This Year's Program Celebrates the Power of Art and Culture in Affecting Positive Change
11th Annual event takes place April 10-17th in collaboration with Roger Williams University. Highlights include major international shorts and features, and documentaries and a celebration of the arts.
NOTE: THIS SCHEDULE IS EVOLVING AND WILL BE COMPLETED BY APRIL 2ND
• Program Subject to Change •
MONday, April 17th:
2:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Jordan Berry, Global Communications Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE:
CELEBRATING THE ART OF INTERNATIONAL STORYTELLING
Chapa | Fabio Montanari, Director | 14 min. Brazil, 2015
When two Sao Paulo bakers are unfairly fired after 20 years, they decide to take revenge and rob the bakery during Brazil's first World cup match. What they don't expect are customers who may interrupt their plans.
Escher’s Taxi | Aleksei Abib and Flavio Botelho, Directors | 16 min. Brazil, 2014
In the old center of Sao Paulo, Carlos takes a taxi to Buenos Aires. As he crosses Escher's space-time, he accesses a deeper city within himself. Carlos now travels through his emotions, his unconscious, and goes far beyond anything he could imagine.
Partiu | Felipe Prado, Director | 15 min. Brazil, 2015
Partiu portrays the spoiled kids of the easy wealth of the Brazilian nouveau riche in Rio de Janeiro. Daniel (Victor Gorgulho) turns 20 and has the night in his life that will redefine who he is, his future and his moral self. The short exposes Brazil’s culturally void and morally decadent high society.
Sunnyside | Sylvia Johnson, Director | 18 min. USA, 2014
Art is a mixture of hard work, intuition, luck and magic driven by passion and love.
Tether | Eve Symington, Director | 18 min. Guatemala, 2015
In a remote Mayan village, a tenacious young girl's dream of education is in peril when an unwanted pregnancy endangers her sister's life. (The Filmmaker and Crew will be Attendance)
3:30 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Josh Grab, Graphic Design Major
THE CREATIVE PROCESS IN 90 MINUTES:
WRITER, DIRECTOR, ACTOR, PRODUCER: MAKING A LIVING IN THE FILM INDUSTRY Moderated by Fr. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P., featuring Eric Latek, writer, director, motion graphics artist; Tommy DeNucci, writer, actor, director; and Duncan Putney, actor, screenwriter, producer.
The nature of the film industry has changed and evolved as technology has altered the landscape. The standard patterns of distribution have changed, and the rules have been thrown out the window on how to make a living and build a career. Meet four individuals who have taken unique paths as they have charted professional success for a discipline which could easily and fairly be defined as their passion.
About our Panelists:
Tom DeNucci, Actor/Writer/Director, Graduated from the New England Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in digital recording arts. After a couple years of background work, he landed a role on the Showtime series The Brotherhood. 2010 was a big year for Tom, who played "Pax", a wise cracking rookie cop in the Robert Englund horror thriller "Inkubus". Later that year he played along side Peter Ficinelli in the film "Loosies", before capping 2010 off with a leading role in "Infected" playing Michael Madsen's son. DeNucci spent the next year in the writing room, prepping his passion project, the coming of age thriller "Self Storage". In the summer of 2012, DeNucci teamed up with producer Chad A. Verdi and the Woodhaven Production Company to bring Self Storage to life. Tom found himself on both sides of the camera. Aside from writing and directing the picture, he also starred along side Eric Roberts, Jonathan Silverman and Michael Berryman. Tom's accomplished all this before the age of 30 and there doesn't seem to be any signs of him slowing down.
Fr. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P. Besides being a filmmaker, Fr. Gumbert is a painter and sculptor. He was born in Framingham, MA, attended Arizona State University, Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA, and University of Utah, where he received a masters degree in fine arts. While in graduate school, he produced two documentary films that aired on PBS: "Ritual Ways" and "Between Two Worlds." He won a Dore Schary award for human relations for one of these documentaries, "Ritual Ways." In 1994, Father Gumbert served as a Production Assistant on the set of the film "Federal Hill," where he earned the nickname "Padre to the Stars." In 2003, he created a documentary, "Saving Grace," which focused on religious persecution in the former Czechoslovakia. Though originally shown on PBS, "Saving Grace" was also shown on the Providence College campus, and several film festivals since. In 2005, Father Ken won a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals for this documentary. Father Gumbert has been a professor of Humanities and has taught Philosophy, Art and Film at Providence College since his arrival here in 1992. Fr. Gumbert teaches History of Film (Classic and Silent Era), The Catholic Imagination of Four American Filmmakers (John Ford, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese), Film Video Production and Women in Cinema for the women's studies program, where we explore theoretical concerns of women who make and consume films.
Eric Latek is a director of photography, motion graphics artist, and he directed My Name is Anna, a documentary short that screened at last year's RIIFF. He is currently at work on a feature film Tiger.
Duncan Putney is an accomplished actor, as well as an award winning screenwriter and producer. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he studied both business and theatre, Duncan works as a professional actor in film, television, stage, and television commercials and can be seen in such films as "The Judge," “Mystic River,” “R.I.P.D.,” “The Town,” and “Brilliant Mistakes,” as well as TV commercials for Papa Gino’s, Budweiser, and others. Always writing, Duncan began to follow that passion professionally and starting in 2003, his work began to get some notice. His writings have gained honors at the International Family Film Festival, the Going Green Film Festival, the Woods Hole Film Festival, the ScreenCraft competitions, the New England Emmy Awards, the Spotlight on Rhode Island Screenwriting Competition, the Dixie Kane Memorial Writing Competition, and others. In 2009, Duncan and long time friend Andre Stark formed Original Concept & Development Associates to develop and produce their own projects. Currently they have several television projects in the development and pre-production stages. Their short film/TV pilot “HALF PINT” took home a Van Gough Award at the 2014 Amsterdam Film Festival and is screening in WW2 museums across the US and in Normandy. His short "THE LESSON" is currently in pre-production with Roman Media. He is represented by Casey at Maggie Inc., a SAG-AFTRA franchised agent.
5:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Catherine F. Smeykal, Graduate Architecture Major
STORIES WE TELL: INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARIES
Gabo, The Magic of Reality | Justin Webster, Director | 90 min. United Kingdom, 2015
'Gabo, The Magic of Reality' is a story about the incredible power of human imagination, which follows the interwoven threads of Gabriel García Márquez’s life and work – “Gabo” to all of Latin America – with the narrative tension of an investigation.
6:30 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Ben Horst, Graduate Architecture Major
TEENAGE BLUES: TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE
Share | Pippa Bianco, Director | 12 min. USA, 2014
A 15-year-old girl returns to school after someone shares an explicit video of her.
Honeytrap | Sarah Sullick, Director |93 min. United Kingdom, 2014
Set in South London and inspired by true events, HONEYTRAP is a tragic teen romance. It tells the story of fifteen-year-old Layla, who sets up the boy in love with her to be killed.
