Winter Film Awards 2018 International Film Festival ABOUT OUR SCREENINGS All screenings will be at Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, New York NY 10003 Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://winterfilmawards.com/wfa2018/tickets/ $10 / Advance, $15 / Door, $5 at the door with Student ID Screening blocks run 2 ½ to 3 hours and include a mix of shorts and feature-length films. FEATURE FILMS AND LONG SHORTS Ambition's Debt Directed by Devin E. Haqq , Produced by Josh Wick and Brandt Adams Starring Peter McRobbie , Nathan Darrow , Kathleen Chalfant , Pernell Walker Feature, from United States, in English, 100 mins, 2017 Adapted from William Shakespeare's epic tale of honor, ambition, betrayal, hubris, and the supernatural. Set against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world, the story follows the downfall of Rome's most honored citizen, Marcus Brutus, as he conspires to assassinate Julius Caesar in order to forestall tyranny and preserve democracy. Filmed entirely on location in a Brooklyn industrial warehouse with an abstract expressionistic production design, it’s Mad Max meets William Shakespeare meets Lars Von Trier. NYC Premiere. Three or more people are likely to attend the Festival Sunday Feb 25, Block 10: 9:15 PM-11:45 PM Attila Directed by Ben Samuels and Oliver Samuels , Produced by Ben Samuels and Oliver Samuels Starring Neil Samuels , Vladimir Versailles , Short, from United States, in English, 33 mins, 2017 Attila is a racially-charged short film about finding hope in a divided country -- a story more topical than ever. America is at war in 1864 as Union Major General William T. Sherman plans his brutal March to the Sea through his beloved South and is confronted by the moral convictions of an escaped slave and contraband soldier. This film was adapted from the one-act play. World Premiere. Three or more people are likely to attend the Festival Sunday Feb 25, Block 8: 3:45 PM-6:15 PM WFA-IFF 2018 Official Selections 1 | P a g e Schedules subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please go to www.winterfilmawards.com for the most up-to-date schedule. For press screeners and hi res stills, please email [email protected] The Best of all Worlds (Die beste aller Welten) Directed by Adrian Goiginger , Produced by Wolfgang G. Ritzberger and Nils Dünker Starring Jeremy Miliker , Lukas Miko , Verena Altenberger Feature, from Austria, in German, 103 mins, 2017 The true story of a drug addicted mother, the adventurous world of her child and their love for each other. Adrian's childhood is spent in an exceptional environment, the junkie scene of Salzburg and with a mother moving between caring and being high. NYC Premiere. Two people from the Film Team are likely to attend the Festival Wednesday Feb 28, Block 13: 7:45 PM-11:25 PM Burkinabe Rising: The Art of Resistance In Burkina Faso Directed by Iara Lee , Produced by Iara Lee Documentary, from Burkina Faso, in French, English & Moore, 72 mins, 2017 A small landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso is home to a vibrant community of artists, musicians and engaged citizens who carry on the revolutionary spirit of Thomas Sankara, killed in a coup d'état led by his best friend and advisor Blaise Compaoré, who then ruled the country as an autocrat for 27 years, til a massive popular insurrection led to his removal. Today, the spirit of resistance and political change is mightier than ever and it permeates every aspect of the Burkinabè life. It is an inspiration, not only to Africa, but to the rest of the world. NYC Premiere. We are unsure at this point if anyone will be able to attend the Festival Wednesday Feb 28, Block 13: 7:45 PM-11:25 PM Framed Directed by Marc Martínez Jordán , Produced by Marc Carreté Legarreta Starring Alex Maruny Horror, from Spain, in Spanish, 80 mins, 2017 Framed is an app that allows anyone to stream online from any mobile device with an internet connection. But since there’s no control or censorship, many of its users are willing to do anything to gain as much audience as posible: beatings, rape, everything is posible on Framed. There are no limits. Alex meets his friends on his farewell night party before leaving for Berlin. Everything is going well until they are attacked and forced to play in mortal games; everything is streaming online with only one goal: to achieve a record audience in Framed. NYC Premiere. We are unsure at this point if anyone will be able to attend the Festival Monday Feb 26, Block 11: 7:45 PM-11:15 PM WFA-IFF 2018 Official Selections 2 | P a g e Schedules subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please go to www.winterfilmawards.com for the most up-to-date schedule. For press screeners and hi res