4th Annual Lake County Film Festival

As Smart As They Are: The Author Project
by Joe Pacheco - 63m
Lake County Premiere
www.pbnoj.com
Screening with Electric Purgatory
Saturday, March 4TH - 1:50PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 9:30PM - Libertyville Civic Center
As Smart As They Are is as much about the New York City literary community (especially the publishing company McSweeney’s) as it is about the quirky ethnopop music of the band One Ring Zero (multi-instrumentalists Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp.)
It is not enough for One Ring Zero to play strange sounding music, mixing Klezmer with American Pop sensibilities, and drawing numerous comparisons to both circus music and Tom Waits. They must also play quirky sounding instruments, with strange names like Metallophone and Claviola (of which there are apparently only a handful of in the world).
And so it’s no surprise that One Ring Zero would become the house band at the McSweeny’s HQ, where they would come up with the idea of collaborating with numerous authors on each track of their new album, “As Smart as We Are.”
This engaging documentary includes appearances by Paul Auster, Peter Dinklage, Dave Eggers, Rick Moody and more.
As Smart As They Are won a Best Of Fest Special Screening at the Arizona International Film Festival, and has been selected at over a dozen festivals.

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Captain Blasto
by Christopher Preksta
World Premiere
www.captainblasto.com
Saturday, March 4TH - 2:10PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Colin Carter is a high school outcast who suffers through the drudgery day-to-day life. He decides to bring some excitement to his life and the lives of the people of his city by becoming a superhero. Not just ANY superhero, but Captain Blasto, who has been saving the world for half a century in comic books and in his animated series.
Colin enlists his friend Daryl to be a super villain, and together they stage foiled robberies all around the city. But when they decide to enlist a team of super villains, will these criminal masterminds be too much for Colin to control?
Captain Blasto was lovingly made for $7,000. It features impeccable art direction, a unique visual style that includes comic book lettering and comic book paneling.
Captain Blasto should be entertaining to everyone, but is essential viewing for anyone interested in low-budget filmmaking.
The Lake County Film Festival screening of Captain Blasto is the World Premiere of a shorter, tighter version of the film.

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Colorblind
by Pamela Peak - 88m
Midwest Premiere
www.colorblinddocumentary.com
Sunday, March 5TH - 4:15PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Scattered to the winds by the 1967 Detroit riots, an unusual group of almost all white, 1960s, grade school classmates reunite at age 46, and discover how each of their lives had been profoundly impacted by their beloved African American teacher, Mr. Bell.
After experiencing some personal mid-life tragedy, producer/director Pamela Peak goes on a quest to find a few of her unusually close grade school classmates from the turbulent and racially-charged 1960s. With the help of her third-grade boyfriend “Timmy”, Pamela locates all 32 members of their unusual class. To her surprise, each member of this dynamic class is just as excited to hear from Pamela, as she is to speak with them.
But where is Mr. Bell? The quest to find their beloved teacher begins. He was a giant of a man in character and the first African American teacher they had ever had. He had touched their hearts and minds and shaped their young spirits. When Mr. Bell is found (now close to 70 years old), another miracle of sorts occurs; despite his long career as an educator and principal, he remembers each and every one of them in vivid detail . . . and what they wanted to be when they grew up!
Colorblind was the Audience Award Winner for best Documentary at Garden State Film Festival and has shown at 10 festivals.

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The Door
by Bruce Wood - 91m
Illinois Premiere
www.thedoormovie.com
Sunday March 5TH - 7:00PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Kent, a realist who does not dream, is skeptical of those who do. At the end of a long relationship and desperate for new friends, he seeks the advice of Ori, his mentor.
Ori introduces Kent to three people who are all friends---and lucid dreamers. Ron, Charlene and Jean literally appear in each other’s dreams. While Kent is entertained by their stories, he interprets the dreams as thinly disguised confessions and requests for help.
Kent is in a position to help each of them, and does so willingly. He gives Ron, a struggling futures broker, 5 million dollars to trade. Charlene desires a political appointment. Kent throws a party for the Mayor, so they can meet. Jean needs love and support. She and Kent fall in love and he proposes marriage.
Unfortunately, one by one, Kent’s actions backfire and the dreamers turn on Kent. He tries to reconcile, with disastrous results.

