39 Pounds of Love:
USA/Israel, 2005, 77 Minute Running Time, Language: English/Spanish/Hebrew watch the trailer (Quicktime
or Windows Media Player)
This heartwarming documentary follows 34 year-old, 3D animator Ami Ankiewitz’s
remarkable, cross-continent road-trip to the heart of the human spirit. Born to
a Mexican mother and Israeli father, Ami, a medical-miracle, who suffers from
Muscular Dystrophy, weighs only 39 pounds and cannot move any part of his body
below his neck. Defying the orders of his physician in Tel Aviv, he sets off to
find the infamous doctor who made the bleak prediction that he would not live
past age six. His humor, passion and character are unforgettable.
Dir: Dani Menkin, Featuring animation by Ami Ankiewitz (Presented by KPTS)
Showtime: 9:30 AM
Conventioneers: USA,
2005, 95 Minute Running Time, Language: English
Set against the backdrop of the actual 2004 Republican National Convention, this
unconventional love story explores the complicated relationship of a Republican
delegate visiting New York, who reconnects with his college-crush, a Democratic
protester. A Red States-Blue States battle ensues, and both are forced to
examine each other’s beliefs, and their own. Capturing both the actual footage
and the characters’ interactions with the surrounding events, the filmmakers
weave together a fictional narrative that highlights the vibrant fabric of
cotemporary politics.
Dir: Mora Stephens
Showtime: 5:10 PM
League of Ordinary Gentlemen:
2004, USA, 96 Minute Running Time, Language: English watch the trailer (Quicktime or
Realplayer)
With championship footage from Wichita’s own ---- Lanes, this riveting
documentary follows bowlings resident bad boy Pete Webber on his mission to
reclaim the Professional Bowling Association ’s top spot from the calm and
collected Walter Ray Williams, who took the honor years ago. Being introduced to
this colorful cast of characters who are focused, skilled and dedicated to the
renaissance of bowling, is evidence of mankind’s insatiable urge to reach
greatness and to snag a large trophy.
Dir: Christopher Browne (Presented by KPTS)
Showtime: 12:00 PM
North Korea: Day in the Life: 2004, North Korea/Netherlands, 50 Minute
Running Time, Language: Korean with English subtitles
What is life like for an average North Korean family? From a country so closed
off to the outside world that cameras are rarely, if ever, allowed, Director
Pietre Pleury gives a peek at a day in the life of one such family. These rare
moments reveal a frightening world full of propaganda, domination and
self-censorship that might seem hard to imagine.
Dir: Pietre Pleury (Presented by KPTS) Preceeded by Amsterdam-Kosovo: 2004, Holland/Serbia, 27 Minute Running
Time, Language: Dutch/English/Serbian/Albanian with English subtitles
In this startling account of the unresolved problems of the Serbian province
Kosovo, five years after the NATO intervention, four students from Amsterdam
drive an ambulance to the area. They find a region still torn by ongoing ethnic
violence. Young Albanian and Serbian Kosovars talk about their day-to-day
problems, their hopes and disillusions.
Dir: Eefje Blankevoort, Roos Boer, Arnold van Bruggen and Tomas Kaan (Presented
by KPTS)
Showtime: 1:00 PM
Punk Attitude: 2004, USA/UK.
90 Minute Running Time. Language: English watch the trailer (Quicktime)
Illuminating the loud history of the punk movement dating from the late 1960’s,
legendary DJ Don Letts interviews the legends of punk rock including Legs
McNeil, Chrissy Hynde, Jim Jarmusch, Tommy Ramone and Henry Rollins. From the
vital subculture of its beginnings, to the large pop presence of today, it is
impossible to turn a deaf ear to the impact and influence that this genre has on
modern music, culture and politics. Featuring original music by David Byrne and
Martyn Le Noble.
Dir: Don Letts (Presented by KPTS)
Showtime: 6:00 PM
Waterborne: 2005, USA, 80
Minute Running Time, Language: English
With a shortage of vital resources, how far will the average person go to ensure
their own survival or that of their loved ones? With a contaminated water
source, Los Angeles is cast in to turmoil in this contemporary thriller. Three
separate story lines collide at the intersection of desperation and human
decency, exploring realistic fears of a post-9/11 America.
Dir. Ben Rekhi
Showtime: 2:40 PM
Shorts Program 1: Life Or Something Like It: New Directions in
Independent Short Cinema Approx. 120 Minute Running Time (Titles/Directors
provided online or at showtime)
In this collection of diverse shorts, we find history turned on its head in
colorful South Park-ian animation, the eerie time capsular footage of 1950’s
beauty queens and stunt divers, existential examinations on the every day
mundane, scientist becoming canine to discover freedom, and many other
surrealistic and super-realistic examinations of living. With styles unique and
original, this compilation holds everything for someone, and something for
everyone.
Dir: Various
Showtime: 11:10 AM
Shorts Program 2: The Journey is the Destination, Approx. 120 Minute
Running Time (Titles/Directors provided online or at showtime)
This itinerary of doc and narrative shorts will take you to a phone booth in the
Mojave Desert, to the basement of a former glam-rocker, to the studios of stolen
air-play, and to childhoods you wish you could forget. While visiting these
locales, remember, things may have shifted during flight.
Dir: Various
Showtime: 3:30 PM
JUST ADDED!
The Real Dirt on Farmer John,
USA, 2005, 83 Minute Running Time
Language: English
watch the trailer (Realtime)
"Eccentric Midwestern farmer John Peterson has struggled over the past 30 years
to redefine himself and his rural Illinois family farm. Amidst a failing economy
and hostility from his community for being "a little different," he finally
succeeds in combining tradition with creative vision, creating a thriving,
organic Community Supported Agriculture farm." [SIFF '05]
Dir. Taggart Siegel
Showtime: 9:30 AM
Saturday Night Gala
Presentation of the 2005 Ad Astra Award to Timothy Gruver, late Executive
Director of Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts and Tallgrass Film
Festival in celebration of his legacy, followed by the Announcement of the
Audience Award Winning Feature and Short.
“Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers” includes short films by returning
director/producer Chris Harding of Pretty Prairie, KS with “Learn Self Defense”;
Award winning short “I Am Stamos” by Garden City native Robert Peters (presented
by the Kansas Connection); “Chem. 101” from Wichita filmmaker Jason Bailey;
“Careless”, by Wichita filmmaker Devin Schwyhart and Producer Jason Opat; and
closing with “Ashes to Ashes”, a short film produced and directed under the
tutelage of Timothy Gruver and his filmmaking class from the Fischhaus.
Showtime: 8:00 PM (Doors Open 7:30)
Tallgrass Film Noir Party w/ Food/Music and Open Bar with Proper ID) @ Rule
Productions Studios (143 N. Rock Island, Ste. 300)
Party Begins: 9:30 PM
**Retain ticket stub for party admission. Due to a limited amount of seating at
the Warren Theater, the “Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers” will be re-screened at
the party venue**
*All screening times and titles are subject to change.
