2016 Black Hills Film Festival Schedule
Wednesday, May 4 Elks Theatre
Ultimate Adventure: Yin & Yang
Wednesday, May 4 – Elks Theater – 6 pm
Rapid City, SD, USA, Short Documentary, 41 min GRAPHIC SCENES
Produced & Directed by Dr. Stuart Fromm
Adventure and excitement with inherent risk and unknown outcomes—follow Dr. Stuart Fromm and other extreme athletes on a wild ride through both sides. Risk and thrill; win and lose; darkness and light—yin and yang. With rare edge-of-your-seat footage, this is as real as it gets!
Q & A WITH DR. STUART FROMM
Prophet’s Prey
Wednesday, May 4 – Elks Theater – 7 pm
Also playing Thursday, May 5 Mueller Civic Center Theater – 6:30 pm
CO & SD, USA, Feature Documentary, 95 min GRAPHIC SCENES
Produced by Amy Berg, Sam Brower
Written and Directed by Amy Berg
When Warren Jeffs rose to Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), he took control of a religion with a history of polygamous and underage marriage. In a short time Jeffs expanded these practices, growing in power at an unprecedented rate. By mirroring the
concept of sister wives and ecclesiastical rape, he changed the moral compass of his followers. Prophet’s Pray examines Jeffs’ life, showing his rise to Prophet, worshipped by tens of thousands. Despite a trail of abuse and ruined lives, many of his faithful followers would give their life with just one word from him.
Q & A WITH SAM BROWER AND GUESTS
Thursday, May 5 Journey Museum Theater
Upstairs
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 10 am
Italy, Short Film, 22 min
Produced & Directed by Joseph Spadaro
Four young men attend a local university in Brighton, a sea-side town overlooking the ocean. Each man has his own peculiar personality as witnessed by their different choices concerning their studies. Through their education and backgrounds, more of that becomes apparent throughout the film.
Who Will Bury the Dead? The Death of Christianity in Lakota Country?
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 10 am
Pine Ridge, USA, Feature Documentary, 85m
Directed and Produced by Mark St. Pierre
The 160 year history of the Lakota experiment with Christianity. The Death of Christianity in Lakota Country. A documentary on Spiritual Decolonization.
A Worthy Fight
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 1 pm
USA, Student Film, 9 min
Produced & Directed by Katie Hoffman
A compelling documentary about a revolutionary new cancer treatment and the hope it might bring to the millions of people affected by the deadly disease.
Tough as Nails
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 1 pm
USA, Short Documentary, 22 min
Produced & Directed by Matthew Adams
Accompany the women who train and race in the International Watercross Association, an extreme sport that means overcoming personal odds to pursue their lifelong dreams.
Taking Lena Home
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 1 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 60 min
Produced & Directed by Alexandra Grant
An artist buys an old tombstone, her first time to ever purchase an antique, only to discover it had been stolen back in 1945. Wanting to return it to its rightful place, she drives cross-country to a rural homesteading community in Nebraska.
Trout
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
USA, Short Film, 20 min LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE
Produced by Avielle Heath, James Pidgeon
Written & Directed by Brett Smith
An early morning fishing trip for three 13-year-old boys turns terrifying when they must escape from an alcoholic, abusive parent.
The Things I’m Afraid to Tell You
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
Pine Ridge, SD, USA, Short Film, 4 min
Produced & Directed by Tara Rose Weston
A powwow princess who once held the title Miss Oglala Lakota Nation from the Pine Ridge Reservation goes away to college and marries her boyfriend at the young age of 19. When he sustains a traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan as an active duty soldier, she must become his caregiver. Things I’m Afraid to Tell You shares her journey through life, love and loss.
Homeless
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
Rapid City, SD, USA, Student Film, 7 min
Produced by YMCA of Rapid City Youth Institute
Directed by Corbin Hayford
A young kid finds himself homeless when his mom leaves the family and his dad loses his job. Living on the streets of Rapid City, he does his best to survive. When his friends notice that he’s not in school, they search for him and provide the help he needs.
Today’s Life
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
Rapid City, SD, USA, Student Film, 4 min
Produced by YMCA of Rapid City Youth Institute
Directed by Joseph Robles
Today’s obsession with technology leaves many teenagers missing out on life, as shown in this film. Each scenario is shown once with, and once without, technology playing a role. Afterward the narrator asks the teens which life they would choose—today’s life or without technology—and as they focus on their cell phones, she responds, “Today’s life.”
Lakota Girls
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 4 pm AND 6 pm (2 screenings)
Pine Ridge/Custer, USA, Feature Film, 90 min
Produced by Russell Cameron
Directed by Molli Cameron
Two young girls, one Native American and one White, face tragedy together and discover a shared history. In the midst of racial tensions, it is their brothers who stand with them against the dangers of a torn society. This multigenerational story brings two families with a passion for horses together to find lasting friendship.