TUESDAY, APRIL 12TH:
2:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Brad Fagan, Journalism Major
FOCUS ON WOMEN: THE ROLES WE PLAY
Before the Bomb | Tannaz Hazemi, Director | 23 min. USA, 2015
10 year old Elsa takes matters into her own hands when Child Services plans a visit that could separate her from her 5 year old brother.
Bosniak | Kejd Juqo, Director | 15 min. Canada, 2015
A young girl is forced to the limits of her humanity in order to survive the Bosnian War.
Dark Whispers | Ngaire Pigram, Director | 9 min. Australia, 2014
Debbie searches for the freedom to let go, by embracing what always gave her the strength to stay here.
Every Beautiful Thing | Sonya Lea, Director | 11 min. USA, 2014
Two sisters trying to forget their troubled past must deal with a cruel mother close to death. Stars HBO's Lauren Weedman and singer Dylan Nichole Bandy, with a score by Trey Gunn, featuring Bob Dylan's 'Not Dark Yet.' EVERY BEAUTIFUL THING was created by a mostly female cast and crew, and is supported by women and those who want to see women's stories on the screen.
Sub Rosa | Thora Hilmarsdottir, Director | 15 min. United Kingdom, Iceland, 2014
SUB ROSA observes the 8 year old Tilda, she lives with her grandmother who runs a flower shop. The young girl roams around freely and discovers a world of indecent activities lurking behind the flower store walls.
The Way Things Are | Guy Nemesh, Director | 27 min. Israel, 2015
A mother in an empty house is looking for a way out.
3:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Zachary R. Kline, Public Relations Major
VIVA LA FRANCOPHONIE:
French Shorts
Au Sol | Alexis Michalik, Director | 19 min. France, 2014
Evelyne has to flight in emergency to London to go to her mother's funeral. But, as she is about to embark, she can't find the ID papers of her newborn… This is the beginning of a long day, as grueling as absurd, against the unbending rules of administration.
Bye Bye Melancolie | Romain Laguna, Director | 22 min. France, 2014
Bastille Day. Morad single-handedly mans the register of a little service station in the middle of nowhere. In the dead of night, he makes the acquaintance of Emma, a young ambulance driver who wishes she'd been named Melancholy.
French Touch | Cheng Xiao-Xing, Director | 22 min. France, 2015
The Chinese dream Florent, a young French graduate turn into nightmare. He is desperate to survive in the Far East. He crosses paths with Tang, a beautiful Chinese woman returned from France, which will make him an offer.
Citizen Day | Basile Doganis, Director | 20 min. France, 2014
A crew of teenagers from a Parisian suburb have to attend their Citizen Day at the military base in Versailles, but one of them, Chris, is turned away for arriving too
5:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
STORIES FROM THE HEART:
Documentary Screenings and Discussion
Introduced by Kyle P. Gravel, Creative Writing Major
THE SPRING 2016 FILM/SPEAKER SERIES ON THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE
Annual April programming that focuses on the Jewish experience through short films, documentary, media and a guest speaker. Hosted by Alice Cross, Adjunct Professor, Communications and the Rev. Nancy Soukup, RWU Multifaith Chaplain.
SUPERMAN ISN'T JEWISH (...AND I AM, A BIT) | Jimmy Bemon, Director | Short Film | 30 min. | 2014, France.
When he finds out that it's because he's Jewish that his willy is different, young Benjamin decides to do everything he can to hide his religion and keep his secret...
MIRIAM BEERMAN: EXPRESSING THE CHAOS | Jonathan Gruber, Director | 53 min. USA, 2015
Miriam Beerman was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1923 with a visual gift for the world around her. She quickly knew that painting would be her life. A recipient of two Fulbright fellowships, among numerous other honors, she had the first-ever solo female show at the Brooklyn Museum in 1971. Yet even in the art world she was challenged as a woman in another male-dominated profession.
From New England to Paris to New York, Miriam's artistic demons have led to haunting images that evoke the suffering of generations of victims. Her gripping work is housed at some of the most hallowed institutions in the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Corcoran Museum of Art, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, the Jewish Museum in New York, Yale University, the Mint Museum, and the U.S. State Department.
At 91 years old, Miriam now lives in a residence home near her family in Washington, D.C. Her memory is not what it once was, yet she is still generating compelling and forceful art. It's one of the only things she is sure of.
The film is a memorable profile of an artist who has elevated her empathy for the plight of the world's castoffs into powerful portrayals of dignity.
Introduced by John R. Tateossian, Public Relations Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE: The Power of Art
Tether | Eve Symington, Director | 18 min. Guatemala, 2015
In a remote Mayan village, a tenacious young girl's dream of education is in peril when an unwanted pregnancy endangers her sister's life.
Abandoned Goods | Edward Lawrenson and Pia Borg, Directors | 37 min. United Kingdom, 2014
A short essay film that tells the story of the journey of the Adamson Collection. Recently rediscovered after years of neglect, the collection is one of the major bodies of British 'asylum art'.
The Many Sad Fates of Mr. Toledano | Joshua Seftel, Director | 25 min. USA, 2015
Photographer Phil Toledano has become obsessed with his future. Using DNA tests, fortune tellers, and a prosthetic makeup artist, he begins photographing the many dark possibilities that might await him -- despite his wife's pleas to abandon the project. Over three years, Toledano's obsession alters him and his family forever.
Spoke | Henry Horenstein, Director | 21 min. USA, 2014
SPOKE premiered in May, 2014 at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, as a part of COUNTRY: PORTRAITS OF AN AMERICAN SOUND, an exhibition which featured still photographs from director Horenstein's book HONKY TONK.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13TH:
1:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Christopher M. Rossi, Graduate Architecture Major
The Philosopher King | Rouzebeh Noori, Director | 111 min. Sweden/Canada, 2014
Cast: Seumas F. Sargent, Will Howarth, Amelia Clay, Katherine Streeter
The Philosopher King is a story of reconnection and reconciliation between Michael and Jacob. A successful and earnest classical musician, Michael visits Jacob in his adopted country of Sweden. Coerced into yet another artistic co-venture, Michael struggles with Jacob’s pattern of drifting between places and his brother’s propensity to never see dreams through to completion.
2:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Christopher M. Rossi, Graduate Architecture Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE: We Were Young Once...
A Girl’s Day | Rosa Hannah Ziegler, Director | 16 min. Germany, 2014
An emotional and strongly subjective movie about the question of what happiness is. At 19, Yasmin is in search of her own happiness and trying to understand her life, as well as the difficult relationship with her mother, a former heroin addict.
Consolation Prize | Todd Kipp, Director | 11 min. Canada, 2014
A delusional deadbeat dad living on an inherited wasteland of wrecked cars and trucks, tries to connect with his son over a surprise weekend visit.
WHERE THE RIVER WIDENS | Zach Greenleaf, Director | 5 min. Canada, 2014
Inspired by the friendship and the work of fishermen, Zack Greenleaf sings the mig'mag culture of his Gesgapegiag village, Where the river widens.
I Was A Teenage Girl, Apparently Lyn Elliot and Nina Frenkel, Directors | 6 min. USA, 2015
An animated film about a woman who finds the diary she kept as a teenager, and then goes back in time to try to talk some sense into her teenage self.
