Free from scrutiny, malice, and disdain; a dream of every
artist alike and one offered and realized in this fantastic
organization. The New Filmmakers of Los Angeles offers
writers, cinematographers, actors the opportunity for their
works to be viewed in a setting that many dare to revere.
With a supporting audience, the tireless efforts of many,
each film ended with a thunderous applause, with a Q&A
that followed each segment, allowing members of the view-
ing crowd to ask any inquiries about the films themselves,
or about the development process. Of course, all this is
just a minor perk of what the Film Festival has to offer, the
real show is in the different creative minds assembled into
these short renditions displaying the collaboration of vari-
ous talents. OstrichLand was comedic journey of two brothers who are
trying to figure out what to do with their father’s belongings.
As the story progressed, so did the revelation of how the
brothers actually felt about each other and how they actu-
ally despised each other.
On September 20, 2014 the AT&T Center on Hill Street
once again opened their doors to the organization to host
the event. Guests were treated to five segmented viewings,
with the fifth program holding something rather special. My Date with Adam was a stab at the rise of online dating
and the rise of people’s expectation of a potential lover.
In short, the only way to achieve these expectations is to
create a robot to be 100% on par with what some people
want.
The Heart of Bruno Wizard was on the first program, a doc-
umentary revolving around the life and musical career of
the lead singer and front man of the 1980’s London Punk
rock band, The Homosexuals. Fun and eccentric, the doc-
umentary gave the audience an insight of the life of this
iconic character of charisma and many talents. The film
covered Bruno Wizards career as it bloomed playing shows
at a Punk Rock club in London called “The Roxy,” perform-
ing several nights and moving all to his later days and his
current days. There was definitely a rise and fall of emo-
tional response, at the documentary not only focused on
a lot of his flashy character, but some of his hardships as
well. Overall, the documentary was entertaining, and very
engaging, never a dull moment.
The first set of shorts included five titles. Sunday Dinner
with the Morgans brought upon a twisted story of members
of a family as they unraveled from different points of views.
Cleverly each retelling of the day revealed a bit more of
each member of the family till it came to a close with the
son’s day of the events that transpired.
Hollygrove: The True Life Story of Monserrat was a touch-
ing tale of a young girl who went through the toughest of
hardships only to find the light at the end of her dark tunnel.
Her troubling journey had a happy ending as Hollygrove
accepted her and helped her grow past her fears and dark-
ness.
9 to 5 Feet Under showcased an event of a desk work-
er having passed away at the job, left unchecked for any
signs of life for almost a week. The day to day conver-
sations revolving around the worker seemed to be more
comedic than the last.
OSTRICHLAND- Photo Courtesy of New Filmakers Festival
Dirty Laundry, as risqué as that sounds, is actually a story
of a recently broken family and a “monster” that came to
life due to the recent abandonment of the father/husband
of the family and how one boy overcame his depression
and fear.
The second segment of shorts also offered five unique
shorts. Stay followed two males, travelling to a drug deal
while dealing with hurt and unresolved feelings for each
other that ended with more abandonment and a murder.
The Guest brought up a conundrum of having to choose
between the past and present; a long time friend, or the
future with the boy/girlfriend.
Mia was that awkward teenager moment in which a secret
was found out that would put distance between you and
your friend. There is a silver lining in it, as even through the
uncomfortable silence, there are unexpected heroes that
will always pull through for you, and Mia found that out
when one of her friends, one she never paid much attention
to, came through for her after her best friend betrayed her
trust.
Ticket to Ride was reminiscent of a certain Jim Carrey and
Jeff Daniels movie. A sort of Slapstick comedy revolving
around a lost opportunity and the hilarious circumstances
that would follow involving kidnapping a gas station man-
ager’s cat.
The next segment included four shorts. Toby and the Run-
away Kite was an animated story about a boy who chased
after a kite he had lost grip of. As the story was narrated,
it seemed more and more like a scare tactic about disobe-
dient children; after seeing that story, I certainly wouldn’t
want to disobey my parents again.
Trust Me was a powerful and dark story involving a tortured
soul, and two police officers who have some questionable
priorities. While their opinions often conflicted, in the end,
it caused one to be completely discontented with the other,
which resulted in the death of the tortured soul.
Bridge had that twist of an ending that can only be found in
M. Knight Shyamalan films.
Branching Out follows one man’s, rather one bundle of
twigs’, journey into finally settling the qualm of a misused
term to belittle people that would actually describe what
he was. Through a brilliant and clever role, this bundle of
twigs sporting a hoodie shared his story in finally getting
the proper definition out to the people.
The big feature was a real treat to everyone who attended,