Big Sky Documentary Film Festival 2009

Ben Gibbard curated the Seattle edition of Burn to Shine, a set of films documenting special live performances. This edition features Minus the Bear, The Long Winters, Benjamin Gibbard, Tiny Vipers, Eddie Vedder, Spook the Horse, Blue Scholars, Harvey Danger, The Can't See, David Bazan, Kinski, Jesse Sykes, Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death, and The Cave Singers.

The Bush Man hangs around Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, who carries two bushes with him and hides at a corner. He jumps out and scares you when you least expect.

‘Carny’ follows the lives of 5 carnival workers during a season on the fair circuit. Each character unfolds their aspirations and struggles involving love, friendship, family, the middle class dream. As well as telling the often gritty stories of the carnies, the film uses imagery shot with Super 8 mm Kodachrome 40 conveying the nostalgic timelessness of the carnival and what the carnival brings to small towns through which they travel.

The vehicle drifts across the center-line, its speed pushing 70km/hr. As it races downhill, the rider hangs on. Metal screams and rattles, and small wheels struggle to grip the pavement. Welcome to the picture-postcard community of North Vancouver, where local bottle pickers have turned the act of binning into a thriving subculture of shopping cart racing. Murray Siple, a former snowboarder and sport film director injured in a serious car accident ten years ago, returns to filmmaking to capture their story in the documentary "Carts of Darkness".

After getting into one too many fights at school, 17-year-old Fatima Alcantar finds the one place where she can punch people as hard as she wants and nobody will complain--the boxing ring. Fatima's coach Johnnie shows her that being a fighter is not just about boxing, it's about life.

Three teams. Over 500 kilometres to travel from the Australian outback to the sea. More than two hundred species to find along the way. And only 24 hours to do it… Chasing Birds is a crazy race that takes us to the heart of the birding community and the obsession that binds them together. You will never look at the sky in the same way again.

On the left bank of the Scheldt, a block of flats towers above its surroundings. The people of Antwerp have named it the ‘Chicago block’ and see it as a place to avoid. Belgians of modest means live here next door to immigrants, representing over 35 nationalities on 26 storeys. The camera is set up in the lift of this concrete beehive, catching the occupants as they pass by. It follows some of them home, picking up on their stories, some big, others small; stories whose dignity and strength of will reach out far beyond their surroundings.

"The Choir" is the story of Jabulani Shabangu a juvenile inmate battling to survive in South Africa's biggest prison. Jabulani is rebellious and angry until he meets a Coleman, who recruits him for the prison choir. Under Coleman’s guidance Jabulani is transformed – but will he have the tools to survive in the outside world after he is released?

A short documentary about the disappearance of a familar piece of Americana: Polaroid cameras and film.