Sleeping Giant | Andrew Cividino, Director |17 min. Canada, 2014
Fourteen-year-old Adam is spending the summer in a small beach community on the North shore of Lake Superior. His dull summer routine shatters when he meets local boys Foster and Rizzo, two smart alecks who fill their long days with adventures and reckless stunting.
When We Were Young | Nick Naveda, Director | Short, 29 min. 2015, USA.
Two estranged brothers hike into the woods to find a safe they believe their deceased grandfather buried when he was young. The trip takes an unexpected turn when their abusive father tags along with a hidden agenda.
High Tide | Kimberley West, Director | 10 min. Australia, 2014
Can Jamie set his fishing line aside for one night in order to catch the girl of his dreams?
3:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
AND THE WINNER IS…
ACADEMY AWARD SHOWCASE, PART TWO
Discover nominees and winners from the 88th Annual Academy Awards curated from films discovered at last year’s Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival.
DOCUMENTARIES
Body Team 12 | David Darg, Director | 14 min. Liberia, 2015
Body Team 12 is tasked with collecting the dead at the height of the Ebola outbreak. These body collectors have arguably the most dangerous and gruesome job in the world. Yet despite the strain they emerge as heroes while the film explores their philosophy and strength.
Chau, Beyond the Lines | Courtney Marsh, Director | 33 min. Vietnam/USA, 2015
Chau, a teenager living in a Vietnamese care center for kids disabled by Agent Orange, struggles with the reality of his dream to one day become a professional artist.
Last Day of Freedom | Dee Hibert-Jones, Co-Director | 33 min. USA, 2015
When Bill Babbitt realizes his brother Manny has committed a crime he agonizes over his decision- should he call the police? Last Day of Freedom, a richly animated personal narrative, tells the story of Bill’s decision to stand by his brother in the face of war, crime and capital punishment. The film is a portrait of a man at the nexus of the most pressing social issues of our day – veterans’ care, mental health access and criminal justice.
I Married My Family’s Killer | Emily Kassie, Director | 30 min. Canada, 2015
Beatrice and Purudenci were childhood sweethearts. They planned to be wed. the only problem was, it was 1994 in Rwanda and Beatrice was being hunted. To make matters worse, Purudenci's family were the hunters. This film documents the lives of three couples that married from killer and victim families in Rwanda. In two of the three cases in this film, the victims married into the families that killed their own. The trauma and pain these couples experience is exceptional, and so is the power and resilience of their love for one another.
3:30 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Andre D. Courtois, Journalism Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE: From The World Beyond Beyond (Sci-Fi Shorts)
Better Than Tomorrow | EuiJeong Hong, Director | Giannina La Salvia, Producer | 14 min. United Kingdom, 2015
After years in cryogenic stasis, Norman is brought back to life and immediately sent to a male quarantine facility. Finally unfrozen, Norman tries to find his wife Catherine, who entered cryostasis with him one hundred years earlier.
Ghosts | Benjamin Pfohl, Director | 30 min. Germany, 2014
In Germany, Europe's biggest open-pit coal mine forces villages to yield and thousands of people to abandon their homes in order to dig for valuable lignite. A young woman lives with her mother as the last residents in one of these ghost towns and has to defend her homeland from final extinction.
Keeper of the Past | Marco J. Riedi, Director | 28 min. Germany, 2015
Farmer Finn van Hagen is faced with a difficult choice once he opens an old music box, revealing his long forgotten past.
Edmond | Nina Gantz, Director | 9 min. United Kingdom, 2015
A funny and dark story of a man with cannibalistic urges who travels back through his life, looking for the root of his unhappiness.
5:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
MEMORIES NEVER DIE: Documentary Screenings and Discussion
Introduced by Madeline C. Cirullo, Creative Writing Major
THE SPRING 2016 FILM/SPEAKER SERIES ON THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE
Annual April programming that focuses on the Jewish experience through short films, documentary, media and a guest speaker.
GOODBYE THERESIENSTADT | Carl Otto Dethlefsen and Jonatan Jerichow, Directors | 58 min. Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, 2015
Over 7,000 Jews escaped from Denmark to Sweden when the occupying Germans tried to round up Danish Jews in October 1943. Yet regrettably, 470 Jewish men, women and children were captured and put into cattle cars bound for the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
Seventy years after they were miraculously rescued from Theresienstadt, six Danish Jews who were children at the time return to the concentration camp where they suffered for a year and a half, consumed by hunger, anxiety and fear of what tomorrow might bring.
The six individual stories are intertwined, as the survivors tell of their failed escape to Sweden, the horrible journey to Theresienstadt, the appalling conditions in the concentration camp, and finally of their rescue from Theresienstadt in the final weeks of the war.
The survival of these six people illustrates what Denmark did to save the Danish Jewish population, getting most of them to safety, and trying to protect those who were captured and interned.
ORO MACHT FREI / GOLD WILL SET YOU FREE |
Jeffrey Bonna, Director | 70 min. Italy, USA, 2014
After Italy's Armistice with the Allied Armies (Sept 8, 1943), the Germans occupied the Italian peninsula as far south as Naples. Rome and its ancient Jewish population fell under German control. 'Oro Macht Frei' tells the story of the 9-month Nazi occupation of Rome through the testimonies of 9 Roman Jews, archival footage, family photos and the contribution of renowned historians, Alexander Stille, Susan Zuccotti, Liliana Picciotto, Frank Coppa and Robert Katz. In addition to stories of hiding and arrest, OMF examines the period of Mussolini's Racial Laws (1938-1945) as well as the Catholic Church's response to the round-up of the Roman Jews.
Moderated by Rev. Nancy Soukup, Roger Williams University.
6:00 p.m.
Location: ARCH 132
SAAHP LECTURE – PRESERVATION WINS, LOSSES & LESSONS IN THE MILLENNIAL BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG
“The effort to save significant American Modern structures reached a peak at the millennium, when the National Park Service demolished the 1962 Cyclorama Building at Gettysburg, designed by noted architect Richard Neutra. Once heralded as a flagship structure marking the success of Mission 66—a billion-dollar building program in the national parks—the Cyclorama failed to survive very far into the next century despite a 15-year preservation battle and a successful federal lawsuit. Architectural historian and preservation advocate Christine Madrid French reviews the wins, losses, and lessons of this contentious battle of Gettysburg, why the story still resonates, and how it affects cultural conservation practice today.” - Christine Madrid French
PRESIDENT’S DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS SERIES: SCIENCE HISTORIAN NAOMI ORESKES Naomi Oreskes, professor of the history of science at Harvard University, is a world-renowned historian of science and the author of more than 100 scholarly and popular books, articles and opinion pieces. Her work, including the acclaimed book and documentary film "Merchants of Doubt" (co-authored with Erik M. Conway) tackles the ways in which scientific communication and misinformation campaigns for political leverage have misled the public on serious issues from smoking to climate change. Oreskes has been lauded for her efforts to elevate public discourse on human-caused climate change, and in 2015 wrote the introduction to Pope Francis's encyclical on climate change and inequality, "On Care of Our Common Home."
