The 7th Annual Beaufort Film Festival will feature 34 independent films and 10 screenplays chosen from nearly 200 entries from around the world. Ron Tucker, president of the Beaufort Film Society, said more than 7,000 people participated in last year’s festival and he expects an even greater turnout this year. “We will present more than 30 screenings to include shorts, documentaries, animated films and student productions and we look forward to hosting some exciting special guests and celebrities again this year. This may be our best festival yet,” he said.
For the complete film festival schedule and ticket prices, visit www.beaufortfilmfestival.com.
Here is a listing of the date and time each film is playing, the type of film it is and, in some cases, a synopsis of the film.
THURSDAY, February 14
The Suffering Grasses: 9 a.m. Documentary
(52 minutes) Synopsis: With thousands dead and counting, the ongoing conflict in Syria has become a microcosm for the complicated politics of the region, and an unsavory reflection of the world at large. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the complicated politics of the region, this film explores the Syrian conflict through the humanity of the civilians who have been killed, abused, and displaced.
Crocodile Nile 10 a.m. Short (20 minutes) Synopsis: Javier and Laura arrive at a hotel after a tedious trip with their son Alvarito. There, a bunch of child supervisors are promoting the famous ‘Nile rout’. Javier has just one thing in his mind: to leave his son in the big hall filled with inflatable play houses and children’s fun fairs and go up to bed with his wife. There’s just one little problem: Alvarito is afraid of Crocodile Nile.
Mechanical Cow 10:30 am Animation
(4 minutes)
Hamsters Want to Be Free 10:35 am Animation (4 minutes)
The Runner 11 am Short (9 minutes) Synopsis: The Runner is about a little boy from a township in Cape Town. He needs to find money for his mother’s vital surgery and pays a high price that changes his world. The lead role is played by 10-year old Cwangco Mayekiso who actually lives in the Gugulethu township.
Wallenda 11:15 am Short (20 minutes) Synopsis: “Wallenda” is a short film about the unlikely beginning of Karl Wallenda’s amazing high wire career. Set in 1920’s Germany, we follow Karl’s 
journey as a young man answering an advertisement for a handstand artist to capturing the hearts of a demanding audience by his daring and courage on the high wire. Karl would later go on to establish the Flying Wallendas, an internationally famous circus act known for performing death defying feats on the high wire.
A Sister’s Call 11:50 am Documentary (77 minutes) Synopsis: Call and Rebecca Richmond were born into Atlanta’s high society. To their neighbors, they we’re the perfect family. Nothing was further from the truth. Mary, their paranoid schizophrenic mother, was medicating herself with narcotics, but the doctors preferred shock treatments. Their father tried to keep it secret, though the strain was more than he could bear.
High Heels & HooDoo 1:25 pm Short (8 minutes) Synopsis: A greedy party girl is so determined to get what she wants that she employs the dangerous magic of a Gullah root doctor.
Mimi & Gack 1:50 pm Animation (6 minutes)
1426 Chelsea St. 2:10 pm Short (20 minutes) Synopsis: On Bob Boone’s journey to endure through homelessness, two strangers inadvertently give him a place to belong. Ryan Simpkins (Arcadia, A Single Man) and Jason Field (House M.D., CSI: NY) star in this socially relevant and moving story about three strangers who serendipitously connect when they need each other most.
Detention 2:40 pm Short (4 minutes) Synopsis: Detention is a story about three mischievous boys, one overbearing teacher and a study hall mishap that forever cements the collective opinion that if the crime is a funny one, it’s well worth serving that dreaded after school detention.
No Wine Left Behind 3 pm Student (15 minutes) An Iraq War hero leads a ragtag group of veterans as they try to conquer the wine industry.
Besa: The Promise 3:30 pm Documentary
(86 minutes) Synopsis: This is the never-before-told story of the Muslims of Nazi-occupied Albania who saved the lives of thousands of Jews during WWII. It’s witnessed through the modern-day prism of two men joined together in a remarkable and unexpected quest.
Screenwriters Workshop/Table Read 6:30 pm Screenwriting (180 minutes) Wine & Cheese
Special Presentation by H. Haden Yelin: How to Sell Your Screenplay prior to Table Read.
Friday, February 15
Old Angel 9 am Animation (4 minutes)
Shoot the Moon 9:05 am Student (27 minutes) Synopsis: Marcy Meyers is down on her luck. Faced with piling bills, the remnants of a failed marriage, and now an imminent home foreclosure, she places all of her hope onto a national game show that promises a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win it all.
The Collegians 9:45 am Student (18 minutes) Synopsis: A swinging drama based on the story of trumpet legend Erskine Hawkins during his college days in the Depression. As a young trumpet 
sensation with a big ego he learns the hard way what it means to be a member of the Bama State college band, The Collegians.
