2015 International Freethought Film Festival Event Schedule at a Glance

Friday, May 8th 5:30 pm Reception Venue: Gallery at Avalon Island 7:30 pm Feature Film Screening: Love Land Venue: Gallery at Avalon Island Saturday, May 9th Venue: Gallery at Avalon Island 12:00 pm Freethought Shorts 2015 Part I Leaving Stockholm Emotional Dimensions of the James River Missed Prayers Requiem for my Father Meet Mario Awaken Today I Learned 1:20 pm BREAK 2:30 pm Freethought Shorts 2015 Part II O-Star Sabotage Scotty & Josh Get Enlightened Ceaseless Guest Room Holidazed 3:45 pm Q&A 4:30 pm BREAK 6:00 pm Speaker: Andrea Meyer presents: IFFF 5 Year Anniversary Freethought Film Fest Flashback. 7:00 pm Feature Film: Love Land Sunday, May 10th 12:00 pm Freethought Docs Healing of Heather Garden Q&A with filmmaker Judith Morrow 1:30 pm New Day The Maury Island Incident 2:30 pm INTERMISSION 2:45 pm The Outside Nation Alegria 4:30 pm Feature Documentary: Lost Conquest 7:00 pm After Party at The Woods

IFFF 2015 All Access Pass is $25.* The pass in-cludes admission for one to all IFFF 2015 film screenings, Q&A’s and discussions throughout the weekend, opening night reception, plus re-served area with complimentary beer and bites at the after party. IFFF 2015 Single Day Passes: Friday: $10(includes reception) Saturday only films: $15 Sunday only films: $15 *Price of passes listed are suggested donation amounts. Free-thought Film Festival Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, educa-tional organization promoting reason, critical thinking and free-dom of inquiry through the medium of film.

OPENING NIGHT

When a young woman with

an intellectual disability is

placed in an institution, she

will stop at nothing to return

to the man of her dreams.

Featuring a breakthrough cast with intellectual and de-

velopmental disabilities, LOVE LAND challenges stereo-

types in a story of labels, love, and liberty.

CLICK HERE for Press links.

FRIDAY, MAY 8TH

7:00 PM

LOVE LAND

DIRECTED BY JOSHUA TATE

RUNTIME: 101 MIN

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR JOSHUA TATE

Hailing from Texas, Josh Tate is

a director and producer based

out of Los Angeles. Coming

from a family of disability

rights advocates, Josh's work

often focuses on the empow-

erment and inclusion of people

with disabilities. His feature

film directorial debut, LOVE

LAND, received the Audience Award and Special Jury

Prize for Ensemble Cast at the 2014 New Orleans Film

Festival and the Golden Strands for Outstanding Ensem-

ble Cast at the 2014 Tallgrass Film Festival. Josh is a re-

cipient of the San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin

Foundation Filmmaking Grant, and produced JOSEPHINE

AND THE ROACH while at USC, winning Silver at the

2013 Student Academy Awards and 1st Place Comedy at

the 2013 Student Emmys.

Our interactive poster is a

hit. Download the digital

poster by clicking on the

image on the left. We

linked each of the film stills

to its respective online

trailer if one was provided

by the filmmaker.

SATURDAY, MAY 9TH

SPONSOR AD

Thank you to the folks at

Cigar City Brewing

For their continued support

of the

International Freethought

Film Festival

Leaving Stockholm is a mockumentary that ex-

plores the fictional story of a teenage girl, Helen,

who was ab-

ducted as a

child and

kept captive

for five years.

Two years after her release, the aftermath of

Helen’s abduction leaves many conflicts and unre-

solved issues in play between Helen and her

mother.

12:00 PM FREETHOUGHT SHORTS PT I

LEAVING STOCKHOLM

Directed by Natalia Ambarnikova

RUNTIME: 20 MIN

Genre: Mockumentary

Country: United Kingdom

The Emotional Dimensions of the James River is

an experimental film that provides an emotional

roller coaster

experience

that was mu-

sically and

visually de-

signed based on a neuroscience research project

that correlates a mathematical parameter (fractal

dimension) of sounds and images with the selec-

tive triggering of emotional states. The scientist/

filmmaker used her scientific discoveries as a

platform to share her dream of finding a place

“Where Science Meets Art.”

THE EMOTIONAL DIMENSIONS OF THE JAMES RIVER

Directed by

Michelle Marquez

RUNTIME: 3 MIN

Genre: Experimental

Country: USA

SATURDAY, MAY 9TH (continue)

Norton, who works at a call center in heaven, must travel

to earth to fix things after he misses an important prayer.

MISSED PRAYERS

Directed by Sean Stueve

RUNTIME: 10 MIN

Genre: Comedy

Country: USA

Through the maze of a nightmare, a young man faces his

father. His trauma springs from the darkness and he

gradually exorcises his bitterness.

