WRIF (White River Indie Films, Inc.) Press Contact: Travis Weedon, Festival Director ; t/c 410-409-1717
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WRIF (White River Indie Films, Inc.)
impact at the junction of film + community
www.wrif.org
Press Contact: Travis Weedon, Festival Director
wrifboard@gmail.com; tweedon8@gmail.com
t/c 410-409-1717
White River Indie Films announces 17th Annual Film Festival,
May 20 - May 29th
For immediate release: May 1, 2022
We are excited to embark on our first fully in-person film festival in three years. White River
Indie Films (WRIF) welcomes attendees back into the cozy environs of the historic Briggs Opera
House as our main hub for festival screenings. Of course, we learned a lot while innovating
through the pandemic, and we’re dedicated to making free outdoor screenings in Lyman Park a
regular part of the WRIF experience, as well.
From a vibrant Rwandan musical, to a Ukrainian teenage drama, to an archival documentary on
the ravages of the Holocaust, this year's festival has something for culture connoisseurs and
film lovers of all stripes. Over the course of two jam-packed weekends, we’re bringing to White
River Junction 11 feature films–documentaries, fiction, and quite a few falling somewhere in
between–an array of shorts, two expert panels, a regional filmmaking showcase, and a handful
of extracurricular get-togethers.
As always, WRIF is an unparalleled opportunity to turn our gaze to the larger world, to practice
understanding, to appreciate art and innovation, and to get to know ourselves a little better in
the process.
Our opening night film on Friday, May 20th, highlights the global make-up of our Upper Valley
community. WRIF is partnering with the Ukrainian Student Association at Dartmouth and the
Hanover High School Slavic Club to present the Ukrainian teenage drama Stop-Zemlia. Before
the film, audiences will be treated to a message from director Kateryna Gornostai, specially
recorded for WRIF from her home in Kyiv. Our goal with the event, apart from sharing excellent
cinema, is to raise funds for five Ukrainian families with children currently studying at Dartmouth
College. (Donations can be made here.)
The following Friday, May 27th, we will screen a free movie in Lyman Point Park, To the Moon,
a cinematic collage of film, song, and poetry that celebrates and ponders humanity’s
relationship to our closest cosmic neighbor. That event will have food available for purchase
from The Karibbean restaurant, and a beer truck on hand from the Pizza Chef of Quechee.
In addition to our usual smorgasbord of international cinema, on Saturday, May 21st, WRIF will
present a showcase of regional filmmakers sponsored by the Anne Slade Frey Charitable Trust.
The showcase includes four prize winners from WRIF’s own Emerging Filmmakers Contest,
open to filmmakers ages 18-30 who live in Vermont or New Hampshire. This year’s batch of
winners includes “Head Above Water,” from Alexandra De Luise, “Hitchin’” from Loren Howard,
“Popstar” from Will Hoppin, and “Consume” from Malik Clyde Terrab. Also, in coordination with
the Vermont International Film Festival, WRIF welcomes “Scars” from Alex Anna, a Special Jury
Mention at this year’s Made Here Film Festival.
A full schedule of our international film screenings and expert panels follows.
Film & Panel Schedule
Friday, May 20th, Opening Night Film
7pm: STOP-ZEMLIA, dir. Kateryna Gornostai, Ukraine (subtitled), 117 min
Completed in 2020, this deeply sensitive and authentic, part-fiction, part-documentary,
coming-of-age story follows Ukrainian high school students in Kyiv as they navigate the
emotional turmoil of adolescent romance. Director Kateryna Gornostai’s visual and
dramatic sensibilities are invitingly naturalistic, while direct-to-camera interviews with the
performers punctuate the story, blurring the line between the real people and the
characters they portray. Stop-Zemlia, which loosely translates to “stop the world,” offers
an intimate look at the inner and social lives of young people in Kyiv just prior to the
invasion—the very people soon to be caught in the crossfire of a war that neither they
nor the filmmakers could imagine at the time.
Presented with a personal message from director Kateryna Gornostai.
This event is sponsored by the Leslie Center for the Humanities, Dartmouth College, and
is presented in partnership with the Ukrainian Student Association at Dartmouth and the
Hanover High School Slavic Club.
Funds will be raised to support Ukrainian families with students at Dartmouth. Donations
can be made at:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-families-of-five-dartmouth-
undergraduates?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-
sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer.
Saturday, May 21st
12pm: Regional Filmmakers Showcase
Four prize winners from WRIF's Emerging Filmmakers Contest and a Special Jury
Mention from the VTIFF Made Here Film Festival 2022 (See above for details).
