2006 Phoenix Film Festival World Cinema Feature Film Selections

World Cinema Feature Film Competition

A Mind of Her Own
Directed by Owen Carey Jones
Country: United Kingdom
http://www.careyfilms.com
Running Time: 91 minutes
Starring: Nicky Talacko, Amanda Rawnsley, Ashley Cook, Juliette Grassby, Peter Adams, Pippa Webster, Hayley Doyle, Gerard Logan
Drama
Screenings: Friday 4:55pm, Sunday 5:00pm

Talented gymnast Sophie's dream of becoming a doctor is obstructed by the fact that she is severely dyslexic. But Sophie has never been one to give up and, despite being advised to be realistic and pursue something less academic, she remains determined to achieve her ambition and refuses to settle for anything less.

On the Other Side (Al otro lado)
Directed by Gustavo Loza
Country: Mexico
Original Language: Spanish (with English subtitles)
http://www.imcine.gob.mx
Running Time: 90 minutes
Starring: Sanaa Alaoui, Adrian Alonso, Naoufal Azzouz, Nuria Badih, Ronny Bandomo Casanova, Vanessa Bauche, Héctor Echemendia, Susana Gonzáles, Ignacio Guadalupe, Alejandro Lago, Adrian Marquez, Carmen Maura, Jorge Milo, Silke, Héctor Suárez
Drama
Screenings: Friday 7:40pm, Sunday 8:20pm, Monday 5:20pm

Three short stories dealing with the issue of migration, but from the viewpoint of those left behind. Three countries, three cultures, three different realities that serve as background for the stories of the lives of three children (a Mexican boy, a Cuban boy, and a Moroccan girl) who share the same feelings: the absence of a father who has emigrated searching for a better living standard, and the need to bring him back home.

Gaz Bar Blues
Directed by Louis Bélanger
Country: Canada
Original Language: French (with English subtitles)
http://www.telefilm.gc.ca
Running Time: 115 minutes
Starring: Serge Thériault, Gilles Renaud, Sébastien Delorme, Danny Gilmore, Maxime Dumontier, Fanny Mallette, Daniel Gadouas
Drama
Screenings: Friday 7:40pm, Sunday 8:20pm, Monday 5:20pm

The gas station owned by Mr. Brochu (aka “the Boss”) attracts the locals who hang around, trade stories and share a good laugh, but the business is far from flourishing. Its survival is threatened by repeated thefts, hold-ups, and competition from self-serve stations. The Boss counts on his two eldest sons to take over the business, but they have other ambitions.

Thieves and Liars (Ladrones y Mentirosos)
Directed by Ricardo Méndez Matta
Country: Puerto Rico
Original Language: Spanish (with English subtitles)
http://www.ladronesymentirosos.com
Running Time: 116 minutes
Starring: Steven Bauer, Isidro Bobadilla, Elpidia Carrillo, José Heredia, Daniel Lugo, Dennis Mario, Lymari Nadal, Carlos Paniagua, Magda Rivera, Luz María Rondón
Drama
Screenings: Saturday 8:15pm, Sunday 5:15pm, Monday 7:20pm

The stories of three Puerto Rican families, each in its own way affected by the giant wave of corruption that has overwhelmed the island ever since became the main port of entry for cocaine into the United States east coast in the 1990s.

Through the Eyes of Another (Gli Occhi Dell'altro)
Directed by Gianpaolo Tescari
Country: Italy
Original Language: Italian (with English subtitles)
http://www.santiagocin.it
Running Time: 105 minutes
Starring: Johan Leysen, Lucrezia Lante della Rovere, Hossein Taheri, Carlotta Ritossa, Anton Alexander, Elda Alvigini, Olek Mincer, Lea Cirianni, Narcisa Bonati
Drama
Screenings:Saturday 10:35pm, Sunday 2:10pm

The film takes unflinching look at the prejudices lying below surface of liberal life and reveals the dark corners of the soul. The only way to emerge from these dark corners is to observe life through the eyes of another.

Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství)
Directed by Petr Zelenka
Country: Czech Republic
Original Language: Czech (with English subtitles)
www.silenstvi.cz
Running Time: 110 minutes
Starring: Ivan Trojan, Zuzana Šulajová, Miroslav Krobot, Nina Divíšková, Karel Hermánek, Petra Lustigová, Jirí Bartoška, Zuzana Bydžovská, Jana Hubinská
Comedy/Drama
Screenings: Saturday 2:15pm, Sunday 10:50am

A comedy of manners where a love story is an excuse to meet people in search of love and understanding, people desperate to make contact with each other. It’s a film about a father-son relationship where the son is trying to win his girl back while the father is leaving the mother for another woman and the mother seems more worried about the worsening conflict in Bosnia than about the worsening situation in the family. Its a story of a man shifting boxes at an airport cargo company who comes to like planes more than people, a story of a joker who, when things finally start looking good, cannot resist making one more joke.

World Cinema Documentary Competition

Dr. Teller’s Very Large Bomb
Canada / USA
Directed by Michael Lennick
Running Time 56 minutes
Screenings: Friday 11:05am, Sunday 8:45pm

Meet Edward Teller, the real-life model for “Dr. Strangelove.” He created the most powerful weapons in history in hopes of mak-ing global war obsolete. Did he succeed? Was he an unsung hero or the ultimate vil-lain?

The Ghost of Corleone
Italy
Directed by Marco Amenta
Running Time 79 minutes
Screenings: Friday 9:00am, Saturday 9:00am

Can a man live hidden on an island for 40 years, hunted down by 400 men from the police and secret service and still continue to be the head of Cosa Nostra? In Sicily, the land of mystery and volcanoes, he can…

Return to Chiapas – A Photographer on the Road
Mexico / United Kingdom
Directed by Athena Mandis
Running Time 70 minutes
Screenings: Friday 12:50pm, Sunday 9:05am

In 1994, Araceli Herrera, a Mexican photo-journalist, was sent to Chiapas by the news magazine Proceso to cover the indigenousuprising led by the Zapatista Army. 10 yearslater, she returns to Chiapas to see what has changed.

World Cinema Short Documentaries
Running Time 71 minutesScreenings: Friday 2:45pm, Saturday 9:45pm

God Sleeps in Rwanda
Rwanda/USA
Directed by Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman

An inspiring story of loss and redemption, after the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, that captures the spirit of five women as they rebuild their lives and bring hope to a wounded nation.

Flowers Don’t Grow Here
Ukraine / United
KingdomDirected by Shira Pinson

An intimate and uncompromising portrayal of Ukrainian street children paying the ulti-mate price for political reform. A childhood haunted by prostitution, addiction, crime, violence and even murder…

World Cinema Short Film Competition

Running Time 119 minutes
Screenings: Friday 9:30pm, Saturday 10:30pm, Wednesday 9:10pm

Binta and The Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)
Senegal/Spain
Directed by Javier Fesser

One day, Binta’s father decides to carry out an idea that he has after becoming so con-cerned with the development of mankind. Only problem; he doesn’t know if it is a good idea.

Brother
Australia
Directed by Galvin Scott Davis

This psychological thriller introduces us to 3 characters and their bleak pasts and future. The film shows us differing time frames of a crime that has been committed and the aftermath that follows.

Charlotte’s Red
Northern Ireland
Directed by Colin McIvor

This film charts an eventful few days in the life of a dreamy seven year-old artist, Charlotte, and her father who finds a way to make money off of her talent.

Goodbye, Forever (Adios, para siempre)
Mexico
Directed by David Guillermo Barba

Directed by David Guillermo BarbaA crime scene photographer falls victim to his own profession through an ingenious game of images in which the viewer becomes an accomplice.

hiro
Canada
Directed by Matthew Swanson

After a chance encounter with a young girl, a shy Japanese insect collector finds himself thrust into a wild chase to recover a stolen beetle.

Lucky
South Africa/United Kingdom
Directed by Avie Luthra

Lucky is a South African orphan with AIDS who learns about life through an unlikely bond with a racist Indian woman.

Nothing Girl (Les Pieds dans le Vide)
Canada
Directed by Pierre Daudelin

Aldo and Karen have seen each other often but never really gotten to know each other. Late one night, Aldo drops by the Laundromat. Karen is there and for the first time, he notices her.