luke-yao chang

IndieWorks - January Recap

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Tuesday evening was our January screening of IndieWorks, and what a night it was! Despite a slight delay at the top of the evening because of our venue’s projector breaking down (shout-out to Justin, Christina’s husband, for showing up with our backup projector), the evening went very well and was a great way to start off 2020. We had over 25 people in house for our 5 films of the evening. The whole lineup had a through-line of family as a theme, with the first set of films featuring unnerving pieces that also explored isolation and uncertain futures, and the second set featuring sweeter and sometimes somber pieces about memory and reconnection. We had a wonderfully engaged audience in house, filled with some alumni who didn’t have work of their own screening; so the Q&As were especially thoughtful, and there was an extra amount of mingling at the end of the evening — which we love to see!

We'd like to say thank you to the filmmakers and the audience for coming out to spend the evening with us. We hope all enjoyed the films, as well as the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We hope some valuable connections were made!

We also hope to see YOU at our February screening on the 11th! It’ll feature films that explore the vulnerabilities of dating and pursuing love.

See photos from the evening:

The Films of the night:

Empty (directed by Cameron Morton, written by Anna Bierhaus, represented by cinematographer Eurica Yu)
Chantal and her partner, Maria, arrive at their daughter’s school for their everyday pick-up and are alarmed when the school is empty. "EMPTY" follows a mother’s harrowing journey as she tries to find her missing daughter in a Kafka-esque world.

Eugene (directed by Rachael Meyers, written by Elisabeth Tsubota & Ian Ostroot)
Set in a Dystopian future, A couple is forced to masquerade as perfect in order to get a child.

Stari Grad (Old Town) (written & directed by Jack Beck)
A fable set in Old Town, Dubrovnik, Croatia. A boy, hiding from artillery fire, makes a wish for peace, with unexpected results.

Abuelo (written & directed by Daniel C Rodriguez)
Hernan Sanchez is a lonely widower, living by himself, often losing himself in photos of his past, trying to grasp the moments that brought him joy. His Grandson, Jonathan Sanchez, frequently visits him to check up on his Grandfather but the two have grown distant and don't communicate as much. On a routine visit Jonathan attempts to reach out and the two share a conversation regarding photos in Hernan's favorite photo book.

A Poem in Bamboo (directed & animated by Chun(Luke)-Yao Chang & XuFei Wu)
When bad things happen, some people are lucky enough to move on, but not the old lady A-Yuan. Either because of the deepest love to her lover or social constriction, that women should belong to their husbands, A-Yuan was trapped in the past after the death of her lover.

Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat team based on a rating system of 8 categories:   Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening in April. 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and 50% off 4MileCircus' post-production audio cleaning service for a future project. 

The January 2020 winning films were:
    Audience Choice:  Abuelo
    Silver Whiskers Award:  A Poem in Bamboo


Be sure to join us for our February edition on the 11th!