CineVegas Film Festival 2008

A wild Memorial Day weekend takes an unexpected turn in this brutally thrilling roller coaster ride through over-exposed national obsessions. Josh Fox and a ferocious ensemble push the envelope of a war holiday gone wild. Beginning as a rowdy beach weekend video, Memorial Day twists and turns to find the dark hearts of young Americans who live to tape their most debauched adventures. The characters are thrust into full exposure, both physically and emotionally, to a place where self-exploitation and the exploitation of others give rise to a shocking new kind of entertainment. The camera creates a sphere of provocation wherever it goes, ramping up actions and pushing characters to a place of hyper-real catharsis. The film takes a major twist half way through, pushing the themes of the weekend to their extremes. Public Contact Info: MemorialDayMovie@gmail.com

Each afternoon, the world spins and tilts. On one particular day a man looks after his 80-year-old mother, who is coping with signs of Alzheimer’s and often goes missing. While he tries to balance his own medical issues in the tense situation, his mother tries to keep a normal life, dealing with feelings of abandonment and confusion. And Jacques the dog just wants to be recognized. As mother wanders outside, drawn to nearby woods, all of nature comes to the forefront—catapillars, bees, wolves, the changing seasons—and intertwines with our own world. Director Rolf Belgum spent four years weaving visuals of tiny creatures from his backyard, animated motions of his dog, and characteristics of the lives of wolves with the unpredictable nature of his mother. After each tense scene comes levity and playfulness, allowing our erratic world to take its less significant place aside everything else. The circles of life and the seasons aren’t just over the course of a year, but renew themselves each day. Belgum tackles these cycles with inventiveness and a beautiful cinematic flow. What was originally planned as a documentary became a scripted, delicately edited fiction film—which in turn became a mesmerizing study of all of nature. Public Contact Info: Rolf Belgum 4405 Pleasant Ave S. Minneapolis, MN 55419 Phone 612-825-6988 Email rolfbelgum@hotmail.com