stills, please email [email protected] Four Games in Fall Directed by Julie Marron , Produced by Ami Clifford and Lila Kerns Documentary, from United States, in English, 105 mins, 2017 Fake news! Attack on Science! Subversion of the Legal System! This film explores the highly topical issues of media manipulation, science for hire, and perversion of the legal system ... all through the lens of the Deflategate scandal. Through interviews with attorneys, journalists, professors, and fans, we examine how accusations of deflated footballs became a national obsession. We go beyond the football to show that the tactics used by the NFL in this scandal are not unique, but are frequently replicated to manipulate public opinion, influence government regulation, muddy the waters around science, and unfairly impact the outcome of court cases. World Premiere. Three or more people are likely to attend the Festival Sunday Feb 25, Block 8: 3:45 PM-6:15 PM The Girl Who Invented Kissing Directed by Tom Sierchio , Produced by George Zakk and Corey Large Starring Dash Mihok , Vincent Piazza , Suki Waterhouse , Abbie Cornish , Luke Wilson Feature, from United States, in English, 105 mins, 2017 A nameless, pill-popping drifter girl steps off a bus and into a neighborhood bar owned by two middle- age brothers. She quickly befriends older brother Victor -- a good-natured lummox whose mind was affected as the result of a childhood accident. The mysterious Girl soon upsets the delicate balance of the brothers' lives while bringing both trouble and new life into the world of these resigned characters. NYC Premiere. Three or more people are likely to attend the Festival Saturday Feb 24, Block 6: 9:15 PM-12:15 PM The Guardian of the Ice (Il Guardiano del Ghiaccio) Directed by Salvatore Metastasio , Produced by Salvatore Metastasio and Giulia Morgani Starring Alessandro Vantini , Fabio Balasso , Giulia Morgani Feature, from Italy, in Italian, 105 mins, 2015 In a house on top of a snowy mountain, the driver of a cable car hides a woman with mental disorders. Her worsening psychic problems are ruining their lives, so he resumes his revolutionary experiments to treat her. The extraordinary explosion of a star offers a unique opportunity to put his previously abandoned theories into practice. After successful tests, he is finally ready to operate on his beloved, but the secrets he had buried long ago come to light, turning reality upside down. US Premiere. We are unsure at this point if anyone will be able to attend the Festival Thursday Mar 1, Block 15: 8:00 PM-11:45 PM WFA-IFF 2018 Official Selections 3 | P a g e Schedules subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. Please go to www.winterfilmawards.com for the most up-to-date schedule. For press screeners and hi res stills, please email [email protected] Let Women Choose (Las Mujeres Deciden) Directed by Xiana Yago, Produced by Perrine Delangle Documentary, from Ecuador, in spanish, 60 mins, 2017 Maria, a Spanish physician, works in a maternity hospital in the Ecuadorian rainforest. She is shocked by the many premature pregnancies and the violence women in Ecuador must face. She meets Mishell, an adolescent abused by his father, and Yanina, a woman who decides to perform a clandestine abortion. María discovers that behind unintended pregnancies again and again hides sexual violence. US Premiere. We are unsure at this point if anyone will be able to attend the Festival Saturday Feb 24, Block 5: 6:30 PM-9:00 PM Nine Letters Directed by Cristina Muller, Produced by Cristina Muller Documentary, from Brazil, in English, Portuguese, Italian & French, 21 mins, 2017 The sensation of living in New York, away from home, is shared by those who come to live in this great metropolis from elsewhere. In Nine Letters, this experience of 'here and there' is conveyed by letters, and by images of everyday urban life, evoking the dream state of the present imbued by the past. North American Premiere. Two people from the Film Team are likely to attend the Festival Sunday Feb 25, Block 7: 1:00 PM-3:30 PM Nobody Dies Here (Ici, Personne Ne Meurt) Directed by Simon Panay , Produced by Simon Panay Documentary, from France, in French & Fongbe, 24 mins, 2016 Perma gold mine, Benin. Some dream to find something, others realize there is nothing to be found. Some dig relentlessly hoping to become rich, others die in the process. And a few of them say that here, nobody dies. We are unsure at this point if anyone will be able to attend the Festival Sunday Feb 25, Block 7: 1:00 PM-3:30 PM One Ticket Please Directed by Matiss Kaza , Produced by Una Celma and David Scherker Documentary, from Latvia, in English, 65 mins, 2017 A 78-year-old Indian woman in New York is the world’s most passionate theatergoer.