The First Inspiration Film Festival will be held on January 17, 2015, in beautiful Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and is hosted by Inspiration Academy. Our mission at IA is to equip future generations to lead inspired lives of purpose in service to the Kingdom of God. Inspiration Academy provides unique opportunities for students to excel: in athletics, through individualized elite sports programs; in profession, through focused academics and immersion of students in real-world career training; and in life, through discipleship. Discover more at www.inspirationacademy.com.
The Inspiration Film Fest is where faith and film meet.
A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit Selah Freedom & the fight against human trafficking.
The Selection:
STUDENT SHORT FILM – FICTION
As a Child
(4m, USA)
Producer: Eric Johnson
Director: Carsten Johnson
Writer: Carsten Johnson
This short film is about a man who leaves his cyclical, routine life in the city and goes on a search for his childhood dreams. He ends up remembering that he once wanted to sail, but he put that dream away because he did not want to move out of his comfort zone.
A Summerhouse
(8m, Italy)
Producer: Sarah Oh
Director: Federica Gianni
Writer: Pernille Rivedal Hellevik
Walter is an incredibly attentive kid who is ignored most of the time by his numerous family. As he roams through their big summerhouse he ends up finding an odd task for himself which leads him to a great discovery.
Prom?
(5m, USA)
Producer: Michael Yebba
Director: Hornet Productions
Writer: Michael Yebba
A young man tries to ask the girl of his dreams to the prom using a single red rose. But will she notice him when everything he tries goes wrong?
STUDENT SHORT FILM – DOCUMENTARY
Blue Chameleon
(7m, Australia)
Producer: Teresa Carante
Director: Teresa Carante
Australian Female Spearfisher, Susan Dockar, went missing after the Underwater National Competitions in Gladstone back in 1983. During the competition she was swept away by king tides and floated in shark infested waters for two days and two nights before touching land again.
Fred
(9m, USA)
Producer: Maddison Hobbing
Director: Sarit Sandler
After experiencing an immense amount of antisemitism and hate as a young child, Manfred ‘Fred’ Hecht escaped Nazi Germany at the age of 11. When he came to America he discovered his love of art and painting. As a successful painter he has had numerous galleries and shows displaying his art. Through this intimate documentary Fred shares the trials and tribulations of his life.
Enabled
(22m, Netherlands)
Producer: Allard Faas, Chilo Oostergetel, Menno Koelewijn & Edwin Spee
Director: Allard Faas & Chilo Oostergetel
Paralympic athletes Bibian Mentel (gold medal Paralympic Games, Sochi 2014) and Kees-Jan van der Klooster (gold medal X-Games, Aspen 2008) end a dramatic winter-season in the Swiss Alps, doing some helidrops on the glaciers near Zermatt (CH). For them, it’s the cherry on top after a years’ hard work. Accompanying them are FWT athletes Samuel Anthamatten as guide and Matthias Haunholder and Lucas Swieykowski as their helping hands on the mountain. Once up in the mountains, these riders won’t find any knee deep powder, but ice and hard pack instead. Something that will stretch Bibian’s and KJ’s athletic and interpretative skills to it’s absolute limits. Enabled is a movie about the right to fall, the art of getting up again and the confrontation with one’s limitations.
FEATURE FILM – DOCUMENTARY
Are You a Pilgrim?
(54m, Canada)
Producer: Gian D. Ceccato & Alan Mendelsohn
Director: Gian D. Ceccato
Industrial engineer, Gian D. Ceccato, takes a journey of faith which comprised of walking 800 kilometers (500 miles) of pilgrimage to the burial site of Apostle St. James in Compostela, Spain in a test of endurance and will power but changing a life to come closer in relationship to God and appreciation to the goodness in humanity.
The Space Between
(89m, Kenya)
Producer: Kimberly Nunez-North
Director: Kimberly Nunez-North & Travis North
What medical care could you afford on less than a dollar a day? ‘The Space Between’ examines the effects of poverty on healthcare through the stories of four individuals struggling with life-threatening illnesses in a Kenyan hospice. When underfunded and understaffed hospitals cannot keep up with demand, Living Room hospice steps in to provide compassion, hope and relief.
You Belong to Me
(88m, USA)
Producer: Hilary Saltzman & Judith Hagin
Director: John Cork
August 3, 1952. Live Oak, Florida 11:34 am.