Ms. Oreskes's books have been translated into nine languages, and she has won numerous prizes and awards, including the 2014 American Geophysical Union Presidential Citation for Science and Society; the 2015 Public Service Award of the Geological Society of America; and the 2015 Herbert Feis Prize of the American Historical Association for her contributions to public history.
This event is free and open to the public. A book signing will immediately follow.
8:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by James Brennan, Business Major
FIRST ANNUAL STUDENT SHORT FILM SHOWCASE
The Roger Williams University Film Production Collaborative, the RWU Screenwriter’s Guild, and The Northern Educational Art and Film Alliance (NEAFA) has collected submissions from students across the country in order to bring RWU community members the First Annual Student Short Film Showcase: a night of celebration in honor of student creativity.
Bring a video or story and share it.
THURSDAY, APRIL 14TH:
2:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Jordan Berry and Masahiro Odagawa
THE ISLAMIC EXPERIENCE
Introduced by Ziyad M. Almutairi, Architecture Major
The Sound Man | Chip Duncan, Director | 27 min. Kenya, 2014
'The Sound Man,' is a documentary short featuring 62-year-old location sound engineer Abdul Ramadhan. After graduating from a local madras in central Nairobi, Abdul learned his craft on the job at Nairobi's Camerapix production company where he's been employed for more than thirty-five years. While working with acclaimed photojournalist Mohamed Amin and others, Abdul recorded the sounds of revolution, civil war, genocide and famine throughout East Africa.
From The Hand of Man | Denise Holloway, Director | 23 min. United Arab Emirates, 2015
From the Hand of Man is a visually lyrical documentary short which explores the still vibrant ancient professions of master carvers and calligraphers in India. It follows a group of master carvers and calligraphers as they create 2.5 square kilometers of gold leafed lapis and marble calligraphy panels for the expansion of the mosque in Mecca.
Poet Against Prejudice | Faiza Almontaser, Director | 27 min. USA, 2014
Faiza Almontaser is a 17-year old senior attending the Brooklyn International High School. In 2006 Faiza immigrated with her family to Brooklyn, NY from a small farming town in Yemen. Raised as a religious Muslim, she often struggles to reconcile her cultural background with the realities she meets as a high school student in one of New York City's most socially dynamic neighborhoods.
I Cherish My Home | Bahador Adab, Director | 26 min. Iran, 2015
A woman, a wife, a mother who is trying to be there for her husband and her children as the family is experiencing some financial crises. The family seems well off at first but then we learn about their financial problems. A husband that always used to provide now feels like a failure and her efforts at motivating him are seen as pity by him. The story happens over three days. The day before her birthday, her birthday and the day after. She is the glue of the family, but in the middle of all this, she seems to have forgotten herself.
3:30 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Madeline C. Cirullo and Masahiro Odagawa,
THE CREATIVE PROCESS IN 90 MINUTES:
The Power of the Written Word
Filmmaking and Storytelling: How does one write a script that sells? Can you make a living in a highly competitive business while still maintaining your quality of life? How do you take an idea and transpose it to the screen? In a freeform discussion, learn from award-winning screenwriter, Chris Sparling, who will share his journey and inspiration.
About our Guest Speaker :
Chris Sparling was born and raised in North Providence, Rhode Island. He wrote the 2010 film BURIED starring Ryan Reynolds, for which he won "Best Original Screenplay" from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, as well as a Spanish Academy Award in the same category. His Black List script, ATM, was produced by Gold Circle Films and released by IFC Films in 2012. Chris's feature directing debut, the supernatural thriller THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE, was released in early 2015 by Universal Pictures. THE SEA OF TREES, which he wrote and produced, starring Matthew McConaughey, Namoi Watts, and directed by Gus Van Sant, was nominated for the Palm d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it received its world premiere. He is currently adapting author Jo Nesbo's bestselling crime novel BLOOD ON SNOW for Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio, and is adapting the book DOWN A DARK HALL for Lionsgate Films. He has also sold TV projects to F/X, Universal Television, and Fox Television Studios.
4:30 p.m.
Location: RWU Law | Appellate Courtroom 283
THURGOOD MARSHALL MEMORIAL LECTURE
Blindspot: Hidden Biases Happen to Good People
Keynote Address by Mahzarin Banaji, Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology Harvard University
The School of Law presents its seventh lecture in this series, which honors the memory of Thurgood Marshall. Thurgood Marshall was a key architect of the legal strategy that convinced the Supreme Court to declare unconstitutional the doctrine of “separate but equal,” which had allowed racial segregation in public education and many other aspects of American life. Thurgood Marshall later served with distinction and as a protector of civil rights as Solicitor General of the United States and later as the first African-American Justice on the United States Supreme Court.
Introduced by Jenna M. Brink, Graphic Design Major
FEATURE FILM SHOWCASE:
A Box Came to Brooklyn | Jason Cusato, Director | 26 min. USA, 2015
A lifelong Brooklynite struggles to convince his ridiculous neighbors that a mysterious box left in the middle of their street doesn't prove one of them is a terrorist.
Friends and Romans | Christopher Kublan, Director | 88 min. USA, 2015
Screenplay: Michael Rispoli, Christopher Kublan, Gregg Greenberg
Cast: Michael Rispoli, Annabella Sciorra, Paul Ben-Victor and Tony Sirico
A group of lifelong mob movie extras mount a production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in their local Staten Island theater in order to finally get some speaking roles. But the theater is the secret hideout of a real-life gangster who fancies himself an actor, and whom the FBI are hunting for the recent murder of a Broadway producer.
5:30 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Jenna M. Brink, Graphic Design Major
Consolation Prize | Todd Kipp, Director | 11 min. Canada, 2014
A delusional deadbeat dad living on an inherited wasteland of wrecked cars and trucks, tries to connect with his son over a surprise weekend visit.
17 BEGINNINGS OF TALIA | Directed by: Yoni Bentovim, 73 min. Israel, United Kingdom, 2015
Through seventeen decisively varying styles of observation, director Yoni Bentovim delves into the essence and meaning of discourse between mother and son – a dialogue that transcends words and time. Ultimately this not a film about 17 beginnings but a film about one ending - definite, clear and known in advance. Talia Shapira - national figure and celebrated actress, torn between her conflicting roles in life and art, is faced with the toughest role of all, how to say good-bye to her son. Through 17 chapters of observation that constitute an abstract and emotional mosaic, this is an intense investigation into the essence and meaning of a dialogue between mother and son, a dialogue that transcends words and time.
7:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, Atrium
FREE EVENT
RWU
POETRY SLAM
This popular event returns to the RWU Campus and is always guaranteed to inspire and entertain. Bring a poem and cheer on tonight's participants.
FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH:
2:00 p.m.