REQUIEM FOR MY FATHER

Directed by Quentin Perez

RUNTIME: 14 MIN

Genre: Experimental

Country: France

AWAKEN

Directed by Bruce Sze Han Chen

RUNTIME: 19 MIN

Genre: Drama

Country: USA

When you see the dark side of reality, will you choose to

ignore it and stay blind, or face it and try to change it? This

story is in-

spired by a

well-known

Chinese writer

Lu Xun, who

brought up

the ide of “iron

house” in 1910s as a comparison to China. The film is a mod-

ern-day version to revive discussion and encourages people

to wake up.

Meet Mario... a 27 year old PhD student in Italian Litera-

ture. Mario was born in Italy and moved to the United

States at the age of 14. His father, Marshall, was stationed

in Naples, Italy for 25 years where he met Mario’s mother,

Catarina. After the death of Catarina, Marshall and Mario

move to New York and dispel stereotypes. Let's just say

that Mario's not your "average" Italian (or is he?).

MEET MARIO

Directed by D.J. Higgins

RUNTIME: 10 MIN

Genre: Drama

Country: USA

TODAY I LEARNED

Directed by Angel Berry

RUNTIME: 1:10 MIN

Genre: Narrative

Country: Canada

Today I Learned is about a young girl that realizes how for-

tunate she is to be living in Canada. That in other countries

around the

world, people

may not have

the rights and

freedoms she

has there. In

this short film, she gives those children a voice to inspire

change.

SATURDAY, MAY 9TH (continue)

Rudy & Ava have 4 days to make sense of their broken

relationship before the end of the world in this rock music

video adven-

ture told

through 7

original

songs. “O-

Star” is the

filmmaker’s

master’s thesis project at USC, combining his love for film,

music, astronomy, Americana, and the hopeless romanti-

cism of the teenage years.

2:30 PM FREETHOUGHT SHORTS PT II

O-STAR

Directed by Dima Otvertchenko

RUNTIME: 27 MIN

Genre: Musical

Country: USA

SABOTAGE

Directed by Robin Rigault

RUNTIME: 2:27 MIN

Genre: Experimental

Country: Canada

CEASELESS

Directed by Daniel Bloch

RUNTIME: 6 MIN

Genre: Experimental

Country: Australia

Ceaseless is an

experimental

post-modernist

film that seeks

to criticise the

lifeless and

routine nature of Western society through the psyche of a

disillusioned young woman.

SCOTTY & JOSH GET ENLIGHTENED

Directed by Dan Pal

RUNTIME: 14 MIN

Genre: Drama

Country: USA

After a passion-

ate night,

Scotty & Josh

discover they

are on opposite

ends of the

believer/non-believer spectrum. Can their relationship survive?

A young couple are driven to face what the moving images

are doing to

them. Sabo-

tage is an ex-

perimental

film about the

human ten-

dency to rail against self-reflection when we see a reality we

do not want to face.

GUEST ROOM

Directed by Joshua Tate

RUNTIME: 13 MIN

Genre: Drama

Country: USA

Lauren Potter (GLEE) stars as a young woman with Down

Syndrome who grapples with questions of intimacy, identity,

and mother-

hood after an

unplanned

pregnancy

with her boy-

friend. The

filmmakers have created an intimate and earnest look into

the complicated lives of people with intellectual disabilities:

adults caught in between childhood and adulthood; inno-

cence and sexual desire; protection and self-determination.

HOLIDAZED

Directed by Bryce Morgan

RUNTIME: 6 MIN

Genre: Comedy

Country: USA

As a young kid, Jalen is told that Santa isn't real. As a young

adult, Jalen is told that God isn't real. . . all while preparing

for the zombie apocalypse.

SUNDAY, MAY 10TH 12:00 PM

THE HEALING OF HEATHER GARDEN

DIRECTED BY JUDITH MORROW

RUNTIME: 28 MIN

GENRE: DOCUMENTARY

COUNTRY: CANADA

1:30 PM

NEW DAY

Directed by Tomislav Zaja

RUNTIME: 29 MIN

Genre: Documentary

Country: Croatia

In Croatia, just

as in many

parts of the

world, people

with intellectu-

al or psycho

social disabilities who also have physical disabilities are sent

to institutions in huge numbers, leaving them completely

socially excluded from their communities. NEW DAY follows

two women leaving the institution and moving in the univer-

sally designed apartment for people with disabilities - to

start new life in the community, like everybody else...

6:00 PM

SPEAKER: Andrea Meyer

presents: IFFF 5 Year Anni-

versary Freethought Film

Fest Flashback.

SATURDAY, MAY 9TH (continue)

Confined to a wheelchair,

"Prepare to get worse,"

Heather is told by medical

experts. She refuses this

prognosis and sets out on a

journey of hope that leads

back to full health and mo-

bility. Today, more than a

decade since leaving her

cane, wheelchair and Sec-

ondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis behind, Heather

lives a full and vibrant life.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR JUDITH MORROW

First time filmmak-

er, Judith Morrow

is now an Award

winning filmmak-

er, licensed social

worker and a Life

Coach based in

Winnipeg, Manito-

ba Canada.