Q & A WITH MOLLI CAMERON AND GUESTS
Whispering Pines
Thursday, May 5 – Elks Theatre – 8 pm
USA, Short Film, 16 min ADULT THEME, LANGUAGE
Produced & Directed by Jason E. Johnson
Finding that his life as a career criminal has left him empty, a middle-aged gangster decides to retire for in exchange for love and marriage. Tough choices must be made if he is going to have a chance at lasting happiness.
Fighting for Hope
Thursday, May 5 – Journey Museum – 8 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 82 min
Produced & Directed by Bill Collins
One couple takes on the dangerous world of sex-trafficking in the most unlikely place—the suburbs of Atlanta.
Thursday, May 5 Mueller Civic Center Theater
Prophet’s Prey
Thursday, May 5 Mueller Civic Center Theater – 6:30 pm
CO & SD, USA, Feature Documentary, 95 min GRAPHIC SCENES
Produced by Amy Berg, Sam Brower
Written and Directed by Amy Berg
When Warren Jeffs rose to Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), he took control of a religion with a history of polygamous and underage marriage. In a short time Jeffs expanded these practices, growing in power at an unprecedented rate. By mirroring the
concept of sister wives and ecclesiastical rape, he changed the moral compass of his followers. Prophet’s Pray examines Jeffs’ life, showing his rise to Prophet, worshipped by tens of thousands. Despite a trail of abuse and ruined lives, many of his faithful followers would give their life with just one word from him.
Q & A WITH SAM BROWER AND GUESTS
Friday, May 6 Journey Museum Theater
Our Own Words
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 10 am
USA, Short Documentary, 24m
Directed by Jay Fishback, Paul V. Fishback
For over 20 years, the Oak Lake Writers’ Society has celebrated American Indian cultures, history, language and traditions and explored and published perspectives on issues of concern to Dakota, Lakota and Nakota peoples.
The Hoax
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 10 am
USA, Feature Documentary, 76 min
Produced & Directed by Rodney Gray
Touted as a protection of homeowner properties, the Homeowners Association (HOA) industry
is actually riddled with abuse of power and lack of regulation, which is independently examined
in this film.
Yellow
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 1 pm
Australia, Short Film, 11 min VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE
Produced by Jose Prabowo
Written & Directed by Oluwadamilola Oshodi
A thirty-year-old man struggles to remain obedient to his father’s last words. For twenty years he holds true to his promise, but realizes he needs to choose between the realities of his situation or a long-ago promise to obey.
The C Word
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 1 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 92 min
Produced & Directed by Meghan L. O’Hara
In a surprisingly fresh new take on an old nemesis, equal doses of humor, heart, and rock-and-roll sensibility sends cancer running scared. Corporate profiteering, hidden science, and financial incentives are all reasons individuals don’t realize their own power in this fight. A longtime collaborator with Michael Moore, director O’Hara engages and entertains the audience, uncovering a better way to turn the tables on the disease.
Legend of Amba
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
USA, Short Film, 35 min ADULT THEME, NUDITY, LANGUAGE
Produced & Directed by Kaelan Strouse
A group of childhood friends are invited on a trip and reconnect under mysterious circumstances. While hiking in the woods they encounter a magical force that reveals what they truly feel about themselves, each other, and the world at large.
The Legend of Swee’ Pea
Friday, May 6 – Journey Museum – 3 pm
USA, Feature Documentary, 80 min
Produced & Directed by Benjamin May
Lloyd ‘Swee’ Pea’ Daniels was a basketball prodigy felled by drugs and bullets until he made an improbable comeback that cements his reputation as a flawed hero and the greatest playground legend of all time.
Friday, May 6 Hill City High School Theater
East Side Sushi
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 3 pm
LA, USA, Feature Film, 106 min
Written & Directed by Anthony Lucero
Produced by Julie Rubio
After working at a fruit-vendor cart for years, single mom Juana can slice and dice with great speed and precision. Intrigued by Japanese culinary, she takes a job at a Japanese restaurant and learns to make sushi. She decides to become a sushi chef, only to find out she is the ‘wrong’ race and gender. Against all odds, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery, determined to achieve her dream.
Roadside Assistance
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Film, 7 min ADULT CONTENT, GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, LANGUAGE
Produced & Directed by Bears Fonte
A mysterious woman stranded on the roadside hitches a ride with a passing stranger, but
neither person is who they appear to be.
