THE TASTE OF POMEGRANATE
USA, 2000, 35mm, 90 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2001)
Writer/Dir: Michael Snyder, Prods: John Midby
Cast: Claudette Mink, Chopper Bernet, Alaister Duncun

A fascinating true story of passion, art, and the sacrifices one remarkable woman, a century ahead of her time, made in an attempt to have it all. East coast raised Mabel Howe is a strong-willed and idealistic young painter who finds herself married to a handsome and prosperous cattle rancher in Wyoming, circa 1900. Frequent visits from her mentor, Claude Harp, cause emotions to erupt. However, only one man understands how Mabel’s heart can be kept.

THANK YOU, GOOD NIGHT
USA, 2001, 35mm, 104 min..(West Coast Premiere, DWF 2002)
Dir: Chuck Griffith, Writers: Chris Provenzano, Robert Zimmer, Jr., Prods: Scott Burkhardt, Brandon Lyons, Inmen Young, Robert Zimmer, Jr.
Cast: Christian Campbell, JP Pitoc, Mark Hamill, Lara Boyd Rhodes, Sally Kirkland

It's April 1994. Meet the Handy Kaufmans, New Jersey's foremost underachieving rock band. Kurt Cobain has just committed suicide, and this group of young slackers embarks on one final tour of their own. They’ve been at it four years. Either they make it big this time -- they grab the brass ring of a record contract -- or they resign themselves to a life of nine-to-five mediocrity. Join the Handy Kaufmans on a hilarious and touching romp through the music and culture of the early '90s, where the band has to let go of a lot of baggage -- and in doing so, they learn, as the Rolling Stones said decades before -- you can't always get what you want. But sometimes, you might just get what you need.

THAT FALL
USA, 2006, DIGITAL, 86min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2006)
Dir: Sarju Patel • Writer: Joe McClean • Prods: Joe McClean, Sarju Patel
Cast: Liza de Weerd, Joe McClean, Joseph Campo, Melissa Wolfe, Seth Wolfe

After the murder of their daughter, Janet and Adam Wilson get divorced. Three years go by and Janet has started a new life as a teacher in the small town where her brother lives. In an attempt to get Janet dating again her sister-in-law sets her up with a local boy named Luke. No one but Adam, who has been told to stop calling, knows that Luke is responsible for their little girls death.

THEY WOULD LOVE YOU IN FRANCE
USA, 2003, HD24, 97 min..(West Coast Premiere, DWF 2003)
Writer/Dirs: Sheldon Strickland, Tony J. Perri, Prods: Sheldon Strickland, Tony J. Perri, Joe Rassulo
Cast: Sheldon Strickland, Challen Cates, Branton Boxer, Herb Jefferson, Jennifer Crystal-Foley

Set against a world of dog parks, bars, night clubs and coffee shops, THEY WOULD LOVE YOU IN FRANCE is an intimate and humorous look at the reality of three struggling Los Angeles artist living life on the emotional edge while chasing the dream. Appearances by Warren’s crack addicted father and a few really bad days, turn into life changing moments when three people must re-examine their reasons for being trapped in a love hate relationship with a city, their dreams and each other. This is an honest look at events that define us by what we do, rather than two we are.

THIS IS A BUSINESS
USA, 2006, DIGITAL, 103 min. (US Premiere, DWF 2006)
Dir: Tom Stern • Writers: Tom Stern, Daniel L. Stern • Prods: Daniel L. Stern, Jason K. Corey, Tom Stern
Cast: Nathan Nolan, Henry Vega, Rick Schiaffo, Liz Maccie

Turtletaub, a shipping clerk with loftier dreams, starts a business with a day laborer as his assistant and a conflicted salesman as his sales force, knowing only that he intends either to create a product or to provide a service, and whichever one it is, he pledges, it will be good… for everyone. Now all that Turtletaub needs is to figure out what it is his business will do. As the pressure builds, Turtletaub seems farther and farther away from having his idea. Until one night, it hits… and it’s great.

THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY
NEW ZEALAND, 2001, 35mm, 81 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2002 - BEST SCREENPLAY)
Writer/Dir: Keith Hill, Prods: Andrew Calder, Keith Hill
Cast: Sarah Smuts-Kennedy, Stephen Lovatt, Peta Ruttter, Beryl Te Wiata, Peter Elliott, Stelios Yiakmis, Ismay Johnson, Tandi Wright, Alan de Malmanche, Bruce Hopkins

"Once upon a time there was a woman who lived on the back of a man's tongue … " In an inner city loft Belinda lives her dream of being a writer. Across the street is Suzanne, a painter who has the success Belinda craves for. Suzanne lives with Tony, an actor frustrated by his dead-end role in a soap, who is looking for a way out. Soon Belinda is caught up in a fraught love triangle - which is just the experience she needs to inspire her first novel. This is a wry, humorous story about sex and love, success and failure, creativity and careers.

