Photo Credit @cityandsee

The 2021 Jacksonville Film Festival will showcase three days of international independent films at the San Marco Theatre, February 5-7, 2021. 

The 2021 Official Selection consists of more than 80 films from 19 countries, 27% of which are by women directors. Jax Film Festival selected these films out of 409 film submissions from a record of 45 countries. 

Programming Director, Tim Driscoll, states, “Our theme, 'The Turning Point' is about emphasizing representation in film and hearing stories from the marginalized and maligned. It is through new stories, new voices, and new ideas that we will build better bridges to empathy, understanding, and even to better understand ourselves.”

Festival Director, Niki Logoreci, says, “A Film Festival is an experience. From day one, our goal has been to showcase great films from all over the world. With this goal, we want to inspire new filmmakers and encourage current filmmakers to elevate their work. We are becoming a bridge between international and local filmmaking.”

Women’s Perspective

The Jacksonville Film Festival will also be hosting the 2^nd annual Women’s Perspective Saturday, February 6 at 10 a.m. This year’s guest is Laura M. Blair. She is a Producer and Location Manager for many films and TV shows. Laura is currently wrapping up Season Two of a Warner Brothers production for the Oprah Winfrey Network titled “David Makes Man”. Laura has also initiated a local group for filmmakers in Jacksonville called JAX-FILM Bar that currently has more than 1,500 local filmmakers.

Jacksonville, Florida Spotlighted Films

Coming Home – US – Director: Kevin A. Kimball 

Coming Home is directed by Kevin Kimball, who resides in Jacksonville, FL. The film was a semi-finalist for best cinematography of a short film for the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards. 

Synopsis: Technical Sergeant Jack Ward and Senior Airman Danny Spiro wait out a delay at the airport on their last leg home from a long deployment overseas. While Sergeant Ward has been through all this before, Airman Spiro is dealing with the reality of returning home for the first time to a baby girl who doesn’t know him and a wife who may no longer need him.

Other Spotlighted Films:

Beast Beast – US – Director: Danny Madden

Beast Beast showed at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury Award for the US in Progress event presented by Champs-Elysées Film Festival.

Synopsis: Three interweaving stories of youth navigating identity, first love, petty crime, and gun violence in a southern town.

Ian, A Moving Story – Argentina – Director: Abel Goldfarb

Ian has won numerous awards: Best Foreign Short at Concours de Courts (France), Americas Award for the Best Animated Film at The Americas Film Festival NY (USA), Horizonte Special Award at Kurzfilmtage Thalmässing (Germany), Toshima City Award at Tokyo Anime Award Festival (Japan), as well as nearly two dozen more awards. 

Synopsis: Ian was born with cerebral palsy. Like all kids, he wants to have friends, but discrimination and bullying keep him from his beloved playground. Ian won't give up easily, accomplishing something that will surprise everyone.

The Official Film Selection for the 2021 Jacksonville Film Festival are:

Feature Narrative

Broken Down – US – Director: Jessy Cale Williamson 

Beast Beast – US – Director: Danny Madden

Feature Documentary

Strings Attached – US – Director: Bruce Broder

Knots: A Forced Marriage Story – US – Director: Kate Ryan Brewer

White Noise – US – Director: Daniel Lombroso

Short Narrative

A Separation – US – Director: Yalan Hu 

Call on Me – US – Director: Pia Cook 

Godmother – Iran – Director: Afshin Akhlaghifeyzasar

The Helping Hand – US – Director: Brenden Hubbard 

One – Spain – Director: Javier Marco Rico 

Well – Spain – Director: Diego Puertas 

Bodies – Iran – Director: Morvarid Kashiyan 

Discovery – Russia – Director: Mikhail Saburov

Ms. Rossi – Italy – Director: Pat Battistini

Horn – Iran – Director: Ghasideh Golmakani 

I’m Happy, I Promise – US – Director: Mimi Cave

Show & Tell – US – Director: Sakshi Gurnani

The Camel Boy – France – Director: Chabname Zariâb 

The Pains of the Sea – Iran – Director: Mohammadreza Masoudi

Three Blades – France – Director: Matthieu Maunier-Rossi

Small World – US – Director: Jim Ford

Gifts from Babylon – Netherlands – Director: Bas Ackermann 

Faraway, So Close – US – Director: Gustavo Milan  

Dry Leaves – India – Director: Ali Sohail Jaura 

I Hope They Remember My Name – Canada – Director: Patrick Weiers 

Listen – US – Director: Jhanelle Elissa 

Stucco – US – Directors: Janina Gavankar & Russo Schelling 

Tea Time – US – Director: Tara Price 

Waffle – US – Director: Carlyn Hudson 

Ashmina – UK – Director: Dekel Berenson 

Ekaant – India – Director: Swapnil Pagare

The Doe – France – Director: Jennifer Lumbroso 

2^nd Class – Sweden – Director: Jimmy Olsson 

Coming Home – US – Director: Kevin A. Kimball 

Eat Your Heart Out – US – Director: Giovanni Tortorici 

The Mirror – Australia – Director: Joel Kohn

Myosotis Love – US – Director: Charlie LaTourette

The Group of Eight – Russia – Director: Ivan Sosnin

Archibald’s Syndrome – France – Daniel Perez

Alina – US – Director: Rami Kodeih

Short Documentary 

Charlotte Mansfield, a Woman Photographer Goes to War – US – Director: Brian Graves 

Dieorama – US – Director: Kevin Staake 

By the River – Australia – Director: Daniel Braga Ulvestadd

Call Center Blues – US – Director: Geeta Gandbhir 

Affurmative Action – US – Director: Travis Wood

Modern Whore – Canada – Director: Nicole Bazuin

Student Shorts

Party Busters – Germany – Director: Patrick Büchting

No Exit – US – Director: Auden Lincoln-Vogel 

Pasture – US – Director: Graham Holford

Last Day – US – Director: Szu-Wei Chen

Sentience – France – Director: Guillaume Bierry

Give it Back! – Israel – Director: Ruchama Ehrenhalt

Love, Death & Tomatoes – Turkey – Director: Balahan Gürel 

One More Please – US – Director: Aleksei Borovikov

Keep Me in the Dark – US – Director: Erica Matz

Exist! – Belgium – Director: Luca Zuberbühler

Misplaced Call – Russia – Director: Elizaveta Pichugina

Wolves of Walter E. Middle – US – Director: Brenna Adams

Tree #3 – US – Director: Omer Ben-Shachar

Student Documentary

Ramak Niakan Safi: This is Life – US – Director: Jack Trent 

Moksha – UK – Director: Jithin Majeed

Animal Calling – Canada – Director: Candice Dixon 

Why We Fly – US – Director: Allie Marsh 

Deeper than Blue – Canada – Director: Devon Robertson

Animation

Division Series – Korea – Director: Ho Kwon Kim

Tiny Duel – Mexico – Director: Mauricio Guerra Bonilla 

One Left – Austria – Director: Sebastian Doringer

Adrift – US – Director: Alexa Boushey

The Holes – Iran – Director: Rozhan Abedi 

The Rotation – Iran – Director: Hazhir As’adi 

Identity Crisis – US -- Director: Natalie Nichols

Stick to Manual – US – Directors: Christian Antonini & Tanice Arnold

You Can Fly! – Korea – Director: Sung Bae Park

Malakout – Iran – Director: Farnoosh Abedi 

Echo – Iran – Director: Barzan Rostami

Talent Scout – Spain – Director: José Herrera

The Masterpiece – UK – Director: Christopher Satola

Ian, A Moving Story – Argentina – Director: Abel Goldfarb

For a list of the films with the synopses and trailers, please visit https://jacksonvillefilmfestival.com/2021-film-guide.

For ticket information please visit - https://jacksonvillefilmfestival.com/tickets.

Jacksonville Film Festival is an annual international film festival that showcases in-competition and out-of-competition American and International independent films. The festival celebrates Jacksonville’s glorious moviemaking past by serving as a destination for the independent film community and encouraging a new generation of filmmakers to utilize the city as their canvas.