An unforgettably memorable selection of short films from around the world and New England will kick off the 22nd Annual Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival on Tuesday, August 7, 2018. The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) is one of only a handful of qualifying Festivals with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences-the Oscars–in the Live Action, Animation and Documentary short categories, the Canadian Screen Awards and the British Academy of Television & Film Arts (BAFTA). The World Premiere of Chris Overton’s “The Silent Child” took place at RIIFF last year, received the Festival’s Grand Prize and Academy nomination, and went on to receive the coveted Oscar®.
Starting on Tuesday night, Flickers launches a year-long “Celebration of Women in Film and Arts” (#WomenInTheArts). To celebrate this focus, the Festival has dedicated this year’s event to
Dr. Winifred E. Brownell, a groundbreaking educator and Dean Emerita of the Arts and Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. Her visionary work propelled the University to become a leading hub for film media studies and nurtured the Festival during its infancy, spurring it to become the internationally acclaimed event that it is today.
OPENING NIGHT ROSTER OF FILMS:
TIGHT SPOT | Directed by: Kevin Haefelin | 4 min. Switzerland, USA, 2018. Shining the shoes of a walk-in customer, a shiner discovers his client’s dark secret.
ZION | Directed By:Floyd Russ | 11 min. USA, 2017. Zion is a short documentary about the life of Zion Clark, a young wrestler who was born without legs and grew up in foster care.
CAROLINE | Directed By:Celine Held and Logan George | 12 min. USA, 2018. When plans fall through, a six-year-old is faced with a big responsibility on a hot Texas day.
FALL RIVER | Directed by: Pat Heywood and Jamil McGinnis | 7 min. USA, 2018. Through the intimate reflections of one extraordinary woman, Fall River tells the story of a family’s tragedy, the once-thriving city they inhabited, and how hope can blossom in unexpected places. In the search for closeness, for comfort, for history — what does it mean to be from somewhere?
THE COLLAR | Directed by:Viktoria Runtsova | 23 min. Russian Federation, 2017. A modest young woman buys the new collar for her clothing. But the collar starts to rule her life leading to an important decision.
TYRANNOSAURUS FUNK | Directed by: Sandra Boynton | 4 min. USA, 2017. 2-D animated musical short about the particular joys of being king of the dinosaurs. It’s sung from the point of view of a confident T. Rex—voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, set to a lively funk accompaniment. Drawn and directed by Sandra Boynton, song written by Boynton & Ford.
MARGUERITE | Directed by: Marianne Farley | 19 min. Canada, 2017. An aging woman and her nurse develop a friendship that inspires her to unearth unacknowledged longing and thus help her make peace with her past.
GEOFF | Directed by:Michael Rouse and Will Kenning | 20 min. United Kingdom, 2017. Bridging Fear with Love and Peanuts.
FERN | Directed by: Johnny Kelly | 6 min. United Kingdom, 2017. A woman loses her husband, and finds a houseplant.
ONE SMALL STEP | Directed by: Bobby Pontillas | 8 min. USA/China | 2018. Luna, a young Chinese American girl, dreams of becoming an astronaut. Supported by her humble father, Luna endeavors to make her dreams come true.