BEST OF FESTIVAL

Karla Murthy

70 min | USA | 2019

Among the industrial ruins of America, a new generation is rebuilding home. When the steel mills shut down in Youngstown Ohio, it shattered a way of life. Over half the population left. Thousands of empty blighted homes were left behind, eroding the social fabric of this once mighty industrial base. Like many post-industrial towns, persistent joblessness, crime and poverty plague the city. Filmed over the course of 2 1/2 years, this film weaves the lives of a new generation of residents who have grown up in a world of post-industrial decline. Unlike their parents’ generation, haunted and traumatized by watching their way of life crumble around them, this generation is able to envision a new future, and they are working to make a life for themselves in their hometown. An inspiring testimony to the modest but profound resilience and dedication it takes to transform a community. A crucial story to be heard at a time of extreme inequality, divisiveness, upheaval and uncertainty, "The Place That Makes Us" is a meditation on the meaning of home in America today.  

Official Selections: Woods Hole Film Festival, MA; River's Edge International Film Festival, Paducah, KY

SCREENED WITH

FYRVAKTAREN - BATHTUB BY THE SEA

Ole-André Rønneberg

15 min | 2019 | Norway | East Coast Premiere

Day in and day out Gunnar, a lighthouse keeper, does the same things. He drinks his coffee, fishes with his boat, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays he has his outdoor bath. But one day a mermaid comes in with the tides, and he must use his bathtub for her. When bathing day comes and the bathtub is occupied, it gets complicated for Gunnar.

Official Selections: Blue Sea Film Festival, Rauma, Finland; Festival Int’l du Film de Nancy, France; WENIFF, Ålesund, Norway; Indie-Lincs Int’l Fil Festival, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK; Cellu L'art Short Film Festival Jena, Germany; International Film Festival, New York, USA; Skepto Int'l Film Festival, Cagliari, Italy; Clujshorts Int’l Short Film Festival, Cluj, Romania; Myrtle Beach Film Festival, South Carolina; Prato Film Festival, Italy; Paleochora Lost World Short Film Festival, Paleochora, Crete, Greece; Doc Sunback Film Festival, Mulvane, Kansas; One Country One Film Int’l Festival, Apchat, France; Annual Reelheart Int’l Film and Screenplay Festival, Toronto, Canada; Geelong Int’l Film Festival, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Working Title Film Festival, Vicenza, Italy; Aqua Film Festival, Rome, Italy; TISFF - THESS Int’l Shorts Film Festival, Thessaloniki, Greece; Aretaler Kurzfilmtage, Münsingen, Berne, Switerland