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| Photo 1: From Joe LaMay’s Shorts music video, “Rust on the Tracks” screening at Saturday evening’s session of the Autumn Shorts Film Festival. |
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| Photo 2: A young man courageously confronts those who attempt to keep him from doing what he believes is right in the Swedish short film, “Repressed” which screens Friday night at the Autumn Shorts Film Festival. |
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| Photo 3: From Bowling Green, Kentucky, the short film “Goodfriends” follows the struggles experienced by a young man with both cerebral palsy and Williams Syndrome. This poignant slice-of-life tale will screen at Saturday night’s session of SCC’s Autumn Shorts Film Festival. |
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| Photo 4: Among the many animated shorts that will screen at the Autumn Shorts Film Festival is the Spanish short entitled “Growing Leo” which follows the conflict between an old man and an insect. |
Somerset Community College (SCC) is set to host the sixth annual Autumn Shorts Film Festival September 15-20, 2014 with sessions being held in London and Somerset, Kentucky. Short films from Kentucky and around the world will take center stage in this week-long celebration of the brief cinematic experience. There is no admission charge for any of the sessions.
The complete schedule is available for download here.
“The short film is an overlooked art form,” says SCC Theatre Director and producer for the fest, Steve Cleberg. “The Autumn Shorts Film Festival has endeavored to program a festival of short films that offer all of the strengths of the art form. You will see comedy and drama; you witness all the lightness and darkness of the human spirit; you will experience a vast variety of view-points. Ultimately, it is our hope that you will be entertained.”
The festival begins on Monday and Tuesday; September 15 and 16 at 6 p.m. in London, Kentucky at the Laurel County Library, located at 120 College Park Drive. Monday night will focus on international animated short films. Tuesday night’s session will screen live action shorts.
On Thursday, September 18 at 7 p.m., the festival will be launched in SCC’s Stoner Little Theatre in the Stoner Building on the Somerset North Campus at 808 Monticello Street with an evening of international live action and animated shorts. Among these will be the Iranian drama entitled “Requiem for a Night” which follows the moral dilemma of a man who is charged with overseeing a group of orphan boys who have survived an earthquake. Also, from Israel, the animated short film “Strange Fruit” which takes a dark look at the consequences of prejudice.
The international mood continues on Friday, September 19 at 7 p.m. with a new slate of short films from around the world. This session will include a short about two paratroopers who are stuck in the trees and comically and violently attempt to free themselves in the Spanish dark comedy “Division Azul.” Also showing at the Friday session is the Swedish film, “Repressed,” which was brilliantly done in a single short and follows the struggle of a young man who valiantly tries to do the right thing.
There will be three separate sessions in the SCC Stoner Little Theatre during the day on Saturday, September 20. The day will begin at 1 p.m. with a session of experimental short films. This session includes a short film from Manchester, Kentucky entitled “Tragic Uppercut: An Ending” which explores many of the archetypes in popular films as well as the short film “Habitual” which inventively follows the daily routine of a young woman in preparation for the day.
At 3 p.m., the festival will focus on short films from around the United States. Included among these will be “Old Timer” which is a heart-warming look at the small boy inside the old man who plays baseball at a family gathering. This session will also include the short film, “Goodbye” filmed by local filmmakers Brandon McCane and Perry Wesley.
There will be a reception for the attending filmmakers at 6 p.m. on Saturday, followed immediately at 7 p.m. by a finale of local and international short films.
Among the selections in this session will be the newest music video by local musician Joe LaMay of LaMay and Reece entitled, “Rust on the Tracks.” Also showing in this session is a short film reminiscent of the old film noir classics entitled “Consignment.” This session will also include an Italian film about a young boy who can’t finish his exam without his glasses but who is concerned about what the pretty young girl in the next seat may think about him entitled “Shame and Glasses.”
This will be followed by an awards ceremony honoring special achievements of the films shown at the festival.
Further information regarding the films and times of the Autumn Shorts Film Festival may be obtained by contacting the SCC Theatre box office at (606) 451-6766 or by email at Sherry.Crabtree@ kctcs.edu.