LATINX + Virtual Shorts

Bowery Film Festival is proud to screen the following selections:

• Before We Leave Venezuela

  Directed by Joe Hill
  

  Before We Leave Venezuela is a personal journey that follows a young refugee who risks everything by returning home during the height of Venezuela’s national collapse. Wanting to send a message of hope, but needing to confront unfinished business, David Mendez, goes back to climb Venezuela’s highest peak and to tell his family what he couldn’t before he fled. As David prepares for his climb, he is immediately swept up in the life he should have had. His happiness at home is tarnished by the knowledge that he will not be able to stay – and neither will his family. As he embarks on his journey to the top of Pico Bolivar, he reflects on the situation that originally forced him to flee. By confronting it head on, David hopes that his next departure will be on his own terms. David is one of around 4-million Venezuelans struggling through one of today’s worst refugee crisis. His story is a reminder of the dreams they have been forced to put on hold. His mission is to capture the beauty of his country and to remind the world that there is too much at stake to leave Venezuela behind.

• This Happened to You..?

  Directed by Ana Estrada
  

  This is story that happened in Barranco, lima. Its about an old couple that come back to their country after 30 years. They felt uneasy because their country has changed structurally and they have feelings of unease. They feel strangers in their own country. Fausto is also obsessed with his mental heath, he is constantly checking his memory because he is afraid may have an Alzheimer. Fausto's memory will be tested when he meets Jaime.

• E.very D.ay

  Directed by Jordan Hidalgo
  

  A look inside the minds of two individuals living with active eating disorders. Based on true stories.

• SICK

  Directed by Pedro Urena
  

  In a dystopian future, Desiree must hide an affliction that is now punishable by death by a fascist regime. In an act of desperation, she will do whatever it takes to ensure her and her sons survival.

• Afterglow

  Directed by Ariana Bolaños
  

  A pessimistic teenager girl re-encounters with an old friend. This re-encounter result in a life changing experience for her.

• Evaporar

  Directed by Ida Joglar
  

  Threatened by an incoming storm, Alma, a Puerto Rican woman, attempts to save her disappearing home.

• I Look At You All

  Directed by Hernán Bornás
  

  Official Selection Beverly Hills Film Festival, Official Selection The New York Latino Film Festival, Official Selection Prague Independent Film Festival.

• Peanut

  Directed by Andy Mills
  

  After learning he has an abnormally small brain, John is prescribed a gun to kill himself. Unfortunately, he learns a gunshot to the head is not quite sufficient for his affliction.

• The Tramp

  Directed by Brian VanHooker & Steve Quistgaard
  

  Out-of-work game show host Chip Turner has finally found a way to get his big comeback: he'll star in a new reality show where he'll live as a homeless person on the streets of New York City.

• Man About A Wallaby: Neon Marsupial

  Directed by Kenny Foo
  

  Jake is on a mission to save his macropod friend, but even with the help of martial arts expert Katana Kat, will they be able to overcome the formidable Marius?

• The Kook

  Directed by Sam Blakesberg
  

  An Exiled Former Pro-Skier Goes On A Quest To Popularize A New Sport, Urban Skiing.

• Drown the Clown

  Directed by Sinclair Rankin
  

  When a young girl fails to dunk a clown at a county fair, her father steps up to avenge her loss, only to find himself goaded into an escalation with the Clown, whose remarks cut close to the bone, leaving the father more invested in the game than he intended.

• The Mismanagement of Medwin Monroe

  Directed by Alex Wroten
  

  A Machiavellian middle manager toys with his employees in this send-up of Corporate America.

• Clear Valley Report

  Directed by Michael Rubin
  

  A hapless bureaucrat finds himself in a starkly vacant urban landscape amidst the 2008 housing crisis and begins to descend into madness.

• First Person

  Directed by Michael Lang
  

  Don narrates a day in the life of Don. Don loves himself some Don, but doesn't care much for anyone else.

• REPURPOSED – the artist inside me.

  Directed by Matt Dessner
  

  On the Gold Coast of Long Island New York lives Tom Malloy. A third generation master lawn mower and farm equipment welder and repairman. He is also a prolific artist, creating abstract and realistic sculptures from found objects he has collected from the estates on the Gold Coast for over 50 years. From initial sketch to final sculpted artwork, Tom Malloy can not only create magnificent art from found pieces, but completely repurposes them and his own sense of being.

• Conservation Trip with Empowers Africa, Wildlands & WildlifeACT

  Directed by Krista Krieger
  

  This film showcases the exceptional work of Wildlands, Wildlife ACT and Dr. Mike Toft of Kifaru Wildlife Veterinary Services while they fight to save Africa's endangered and threatened species. At the Somkhanda Game Reserve in South Africa, an Empowers Africa team participated in conservation activities including elephant and lion collaring as well as rhino de-horning. Filmmakers and Black Bean Productions' founders James Suter and Oli Caldow joined the trip to document every experience. As part of the conservation trip, the team spent time at Somkhanda Game Reserve, a Big Five community game reserve where they helped fund and participate in an elephant collaring exercise. Collaring allows the conservation teams on the ground to monitor the elephant population as well as understand the social integration patterns and behavior of the herds and how they interact. During this specific outing, two elephant bulls were collared for conservation purposes. Collaring an animal that large can be extraordinarily tricky, but the experienced team made up of Wildlands/WildTrust, Wildlife ACT and Dr. Mike Toft of Kirafru Wildlife Veterinary Services ensured a successful collaring as well as the safety of the elephants and participants. While in the Somkhanda Game Reserve, the Empowers Africa team members also participated in the collaring of two lionesses and one male lion. Collaring lions is an essential way of determining patterns of movement, lion social structures and their interaction with humans, making it easier to mitigate any potential human-wildlife conflict. The temporary de-horning (it grows back just like your fingernails) is one of the most effective methods used to keep rhinos safe from poachers. The Empowers Africa team helped in de-horning one individual and collaring a total of four rhinos (two black and three white).

• The Reception

  Directed by Sean Sakamoto
  

  Simmering political divisions in America turn violent, trapping the fathers of two grooms in a siege on the day of their sons’ wedding. As sole survivors, the two celebrate the love their sons shared, and reflect on how they could have lived life differently. With riveting performances by Richard Kind and Skipp Sudduth, the reception is a powerful exploration of the desire for love in the midst of a nation torn by hate.