A young couple with a strained relationship falls headlong into a new obsession with birds. Petty squabbles turn into squawks. So do attempts at seduction. Their house becomes a nest as they prepare to adopt their first child—sorry, Bird. Benjamin Swift is a recent graduate in sociology from Colorado College. Through his time there, he has produced a seasonal podcast, volunteered at a local County Jail, and explored his love for ice cream. Bergen Hoff is a hopeless romantic from Northfield, Minnesota who studied creative writing at Colorado College. He wants to make moving, beautiful, and sincere films in LA as a director or DP one day. He wanted to include, in case any employers are reading this, that his greatest weakness is memory, but his greatest strength is, um… Director Statement
We made this film after our friend asked, “what if someone became obsessed with a nature documentary to the point that they wanted to become a bird?” ORNITHOLOGY (AND OTHER HOBBIES YOU CAN TAKE TOO FAR) examines the way we humans seek out our identities, and often find them in the form of passing trends. It looks at the roles that our relationships play in our identities, and asks what happens when two people become one in their quest to become someone—or something—else entirely. It reckons with the cycle of emotions we all experience as we transition, with as much grace as possible, from one stage of our life to the next. You’ll find it hard to decide which is more absurd: the question or the film. Deep in the Heart is a visually stunning celebration of what makes Texas unique its diverse landscapes and remarkable wildlife behavior that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Told through the eyes of wildlife species ranging from the mysterious blind catfish to the elusive mountain lion, the story follows our ever-changing relationship with the natural world and showcases our ability to destroy, conserve, and recover wildlife and the habitat we mutually depend on. Narrated by Matthew McConaughey and featuring state-of-the-art cinematography, this family-friendly film journeys from the highest peaks in West Texas, through our aquifers, rivers, and bays, and deep into the Gulf of Mexico. Deep in the Heart aims to conserve our remaining wild places, to show the connectivity of water and wildlife, and to recognize Texas’ conservation importance on a continental scale. Ben Masters is a filmmaker and writer specializing in wildlife and adventure stories. He is most known for directing the feature length documentary The River and The Wall (SXSW 2019 Award Winner) and for producing Unbranded (Mountainfilm 2015 Audience Award Winner). Masters studied wildlife biology at Texas A&M University and founded Fin and Fur Films, a production company specializing in short films featuring wildlife research, conservation, and activism. He is the author of two books published by Texas A&M University Press and has written for National Geographic and Western Horseman. His films have been distributed on Netflix, National Geographic, STARZ, PBS, and he has worked with The Wildlife Society, Borderlands Research Institute, YETI, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, and other great brands and NGOs. A proud Texan, Masters loves riding a good horse through new country, filming wildlife stories that haven’t been documented before, and using movies to help conserve wildlife and wild places. Where Is My Cat is a short film that adapts the real-life story of the artist’s lost pet into a parable on displacement, longing, and imagination. The film revolves around two narratives: that of Ying, who has returned home to China during a Covid-19 lockdown, and that of his cat Choco, who escapes his New York apartment and roams the city in Ying’s absence. These stories unfold in parallel, shifting between verité footage of Ying, shots imagining Choco’s point of view, and scenes in which the cat appears as a light projection in public spaces. Through the course of the film, the boundaries between reality and fantasy erode, but the emotional bond between human and cat remains clear. Chikya's School is a 2022 directorial debut short film of Deepak Vasant Thokal, set in a small village of Maharashtra. It's a story of a kid "Chikya", his pet dog "Tomya" and two friends. Together they live a normal life enjoying childhood and share a strong bond until one day Tomya dies in a road accident. The movie shows how Chikya, who is deeply saddened by this lose, is affected by different perspectives of people around him, and how his parents and friends try to help him overcome this grief. Deepak Thokal is an Indian film director from Pune, Maharashtra, India. He is a full time IT employee who discovered his liking for