Ruby McCollum, age 42, shoots State Senator-elect, Dr. C. L. Adams, firing her .32-caliber revolver four times, before going home and warming a bottle of milk for her baby daughter.
What began as a bizarre murder case quickly turned a bright light on the rotting underbelly of the old South. Ruby McCollum was the wealthiest black woman in Suwannee County, Florida. Her husband, Sam, ran the local Bolita numbers racket, owned several farms and sat on the Board of Florida’s largest black life insurance company. They were church going, upstanding members of the community. Their eldest son had been accepted to UCLA. Murdering the most powerful white man in town over a doctor’s bill would seem the least likely crime she might commit. Was Ruby insane, or was the killing of Dr. Adams the last sane act of a woman whose wealth and status could not protect her from the blind indifference and humiliations of the Jim Crow South? The Judge in her case refused to allow her to be interviewed by reporters, including the famed writers Zora Neale Hurston and William Bradford Huie. Her testimony proved so explosive, the local paper refused to print it. Her case haunted jurors and prosecutors for decades.
You Belong To Me, explores and rips the veil off hidden practices, exposing the truth of what it meant to be an African American in the Jim Crow South and the long road to healing.
Sweethearts of the Gridiron
(87m, USA)
Producer: Iggy Rodriguez, Mikaela Addison & Steven Hornstein
Director: Chip Hale
The Rangerettes, regular Texas college students, star as themselves in director Chip Hale’s documentary about the first dancing precision drill team. Started from scratch, the Rangerettes were the brainchild of a fiery little bit of nothing named Gussie Nell Davis. Conceived at first as a way to keep football spectators in the stands during halftime rather than drinking and brawling under them, the Rangerettes changed halftime entertainment forever, and became the model for all dancing drill teams in the country. Hale followed the team for a year, and was given unlimited access to a world only the Rangerettes themselves ever get to see. The story he tells is one of passion and determination as he follows six hopefuls during pre-training and tryouts, whose greatest hope is just to become members of the line.
The AC Project: To the Ends of the Earth
(94m, USA)
Producer: Brandon Lied, Doug Wekenman, Ethan Matott, Matthew Fons, Ryan Wekenman
Director: Brandon Lied
While their friends were searching for jobs and enjoying a few final college parties before graduation, Ethan Matott, Matt Fons, and brothers Doug and Ryan Wenkenman were busy preparing for a different experience after graduation. The four friends who met at University of Colorado headed off on a year of traveling, visiting eight countries, and serving others. During their journey, the cameras were rolling, and now the four are sharing their transformational story with the completed documentary, The AC Project.
Through what began as a group of college guys dissatisfied with the pursuit of the American Dream, The AC Project is simply a one-year journey of experimental living. Growing up as so-called Christians, they heard Jesus offered ‘more life,’ but Sunday church seemed to fall drastically short of an exciting or meaningful life.
Giving clean water in Fiji, building an orphanage in Belize, helping sex trafficking victims in India, it was going to be a journey in an honest attempt to see life outside the suburban bubble they had grown up in.
While the on-screen action may occurred across the globe, these four Colorado natives relied on other Coloradans in the film industry for everything from directing, editing, and post-production including Brandon Lied of Steel Rock Films in Boulder, CO. Even much of the music used in The AC Project is the work of local musicians and bands within the state.
David & Me
(69m, Canada)
Director: Marc Lamy & Ray Klonsky
You’ve probably never heard of David McCallum his case has not garnered the attention of Mumia Abu-Jamal or David Milgaard in Canada but for more than a quarter century he has been tirelessly fighting to overturn his 1985 conviction for murder.
When Ray Klonsky, an aspiring filmmaker from Canada, began a letter correspondence with David McCallum, a friendship was born that would change both of their lives. The correspondence was initiated by Ray’s father, who was worried that Ray himself was heading for trouble. In David, Ray found the guidance and support of the older brother he never had growing up and Ray, in turn, became a window through which David could experience the outside world.
What started as a friendship became a fight for justice with high-powered lawyers, world-renowned experts including Rubin ‘The Hurricane’ Carter and concerned citizens coming together to fight for David’s innocence and freedom.
Ray was determined to make a documentary about David’s story, to chronicle the ongoing efforts to fight his conviction. He met Marc Lamy, another aspiring filmmaker and, together, they just started filming. Now, nearly 10 years later, Klonsky and the team make one final push for justice to be served. Cameras follow Ray every step of the way as he and the team hit the streets in search of that one piece of evidence or witness testimony that could get the case back into court and ultimately free David.