TO HELL WITH LOVE
USA, 1998, 16mm, 98 min. .(DWF 1998)
Director: Karl Kozak, Writers: Karl Kozak, David Coburn
Producers: Karl Kozak, Victor Lou
Cast: David Coburn, Corey Michael Blake, Kate Parselle, Michael McCafferty, Natalie Williams, Julie McKee, Natascha Nikolai

A struggling, young writer cherishing the belief that there is no such thing as bad luck, only good luck in disguise, is rejected, fired, robbed, dumped, assaulted, and separated from the only copy of his manuscript, all in a span of forty-eight hours. His luck continues to spiral downward when his adulterous brother and obnoxious cousin take it upon themselves to move in. Insult is added to injury when he falls for the beautiful young publisher who found his manuscript, only to discover she must relocate. It’s only then that he realizes he must write his own destiny.

TOUCH MY GIRL
USA, 2004, HD24, 143 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2004)
Writer/Dir: Christian Laursen • Prods: Araceli Madriz, Christian Laursen • Cast: Shaila Vaidya, Robert McAtee, Christian Laursen

A girl trapped in an abusive relationship is saved one dark night by a stranger. An artist who himself is lost. Their love becomes the pole from which she gets the courage to face the darkness and save herself. But her past life isn't about to set her free.

TRIANGLE SQUARE
USA, 2001, 35mm, 94 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 1998 - AUDIENCE AWARD)
Dir: Jeff Terry Anderson, Writers: Jeff Terry Anderson, Donny Terranova, Prods: Jeff Terry Anderson, Donny Terranova, Payam Eshraghian, Darren Lu • Cast: Jon Cellini, Dawn Cochran, Matt Lillard, Nicole Eggert, Donny Terranova, Gregory Phelan, Ashley Turner, Eric Etebari

Mid-Semester, 1995, Arizona State University: LINCOLN WILCOX drops out of college and hits the pavement in search of the muse that will inspire him to write the "Great American Novel." Four years later Linc finds himself living in Los Angeles and writing the Hot Fantasy column for a smalltime porno magazine. With the death of his father, he heads home for the funeral, and prepares to face his friends and family who have not heard from him in years. TRIANGLE SQUARE is a gritty comedy, which depicts a young man's coming-of-age through reunion with lifelong friends, and explores the topics of trust, love, betrayal, ambivalence and reconciliation.

THE TROUBLE WITH BOYS AND GIRLS
USA, 2003, 16mm, 115 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2003)
Writer/Dir: Jesse P. Howard, Prod: Todd Howard
Cast: Katrina Athmann, Nathan Daynes, Alice Holliston, Deems Urquhart

A feud pitting the boys against the girls erupts in a small town with the arrival of older and seemingly wiser Liza. Tommy retreats from the conflict to be alone and play his old harmonica, attracting Liza’s attention. They develop a secret friendship which has unexpected consequences.

TRUE RIGHTS
USA, 1999, 35mm, 103 mins..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2000 - AUDIENCE AWARD)
Dir: Meg Thayer, Writer: Meg Thayer • Producers: Andy Trapani, Leon Gladstone, Meg Thayer
Cast: Claudia Christian, Richard Lee Jackson, Tom Heard, Jack Betts, Jonathan Jackson

A raucous dark satire that probes directly into the public’s fascination with Shock TV and real programming. TRUE RIGHTS follows the rise of an eccentric crew of video vultures as they boldly sweep the city in an attempt to secure story rights to the next great Shock TV story. They happen onto a disillusioned, suicidal film era actor who serves as a soulful reminder of the beauty of film in contrast to the new artlessness of “real t.v.” The result is a tightrope walk between comedy and tragedy in the exploration of art vs. voyeurism.

