Friday: Block 2

UNDER PRESSURE

Drama (34 mins.) Austria, East Coast Premiere

 Director/Writer/Producer: Lilli Schwabe

Cast: Karin Lischka, Jan Mixsa, Gabi Schuchter, Julia Zborowska, Norman Shetler, Tess Werner, Anna Schwabe, Nadine Petrea, Katrin Graf and Heinz Rank u.a.

Synopsis: Clara, an aspiring gynecologist, is supporting her patients, no matter if they are bringing a child into the world or having an abortion. But with the increasing pressures of daily life, her duties in the clinic suddenly seem insurmountable, and her family life is slipping away.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Drama Thriller (21 mins) USA     

Director: Phedon Papamichael

Writers: Casey Cannon and Angeliki Giannakopoulos

Producers: Casey Cannon, Angeliki Giannakopoulos, and Phedon Papamichael

Cast: James Brolin, Frances Fisher, Rick Rossovich, Michael J. Gonzales, Kelly Tighe, Tommy Villafranca, David Edelstein, Iris Svis, Juju-Journey Brener and Cooper Layne

Synopsis: Gene gets up day-after-day and follows the same monotonous routine that he has lived since the death of his wife ten years earlier. He is aging fast from illness and loneliness and has given up on the future. Today, however, he awakens with a new determination to end the life he has known. Today, there is a new resolve that will change the course of everything.

THE SHOELACE

Short Film/Poetry (3 mins.) USA               

Director/Producer: Christopher Castigione

Writer: Charles Bukowski

Synopsis: A retelling of Charles Bukowski's 1984 poem, “The Shoelace.” When a poet finds himself caught up life's trivialities, he must confront his anxiety, or enter the madhouse.

LETTER TO GOD

Drama (17 mins.) USA/Azerbaijan, SC Premiere

Director: Maria Ibrahimova

Writers: Maria Ibrahimova; Based on a short story by Marian Belenkiy

Producer: Emin Ibrahimov

Cast: Yuri Baliev, Metanet Eres, Nigar Gulmahmudova, Maria Ibrahimova and Rena Ibrahimova

Synopsis: Letter to God is a film about the power of faith—irrespective of belief or religion. A lonely widower discovers that he is dying, and after a series of mysterious encounters, decides to do the only thing he can think of: write a letter to God.

BALLON

Drama (7 mins.) USA

Director: Alexis O. Korycinski

Writer: Julia Cox

Producers: Saray Deiseil, Jenniffer Castillo, Alexis O. Korycinski, Brian Korycinski, Jenifer Madson, Grace Alpert, Hillary Nadworny, Monica Bermudez, Sussanah Hicks Eldridge, Diana Putzer, and Susan Tunney

Cast: Shelby Rabara, Caitlin Carver, Caitlin Kinney, Emrhys Cooper and Laura Fremont

Synopsis: A professional ballerina caught in the cycle of all night partying and cocaine fueled rehearsals must confront her drug addiction when she crumbles during an important audition.

POOR GEORGE

Comedy/Drama/Sci-Fi (21 mins.) USA, SC Premiere

Director/Writer/Producer: Jim Harris

Cast: Michael Dempsey, Brian Doyle-Murray and Taylor Cole

Synopsis: George lives in two worlds. One perfect, his dream world, the other, his mundane real life, a living hell. Taking drastic measures, he enacts his plan to be in his dream world forever with his perfect girl, Dora. But that world is not all as it seems. He soon learns there’s a fine line between dreams