FILM PROGRAM • JUNE 2 - 4, 2023
VERMONT FILM + MUSIC FESTIVAL
HOSTED BY
FRIDAY, JUNE 2
Opening Night
6:15PM
Our Father, The Devil•Narrative Feature
Caretaker Marie finds her peaceful life in France upended by the arrival of a charismatic priest who reminds her of her traumatic past. 2023 Independent Spirit Award Nominee. Selected for funding by Venice Biennale-College.
Interview/Q&A with Writer/director Ellie Foumbi conducted by Stowe Story Labs founder David Rocchio
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
12:30PM
The Baker • Narrative Feature
Fearing his estranged son has been murdered, an elderly baker with a dangerous past and his eight-year-old granddaughter must journey to the crime-ridden Big City to uncover clues to his disappearance… all with a giant loaf of bread filled with high-grade heroin.
Interview/Q&A with writer, actor, & Stowe Story Labs alum Paolo Mancini
1PM
Conducting Life • Short Documentary
Conducting life follows the remarkable journey of Roderick Cox as he tirelessly pursues his dream — to secure a top position with a major orchestra.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
Shuttlesworth • Feature Documentary
Original documentary presented by Alabama Public Television detailing the life of iconic Birmingham civil rights leader Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth.
Interview/Q&A with producer & Sidewalk Film Festival Black Lens Programmer T. Marie King
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
3PM
The Village That Once Was • Short Documentary
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a seamstress and a community activist from the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood of New Orleans embark on a 15-year odyssey to return home that's obstructed by broken promises, racism, and indifference.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
The Sun Rises In The East • Feature Documentary
The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Led by educator and activist Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building dozens of institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publishing company, record label, restaurant, clothing shop and bookstore.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
4:30PM
13 Minutes of Horror • Series of 13, One-Minute Narrative Shorts and Discussion with the Filmmakers
13 Minutes of Horror is a 60-second film challenge showcasing woman-identifying horror filmmakers, inclusive of BIPOC women, LGBTQ+ women, disabled women, and non-binary creators.
Interview/Q&A with Nyx Horror Collective founders Melody Cooper, Mo Moshaty, and Lisa Kröger
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NYX HORROR COLLECTIVE
5PM
Love Yourself Today • Feature Documentary
Critically acclaimed documentary which centers around the music of Irish singer songwriter Damien Dempsey but also turns the lens onto his fans. Every Christmas in Dublin, the crowds gather for Damo's. Emotive celebration of modern spirituality and the power of music to heal.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GALWAY FILM FLEADH
7:30PM
Acidman • Narrative Feature
Maggie tracks down her estranged father, Lloyd, now living in the Oregon wilderness and obsessed with UFOs. After joining one of his nighttime searches, she realizes that his obsession has only intensified over the years. As she struggles to understand him and share with him her own life-changing news, their relationship ebbs and flows through anger, silly jokes, tender gestures and sadness.
Interview/Q&A with producer and Stowe Story Labs alum (now mentor) Liz Cardenas
8:30PM
Out of Place • Feature Documentary
Out of Place is a meditation on the role music plays in building community, exploring the tensions that emerge when musicians struggle to carve out a space for themselves in their city. Featuring performances from Denise Chaila, God Knows, Hey Rusty, His Father’s Voice, MuRli, and Post Punk Podge & the Technohippies, the film is an intimate portrayal of a local music scene, capturing the incredible diversity of cultural activity happening in Limerick City.
Official Selection
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GALWAY FILM FLEADH
SUNDAY, JUNE 4
1PM SHORT FILM BLOCK AND ARTIST Q&A WITH MAKERS OF ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ‘AN IRISH GOODBYE’
En Route • Narrative Short
Two estranged sisters must face each other for the first time in a year -- on the 6-minute ride to their deceased brother's memorial.
A Hand to Hold • Animated Short
Told from alternating points of view, A HAND TO HOLD explores the connective thread of handholding between parent and child.
Ten & Two • Narrative Short
A harmless driving lesson quickly turns into a survival lesson on police encounters. “Ten & Two,” directed by Travis Wood, is a vignette about a mother and teenage son in the suburbs preparing for the inevitability of racial profiling. On a test drive, the son misses a stop sign and rattles the nerves of his mom. She halts the driving lesson and intensely instructs him how to handle a run-in with law enforcement.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
Tiki Bar Funeral Home • Narrative Short
After 12 years, a failing actress returns to her hometown to attend her ex-boyfriend's tiki-themed funeral where she plans to tell his best friend she's in love with him, only when she arrives she finds her ex still alive.
2023 ACADEMY AWARD WINNING SHORT FILM
An Irish Goodbye• Narrative Short
In rural Northern Ireland, a pair of estranged brothers reunite following their mother's untimely death. Winner of Best Live Action Short Film at the 95th Academy Awards.
Interview/Q&A with writers/directors Ross White and Tom Berkeley
2:35PM SHORT FILM BLOCK AND ARTIST Q&A WITH STOWE STORY LABS ALUMNI & PRODUCER OF ‘THESE FINAL HOURS’, SHAN HARRIS
Jane’s Inferno • Narrative Short
Jane tries to get her life back after she is mistakenly sent to Hell.
Mornings with my Good Sis, Black Bird • Animated Short
Mornings With My Good Sis, Black Bird is a short animation produced by WILD CHILD NYC and animated by Mike McCraw. It is inspired by an encounter that writer and producer Elle Clay had one day with a black bird after the murder of George Floyd. The reimagining of the energetic exchange between Clay and the black bird features an original song written and performed by Rahrah Gabor with production from Hasan Insane.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SIDEWALK FILM FESTIVAL
These Final Hours • Narrative Short
Set against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter protests, Curtis is a young African-American struggling through his days in America, but who he is depends entirely on who is watching…
These Final Hours is a NAACP Image Award nominated short film, and is the pilot episode of an anthology series and an educational movement with the express mission of subverting unconscious bias.
Interview/Q&A with producer and Stowe Story Labs alumni Shan Harris
Demi’s Panic • Animated Short
A young woman is overcome with fear as a deadly virus spreads around her. Directed and animated by Academy Award-winning Bill Plympton and written by Stowe alum Danny Leonard, this animated short captures the anxiety that happens when the world falls apart.
Interview/Q&A with co-producer Lorena Leonard
The Seal•Narrative Short
A psychological thriller about a woman’s journey of healing. It’s about the battle between the mind that wants to forget, and the body that remembers. Starring notable Bollywood actress Shahana Goswami.
4PM
Nothing Compares
A documentary exploration of Sinead O’Connor’s rise and evolution and her enduring cultural impact.
CURATED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GALWAY FILM FLEADH
6:30PM
Blueback
After befriending a wild blue groper, a girl finds inspiration from her activist mother to save the magnificent fish from poachers.
Interview/Q&A with producers and Stowe Story Labs mentors Jonathan Duffy and Michele Turnure-Salleo
8:30PM
It is in Us All
A formidable man who cares for nothing is forced to confront his self-destructive core when a violent car crash involving a sexually charged boy who epitomizes life, challenges him to face his truth.
Interview/Q&A with producer and Stowe Story Labs mentor Conor Barry
Curated in partnership with Sidewalk Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, and NYX Horror Collective, our lineup includes documentaries, narrative features, shorts, and Stowe Story Labs’ alumni and mentor films. Artist discussion panels and Q&A sessions will encourage audiences to engage with working, established artists top in their field.