Location: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, RWU Library
Introduced by Elle Schaffhauser, Marketing Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE: An Exploration of Identity
Invisible | Zofia Pregowska, Director | 22 min. Poland, 2014
The Polish filmmaker Zofia Pregowska wanted to make her graduation film using the fly-on-the-wall technique, with the camera unobtrusively present and the filmmaker pretending to be absent. She took her camera to the tiny apartment that is home to 90-year-old Krystyna, who lives surrounded by books and writing pads. That’s remarkable in itself since Krystyna is almost blind, but that doesn’t stop this still vital woman from writing passionate and eloquent poetry that celebrates life.
A Chance To Dress | Alice Bouvrie, Director | 39 min. 2015, USA, 2015
Dr. John Southard, a world renown and respected geologist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, is an open cross dresser. The film explores the various dimensions of identity and the diversity of gender expression.
Boy Code | Christian LaMorte, Director | 21 min. USA, 2015
A highly insecure senior in an all-boy Catholic prep school struggles to live up to the idealistically masculine and misogynistic image bestowed upon him by his peers.
Headlong | Nadia Bedzhanova, Director | 8 min. Russia, 2014
Alice steps out of her comfort zone to share a spontaneous moment with her teammate.
Blurry | Anthony Falleroni, Director | 7 min. USA, 2014
A woman with an over-active imagination sees the world unlike anyone else, but that's not always a good thing. When her visions become too distracting, she leaps at the opportunity to get a chip implant that removes her imagination. After the procedure, her entire perspective on life and herself changes... but for the better?
3:30 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Kyle P. Gravel, Creative Writing Major
SHORT FILM SHOWCASE: Things are Not What they Seem (Thriller Shorts)
A Confession | Petros Silvestros, Director | 8 min. United Kingdom, 2015
A mysterious and damaged young man must confess a terrible sin. What he reveals to the warm hearted priest resonates way beyond the confines of the Church - calling into question a relationship that has lasted over 1500 years.
Flankers | Justin Oakey, Director | 14 min, Canada, 2014
On the eve of a storm in rural Newfoundland, feuding fishermen are forced to set their conflicts aside when an emergency arises.
Kamakshi | Satindar Singh Bedi, Director | 25 min. India, 2015
End of the world water-less village. An 80 year old woman Kamakshi is a water-seller for travelers in a desert land. As she grows older she digs her own well with the money saved in a boat left by oceans before near her house.
Wien For Life | Alidor Dolfing, Director | 24 min. Belgium, 2014
An off-the-wall crime comedy about two oddballs whose unusual friendship is torn apart by a winning lottery ticket scratched off in a desolate petrol station on the border between Flanders and France.
Beverley | Alexander Thomas, Director | 25 min. United Kingdom, 2015
Beverley is a short film set in Leicester in 1980. It follows a mixed race girl’s struggles to carve out a sense of identity in a confusing, shifting, cultural landscape. Whilst the film follows its protagonist’s journey, it simultaneously explores British cultural history and concepts of British identity. The backdrop is one of the most explosive post-war British subcultures, the 2 Tone movement which saw the coming together of black and white musicians and the union of the musical influences of Jamaican based Ska and British based Punk.
5:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Sarah E. Reid, Global Communication Major
Traction | Rory Uphold, Director | Short | 5 min. 2015, USA.
'How do you know that Adam and Eve weren't black?...' An awkward comedy about first dates, race, and racism.
The Valley Below | Kyle Thomas, Director | 87 min. Canada, 2014 • UNITED STATES PREMIERE
The Valley Below is a multi-narrative drama that chronicles the life of a small town in the badlands of Alberta over the course of one year.
Alberta's arid central badlands provide the spectacular backdrop for The Valley Below, an intimate and potent look at a group of Drumheller residents. First-time feature director Kyle Thomas divides four related narratives into separate vignettes, moving gently from one character to the next, allowing us time to settle in and roam, to feel the textures of the characters' emotional states, and to glimpse their deepest longings and secrets.
College-bound nineteen-year-old Kate (Mikaela Cochrane) is about to leave behind her boyfriend, Henry (Joe Perry), but just before their farewell camping trip together, she discovers she is pregnant. Warren (Kris Demeanor), a zamboni driver at the local rink, is a gifted singer-songwriter whose dreams are hamstrung by his alcoholism. Reclusive taxidermist and father of two Gordon (Stephen Bogaert) tries to maintain his dignity while repairing a failing marriage. The guardian of the community, Barry (Alejandro Rae), is an ambitious police constable and part-time local radio host who must deal with the crises of the town's inhabitants. From these quotidian beginnings, Thomas fashions a quartet of honest, vulnerable portraits that echo the writing of Raymond Carver in their striking and complex interiority.
To further detail each portrait, Thomas enlists four different Canadian songwriters — Rae Spoon, Dan Mangan, Eamon McGrath, and The Wooden Sky's Gavin Gardiner — to provide four discrete soundtracks. The effects are unified by Drumheller's arresting and diverse vistas, from golden prairie plains and craggy rock valleys to snow-covered roadsides and the area's kitschy dinosaur reproductions.
Taking us on an exquisite tour of the etched, eroded landscapes of his characters' inner lives, Thomas has crafted a rich and complex picture of a rural town over the course of a single year, and a powerful meditation on love and loss.
6:00 p.m.
Location: ARCH 132 – DF Pray Foundation Lecture Theater
SAAHP LECTURE: AND THERE IT WAS
Lisa Perez's artist statement: I make sculptural paintings, objects, and works on paper that circle around ideas of attention, perception and perceived degrees of dimensionality. Through pictorial reduction and chromatic expressivity, I construct and paint forms that initially appear minimal, but upon closer reflection there are playful extremes in color, shadow and form, with a subtle humor that counters austerity. These abstract works explore the awkward human attempts to achieve perfection, an often futile pursuit in the shifting nature of reality.
Maxwell Van Pelt's artist statement: I strive for balance, continually pushing to see my work with fresh perspective. My curiosity about the meaning and fabrication of objects lies in how sometimes, by means of implicit logic and little more, a set of unfolding relationships can lead eye and heart towards a final form – a vital remnant of attention and intention, of time, place, person, and culture. I strive to ascertain and instigate a mindfulness that connects us sympathetically to our surroundings. The resulting works are optimistic, places where divergent attitudes, appearances, and forces have a tendency to converge and resolve in the necessities of cohabitation. The participation of a viewer allows these visual expressions to move from ambiguous to something specific and personal – the production richest in its potential not just to represent ideas, but to evoke them with frequency: regularly, and in appropriate tones. As I respond to these inquiries, I have been making intricate sculptures, exuberant paintings, and hybrid installations that navigate the geometries of architectural, environmental, and emotional space together with the arising inscapes of my imagination. Regardless of media, the work anchors firmly in the experience of drawing and the exploration of dimensionality.
Songs by Craig Carnelia and Micki Grant and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead and Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor
From the book by Studs Terkel
Based on Studs Terkel's best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the men and women the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason, and the housewife, just to name a few. Nominated for six TONY Awards, this classic has been updated for a modern age featuring new songs by TONY Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as favorites by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, and James Taylor. -- Music Theatre International.
RWU THEATRE PERFORMANCE
Introduced by John R. Tateossian, Public Relations Major
A Boy Called Su | Kym-Louise Barton, Director | 8 min. Australia, 2015
Su, a kindergarten boy, must beat the language barrier and find his voice to get his favourite ball back.
