PRESENTED BY THE ARTISTS FORUMSTREAMING NOW - JAN 3, 2021

New York City

WELCOME!

Welcome to THE ARTISTS FORUM FESTIVAL OF THE MOVING IMAGE:2020! (#theartistsforumfilmfest). The festival returns for its fifth year with new,innovative programming. Originally scheduled from October 16 - November 14, 2020, our 2020 festival screenings have been extended until January 3, 2021.

This years festival will showcase 42 short films, created by independent filmmakers originating from 16 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chi-na, France, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, North Macedonia, Philippines, Serbia, United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition to its traditional genres, this year’s festival will also feature a special themed category: New York Stories. View our 2020 Official Trailer

The festival has been divided into four programs:PROGRAM I: Search for BelongingPROGRAM II: Agent(s) of ChaosPROGRAM III: Tales of the HeartPROGRAM IV: Acute Stress Response

Read about each program on the proceeding pages. View our 2020 Sneak Peek

For the first time, our festival is screening exclusively online! Tickets are available for all four programs on Vimeo. Each program can be purchased seperately for $4.99 or view the entire festival for $14.99 (a 25% discount).

Vimeo is accessible on cross-platform devices including iOS/Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Chromecast.

We encourage everyone to “#discoveryourself” by exploring new intereststhrough the art of cinema. For complete festival information: theartistsforum.org

The 2020 Closing Night Awards Ceremony can be viewed online. Check out our list of Nominees & Winners.

THE ARTISTS FORUM INC., now in its 22nd year, is a New York City based non-profit arts service organization specializing in events, juried competitions, and media for artists. Its FESTIVAL OF THE MOVING IMAGE is the organization’s flagship program, and provides an unparalleled platform for emerging and mid-career filmmakers to share their stories with the world’s creative, media, and film communities.

Join the conversation - Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Vimeo, and YouTube: @theartistsforum.

Thank you for supporting THE ARTISTS FORUM. Enjoy the festival!

Bambiland - 19:59 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Danilo Stanimirovic (Serbia)NARRATIVE (Student) - Strahinja, an acting school grad, works as a clown in a kid’s ground. Bambiland, a big amusement park in his home-town, is now an abandoned, creepy place and represent a metaphor for his generation in Serbia.

A Letter To Myself At 16 - 3:05 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Claire Tankersley (US)ANIMATION - I was sexually assaulted by a close friend at a party in high school. Five years later, there is so much that I wish I’d known when I woke up the next morning.

Keep Me - 14:58 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Evan Cutler Wattles (US) NARRATIVE - A one night stand becomes far more intimate than either participant could have predict-ed when ulterior motives and old scars come to light. World Premiere

Extended to January 3, 20219 Films - 113 mins

In our first program, festival filmmakers present stories with characters seeking solace, family, or a home to call their own. They embrace their curiosities and pas-sions by running to or away from obstacles in their lives in hopes of a happier outcome.

View Sneak Peek

PROGRAM I: SEARCH FOR BELONGING

Some Things Stay The Same - 3:57 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Hiroshi Shafer (Japan) MUSIC VIDEO - Music video created for theband My Favorite Things for their song “Stay a Little While.” A snail travels a great distance to see the lover. World Premiere

Bananas Girl - 6:56 mins (2020) Writer/Director: Shayna Connelly (US)DOCUMENTARY - Seven year old Bananas Girlasserts her independence, perfects the art of the nonsequitur and navigates the boundaries between herself and her mom.

Cloud Gazing - 7:30 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Dianne Diep (Australia/US)NEW YORK STORIES - After her umpteenth move in NYC, a woman and her best friend em-bark on a journey through imagination to a place of child-like wonder. East Coast Premiere

Musician - 19:35 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Mohsen Mehri Darouei (Iran) NARRATIVE - Mahmoud is a very short manwho wishes he could play an upright bass. But theinstrument is too big for him. North American Premiere

PROGRAM I: SEARCH FOR BELONGING

Susanna - 11:26 mins (2018)Writers/Director: Oksana Mirzoyan (US) NARRATIVE - In an isolated religious community, a pregnant woman desperate to escape abusive conditions stages a crime. To be found guilty means life outside the gate - a risk she is willing to take to be free. East Coast Premiere

