press release

WBFF 2001- brainstorm edition

CONTACT: Jennifer Robertson - press09wbff.org
For Immediate Release Tel.: 718-486-5889 - Fax: 718-599-5039

An exploration of cutting-edge filmmaking
WBFF, Brainstorm Edition: (May 1st - May 6th)

Brooklyn, New York (April 5, 2001) -The WBFF's selection criteria were created to promote the exploration of cutting-edge filmmaking and to uphold the high standards of traditional cinema.

The films are screened in four categories: Feature Film, Documentary, Short Subject, and Experimental Film. A panel of journalists, film festival directors, and film related professionals grade each film to select the best in its category.

What follows are synopses of one example from each category of films that will be included in the festival program.

Feature Length Narrative
A poetic gangster comedy and smash hit at the box office, who won an Academy Award for his short fiction film Election Night in 1999. FLICKERING LIGHTS (DK) dir. Anders Thomas Jensen Torkild may be forty, but he can't seem to get past his childhood high jinks. He's still indebted to a group of vicious, big-time crooks. His own little gang of faithful buddies has a depressing tendency to fail at the jobs he plans for them. These four no-goods with their traumatic childhood memories have never really grown up, but their lives change when at last they find a hang-out - an old forest inn - where they are able to lead a utopian kind of life. A natural life, the good life for good people, but of course paid for by crime money.

Documentary
A depiction of Down syndrome with a focus on humanity, but not on the disability. Receiving a nomination for the 2001 Grand Jury Prize Slamdance, and the Best Documentary Award at the 2000 Fort Worth Film Festival. UP SYNDROME (US) dir. Duane Graves University of Texas student filmmaker Duane Graves chronicles 18 months in the life of his longtime friend Rene Moreno, a 24-year-old San Antonio native with Down Syndrome. UP SYNDROME paints an intimate portrait of a young man dealing with everyday challenges and triumphs with an inspiring sense of unfailing positivity. After meeting Rene, it is easy to see that people with Down Syndrome, though they may look "different", experience life as fully as those of us who look "normal." Sensitive, yet truthful, alternately biting and humorous, UP SYNDROME is a unique look at a unique individual.

Short Subject
Artistic temperament taken to the extreme: Winner at the British Academy Awards for Best Short Film. PLEASE! (UK) dir. Paul Black This 15-minute film tells the story of a disillusioned novelist at the end of his tether, frenetically weaving through his existence brandishing a Smith & Wesson. His wife and daughter, weary from 8 years of waiting for his literary success, have moved out of his life. This tale of hopelessness, despair, guilt, and irrational behavior is an important exploration of the struggle between art and love. Pull the trigger.

Experimental
This wildly imaginative stop motion animation film leaves its audience amazed. A comedic triumph: A DONF. (France) dir. Lolo Zazar A DONF is a frenzied romp down a country road by two unique motorists, a hapless hitchhiker, two policemen, and a coveted blow-up doll. Set to a hyper-appropriate soundtrack and filmed in a stop-motion style, the comic encounters between the characters redefine the mundane into the surreal, creating a familiar yet absurd filmic experience.