Sponsored by the Anne Slade Frey Charitable Trust. Non-ticketed.
3pm: AFTER SHERMAN, dir. Jon Sesrie-Goff, USA, 88 min
Beautifully layered in its employment of diverse styles and methods, After Sherman
weaves together the many stories that constitute a community. At the heart of these
stories is the inescapability of inheritance and the collective tension that defines
American history, especially Black history. One thread amongst this elegant tapestry
follows the filmmaker’s father who is a minister at a church where a mass shooting took
place. In his debut feature, Jon Sesrie-Goff seeks to understand how communities use
their faith to stand steadfast in the face of tragedy and where they find the resiliency to
demand America honor the rights and dignity of its Black citizens.
This film is sponsored by the Hartford Historical Society, Upper Valley Arts, and Nora
Jacobson and David Ferm, and presented in partnership with the Winter Center for
Indigenous Traditions.
Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores:
"When Was Amerikkka Great?" by Jordyn Fitch. A primary source document of
generational trauma.
7pm: NEPTUNE FROST, dirs. Saul Williams & Anisia Uzeyman, USA/Rwanda
(subtitled), 105 min
Neptune Frost is a low-budget, sci-fi, Afrofuturist odyssey, bursting with sound, color,
and creativity. In the East African country of Burundi, a former miner and an intersex
runaway are drawn together by forces both cosmic and technological. Matalusa (Kaya
Free) escapes the exploitative labor of the coltan mines, where precious metals are
unearthed to power modern telecommunication devices. Neptune, who is played by a
masculine-presenting actor (Elvis Ngabo) in the early stages of the story and a feminine-
presenting actor (Cheryl Isheja) in the latter, flees the life they’ve known and embarks on
a journey of self-discovery and transformation. The two seekers are welcomed by a
collective of cybernetic hackers who aim to disrupt global networks of colonization.
Neptune Frost is about finding a sense of self and community outside of systems of
oppression and harnessing the awesome power of inner and planetary resources to
dismantle structures of thought and economy. And, on top of all of that, it’s a musical
too. *Panel discussion on Sunday, May 22nd.
This film is sponsored by and presented in partnership with Nancy the Girl. An after-
party will be held at the Nancy the Girl clothing store, 85 N Main St Suite 180, White
River Junction.
Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores: "Starf*ckers," by Antonio Marziale.
A date at a Hollywood villa takes an unexpected turn.
Sunday, May 22nd
12pm: Panel: Afrofuturism and Unpacking Neptune Frost
Dartmouth College faculty members Desirée Garcia, Iyabo Kwayana, and Misty De
Berry discuss the history of Afrofuturism as a subgenre and the specific innovations of
Neptune Frost. This panel will be livestreamed through CATV and filmed in front of a live
audience at the Briggs Opera House. Non-ticketed.
3pm: A SCHOOL IN CERRO HUESO, dir. Betania Cappato, Argentina (subtitled), 70
min
Based on the real-life experience of her younger brother, director Betania Cappato’s A
School in Cerro Hueso tells the story of an urban family who relocates from Argentina’s
city of Santa Fe to a humble coastal village to enroll their daughter, Ema (Clementina
Folmer), who is on the autism spectrum, in the only primary school that accepts her
application. With quiet intimacy and convincing honesty, Cappato charts the intricacies
of relationships both within the home and at school as Ema and her family adapt to their
new surroundings. The impressionistic editing and camerawork feels guided by the
emotional textures of the characters, eschewing plot-driven conflict for, instead, an
introspective look at the mysteries of communication across difference and the ineffable
connection people have to the places they inhabit.
Post-screening virtual Q&A with director Betania Cappato.
This film is sponsored by Silvia Spitta and presented in partnership with the Special
Needs Support Center, who is providing a sensory de-escalation space for the festival
and is guiding WRIF in making other accessibility accommodations for our events.
Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores:
"My Parent Neal" by Hannah Saidiner. An animated reflection on a parent’s gender
transition.
7pm: YOU RESEMBLE ME, dir. Dina Amer, USA/France/Egypt (subtitled), 90 min
When two young sisters are torn apart by child protective services, it is only the first
fracturing of many to affect their lives. A shape-shifting social realist drama, You
Resemble Me turns a coming-of-age story in the impoverished outskirts of Paris into a
searing socio-political critique of colonization, xenophobia, and mass media
representation. The writer-director Dina Amer, whose journalism has been featured in
such outlets as CNN, the New York Times, and Vice, is uniquely credentialed for this
dramatization of the stories behind the headlines. Bolstered by ferocious performances
from a young cast, You Resemble Me inventively reclaims the identities of those
marginalized, vilified, and misrepresented.