After thirty years of developing community programs

helping inner-city children and families, also providing

counseling and outreach, she changed course to focus

on making an Indie Film. Throwing herself into this ven-

ture has culminated in “The Healing of Heather Garden”.

The film has touched a chord with the growing number

of "cultural creatives” - people wanting choice about

their health, lifestyle and the planet. Since February of

this year, The Healing of Heather Garden has won five

awards, been selected by a dozen beautiful Film Festi-

vals and continues to receive praise and gratitude.

FILMMAKER Q&A

FOLLOWING THE SCREENING

7:00 PM

LOVE LAND

(encore presentation)

DIRECTED BY

JOSHUA TATE

RUNTIME: 101 MIN

COUNTRY: USA

THE MAURY ISLAND INCIDENT

Directed by Scott Schaefer

RUNTIME: 30 MIN

Genre: Docu-drama

Country: USA

The Maury Island Incident tells the incredible, tragic, and

forgotten story

of Harold Dahl,

who on June 21,

1947, alleged a

UFO sighting

over Puget

Sound, Wash-

ington, sparking 'the summer of the saucers,' the modern

era of UFO obsession, the first appearance of 'Men in Black'

and a governmental battle over UFO sighting jurisdiction

reaching directly to FBI Executive Director J. Edgar Hoover.

SUNDAY, MAY 10TH (continued)

THE OUTSIDE NATION

Directed by Lori Cantwell

RUNTIME: 23 MIN

Genre: Documentary

Country: United Kingdom

"The Outside Nation" takes a critical approach in the explo-

ration of the

struggle those

with introvert-

ed personality

types may face

in Western so-

ciety. The film

examines how introverts adapt to extroverted job roles and

hobbies in which they are involved.

2:45 PM

INTERMISSION

ALEGRIA—A HUMANITARIAN EXPEDITION

Directed by Christoph von Toggenburg

RUNTIME: 29 MIN

Genre: Documentary

Country: Switzerland

Alegria - A Humanitarian Expedition tells the story of an

epic solo expedition across the Himalaya that changed

the life of

hundreds

of people

in need

and

reached

millions around the world. In 2010, Christoph von

Toggenburg cycled alone 3200km along the world’s

highest tracks pulling a 30kg trailer packed with survival

gear in support of leprosy patients and mentally desti-

tute women in India, With little air to breathe and tem-

peratures between minus15 to plus 45 degrees Celcius

he crossed mountain passes higher than 5500m master-

ing a total of 50’000m. Crossing Nepal during the Maoist

unrests, conflict stricken Kashmir, he encountered won-

derful hospitality, found new friends, and saw some of

the world’s most spectacular landscapes of this planet.

He became film-maker, actor, fund- and awareness-

raiser in one person filming and editing this touching

adventure entirely by himself making this a zero-budget

production.

Thank you to our volunteers who helped make this possible!

Kelli Cooke

Joshua Meyer

Andrea Meyer

SUNDAY, MAY 10TH (continued)

LOST CONQUEST

Directed by Mike Scholtz

RUNTIME: 29 MIN

Genre: Documentary

Country: USA

Historians claim the Viking Age ended nearly a thousand

years ago. There remains one place on Earth where Vi-

kings still

rule: Minne-

sota! It be-

gan when

Leif Ericson

secretly in-

vaded the state and claimed it for King Olaf of Norway.

Today, it remains as one of the last outposts of that once

-mighty empire...Or not. Minnesota may have fallen vic-

tim to the greatest practical joke of all time.

IFFF 2015 After Party at The Woods

Starts at 7:00 pm (ages 21+ only)

4:30 PM

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR MIKE SCHOLTZ

Mike Scholtz is a documentary filmmaker based in

northern Minnesota. His last film, Wicker Kittens, premi-

ered at SXSW. His first feature, Wild Bill's Run, screened

at some really nice

festivals like Banff,

Big Sky and Hot

Springs. He also

helped establish the

world's first film-

festival-in-a-barn,

the Free Range Film

Festival, near Duluth, Minnesota.

He enjoys making feature-length documentary films

about Minnesota. His debut, Wild Bill's Run, told the

unforgettable story of a snowmobiling outlaw who led a

disastrous illegal expedition through the Arctic. His next

film was about competitive jigsaw puzzling. His latest

project is LOST CONQUEST, a deconstructionist docu-

mentary that tackles the eternal question of why we

believe the things we believe.

But it's mostly about Vikings.

Address: 49 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL

The Woods is located on the second floor of the Historic

Rose Building in Downtown Orlando. (The entry door is

between The Lodge and the Pipe & Pouch)

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