NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) Celebrates British Cinema - Film Festival - April 15th, 2017

    LOS ANGELES, CA, February 25, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Starting off the April 15th NFMLA film festival is a running team in the documentary film 'Desert Around Me' participating in an ultra marathon through the Sahara Desert to raise awareness about ADHD. In the second and third film programs of the night, NFMLA presents "InFocus: British Cinema," which aims a spotlight on upcoming directors and producers from the United Kingdom. The programs center on portrayals of family and friendship, posing questions about identity and internal conflict. The emerging directors illuminate the diverse range of the human experience. In the final program of the night, NFMLA takes you on a journey throughout the United States. These shorts feature a variety of film genres from dark comedies to suspenseful thrillers to somber Westerns.

Documentary Feature Program

Desert Around Me - directed by Alessandro Beltrame
Desert Around Me is a documentary film written and produced by Linda Sanders that uses state-of-the-art micro and macro (drone-driven) photography by Italian-based award winning director and photographer Alessandro Beltrame. Sanders is using the film as a public outreach tool and is screening it in educational, healthcare and public settings where it can provide treatment solutions that enable those diagnosed with ADHD to be productive at home, in school, and in life.

Documentary Feature Program: InFocus - The British

Bobby Sands: 66 Days - directed by Brendan Byrne
66 Days is a major feature length documentary exploring Bobby Sands' remarkable life and death, 35 years on from his 66-day hunger strike in 1981. Filmmaker Brendan Byrne has been making high end documentaries for UK and Irish broadcasters for over 20 years. His first feature film as a Producer, Jump, was selected for the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in 2012. Explaining his approach to making 66 Days he states, "I've focused my attention on the real Bobby Sands through an exploration of his ideology, his writings and the foundation of Irish Republican heritage; who was he, where did he come from, what politicised him and what eventually drove a 27-year old father of one to pursue the ultimate sacrifice."

Shorts Program #1: InFocus: The British

Soldier Bee - directed by Alex Hardy
Director/actor/writer/editor Alex Hardy specializes in narrative storytelling. He graduated with a B.A. in Acting from Rose Bruford College in 2004. Since then he has worked as an actor in Television, Film, and Theatre. His credits include leading roles in prime-time television series, such as A Touch of Frost, Family Affairs, and Red Dwarf, as well as award-winning feature films such as Hush Your Mouth. Hardy was trained in editing, and sound-design as well as in production and directing at the Met Film School, where he earned the Practical film-making Diploma in 2009.

Promises - directed by Edward Chettleburgh
So close but yet so far from home... One man's Friday night journey home from work turns into something much more. As we witness deconstruction and decay of his life in front of our very eyes, as he finds out that two of his family members have been directly involved in an attack on central London. Promises was written and directed by Edward Chettleburgh. The up-and-coming filmmaker has just recently graduated from London South Bank University with a degree in directing. Promises is his thesis film.

Jeff - directed by Adam Linzey
Adam Linzey is an award-winning British writer, director, and cinematographer from Oxford, England, currently residing in LA. At age 8, Adam accompanied his father to a TV studio, peering through the camera lenses and watching the drama come to life. He never wanted to leave that studio and some say he never did. Adam won the Royal Television Society award for best student film for his undergraduate thesis film, which Ken Russell described as "Visionary". He has directed numerous short films which have received excellent critical reviews and played in festivals worldwide, garnering prestigious awards and nominations. He also directed the enormously successful third series of Sofia's Diary, a web-series produced by Sony. He is a recent graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and one of the directors on the USC/James Franco feature film Mad Whale starring Camilla Belle, Dominic Rains, Summer Phoenix and James Franco.

Gibberish - directed by Nathalie Biancheri
Nathalie Biancheri graduated from King's College in Comparative Literature and Classics and began her career at the BBC soon after. She has worked as a Researcher, Associate Producer, and Director in documentaries and dramas at both the BBC and independent production companies. Her films have won a number of awards internationally and screened at over 40 festivals. Gibberish won a script grant through the ICI for 'most original short film concept' and premiered in the UK at the London Short Film Festival. Nathalie's feature length script, The Listener, was developed and written at the Torino Film Lab and was subsequently selected for the Maison des Scenaristes in Cannes.

