Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2009

Ten short documentaries about my childhood home mixes observational documentary, old movie piano music, re-enactments with masks, and old slides of my childhood to examine our family’s feelings and actions during a time of great transition – my mother’s move to an assisted living situation and the sale of the house we grew up in. At the center of this investigation is the house, located in Starnberg, Germany, which for so many years provided us with a home and, later, after we moved out, a home base when we came to visit. One theme I am exploring is the often tense and contentious e-mail exchange with my sisters about the work that is to be done to complete the project of selling the house. Another theme is the house itself and the memories associated with it as we were growing up in a father-less family.

The 111th meridian runs through the heart of the American west. In this short documentary two women explore their respective homes along the meridian, one in Bozeman, MT, and one in Tucson, AZ. Using visuals, text and voice-over, the two women discover shared questions about expectations, commitment, and family within their parallel lives.

Emmanuel Ekeigwe is an immigrant of Nigerian descent. Having arrived in Austria in 2001 the former professional football player immediately decided to go about pursuing his beloved profession and try his luck in Viennese soccer. His initial enthusiasm was soon slowed down by encounters with native soccer players and their provisos towards people of other skin color. After several throwbacks Emanuel Ekeigwe decided to found his own soccer team, solely for African immigrants: the “New African Football Academy”. Since 2005 this team is fighting for its place in Austrian society and has managed to become well accepted by most other teams in the Vienna football league. But still life as an African originated soccer player remains tough and various hurdles have to be tackled. Africa11 is an on-sight inspection of NAFA, introducing its three key protagonists: Emmanuel Ekeigwe, president and founder of NAFA, Walter Nekham, Austrian originated trainer and Charles Orisakwe, captain of NAFA. Crux of the film is a license control on the field, which causes great disturbance among NAFA’s players…

This timely feature documentary investigates the social factors that put African American women at the greatest risk for HIV/AIDS and exposes the common power struggle that women across boundaries of race, class and country, face every night in the bedroom.

The year was 1977 and New York City burned. As the metropolis hurtled into bankruptcy, the city's nightlife hit unprecedented heights. In the basement of the prestigious Ansonia building on the conservative Upper West Side, Plato's Retreat opened its doors to ordinary couples who came to dance, to swim, and… to swap. It was the start of a revolution. Previously, swinging was mostly an underground activity, engaged in primarily by the attractive and the well-to-do. But Plato's welcomed anyone and everyone. “American Swing" brings this little-known epic of sex and excess to the big screen for the first time.

Cory Calhoun, creator of the famous Hamlet anagram, is an average guy with an obsession for finding meaning in jumbled phrases.

Ashes of American Flags is a new film presenting the Chicago band Wilco live in concert during their 2008 tour. Filmed and recorded from five quintessentially American concert venues - Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, The Mobile, AL Civic Center, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. – the film captures the spirit, energy and poignancy of a Wilco concert and tour. Ashes of American Flags is a Trixie production in association with Nonesuch Records and dBpm, Inc. Shot in HD and directed and produced by Brendan Canty (Fugazi) and Christoph Green, it intersperses interviews with band members and day-in-the-life footage as the band travels across the U.S. It sees worldwide release on Nonesuch Records this April. For more information please visit http://ashesofamericanmovie.com.

ASK NOT is a rare and compelling exploration of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, revealing personal stories of gay Americans who serve in combat under a veil of secrecy. The film exposes the tangled political battles that led to the discriminatory law, and profiles charismatic activists determined to abolish it.

A young writer (Ryan Knighton) embarks on a pilgrimage to Halberstadt, Germany to listen to a single note change in the notorious 639 year-long performance of the John Cage composition, As Slow as Possible. The twist – Ryan has been going blind for the past 15 years.