VISIONFEST to kick off 14th annual run with the
U.S. Premiere
of the off-the-wall comedy DON PEYOTE featuring
Dan Fogler;
NEVER makes NY debut as Closing Night Selection!
CHASING TASTE and SAND
CASTLES round out feature offerings;
CHANGE: THE LIFEPARTICLE
EFFECT and HOME COURT head the docs category
New York City – April 16,
2014 – VISIONFEST 14: THE OTHER FESTIVAL
(VF14) has announced its complete program line-up for its annual event, which
runs May 14 thru May 18, 2014, at Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Laight and Varick
Streets in New York City). The film
festival, whose mission to “promote domestic filmmaking” is supported and
propelled by its organizing entity, the Domani
Vision Film Society, a not-for-profit organization, this year celebrates
its fourteenth annual outing. With 36 films, combining narrative features,
shorts, documentaries, experimental, and animated works, all of the titles
being showcased originate exclusively from U.S. based filmmakers. Advance tickets now on sale at:
www.visionfest.com
The “Official Opening Night
Selection” this year features a vividly colorful program line-up, starting off
with the short subjects, COSMIC FLOWER
UNFOLDING, an experimental animation by VF alum, Benjamin Ridgway, and the
charming, live-action/animated short, ADONIS
by David Dibble. The duo of trippy
shorts paves the way for the evening’s feature presentation, the U.S. Premiere
of the highly anticipated, DON PEYOTE,
featuring Dan Fogler as Warren Allman, a 32 year-old, unemployed stoner, whose
mid-life crisis over his upcoming wedding sends him on the drug trip of a
lifetime. The psychedelic romp, which
also stars Josh Duhamel and Jay Baruchel, is packed with a host of celebrity
cameos, big laughs, and giant ‘heart,’ as Warren weaves in and out of perceived
reality, apocalyptic dreams, and an obsession with Doomsday theories, which
propel him into making a documentary on the subject while his fiancé is busy
planning their wedding. Dan Fogler
co-directed the film with Michael Canzoniero, both men are VF alumni, and WEDDING BROS, one of their earlier
collaborations, marked one of the festival’s quickest selling “sold out” shows
since the event’s inception. “We’re really pumped about opening our film
festival with Don Peyote this year,”
stated VF co-director, Frank Lewallen, adding: “It’s smart, funny, visually
unique… It’s unlike any other film I’ve ever seen, and to have the opportunity
to offer it to New York audiences with this Special Advance Screening, just before
it goes out theatrically, makes this show even more special and a hot ticket to
have on May 14th.”
Also screening in New York
for the first time are the narrative features, CHASING TASTE by Sean Gannet and SAND CASTLES by Clenét Verdi-Rose.
The former unveils on Friday, May 16, 2014, at 7:00 p.m., preceded by
the Daniel Campos comedy-musical short, TODAY’S
THE DAY, featuring Danny DeVito. The dramatic and hauntingly poetic, SAND CASTLES, headlines the sole
Saturday evening, May 17 screening, and is preceded by the equally evocative
short, INTO THE DARK, by Lukas
Hassel, another VF alum.
The “Official Closing Night
Selection” unfolds with a very eclectic group of films. First up is FLAWS, a short subject created by 16-year-old filmmaker, Gabrielle
Giacomo, who wears all production hats on the project and even appears before
camera. The film was originally
submitted as part of a special program called For Kids By Kids, but when
festival organizers decided to forego the ‘sidebar’ screening, FLAWS was kept in the Independent
Vision Showcase by unanimous vote, making Gabrielle Giacomo the youngest
filmmaker ever to have a film in the adult line-up at VF. Immediately following, is the comedic short, COOTIE CONTAGION, by Joshua Smooha,
which features a cast made up solely of children. Next up, Zina Brown, another VF alum, returns
to the festival with the visually dazzling, DREAM OF THE LAST BUTTERFLIES.
The evening’s feature presentation is Brett Allen Smith’s NEVER, which boasts the acting debut of
Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin Williams), and music by Nora Kirkpatrick.
This year’s IVA (Independent
Vision Awards) Ceremony will immediately follow the closing night’s program,
with an after-party and photo-op, spilling into the adjacent Varick Room.
