Dances With Films 2017 Line-Up Announced

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Category: Entertainment News

Published on Thursday, 11 May 2017 08:07

MIDNIGHT FEATURES

AWAKEN THE SHADOWMAN

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 83 min.

WRITERS: Woodrow Wilson Hancock III, Skyler Caleb, James Zimbardi

DIRECTOR: J.S. Wilson

PRODS: Woodrow Wilson Hancock III, Skyler Caleb, James Zimbardi, Anthony C. Ferrante

CAST: James Zimbardi, Skyler Caleb, Jean Smart, Emily Somers, Andrea Hunt, Robert R. Shafer, Grace Van Dien, Raam Weinfeld, Carlos Pratts, Sophie Labelle, Casey Kramer

After the mysterious disappearance of their mother, estranged brothers reunite and discover an unknown supernatural force.

CENTRAL PARK

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 87 min.

WRITER: Justin Reinsilber

DIRECTOR: Justin Reinsilber

PRODS: Melissa Chamberlain, Justin Reinsilber, Rachel Brenna

CAST: Justiin A. Davis, Ruby Modine, Malika Samuel, Grace Van Patten, Guillermo Arribas, Deema Aitken, Marina Squerciati, Michael Lombardi, Charles Borland, David Valcin, Nicole Balsam, Justin Reinsilber

Central Park is a feature-length horror/thriller from writer/director Justin Reinsilber. Set in present day New York City the film centers around six high school juniors. Collectively they have done everything there is to do, know it all better than everyone else, and mean the world to each other. When one of their fathers is implicated in a Bernie Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme, the gang rallies around their friend. To blow off some steam, they set out for an epic night in Central Park. Little do they know the consequences of his crimes will go far beyond his client's bank accounts.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

CHARLIE VS GOLIATH

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 80 min.

DIRECTOR: Reed Lindsay

PRODS: Reed Lindsay, Nicolas Rossier, Kim Borba, Phillip Landrum, Ronica Reddick, Anthony Weldon

Former Catholic priest Charlie Hardy is 75 years old and has no money or political experience. But none of that dissuades this 21st-century Don Quixote from running for the US Senate in his home state of Wyoming. Charlie’s courage to take a principled stand against money in politics attracts a ragtag group of young volunteers and together they jump aboard a 1970 Crown school bus, campaigning across the Wild West state in a bid to shake up this country's political establishment.

GREEN STANDARD, THE

Los Angeles Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 75 min.

DIRECTORS: William Rosenfeld, Jacob Strunk

PRODS: William Rosenfeld, Jacob Strunk

Last year, lawmakers brought a petition before the DEA to loosen federal restrictions on cannabis. It was swiftly rejected, maintaining the plant's Schedule I classification alongside heroin and PCP on the stated basis of it having "no accepted medical use". Enter THE GREEN STANDARD: a people's account of pot, prejudice, and the fight against prohibition. Filmed throughout the U.S., TGS reveals the surprising highs and uncomfortable lows of the men, women, and children on all sides of the issue. From the refugee families of Colorado battling for their kids' lives to anti-legalization activists decrying the movement as greed-fueled hype, America's evolving perceptions of marijuana use are revealed, alongside criminalization's untold societal costs.

THE LAUGHTER LIFE

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 76 min.

DIRECTOR: Juliet Werner

PRODS: Juliet Werner, Jeff Werner

From “Daily Show” producer Juliet Werner, "The Laughter Life" follows a week in the professional life of the young comedians who write and star in "Studio C,” a popular sketch comedy television show with a strong following on YouTube. But theirs is not your typical comedy success story, as the cast and crew behind the program are practicing Mormons living in Provo, Utah. And the network producing their show is run by the LDS Church. The film explores the tension inherent in creating "clean" comedy that will satisfy both the demands of the network and the cast's desire to generate a funny final product. “The Laughter Life” takes audiences to a world few have visited and demonstrates the unifying power comedy.

RESISTANCE IS LIFE

WEST COAST Premiere | Turkey/USA, 2017, HD, 73 min.

