Arpa Film Festival-CSUN Partnership to Screen Student Films

Arpa International Film Festival and California State University at Northridge (CSUN) recently announced their strategic partnership to screen a sample of the best student films produced at the University. Chair of the Department of Cinema and Television Arts at CSUN, Jon Stahl, and the Arpa team think this alliance furthers both their missions, to cultivate and promote young and talented filmmakers. The films below will be considered “Official Selections” as part of Arpa IFF and will be screened Monday November 9th, 2015 at 7:30pm in the innovative Alan and Elaine Armer Theater.

Corre (2015)
Country: USA
Directors: Robert Hovanisian & Elmer Zelaya
Writers: Robert Hovanisian & Elmer Zelaya and Mia Mallory
Producers: Itai Forman & Kyle Frey
Duration: 15 minutes, 22 seconds
Language: Spanish, English
Synopsis: Daniel, a member of a Los Angeles-based human-trafficking ring, recognizes an 18-year-old captive and decides to save her, risking everything to redeem all that’s left of his broken spirit.

Hazel & Louis: Animal Agents (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Sy Ozcan, Marissa Madsen
Writer: Sy Ozcan, Marissa Madsen
Producer: Sy Ozcan, Marissa Madsen
Duration: 8 minutes
Language: English
Synopsis: Hazel & Louis Flickman are two New York transplants who live the hustling, bustling life of Hollywood agents… for animals, that is. They were at the top of their game in the 70s, and with a little chutzpah manage to keep going strong after all these years.

High Stakes (2014)
United States
Written & Directed By: Sydney Waco
Producers: Christopher DePretis & Nicholas Cane
Duration: 15:09
Language: English
Synopsis: “High Stakes” is a 1950’s period piece about a timid movie theater owner, Cal Morris, who faces a dilemma when his brother, Norm, a blacklisted filmmaker caught in in the McCarthy-era Hollywood witch hunts, asks him to screen his latest film. Cal must decide whether to show his brother’s film in order to take a stand against McCarthyism, even if it means compromising the safe life he and his wife had worked so hard to build.

Pareto Principle(2012)
Country: USA
Directors: Beneyam Wolde-Yohannes
Writers: Beneyam Wolde-Yohannes
Producers: Beneyam Wolde-Yohannes, Edward Vasquez, Jaime Hutchins
Duration: 16:23
Language: English
Synopsis: Two friends discover a mysterious duffel bag filled with money that will challenge their friendship and change the courses of their lives forever.

Straw Dolls (2015)
BEST SHORT FILM NOMINEE
Country: USA
Director: Jon Milano
Writer: Jon Milano
Producer: Justin Alpern, Jon Milano
Duration: 00:17:30
Language: Armenian
Synopsis: A look at the Armenian genocide through the lens of a father desperately trying to protect his daughter from the deportation being forced upon them by Turkish soldiers. Straw Dolls tells the story of a how a father and daughter sacrifice their own wellbeing for a mother and her young daughter. Based on a series of true events, the film takes place during the start of the Armenian Genocide.

The Loyalist (2015)
Country: South Korea, USA
Director: Minji Kang
Writer: Willem Lee
Producer: Alex R MA
Duration: 00:19:04
Language: Korean
Synopsis: A North Korean general checks in on his daughter at a Swiss boarding school to test her loyalty to her motherland.

When a Flame Stands Still (2015)
Country: United States of America
Director: Michael Mike Canon
Writer: Michael Mike Canon
Producers: Randy Kulina, Zack Meyer, Cynthia Manzo
Duration: 17:57 (approximately 18min)
Language: English, Yiddish, German with English Subtitles
Synopsis: While anti-Semitism is on the rise in Nazi Germany, two young lovers take on a cultural practice that prohibits them from making physical contact. As they yearn for each other’s touch, they express their love in ways they never could have imagined. In the midst of the Holocaust, the young couple hides in two claustrophobic bunkers that are only a wall apart. Unable to see, hear, or touch one another, they reminisce about their love story, from when they first met to the time they separated. As their love grows, the hatred during the Holocaust rises, and as their touch gets closer, so does the Gestapo.

While They Were Flying to the Moon (2015)
Country: Serbia
Director: Borisa Simovic
Writer: Borisa Simovic
Producer: Borisa Simovic
Duration: 00:20:21
Language: Serbian
Synopsis: The story is set in Belgrade, Serbia in 1969 on the day that Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. The city is deserted, everybody hypnotically watches TV transmission of the landing. Everybody except Tozi who is sitting alone in a bar. Suddenly Vera walks into the bar and sits a few tables away from Tozi. The two know each other from work, but are reluctant to speak to each other. This is a period of time when the atmosphere was filled with suspicion and fear of being watched. Snitching was one of the most popular tools used by the regime. Not being careful about what you say could’ve easily been a one-way ticket to prison. Tozi suspects that Vera is a snitch and for that reason he has never spoken to her before. But today, in the heat of the moment he decides to approach her.