Among some of the other
highlights at VF14, is the ‘Out of Competition’ special screening of the short
doc, REAL CHANGE, by Adam Becker,
which is featured as part of this Special Benefit Screening, for which, a
portion of the proceeds will be donated to Real
Change – Real Change exists to
provide opportunity and a voice for low-income and homeless people while taking
action for economic justice. The feature
doc in the same program will be CHANGE:
THE LIFEPARTICLE EFFECT, directed by Edwin Kim & EJ Lim. The documentary,
HOME COURT, by Monica Alba and Ben
Teitelbaum, headlines Program 02, on Thursday, May 15, at 7:00 p.m.
For additional details and/or
to request Press Accreditation, please contact Kate Mistretta:
Here is the full VF14
Line-up:
WEDNESDAY – MAY 14
PROGRAM
01 -- 8:00pm -- Tribeca Cinemas 2
COSMIC FLOWER UNFOLDING D: Benjamin Ridgway – 2min. Experimental
ADONIS D: David Dibble – 10min. Narrative
DON PEYOTE D: Michael Canzoniero & Dan Fogler –
98min. Narrative
THURSDAY – MAY 15
PROGRAM
02 -- 7:00pm -- TC 1
MONKEY RAG D: Joanna Davidovich – 4min. Animation
FIRST PRIZE D: Kevin McMullin – 10min. Narrative
LAST STOP IN SANTA ROSA D: Elizabeth Lo – 5min. Documentary
FOR THE LOVE OF DOGS D: Tim O’Donnell – 26min. Documentary
HOME COURT D: Monica Alba & Ben Teitelbaum – 40min.
Documentary
PROGRAM
03 -- 8:00pm -- TC 2
COOKING WITH VENUS D: Glen & Shaun Vivaris – 3min. Narrative
TAG D: Freeland Shreve – 5min. Narrative
OPEN SPACES D: Nick Rafter – 15min. Narrative
WAKE D: Judith Kenny – 10min. Narrative
MOUSTACHE D: Carl Evans – 20min. Narrative
THE WEST BEGINS AT FIFTH
AVENUE D: Donald Gray & Kryssa
Schemmerling. 17min. Narrative
GRAPE D: Daniel Stine – 29min. Narrative
PROGRAM
04 -- 9:30pm -- TC 1
AUTHORIZED DRONE STRIKE
ZONE D: Christopher Wasmer – 6min.
Documentary
AMONG THE INNOCENT D: Louis Mansfield – 7min. Narrative
LOAD D: Paul-Anthony Navarro – 10min. Narrative
KAWOMERA: PLANT, PRAY,
PARTNER FOR PEACE D: Marla Mossman –
15min. Doc
REAL CHANGE D: Adam Becker – 9min. Documentary (Out of
competition)
CHANGE: THE LIFEPARTICLE
EFFECT D: Edwin Kim & EJ Lim –
48min. Documentary
FRIDAY -- MAY 16
PROGRAM
05 -- 7:00pm -- TC 2
TODAY’S THE DAY D: Daniel Campos – 13min. Narrative
CHASING TASTE D: Sean Gannet – 89min. Narrative
PROGRAM
07 -- 9:30pm -- TC 2
WHAT CHEER? D: Michael Slavens – 18min. Narrative
THE HEEBIE-JEEBIES D: Todd Slawby – 9min. Narrative
FLESH COMPUTER D: Ethan Shaftel – 14min. Narrative
KILLER KART D: James Feeney – 15min. Narrative
THE SOUND D: Sacha Iskra – 15min. Narrative
GHOST LIGHT D: PJ Germain – 20min. Narrative
BULLY D: Robert Weiermair – 24min. Narrative
SATURDAY – MAY 17
PROGRAM
07 -- 8:00 pm -- TC 2
INTO THE DARK D: Lukas Hassel – 14min. Narrative
SAND CASTLES D: Clenét Verdi-Rose – 93min. Narrative
SUNDAY – MAY 18
PROGRAM
8 -- 6:30pm -- TC 2
FLAWS D: Gabrielle Giacomo – 2.5min. Narrative
COOTIE CONTAGION D: Joshua Smooha – 8min. Narrative
DREAM OF THE LAST
BUTTERFLIES D: Zina Brown – 10min.
Music/Narrative
NEVER D: Brett Smith – 83min. Narrative
THE IVA CEREMONY -- 8:30pm --
TC 2