DIRECTOR: Apo W. Bazidi

PRODS: Apo W. Bazidi, Goran Zaneti

From a refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border, an 8-year-old girl, EVLIN, characterizes the resistance of her homeland. Her heroes, the Kurdish female fighters, are defending the city of Kobane against the onslaught by ISIS militants. The power of the human spirit emanates through Evlin as she shows us that hope and resilience prevail even in the most tragic of circumstances. Evlin takes us on a journey that introduces the many different faces of the resistance on both sides of the border and provides a unique look at the extraordinary spirit behind the first major victory against ISIS.

TO THE MOON AND BACK

WEST COAST Premiere | USA/Russia, 2016, HDV, 85 min.

WRITER: Susan Morgan Cooper

DIRECTOR: Susan Morgan Cooper

PROD: Susan Morgan Cooper

FEATURING: Jessica Long, Miles Harrison, Carol Harrison, Bill Browder, Gene Weingarten, Boris Altshuler, Sen. John McCain, Sen. Ben Cardin

The political murder of a Moscow lawyer and the cancellation of 259 pending American adoptions have a deep , insidious connection in this emotional expose.To the Moon and Back connects the dots from Russia's warehousing of abandoned and special needs children to the cross border dealings of a billionaire investment banker to one American family's tragedy. The film explores how Russian political corruption is linked to the accidental death of one adopted child and becomes Putin's reason behind the Adoption Ban.

COMPETITION SHORTS

ALFRED J HEMLOCK

WORLD Premiere | Australia, 2016, HD, 14 min.

WRITERS: Melissa Lyons, Edward Lyons

DIRECTOR: Edward Lyons

PRODS: Robert Raymond, Melissa Lyons, Edward Lyons, Lucas Newton, Aaron Bush, Tim Creswell

CAST: Renaye Loryman, Tristan Mckinnon, Christian Charisiou

When Emily is abandoned in the night, her only way home is through an alleyway where she is terrorised by the mysterious entity Alfred J Hemlock. After reaching the depths of her despair she finds strength that she never suspected she had.

ALL THE MARBLES

CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 17 min.

WRITERS: Carl Petersen, Michael Swingler

DIRECTOR: Michael Swingler

PRODS: Carl Petersen, Michael Swingler

CAST: Cole Sand, Carl Petersen, Helen Sadler, Christopher Franciosa, Micah Fitzgerald

In a magical world where marbles are as precious as gold, a boy named Jamison wins the most cherished marble of them all. When a villainous bully named Wolf cruelly snatches his prize trophy, the boy challenges him to an epic marble battle that could cost him much more than he expected.

AWOL

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.

WRITERS: Rene Yi, Paul J. Meredith

DIRECTOR: Paul J. Meredith

PRODS: Paul J. Meredith, Patrick Stephen, Rene Yi

CAST: Patrick Stephen, Henry Mark

AWOL tells the story of a Vietnam soldier who chose flight over fight, only to find himself up against harsh terrain and relentless homesickness. He must face the fact that in war, there are no winners.

BLUES WITH ME

NORTH KOREA Premiere | South Korea, 2016, HD, 25 min.

WRITER: Lee Han-jong

DIRECTOR: Lee Han-Jong

PROD: Han Dal-ho

CAST: Han Jung-hyun, Kim Kyung-ik, Nam Tae-woo

Seung-shik, a construction worker loses his daily job just because he is not on the list. To make things worse, he is not going to get paid for the work he did a week before. To get to the bottom of this absurd situation, he visits his foreman to his office.

BOY IN THE DARK

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.

WRITER: Jason Ragosta

DIRECTOR: Jason Ragosta

PRODS: Rebecca Ahn, Julie Chow, Richard Enriquez, Marisa Garay

CAST: TonyBoy Marin, Robert Matas, James Ted Harvey, Nani Strides, Tony Aldrich, Jayson Fabre

Boy In The Dark tells the story of Jake, a boy both blessed and cursed with an extraordinary imagination. Blessed in that he is able to lose himself in the drawings of creatures and places that populate his sketch book. Cursed, because he is plagued by a gruesome Night Terror, that emerges from the darkness each and every night. Jake discovers that if he is to survive, he must protect what he creates, and that there are bargains to be struck with those who truly rule the night.

