AIR GUITAR NATION NOT IN COMPETITION - (81 Minutes)

Saturday, 7:45 – 9:45 pm Fine Arts Theatre, Lower

Feature-length documentary about the year that air guitar swept America. From New York to Los Angeles and then all the way to Northern Finland, Air Guitar Nation chronicles the birth of the US Air Guitar Championships and one person’s journey to become our first world champion. What starts as a friendly contest above a New York strip club becomes a battle of naked ambition played out on the national and, ultimately, world stage. This film captures the explosion of competitive air guitar through the eyes of former world champions, fans and media, and through the personal rivalries of those trying to attain the title of “the best Air Guitarist in the world.”

Director: Alexandra Lipsitz Producer: Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Anna Barber Editor: Conor O’Neill

APPALACHIA: THE ENDLESS FOREST / U.S. Premiere - (52 Minutes)

Friday, Noon – 3 pm Lord Auditorium

Some of the richest forests in the world cover the ridges and valleys of the southern Appalachians. This film explores the hidden worlds of these remote valleys, and uncovers a wealth of nature, from bears and salamanders to vultures and flying squirrels. But human culture here is as rich as the natural history. These mountains were the heartland of the Cherokee Nation, and the film producers worked with Cherokee living there today to re-create their view of the forest world. Later, settlers from Germany, Scotland and Ireland in particular helped create the distinctive culture of modern Appalachia, and to evoke all these elements, the film is set to a unique score, especially composed, which combines traditional music from all these cultures.

Filmed in North Carolina.

Director/Producer: Steve Nicholls Editor: Martin Elsbury Production Company: Burning Gold Productions

BAGHDAD ER / North Carolina Premiere - (64 Minutes)

Thursday, 10:15 pm – 12:15 am Asheville Community Theatre

Allows viewers to experience the physical and emotional toll of war by offering unprecedented personal moments among soldiers and care providers in the midst of intense crisis inside the 86th Combat Support Hospital. The facility is located in Baghdad’s Green Zone and those caring for the wounded Americans and Iraqis demonstrate focused intensity, selflessness, and a unified purpose which is juxtaposed against the chaos of war.

Director: Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill Producer: Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill, Joseph Feury Editor: Patrick McMahon, Carrie Goldman Production Company: Downtown Community Television Center

BOHEMIA THE PUNJABI RAPPER / World Premiere - (30 Minutes)

Thursday, 7:30 – 9:45 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Bohemia The Punjabi Rapper is a journey through Bohemia’s efforts to become a well-known hip-hop artist and determination to represent his South Asian cultural identity through his music. We travel with Bohemia to Los Angeles for a pivotal conference attended by thousands of South Asian students. This is the audience Bohemia has been trying to reach. It's now or never for Bohemia to make his mark and get his name known. This film contains adult language and content.

Director: Jarmo Siimento Producer: Sun Tae Hwang Production Company: Pacific Digital Video

THE BOOK / NOT IN COMPETITION - (15 Minutes)

Friday, 3:30 – 6 p.m. Lord Auditorium

“ The Book” was written, directed, acted in, and filmed by students at Eliada Home as part of a project with the Flood Fine Arts Center’s art education program. The film is about three girls, who are bullies and their interaction with a young boy who is studious and applies himself to his schoolwork. The intended message is one of “things are not always as they seem.” The point being that sometimes kids will hide their true feelings behind a strong, but false façade.

Director: Gabriel Johnson Production Company: Give Us Props Productions All film production work completed by students at Eliada Home in conjunction with the Flood Fine Arts Center.

BUILDING BRIDGES / World Premiere - (13 Minutes)

Friday, 3 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Meet Amira, Snjezana, and Ifeta; the women of the Mostar Women's Citizen Initiative in Bosnia. They are an exceptional group of community leaders, political activists and ordinary citizens who launch a joint effort to transcend ethnic and religious strife in a country fractured by war. With narration provided by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Building Bridges recounts the inspirational story of this remarkable group of women who set aside sharp differences to produce a new law protecting women and families.