David & Me is not just another wrongful conviction documentary; it is the real story of how a friendship between a convicted murderer and a young filmmaker changed both of their lives forever. Their unlikely bond turns this gut-wrenching wrongful conviction story into a transformative film about going the distance for what you believe in.
Exposed
(44m, USA)
Producer: Mo Scarpelli
Director: Mo Scarpelli
Despite centuries of scientific progress on many other global health issues, TB remains today the second deadliest infectious disease in the world. EXPOSED follows the humans behind the fight against one of the oldest and deadliest diseases in human history. Through their stories and context from TB experts around the world, we are hoping to raise the profile of the growing drug-resistant Tuberculosis epidemic, and call for more innovation that can rid the world of this disease once and for all.
DAR HE: The Lynching of Emmett Till
(70m, USA)
Producer: Rob Underhill, Aravind Ragupathi & Mike Wiley
Director: Rob Underhill
In an acting tour de force, one man performs 36 roles in the telling of the Emmett Till tragedy. In DAR HE: The Lynching of Emmett Till, experience the story, trial, and unbelievable confessions of those accused of Emmett’s murder in this riveting true-crime drama. ‘His death was a spark that ignited the Civil Rights Movement in America,’ Ed Bradley, Emmy Award-winning journalist.
Driving Blind
(76m, USA)
Producer: Tod Purvis
Director: Brian Griffo
Seeing the sights for the first – and last – time: Brothers who are going blind take inspirational road trip across the US before they completely lose their sight.
Two brothers with a devastating degenerative eye disease completed a once-in-a-lifetime road trip across the USA to see the sights before they both turn blind. Justin Purvis, 38, and Tod Purvis, 43, suffer from Choroideremia, an inherited disorder which causes progressive loss of vision.
Driving over 13,000 miles, taking in landmarks such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park and Niagara Falls. The film is a tribute to living in the moment and not taking anything for granted. The film was shot entirely on DSLR’s.
Revolution
(85m, Canada)
Producer: Rob Stewart
Director: Rob Stewart
Revolution is a film about changing the world. The true-life adventure of Rob Stewart, this follow-up to his acclaimed SHARKWATER documentary continues his remarkable journey; one that will take him through 15 countries over four years, and where he’ll discover that it’s not only sharks that are in grave danger – it’s humanity itself.
In an effort to uncover the truth and find the secret to saving the ecosystems we depend on for survival, Stewart embarks on a life-threatening adventure. From the coral reefs in Papua New Guinea and deforestation in Madagascar to the largest and most destructive environmental project in history in Alberta, Canada, he reveals that all of our actions are interconnected and that environmental degradation, species loss, ocean acidification, pollution and food/water scarcity are reducing the Earth’s ability to house humans. How did this happen, and what will it take to change the course that humanity has set itself on?
Traveling the globe to meet with the dedicated individuals and organizations working on a solution, Stewart finds encouragement and hope, pointing to the revolutions of the past and how we’ve evolved and changed our course in times of necessity. If people were informed about what was really going on, they would fight for their future – and the future of other generations. From the evolution of our species to the revolution to save it, Stewart and his team take viewers on a groundbreaking mission into the greatest war ever waged.
Startling, beautiful, and provocative, Revolution inspires audiences from across the globe to start a revolution and change the world forever.
SHORT FILM – FICTION
The Dream Wife
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(11m, USA)
Producer: April Allbritton
Director: Beecher Reuning
Writer: Beecher Reuning
On the day of his wedding, a groom begins to have second thoughts when he meets the woman of his dreams.
Anonymous
(23m, USA)
Producer: Joe Dain
Director: Vincent Sabella
Writer: Vincent Sabella
A young man recounts his life growing up and living in a crack house.
Blue-eyed Boy
(18m, Iran)
Producer: Simiya Film & Marlina Marsono
Director: Masoud Soheili
Writer: Masoud Soheili
A boy with unusual color blindness causes his parents shame when he accidentally kills some village livestock, so his parents seek medical treatment for the boy, and when hospital doctors cannot help,
They take him to a local Shaman for a remedy…
Ballkoni (Balcony)
(20m, Kosovo)
Producer: Bujar Kabashi
Director: Lendita Zeqiraj
Writer: Lendita Zeqiraj
An entire village reacts to a boy dangling from a balcony in this one-shot tour de force.
