NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Presents DocuSlate in Partnership with the International Documentary Association (IDA)

    LOS ANGELES, CA, November 30, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- NFMLA is pleased to present DocuSlate, an entire day dedicated to documentary films. The festival will highlight 5 feature films and closes with an eclectic collection of 6 short documentary films. In between film programs, audiences can participate in filmmaker Q&A's or mingle with festival attendees in the premium South Park Center lounge over refreshments and cocktails.

Nothing with Something: Death of a Diner - directed by James Boo

A family-owned, six-seat, hole-in-the-wall diner struggles and fails to stay open after 20 years of success.

James Boo is a multimedia journalist. He has spent much of his career telling stories "focused on the myth and realities of small business in the United States." He stumbled across Jodie's while working as a contributor to Serious Eats and as a writer for his own blog, The Eaten Path. The struggling, local hotspot became a subject of fascination for several of his articles and for Nothing with Something: Death of a Diner, which is his first film.

Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play - directed by Jerome Thelia

From Brazilian favelas to neolithic Scottish isles, BOUNCES explores how the ball has staked its claim on our lives.

Director Jerome Thelia has worked as a director, editor, colorist, and visual effects artist for feature films, documentaries, and commercials for 25 years. Inspired by the book, The Ball: Discovering the Object of the Game by John Fox, his film Bounce: How the Ball Taught the World to Play has received critical acclaim. Since its world premiere at SXSW in 2015, the film has screened at a number of festivals worldwide including IFFBoston, Raindance, Bergen International Film Festival, and DOC NYC.

MAN VS. SNAKE: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler - directed by Andrew Seklir & Tim Kinzy

MAN VS. SNAKE tells the story of Tim McVey (NOT the Oklahoma City bomber) who in 1984 was the first person in history to score over one billion points on a video game, 'Nibbler'.

Director Andrew Seklir is director and executive producer and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his remarkable work on SciFi's Battlestar Galactica. Tim Kinzy was a compulsive reader of "MAD" magazine and an obsessive Atari 2600 player. Currently, Tim works as an editor of episodic television with credits including Heartbreakers, Falling Skies, Alphas, Eureka, and Battlestar Galactica.

Programming Hope - directed by Jack Creamer

Programming Hope is the story of the extraordinary of people who helped turn the bold idea into reality. It's an American success story with a hopeful message - about a unique group of game designers who are true game changers.

Director Jack Creamer is an Emmy award winning producer, videographer, and editor. Has worked 25 years in local television news & video production, producing various programs, commercials, and TV pilots. This is his first documentary feature film: "Over the years I realized the impact that [documentaries] could have so I decided I would tell one of my own, about something that was important to me." The film was funded by 212 people who donated over $51,000 via KickStarter.

Left on Purpose - directed by Justin Schein

Left on Purpose is a feature length documentary film exploring the friendship between a filmmaker and his subject, Mayer Vishner, an aging New York hippie, who announces, six months into filmmaking a portrait of him, that his last political act will be taking his own life.

Director and Cinematographer Justin Schein has been directing character-driven, socially issued documentaries, and he states, "I've never been so captivated or so troubled by a film subject as Mayer Vishner." As a cinematographer, he has worked on over 60 films internationally for broadcasters including The BBC, The Discovery Channel, and PBS. Some of his films premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and were screened at festivals throughout the world. Left on Purpose was produced by Doug Linman (The OC, Suits, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jason Bourne), and edited by David Mehlman (supervising editor of the Oscar-winning short subject documentaries Freeheld and The Moon and the Sun).

Down in Flames: the True Story of Tony "Volcano" Valenci - directed by William Stribling

Tony "Volcano" Valenci is determined to be the first man to blow fire while skydiving, and he won't let anything stand in his way, not even himself.

William Joseph Stribling, director/producer, is an award-winning filmmaker and graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the arts. "I strive to make films that show people things they've never seen before," he says, "And so I'm proud to say that I've never seen a movie like Down in Flames." Stribling has previously directed the feature film Lies I Told My Little Sister starring Lucy Walters, and his short film "Beyond Belief" has been an official selection of over 30 film festivals worldwide.

Keeping Balance - directed by Bernhard Wenger

Denise, a 20-year old girl, visits nearly every day the Viennese 'Prater' amusement park to take some rides with the electronic 'Tagada' carousel because it helps her get over her difficult past.

Austrian director/writer/producer Bernhard Wenger creates short films, music videos, and commercials. His latest short films were screened at over 100 festivals and have won numerous awards. His music videos screen at Germany's most famous music channels. Since 2014, Wenger has been studying at the Vienna Filmakademie.

Chasing the Rabbitt - directed by Zachary Elz

The journey of father and son as they travel across the country to find the man who left their family 50 years ago.

Chasing the Rabbitt is up-and-coming filmmaker Zachary Elz's first work. About the creation of his documentary, Elz states, "My dad always tells me, you'll never have a good video if you don't have an amazing story. I took that to heart, and when making the film Chasing the Rabbitt, I realized that we had an amazing story that had been 50 years in the making. It was my job to document our journey as we attempted to find the man who left my dad 50 years ago."

Tommy is America - directed by Lauren Stoelzle

When a relationship between a high school drop out and a current grad student comes to an end a documentary first aimed at filming a love life takes a twist.

Director Lauren Stoelzle is currently a third year MFA student at Southern Illinois University and now a teaching assistant at the university. The up-and-coming filmmaker is a mother of two and writer/director/cinematographer of three completed short films and two in the making.

The Last Plight - directed by Sargon Saadi

A rare glimpse into the lives of the Assyrian and Yazidi minorities after ISIS attacks in Iraq.

Sargon Saadi is a Syrian freelance cinematographer based in Los Angeles. He has worked on numerous projects ranging from independent films and documentaries to mainstream productions, including working with the lighting department in NBC's Chicago Fire and Crisis. Sargon believes deeply in the role of cinema in changing societies for the better. He has made several films in Iraq and his native Syria, committed to raising awareness about the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities. His film The Last Plight, is an award-winning documentary that was screened before the United Nations and the European Parliament.

My Weekend With Zio - directed by Steve Carrera

Short documentary about the weekend that I spent with Zio Ziegler in San Francisco. Zio gives an insightful look into his motivations as a painter, his overall philosophy as an artist and what he strives to accomplish day in and day out.

Director Steve Carrera's first short film My weekend with Zio was part of the official selection at the Mexiko International Film Festival, and won the Golden Palm Award for best Short Documentary and the Award of Merit Winners at the San Francisco Film Awards for Short Documentary.

Located in Downtown LA, South Park Center is the Presenting Venue Sponsor of NewFilmmakers LA film festival. Founded in 2007, NFMLA has screened over 1350+ films from over 67 countries. The organization provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized with title supporters Sony Pictures Entertainment, DreamWorks, TheWrap, SAG-AFTRA and FilmLA.

For information or to reserve tickets to the NewFilmmakers LA December 3rd, 2016 DocuSlate Film Festival, please visit http://www.NFMLA.org

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