Between Times | Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter, Directors | 14 min. USA/ The Netherlands, 2014.
From the wall of a small town bakery, a cuckoo clock recounts a day where bread was sliced one second thick, lovers fell in sync and time rarely flowed at an even rate.
Claire and the Keys | John Ludwick, Director | 20 min. USA, 2015
Claire and her Mom are shopping buddies, texting buddies, the best of friends... until Claire wants music lessons.
Born With It | Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Director | 17 min. Japan, 2015
On his first day of school in a small Japanese town, a half Japanese half black boy tries to prove to his new classmates that his dark skin is not a disease.
Claire and the Keys | John Ludwick, Director | 20 min. USA, 2015
Claire and her Mom are shopping buddies, texting buddies, the best of friends... until Claire wants music lessons.
Earth’s Children | Diego Sarmiento, Director | 15 min. Peru, 2014
Early every morning, young Jorge harvests bananas with his machete. After breakfast back in his village, he wanders with his friends in the lush wilderness around the Amazon headwaters. Childhood could hardly be more carefree or peaceful.
4:00 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
Introduced by Ziyad M. Almutairi, Architecture Major
FEATURE PRESENTATION
SexLife | Stefan Georgiou, Director | 15 min. United Kingdom, 2014
Based on the critically acclaimed play, SexLife is the story of Dan's ham-fisted attempts to get 'new' mother Mia into bed with hilarious, emotional and musical consequences.
As Good As You | Heather de Michele, Director | 85 min. USA, 2015
Jo's (Laura Heisler) world is thrown into utter disarray when her wife Amanda passes away. Her cozy domestic life shattered, her writing career tossed aside, Jo desperately starts chasing a dream that she and Amanda had once shared – starting a family together. Jo asks her late wife’s brother, Jamie to be her sperm donor. Craziness ensues, in the form of a visit to the fertility clinic's psychologist (Annie Potts), and a love triangle with her two best friends, NATE (a straight man with his own tragic past—played by Raoul Bhaneja) and LISA (Jo’s best friend, a lesbian punk photographer and bar owner—played by Anna Fitzwater). AS GOOD AS YOU is a human-scale, character-driven film set in a sleepy, safe Los Angeles; it’s a serious comedy about trying to grieve the right way, and maybe growing up a bit in the process.
7:30 p.m.
Location: RWU Performing Arts Center
WORKING
Adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso
With additional contributions by Gordon Greenberg
Songs by Craig Carnelia and Micki Grant and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mary Rodgers and Susan Birkenhead and Stephen Schwartz and James Taylor
Introduced by Evan M. Mozzer, Graduate Architecture Major
Hosted by the Rev. Nancy Soukup, RWU Multifaith Chaplain
THE SPRING 2016 FILM/SPEAKER SERIES ON THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE
Annual April programming that focuses on the Jewish experience through short films, documentary, media and a guest speaker.
EINE GUTE GESCHICHTE (A Good Story) | Martin-Christopher Bode, Director| 20 min., Germany, 2013
When Helga Landowsky discovers the broken jug in an antiques store near the German/Polish border, she wants to have it at any cost. But the old lady has reckoned without Jakub Lato. Because the antiquarian does not want to trade his ware for money. In exchange for the jug, he wants Helga to tell him a story. And a story she can tell. It is an experience from the second world war. A story about pain and loss. And while Helga is still narrating, she and Jakub begin to realize that both their lives are wondrously interwoven. And that they are now, almost 70 years later, telling the story is last chapter together. Because only this way, the story can finally become a good story.
German Shepherd | Nils Bergendal, Director| 10 min. Sweden, 2014
Growing up as an American Jew with a Holocaust survivor mother, David is haunted by 'the Nazi thing', an irrational fear for Germans and an obsession with Holocaust movies. Nils Bergendal interprets David's interview into a wry animated introspection, questioning whether it's wise to look to the past for answers.
IT TAKES A SCHOOL | Tami Gross and Maya Rothschild, Directors | 57 min. Israel, 2015
UNITED STATES PREMIERE
Tel Hai, ranking in the top tenth percentile of all primary schools in Israel is surprisingly situated in Kfar Shalem, one of the most distressed neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. The population consists of mostly low income and broken families, new immigrants, foreign workers and African asylum seekers.
A few years ago, principal Einat Berger went on a sabbatical, feeling frustrated. Violence was surging, students' achievements were poor, and teachers' morale was low. Upon returning, Einat introduced a revolutionary approach, “the Language of Mindfulness,” a method incorporating meditation techniques, Yoga practices and guided imagery adapted for children. Aiming to focus on the students’ emotional well-being, to bolster their self-confidence and to help them discover and develop their talents. This is the key according to Einat's understanding to improve their academic achievements and help them forge a place for themselves in the world.
Tel Hai is one of the first schools in the world to incorporate a program such as this as part of its public education programming. . Teachers are constantly incorporating these techniques in their regular classes. Now the school can hardly be recognized. A unique experiment is underway, benefiting not only the students and teachers, but even parents and the community. Parents from more affluent neighborhoods are clamoring to have their children accepted into the school.
As we began to look closer at the student body, we uncovered some remarkable children with inspirational stories behind them. Our film shows the program at work, and the impact it has on them.
Is there a lesson to be learned here?
Can such a school become a model worldwide?
4:30 p.m.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, 01
THE STORIES WE TELL, PART 2
Short Film Screenings and Panel Discussion
Introduced by Marc S. Sullivan, Graduate Architecture Major
Hosted by Rev. Nancy Soukup, Multifaith Chaplain, with Guest Panelists: Andrew Lund, filmmaker/entertainment lawyer, and Brian Mayer, cantor Temple Emanu-El, Providence
Paris on The Water | Hadas Ayalon, Director | 29 min. Israel, 2015
Paris on the Water tells the story of a passionate woman who is imprisoned in a sick body and is forced to confront her age, her husband and the reality of her life.
Wandering Rabbi | Henry Wiener, Director | 14 min. USA, 2014
Wandering Rabbi follows Rabbi Marshal Klaven, a 34 year old, itinerant rabbi, as he travels across the American South, visiting a circuit of small Jewish communities, leading Shabbat services, ministering at life cycle events, and providing guidance and advice to the members of these small communities.
Reverence | Collin Kornfeind, Director | 13 min. USA, 2015
'Reverence' is a documentary short that explores the meaning and context behind branded yarmulkes and the concept of reverence in America today. From a Batman symbol to a Mets logo – this small icon of reverence has been adapted to the mainstream. 'Reverence' explores the phenomenon of custom and branded yarmulkes in Jewish-American communities, the religious norms that custom kippahs challenge in a capitalistic society, and the notion of 'fitting in' and 'standing out' within the Reform and Conservative Jewish community.
Samuel-613 | Billy Lumby, Director | 15 min. 2015, United Kingdom.
The story of Shmilu, a Hasidic Jew in crisis, torn between his community and the romantic possibilities of trendy East London.