Simon Says
Executive Producer: Boo Arnold
Producer: Jamie Sterba, Steve Storm & Betsy Green
Director: Jamie Sterba
Writer: Steve Storm & Jamie Sterba
Stuck in a dead-end job, Simon dreams of making it big with his latest business venture. Unfortunately the voice that rules his mind has different plans, and venturing anywhere isn’t allowed. When Simon unexpectedly defies a thought, acting on a customer’s advice, it triggers a battle that threatens his entire way of life.
One on One
Producer: Chad Kapper, Jake Thomas, Laura Mirantt, Liam Cady & Ronnie Johnson
Director: Jake Thomas
Writer: Jake Thomas
Sarah, a runaway teenager in the city of Metropolis, encounters a persistent newspaper reporter named Clark Kent who won’t leave her alone until she agrees to an interview for his newspaper column. Ten questions — that’s all he asks. In their moments together, the fragments of her tragic life emerge, but her anger towards superheroes and Superman himself explodes in full force. If he is so great and so powerful, why is the world such a horrible place? Why doesn’t he do something about it? Does he even exist? In the end, the two realize that even when there are no easy answers, it’s possible to ‘look up in the sky’ with hopeful eyes.
Out of Body
Producer: Adam Baroukh & Chris Pencakowski
Director: Eddie Sternberg
Writer: Eddie Sternberg
Momentary choices with lifetime consequences; an exhilarating night out turns in to an all-too- common nightmare for a group of young Londoners.
Out of Body follows one night in the lives of five young Londoners. Sean’s life will change irrevocably by the choices he an his friends make that evening, and he must live with the consequences. Exploring themes of youth culture, guilt and tragedy, Out of Body tells an honest, harrowing and current story.
One to nil
(1m, Iran)
Producer: Saman Hosseinpuor
Director: Saman Hosseinpuor
Writer: Saman Hosseinpuor
The Barber started cutting the boys hair while watching a Football game on TV.
Jangled
(6m, USA)
Producer: Brent Larson & Tez Brooks
Director: Paul Hardway
Writer: Brent Larson, Elizabeth Schenkel & Tez Brooks
Jangled is a short independent fictional narrative film about a young woman who takes a trip to a museum on a particular day and while walking through the museum she looks down on the ground and discovers a bracelet in the bust sculpture section of the art museum. She decides to take the bracelet as she thinks maybe it was lost and possibly discarded. The days following pursue her through her various environments at work and home and how this powers of this bracelet change and influence her life. The choices she makes regarding the bracelet and how it takes her through various trials in her life help influence her life in some not so good ways but ultimately the viewer will see how she is shaped by these trials to make an ultimate decision. Comedy and drama are both interwoven in this short narrative that will intrigue and make viewers laugh as they follow her through the film.
Only God Knows Redux
(7m, Philippines)
Director: Bor Ocampo
Writer: Bor Ocampo
Good Friday. A Filipina mother was crucified as part of her sacrifice. On her way home, she finds a wallet inside the church compound.
Cinnamon Roll
(10m, USA)
Producer: Ryan Robert Minford & Robert Potter
Director: Ryan Robert Minford
Writer: Ryan Robert Minford
Berkley, a goofy first time burglar attempts to steal a diamond necklace from a rich family.
SHORT FILM – DOCUMENTARY
Room 19
(20m, USA)
Producer: Kimberley Browning
Director: Kimberley Browning
The 3rd grade class of Tulita Elementary begin an odyssey into the world of Art led by an innovative teacher who uses the lessons of the Masters to open a new way of learning.
The Mural
(19m, USA)
Producer: Francisco Guijarro, Diya Guha & Juli López
Director: Francisco Guijarro
The Mural is a 20-minute documentary film following the stories of several artists with developmental disabilities from non-profit The Arc San Francisco as they work together with a group of civic artists to paint a wall that aims to erase barriers.
The film explores the unlimited nature of Art and its capacity to express freedom, even for those individuals whose lives seem to be confined to the boundaries of their disabilities.