TWEEK CITY
USA, 2005, Super16/DV, 96 min. .(WORLD Preimere, DWF 2005)
Writer/Dir: Eric G. Johnson • Prods: Eric G. Johnson, Caitlin Maynard, Yule Caise • Cast: Giuseppe Andrews, Keith Brunsmann, Elizabeth Bogush, Eva Fisher, Demetrius Navarro, Gabriela Maltz Larkin, Luis Saguar, Samy Langs

Bill, a young, potentially closeted, half-Latino speed-dealer in San Francisco's Mission District, picks up a bag of crystal meth and starts cruising the city in a desperate attempt to make some money, and more importantly escape his nightmares. A series of mishaps, consummating in a stage-dive disaster, send Bill reeling into a speed-induced, downward spiral. Bill’s nocturnal journey through the streets of San Francisco ultimately takes him to Los Angeles, where he crashes his high school sweetheart's wedding. From his sleep-deprived, hallucinogenic state, Bill makes a desperate attempt to reconnect with Sharon, his first, and only, love.

24 NIGHTS
USA, 1999, 16mm, 97 min. .(DWF 1999)
Writer/Dir./Producer: Kieran Turner
Cast: Kevin Isola, Aida Turturro, Stephen Mailer, David Burtka, Rob Bogue, Mary Louise Wilson

Jonathan is a 24 year old, spacey, pot-smoking college dropout and multi-loser in romance who still believes in Santa Claus with one shot left to find his true love: so he writes a letter to Santa Claus. Upon meeting Toby, Jonathan is convinced that this is the one Santa sent for him, and proceeds to wreck everyone’s lives in pursuit of his dream man. Fighting snags, traps and pitfalls to Christmas Day, will Jonathan land his Christmas wish?

2 WAY CROSSING
USA, 1998, 16mm, 57 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 1998)
Writer/Dir: Terrence Sacchi, Producer: Paul Reitano
Cast: Bryan Schany, Paul Reitano, Careena Melia, Louis Fransisco Vega

Sean is about to graduate from New York City high school, but before he goes away to college he will lose the things that matter most: his best friend, the girl he loves, and the childhood which he cannot let go. Caught in a cycle of drugs and violence, Sean learns that the streets you grow up on are not as safe as you think.

UNDERMIND
USA, 2003, 35mm, 108 min. (West Coast Premiere, DWF 2003 - GRAND JURY AWARD)
Writer/Dir: Nevil Dwek, Prods:Fred Bernstein, Mark Tariov
Cast: Sam Trammell, Erik Jensen, Cella Weston, Susan May Pratt

A psychological dramatic thriller about one man on a journey to find himself - a trip that takes him to a parallel world. Derrick, a corporate lawyer with a large trust fund, and Zane, a criminal, live in opposite social spheres. Although they never meet, their lives are more connected than either one of them could ever imagine.

UPSIDE DOWN
USA, 1999, 35mm, 95 min..(West Coast Premiere, DWF 1999)
Dir: Mario Mandujano, Writers: Franco Ambriz (Adapted by Mario Mandujano & Francisco Lorite), Producers: Francisco Lorite & Mario Mandujano, Cast: Chantal Chamandy, Alex Furth, Francisco Lorite, Anilu Pardo

Love is never easy and when Ava, a part-time stripper/phtographer, Alex, a Bruce Willis-wannabe, Lola, a kinky bank executive, and Nelson, an obsessive compulsive ex-cop, come together - it proves just how down right puzzling it can be!

VAMPIRE CLAN
USA, 2002, 35mm, 87 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2002)
Dir: John Webb, Writer: Aaron Pope, Prods: John Langley, Maggie Langley, Elie Cohn, Keith Walley
Cast: Drew Fuller, Alex Breckenridge, Timothy DePriest, Marina Black, Kelley Kruger, Richard Gilliland, Larry Dirk, Mimi Craven, David Wells

Based on the horrific true story of the 1996 Vampire Killings in Florida, the film follows the police investigation of five Goth teenagers who claimed to be real-life vampires. They drank each other1s blood and embraced the occult. But they were also ordinary, middle-class kids looking for an outlet for their angst and morbid curiosity. Somewhere along their road trip to New Orleans, their fantasy life became all too real. Now the police have two savagely beaten corpses on their hands... parents of the teenaged vampires. What really happened? And how did these normal kids become such monsters?

VERSES
USA, 1999, 35mm, 81 min. (DWF 1999)
Writer/Dir: Michael R. Traina, Producers: Mark O’Brien, Michael R. Traina
Cast: Christopher Jaymes, Brian Gattas, Ben Caswell, Rachel Parker, Christina Eichman, Cynthia Martino, Bob Holman

A chain-smoking troublemaker enters a poetry contest at a local cafe where he faces off against some heavy hitters including a handsome easy-going favorite. In the cafe, he meets up with a friend struggling with relationship problems and a political activist who has another more personal secret. The story, interspersed with bouts of performance poetry, ultimately propels toward its climax where the four characters realize that, despite their intimacy, each can only see the world through one unique and complex point of view: their own.