Shorts Program #2

True American - directed by Jerell Rosales
Jerell Rosales is a Filipino-American film and television director and writer. Jerell's feature film debut, High School Lover, executive produced by and starring James Franco has just premiered on the Lifetime Network. The film stars Paulina Singer, Francois Arnaud (NBC's Midnight Texas, and Showtime's The Borgias), Julia Jones (The Twilight Saga), and Lana Condor (X-Men: Apocalypse). Rosales' short films have been officially selected in over 60 film festivals worldwide. The Huffington Post has declared these films "demonstration of Rosales' solid skill as a rising filmmaker." He's a two-time UCLA Directors Spotlight Awards winner-- honored as "one of the best films UCLA Film Festival has to offer" in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Jerell is based in Los Angeles, receiving his MFA in Directing from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.

Other Side - directed by Steve Darby
Steve Darby is an American Film Director, Cinematographer, and Photographer from Boston, MA currently residing in Los Angeles, CA. He had wanted to study film since he was 11 years old. He studied at the New York Film Academy (NYFA), New York University (NYU), FAMU International (Prague), and additionally has a BFA in Film from Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts. His films have screened in over 20 festivals across the United States, winning a handful of awards. Most recently, his short Super 8 film 'Other Side' screened at the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival. He describes himself as "very fortunate to have had the chance to learn on celluloid" and always considers shooting each project on film before thinking digitally.

Borderline - directed by Kieran Shea and David Osorio
Kieran Shea is a Californian native, who started off in the field of genetics but made a U-turn toward a career in entertainment. This took him to the Film School at the Florida State University in Tallahassee. After completing the program and receiving his Master's degree, Kieran moved to Los Angeles, where he immediately dove into production. He worked as a professional assistant director on a number of independent features.

David Osorio was born in Boston, MA and studied Creative Writing with a Film minor at Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh, PA. He then went to get his Master's degree in Film at Florida State University where he first met Kieran. Together, they have written numerous screenplays, ranging from comedy and adventure to drama and horror. Their first script, a dark comedy called The Outcast was the Grand Prize winner of the American Screenwriting Competition in 2004. Borderline is their latest and most personal endeavor.

Far is the Mystery - directed by Arturo Ochoa
Getting his start in San Francisco, filmmaker Arturo Gregory Ochoa began doing film production work on commercials and short films for local filmmakers and entities throughout the Bay Area. He traveled Europe and in doing so reignited his passion of telling a real and human story through photography and motion pictures. Arturo moved to Los Angeles, where he works on feature narratives, TV shows, and PSA's for Discovery Channel, ESPN, and HULU. Arturo double emphasized in English Literature and English Creative Writing at California State University, Long Beach.

My Cousin Klara - directed by Aviva Neuman
Aviva Neuman is a Swedish/American filmmaker currently living in New York City where she is pursuing her MFA at Columbia School of Art in screenwriting and directing. For Neuman, art has always been a part of her life. Her mother is a visual artist and her father is the founder and director of the influential contemporary art museum Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall.

Located in Downtown LA, South Park Center is the Presenting Venue Sponsor of the NewFilmmakers LA Film Festival. Founded in 2007, NFMLA has screened 1750+ films from over 69 countries. The organization provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized with title supporters Sony Pictures Entertainment, DreamWorks, SAG-AFTRA and FilmLA.
For information or to reserve tickets to the NewFilmmakers LA April 15th, 2017 Film Festival, please visit http://www.NFMLA.org

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization designed to showcase innovative works by emerging filmmakers from around the world, providing the Los Angeles community of entertainment professionals and film goers with a constant surge of monthly screening events. NFMLA provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized for their contributions, have open audience discussions about their projects and connect with industry professionals for insight on distribution, production, acquisition and representation.

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