This is the first fictional film made with the UK's Hasidic population, including non-professional actors and Yiddish dialogue. It explores culture clash, identity struggle and the spiritual consequences. (BAFTA 2016 Nominee for Best Short)
About our Guest Speakers:
Andrew Lund, a filmmaker and entertainment lawyer, Andrew is an Associate Professor and Director of the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Faculty Associate at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute; he is also a faculty member of the Film Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University, where he received J.D., M.F.A. and B.A. degrees. Brief Reunion, a feature film that Andrew produced and co-edited, won the top prize for narrative filmmaking at the 2011 UFVA conference and the Audience Award for Best Film at New York’s 2011 Gotham International Film Festival. My Last Day Without You, on which Andrew served as executive producer, recently won the top producing honors at the 2011 Brooklyn International Film Festival and will be released theatrically in Europe this fall. Andrew is the Executive Producer of nine feature films, including The Hungry Ghosts, written and directed by Michael Imperioli; Vanaja, named by Roger Ebert as one of the top five foreign films of 2007, and Arranged, an international hit that Variety called “a pure pleasure to watch” Andrew has also written and directed five award winning short films. In addition to worldwide festival screenings and television broadcasts, his shorts are included in film textbooks, DVD compilations, and distributed theatrically and non-theatrically. Andrew founded and curates CinemaTalks, the independent film screening and discussion series, and he created the Short Film Repository, which houses educational extras that support short filmmaking. Andrew’s writing on film includes an essay, “What’s a Short Film, Really?” in “Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution” by Sharon Badal, numerous book reviews for the journal, Film International, and two books on independent filmmaking in the works for Peter Lang Publishers.
Cantor Mayer’s resume is diverse and rich. He conveys Jewish knowledge through his love of chanting, teaching, composing, conducting and performing Jewish music. For the past quarter century, Cantor Mayer has led Shabbat and High Holy Day services, using well-loved cantorial melodies and teaching new tunes that have become familiar favorites. Cantor Mayer has incorporated beloved Yiddish standards and his own choral compositions into this eclectic mix.
Cantor Mayer is a respected scholar of Hazzanut (Jewish cantorial music) who is known nationally for his innovative, artistic and participatory music programming. He is loved for his commitment to the Temple’s youth through his extraordinary Torah Tutor program, his Religious School teaching and the development of the Kol Kesem/HaZamir teen choir. The music program he has built at Temple Emanu-El is diverse and unique: in addition to HaZamir, he has established Shir Emanu-El and developed the Temple Emanu-El choir, two accomplished adult choirs, as well as the Shabbat Chai and Kol Klezmer bands.
In 2009, Cantor Mayer was the artistic director of the award-winning “Shining Through Broken Glass: A Kristallnacht Concert,” a regional event which featured musicians and performers from the larger community and the actor and artist Leonard Nimoy as narrator. Cantor Mayer has also brought an exuberant spirit of musical collaboration to annual community interfaith observances, including the Martin Luther King Day community event.
Nationally, Cantor Mayer has conducted adult choirs at the annual North American Jewish Choral Festival; and HaZamir, the international Jewish high school choir, at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
Cantor Mayer is associate professor of Jewish Music and dean of the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College in Boston. He taught for 14 years at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as an assistant professor of Hazzanut. Cantor Mayer was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where he later earned a Doctor of Sacred Music degree.
CLOSING NIGHT RECEPTION & AWARDS CEREMONY
Follows Immediately
Join as we conclude our celebration of the 11th Anniversary of the Roving Eye International Film Festival, a unique collaboration between Roger Williams University and Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival, and we announce the winners of this year’s Roving Eye Awards.
Location: Global Heritage Hall, Atrium
All programming for the Festival has been produced by students in the Curation and Film Production Class that includes: Ziyad M. Almutairi, Jordan A. Berry, Jenna M. Brink, Michael J. Cardi, Madeline C. Cirullo, Andre D. Courtois, Alexander M. DeLalla, Bradley S. Fagan, Joshua T. Grab, Kyle P. Gravel, Benjamin J. Horst, Zachary R. Kline, Evan M. Mozzer, Masahiro Odagawa, Sarah E. Reid, Stephanie L. Ressler, Christopher M. Rossi, Elle Schaffhauser, Max D. Schlichtmann, Catherine F. Smeykal, Marc S. Sullivan, and John R. Tateossian; with support from Alex Campbell and Francis Ferdinand.
For more information, contact the Spiritual Life Program at Roger Williams University, email nsoukup@rwu.edu. Directions to Roger Williams University can be found at www.rwu.edu
ABOUT ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY:
Roger Williams University located in Bristol, R.I. is a leading independent, coeducational university with programs in the liberal arts and the professions, where students become community- and globally-minded citizens. With 42 academic majors, an array of co-curricular activities and study abroad opportunities on six continents, RWU is an opencommunity dedicated to the success of students, commitment to a set of corevalues and providing a world-class education above all else. In the last decade, the University has achieved unprecedented successes including recognition as one of the best colleges in the nation by Forbes, a College of Distinction by Student Horizons, Inc. and as both a best college in the Northeast and one of the nation’s greenest universities by The Princeton Review. For more information, go to: www.rwu.edu.
ABOUT FLICKERS' RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:
The mission of Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival is to discover and empower filmmakers. Held in Providence, and at locations throughout the state, RIIFF is one of only 19 film festivals worldwide that is a qualifying event for the Oscars in the documentary and narrative short categories. It is also New England’s largest film festival. Its innovative programming, cultivated industry ties, and loyal audiences have made the Festival a strategic and desirable platform for film premieres, drawing hundreds of independent filmmakers from around the globe. The next Festival will take place August 9-14, 2016. For more information about the festival, please visit www.rifilmfest.org.
For more information about films, dates, and venues
for the Roving Eye International Film Festival™,
please call 401-861-4445, email: info@film-festival.org
RWU PARKING INFORMATION:From Providence: Take Routes 136 South or 114 S passing campus on the left. Take a left at the traffic light just before the Mount Hope Bridge, onto Old Ferry Road. Enter the campus via the front gate passing Campus Security.
From Newport: Take 114N over the Mount Hope Bridge and take the first right off the bridge onto Old Ferry Road. Enter the campus via the front gate passing Campus Security.
Guests should enter through the main entrance at the fountain. they will be able to obtain a guest parking pass. Lot 24a will be blocked off for guests of the festival. Proceed through the main entrance through to the lot 24a on left. Events will take place in the Marine and Natural Bldg., Global Heritage Hall and the Mary Tefft White Cultural Center.
Look for signage noting "Event Parking."
Our Collaborative Partners:
The 2016 Roving Eye International Film Festival is sponsored by The RI Film & the Television Office; Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival; Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, Edge Media Network, the Edwin S. Soforenko Foundation; the Helene and Bertram Bernhardt Foundation; Roger Williams University Office of the Provost; the RWU Department of Communication and Graphic Design, Dean Robert Eisinger, RWU Feinstein College of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Roberta Adams, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; the RWU Film Production Collaborative, the RWU Screenwriter’s Guild, RWU Hillel, and the Spiritual Life Office.