Friday, May 27th, Free Movie in Lyman Park
7:30pm: TO THE MOON, dir. Tadhg O'Sullivan, Ireland (subtitled), 76 min
Directed by Irish filmmaker Tadhg O’Sullvan, To the Moon is a cinematic collage of film,
song, and poetry that ponders and celebrates that shimmering orb of the night sky in all
its phases and fascinations. Structured as movements through the lunar cycle, To the
Moon illuminates humankind’s manifold associations with our nearest cosmic neighbor,
from a source of madness to a beacon of love, from a portent of death to a harbinger of
renewal. The film unspools humanity’s vague and ethereal wonder through works of
music, literature, and, most importantly, cinema. In a luminous tapestry of original and
archival footage, the films of F. W. Murnau, Victor Sjöström, Satyajit Ray, and Charlie
Chaplin, among countless others, are all woven together. To the Moon is an incantation
of celestial awe and an ode to cinema as the lunar art par excellence, with its restless
play of shadow and light shining and flickering in the dark.
This screening is sponsored by Janine Kanzler & Mike Tsapakos in memory of Jamie
Kanzler.
It is a free, non-ticketed event in Lyman Park (rain location: Briggs). Food will be
available for purchase from The Karibbean restaurant, and a beer truck will be on hand
from Pizza Chef of Quechee. Event opens at 7:30. Sunset at 8:20.
Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores:
"When you're lost in the rain" by Sky Hopinka.
Questions of belonging to a people and to a land.
Saturday, May 28th
12pm: Panel: The Future of the Theatrical Experience Film critic David Sterritt discusses the future of movie theatergoing in the age of streaming with James O'Hanlon, the owner of the Savoy Theater in Montpelier, Sydney Stowe, the Director of Film at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and filmmaker Samantha Davidson Green. This panel will be livestreamed through CATV and filmed in front of a live audience at the Briggs Opera House. Non-ticketed. 3pm: CARAJITA, dirs. Silvina Schnicer & Ulises Porra, Dominican Republic/ Argentina (subtitled), 86 min There is love between Sarah (Cecile van Welie) and the family housekeeper who helped raise her, Yarisa (Magnolia Nunez). Their affection transcends the employer-employee relationship and approaches something more akin to that of mother and daughter. But there are barriers, too—of class and of race—and when a fatal event tears at the seams of their connection, those barriers threaten to become impossible chasms. In Carajita, directors Silvina Schnicer and Ulises Porra offer an upstairs/downstairs dissection of Dominican society, told with harrowing emotion and haunting surreality. Post-screening Q&A with directors Silvina Schnicer & Ulises Porra This film is sponsored by Revolution. Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores: "El Ruido Solar" by Pablo Hernando. Image and memory collide at the intersection of media and consciousness, humanity and technology. 7pm: HIT THE ROAD, dir. Panah Panahi, Iran (subtitled), 93 min Panah Panahi, the son of the great Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, makes his feature- film debut with this tender, sharp-witted, and deeply moving comic drama. Full of humor and sorrow, and politically deft in the way that only films from repressive theocracies like Iran ever are, Hit the Road follows two middle-aged parents, their taciturn adult son, and one irrepressible six-year-old on a road trip across the Iranian countryside. The destination and reasons for the trip are mysterious, but it’s the journey that matters, and Hit the Road puts in the miles. Come along on an inventive and eccentric exploration of familial love and loss, and bask in a joyful tour-de-force performance from child actor Rayan Sarlak. This film is sponsored by DPF Design. Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores: "Precious Hair & Beauty" by John Ogunmuyiwa. An ode to the everyday immigrant experience at an African hair salon.
Sunday, May 29th
12pm: THREE MINUTES - A LENGTHENING, dir. Bianca Stigter, Netherlands/UK,
69 min
Three-minutes’ worth of 16mm film on the verge of ruin is what Glenn Kurtz found in his
parent’s Florida home shortly after their passing. Shot by Kurtz’s grandfather on a
European tour in 1938, the amateur footage captures the Jewish community of Nasielsk,
Poland, just one year prior to the Nazis’ brutal invasion. Frame by frame, slowed, stilled,
played backwards and forwards, Three Minutes – A Lengthening interrogates the found
footage to resurrect the people and the town that disappeared in one of history’s most
monumental tragedies. Based on Kurtz’s award-winning book, Three Minutes in Poland,
and narrated by Helena Bonham Carter, this documentary is an act of archival
revelation, both fascinating in its scholarship and chilling in its discovery.
This film is sponsored by Pat Glowa and Don Kollisch and presented in partnership with
the Upper Valley Jewish Community and Shir Shalom Vermont.