BURYING AMBER

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 8 min.

WRITER: Alix Angelis

DIRECTORS: Alix Angelis, Vincent Cardinale

PRODS: Vincent Cardinale, Thomas Marchese, Alix Angelis

CAST: Alix Angelis

Lori must deal with the end of a relationship in a way she didn't expect.

CONFECTION

NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | United Kingdom, 2016, HD, 33 min.

WRITER: Lauren Bensted

DIRECTOR: Ed Rigg

PROD: AJ Leon

CAST: Perry Millward, Esther Smith, Tony Way

Set in a sleepy English seaside town, ‘Confection’ is a comedy about a not-quite-grown-up who finds himself accidentally catapulted into the thick of a very grown-up situation.

CROSSING FENCES

WEST COAST Premiere | USA/Germany, 2017, HD, 14 min.

WRITER: Annika Pampel

DIRECTOR: Annika Pampel

PRODS: Justin Prentice, Nina Rausch

CAST: Nina Rausch, Christian Wolf, Philippe Brenninkmeyer

In a communist East Germany in 1974, a young couple attempts to escape into the West, seeking freedom, by using a handmade boat to cross the Baltic Sea. The fight for their lives begins when they get discovered and they try to escape decades of imprisonment or being executed on the spot.

DEEP PLAYA SUNRISE

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 13 min.

WRITER: Josh Yeo

DIRECTOR: Josh Yeo

PRODS: Josh Yeo, Seth Bunting, Chris Pitcher, Kris Kish, Arin Pitcher

CAST: Chris Holz, Rachel Emma Pringle

This whimsical story is a blend the senses, as we follow a medically discharged combat vet, on his first trip to Burning Man, as he searches the "Playa" for hearing-aid batteries. **One of the first and only narratives approved by Burning Man governing body, Black Rock City, LLC.

A DIMLY LIT ROOM

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.

WRITER: Thad Nurski

DIRECTOR: Thad Nurski

PRODS: Janice Fung, Nick Foss, Thad Nurski

CAST: Benjamin Hjelm, Jamie VanDyke

In a dimly lit room, Asher meets Persephone. What she wants, what she threatens, and what she has to offer are the clues Asher has to go on in order to solve the riddle in front of him and save his life. If he cannot figure out what is going on and what to do about it, it could be his end.

DOLL

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 20 min.

WRITER: Cory Pratt

DIRECTOR: Cory Pratt

PRODS: Cory Pratt, Josh Prosser

CAST: Yang Miller, Annie Ganousis, Tim Ashby

Smitten with his co-worker, a timid janitor struggles to connect with her and harbors a big secret...he performs his nightly duties in a fetish rubber suit.

EXPOSURE

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 15 min.

WRITER: Mary Jeanes

DIRECTOR: Mary Jeanes

PROD: Ivo Huahua

CAST: Antonina Vargas, Michael D. Finley

On Erin’s first outdoor climbing trip, her reckless boyfriend gets himself trapped high on a cliff. As time slips away and he falls into a severe hypothermic state, they realize help will not arrive in time. Erin risks her life in an attempt to rescue him before it’s too late.

FIRST NIGHT

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 10 min.

WRITER: Rafael Pablo Salinas, Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby

DIRECTOR: Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby

PRODS: Ornella Jaramillo, Rafael Pablo Salinas, Daniel Andrés Gómez Bagby

CAST: Brittany Ann Falardeau, Bryan Dechart, Sean O’bryan

Joey is woken up in the middle of the night by a damsel in distress. Realizing he is in danger, Joey takes matters into his own hands to protect himself. His plan backfires, leaving him in a world of pain.

THE FACELESS MAN

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.