Pie Lady of Pie Town
(29m, USA)
Producer: Dick & Jane Rosemont
Director: Jane Rosemont
In the middle of the New Mexico desert, pie equals love. Kathy Knapp left her charmed, privileged life in Dallas to bake pie in dusty Pie Town, New Mexico, a once forgotten corner of the world with no traffic light, gas station, grocery store or motel. Why? To find her center and give the world pie. “Pie Lady of Pie Town,” chronicles Knapp’s physical and emotional journey, illustrating Kathy’s resolve, heartache, healing, and how pie is a vehicle for love and peace. Narrated by American Indian Actor and New Mexico Resident Wes Studi, this truly heartwarming story shares the history of a ghost town brought back to life by pie and Kathy’s love.
Salve Regina
(2m, USA)
Producer: Danny Hidalgo & Melinda Collins
Director: Rob Kaczmark
Friar Gabriel skated for 7 years as a teenager, but felt his vocation was religious life. He was prepared to abandon his passion for skateboarding to live a life of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience as Friars of the Immaculate. Six years after becoming Friars and having not skated, he was given obedience to obtain a skateboard and go to the skatepark once a week – to “preach the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words” as Saint Francis stated. Friar Gabriel explains that God has so many ways of using peoples talents to give Him glory. Skateboarding allows the Friars to help others see the compatibility of exercising the body as well as the soul. Friar Gabriel of the Franciscan Immaculate not only preforms all of his own stunts but also sings his own songs too. All the tricks and vocals are done by Friar Gabriel.
Fill Up. Pour Out.
(10m, USA)
Producer: Marc Havener
Director: March Havener
He who waters will himself be watered. A health clinic takes this proverb seriously by re-defining what health care looks like in its community. Rather than prescribing treatment based on reimbursement systems, they are finding ways to meet the underlying needs of patients by focusing on wellness. What they discover is the impact helping others has on themselves, and what it means to be truly satisfied. Set in Lawrence, KS, this film looks into what motivates three health care workers driven to serve their patients inside a complicated system, and reshape the way care is given regardless of background or circumstances.
Powerful Medicine: Simply Magic
(22m, USA)
Producer: Kevin Spencer & Mwita Chacha
Director: Mwita Chacha
Kevin Spencer has enjoyed a successful 30-year career touring the world with one of the largest theatrical illusion productions in the U.S. He is also a believer in the power of the arts to impact the quality of people’s lives. That belief has taken him down some interesting paths working with people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Those of us without disability often have misconceptions about those with different abilities. We tend to think they are different – they’re not. They have hopes and dreams just like we do but their futures are often molded by the attitudes and perceptions we have about them. This film gives a powerful and compelling voice to several individuals who share their successes in overcoming the impossible.
Alegria – A Humanitarian Expedition
(28m, Switzerland)
Producer: Christoph von Toggenburg
Director: Christoph von Toggenburg
Alegria – A Humanitarian Expedition tells the story of an epic solo expedition across the Himalaya that changed the life of hundreds of people in need. Supporting leprosy patients and mentally destitute women, Christoph von Toggenburg cycled 3200km on the world’s highest tracks pulling a 40kg trailer packed with survival gear.
Facing temperatures between minus 15C to plus 45C he crossed mountain passes higher than 5500m mastering a total of 50000m, Christoph fell altitude sick and was hit by rock fall.
Crossing Nepal during the Maoist unrests, conflict stricken Kashmir, he encountered wonderful hospitality, found new friends, and saw some of the worlds most spectacular landscapes.
He became film maker, actor, fund and awareness raiser in one person capturing this epic adventure entirely by himself.
Work their Best
(10m, USA)
Producer: David Scott
Director: Dana Altman
Work Their Best ties together four individual stories about the lessons learned from a program they graduated from called Project SEARCH. Originally began at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in 1997 as a way to fill high-turnover positions and employ-ability training, Project SEARCH has developed into a research-based total immersion internship program. The classroom is on-site at the workplace and the students participate in three 10-week job rotations in three different departments. This provides an opportunity for the students to try a variety of skills and for the host organization to gain in-depth exposure to potential job applicants. In Work Their Best, the host organization is a Hotel where the graduates are now employed.
The employees who tell their stories have had a range of intellectual and developmental disabilities their whole lives. They work in four different departments of the hotel and the audience is given an insight into their world along with their personalities, abilities and gifts. The intention of the film is to open the minds of the audience to the potential of any person with a disability when they are given a chance.
The title of the film comes from one of the employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder giving advice to a potential employer about what to consider when hiring someone with a disability. He said, Let them work their best. That would be great for them and they will be grateful for you.
Stewart Rob 