3pm: PLAYGROUND, dir. Laura Wandel, Belgium (subtitled), 72 min
Belgium’s submission to the Academy Awards and shortlisted for a Best International
Feature nomination, Playground takes us inside a world often hidden from adult eyes.
Hewing insistently close to the perspective of 7-year-old Nora (Maya Vanderbeque)—the
cameraman literally had the camera slung about his waist while shooting—the film
exposes the social microcosm of the schoolyard and the cycles of bullying and
meanness that some children suffer there. Writer-director Laura Wandel locates the
nascent prejudices and aggressions that plague our society in the newly formed
relationships children forge when away from their parents. The young cast members of
Playground deliver extraordinarily believable performances, and the film’s unrelenting
fidelity to their POV creates an emotionally taut and intensely gripping viewing
experience.
This film is sponsored by Tanya Van Sant & Jeremy Sterritt.
Opening short film sponsored by Co-op Food Stores:
"The Burden" by Niki Lindroth von Bahr. Fish, rodents, and monkeys pause their daily
routines to join in song.
7pm: EL GRAN MOVIMIENTO, dir. Kiro Russo, Bolivia (subtitled), 85 min
Stunningly shot in the ancient Bolivian highlands and contemporary La Paz, El Gran
Movimiento ("The Great Movement") is a musically structured blend of drama,
documentary, political messaging, and avant-garde adventuring, with superbly textured
images and a pulsing soundtrack. Working with nonprofessional actors, director Kiro
Russo follows three dispossessed rural miners seeking justice and, failing that,
employment in the Bolivian capital. Through their stories, El Gran Movimiento probes the
experience of deprivation and survival in neoliberal South America.
This film is sponsored by Harper Environmental Associates/John Turner Consulting, Inc.
Miscellaneous Events
Saturday, May 21st, 5pm - 6:30pm
JAM (Junction Arts & Media) Open House
This year, WRIF is proud to partner with our presenting sponsor CATV. During the
festival, CATV will launch JAM (Junction Arts & Media), a new workspace for its
multimedia programming. JAM is located in the space formerly known as Newberry
Market, in downtown White River Junction, between the entrances to Piecemeal Pies
and Tuckerbox. On Saturday, May 22nd, 5pm-6:30pm, CATV invites the public for an
open house at JAM to network with local film and media makers and learn about all of
CATV’s upcoming offerings.
Thursday, May 26th, 6pm - 8 pm
Movie Trivia Night
Getting in gear for the second weekend of festivities, two of the podcasters behind Geek
Channel 8, Johanna Evans and Eric Chatterjee, challenge folks to test their movie-
knowledge mettle in a cinema-themed trivia night at Wolf Tree bar in downtown White
River Junction.
Friday, May 27th, 6pm - 7pm
Us and Them: Seeing Each Other, Seeing Ourselves
This collaboration between CATV and Telling My Story brings point-of-view documentary
filmmaking to Pati Hernandez's unique approach to collective storytelling. Witness a
showcase of personal filmmaking and live performance from 11 community members
who have come together for 8 weeks to explore our capacity to see and hear each other
across visible and invisible lines of difference.
WRIF Festival 2022 is presented in association with CATV and with support from Harper
Environmental Associates/John Turner Consulting, Inc., the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation,
Bill and Jane Stetson, Phyllis Oxman and Bill Bittinger, and Fat Hat Clothing Co., among others.
CALENDAR LISTING:
White River Indie Films Festival 2022
May 20-29
Films, Director Q&As, and Expert Panels
Screenings at the Briggs Opera House and in Lyman Park, White River Junction, VT
Tickets and more information at: wrif.org
FILM STILL PHOTOS:
STOP-ZEMLIA, dir. Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine)
AFTER SHERMAN, dir. Jon Sesrie-Goff (USA) NEPTUNE FROST, dirs. Saul Williams & Anisia Uzeyman (USA/Rwanda)
A SCHOOL IN CERRO HUESO, dir. Betania Cappato (Argentina) YOU RESEMBLE ME, dir. Dina Amer (USA/France/Egypt)
TO THE MOON, dir. Tadgh O’Sullivan (Ireland) CARAJITA, dirs. Silvina Schnicer & Ulises Porra (Dominican Republic/Argentina)
HIT THE ROAD, dir. Panah Panahi (Iran) THREE MINUTES - A LENGTHENING, dir. Bianca Stigter (Netherlands/UK)
PLAYGROUND, dir. Laura Wandel (Belgium)
EL GRAN MOVIMIENTO, dir. Kiro Russo (Bolivia)
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