Praxis Film Festival schedule
By From staff reports
Published in News on February 4, 2016 1:46 PM
Friday showings in Moffatt Auditorium WCC campus
The day starts out with screenings at 10 a.m., with a break for lunch at noon. Afternoon shows resume at 1 p.m., with a mini-break at 3:45 and then take place from 4-6 p.m. At 6 p.m. there is a dinner break and also a VIP reception downtown, with special tickets required. Evening films begin at 8 p.m., at the Paramount Theatre.
* 10 a.m. "The Emotional Dimensions of the James River (Va) -- An emotional roller coaster experience that was musically and visually designed based on a neuroscience research project that correlates a mathematical parameter of sounds and images with the selective triggering of emotional states.
"Chekhov's Everyman (Israel) -- A lively 83-year-old Bulgarian-Israeli actor struggling to stage the last play of his life.
"Pallbearers" (NCSA) -- In 1927, a young sharecropper agrees to help a stranger carry his recently deceased sister to a burial site in the wilderness but the longer the two are together, the more surreal and dangerous the journey becomes.
"Never Been Sicker" (N.J.) -- A withdrawn girl with a phobia of vomiting, struggles to get her college roommate kicked out after discovering she is bulimic.
"Pressure Man" (Taiwan, Los Angeles) -- A slaving accountant struggles to balance family and work while under the control of a clownish "Pressure Man."
"David Mills (SVA/NY) -- A man at a turning point: Will he face his fear or continue to run from it?
"Zoe" (SVA/NY) -- A man's life from the cradle to the grave.
"Let's Go" (SVA/NY) -- A couple from a quiet countryside, sad to leave their home, come to see life is full of excitement, if they're willing to take risks.
"Olilo" (Beijing, NY) -- An introverted girl held captive by her own semi-transparent personal space.
"Viva Lucha" (SVA/NY) -- El Rey, a retired luchador who attempts to live life as a normal white collar worker.
"Taking the Plunge" (SVA/NY) -- A young man is forced to dive into unknown waters to salvage his plans for a proposal gone awry.
* 1 p.m. "Land and Shade" (Colombia) -- Winner 2015 Camera d'or at Cannes Film Festival. After an absence of 17 years, Alfonso returns home to tend to his gravely ill son. The landscape he counters is a wasteland of burning sugar cane, with his abandoned family reacting with an apathy that matches the death of his homestead.
* 3:15 p.m. "Mousse" (Sweden) -- Mousse plans to rob a small bookie pace on the day of the biggest horse race, fueled by the belief that it will bring him the life he deserves.
* 4 p.m. "Kahlil Gibron's The Prophet" (USA) -- An animated feature, produced by Salma Hayek, was an official selection at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Set in a Mediterranean seaside village, Kamila (Salma Hayek) cleans house for exiled artist and poet Mustafa (Liam Neeson) but the more difficult job is keeping her free-spirited young daughter out of trouble.
* 8 p.m. "Lunchbox" (India) Winner of an audience award at Cannes. -- A middle class housewife is trying to add some spice to her marriage, this time through cooking. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to her neglectful husband at work, but it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, a lonely man on the verge of retirement.
Saturday films at the Paramount Theatre
* 10 a.m. "The Most Beautiful Thing" (Netherlands) -- Sam and Do have been together for five years. Although opposites, they complement each other perfect and bring out the best in each other. But when Do gives birth to son Max, their world is turned upside down, with unfinished business from the past causing a growing rift in the relationship. Will love survive?
* 1:30 p.m. "Well Wishes" (USA) -- Having lost his job on a coin toss, a man pursues his fortune by harvesting coins from wishing fountains. His journey leads to an indebted traveler who challenges his notions of wealth and true happiness.
* 4 p.m. Narrative short films, with more to be added:
"La tete de l'emploi" (The Right Person for the Job) (France) -- Jean means Remi, a less-than-helpful counselor at an unemployment center.
"Keepsake" (NC) -- Estranged sisters return home to sort through their late, hoarder-mother's estate and discover a family secret.
"Iris" (UK) -- The latest, greatest smartphone is introduced to consumers, a device that will help them keep track of where they've been and what they've done.
"Split Frames" (NY) -- An internationally acclaimed soprano receives an unsettling e-mail from an unknown source, leading to an online chat with the man who once desperately loved. She tries to bring closure to a past that still haunts them.
"Cracked" (Los Angeles) -- Rosalie, 9, and Sam, 10, niece and nephew, have an unusual relationship, with uneasiness growing during their frequent summer visits until an unfortunate mishap turns into a chance for Rosalie to win Sam's trust and friendship forever.
"Rest Stop" (UK) -- Everything changes for Meredith, a young backpacker desperate to find meaning in her life, when she meets her Guardian Angel in a dingy British service station.
* 8 p.m. "IXCANUL" (Guatemala/France) The winner of the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, it is a story about Maria, a 17-year-old Mayan girl, who lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation at the foothills of an active volcano. An arranged marriage awaits her and she dreams of going to the "big city."