Gloriana
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Film, 9 min ADULT THEME, LANGUAGE
Produced by Jeffrey Golden
Directed by Stefany Mathias
The Army’s first female Ranger platoon leader is unfairly tried for a failed combat mission.
About That Life
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Film, 30 min ADULT THEME, LANGUAGE
Produced & Directed by Justin Deegan
Half Arikara and half Lakota, two young boys born as cousins were raised as brothers. Later in life, although separated by tragedy, they are redeemed through spirit.
3000
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
Australia, Greece, Short Film, 20 min ADULT THEME, LANGUAGE
Produced & Directed by Antonis Tsonis
An unemployed youth desperate to help his best friend fight cancer secretly decides to become a criminal to pay for the treatments.
Once Upon a Prince
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Film, 12 min
Produced by Angeline Anderson
Directed by Cyrina Fiallo
Violet works as a princess, but her life is no fairytale. Stuck in a dead-end relationship with her not so charming boyfriend, she decides to change her situation and find her prince. She meets Nathan at his daughter’s birthday party, and sparks fly. Together they must decide whether to take a leap of faith or risk missing their happily ever after.
Misfortune
Friday, May 6 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Feature Film, 90 min ADULT THEME, LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE
Produced & Directed by Desmond Devenish
When a young man down on his luck discovers that his father’s killer has been released on parole, a fierce cat-and-mouse chase takes place in the hostile desert landscape, in search of a hidden family inheritance.
Saturday, May 7 Hill City High School Theater
Jackson Pollock’s Mural
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 10 am
Italy, USA, Short Documentary, 40 min
Produced & Directed by Kevin Kelley
This documentary follows the commission by Peggy Guggenheim of a large painting for her townhouse by an unknown Jackson Pollock. The painting’s journey to a small mid-western college town is followed by controversy. Mural, Pollock’s most famous piece, is recused from a terrible flood, then continues to The Getty, as experts struggle to conserve it before is goes on a world tour starting in Venice Italy.
Payback
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 10 am
Brazil, Feature Film, 78 min ADULT CONTENT
Produced & Directed by Andre Moraes
A film director meets up with his old team to make a ‘road movie’. With no money, they create a variety of scams to fund the production, plotting revenge along the way.
Lilly Gets a Pet
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 1 pm
Canada, Student Film, 5 min
Produced by Xstine Cook
Directed by Maezy Dennie, Medina Dennie, Sol Demuth, Berlin Demuth, Ocean Demuth, Zaiyah Dennie, the Bum Family
A ten-foot tall orange monster named Lilly takes an epic journey throughout Wanda’s Pet Shop in search of a friend.
SMART
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 1 pm
Los Angeles, CA, USA, Feature Documentary, 73 min
Produced & Directed by Justin Zimmerman
This fascinating feature-length documentary showcases the skills of a remarkable group of individuals who make up the Los Angeles Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team. The SMART team uses their specialized training, experience and knowledge to rescue small and large animals in distress.
Birthday
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 3 pm
USA, Short Film, 13 min GRAPHIC IMAGES
Produced & Directed by Chris King
When the young wife of a Marine receives news that her husband has been severely injured in combat, they embark on an extremely difficult yet amazing journey. (*Oscar qualified for 2017)
Beyond Glory
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 3 pm
USA – Feature Film, 82 min
Screenplay by Stephen Lang
Directed by Larry Brand
Based on journalist Larry Smith’s best-selling war chronicle, Beyond Glory combines the art of theatre and cinema to tell the desperate conflicts of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. Actor Stephen Lang changes character with quicksilver virtuosity to share the remarkable stories of eight Medal of Honor recipients. Paired with filmmaker Larry Brand, they dive deep into the reservoirs of emotion and pain, fortitude and courage, humility and joy, enhanced by a wide cinematic arsenal.
Q & A WITH STEPHEN LANG
Synergenix
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Student Film, 3 min
Produced & Directed by Breanne Breanne
Synergenix is a collaborative animation of colorful, unique characters dancing to energetic music.
Phil’s Camino
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Documentary, 27 min
Produced by Annie O Neil
Directed by Jessica Lewis & Annie O Neil
A colorful and affecting journey about a free spirit who wants to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain, a 500-mile pilgrimage route. Facing Stage-4 cancer and living in Seattle, everyone insists he shouldn’t do the strenuous trek. Instead he builds his own Camino in the forest behind his house and ends up walking the same distance.
Bird Dog
Saturday, May 7 – Hill City High School Theater – 7 pm
USA, Short Film, 26 min
Produced & Directed by Katrina Whalen
An imaginative young girl is confronted by fear and wonder after swallowing the heart of a mourning dove while on a hunting trip with her family.
INTERVIEW WITH STEPHEN LANG
AWARD CEREMONY – 9:30 pm