VICE
USA, 2000, 16mm, 88 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2000)
Writer/Dir: John Woodward, Producer: Tammy Stones
Cast: Bo Hopkins, Maxine Bahns, Jeff Meek, Bellary Darden-Davis, Randall “Tex” Cobb, Dennis Burkley, Irv Gorman, Mickey Jones, William Smith, Sydney Lassick, Kip King, Tammy Stones, Duke Selley

Based on a true story, VICE is a provocative, satirical comedy about sex, censorship, victimless crime, and prosecutorial politics. The film’s critique of self-serving sex police was inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s myopic, gung-ho war-planners in DR. STRANGELOVE. On the heels of a $40 million impeachment for lying about sex, VICE tackles the criminalization of sexual imagery. Big Brother isn’t just watching, he’s drooling.

WANDERLUST
USA, 2000, 35mm, 95 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2001)
Dir: P. James Keitel, Writer: D. Scott Hessels, Prods: Damaged Californians
Cast: Kelly Ciscone, Trace Fraim, Eddie Matos, Christian J. Meoli, Sabrina Lloyd, Ria Pavia, Amzie Strickland

Struggling to hold together her trainwreck family, Kelley tracks down her drifter brother to a seedy, remote island off Chile and discovers him living with a ragged group of expatriates. He reacts to her frantic demands to return home by tricking her into being stranded; but when she falls in love with one of the drifters and with wanderlust itself, it triggers a surprising chain of events that forces everyone to draw a new line between personal freedom and responsibility.

WANNABE
USA, 2006, DIGITAL, 78 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2006 - FUSION AUDIENCE AWARD)
Dir: Richard Keith • Writers: Craig Young, Richard Keith • Prods: Craig Young, Richard Keith, Paul Spadone
Cast: Craig Young, Adam Huss, Anna Becker, Liz Warner, Jonathan Dixon, Spencer Garrett, Dan Mailley, Tate Taylor, Octavia Spencer

Wannabe follows the hilarious exploits of ex boy band member Steve Williams, who is trying in vain to remake his image as a “serious actor”. It is the flip side of “Entourage” and covers the painfully funny underbelly of L.A.’s Wannabees who will do anything to make it, even if it means wearing a dog suit in a cheesy indie film, or crashing a disabled actors audition. This politically incorrect romp will make you bust a gut.

WEDNESDAY CHILD
USA, 1999, 35mm, 103 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 1999)
Writer/Dir: Brad Marlowe, Producers: Lauren Moews & Brad Marlowe
Cast: Sommer Knight, David King, Brandon Hiott, Todd Surber

When Joanne, a troubled teen, and her younger brother Billy move to a sleepy Christian community - they don’t even try to fit in. Desperate for affection, Joanne quickly earns a reputation as the local thug’s “Slut Of The Week.” When the unhappy siblings meet and befriend a mysterious recluse who believes he has the power to heal - the lives of all three, as well as the perceptions of the town’s small-minded citizens, are forever changed.

WHAT'S BUGGING SETH
USA, 2005, 35mm, 95 min. .(Los Angeles Preimere, DWF 2005)
Writer/Dir/Prod: Eli Steele • Cast: Ross Thomas, Amy Purdy, Nora Kirkpatrick, Kareem Grimes, Marilyn McIntyre, Indira Gibson, Benjamin Watson, Justin Gordon, Edie Karas, Karl Dobbratz, Larry Laverty, David Fine, Christopher Hayes

When Seth Singer, a young deaf man, is asked his name one hears 'Death Dinger.' A minor flaw in a man who is determined to let nothing, not even his handicap, stop him from forming a successful bug extermination business. As the rejections pile up, he finds comfort and romance with Alma, a double amputee, who knows how unfair the world can be. However, as Seth finds himself on the verge of love and success, the return of his old flame threatens to destroy everything.

THE WHITE HORSE IS DEAD
USA, 2004, Super16, 100min. .(West Coast Preimere, DWF 2005)
Writer/Dir: Pete Red Sky • Prods: Pete Red Sky, Chris Moore, Jason Black
Cast: Resmine Atis, Irena Stemer, Andrew Welsh

In a bizarre form of self help, a 17-year old girl put leeches on her body, letting them suck her blood to ease the pain of her life. While her sexually charged Russian mother insights her to use her beauty to achieve the American dream. With the arrival of a handsome gardener, a potent male energy is released into the already tense female household, creating a strange triangle of sex, jealousy and horrific manipulation.

