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INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE

A.K.A. BIRDSEYE
SWITZERLAND/USA, 2002, 97 MIN, DIRECTED BY MICHAEL HUBER AND STEPHEN BECKNER
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Friday, March 14, 7:15 PM at Park 3
Saturday, March 15, 9:15 PM at Park 3
Fred Ward (The Right Stuff, Henry and June) leads an international cast as an obsessive Colorado sheriff who faces his toughest assignment yet: the mysterious kidnapping of a famed Swiss artist in the USA. With the police investigation bungled and an exploding media frenzy fueled by ghostlike "sightings," the sheriff plays his last card, deputizing his teenage son. Sorting through a rush of suspects, the sheriff becomes convinced that the key to the case involves a legendary career criminal, who may or may not even exist. Faced with choosing between ordinary facts and one extraordinary fiction, the sheriff and his son must pursue the mystery to its ultimate conclusion.

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THE BURIAL SOCIETY
CANADA, 2002, 95 MIN, DIRECTED BY NICHOLAS RACZ
EAST COAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Sunday, March 9, 5:15 PM at Park 2
Saturday, March 15, 7:00 PM at Park 3
The Burial Society is an ingenious character study, a grand-theft caper movie, and a gentle take on male bonding. It starts with a Chevrah Kadisha--a Jewish burial society wherein devout men do the good deed of preparing the dead for burial. Into this group of believers comes Sheldon Kasner, a man from the city who wishes to join, learn the rituals, and become one of them. But, as we watch the ways of the society, we learn that Sheldon is not all he seems. Co-starring David Paymer and Seymour Cassel, The Burial Society is at once exotic, familiar, and constantly surprising.

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GRILL POINT (HALBE TREPPE)
GERMANY, 2002, 107 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANDREAS DRESEN
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Friday, March 14, 4:45 PM at Park 2
Sunday, March 16, 6:30 PM at Park 3
A multiple award winner at the Berlin and Chicago International Film Festivals and a Best Director nominee at the European Film Awards, Grill Point examines two settled married couples and a chance meeting that evolves into an affair. Shaken from their stupor, all four friends are forced to face the grim realities of their lives but also to recognize the small miracles that are still possible. Grill Point delivers a keenly funny and achingly sad exploration of the truly important moments in our lives.

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INVISIBLE (OSYALIGE, DEN)
SWEDEN, 2002, 95 MIN, DIRECTED BY JOEL BERGVALL
IN SWEDISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
Friday, March 14, 9:30 PM at Park 2
Saturday, March 15, 2:00 PM at Park 2
This Swedish version of a Japanese "ghost story" delivers a powerful and moving story on the spiritual connection between human beings that outlives even the physical. At school one day, Nicklas realizes that something is terribly wrong when nobody notices or hears him: he has become invisible. Is he dead, in limbo, or just dreaming? The film walks the fine line of ambiguity as it presents a cautionary tale of the consequences of physical and emotional violence, and the promise of redemption that always is possible in even the most intense of human relationships.

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STRASS
BELGIUM, 2002, 86 MIN, DIRECTED BY VINCENT LANNOO
IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUB-TITLES
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE/2ND US SHOWING
Monday, March 10, 9:15 PM at Park 3
Sunday, March 16, 2:45 PM at Park 2
What really happens behind the doors of Belgium's most famous acting school? As the first Belgian Dogme film, this wickedly funny mockumentary is a biting satire on the pretensions of the self-important theatrical world. When a film crew arrives to shoot a high-minded documentary on the school, they instead stumble onto a pageant of autocratic screaming fits, crass student seductions, and an increasing atmosphere of rampant paranoia. Hailed by Variety as a "deft and scathing satire," the film is mandatory viewing for anyone who's ever taken an acting class or been torn apart by their teacher in the name of art.

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INTERNATIONAL SHORTS
TOTAL RUNNING TIME 92 ½ MIN
Sunday, March 16, 4:00 PM at Enzian
*Due to mature subject matter,
this program is not suitable for children.

ANGRY KID: "DOLLY"
UK, 2002, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY DARREN WALSH
US PREMIERE
With typical sensitivity, Britannia's Sweetheart taps into his feminine side and gets all mixed up. In a manner of speaking.

ANGRY KID: "SWOLLEN"
UK, 2002, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY DARREN WALSH
US PREMIERE
The red menace and his fat-faced pal spice up another dull journey with fun and inflammation. Nuts to you!

LEUNIG: HOW DEMOCRACY REALLY WORKS
AUSTRALIA, 2001, 1 MIN, DIRECTED BY ANDREW HORNE
US PREMIERE
Rest assured, your vote really does count. Produced by Bryan Brown and narrated by Sam Neill.

A SMALL CHRISTMAS PROBLEM
HUNGARY, 2002, 2 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY IGOR LAZIN
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Bizarre, heartwarming, and perversely hummable-the Little Cow returns.

FLUX
CANADA, 2002, 7 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY CHRIS HINTON
Vividly rendered in a gonzo animation style somewhere between Ralph Steadman and Dirty Duck, "Flux" careens through life's crises, joys, and random accidents in a shattering blur.

WOMAN (SIEVIETE)
LATVIA, 2002, 10 MIN, DIRECTED BY SIGNE BAUMANE
WORLD PREMIERE
A beautiful, mystifying piece of visual poetry about the creation of woman and her two ways to encounter a man.

JUST A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE--A TRIBUTE TO DES SMYTH
IRELAND, 2002, 4 ½ MIN, DIRECTED BY PETER FOOTT
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
An obsessed fan constructs herself a lover in the suave image of show band singer Des Smyth.

DOS MAS
SPAIN, 2001, 19 MIN, DIRECTED BY LEON SIMINIANI
IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
A different sort of triangle, as two lovers find that behind the dream of love, there lies the nightmare of its reality.

SHADOW MAN
UK, 2002, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY AMANDA RUDMAN
EAST COAST PREMIERE
A curious friendship forms between a little girl and two squatters in a derelict household--but what is really going on?

AT DAWNING
UK, 2002, 12 MIN, DIRECTED BY MARTIN JONES
SOUTHEAST PREMIERE
A woman quietly flees a one-night stand only to encounter a wannabe suicide stuck mid-jump outside the window. A screwball comedy of ethics and incrimination ensues.

THE BIRTHDAY
UK, 2002, 22 MIN, DIRECTED BY KAL WEBER
EAST COAST PREMIERE
A forgotten tape in a broken video camera reveals that a long-lost Army friend is not only alive but likely the mole who betrayed an English squad to the Nazis.

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Florida Film Festival 2003
Produced by Enzian Theater
1300 South Orlando Ave., Maitland, Florida 32751
Telephone (407) 629-8587   Fax (407) 629-6870

Funded in part by Orange County Arts and Cultural Affairs. Enzian Theater is supported
by United Arts of Central Florida with funds from the United Arts campaign and by State
of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Arts Council,
and the National Endowment for the Arts.