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Electric Purgatory
by Raymond Gayle - 82m
Midwest Premiere
www.electricpurgatory.com
Screening with As Smart As They Are
Saturday, March 4TH - 1:50PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 9:30PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Throughout the years, Black artists have played a vital role in shaping the history of Rock music. From Little Richard, James Brown and Jimi Hendrix, to Sly Stone, Prince, and Rick James, music has never had a shortage of Black innovators.
Electric Purgatory is a documentary that examines the struggles of black rock musicians and the industry’s ambivalence towards them.
This film features amazing performances by Fishbone, Living Colour, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and
Weapon of choice, as well as interviews with Angelo Moore, Vernon Reid, Cody Chesnutt, 24-7 Spyz, Dug Pinnick, The Soul Of John Black and ?uestlove.
The film will explore the origins of the Black Rock Coalition and its relevance in the music industry. The project will also take a look at the stigma Black Rock musicians face in the Black community and more importantly how to bring the Black audiences back into the fold.

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Fatboy: The Movie
by Michael Landsberg - 67m
Midwest Premiere
www.fatboythemovie.com
Saturday, March 4TH - 4:40PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 1:30PM - Highland Park Theatre
Miles Froman is one of multimillions of Americans whose dysfunctional upbringing paved the way for a life of inactivity, self-loathing and the constant burden of being overweight. Stunned by the notion that he could be fat for the rest of his life, determination kicks in.
With gritty resolution, a sense of humor and true humility, Miles exposes himself in front of Landsberg’s cameras in his last ditch effort to win the war on his weight.
Like Super Size Me in reverse, Fatboy: The Movie is not just educational, but personal and inspiring. A must-see movie whether you struggle with weight or not.
Fatboy:The Movie has played the Queens International Film Festival, and the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. It won Best Documentary at both festivals.

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Four Eyed Monsters
Susan Buice and Arin Crumley - 82m
Lake County Premiere
www.foureyedmonsters.com
Friday, March 3RD - 8:00PM - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 3:30PM - Highland Park Theatre
Four Eyed Monsters is as much an evolutionary step as it is a film.
Based on the directors real relationship, in which they did not speak to each other during the first 6 months together (communicating mostly through drawing, video and writing). This film is almost a narrative documentary, and the filmmakers opened up their lives and experiences in a way few filmmakers have.
Visually, this film is stunning. Four Eyed Monsters is the closest thing I’ve seen to an American version of Wong Kar-Wai. They mix real-life interviews, hand-drawn animation and various editing techniques together, and the film stays fresh as it progresses through the narrative.
After the film, the next evolutionary step they’ve made are their video pod-casts. They operate almost like a sequel to the film, keeping people updated on the characters after the close of the movie. Now fans (that seem more like a community) are posting video comments back to them, building the same sort of relationships that Susan & Arin built with each other. With over 40,000 downloads per episode, they’ve been building their fan base rapidly.

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Grodmin
by Jim Horowitz - 100m
World Premiere
www.grodmin.com
Saturday March 4TH - 7:00PM - Libertyville Civic Center
While on location filming a narrative expose’ at prestigious east coast art school, the cast and crew of the film plunge into despair after a series of on-screen debates threatens to derail the completion of the film.
Drawing its inspiration from an original screenplay by former art student turned screenwriter, Marcus Haine, Grodmin chronicles the tumultuous relationship of two real-life art students during their time at the university’s highly celebrated art program.
Spending a majority of the film’s finances on fancy hotels, on-site extras, and lengthy on-location shooting, first-time director Jim Horwitz finds himself in a heap of trouble as the film’s die-hard documentarian, Dave Marshall, begins to amass a series of behind-the-scenes footage, chronicling the film’s demise.
Highlighted by subtle moments of insight and clarity, “GRODMIN” takes a fresh look at the Twenty-Something search for identity and meaning in the crumbling ruins of today’s Hollywood/TV culture. Combining both scripted and documentary elements, and saved by clever editing, “GRODMIN” takes the film-within-a-film concept to the ultimate degree in this bold, life imitating art experiment.
Originally from Wilmette, Jim Horwitz attended New Trier High School for one semester before moving with his family to Orange, Connecticut.

