Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival 2016

Thursday - 3rd March

Time Slot 3pm - 4.30pm

Last Summer | Italy.
Feature Live Action Narrative Directed by Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli

On a luxury yacht off the coast of Italy, a young mother has four days to leave her son with a
lasting memory of her before she loses custody of him forever. Naomi, a young Japanese woman, after having lost custody of her six year-old son, Ken, will be spending her last four days with him on board the boat of her father-in-law. In a hostile environment, Naomi faces the difficulty of approaching her son under the controlling glare of the crew.

Time Slot 7pm - 8.30pm

Blue Desert | Brazil.
Feature Live Action Narrative Directed by Eder Santos

On an evolutionary path, a man is taking through symbols to the encounter with his soul mate and to the Blue Desert, on a journey of great revelations. In a time where religion, sports, memory and truth I've become obsolete, encounters do not take place only within the sphere of physical presence any more. Ele, the central character, seeks evaluation of his conscience through dreams and intuition. Revelations brought by symbols lead him to a marked path through the
enigmatic encounter with his soulmate Alma. His journey through the Deserto Azul (Blue Desert) is actually his chance to understand the purpose of life and the meanings of human existence.

Time Slot 9pm - 10.30pm

An Evening of Shorts. Shorts Programme 1.
Selections

Selected shorts from local to filmmakers around the world - all hand picked by the Lift-Off Film Festival Selection Committee and voted on by you the attending audiences. Winners get screened around the world forming part of the prestigious Lift-Off Film Festival Network.

The Stomach | UK
Short Live action Narrative Directed by Dan Dixon

The Shooting Star Salesman | USA
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Kico Velarde

Sketch| USA
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Stephen T. Barton

Bikini Words | South Korea
Short Documentary Directed by Nils Clauss

Early Birds | UK
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Radford Nicholls

CONTRAPELO | Mexico
Oscar Shortlisted Short Live Action Narrative Directed Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer

Friday - 4th March

Time Slot 7pm - 7.50pm

JIHAD: A Story of the Others | UK.
Feature Documentary Directed by Deeyah Khan

The world has watched aghast as thousands of young men and women abandon comfortable lives in the West to join the barbaric ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Girls and boys have gone rapidly from being apparently well-adjusted school kids, to enthusiastically joining the ranks of Kalashnikov-wielding religious warriors and burkah-clad “jihadi brides”. It feels like a new and frightening phenomenon, one which has left many feeling bewildered and revulsed.

But as this new documentary film by Emmy Award winning director Deeyah Khan shows, Westerners embracing jihad and death is nothing new. For three generations now, young people across Europe have fallen prey to extremist groups and fought, killed and died with mujahideen movements from Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kashmir, to Chechnya and Burma.

Time Slot 8.15pm - 9.20pm

For My Children | Sweden.
Feature Documentary Directed by Stathis Plotas

The social services in Sweden has been compared with SS in Nazigermany and Gulag in Sovietunion. Is there a foundation for such connections? In his efforts to understand why the Swedish social services took his children Jerzy discovers that he is not alone with this horror experience, and that in the middle of the democratic beautiful Sweden there is a world full of lies, authority abuse and corruption.

Time Slot 9.45pm - 10.30pm

An Evening of Shorts 2. Shorts Programme 2.
Selections

The second evening of selected shorts from local to filmmakers around the world - all hand picked by the Lift-Off Film Festival Selection Committee and voted on by you the attending audiences. Winners get screened around the world forming part of the prestigious Lift-Off Film Festival Network.

AERIS | UK
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Tijmen Veldhuizen

Seven Days a Week | UK
Short Documentary Directed by Tal Amiran

Late | UK
Short Live Action Narrative Directed Richard Elson

Bozena & Pawel | UK
Short Documentary Directed by Kamil Iwanowicz

The American City | USA
Short Documentary Directed by Matthew Thompson

Insect bite | USA
Short Animation Directed by Grace Nayoon Rhee

Walls | Lebanon
Short Animation Directed by Marilyn Haddad

Saturday - 5th March

Time Slot 3pm - 3.40pm

Generation Right | UK.
Feature Documentary Directed by Michelle Coomber

Generation Right pieces together the story of Margaret Thatcher's reign as the longest serving UK Prime Minister of the 20th century. It charts the deeply felt divisions British society experienced during her time in office, and the effect Thatcherism has had on both Britain and the world today.

