Join NewFilmmakers LA on December 17th as they celebrate their monthly film festival with four short film programs.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, December 8, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Concluding 2016, NFMLA invites families to enjoy three fun-filled screening programs dedicated to well crafted family friendly content that will appeal to both children and adults, and one shorts program with a special InFocus: Middle East.


Short Program #1
Kicking off the evening we have a series of animated films that give life to dust bunnies and animals, share life lessons about trust, hope and forgiveness, topped with an abundance of silly antics. The short films were almost exclusively created by Computer Animation students and graduates from the distinguished Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL.


Short Program #2
The second program invites established and seasoned filmmakers to create positive and engaging stories specifically for kids and young audiences. Films that are led by endearing characters in situations and how they emerge from these struggles with support from their friends, teachers and parents. Among others, we screen short films by Joe Swanson - NFMLA alumni - Camille Stochhitch, and Jonathan Langager, who have already been awarded with Student Emmy Awards or Student Academy Awards during their careers. Their works as well as those of the filmmakers of our second program have won several awards at different prestigious festivals.


Short Program #3
Lucy & Bear - Angela Chen
Director/producer Angela Chen’s works have screened internationally at the Tribeca Film Festival, SXSW, Austin Film Festival, U.Frame Portugal, and many others.When asked about her objectives in filmmaking, Angela, rooted in both Taiwan and China, stated that she “likes to enlighten the human condition, the paradoxes of cause and effect, and the dynamics of the universe.”

Marty: A Wild West Neverland - Vu Hoang
Vũ Thị Hoàng My is a Vietnamese beauty queen, athlete, humanitarian activist and a filmmaker. She was a multimedia design student at RMIT University (2011), Saigon South Campus and a BFA in filmmaking student at New York Film Academy. As a filmmaker, she produces both fiction and documentary features.

Helix - Matthew Merenda
Filmmaker Matthew Merenda attended Ithaca College in New York to be a Cinema Photographer and received the full film school training. “It all started when I was middle school and my parents had an old VHS camcorder and my friends and I started making movies with it.” He worked as a storyboard artist on the ad campaigns for The Social Network, Rio, and Disney’s Tangled.

The Royal Cake - Sam Marin
Sam Marin is animator and voice actor on Cartoon Network’s Regular Show, voicing Benson, Pops and Muscle Man. He graduated from CalArts, and worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios as an animator, working there for three years before Regular Show was greenlit, leaving Disney to work for Cartoon Network.


Short Program #4 – InFocus: Middle Eastern
Closing the evening, our diversity initiative, NFMLA InFocus presents a collection of powerful stories from the creative cinematic community of the Middle East.

Avo - Golnaz Jamsheed
Director Golnaz Jamsheed was born in San Francisco. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Film from UCLA and was given a scholarship from the London Film School in order to receive her Masters degree in Filmmaking. Through filmmaking, she wants to “create new meaning and beauty by comparing our past and present, making a journey through the history of our country and exploring how things are evolving around us with technology, while we’re using the spiritual essence of our culture.”

Old Friend - Haider Hazim
Iraqi Haider Hazim is credited as the film’s director, writer, producer, editor, and visual effects editor. His first short Old Friend tells the story of Aran, an Iraqi private who narrowly escaped a recent battle. As he is hiding near a house, surrounded by militants, an old friend pops up, bringing new thoughts and emotions. Will that be enough to save him?

Zaar - Ibrahim Nada
Ibrahim Nada is a young Egyptian director with a dystopian view of the world and society. His passion for filmmaking goes beyond transforming worth telling stories into movies. He believes that movies can “shed the light on the shadows of the dark world we live in.” His main focus is to challenge the audience with these emotions by creating an experience that keeps them at their toes.

And So Do I - Jana Younes
Jana Younes is a Lebanese filmmaker, choreographer, and dancer. Her work is focused on filming dance and body movement, “I want to do film, I have to dance” Her main work is focused on contemporary jazz, a fusion between the classical jazz and new contemporary techniques. Jana graduated as a filmmaker from the St Joseph University in Beirut. Her work is focused on filming dance. Her short And So Do I is “An exploration of family, love, absence, and hope. This freshly orchestrated film is a journey to the world of movement storytelling.”

Expire - Henri Bassil
Dubai-based Filmmaker Henri Bassil has directed commercials for companies including STC, Nissan, BMW, and Porsche. According to his own words, “Expire is my first short film since film school. It tells the story of a young man who goes on a journey of a lifetime.”

Security - Neel Kumar
Neel Kumar was born in Calcutta, India. A former copywriter, his works won a fair few international awards. He wrote, shot, and directed a short film about the company that was sent to Saatchi's network offices around the world. He helped set up a film production company based in Dubai, Neel and has since directed and produced commercials and corporate films for clients like Emirates, Land Rover, Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp, Anta Sports and a number of Dubai-based startups.


Located in Downtown LA, South Park Center is the Presenting Venue Sponsor of NewFilmmakers LA film festival. Founded in 2007, NFMLA has screened over 1750+ films from over 69 countries. The organization provides a forum where filmmakers can be recognized with title supporters Sony Pictures Entertainment, SAG-AFTRA and FilmLA. For information or to reserve tickets to the NewFilmmakers LA December 17th, 2016 Film Festival, please visit http://www.NFMLA.org

Elena Volz
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles
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