Better Than Neil Armstrong - 20:00 mins (2018) Writer/Director: Alireza Ghasemi (Iran) NARRATIVE - Four kids start their journey tothe moon with the mission of finding a mysterious place called The Redland but the gates of Red-land are being guarded by a mischievoussnake. New York State Premiere

Echo - 7:07 mins (2020) Writer/Director: Barzan Rostami (Iran) ANIMATION - Echo is an animated story about wildlife, environmental abuse, and its conse-quences on the human race. East Coast Premiere

Limbo - 17:20 mins (2019) Writer/Director: Anthony Von Seck (Canada) NARRATIVE - An intelligence operativemeets up with a conspiracy theorist to retrieve his lost notebook. New York State Premiere

Realize Your Dreams - 3:02 mins (2019)Writers/Director: Katie Colosimo (US) EXPERIMENTAL - A personal and political retro-spection of American values. World Premiere

Extended to January 3, 202110 Films - 121 mins

The title says it all: Stories of bro-ken political promises, espionage, sex trafficking, sexual assault, tox-ic masculinity, murder, and geno-cide sum up this block of work. Messages from these filmmakers should be kept in mind beforestuffing the ballot box this year.

View Sneak Peek

PROGRAM II: AGENT(S) OF CHAOS

Me Llamo Jesus - 8:28 mins (2019)Writers/Director: Cherie Song (US)MUSIC VIDEO - After his father dies, a Mexican immigrant teen must put his college dreams on hold and take his father’s job at a horse ranch. He soon discovers how much his father sacrificed for their family. East Coast Premiere

Waithood - 21:48 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Louisiana Mees (Belgium) NARRATIVE (STUDENT) - Five youngsters seek entertainment in luxurious Airbnb’s that one of them is cleaning for a meager fee. They look out over a city in turmoil, daydreaming abouta world of possibilities. New York State Premiere

Soledad - 9:49 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Carlos Renaso (US) NEW YORK STORIES (NARRATIVE) - After arriving in the United States from a Caribbean Island, Soledad makes a phone call to her older sister where she learns her marriage may be a lie. World Premiere

Kaddish - 14:28 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Razid Season (Bangladesh)NARRATIVE - The emotional journey of a young Ashkenazim who attempts to visit his mother’sgrave on the anniversary of her death during theholocaust.

Barbie Dream House - 4:38 mins (2018)Writer/Director: Susan Kouguell (US) EXPERIMENTAL - A response to my formeremployer, Harvey Weinstein, and to all the others.

Crazy - 3:30 mins (2019) Writer: J-Key, Director: Lee Milby (US)MUSIC VIDEO - A young man wakes up in a mys-terious warehouse with blood on his face and no memory of how he got there.Stalked by nefarious entities, he slowly remembers his fate and the nightmare begins again.

PROGRAM II: AGENT(S) OF CHAOS

The Turnaround - 27:51 mins (2019) Writer: Cuete Yesca, Director: Jahmal J. Holland (US) NARRATIVE - Brothers B and Jay battle habits of a hard upbringing when deciding to leave gangster life. Now overwhelmed, B suffers panic attacks and must find courage to get help or be trapped in a gangster image.

Extended to January 3, 202112 Films - 117 mins

In this program, our filmmakers present multiple facets of the love story: Stories of love, desire, as well as feelings of loneliness and betrayal.

View Sneak Peek

PROGRAM III: TALES OF THE HEART

Remember/Tomorrow - 24:39 mins (2019) Writer: Ari Veach, Director: Ari Veach & Ryan Shuler (US) NEW YORK STORIES (NARRATIVE) Two lovers embark on a journey across time and space. Through a dream-like perception of reality, they navigate within alternate possibilities of how their lives may unfold.

BHC- 4:32 mins (2019) Writer/Director: Moira Fett (US) MUSIC VIDEO - In this one-shot music video for Jeremy Stern’s BHC (Bank Car Heist), we findourselves drawn into the lives of four strangers via their NYC apartment windows.East Coast Premiere

For While - 1:05 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Jess Irish (US) NEW YORK STORIES - Inspired by Emma Lazarus’s famed poem welcoming immigrants to the United States, this experimental video short captures small moments of humanity withinthe quotidian carriage of the NYC subway.