Director/Producer: Jeanine Isabel Butler Production Company: Park Group

CAMELOT REAWAKENED: A VISION FULFILLED / World Premiere -(69 Minutes)

Friday, 3:30 – 6 pm Lord Auditorium

A concert/documentary about finding and following the dreams of our hearts. Shulman was inspired by a vision to write and perform a piece for symphony orchestra based on the dream of a Camelot Reawakened. He shares the process of his dream coming true from the original inspiration through to the rehearsals and concert. The music features Shulman on piano with members of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, a choir, and soloists conducted by Robert Hart Baker.

Director: Richard Shulman, Debra Roberts, David Kahle Producer: Debra Roberts Editor: David Kahle Production Company: Heron Productions

THE CLINTON 12 / World Premiere - (88 Minutes)

Friday, 8:30 – 10 pm Asheville Community Theatre
Saturday, 6:30 – 8:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

On August 27, 1956, twelve black teenagers entered Clinton High School, in Clinton Tennessee, for the first time. What followed shocked the world, and changed a nation. Narrated by James Earl Jones.

Director/Producer: Keith McDaniel Production Company: Secret City Films

COCAINE COWBOYS / NOT IN COMPETITION - (118 Minutes)

Saturday, 10:15 pm – Midnight Fine Arts Theatre, Lower

The cocaine trade of the 70s and 80s had an indelible impact on contemporary Miami. Smugglers and distributors forever changed a once sleepy retirement community into one of the world’s most glamorous hot spots, the epicenter of a $20 billion annual business fed by Colombia’s Medellin cartel. By the early 80s, Miami’s tripled homicide rate had made it the murder capital of the country, for which a Time cover story dubbed the city “Paradise Lost.”

Director/Producer: Billy Corben Producer: Alfred Spellman Executive Producers: Bruno del Granado, Daniela Manas Director of Photography: Armando Salas Editors: Billy Corben, David Cypkin

COMING OUT ~ COMING IN: FAITH, IDENTITY AND BELONGING

World Premiere - (30 Minutes)

Thursday, 5 – 7 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Coming Out ~ Coming In gives voice to gay and lesbian Christians who have struggled to reconcile faith and sexual orientation. Their personal stories take viewers beyond the current debate in American churches. Thoughtful and compelling.

Director: Susan Campbell Producer: Donna Campbell, Georgann Eubanks, Laurie Hays Coffman Editor: Donna Campbell

CROSSROADS – UKRAINE AND THE TRIUMPH OF DEMOCRACY

World Premiere - (60 Minutes)

Saturday, 11 am – 1:15 pm Asheville Community Theatre

The story of six Ukrainians, six participants in what came to be called the Orange Revolution of 2004. It is the story of a journey – ongoing still – to reclaim their soul, their identity as a People. The underlying question is “Will they make it?”

Director: Paul Tremblay Producer: Iryna Goula, Paul Tremblay Editor: Paul Tremblay, Iryna Goula Production Company: Alaya Productions

THE CULTURE WARS / World Premiere - (28 Minutes)

Friday, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

It’s Memorial Day in Woodstock, NY, the world’s most famous small town, and emotions are reaching a boiling point. The center of the conflict? Jay Wenk and his group Veterans For Peace, who insist on marching in the Memorial Day parade against the wishes of its organizers, Woodstock’s American Legion. Is expressing dissent at a public event meant to honor the dead an act of patriotism or disloyalty? What exactly does it mean to be an American in post-9/11 America?

Director/Producer/Editor: David McDonald Production Company: High Fiber Films

THE G8 IS COMING. . . THE G8 IS COMING

North Carolina Premiere - (26 Minutes)

Thursday, 10:15 pm – 12:15 am Asheville Community Theatre

The true story of what happens to a little island off the coast of Georgia when it's chosen to host a meeting of the world's most powerful leaders...The G8 Summit.

