Aspen Shortsfest 2008 Highlights

ASPEN SHORTSFEST 2008 HIGHLIGHTS
http://www.aspenfilm.org/index.cfm?S=1:2
International Competition
Now in its 17th year, Aspen Shortsfest is considered one of the world's leading showcases for international short film and video. The centerpiece International Competition features fifty-three finalists from more than 24 countries; the live-action, animation, and documentary finalists were selected from 3,500 previewed submissions.

The International Competition finalists will be presented at public screenings where they compete for more than $20,000 in cash and other prizes. With more than a third of the films screened being U.S., North American, or world premieres, Shortsfest offers viewers an unparalleled chance to see exciting new work from up-and-coming talent from all corners of the globe.

This year's line-up includes a wide-ranging cast of appealing characters, from quirky road warriors and Icelandic folk wrestlers to an urban "chameleon" and some unusual canines. Audiences can expect an engaging, provocative journey that spans, among other places, the ancient forests of New Zealand, the Arctic tundra, rural North Carolina, African villages, and bygone canyon lands in Utah.

Colorado Connections
Several films hold special interest for Colorado audiences. Daniel Junge and Patti Bonnet's Come Back to Sudan, which traces the extraordinary journey of three "lost boys" of Sudan from their adopted Colorado home to their African birthplace, will have its world premiere. Emmy award-winning Aspen cinematographer Greg Poschman shot Kim A. Snyder's One Bridge to the Next, the stirring documentary of a dedicated doctor who practices "street medicine" in Pittsburgh. Alagados, the story of a Brazilian youth who beats some pretty high odds, comes courtesy of Carbondale-based director Sylvia Johnson. And for pure fun, there's The Last American Ski Bum - Bumps Jackson, a film about an Aspen local by Aspen local Charles Agar, and Cutlass, the directorial debut of part-time Aspenite Kate Hudson.