WRITERS: Sara O’Reilly, Jeremy Foley

DIRECTOR: Jeremy Foley

PRODS: Sara O’Reilly

CAST: William O’Leary

An offbeat fable about a disillusioned man who discovers his face has transformed into a mirror and must venture out into the world to reclaim his identity.

FLOWER

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 15 min.

WRITER: Ché Walker

DIRECTOR: Ché Walker

PRODS: Ché Walker, Luke Paddington, James McCormick

CAST: Montana Roesch, Barry Primus, Mattia Bartoli, Austin Iredale

A young sex worker is tested to her limits by three very different clients.

THE GOOD MACHINE

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 12 min.

WRITER: Michael Craft

DIRECTOR: Michael Craft

PRODS: Scott Riehs, Michael Craft

CAST: Jessica Park, David Rysdahl

A young woman struggles with her boyfriend’s addiction to a virtual reality device that allows him to interact with his dreams. She attempts to help him let go of his compulsion, but he resists. Working at her job at the library, and catching the train to and from work, she has her own dream, a life together with her boyfriend, free from addiction.

JOUSKA

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 5 min.

WRITER: Wynter Rhys

DIRECTOR: Wynter Rhys

PRODS: Wynter Rhys, Mumukuba

CAST: James Pinto II, Alissa Gustafson, Curtis McGann, Eric Bayne, Keenyn Rhys

An elderly man grapples with the guilt of what he's done in the strange, whimsical land of his subconscious

HERBIE

WORLD Premiere | France, 2016, HD, 20 min.

WRITER: Ralph Bismargi

DIRECTOR: Ralph Bismargi

PROD: Ralph Bismargi

CAST: Matt Vladimery, Laura Woody, Tiffany Hofstetter, Jim Sheppard, Zelda Rittner, Sebastian Marx, Ralph Bismargi

Herbie Spoon, a naïve and emotionally imbalanced 30-year-old, dreams of becoming a successful life coach who inspires people and offers them guidance. His master plan: to start out by making YouTube videos with the help of his filmmaker friend, GINNIE. The only problem is that he keeps messing up during the shoot. Instead of a series of clips with him offering good advice, we end up with a bunch of hilarious outtakes… that he does not find funny. Will he eventually succeed or is he on the wrong path? Herbie is not only a behind-the-scenes look at a quirky young man struggling to make it. It is a story that takes us on a journey towards self-discovery and embracing who we are.

THE KNACKERMAN

WEST COAST Premiere | UK, 2016, HD, 18 min.

WRITER: Tom Shrapnel

DIRECTOR: Tom Shrapnel

PROD: Rebecca Wolff

CAST: Donald Sumpter, Adam Long

An aging Knacker, responsible for the disposal of dying horses, must face his own mortality and in doing so entrust responsibility to the next generation.

LA SIRENA

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 24 min.

WRITER: Rosita Lama Muvdi

DIRECTOR: Rosita Lama Muvdi

PROD: Daniel Leighton

CAST: Jordan Monaghan, Kelsey Reinhardt, Darrel Cherney, Vera Cherny

LA SIRENA is psychosexual fairy tale about Mia, a woman in a small fishing village who is having an affair with Hector, a married fisherman. On the day Hector threatens to end the affair, Mia discovers a mysterious woman, Mara, washed up on shore, naked and with a hook lodged into her ribcage. After Mia brings her home to heals her wound, Mara tells her that a fisherman tried to stab her in the heart. With suspicions that Hector might have been involved, Mia is forced to confront Hector, surrendering to her own inner monster to avenge her broken heart.

LEMON

WEST COAST Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.

WRITER: Timothy Michael Cooper

DIRECTOR: Timothy Michael Cooper

PRODS: Simon TaufiQue, Surina Jindal

CAST: Jennifer Westfeldt, Noah Bean, Jenn Lyon, Finn Douglas

Seconds after the wedding, a bride is stunned to learn that her new husband fudged nearly everything about his past, his family, and his accomplishments—but his revelations force her to come clean about a few shocking secrets of her own.

LIMBUS

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.

WRITERS: Lee Peterkin, Candace Janée

DIRECTOR: Lee Peterkin

PROD: Bill Lucia

CAST: Vinicius Vieira, Candace Janée

During the winter months in their cabin, Alex and Vera experience strange occurrences that are seemingly nonsensical. Nevertheless, the veil of surreality becomes lifted through a visceral and sobering revelation.

LOVE IS SHIT

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 20 min.

WRITER: Keith Schneider

DIRECTOR: Keith Schneider

PRODS: Katherine LaVictoire, Myko Olivier, Keith Schneider, Vince Tanzilli

CAST: Katherine LaVictoire, Nanrisa Lee, Myko Olivier, Ryan Shoos

When two couples discover the unevenness of their relationships, a chain of events leads to a more simple understanding for some, and heartbreak for others.

MIRIAM IS GOING TO MARS

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 16 min.

WRITER: Michael Lippert

DIRECTOR: Michael Lippert

PROD: Brittany Wagner

CAST: Ann Sonneville, Nathaniel Buescher

A woman with schizophrenia attempts to escape a psychiatric hospital by signing up for the first human mission to Mars.

oRaNgEdReAmS

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.

WRITER: Jessica Liu

DIRECTOR: Jessica Liu

PRODS: J. Graciano, Jessica Liu

CAST: Evelyn Warner, Shay Backe, Riley Jimenez, Jordan Franco, Andrew Lutheran, Kimberly Cohen

A sixth grade girl, who spends the majority of her time exploring early 2000s pop culture through her internet connection and dreaming of becoming a pop superstar, receives a reality check when she meets up with some friends, including her crush, at the mall.

RAHOWA

WORLD Premiere | Canada, 2016, HD, 23 min.

WRITER: Charlie Hamilton

DIRECTOR: Charlie Hamilton

PRODS: Charlie Hamilton, Diego Guijarro

CAST: Sam Duffy, Austin Duffy, Jorrin Bruns

After a brutal attack that leaves him injured and his girlfriend in the hospital, a young, impressionable skinhead must decide what direction the fallout goes.

REQUIRES REVIEW

NORTH AMERICAN Premiere | Australia/Sweden, 2016, HD, 6 min.

WRITER: Joshua Belinfante

DIRECTOR: Joshua Belinfante

PROD: Joshua Belinfante

CAST: Johan Lenhoff, Björn Lindqvist

Björn Lindqvist is the world’s best town planner. He isn’t changing the world, he’s just trying to improve it.

SOUL CANDY

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 10 min.

WRITER: Jennifer Rapaport

DIRECTOR: John Stimpson

PRODS: John Stimpson, Geoffrey Taylor, Jennifer Rapaport

CAST: Kallie Tabor, Erica Derrickson, Dario Sanchez

With a modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac twist, Siri, a shy bookworm, convinces her extroverted sister, Kaya, to talk to with the cute bookstore clerk while she tells her what to say via text messages. When the ruse is up, the young couple bonds over author David Foster Wallace.

STILL HERE

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 13 min.

WRITER: Teresa Decher

DIRECTOR: Kholi Hicks

PRODS: Morgan Pichinson, Teresa Decher

CAST: Teresa Decher, Kevin Joy, Michelle Ortiz

Still Here explores the cycles of unstable relationships through a couple following the days after their recent break-up.

SUBTEXT

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HDV, 9 min.

WRITER: Chris Valenti

DIRECTOR: Chris Valenti

PRODS: Michelle Loucadoux, Chris Valenti, We Make Movies

CAST: John Bigham, Michelle Loucadoux, Chris Valenti

A misfired text message creates an awkward but silent battle on a first date.

TAIL

WORLD PREMIERE | Australia, 2016, HD, 9 min.