Director/Producer: Kate Amesbury Editor: Brian Stone, Ellen Peacock Production Company: Passionate Film and Music Group

THE GILLIAN FILM / World Premiere - (43 Minutes)

Thursday, 2:30 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Through an examination of one life defined a ´different” or “exceptional” The Gillian Film explores how we might transform our understanding of the meaning and worth of any individual life.

Director/Producer/Editor: Joanne Hershfield

THE HAND WE’VE BEEN DEALT: BORDER LINE HOUSTON

North Carolina Premiere - (53 Minutes)

Friday, 5 – 8 pm Asheville Community Theatre

A documentary that examines the Border and Immigration – one of the most debated issues facing America – and takes an honest look at the national discussion as seen through the eyes of Houston, Texas, a Grand Central Station for immigrants entering the United States from south of the border.

Director/Producer: John Guess, Jr. Editor: Edgardo Rodrigeuz Production Company: Just Right Films

HURRICANES ON THE BRINK / World Premiere - (31 Minutes)

Friday, 3 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

An independent documentary on the compelling evidence linking global warming and increasingly severe hurricanes and how some of the world's foremost climatologists say that this scientific evidence is being swept under the rug by the United States government.

Director/Producer: Drew McKeen Production Company: On The Brink Foundation

INDIA JOURNAL / North Carolina Premiere - (37 Minutes)

Thursday, 2:30 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

In March, 2005, a group of girls from the Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles traveled to Northern India to learn about the problems girls in India experience trying to receive an education. The issue of girls’ education is particularly urgent as educated women are vital for the region’s economic growth. There are many obstacles including a heavy household and agricultural workload, poor electricity, malnutrition, inadequate health care and gender bias.

Director: Keiko Tsuno, Tracey Izatt Producer: Donna Cappella Production Company: Downtown Community Television Center

LABOR’S TROUBADOUR - (37 Minutes)

Saturday, 4:30 – 6 pm Asheville Community Theatre

A stirring documentary on the legendary labor folk singer and social historian Joe Glazer, a national treasure, who has used his guitar and gift for storytelling for over sixty years to inspire and build solidarity in the American labor movement. The film weaves together archival footage, concert performances, interviews, music, news clips, and photographs from Joe’s life, presenting an invaluable chronicle of the labor movement and the music that was inspired.

Director/Producer: Hope Moskowitz Editor: Deborah Zeitman, Hope Moskowitz Production Company: Joe Glazer Film Project

LIBERTY STREET: ALIVE AT GROUND ZERO

North Carolina Premiere - (118 Minutes)

Saturday, 1:45 – 4 pm Asheville Community Theatre
Saturday, 9 – 11 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Loyal Downtown New Yorkers who ran for their lives from the collapse of the Twin Towers return with a resolve to restore their world to order. Filmed on location in Lower Manhattan during a year and a half after the 9/11 attacks.

Director/Producer: Peter Josyph Production Company: Lost Medallion Productions

NOMADS – WANDERING WOMEN OF THE WHITEWATER TRIBE

North Carolina Premiere - (21 Minutes)

Friday, 3 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Nomad kayakers Whitney Lonsdale, Jessie Stone, and Emily Jackson are adventurous women who have been drawn to the whitewater of the White Nile River in Uganda. They are friends connected by their love of the river and their compassion for helping others. They traveled to Africa to pursue their passion for kayaking and found a way to give back to the village who housed them.

Director/Producer: Polly Green Editor: Polly Green, Chris Emerick

POET SON - (14 Minutes)

Thursday, 2:30 – 4:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Explores the struggle of spoken word artist and teacher Dasan Ahanu, son of a teen mother and the product of an abusive relationship. Through his powerful performance of “Brown Bag Daddy,” Ahanu forces his father to confront how and why he abandoned his child.

