2013 San Pedro International Film Festival Announces Screening Schedule

The 2013 San Pedro International Film Festival (SPIFFest) has announced this year's film lineup, including screening dates, times and locations. The second annual festival, which runs from October 4-6th at venues throughout San Pedro, will be showing documentaries, features, short films and student films from the U.S., Korea, Australia, New Zealand, China, Bosnia, Croatia, France, Brazil, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Germany, Serbia, Canada, Argentina, Chile and the UK.

Opening night festivities begin on Friday, October 4th at the Warner Grand Theatre starting at 7:30 p.m. with a screening of "Twice Born," an adaption of Margaret Mazzantini's bestseller starring Penélope Cruz. Directed by Sergio Castellitto, the film tells the story of a woman who returns to Sarajevo to relive her past.

Screenings continue on Saturday, October 5th at the SPIFFest Pop-up Movie Theater beginning at 11:00 a.m. with three environmental documentaries: "Fall and Winter" (Matt Anderson - USA), "We Are the Land" (Andrew Heskett - USA) and "Mile, Mile & a Half" (Jason Fitzpatrick - USA).

The festival's first series of short films starts at 1:00 p.m. at the San Pedro Theater Club. Screenings include "Kako Sam Ostao Bez Krila - How I Lost My Wings" (Ivan Tasic - Serbia), "Titanic Love" (Mark Pressdee - UK) "Ghost Man" (Matt Pastor - Australia/Hong Kong), "Stalled" (Shannon Kohli - New Zealand/Canada/Switzerland), "Closure" (Desmond Devenish - USA) and "The Wound" (David Garrett - USA).

The second series of short films begins at 3:00 p.m. with "A Perfect Day" (Adam Rubin - USA), followed by "The Fix" (Ante Novakovic - USA), "Blind Spot" (Tony Elliot - Canada), "The Patriot Act" (Kyle Einhorn - USA), "Black Metal" (Kat Candler - USA) and "A Guerra Docs Gibis - Comics at War" (Thiago B. Mendonça - Brazil).

Also screening at 3:00 p.m. at the Pop-up is the documentary "Watershed," (Mark Decena - USA), a film that tells the story of a rafting trip down the Colorado River.

"Persephone Speaks: The Forgotten Women of Bosnia" (Ivana Ivkovic Kelley - USA), an emotional documentary about rape used as a strategy of war, begins at 5:00 p.m. at the Pop-up.

The documentary "Driving Blind," a film about the cross-country journey of two brothers, one of whom is facing the prospect of losing his sight, will be shown on Sunday, October 6th at 11:00 a.m. at the Warner Grand Theatre, followed by a panel discussion presented by the Global Event & Media Accessibility Initiative and Interpretive Solutions LLC, GEMAI/iS.

Screening at 11:00 a.m. at the San Pedro Theater Club is the documentary "Trash Dance," a film by Andrew Garrison about Austin's sanitation workers.

Several student films will also be shown on Sunday at the Pop-up beginning at 11:00 a.m., including "The Color of Christmas" (Cyrus Kowsari - USA), "If We Were Adults" (Michael Fitzgerald - USA), "There Is No God And We All Die Alone" (Harrison Givens - USA), "The Painted Girl" (Ben Kadie - USA), "On Becoming A Man" (Kevin Resnick - USA), "Evicko" (Ziya Demirel - Czech Republic) and "Quicksand" (Lance Oppenheim - USA).

Starting at 12:30 p.m. at San Pedro Theater Club is the documentary "Homefront Heroines," (Kathleen Ryan - USA).

The festival's third series of short films begins at 1:00 p.m. at the Pop-up with "Counterplay" (Bobby B. Grubic - USA), followed by "Dos Caras" (Francisco Bendomir - Argentina), "Oh Willy" (Emma De Swaef, Marc James Roels - Belgium/France/Neitherlands), "Jack & Lily" (Damian McLindon - Australia), "Swinger" (Nicholas Papademetriou - Australia), "The Assistant" (Dave Hill - USA), "White Shoe" (Mauro Borrelli - USA), "Best of Both Worlds" (Michael Dunker - USA) and "Takers" (Travis Geiger - USA).

The California premiere of the documentary "Sitting Bull's Voice" (William "Bill" Matson - USA) takes place at 2:00 p.m. at the Warner Grand Theatre. The film is narrated by Ernie LaPointe, a lineal great grandson of the great Lakota spiritual leader.

The fourth and final series of short films will start at 3:00 p.m. with "Harald" (Moritz Schneider - Germany), followed by "StrAngel" (Daniel von Braun, Georg-Sebastian Dressler - Canada/Germany), "Hsu Ji Behind the Screen" (Thomas Rio - France), "Memoires Vives - Memorium" (Fabrice Mathieu - France) and "The Pool Man" (Kaidi Zhan - China).

The documentary "Signal Hill Run / Day of the Dead Shred" (Feel the Rush Sports) will screen at 4:30 p.m. at the Warner Grand Theatre.

"Sal" (Diego Rougier - Argentina/Chile); a feature about a film director obsessed with making a western, will be shown at 5:00 p.m. at the Pop-up.

SPIFFest's "Cinema Croatia" will be held at the Croatian Cultural Center of Greater Los Angeles beginning at 3:00 p.m. with a performance by Children of the Scola Croatica and the Croatian vocal ensemble "IZVOR." There will also be a screening of "Drops Of Sea, Drops Of Sunshine" (Kapi Mora, Kapi Sunca), a story about KOMIZA, a small town on the island of Vis.

The festival will conclude with a special tribute to filmmaker Tony Scott, which starts at 6:00 p.m. at the Warner Grand Theatre. The event will be followed by a screening of "Days of Thunder."

Festival tickets can be purchased online.

The Warner Grand Theatre and Croatian Cultural Center of Greater Los Angeles are facilities of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

About SPIFFest

The San Pedro International Film Festival (SPIFFest) was founded to celebrate the diverse culture and community of San Pedro with a wide spectrum of independent films, documentaries and shorts. SPIFFest is committed to exhibiting films that embody inspiring entertainment for all; works that express fresh voices and differing global perspectives, with the intent of enlightening audiences while providing invaluable exposure for local and international filmmakers. The festival is in its second year. For more information about SPIFFest visit our website or send an email to info@spiffest.org.