Above The Angel - 6:17 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Julian Olariu (France)EXPERIMENTAL - A chronicle of a communist afternoon: The evocation of a father’s 1970s trip to Paris - his broken dreams, search for light and a present he will not see.

Align - 7:22 mins (2020)Writer/Director: R.E. Wolfe (UK)EXPERIMENTAL - A conceptual dance film thatpresents two radically different dance forms: balletand pole dance… There is more that connects us than divides us.

Songs for My Right Side - 26:46 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Jeffrey C. Wray (US)NARRATIVE - Rodger Smith is a flawed man in pain who is trying to make things right in his life.Only music can soothe his troubled soul.East Coast Premiere

Ernest Messages - 16:00 mins (2019)Writer: Maisa ChiangDirector: Cinder Chou & Ryan T. Perry (US)NEW YORK STORIES - A 40-year-old comes home from a great date and tries to leave the perfect voicemail.

Red Flags - 7:59 mins (2020)Writer: Ben Weiss, Director: Tess Goldwyn (US) NEW YORK STORIES (NARRATIVE) - Lauren and Nico weren’t expecting much from a Bumble date. When they hit it off, it was almost too per-fect. A darkly comic take on politics trickling down to millennial dating. New York City Premiere

Carnival Daydream - 2:17 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Kristyna Archer (US)COMEDY - An ode to first experiences around ones pre-teen crush. East Coast Premiere

PROGRAM III: TALES OF THE HEART

Extinction Rebellion NYC - 6:00 mins (2020) Writer/Director: Alexia Oldini & Steven Gray (Italy/US) NEW YORK STORIES - Extinction Rebellion NYC is a political short film featuring non-violent direct actions undertaken by the climate justice movement during Summer and Fall of 2019.

PROGRAM III: TALES OF THE HEART

A Touch on the Edge - 6:58 mins (2019)Writer/Directors: Yige Seleny Xie (China) NARRATIVE (Student) - A coming-of-age short film centered around an 8 year old boy struggling with his father’s relationship while growing up in a single-family home that forces him to beindependent. US Premiere

Slow Jam Girl - 4:39 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Jack Quint (US) MUSIC VIDEO - Throwback video parodies: The self-absorption of pop stars and playboys. A songabout a girl, with no girls in it.

Quarantine - 00:58 mins (2020)Writers/Director: Margarita Mapa (Philippines) ANIMATION (Student) - The relaxing nature of quarantine grows droning and anxiety-inducing as the days begin to blend together.

Extended to January 3, 202111 Films - 120 mins

In our final program, the stress of living in our modern world trig-gersthe ‘fight or flight’ response to the extreme: panic, bitter angst, road rage, fantasy, escapism, and parallel timelines.

View Sneak Peek

PROGRAM IV: ACUTE STRESS RESPONSE

PROGRAM IV: ACUTE STRESS RESPONSE

Horn - 8:00 mins (2018)Writer/Director: Ghasideh Golmakani (Iran)COMEDY - A businesswoman tries to find a place to park her car to be on time for an important work appointment. Men are disturbing her in the streets of Tehran but she finds a solution to conclude the business too.

It’s Look Sunshine - 24:15 mins (2020) Writer/Director: Seunghwan Kim (Korea)NARRATIVE - Young-eun, lives with her mother, a haenyo diver, in fishing village on Jeju Island.She learns eco-friendly photography from her friend Seung-hwan, who is a beachcomber.

The Stream X - 6:54 mins (2019)Writer/Director: Hiroya Sakurai (Japan)EXPERIMENTAL - In the man-made waterways of rice paddies, water must follow artificial rules. Nature is made abstract, giving rise to distinctly new forms of beauty - a ballet of sound & motion via algae and water. New York State Premiere

Fantasy Killer - 3:21 mins (2019)Writers: Ivan AndersonDirector: Ivan Anderson & John Marty (US)MUSIC VIDEO - A music video that’s the sensory equivalent of taking video game drugs.

