Best Documentary Short Films (Chandler International Film Festival)

1 West Chandler Boulevard,Chandler AZ 85225

29 January, 2023

Description

The Funky Latina Directed by Ernie Bustamante Run Time: 6 minutes 52 seconds, United States Premiere status: World Premiere Elyssa AKA "The Funky Latina" is a music blogger and event producer based in Phoenix, Arizona. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement, we follow her inspirational journey, creating Arizona’s first Latin indie music festival. And ultimately, a safe space. Battleground Directed by Blake Curry Run Time: 10 minutes 30 seconds, United States Premiere status: US Premiere Inner-city Chicago is a battleground. It’s in this gritty, crime and gang-infested climate where the lives of brothers Danny Gonzalez and Jovanni Cedeno were honed and shaped. This story takes a look at the fact that instead of them being beaten, this volatile environment inspired them to rise up and pursue a life of service to the discarded and marginalized in our world. Absences Directed by Mariela Gómez De Ell Run Time: 14 minutes 45 seconds, United States Premiere status: North America Premiere Along he’s presidency, Donald Trump approved a program that separated undocumented families in the border. Children affected for this operation tells us in the middle of Arizona desert, what is like to have one of their parents deported far from the American dream. Now living the daily basis, the children afraid to lose the other parent and end in the famous and cold icebox of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Light Up Navajo Directed by Ron Harrison Run Time: 11 minutes 31 seconds, United States Premiere status: World Premiere The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American territory in the United States, with an estimated population of 300,000. Among the 55,000 homes located on the 27,000 square mile reservation, about 15,000 do not have electricity. They make up 75% of all unelectrified households in the United States. Not having access to electricity has many repercussions for Navajo families. One of the harshest being lack of access to running water. Families in the Navajo Nation drive 1-1.5 hours once or twice a week to reach watering points where they can fill 250-gallon plastic tanks with water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. Not having electricity has also deprived families of reliable lighting and appliances such as refrigerators, toasters, and microwaves. To keep food from perishing, families often have to use portable coolers filled with ice to preserve their food for a few days. The high cost of connecting isolated rural households to the grid, the sensitivity of families to utility costs, and the limited availability of government loans has made progress towards greater electrification slow. To expedite electrification projects in the Navajo Nation, the American Public Power Association in partnership with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) has launched the Light Up Navajo initiative. The Light Up Navajo is an ongoing mutual-aid initiative to continue electrifying the 14,000 Navajo households that still do not have power. Over the last three years, volunteer crews from over 20 public power utilities across the country have been building electric lines for projects that will connect over a hundred new customers to the grid. The hope is that the effort will continue to serve as a successful model for future electrification projects. Common Thread Directed by Frank Fazzio Run Time: 13 minutes 45 seconds, United States Premiere status: World Premiere Climate and global warming are mental health crises, and our children are among the most vulnerable. The Common Thread project joins global filmmakers speaking with children worldwide about their concerns for the planet and future ... These children and filmmakers are not celebrities or activists, but they have a Common Thread ... They all want a sustainable and livable planet and future for their generation. Eliseo Art Silva: Finding the Wide American Earth Directed by Loren A Roberts, Roberto San Luis Run Time: 12 minutes 37 seconds, United States Premiere status: World Premiere Eliseo Art Silva, who co-designed the Historic Filipinotown Eastern Gateway arch in Los Angeles and has been credited for putting Los Angeles' Filipinotown on the map with his “Gintong Kasaysayan” mural, travels to Seattle to research and develop a new piece of art that links Filipino and Filipino-American history together in a four-panel mural on the wall of the newly-built Filipino Community Village. The film follows the painting of the mural, and speaks with student interns, community members who brought Eliseo to the Pacific Northwest, and the artist himself about the mural, the artistic process, and hopes for connecting cultures together through art. Black in the Newsroom Directed by Collette Blakeney Watson Run Time: 15 minutes 4 seconds, United States Premiere status: US Premiere Elizabeth Montgomery lands her dream job as a reporter in a major U.S. newsroom, but ends up fighting a deep-rooted system of harm. The Last Photo Walk Directed by Mazen Hamed Alhaj Salem Run Time: 9 minutes 7 seconds, United Arab Emirates Premiere status: World Premiere The last photo walk tells the story of Christopher Osborne's final film photo walk before leaving the United Arab Emirates for good