THE WIND
USA, 2001, 16mm, 85 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2001)
Dir: Michael Mongillo, Writers: James Charbonneau, Michael Mongillo, Prods: Michael Mongillo, Carolyn Camburn, Taylor Warren
Cast: Zeke Rippy, Carolyn Camburn, Scott Parrish, Philipp Karner, Davis Mikaels, Joanna Bonaro, James Thalman

Love comes in many forms. But Mic Vinder discovers that he has more to worry about when murder comes in the mail. A horrific and thrilling morality tale, THE WIND delights in asking questions, not answering them. As disturbing as it is thought-provoking, THE WIND is ultimately a study of a group of Anytown-America college kids whose tragic degeneration into a savage horde is remarkably plausible.

WISH
USA, 2002, Digital, 89 min. (WORLD Premiere, DWF 2003)
Writer/Dir: Brian Jude Leahy, Prods: Shauna Hudson, Jack Esformes, Josette DiCarlo, Ed Ornelas, Brian Jude Leahy
Cast: Tim O’Shea, Camille Kelly, Jack Esformes, Gretchen Massey, Scott Klace, Paula Killen, Carla Rosati, Brian Jude Leahy, Rey Gallegos, Josette DiCarlo, Joe Clinton Smith, Jason Schermer, Nova Sheppard

Meet Ralph. He’s a gentle soul whose only companion on his birthday is his beloved dog, Virginia. At the end of this lonely day he makes a wish and the story begins....a splendidly odd-ball tale of how Ralph’s wish comes to be. We are introduced to Ralph’s world and the sometimes dark and crazy, but often touching turns that it takes. The very matchbook that he uses to light his birthday candle intertwines the action and the eccentric, whacked-out characters that make up WISH. Sometimes the journey is just as satisfying as the reward and WISH happens to be that journey.

YARD SALE
USA, 2004, HD, 102 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2004)
Dir: Bobby Logan • Writers: Bobby Logan, Robert J. Elisberg • Prods: Tamysen Hall, Bobby Logan
Cast: David Lipper, Andrea Robinson, Michael Patrick McGill, Janiece Jary

In two days Harley and Renee Atwater’s divorce will be final, so they’ve decided to hold a “Yard Sale” then split the profits and start their new lives apart…Only one problem: both want to keep the Jeep. So, they decide to make it a contest – whoever makes the most money at the sale, gets to keep the Jeep! The couple proceeds to “sell off pieces of their lives” to the quirky people that yard sales always attract. These encounters lead to “flashbacks” of incidents in the couple’s past – giving us a unique insight into why their
marriage ultimately failed.

YOU GOT NOTHIN'
USA, 2003, HD24, 97 min..(Southwest Premiere, DWF 2004)
Dir: Philip Angelotti, Jr. • Writers: Philip Angelotti, Jr., Steven Langa • Prod: Philip Angelotti, Jr. • CoProd: Steven Langa • Cast: Steven Langa, Philip Angelotti, Jr., Brian McNamara, Ellina McCormick, Joe Cortese, Pepe Serna, Rachael Langa, Val Lauren, Reynaldo Gallegos, Matt Gallini, Joey “Coco” Diaz, Frank D'Amico, Liesl Lombardo

What happens when a ten-year-old girl redirects the lives of her two kidnappers? Major League hopeful Joey Carlucci and his childhood friend, Dominick Mazzetti, born and bred in Hoboken, NJ, are sentenced to a life of small-time debt collecting, until ordered by their boss, Bookie “Big Tommy” Cesaro, to find and collect $400,000 from deadbeat Willy Starks. Discovering that Willie has relocated to L.A., Joey and Dom pack their bags and head out west – only to find a world they never imagined. From an overzealous bellhop and crazy, gun-toting Cubans, to the unplanned kidnapping of Willie’s ten-year-old daughter, Joey and Dom find their world spinning out of control, culminating in madcap mayhem.

YUP YUP MAN
USA, 1999, 16mm, 88 min..(WORLD Premiere, DWF 2000)
Writer/Dir: Glenn Klinker, Producers: Glenn Klinker, Debi Monahan
Cast: William Bumiller, David Bowe, Jocelyn Seagrave, Debi A. Monahan, Matt Gallini

Yup Yup Man is a schizophrenic street man who wants to become a crime crusader like “Dark Justice,” his favorite comic book. As he focuses on his crime fighting crusade, his delusional traits weaken, making him seem outwardly normal. In the end, he must choose between a destructive world of crime fighting or aspiring to grow his inherent “goodness.”