferrell' Probably the best comedy troupe currently working in Canada' - Dan Redican, producer for Kids in the HallSynopsis:A young man walks into a pawn shop with the intention of buying an engagement ring, but the crusty owner is determined to make him jump through some existential hoops in this wry comedy with a twist ending from Picnicface member Andrew Bush.

Laughology
Directed by Albert Nerenberg
2009, 65 min., Canada
Laughter. Plato hated it, the Bible discouraged it, scientists avoided it, psychologists once thought if it didn't kill you, it would drive you insane. With his trademark blend of humour and serious investigation, Albert Nerenberg drops in on cutting edge neuroscientists and cardiologists, a joyous yoga teacher, and Christian holy laughter groups in search of its origin and meaning. He visits the site of a severe laughter epidemic in Africa and reconvenes the folks who created The Nanny's laugh tracks. Ultimately he finds the man with the most contagious laugh in the world. The film attempts to find the reason why we laugh, and especially why we're wired to laugh together, whether it's in a pub, at a movie, or in the face of danger. Laughter is sweeping the world in a way that it never has before. The Internet is full of giggling chortling babies. Science is discovering the incredible health benefits to laughing. And amazingly, a London study has now proved that laughter is one of the most contagious human behaviors of all. Laughology wittily weaves research, archival stills, television clips, and a hilarious send-up of the use of re-enactments in docs. Nerenberg's quest to rediscover his own laugh has produced a film that will undoubtedly play a major role in a 'global laughter trend at a crucial time when the world needs a good laugh.'

April 28th:

Little Miss Dewey
Directed by Mira Tweti
2008, 29 min., USA
LITTLE MISS DEWIE: A Duckumentary is a funny, heartwarming, and true inter-species love story that also examines important animal welfare issues.In July 2007, award-winning animal welfare journalist, and Buddhist nun, Mira Tweti, found an orphaned duckling at a local lagoon in Los Angeles, CA, and took her home. A parrot expert, Tweti (prounounced: Tweety, and it is her given name), planned to give the little duck she called Dewie, to a rescue. Through a series of unexpected situations, Dewie lived in Tweti's apartment for more than two months while the latter searched for a perfect duck home. Along the way the Playboy Mansion and the Bel Air Country club agreed to take her. But in the end, Dewie went to live with Lani and Edward Culver and their duck, Flipper. Dewie and Flipper are now a couple and the Culvers and Tweti consider themselves related by marriage.

Shooting Beauty
Directed by George Kachadorian 
2008, 63 min., USA
Already the winner of three Audience Choice awards since its festival premiere in April 2009, SHOOTING BEAUTY tells the unforgettable story of an aspiring fashion photographer named Courtney Bent whose career takes a life changing turn when she discovers true beauty in a truly unexpected place: at a center for people living with significant disabilities. When she begins inventing cameras her new friends can use, a surprising story unfolds that initial reviewers are calling “more than a film… a masterpiece.” [NewEnglandFilm.com] Many of the photographers are non-verbal. Some take pictures using only their tongue. But when the group sets their sights on creating a museum-worthy exhibit of their work, they must overcome a skeptical public, relationship issues, and even death in the effort to bring their unique perspective to light. As the photographers strive to break down the barriers that too often keep them hidden from public view, this film will make you rethink what it means to live with a disability-- and without one.

May 26th:

The Stars Don’t Twinkle in Outer Space
Directed by Peter Thwaites 
2008, 11 min., United Kingdom
A 1940's space adventure story in which two children, 'Starman' and 'the Princess' struggle to escape their doom. As the truth of their situation becomes clear we realize the terrible nature of their predicament.

Love and Savagery
Directed by John N. Smith 
2008, 97 min., Canada
Love and Savagery is a story of passion, fate, and the consequences of the two. In 1968, Newfoundland poet Michael McCarthy travels to Ballyvaughan in Ireland to study the visually stunning landscape of the Burren. There he meets Cathleen, a beautiful woman who captures his heart, but because of the path she has chosen cannot allow him to capture hers. Savagery erupts when Michael's persistence collides with the townspeo-ple's hostility toward a foreigner's attempt to intervene with divinity. Cathleen has to choose between a desire that she has recently discovered and a desire that she has felt throughout most of her life. Will she choose the love of a man, or the love of God? Can she love both? Is she strong enough to make the right choice?

June 23rd:

2010 Preview Program

Show time at 7:00 p.m. Admission Donation of $10; RIIFF members $8.

Location:

The Bell Street Chapel

5 Bell Street, Providence, RI 02909

401.273.5678

100 seats downstairs

www.bellstreetchapel.org

Map it: