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MIFFF 2011 Final Lineup and Schedule Announced – We Are Movie Geeks

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MIFFF 2011 Final Lineup and Schedule Announced

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The Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival (MIFFF), a three day international showcase of genre films, is thrilled to announce its final lineup and schedule for its third annual event.

The festival is taking place September 16th-18th, 2011 in Seattle, Washington on the campus of Seattle Center. SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall will once again be the center of genre film mania in the Pacific Northwest for filmmakers and fans alike.

MIFFF’s third year will debut 5 feature films and over 40 short films from 12 countries across the globe. Over 10 of the films will be North American Premiere’s while there’s 30 films that will be making either their Northwest or Seattle Premiere. Information about the films can be accessed at the MIFFF website.

Several filmmakers will be in attendance.

Tickets are available in advance online. An entire festival pass can be purchased for $40. Single day passes for Saturday and Sunday are available at $25 per day. Individual screenings will cost $10.

Tickets and passes will also be available at the cinema. The venue is the SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall 321 Mercer Street Seattle, Washington.

FEATURE FILMS

Absentia

Seattle Premiere
Director: Mike Flanagan, USA 91 minutes
Actors: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell, and Dave Levine
A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.

Boy Wonder
Northwest Premiere
Director: Michael Morrissey, USA 94 minutes
Actors: James Russo, Zulay Henao and Tracy Middendor
A young Brooklyn boy witnesses the brutal murder of his mother and grows up obsessed with finding her killer. Thus begins his life as a quiet, straight-A student by day and a self-appointed hero at night.
Midnight Son
Northwest Premiere
Director: Scott LeBerecht, USA 90 minutes
Actors: Arlen Escarpeta, Tracey Walter and Larry Cedar
Forced by a disease to drink human blood for sustenance, Jacob must control his increasingly violent tendencies as local law enforcement narrow their focus on him as a suspect in a series of grisly murders.
The Melancholy Fantastic
Seattle Premiere
Director: A.D. Calvo, USA 82 minutes
Actors: Amy Crowdis, Robin Taylor, and Josh Caras
A strange and gripping holiday tale of grief, love, and the horrors of loneliness.
The Selling
Seattle Premiere
Director: Emily Lou, USA 90 minutes (Director will be in attendance)
Actors: Gabriel Diani, Janet Varney and Jonathan Klein
A too-honest-for-his-own-good real estate agent has to sell a haunted house before its ghostly inhabitants ruin his life. 

SHORT FILMS

A Penny Earned
Director: TJ Mino, USA 14 minutes (Director will be in attendance)
Young honeymooners learn a hard lesson while investigating a ‘haunted’ inn. Some ghosts don’t like having their story told.
Air
Director: Keir Burrows, United Kingdom 15 minutes

Air is a fast-paced action adventure about falling in love at the end of the world. When all the air on the planet becomes unbreathable at a stroke, two unlikely heroes find each other as they struggle to survive.

Alley Dog
Director: Casey Pyke, USA 5 minutes
Three flying robots lead a curious robotic canine on an exciting chase through a futuristic, abandoned city.
Alone
Director: Ethan Seneker, USA 8 minutes

Home is the safest place, unless, you’re alone.

Antedon
Director: Alejandro Ayala Alberola, Mexico 4 minutes

Stop-Motion animated Sci Fi short film inspired by the myth of the Sphinx as told in Oedipus Rex.

Arthur
Director: John Jacobson, USA 9 minutes (director will be in attendance)

Arthur is the story of a young boy just learning to take a stand for what is right. When his mother goes out for a run, he must use his imagination to travel through the darkness to overcome the dangerous beast that threatens his family.

Blind Luck
Director: Diane Aarts, Canada 2 minutes

A seeing eye dog must choose between his owner and his favorite toy.

Brutal Relax
Director: David Muñoz, Adrian Cardona, Rafa Dengrá, Spain 15 minutes

Mr. Olivares has already recovered, but now he needs a vacation. To go to some heavenly place where he can relax and blithely enjoy himself.

Call of Nature
Director: Rick Tillman, USA 2 minutes

Just another typical day for an Elder God whose current day job is hanging out on a fireplace mantle looking ominous…

Cankered and Cursed
Director: Todd DeJong, USA 4 minutes

The story depicts a sisterhood of evil witches that must avoid getting possessed by the goodness that surrounds them, before its too late.

Cosas Feas (Nasty Stuff)
Director: Isaac Ezban, Mexico 30 minutes

The story of the sexual discovery of Kriko Krakinsky, an 11-year-old boy living in a strange and bizarre family of immigrants that share mysterious and surprising behaviors around sexual issues.

Dead Friends
Director: Stephen Martin, Canada 11 minutes

Nine year old Lola Turtle’s only companion is her treasured and tattered stuffed bunny, Mister Wimperbottom…until she finds a way to grow her very own ‘DEAD’ best friend.

Earthship
Director: David Wilson, USA 18 minutes

In 2047 Post global warming Canada the Whitmore family has remained hidden from the rest of the world for years. Now the youngest son Dax wants to see what has become of the world, but the world is coming to them.

Employé du Mois (Employee of the Month)
Director: Olivier Beguin, Switzerland (French) 14 minutes

Stéphanie assists and leads the unemployed towards finding a new job. But when these unemployed are such mythical personages as vampires, witches or fairies, showing them the way promises to be treacherous.

Escape of the Gingerbread Man!!!
Director: Tod Polson, Denmark, Thailand, USA 12 minutes

A young storyteller challenges the old master in a pub on the Irish west coast. When things take an unexpected turn.

Fábrica De Muñecas (Dolls Factory)
Director: Ainhoa Menéndez, Spain 11 minutes

Anna works in a doll factory. Her whole life she revolves around performing mechanical motions to put the dolls eyes. But a small change at her work changed her life forever.

Facing Rupert
Director: Gregory Erdstein, Australia 11 minutes

As Steve’s health slowly declines in recovery, his brother, now kept in a jar beside the bed, begins to grow. An increasingly jealous Steve can only watch as Rupert steals the attention of his doctors and his nurse. Only when their prick of a father Steve Sr. turns up for a visit does Steve begin to realise that Rupert may be the only real family he has ever had.

Fitness Class Zombie
Director: Chris Walsh, USA 1 minute

How to lose weight the UNDEAD way!

High Fashion
Director: Fehraz Lateef, Australia 22 minutes

A controversial fashion designer becomes the target of a terrorist attack.

Idle Worship
Director: Theo Stefanski, USA 4 minutes

The skeleton rises from a desert wasteland in search of an object of worship. After his long journey to the altar, he learns you shouldn’t kneel before just anything greater than oneself.

Juan Con Miedo (Fearful John)
Director: Daniel Romero, Spain 11 minutes

During the holidays at his grandparent’s village, John meets Mary, a mysterious girl who tells the terrifying legend surrounding the peasant’s old house. John, unlike the character in the tale, is fearful. Mary is not.

Junk
Director: Kirk Hendry, United Kingdom 7 minutes

A tale of an obsession with junk food that may prove hard to swallow!

Junk Bonds: The Return of Junkbucket (trailer)
Director: Stephen Lange, USA 3 minutes

The sequel to the underground hit, Junkbucket, Junk Bonds satirizes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series as well as many slasher movie staples of the 1980’s. Not for the easily offended, Junk Bonds pushes the envelope to charm you while it offends you. He’s not a garbage man, but he’s still coming for you junk!

La Doncella Dormida (The Sleeping Maiden)
Director: Alberto Evangelio, Spain 15 minutes

Inés sees herself in a 19th century painting called “Sleeping maiden” but her boyfriend Simón plays the issue down. Inés’s nightmare starts when she finds out there are some more parallelisms between their lives apart from the physical resemblance.

La Tragedia Del Hombre Hueco (The Hollow Man’s Tragedy)
Director: Jorege de Guillae, Spain 16 minutes

Gonzalo is a man with a clear and intense look, his wide chin and his dimples present us a kind and pacific man, with a great heart… Here is the contradiction, Gonzalo has no heart.

Lonely
Director: Matty Limpus, Australia 19 minutes

Lonely is a young man whose mysterious friend, Bodgie Bob, makes him a deal to change his life for the better.

Loom
Director: Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Csaba Leta, Germany 6 minutes

A moth being caught in a spiders web. Struggling for an escape, the moths panic movements only result in less chance of survival.

Nobody But Her
Director: Phillip Jordan Brooks, USA 7 minutes

The terrifying story of 8-year old Greta and her abusive grandmother. After her grandmother’s strange death, two detectives work to unravel the mystery by questioning the young girl, leading them to the shocking truth.

Mongrel’s Creed
Director: Thomas Noakes, Australia 11 minutes

Set in the dungeons of a futuristic rehabilitation center Gravel must confront his superior officer, Mr. Cod, in order to save his close friend Robbie from becoming reprogrammed.

Nullabor
Director: Alister Lockhart, Patrick Sarel, Australia 11 minutes

The Eyre Highway through Australia’s Nullarbor Plain has longest stretch of straight road in the world—perfect for passing that slow motorist alongside you. When two cars meet in this desolate landscape, will it be the tortoise or the hare who wins the day?

Out of the Forest
Director: Tobias Gundorff Boesen, Denmark 6 minutes

A young rabbit’s journey through the forest.

Paths of Hate
Director: Damian Nenow, Poland 10 minutes

A short tale about the demons that slumber deep in the human soul and have the power to push people into the abyss of blind hate, fury, and rage.

Payload
Director: Stuart Willis, Australia 17 minutes

In the shadow of a space elevator, young Simon Carter must sacrifice everything to save what remains of his family.

Pharos
Director: McGraw Wolfman, USA 13 minutes

An astronaut stranded on a now dead Earth struggles with his sanity and a botched mission to initiate a mechanism that will cleanse the atmosphere.

Pinball
Director: Ruy Veridiano, Brazil 18 minutes

A teenager dabbles in witchcraft, which doesn’t work out, he escapes to the cemetery and meets Death in an dark and little frequented arcade. Amidst metaphysical dialogs and pinball records, he tries to cheat Death and get another chance in the game.

Rantdog’s Top Ten Zombie Movies Ever
Director: Norm Fassbender, Canada 8 minutes (director will be in attendance)
Midnight in a fog-bound swamp, Rantdog (Zombie fan) debates Twitch (non-Zombie
fan). Rantdog is armed and agitated. Twitch is gagged and tied to a post.
Nearby is a pile of rotting Zombie bodies and a freshly dug grave. As Rantdog ranks his
favorite Zombies, Twitch struggles to escape. Zombies attack. 

R.O.A.C.H.
Director: Sergio Luca Loreni, Italy, Spain 30 minutes

District of New Minsk: the democratic Government is crumbling under the pressure of the economic Guilds. While the population assists the coup d’etat of Prime Minister Deckard via cable, three stories intertwine in a race against time.

ROSA
Director: Jesús Orellana Spain 8 minutes

From humanity’s destruction awakes ROSA, a robot part of the KERNEL project, mankind’s last attempt to restore the earth’s ecosystem using recovered samples of long-extinct plant species

Sharfik
Director: Karina Gazizova USA 14 minutes

The most unbearable siege sucks the last drop of life out of once warm family. The true strength of oneself is reached in the most difficult times, when it is needed most.

Status
Director: Richard Williamson, Australia 19 minutes

In the near future social networking has moved out of the virtual world and into the physical. A confronting portrait of a world we may soon know too well. Welcome to the evolution.

Suffer
Director: Kimani Ray Smith, Canada 18 minutes

To save a beautiful stranger, Logan risks his life in Hell’s Kitchen.

Switch
Director: Greg Passmore, USA 6 minutes

In a futuristic world, a criminal is pursued in a high-speed chase for a valuable yet secretive object in his possession.

The Astronaut on the Roof
Director: Sergi Portabella, Germany 11 minutes

A comical road movie about two scriptwriters who write a film about two scriptwriters who write a film about a teenage couple who become bank robbers.

The Girl and the Fox
Director: Tyler Kupferer, USA 6 minutes

A young girl must track a mysterious fox through a foreboding wilderness.

The Waking
Director: John Stead, Canada 13 minutes

Anna moved into her dream home. She knew this was the one; but so did the mysterious presence lurking within its walls.

Toy House
Director: Yunjeong Ko, USA 2 minutes
A young boy is inspecting an abandoned carnival one night when it is suddenly lured through the gates by an entrancing pixie.
Vicenta
Director: Diego Soriano, Spain 23 minutes

When Alfredo dies not revealing his wife the hiding place of the fabulous fortune that they both won in the lottery, Vicenta will look for everywhere up to assume that the only way to find it, is asking to her deceased husband.

O Solitário Ataque de Vorgon (Vorgon’s Lonesome Raid)
Director: Caio D’Andrea, Brazil 6 minutes

An homage to old kaiju (Japanese Giant Monster) movies, and also a satire to romantic stories. Vorgon is a poor guy that lost his girlfriend, and he happens to be a 40 feet tall monster.

For all the latest developments visit MIFFF on Facebook & Twitter.

ABOUT MIFFF

The third annual Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival runs September 16th through 18th, 2011. Tickets are available online as well as in designated ticket venues. For more information on the Festival, including descriptions of films and events, please visit www.mifff.org. Members of the press can find and download more information, including press kits, photos, press releases, and full film descriptions in the press section of the website.

MIFFF produces the Maelstrom International Fantastic Film Festival, the premier Pacific Northwest weekend long event devoted towards independent and international genre film making. The event was created to offer exposure to films that traditionally are overlooked by the festival circuit from genres including action, animation, fantasy, horror, and science fiction. The festival will feature an amazing selection of fantastic cinema from around the globe – with the possibility of artists presenting the works themselves. U.S. and world premieres will play alongside global festival favorites and select retrospective titles.

MIFFF is registered as a Washington State non-profit. MIFFF’s mission is to create experiences that bring people together to discover extraordinary genre movies from across the globe.

All statements in this release are subject to change with or without notice.

 

 

Nerdy, snarky horror lover with a campy undertone. Goonies never say die.