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El Inmigrante
by David Eckenrode, John Eckenrode and John Sheedy - 90m
Midwest Premiere

www.elinmigrantemovie.com
Friday, March 3RD - 7:45PM - Libertyville Civic Center
In May of 2000, Eusebio de Haro and Javier Javier Sanchez crossed the border into the United States. On May 13th, in Brackettsville, Texas, Eusebio was shot and killed. El Inmigrante presents a distinct humanitarian focus in which story and character take precedent over policy and empiricism.
The film opens with a broad introduction of our subject–Mexican migrants dying along the U.S. Mexican border. We segue into the Arizona and Texas deserts where, against the backdrop of migrants preparing to cross the border, we hear from a diverse group of individuals including migrants in the process of crossing, the U.S. Mounted Border Patrol, members of the Minuteman Project, and migrant relief activists discuss the conditions along the border.
From there we arrive in San Felipe de Torres Moches in central Mexico, a town from which many migrants head north, and we begin to get to know Eusebio’s family. Concurrently the character of Sam Blackwood, the man who shot Eusebio, is developed through the tales of several residents residing in Sam’s home of Brackettville, Texas.
In the aftermath of the incident the rest of the film dedicates itself to discussion of the border issues and possible solutions to the problems.
In less than 2 months, El Inmigrante has been selected at 11 film festivals.

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Jump: A Frogumentary
by Justin Bookey - 68m
Midwest Premiere
www.frogumentary.com
Saturday, March 4RD - 11:30AM - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 2:00PM - Libertyville Civic Center
In some counties, length is everything. Every Spring since 1928 thousands converge upon Calaveras County to see whose frog will jump the farthest. JUMP follows the sweat and sacrifice of those who yearn to be the County’s top frog jockey – and be enshrined on the Hop of Fame.
This heartfelt “frogumentary” uncovers an historical community that still honors family, community, and a rich connection to its Wild West past. Inspired by a true fable: Mark Twain’s “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

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Keep Your Distance
by Stu Pollard - 95m
Lake County Premiere
www.distaneflick.com
Friday, March 3RD - 10:00pm - Liberty Theatre
Saturday, March 4TH - 10:00pm - Liberty Theatre
David Dailey is a man who has it all. But beneath the surface, David’s idyllic world is crumbling. His sultry wife Susan is hell-bent on expanding the horizons of their sex life - with or without him. His assistant, Whit, is gunning for his job. And he’s finding himself increasingly attracted to Melody Carpenter , a woman he trusts because she doesn’t know him well enough to betray him.
Complicating matters, Melody’s jilted boyfriend Sean, regards David and Melody’s fledgling friendship with contempt. He concocts a devious plan to win her back, unaware his overly protective father has ordered his number one ally to keep an eye on everyone involved.
As David and Melody grow closer, they discover they have much in common and are plunged into a harrowing web of desire, deceit, and paranoia. As his perfect life veers further and further off course, David is about to learn that the biggest danger of having it all is having everything to lose.
Keep Your Distance features a wide array of accomplished actors, including: Gil Bellows (The Weatherman), Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein), Kim Raver (24), Christian Kane (Angel), Stacy Keach (Prison Break) and Gary Anthony Williams (Malcolm In The Middle).

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Luke’s Father & The Sled
by Zach Dehm - 75m
World Premiere
www.lukesfather.com
Friday, March 3RD - 10:00pm - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday, March 5TH - 6:50pm - Libertyville Civic Center
If there’s one place where a slacker should be safe, it’s the multiplex. Unfortunately for the disinterested crew of Cinema 14, their boring world is turned upside down when famous film director, Simona Wakefield, sneaks into a screening of her latest film at their very theater.
Rachel, the multiplex’s assistant manager, strategizes to replace the trailers with her film school application reel. Rachel’s plan is vigorously opposed by Wade, a just-fired assistant manager, who has vowed to dedicate this day to an “anarchy of cinematic deconstruction.” He’s going to do everything he can to ruin the experience of every theatergoer, including Ms. Wakefield.
What’s at stake between Rachel, the romantic, and Wade, the theorist/anarchist, is two seemingly opposed points of view on the meaning of film as an art form: is it the dreams of humanity writ large on the walls of our minds? Or is it just a corporate hallucination that is entirely subject to the context and interpretation of the viewer?
Heady stuff, but funny too.

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Traveller
by William Olsson - 62m
Illinois Premiere
www.williamolsson.com
Friday, March 3RD - 12:00pm - Libertyville Civic Center
Sunday March 5TH - 9:15pm - Libertyville Civic Center
When confronted by his longtime girlfriend, telling him that he is unable to love and is more dead than alive, Albin’s life falls apart. He gets fired from his job at a bank and cannot push himself to take the final exam for a prestigious M.B.A. degree.
Albin flees home in desperation and ends up at a seedy hostel in former East Berlin. After meeting an aspiring Polish actress in an artist’s squat, Albin decides to find a new meaning in life and become an author.
The Traveler was shot on location in Berlin. The film is what one could describe as “reality-fiction”. It is made to appear like a fictional film, but actually blends the borders between fiction and documentary. The only actors in the film are the main character, Albin, and his former girlfriend Lisa. All other characters in the film are real human beings, convinced, at the time of shooting, that they are in a documentary.
The Traveler not only poses questions of what is real and what is fiction. It captures the essence of the backpacker culture and of a very confused, yet hopeful generation.It is a film about young peoples dreams and difficulties. About people from all over the world coming together at a hostel during a summer.

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Unknown
by Nick Thompson - 69m
Lake County Film Festival
www.unknown-movie.com
Sunday, March 5TH - 4:30PM - Liberty Theatre
Nathan Holmes is a man possessed by intense dreams. He dreams that he kills himself. He sees disturbing images of people who are not there. In trying to understand the reason for these strange occurrences, he seeks the help of psychiatrist, Dr. Cameron Graye. As he delves deeper into the unknown, Nathan begins distancing himself from everyone, including the woman who loves him unconditionally, Ashlee . However, not even she can help him as he falls farther over the edge. As life continues to spiral out of control, the line between dreams and reality blurs and not even he knows when he’s awake or when he’s dreaming.

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With You
by Jason Christensen - 100m
World Premiere
www.withyoumovie.com
Sunday, March 5TH - 8:00PM - Highland Park Theatre
Tired of the corporate grind, Jim Polk quits his “9-to-5” job and leaves the big city in search of a simpler life. Renting a modest farmhouse in the small town of Mt. Prospect, Jim quickly discovers that there’s more to this town, and his new home, than first meets the eye.
Jim’s bedroom overlooks Moloch Manor, a distant, decaying mansion that residents say is haunted. Local legend claims the spirit of Old Amon roams Moloch Manor’s grounds as well as Mt. Prospect itself. Soon, strange and frightening events start to unfold around Jim and the trappings of his own beliefs begin to unravel. Yet there are secrets about Moloch Manor and even Jim’s farmhouse that he is unaware.
WITH YOU is a classic ghost story about the suspense and fear built around a deadly haunting and the consequences that its characters must confront. It was filmed in Algonquin, Barrington, Belvidere, Crystal Lake and Vernon Hills.

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You Are Alone
by Gorman Bechard - 84m
Lake County Premiere
www.youarealone.com
Saturday, March 4TH - 9:30PM - Libertyville Civic Center
“We’re gonna play a game of Snap! Pick a bracelet. Pull it hard!”
But it’s a game of desperate consequences in YOU ARE ALONE, a dark exploration of just how far a man and a woman will go to escape loneliness, if only for an hour. Daphne, a Yalebound high school senior whose depression has blurred her sense of reality, works as an escort, advertising her services online. It’s a little bit of a “f.u.” that helps get her through the day, until her next door neighbor catches her as the “entertainment” at his nephew’s bachelor party. With her hidden life precariously hanging in the balance, Daphne agrees to spend one hour with her neighbor.
Initially confrontational, Daphne and her neighbor begin to shed their bitter layers of personal disappointment and general cynicism by talking about sex. It’s eyeopening for her neighbor: BBBJs, dining at the Y, salad tossing, and, of course, Snap! But behind this teenager’s jaded fantasies hides the very essence of heartbreak, acceptance, need, and desire...ironically paralleled by a broken man’s desperate attempts to test the limits of her advertised promise to do anything and everything.
You Are Alone won Best Of Fest, Best Actress and Best Screenplay at Chicago Indiefest, Best Actress at Brooklyn International Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature at Northampton Film Festival.

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