Cards Against the Wall 10:20 am Documentary (28 minutes) Synopsis: Celebrates the lives of three of the greatest names in baseball. They were not necessarily among the greatest players ever — the three with memorable names. All three were from South Carolina. Based on the award winning story written by Alex Sanders.
Dawn 11:15 am Student (15 minutes) A suicidal carpenter confuses a runaway fugitive to be his deceased wife, and feels he must defend her from the relentless bounty hunter who pursues her.
Scattered City 11:45am Short (14 minutes) Synopsis: In Charleston, South Carolina a private detective tries to track down a missing person in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The Colored Confederates 12:15 pm Documentary (40 minutes) Synopsis: Did blacks actively ‘fight’ for the Old South during America’s Civil War; and if so, why? Experts, historians, and re-enactors hash out this 150-year-old debate.
Sgt Townsend 1:20 pm Student (12 minutes) Synopsis: A routine mission turns into more than Joe Townsend and Private Issac Webley intended. Betrayal and deception lead to an unlikely connection between the two strangers.
As Goes Janesville 1:45 pm Documentary
(88 minutes) Synopsis: As Goes Janesville shows the front lines over the future of America’s middle class — a debate that became a battle over unions in Wisconsin. First, GM shut down Janesville’s century-old plant causing massive layoffs. Then, newly elected governor Scott Walker ignites a firestorm by ending collective bargaining unleashing a fury of protesters demanding a recall election. We tell the tale from inside, following three years in the lives of workers trying to reinvent themselves; business leaders aligned with the governor to promote a pro-business agenda to woo companies to town, and a state senator trying to bring peace to his warring state and protect workers’ rights. As Goes Janesville, so goes America, a country mired in polarization and falling short of the American Dream.
The Projectionist 3:40 pm Short (19 minutes) Synopsis: A lonely film projectionist, haunted by his inner demons living in the films he projects, gets a lesson in positivity when he meets a blind movie patron.
The Making of Whiskey Bay 4:15 pm Special
(Director Chris Brinker & Tom Berenger)
(45 minutes) (Soon to be released major motion picture)
Radio 7:30 pm Feature. Following the Special 10th Anniversary Screening, Director Mike Tollin, joined by special guests, will participate in a moderated discussion about the movie. Moderator Mark Shaffer. (120 minutes)
Saturday, February 16
Fish & Chicks 9 am Animation (4 minutes)
The Children of Kabul 9:20 am Student (25 minutes) Children of Kabul provides rare access to the war-torn streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, documenting the unfolding tragedy of child labor. Taking you into the lives of four young Afghan children — Omid, Sanabar, Yasamin and Fayaz — this short documentary provides first-hand accounts of a generation washing cars, picking garbage, selling food and hammering metal to earn money for their families. Devastated by war and economic difficulties, these children are the breadwinners of their families, creating an uncertain future for a country on the front lines of American foreign policy.
Wolf Call 10:15 am Short (12 minutes) Synopsis: It is 1956. Previous year, 14-year old Emmett Till from Chicago had gone missing in Money, Mississippi. Later, the boy’s mutilated body was found in a river. William Bradford Huie of Look magazine sits down with the two men acquitted for the boy’s murder, Roy Bryant Jr. and J.W. Milam, to discuss the trial. Not a word had been uttered outside a courtroom by them or their kin, until now …
Granny’s Got Game 10:45 am Documentary
(74 minutes) Synopsis: ‘Granny’s Got Game’ is a documentary feature film about a senior women’s basketball team in North Carolina. These six fiercely competitive women in their 
seventies battle physical limitations and skepticism to keep doing what they love. The film follows them for a year as they compete for another National Senior Games championship. After two decades together, these women are more than a team … they are a family.
Special Presentation of South Carolina Indie Grants Films: Pencil Point 12:30 pm Special (6 minutes)
La Nanita 12:40 pm Special (8 minutes)
Dig 12:55 pm Special (10 minutes) Sponsored by the South Carolina Film Commission.
Death by China 2 pm Documentary (69 minutes) Synopsis: In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization with the strong support of a Democratic President and a Republican Congress. Before the ink was dry on this free trade agreement, China began flooding U.S. markets with illegally subsidized exports while the big multinational companies that had lobbied heavily for the agreement rapidly accelerated the off shoring of American jobs to China. Today, as a result of the biggest shell game in American history, China has inundated America with dangerous products and stolen millions of American jobs while multinational corporation profits are soaring, and we now owe over $3 trillion to the world’s largest totalitarian nation. This film is about how that happened…and why we as consumers must now take matters into our own hands.