WRITERS: David Gannon, Troy Larkin, Carl J. Sorheim, Nathan Strauss

DIRECTOR: Carl J. Sorheim

PRODS: Lisa Fineberg, Thanassi Panagiotara, Carl J. Sorheim, The Cameralla

CAST: Lisa Fineberg, J.R. Reyne, Nathan Strauss

Skye (Lisa Fineberg) makes a living as children’s entertainer Chaise the Mermaid, all the while harbouring a crush on her boss, Mark the Pirate (J.R. Reyne). Her best buddy and co-worker Jay – Punch the Parrot – (Nathan Strauss) doesn’t think much of Mark, and might just be crushing a little on Skye… Tail is a romantic comedy fable that pays homage to love and big, gorgeous 1980s cheese ball entertainment.

THIS IS THAT NIGHT

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HD, 14 min.

WRITER: Jonathan Marballi

DIRECTOR: Matt Braunsdorf

PROD: Jonathan Marballi

CAST: Jonathan Marballi, Kris Wiener

"This is That Night" is a romantic comedy telling the story of a new couple who are about to hit a turning point in their relationship. Kris invites Jon over for their fourth date, where they end up talking and laughing all day. When they come to the realization that everything is going so well, the pressure to keep the momentum going brings everything to a halt.

THREE SKELETON KEY

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 11 min.

WRITER: Andrew Hamer

DIRECTOR: Andrew Hamer

PROD: Marcus Mizelle

CAST: Dan White, Robert Fleet, Paul Rae, Greg Perrow

Set in 1921, an American lighthouse crew on the small island of Three Skeleton Key become unnerved when a ship ignores their beacon, running aground on the reefs surrounding the island. They soon discover that something is on board the ship, and it's not human.

TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT

WORLD Premiere | USA, 2017, HDV, 24 min.

WRITERS: Christina Eliopoulos

DIRECTOR: Christina Eliopoulos

PRODS: Elizabeth Kinder, Alex Laviola, Adam Thomson, Eve Grace Penoyer

CAST: Joe Cortese, Azhy Robertson, Stephen Badalamenti, Janis Dardaris, Tara Murtha, Mark Gindick, Katherine Sigismund

Yianni is the star and celebrated host of TONIGHT AND EVERY NIGHT, the talk show that plays in his own beautiful but fractured mind. On one fateful day, Yianni who suffers from dementia, wanders out of his house and comes to the aid of a lonely and lost little boy.

WARM SPRINGS

CALIFORNIA Premiere | USA, 2016, HD, 16 min.

WRITER: Sean Wang

DIRECTOR: Sean Wang

PRODS: Nick De Bellis, Sean Wang, Jon Jon Wong, Fahad Manzur

CAST: Bradley Bundlie, John Cusack, Carl Ryan Wendling, Daniel Donovan

It's summer in the suburban jungle of Warm Springs, CA. Naive and impressionable, six year old Ryan wants nothing more than to be accepted by his older brother, Van, and his two friends Kevin and Richie; to Ryan, Van and his friends are gods. In reality, the three boys aren’t much brighter than Ryan, searching for trouble just to pass the time in the blistering summer. When Van, Kevin, and Richie steal some fireworks and sneak off one day to go set them off, Ryan forces them to bring him along — and their recklessness combined with Ryan’s overeagerness to grow up places Ryan in harm’s way.

WOMAN WITH AN EDITING BENCH

WEST COAST Premiere | Australia, 2016, HD, 16 min.

WRITER: Karen Pearlman

DIRECTOR: Karen Pearlman

PRODS: Lyn Norfor, Richard James Allen, Karen Pearlman

CAST: Leeanna Walsman, Richard James Allen, Marcus Graham

Inspired by a true story, "Woman with an Editing Bench" celebrates Elizaveta Svilova, the editor of Dziga Vertov’s 1929 masterpiece "Man with a Movie Camera" (#1 on the "Sight and Sound" list of Best Documentaries of all time). By referencing Svilova’s own kinetically exhilarating montage style, “Woman with an Editing Bench” reveals her fierce tenacity and fleet thinking as she dodges the bureaucracy and sustains revolutionary filmmaking in spite of Stalin’s oppression. "Woman with an Editing Bench" is “a beautifully realised and brilliant homage to Svilova and a celebration of the art of film editing”, Lawrie Silverstrin, ASE, Australian Screen Editors Guild Newsletter, September 2016.