story telling at a very early age. Chikyachi Shala (Chikya's School) is his directorial debut from 2022 with which he has started a new journey of telling story visually. Director Statement"Chikyachi Shala" (Chikya's School) is a story very close to my heart. Whenever I travel on highway, I see so many animals, specially dogs, dead from accidents with large vehicles. It's unfortunate that we cannot teach these poor souls a lesson on how to cross the road. I have tried telling a story about my feelings for these souls through a small kids character "Chikya". I hope you enjoy the movie but also try to help animals in any which way possible. A nature documentary that explores the lives of different animals within a backyard. watch as a Saint Bernard, 2 ducks, and multiple chickens attempt to coexist. Directed by Saul Cardenas One million fish die to a frantic beat Murray cod golden and silver perch bony bream with shining spirit skins their ghostly swim bladders whisper Gaele Sobott is a writer living on Darug land in Western Sydney, Australia. Her published works include Colour Me Blue (Heinemann), My Longest Round (Magabala Books) and recent short stories in Verity La, Meanjin, Prometheus Dreaming, New Contrast and the anthologies, Botswana Women Write and Not Quite Right for Us. Her poetry is published in various magazines including Disability Arts Online, Cordite Poetry Review, Plumwood Mountain and New Flash Fiction Review. Her animated poems, I Was Born (Misfit), Dear Rosa, Evacuate and AstroTurf have won awards and been screened internationally. She is the founding director of Outlandish Arts, a disabled-led arts organisation that focuses on words as the catalyst for experimentation and improvisation across various art Director StatementEarly in 2019, close to one million fish searched for flow, for faster cooler deeper current, desperately fighting to breathe in the lower Darling River. But they failed, suffocated; their bloated, rotting corpses floating on blue-green algae pools, piling up on the banks and dry riverbeds. The deaths of 100-year-old Murray cod, golden and silver perch, bony bream with shining spirit skins haunt me. I grieve for them as I grieve the looming death of the Murray-Darling rivers system. I fear for the lives of farmers, townspeople, wildlife, reptiles, fish, insects, plant life, wetlands and soil that depend on this river system. Geologically speaking, the Murray–Darling Basin is over 200 million years old. The river system stretches 3,200 kilometres from Queensland, down through NSW, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory then into the Murray Mouth at Goolwa, in South Australia.
A harrased dog is found by animal helpers near a small village in Iran. They take him to the shelter and cure his disease but soon they find out Attila the dog suffers from an infected leg. As the helpers don't want his leg to be cut off They manage to send Attila to Us via an unbelievable story. Omid Shenavar was born in Tehran, Iran. He started to study cinema at KCJ academy of cinema on 2012. He's been working on films and Medias science then. He's made several short films and documentaries including Attila. Omid in now runing Editeto website for helping other artists turning their ideas and concerns to films. In a rural town of Southern California, the mayor is a Golden Retriever named Max, a beacon of positivity to the citizens of Idyllwild. In this heart warming documentary, we discover how the dynasty of golden retriever mayor's came to be, the family behind the mayor, and how a community has blossomed over its newfound beloved, furry leader. Brandon Sanchez is a 21-years old student and aspiring filmmaker. He loves storytelling, and loves being told a story, wether its through music, film, photography, or any art form, it's a true appreciation that I have for listening and creating. I'm a very fruity individual and have a heart for sob stories. Three fun facts about me are: 1. I never learned how to ride a bike 2. I DID learn how to ride a scooter 3. I moved to California from Arizona when I was 19 to study film This is the first documentary I created, and it's incredibly special to me and the citizens of Idyllwild, California. It was made with lots of love, and words can't explain how eager I am to have it be viewed by people who share the same appreciation as I do. I sincerely hope it's chosen to be shared! |
#AniFab the Animalis Fabula Film Festival '22 compiles the information presented in the official selections from FilmFreeway our film festival partner as well as from the filmmakers.The Festival Director presents the information as it is presented to AniFab. Archives
October 2022
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