Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival 2015

Amsterdam Lift-Off Screenings Wednesday
Wednesday 28th October

My Mom’s Motorcycle, USA
Dir. Douglas Gautraud
This is a short film about how my mom became the owner of a motorcycle for the My Rode Reel competition. More deeply it is about how people use objects to connect with times, ideas, and people.

Him Upstairs, UK
Dir. Neil Mooney & Sonya Quayle
Margaret Conroy lives somewhere in between. Somewhere in between a little sit down and a bit of a dance. Somewhere in between the then and the now. Somewhere in between Her Next Door and Him Upstairs.

Francis B. Griffin, UK
Dir. Paul Griffin
The name is Francis Berrard Griffin. I’m 91. I was born on the 24th of July 1921. And my secret of long life is to relax, all the time. So I don’t get excited about things. If I want to say, do a job on a car, I do the job first, mess of it, then I get the manual out and see where its gone wrong. To put it broadly I’m a codger. Codgers a good word for it.

A complicated way to live, UK
Dir. Ged Hunter
A man struggles with a system that pushes him towards the only option he thinks he has.

The Way of Tea, France
Dir. Marc Fouchard
A small town in northern France, Alex, a young skinhead, enters Malik’s grocery store

När Tårarna Fallit (When Tears Have Fallen), Sweden
Dir. Henrik Henziger
In a cold world where nearly all of mankind has lost it’s emotions, a young mother faces an impossible choice when her son is submitted life supporting medical care.

I’m Going To Marry This Boy, USA
Dir. Radha Mehta
An unlikely romance in India at a time when women weren’t allowed the freedom of choice. Against all odds, this woman’s love story has survived 45 years of marital bliss and is still going strong.

Tickle the Ivories, UK
Dir. Glenn Hanstock
Tickle the Ivories is a documentary focusing on the street piano busking festival of the same name which takes place in Liverpool. Using interviews and completely live street performances, the film brings together wide range pianists from all walks of life, all sharing a unique gift and asks why we as human beings, are so profoundly moved by music?

Amsterdam Lift-Off Screenings Thursday
Thursday 29th October

Alex – Incomplete Faith, Germany
Dir. Nikolas Migut
Just before 5AM, video journalist Nik meets Alex, a homeless person, at the railway mission in Berlin to join him for a short journey through the night. After eight years of living on the street, Alex has changed. He is no longer the man he used to be, spending each day confused and lost, hardly able to remember anything.

Caged, Netherlands
Dir. Dylan Tonk
David is torn when he discovers his best friend Niels is gay. Homosexuality isn’t tolerated among their friends. Will David side with them or choose for his friendship with Niels?

Sub Rosa, Iceland
Dir. Thora Hilmarsdottir
SUB ROSA observes the 8 year old Tilda, she lives with her grandmother who runs a flower shop. The young girl roams around freely and discovers a world of indecent activities lurking behind the flower store walls.

Sketch, USA
Dir. Stephen Barton
A 12 year-old boy on the Autistic spectrum uses his special talents to survive on his own in an impoverished and dangerous neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York.

Boniato, USA
Dir. Andres Meza-Valdes, Diego Meza-Valdes, Eric Mainade
An illegal migrant worker decides it’s time to move on from picking crops and find a better job. Little does she know insidious supernatural forces have a different plan for her.

Total Animal III, France
Dir. Guerlotté Tristan
Total animal III is an experimental audiovisual creation, digitally enhanced and musically intense. Creatures clot together in their oleaginous universe all the way to total annihilation.

In Pieces, Netherlands
Dir. Mario Gonsalves
‘In Pieces’ is a short film that tells the story of a lonely man that is looking for something new that can give back meaning to his life after his wife has passed away.

Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival Screenings Friday
Friday 30th October

A passion of gold and fire, Belgium
Dir. Sébastien Pins
A beekeeper shares his worries about the future of his apiary school. A passion of gold and fire which definitely helps our environment to keep on living.

CONTRAPELO, USA
Dir. Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
CONTRAPELO is the story of a proud Mexican barber who is forced to shave the leader of a drug cartel. As he faces the man who is destroying his country, he is confronted by a difficult decision: to become a killer, or to let this man continue to kill. By the end of the shave, the Barber will find out that he and the Capo are not so different.

Fåån (Valsaland), Sweden
Dir. Goblin Mikkanen
In this music video we follow a kid in his retro boy’s bedroom. A video about loneliness, exclusion and self-injury in modern society. He mimes “Does anyone wanna be my friend?” in swedish. Music by Valsaland.

IN GOD WE TRUST, France
Dir. Elefterios Zacharopoulos
Once upon a time, at the end of the day, a full subway, an insane desire to already be at home. How many people have left like that, at one time or another? You?? Me??? Or the heroine of our story, who returns home exhausted from her day. Except today

TROUW, Netherlands
Dir. Gosse Bouma & Jeroen Senden
TROUW (FIDELITY) is a story about Vincent. While his girlfriend is traveling the world for three months, Vincent meets another girl while writing his thesis in Amsterdam. They have an instant connection. Vincent finds himself in a difficult position when he develops feelings for them both. Then a third player enters the stage that no one could have foreseen.

Stiltegebied, Netherlands
Dir. Kristjan Knigge
A terrible accident has left former dancer Julia paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. What could be nicer than being taken for a gentle walk in the woods by a caring friend?

Fragments, USA
Dir. Stephanie Weber Biron
An unhappy lion mascot, a straight talking chick fed up with sexual double standards, a hypochondriac 18 year old gay guy who just got into medical school: all these colourful characters collide in fragments filled with sex talk and humour, with the ever inspiring city of New Orleans as a backdrop.

2015's Amsterdam Lift-Off Film Festival was a great success, filmmakers from all over the world and local to the city screened during the three day event showcasing the best of indie film to packed out audiences aboard The City Tender a canal cruiser which cruised the canals of Amsterdam while our audiences enjoyed the exceptional screenings.

Special Mentions…

Sub Rosa – Wins an Official Selection for London Lift-Off Film Festival.
Sketch – Wins an Official Selection for Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival.
The Way of Tea – Wins an Official Selection for Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival.
IN GOD WE TRUST – Wins an Official Selection for Las Vegas Lift-Off Film Festival.
In Pieces – Wins an Official Selection for Los Angeles Lift-Off Film Festival.

Winners...

Best Documentary
Alex – Incomplete Faith, Dir. Nikolas Migut

Best Live Action Narrative
CONTRAPELO, Dir. Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer