The Films
— T H E T O P A N G A F I L M F E S T I V A L —
In periods of crisis and disruption, we look to artists, and storytellers to help us process a new reality, and forge new narratives with the power to unite and to inspire.
We proudly present a strong body of work that is as beautiful and inspiring as any program we have shared in 17 years of TFF. Our gratitude goes out to all filmmakers who bravely submit their work, risking judgment and rejection. We salute their courage, and we believe in the importance of the artist’s voice and vision. We are grateful and proud to share work reflecting a global perspective and poignant commentary on this point in time.
TFF Feature Narrative Competition
PROMISES
FRIDAY 10.7 8:00-10:30PM AT FROGGY’S
Amanda Sthers, an acclaimed French writer, director and producer. Sthers is a creative force across the international entertainment and literary landscape. With a gift for crafting rich and captivating narratives from page to stage to screen, Sthers’ body of work is renowned throughout Europe and is fast gaining worldwide attention.
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PERIDOT
THURSDAY 10.6 8-9:30PM Click here to view
RUNTIME: 01:03:14USA
Director: Shayne Pax
Peridot is the story of Gabriel, a young male prostitute, who forms the most unlikely friendship with Martha, a world renowned author.
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PROMISES at Froggy's
FRIDAY 10.7 8:00-10:30PM
RUNTIME 01:53:00France
Director: Amanda Sthers
After putting behind his difficult childhood, Alexander has finally found a balance thanks to his wife and daughter. Laura is an art dealer who is about to get married. They meet at a party and it doesn't take more than an instant to know there's no way out of this. Unfortunately, life has different plans for them
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TÓHE DAY I FOUND A GIRL IN THE TRASH at CORAZÓN
SUNDAY 10.9 2:30-4:00
RUNTIME 01:32:00Poland
Director: Michal Krzywicki
In the near future, the indifferent activist announces that he will commit suicide at midnight on New Year's Eve in protest against the reigning slavery in Poland. His plan is questioned when he finds an abandoned slave girl in the garbage and decides to help her regain her freedom.
TFF Special Screenings
-OPENING FILM-
MOTHER OF APOSTLES
FRIDAY 10.7 4:30-7:00PM AT FROGGY’S
With an opening short film: DREAMING OURSELVES AWAKE by Lilakoi Moon
Zaza Buadz
Film director, script writer
Voting member of European Film Academy
Born in 1962, Kutaisi, Georgia
The film based on true stories. The director, in tandem with the wonderful play by the actress, managed to organically reveal the image of an Ukrainian woman, combine a tense, drama filled story with the feminine image of the main character. Through the eyes of the main character, we see the life of people living in the occupied territories, the faces distorted by the war, the crop-devastated farmland, the life that was stopped by the war.
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MOTHER OF APOSTLES at Froggy's
FRIDAY 10.7 4:30 - 7:00 PM
RUNTIME 02:00:00UKRAINE
Director: Zaza Buadze
In 2014, Sofia's peaceful life was invaded by the war, when she received a news informing her that the humanitarian plane that her son was flying was shot down over the occupied territory, where there is war. After receiving an unsatisfactory response from the military regarding her son's life, she packs a small suitcase and travels to the occupied territory, to find her son
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MALIBU SONG (Lower Topanga) at Froggy's
SATURDAY 10.8 11:00-12:30
RUNTIME 01:07:00AUSTRIA
Directors: Natalie Lettner & Werner Hanak
A documentary about the last residents of Lower Topanga with Baretta, Herb Bermann, Pablo Capra, Michael Greene, James Mathers, Coliene Rentmeester, Carole Winter, and Norton Wisdom.
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IN HOLLYWOOD'S BACKYARD at Froggy's
SAT 10.8 12:30 - 2:00PM
RUNTIME: 00:53:00USA
Director: ALEXANDER VON WETTER
More California Dreaming... "In Hollywood's Back Yard" Topanga and the Hippie Lifestyle '70s
BIRTH OF THE ENDLESS SUMMER - THE DISCOVERY OF CAPE ST. FRANCIS
AT FROGGY’S SAT 10.8 8-10:30PM
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BIRTH OF THE ENDLESS SUMMER - DISCOVERY OF CAPE ST. FRANCIS
AT FROGGY’S SAT 10.8 8-10:30PM
RUNTIME: 01.45:00USA
Director: Richard Yelland
Birth of The Endless Summer: Discovery of Cape St. Francis tells the never-been-told-before story behind one of the most beloved and watched documentaries of all time, Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer– a travel adventure that captured the hearts and imaginations of surfers and non-surfers alike. Birth of The Endless Summer follows Californian surf pioneer, Dick Metz, as he vagabonds the globe from 1958-1961.
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LOREN & ROSE at Froggy's
SUNDAY 10.9 11 - 12:30 PM
RUNTIME 01:23:00USA
Director: Russell Brown
A single meal frames this three-act story of the indelible bond between Loren, a promising filmmaker, and Rose, a storied actress looking to reinvigorate her career. From a lunch meeting to discuss a possible collaboration grows a years-long friendship between two people whose love of art, understanding of grief, and faith in life’s potential guide them through personal and creative hardships. Kelly Blatz and Jacqueline Bisset star with a chemistry that is at once authentic and intoxicating.
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INHABITANTS at Froggy's
SUNDAY 10.9 2:00 - 3:30
RUNTIME 01:16:06USA
Director: Costa Boutsikaris
Follows five Native American Tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests, and prairies as they restore their traditional land management practices. For millennia Native Americans successfully stewarded and shaped their landscapes, but centuries of colonization have disrupted their ability to maintain their traditional life ways. As the climate crisis escalates these time-tested practices of North America's original inhabitants are becoming increasingly essential in a rapidly changing world.
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The Charlie Chaplin Showcase On-Line
TUESDAY 10.4 6:30-7:30 Click here to join
Hosted by Miranda Robin
Charlie Chaplin is an icon, a legend, a poet and the magic of the silent screen. His attention to detail and written wit continue to enlighten and inspire. The Chaplin Showcase is a place to honor his brilliance and continue his conversations. This year TFF presents Chaplin’s Easy Street (1917) and Kirkland’s Moving Picture Co. 1914 (2014). These films were made over a century apart and both touch upon the emotional connection, societal struggles, and wanted love we share as a people. Films loud in content but silent on screen. Ode to an era. Let us tip our bowler hat to Charlie!
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Environmental Shorts On-Line
THRUSDAY 10.6 6:00-7:30 Click here to view
• Without Water Director, Jonathan Hyla
• Trail Mix, Director, Roger Blonder
• The Wind Moves Us Director, Saskia Madlener
• Îinha Director, Jessie Knierim
- CLOSING FILM -
THE TERRITORY
AT FROGGY’S SUNDAY 10.9 4:30-6:30
FROGGY’S SUN 10.9 4:30-6:30PM
RUNTIME: 01.25:00
USA
Director: Alex Pritz
When a network of Brazilian farmers seize a protected area of the Amazon rainforest, a young Indigenous leader and his mentor must fight back in defense of the land and a uncontacted group living deep witin the forest.
Alex Pritz, Director A documentary film director and cinematographer focused on human’s relationship with the natural world. Pritz’s directorial debut, THE TERRITORY, premiered in the World Cinema competition at Sundance 2022, winning both an Audience Award and Special Jury Award for Documentary Craft, making it the only film at that year’s festival to win awards from audience and jury alike.
Darren Aronofsky, Producer The Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker was born and raised in Brooklyn. Aronofsky heads Protozoa Pictures based in Chinatown, New York. His credits include “Pi,” “Requiem for a Dream,” “The Fountain,” “The Wrestler,” “Black Swan,” “Noah,” “mother!” and his upcoming A24 film “The Whale.”
TFF Documentary Competition
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LO QUE QUEDA EN EL CAMINO
TUESDAY 10.4 7:30 - 9:30 PM Click here to view
RUNTIME 00:93:0MEXICO
Director: Jakob Krese
This film tells the story of Lilian and her four children as they migrate in search for a better life. The family leaves Guatemala, joining a caravan of thousands of other people trying to reach the Mexico-US border. Being a single mother, this is Lilian’s best chance to make the dangerous journey.
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SOLSTICE
WEDNESDAY 10.5 7:30 - 9:30PM Click here to view
RUNTIME: 00:57:00AUSTRALIA
Director: Helen Newman
This film is about survivors of suicide It began as a story of one regional Australian family who had lost their daughter to suicide but quickly became a document bearing witness to the need for urgent and radical change in mental health support as more and more survivors of suicide added their voice
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RUN RAVEN RUN at CORAZÓN
SATURDAY 10.8 11:00-1:00
RUNTIME 01:41:00USA
Director: Michael Rainin
Despite a historical legacy that dealt the dark cards of slavery, holocaust and poverty, music has always been the winning hand for Gypsy survival. From the deserts of Rajasthan to the ghettos of Bucharest, Run Raven Run explores the resounding pain and pleasure that emanates from the unvanquished soul of Gypsy music.
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SOUND OF THE SURF at CORAZÓN
SATURDAY 10.8 5:00-7:30PM
RUNTIME 01:10:00USA
Director: Thomas Duncan
The first historic documentary to chronicle the true story of Surf Music as California's indigenous pop music movement, before it became a distorted Hollywood exploitation of teen culture. Through intimate interviews, media archives, scrapbook photos and home movies, it presents the stories of the musicians who lived the phenomenon, looking through their eyes.
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LOVELY JACKSON at CORAZÓN
SUNDAY 10.9 12:30-2:00PM
RUNTIME: 01:44:00USA
Director: Matt Waldec
America’s longest wrongfully held exonerated person, Rickey Jackson, returns to the prison where his 39 year journey of survival began and guides his younger self from death row to freedom. A true story about the triumph of hope, forgiveness, and perseverance through the darkest and most dire of circumstances that begins in violence and ends with love.
LGBTQ+ Shorts Competition
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SAPPHIRE On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00 - 8:00 PM Click here to view
RUNTIME 00:13:55USA
Director: Leanne Hanley
Caught between two worlds, Ethan must confront their inner demons. With the help of therapist, Max, Ethan attempts to transition from crippling obsession to a freedom that can only be found by becoming Sapphire.
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WARMTH On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00-8:00PM Click here to view
RUNTIME: 00:04:14USA
Director: Adam Bandrowski
This film is about my life since starting testosterone, the joy and comfort I have felt since then. It is made entirely on fabric, which I have sewn into a quilt.
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LULU On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00-8:00PM Click here to view
RUNTIME 00:15:00USA
Director: Diana Cignoni
Lulu is a modern day fable exploring first love, gender & sexual identity. To inhabit Lulu's world is to enter the Alice in wonderland rabbit hole and discover that nothing is as it seems. In memory of Harry Hains (LULU) and German Playwright Frank Wedekind's 100th Death Anniversary March 9, 2018.
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OPEN On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00 - 8:00 PM Click here to view
RUNTIME 00:6:13USA
Director: Andrew Rurik
Shot over the course of four years, this is an introspective look at his sense of place and perspective, digging into his motivations and experiences as a queer person, and exploring the questions implicit in an artistic medium.
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IDENTIBYE On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00-8:00PM Click to view
RUNTIME: 00:15:00IRAN
Director: Sajjad Shahhatami
The protagonist of the story faces a dilemma of choosing between sense and sensibility regarding one's innermost feelings. He has been judged from the very beginning by the ones closest to him. The fear of these never-ending judgments fills him with doubt and he has to work against the clock to achieve his goal as he knows that one's true identity is what matters most to them.
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DRAG KING On-Line
WEDNESDAY 10.5 6:00-8:00PM Click to view
RUNTIME 00:01:22USA
Director: Rosser Goodman
Two hot babes struggle to find each other, love each other and comfort each other in this melodic 82 second experimental music video.
International Shorts Competition
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SHORTS SHOWCASE I at CORAZÓN
SAT 10.8 1:30 - 3:30 PM
Not the screening order
• There Alone (Yee Score) Director, Erin Malley
• The Ref Director, Peter Edlund
• Sylvia Director, Sara Newton
• HUA (flowers) Director, Xueqing Yin
• Debauchelor Director, T.C. De Witt
• Cabarrus Director, Andrew Huggins
• Art & Futilite Director, Rosine Young
• Intown Director, Asgeir Sigurdsson, Anton Kristensen
• The List, Director Abigail Anderson -
SHORTS SHOWCASE II at CORAZÓN
SATURDAY 10.8 3:30 - 5:00 PM
Not the screening order
• Meet Carly W. Director, A.J. Hartman
• Life is a particle time is a wave, Director Daniel Zvereff
• Letters From a Traveler, Benjamin David Hoffman
• Divine Comedy Director, Makan Talayeh
• Barb Ross, Director Phoebe Sarason
• #finddre.wndrs Director, David J. Barnett
• Bodhi-Sativa Director, Bridget LeRoy -
SHORTS SHOWCASE III at CORAZÓN
SATURDAY 10.8 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Not the screening order
•Vulnerable Director, Noureddine Zerrad
• Vampire Facial, Abigail Mason, Nathan Anderson
• The Duchess of Zion Director, Horace Martins
• Second Team Film Director, Ria Pavia
• Rat Tail Director, Jeremy O'Keefe
• Ghosts Director, Diana A Cignoni
• Cycle Of Ancestry Director, Ryder England
• [in]visible Director, Rosser Goodman
• The Invisibles -
Topanga Shorts at Froggy's
SATURDAY 10.9 2:00 - 3:30 PM
Not the screening order
• Where’s the bitch? Director, Sarah Hendry
• The Topangans Director, T.C. De Witt• Sylvain’s Hunt Director, Theo Cohn
• La Patate Triste Director, Daniel Orozco Allan
• Distressed Billboard,, Shannon Michael Terry
• Artist in a field, Director, Lucas Mcgowen
• Heart of Surfers Director, Kyle J Ruddick
• Sienna burning Director, Andrea Shreeman