Director/Producer/Editor: Sandra Jacobi Production Company: Oak Drive Video Productions

Ffollows four prison inmates as they train puppies for the handicapped and hearing impaired. The film takes place at Concord farm, MA, a minimum-security facility nestled in the rolling farmland northwest of Boston. The peacefulness of this landscape belies a controlled and regimented environment where these inmates live with and train puppies over a 10 to 14 month period.

Director/Producer: Alice Bouvrie Editor: Julie Kahn Production Company: Mineral King Productions

THE QUEEN FAMILY – APPALACHIAN TRADITION AND BACK PORCH MUSIC

(28 Minutes)

Friday, 6:15 – 8 pm Lord Auditorium
Saturday, 7:15 – 9:15 pm Fine Arts Theatre, Upper

Southern Appalachian music and tradition are exemplified in this iconic mountain family. Matriarch Mary Jane Queen, her children, and grandchildren perform original and traditional mountain music and discuss their family traditions and life in the far reaches of the Southern Highlands.

Filmed in North Carolina.

Director/Producer/Editor: Neal Hutcheson Production Company: North Carolina Language and Life Project

REP YO SET: THE MOVIE / World Premiere - (84 Minutes)

Thursday, 7:30 – 9:45 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Takes viewers on a behind-the-scenes journey looking at 27 of the most active gang neighborhoods in Los Angeles as they come together to record the historic Rep Yo Set Album. This raw, powerful, and candid documentary brings to life the brutalizing and exhilarating experience of gang life through the voices and images of the gang members as they express themselves through their music (and lyrics). Listen to real life stories about their gang’s history, the crime, the shootings, and the numerous homicides. This is reality.

Director: Robert Lewis Producer: Jon Nokes, Robert Lewis Production Company: Reputable Records

SLUDGE / North Carolina Premiere - (40 Minutes)

Thursday, Noon – 2 pm Asheville Community Theatre

A documentary that investigates a recent Kentucky coal waste disaster and examines the role of federal regulatory agencies in the coalfields. Filmed over four years, it chronicles the aftermath of the spill, the “whistleblower” case of Jack Spadaro, and the looming threat of coal sludge ponds throughout the region.

Director/Producer: Robert Salyer Editor: Robert Salyer, Lydia Moyer Production Company: Appalshop, Inc.

STEEL ROADS & IRON MEN - (57 Minutes)

Thursday, Noon – 2 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Highlights the old Columbia Newberry and Laurens Railroad, with anecdotes of the trials, tribulations and
tragedies experienced by those who worked for the now-defunct railroad line. Interviews with the men who drove the spikes and manned the engines starting in the early 1940s fuel this nostalgic journey back in time.

Director/Producer/Editor: Bruce Mayer

TEXAS GOLD - (21 Minutes)

Saturday, 4:30 – 6 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Diane Wilson, a fourth generation fisherwoman and mother of five, began her fight with the giants of the petro-chemical industry in 1989, when she discovered that her small Texas county had been named the most toxic place in America. In response, Diane decides to bottle contaminated water at one of the worst superfund sites in the country and send it back to ‘the businessman where it come from.’ The result of Diane’s new business venture: Texas Gold

Director/Producer: Carolyn M. Scott Editor: Stamatis Marinos Production Company: Turtle Island Films

TOP OF THE WORLD / North Carolina Premiere - (70 Minutes)

Thursday, 5 – 7 pm Asheville Community Theatre

One-man film crew, Bill Kern, embarks on a Himalayan trek carrying only what can fit on his back. Along the way, Buddhist monks share their art, school children their joy. At the base camp of Mount Everest (elevation 17,500 feet), Kern is invited to stay with a Russian expedition for a unique perspective on climbing the highest mountain on earth. As climbers inch their way towards the summit (29,028 feet), a sherpa dies of a heart attack, while loved ones wait in base camp and pray for their safe return.

Director/Producer/Editor: Bill Kern Production Company: Second Type Productions

TWO SQUARE MILES / North Carolina Premiere - (94 Minutes)

Friday, 5 – 8 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Follows the residents of Hudson, NY as they battle over a proposed $300 million cement plant, which divides the town along economic and political lines. Two Square Miles brings the viewer into Hudson for two years, as passionately dedicated individuals fight for their community and breathe life back into the exercise of democracy.

Director: Barbara Ettinger Producer: Barbara Ettinger, Sven Huseby Editor: Toby Shimin Production Company: Niijii Films

WANDER DOWN / NOT IN COMPETITION

Saturday, 5:15 – 7:15 pm Fine Arts Theatre, Lower

" Wander Down" tells the story of one man's quest for a simple life in a complicated world. Mickey Mahaffey has been a preacher, a painter, a fish monger, an advocate for the poor and the environment, and a homeless man who ran for Mayor of Asheville. In an effort to recharge his soul and reconnect with the earth, Mahaffey travels to Mexico's Copper Canyons. There, he battles his own demons by becoming, of all things, a devil. Join 6;14 Films for a glimpse of this Asheville film company's latest documentary-in-progress, "Wander Down." The evening will be a chance to meet the filmmakers and the film's central character, local icon Mickey Mahaffey. The local filmmakers will be screening vignettes from "Wander Down" followed by a discussion of the project.

Director: Rod Murphy Producer: Rod Murphy, Brian Sarzynski, Bryan Morrisey

WECAN / NOT IN COMPETITION - (44 Minutes)

Friday, 3:30 – 6 p.m. Lord Auditorium
Saturday, 6:30 – 8 p.m. Lord Auditorium

Finding its Place Through Change and Challenge
This is the story of an Asheville neighborhood, West End/Clingman Avenue – its history as a thriving and diverse community, and its decline as drugs, crime, prostitution, and neglect set in. The documentary follows the efforts of WECAN, a group of motivated citizens, as well as other residents, as they discuss change and the new set of challenges that come with the revitalization of the neighborhood. Appearing are residents, business owners, artists of West End/Clingman Avenue and the River Arts District, and
Mountain Housings Opportunities Staff

Director: D Smith Production Company: Foo Dogs Films Made Possible by a grant from Ford Foundation and HandMade in America

WETLANDS PRESERVED: THE STORY OF AN ACTIVIST ROCK CLUB

North Carolina Premiere - (97 Minutes)

Friday, 10:30 pm – 12:15 am Asheville Community Theatre

New York City nightclub Wetlands Preserve fostered the music of the Dave Matthews Band, Phish, and Ben Harper while simultaneously supporting a social and environmental activism center. Archival footage, soundboard recordings and the work of a dozen digital animators help to relate its story from February, 1989 through September, 2001.

Director: Dean Budnick Producer: Dean Budnick, John Turk, Karol Martesko-Fenster, Peter Shapiro, Robert Difazio Editor: Jonathan Healey

WILD CAUGHT: THE LIFE AND STRUGGLES OF AN AMERICAN FISHING TOWN

World Premiere - (98 Minutes)

Friday, Noon – 3 pm Lord Auditorium

Looks at a small traditional fishing town in North Carolina and its attempts to stay afloat in the face of globalization, increasing regulations and explosive coastal growth. Filmed over a seven-year period in the tightly knit community of Snead’s Ferry, North Carolina, the film portrays four fishing families who have been in “the life” for generations.

Director/Producer: Matthew Barr Editor: Christopher Holmes

WOODSTOCK. . . CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE

World Premiere - (107 Minutes)

Friday, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm Asheville Community Theatre

Long before the festival that made “Woodstock” a household name, the town of Woodstock, NY was home to an amazing series of artists and individualists who pushed social and sexual boundaries. Take a wild and psychedelic ride through 100 years of history, from the outrageous Festivals of the 1902s (which had to be stopped because too many women were getting pregnant) to the days when Dylan, Joplin, and Hendrix strolled the town’s streets as residents.

Director/Producer/Editor: David McDonald Production Company: High Fiber Films