Escher’s Taxi | Aleksei Abib and Flavio Botelho, Directors | 16 min. Brazil, 2014 
Tom DeNucci, Actor/Writer/Director, Graduated from the New England Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in digital recording arts. After a couple years of background work, he landed a role on the Showtime series The Brotherhood. 2010 was a big year for Tom, who played "Pax", a wise cracking rookie cop in the Robert Englund horror thriller "Inkubus". Later that year he played along side Peter Ficinelli in the film "Loosies", before capping 2010 off with a leading role in "Infected" playing Michael Madsen's son. DeNucci spent the next year in the writing room, prepping his passion project, the coming of age thriller "Self Storage". In the summer of 2012, DeNucci teamed up with producer Chad A. Verdi and the Woodhaven Production Company to bring Self Storage to life. Tom found himself on both sides of the camera. Aside from writing and directing the picture, he also starred along side Eric Roberts, Jonathan Silverman and Michael Berryman. Tom's accomplished all this before the age of 30 and there doesn't seem to be any signs of him slowing down.
Fr. Kenneth Gumbert, O.P. Besides being a filmmaker, Fr. Gumbert is a painter and sculptor. He was born in Framingham, MA, attended Arizona State University, Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA, and University of Utah, where he received a masters degree in fine arts. While in graduate school, he produced two documentary films that aired on PBS: "Ritual Ways" and "Between Two Worlds." He won a Dore Schary award for human relations for one of these documentaries, "Ritual Ways." In 1994, Father Gumbert served as a Production Assistant on the set of the film "Federal Hill," where he earned the nickname "Padre to the Stars." In 2003, he created a documentary, "Saving Grace," which focused on religious persecution in the former Czechoslovakia. Though originally shown on PBS, "Saving Grace" was also shown on the Providence College campus, and several film festivals since. In 2005, Father Ken won a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals for this documentary. Father Gumbert has been a professor of Humanities and has taught Philosophy, Art and Film at Providence College since his arrival here in 1992. Fr. Gumbert teaches History of Film (Classic and Silent Era), The Catholic Imagination of Four American Filmmakers (John Ford, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese), Film Video Production and Women in Cinema for the women's studies program, where we explore theoretical concerns of women who make and consume films. 
Eric Latek is a director of photography, motion graphics artist, and he directed My Name is Anna, a documentary short that screened at last year's RIIFF. He is currently at work on a feature film Tiger.
Duncan Putney is an accomplished actor, as well as an award winning screenwriter and producer. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he studied both business and theatre, Duncan works as a professional actor in film, television, stage, and television commercials and can be seen in such films as "The Judge," “Mystic River,” “R.I.P.D.,” “The Town,” and “Brilliant Mistakes,” as well as TV commercials for Papa Gino’s, Budweiser, and others. Always writing, Duncan began to follow that passion professionally and starting in 2003, his work began to get some notice. His writings have gained honors at the International Family Film Festival, the Going Green Film Festival, the Woods Hole Film Festival, the ScreenCraft competitions, the New England Emmy Awards, the Spotlight on Rhode Island Screenwriting Competition, the Dixie Kane Memorial Writing Competition, and others. In 2009, Duncan and long time friend Andre Stark formed Original Concept & Development Associates to develop and produce their own projects. Currently they have several television projects in the development and pre-production stages. Their short film/TV pilot “HALF PINT” took home a Van Gough Award at the 2014 Amsterdam Film Festival and is screening in WW2 museums across the US and in Normandy. His short "THE LESSON" is currently in pre-production with Roman Media. He is represented by Casey at Maggie Inc., a SAG-AFTRA franchised agent. 
Bosniak | Kejd Juqo, Director | 15 min. Canada, 2015 
Citizen Day | Basile Doganis, Director | 20 min. France, 2014
A crew of teenagers from a Parisian suburb have to attend their Citizen Day at the military base in Versailles, but one of them, Chris, is turned away for arriving too 
SUPERMAN ISN'T JEWISH (...AND I AM, A BIT) | Jimmy Bemon, Director | Short Film | 30 min. | 2014, France.
I Was A Teenage Girl, Apparently Lyn Elliot and Nina Frenkel, Directors | 6 min. USA, 2015 
GOODBYE THERESIENSTADT | Carl Otto Dethlefsen and Jonatan Jerichow, Directors | 58 min. Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Israel, 2015 
Chris Sparling was born and raised in North Providence, Rhode Island. He wrote the 2010 film BURIED starring Ryan Reynolds, for which he won "Best Original Screenplay" from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, as well as a Spanish Academy Award in the same category. His Black List script, ATM, was produced by Gold Circle Films and released by IFC Films in 2012. Chris's feature directing debut, the supernatural thriller THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE, was released in early 2015 by Universal Pictures. THE SEA OF TREES, which he wrote and produced, starring Matthew McConaughey, Namoi Watts, and directed by Gus Van Sant, was nominated for the Palm d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it received its world premiere. He is currently adapting author Jo Nesbo's bestselling crime novel BLOOD ON SNOW for Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio, and is adapting the book DOWN A DARK HALL for Lionsgate Films. He has also sold TV projects to F/X, Universal Television, and Fox Television Studios.
A Chance To Dress | Alice Bouvrie, Director | 39 min. 2015, USA, 2015 
WORKING 
Born With It | Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, Director | 17 min. Japan, 2015 
Reverence | Collin Kornfeind, Director | 13 min. USA, 2015 
Andrew Lund, a filmmaker and entertainment lawyer, Andrew is an Associate Professor and Director of the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program in the Film & Media Department at Hunter College of the City University of New York and a Faculty Associate at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute; he is also a faculty member of the Film Studies Department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and has taught in the Graduate Film Division of Columbia University, where he received J.D., M.F.A. and B.A. degrees. Brief Reunion, a feature film that Andrew produced and co-edited, won the top prize for narrative filmmaking at the 2011 UFVA conference and the Audience Award for Best Film at New York’s 2011 Gotham International Film Festival. My Last Day Without You, on which Andrew served as executive producer, recently won the top producing honors at the 2011 Brooklyn International Film Festival and will be released theatrically in Europe this fall. Andrew is the Executive Producer of nine feature films, including The Hungry Ghosts, written and directed by Michael Imperioli; Vanaja, named by Roger Ebert as one of the top five foreign films of 2007, and Arranged, an international hit that Variety called “a pure pleasure to watch” Andrew has also written and directed five award winning short films. In addition to worldwide festival screenings and television broadcasts, his shorts are included in film textbooks, DVD compilations, and distributed theatrically and non-theatrically. Andrew founded and curates CinemaTalks, the independent film screening and discussion series, and he created the Short Film Repository, which houses educational extras that support short filmmaking. Andrew’s writing on film includes an essay, “What’s a Short Film, Really?” in “Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution” by Sharon Badal, numerous book reviews for the journal, Film International, and two books on independent filmmaking in the works for Peter Lang Publishers.
Brian Mayer, cantor Temple Emanu-El, Providence