Time Slot 4.30pm - 5.15pm

SUPER SAD | France.
Feature Live Action Narrative Directed by Stéphanie Kalfon

Simon and Cecile Kraft are brother and sister. They lost their father in a terrible car accident, and weren't on time for Funerals. How could they ever move on, get through this pain and guilt? They get an answer when suddenly a deliverer pizza join them and find a way to make life easier.

Time Slot 6pm - 6.30pm

The Fighter | South Africa & Brazil.
Feature Live Action Narrative Directed by Dara Kell & Christopher Nizza

From the edge of a shimmering Rio lagoon, a 12 year old girl watches the transformation of the waterfront. Nearing completion, Brazil’s massive Olympic Park is being constructed directly in front of the house her father built. As city officials threaten and harass her father and neighbours in an attempt to force them to leave, the community becomes divided and families are torn apart. Naomi is caught in the midst of this conflict along with ever-increasing dust, noise and environmental destruction. Told entirely from her perspective, THE FIGHTER provides a glimpse into the experience of girlhood in the face of the powerful political and economic forces behind the 2016 Olympic Games.

Time Slot 7pm - 9.30pm

An Evening of Shorts 3. Shorts Programme 3.
Selections

The third and final evening of selected shorts from local to filmmakers around the world - all hand picked by the Lift-Off Film Festival Selection Committee and voted on by you the attending audiences. Winners get screened around the world forming part of the prestigious Lift-Off Film Festival Network.

Free Party | France
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Fred Gélard

Alex - Incomplete Faith | Germany
Short Documentary Directed by Nikolas Migut

A Way of Life | UK, Hong Kong & Japan
Short Documentary Directed by Tian Ji & Adrian Lo

Break | UK
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Nicholas Moss

Holes in their soles | UK
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Andy Smith

A Reasonable Request | USA
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Andrew Laurich

The Immaculate Misconception | Northern Ireland
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Michael Geoghegan

Rabbit | Australia
Short Live Action Narrative Directed by Matthew Richards

Cowboy Ben | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Jon Shaikh & Scott Rawsthorne.

Heksen (The Witch) | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Mads Erichsen.

NINETY | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Jack Lightfoot.

S N O W | Liverpool Lift-Off Online
Directed by Washington Buckley.

Everybody Falls Down | Liverpool Lift-Off Online
Directed by Chris Hale.

Masquerade | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Alessandro Repetti.

Bird | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Paul Harry Thomas

FRAGMENTS | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Stephanie Weber Biron.

HELLO, AGAIN | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Alonzo Smith, Jr.

Ferry in the Midst | Liverpool Lift-Off Online 2016
Directed by Harry Chew.

All awards are audeince choice, with feedback comments and scores sent direct to the filmmakers after there respective screenings.

Winners will be announced shortly after the event.

Nominations may also be allocated for the Lift-Off Season Awards 2016 within the respective categories (see below)

The Winner of the Liverpool Lift-Off Film Festival Online Competition will be given an automatic Official Selection for Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival 2016

Awards and prizes to be allocated...

Best Feature Live Action Narrative
Official Selection for Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival 2016

Best Feature Documentary
Official Selection for Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival 2016

Best Short Live Action Narrative
Official Selections at all proceeding Lift-Off Film Festivals

Best Short Documentary
Official Selections at all proceeding Lift-Off Film Festivals

Possible nominations for 2016 Lift-Off Season Awards.

Best Feature Narrative
Best Feature Documentary
Best Short Live Action Narrative
Best Short Documentary
Best Animation
Best Music Video
Best Screenplay

Best Actor
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Hair and Make-Up
Best Post Production