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Sometimes love plays better in reverse. Anna and Otto, the narcissistic lovers in 11:11, glide around a gravity free universe erasing their collective past with every step they take. Anna's pregnancy is a turning point in their relationship. When Otto exploits Anna's experience and turns it into parody, Anna takes her revenge. The movie's soundtrack makes backward English sound like a foreign language. 11:11 is a uniquely cinematic experience, a visual metaphor for the human capacity for forgetting and an innovative right brain treat for the film viewer. Festivals screened at include: Boston International Film Festival Winner: Best Cinematography in a Short Film .

Gavin Tartowski has been called a quack, a cult-leader, and a barista who sees himself as a guru. Looking for a support group to help him with his compulsion to wear extremely tight pants, Gavin was turned away from 12-step programs like AA, NA and GA. "Why all the labels?" Gavin asks. "Why not put all problems under one umbrella? That is why I created A. I want to help people no matter what their challenges are." The group's newest challenge is Benji, a troubled 35 year-old "huffer" whose mother has sent him to A. As the members struggle with Benji, they begin to work through their own inner-demons and start to see the value in their lives. Although Tartowski's methods are less than orthodox, his ability to heal is indisputable. This film is as life affirming as A itself. A. (anonymous) has screened at the following film festivals: Night Gallery Film Festival, 2006 Cinemerge, 2006 Saint Louis Filmmaker's Showcase, 2006 Industry Screening SOWA Film Festival, 2006

A young Hollywood couple (JUDY GREER and MICHAEL KELLEY) undergoes a jaw-dropping IRS audit in which a lecherous secretary (the wonderfully off-kilter SALLY KIRKLAND) and vengeful auditor (the fabulous ALEXIS ARQUETTE in male drag) demand they pay much more than just tax...

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HOPI was made for my thesis film project for a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Its short length is due to the restrictions against photography on the Hopi reservation. This film includes the oldest motion picture footage available from Hopiland. The stills used in the film are authentic historical photographs from the archives of the Southwest Museum. This film developed out on our work in the 1970's with the Committee for Traditional Indian Land and Life (T.I.L.L.) to secure legal help to defend in court the sovereignty of indigenous American tribes. The traditional Hopi elders wanted to publicize their philosophy of peaceful co-existence, and AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HOPI tries to do that. The word "Hopi" means "peaceful people". AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A HOPI is a documentary short which presents the philosophy of the Hopi through the words of a farmer who still grows corn and lives according to the traditional way of harmony with nature. He tried the way of Bohanna (the European), living in the cities, working in the factories. There he found plenty of hardship but very little peace. The ultimate product of this filmmaking experience is our 49-minute TECHQUA IKACHI (Land and Life): ABORIGINAL WARNING--Education Edition focusing on the prophecy from Hopi and other indigenous peoples that extracting oil or minerals from the Earth will bring disaster. www.geocities.com/alankentgorg.

Documentary about the real people who formed the basis for the Scorsese mob epic Casino.

In the middle of a suicide mission, Marc Israel becomes intoxicated with a "rebirth of wonder" after imbibing copious amounts of mind-altering Kombucha tea. Thus begins an epic & often hilarious quest investigating a mysterious international motorbike balancing contest. Lean into the world, via Israel's roving camera, & rub intimate eyeballs with a medley of renegade personalities. Get to know Austin's Museum of Natural & Artificial Ephemerata and its eccentric curators, who spend all their time covering the museum in bottle caps & catfood tins. Venture to Iowa City, where the charismatic Optimist Club founder Skutter performs his one-man-show "A Piñata in My Heart" & lectures at the University on a balancing contest in Vietnam. Hop a freight train with Skutter to L.A. and discover a self-described "towel-face artist" who can make your bath towel resemble Whoopi Goldberg within minutes. Lastly, catch a plane to Thailand, hitchhike through Cambodia, finally arriving in Vietnam where a motley assortment of bikers get ready to balance boxes, refrigerators, & entire families on the back of their humble bicycles & mopeds!

"BeatMakers" a 90 minute independent documentary, charts the never ending hustle of up and coming as well as seasoned producers. Filmed inside their in home studios, these hungry musicians aspire to obtain more equipment, sell their hot tracks, and, of course, make a name for themselves in the competitive music industry. The movie follows a plethora of track masters in various stages of their careers including newcomer Justin "J Dot" Moyd, a 23 year college student who nears graduation, as he assembles his production center, works with aspiring recording artists and puts together his first professional demo package. We also see a group of savvy producers combine their collective efforts called 'Battery Five' discuss their trials and tribulations and their relentless pursuit to create a "movement" and be recognized in such a tumultuous business. The film provides a behind the scenes forum for composers to get a lot off their chests and discuss their unbridled passion for making music all with a steadfast belief that the 'next' track will be the one to take them to the 'next' level!

Frank has spent his entire life in a stuffy boarding house, tending to old and ailing tenants who vie for his attention. His routine disintegrates one night with the arrival of Diane, a young woman with a battered face and a trail of secrets. Convinced that Diane is running from a violent husband, Frank tries to help her in all the small ways he knows how, but her presence and the strange intimacy they share spark long-submerged feelings in him. Diane is oblivious. Any day now, she'll be able to escape her husband and her past for good. Just when her scheme is about to bear fruit, two detectives surprise Diane with the news that her husband has vanished. One of them, Becker, is convinced that Diane has killed him, and he has a pretty good idea why. But the other, Bear, sees in her a reflection of his own smoldering resentments and unslaked desires. Diane doesn't want this handsome young cop's attentions, but her resistance melts as he reaches out with advice, comfort, and a plan. First, though, she'll have to believe Bear's claim that Frank is responsible both for her husband's disappearance and the hitch in her escape plans, and that Frank's feelings for her are dangerous. But can the shy, sweet man who has shown her a hundred kindnesses really pose a threat? As Becker inches closer to the truth, Diane realizes she'll have to trust either Frank or Bear. But which one?

Never have so few companies controlled so much of the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores. At the same time, there are more bands and more ways to discover their music than ever. Music seems to have split in two - the homogenous corporate product that is spoonfed to consumers and the diverse independent music that finds devoted fans online and at clubs across the country. BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey - ultimately, the promise that the future holds - are what makes BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES both riveting and exhilarating.