Alone Together - 7:30 mins (2020) Writer/Director: David Giardina (US) MUSIC VIDEO - During the COVID-19 lockdown, a New York City crooner gets a call to travel back in time to perform at a swanky Manhattan night-club in 1932. World Premiere

PROGRAM IV: ACUTE STRESS RESPONSE

Night at the Museum - 5:58 mins (2020)Writer/Director: Peter Meng (US) EXPERIMENTAL - Explore the galleries after hours when a strange surreal unrest haunts the artwork within. Witness the paintings spring to life as you slip into another dimension and tap into the subconscious mind of the artist.

Sticker - 18:46 mins (2019)Director: Georgi M. Unkovski (North Macedonia) NARRATIVE - After an unsuccessful attempt to renew his car registration, Dejan falls in a bureau-cratic trap that tests his resolve to be a responsi-ble father.

Broken Like - 2:00 mins (2019) Writer: The IZM (US)Director: Stephen Rutterford (UK) DARK THEMES - Angst in a basement : Music video for The IZM’s “Broken Like.” New York City Premiere

Kopacabana - 13:33 mins (2019)Writer: Fausto Fawcett (Brazil)Director: Marcos Bonisson & Khalil Charif (Brazil)EXPERIMENTAL - Experimental film set inCopacabana - an epicenter of intercultural, social, and sensory experiences.

The Time in Between the Seconds - 26:09 mins (2019) Writer/Director: Mark Clauburg (US) NARRATIVE - Wendy’s recovery from a tragic event leads her to make a selfless decision.

2020 FESTIVAL JURY:Ashley Gerst, Stephen Hilyard, Henry Kanegsberg, Cary Patrick Martin, Djordje Radovanovich, David Ranghelli, Jose Carlos Teixeira, Jonathan Ullman, Amos White V, Viktor Witkowski

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR: Amos White V

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:Amos White V, Henry S. Kanegsberg, Glynette Bowers Brown

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS:Christopher JP Mitchell, Esq., Djordje Radovanovich

FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS:Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Carianne Carleo-Evangelist and Fern Zimbalist at NYC & Company, Rick Kinsel and Elizabeth Boylan at Vilcek Foundation, Beverley Prentice-Thomas, Steve Smith, and Bernie Anderson at Dolby Laboratories, Rich Speziale at Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Ricky Bradford at Swag Pros/The Graphix Center, Vimeo

MEDIA SPONSOR: Danny Otten at LinkNYC

2020 FESTIVAL PARTNERS: Jack Gao, Sarah Ren, and Hanyang Song at Smart Cinema USA, Andy and Anna at Filmfreeway

FESTIVAL AMBASSADORS: Rebecca L. Hargrove, Michael Inge

FESTIVAL GRAPHIC DESIGN: Vaishali Kriplani

FESTIVAL INTERNS:NYIT: Shiyao Wei, Vaishali Kriplani, Julie Zhu, Jeffrey Daurio, Eduardo Flores Navarro, Erick Soliz, Jake Marturella-Jaramillo The New School: Yancong Yin, Stephy Hsu, Irene Xu

NYIT SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Graduate Marketing Course Special Project w/ Dr. Deborah Y. Cohn, Westbury Campus: Theresa Abraham, *Momna Arshad, *Claudia Cortes Artigas, *Josephine Axis, Smruthi Balasubramanian, Nicholas Carranza, *Rafal Charkiewicz, Javier Hidalgo, *Eduard Imanov, *Shana Joseph, Rakesh Khanna, Zachary Kleinwaks, *Xin Liu, Germaine Nishimirwe, *Matthew Otto, *James Parise, Thomas Philips, *Natalie Reyes, *Suyog Sanklecha, Xenia Torres, *Wenye Zhao*Recipients of THE ARTISTS FORUM Award for Outstanding Student Contribution to Service Learning

UNIVERSITY PARTNERS: NYIT: Dr. Birasnav Muthraj, Dr. Deborah Y. Cohn, Ellie Schwartz, Luzia Ogureck, Amy Bravo, Jessica Boudouris The New School: Marisa LoBianco, Austin Cartagena, Kevin Bukreev

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Funded in part by a grant from the NYC & Company Foundation

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THE ARTISTS FORUM is a NYC based non-profit organization specializing in events, juried competitions, and media for artists.Support us on Amazon Smile in the Amazon app or https://smile.amazon.com/ch/20-0660136