The WRIF Emerging Filmmakers Contest showcases the talents of young filmmakers (age 18-30) living in VT &amp; NH. These films were selected to be shown at WRIF because they resonate with the festival's independent, creative and community-building spirit. We invite you to pay what you can for this screening to contribute to prizes for the Audience Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the festival!

**Third Place Winner** Two female filmmakers explore the level of awareness among the male students regarding the gender gap/ gender ratio among second year filmmakers at Champlain College. Four male students will be asked questions regarding this topic prior to being shown interviews of two of their female peers. The males will be asked questions throughout the females interviews as well as after they are done watching *****************Rachel Phillips grew up in Sicklerville, New Jersey. In high school, she was a part of all the AV/Film activities that the school had to offer. There is where she discovered her love for making film and being behind the camera. After high school, she moved to Burlington, Vermont to attend Champlain College and major in Filmmaking.&nbsp;After college she plans to work as a director of her own films.

5:01

Two female filmmakers explore the level of awareness among the male students regarding the gender gap among second year filmmakers at Champlain College.

**Second Place Winner** An elementary schooler has her last day of school before retreating underground with her doomsday prepper father.This film is inspired by the lack of control the filmmakers were feeling around the time of the coronavirus pandemic and Colorado wildfire in the fall of 2020. It's a story that questions how those with power chose to use it. ***********Cedar O'Dowd (they/them) is a soon to be Colorado College graduate and an aspiring writer/director.&nbsp;They love all things horror and sci-fi. When they aren’t making movies, you can find them roller skating at the skate park or petting stranger’s dogs. They cannot wait to make some film friends in their new home, White River Junction. Andrew Rodden (h/him) is a filmmaker in his fourth year at Colorado College. From Albuquerque, New Mexico, he is in love with the landscape and scenery the state has to offer. When indoors, Andrew is usually watching a movie. He appreciates the horror genre and the reactions it can elicit within audience members.

Noah's Last Day

An elementary schooler has her last day of school before retreating underground with her doomsday prepper father.

**Honorable Mention** The making of this film began with the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic and with it the challenges of creating a film while being stuck inside. I made this short film to express what many of us have experienced in quarantine. From initial fear, to the boring repetition of everyday life, to having to be innovative when coming up with things to entertain yourself, and lastly how to connect with those around you when you’re at your loneliest due to social distancing restrictions. ***************Patricia Bubis is a senior at the University of Vermont studying Film and Television Studies and Philosophy hoping to bring curiosity, creativity, and connection to those around her.

Alone, Together

A short film articulating the challenges of creating a film while stuck inside and the cabin fever all can relate to under quarantine.

**First Place Winner** Jet Line is a short film that employs an anonymous hotline to elevate the voices beneath Vermont's F-35 flight path, the first urban residents to live with one of the military's most controversial weapons systems overhead. Tranquil scenes of unassuming neighborhoods near Burlington International Airport are juxtaposed with voicemails of the unheard, those drowned out by the ear-shattering "sound of freedom." Exploring the relationship between picturesque residential areas and the deafening fighter jets overhead, Jet Line is a poetic portrait of a community plagued by war machines, documenting untenable conditions in a small city once voted one of the best places to live in America. ************Duane and Patrick are independent filmmakers from Burlington, Vermont exploring stories that might otherwise go untold.

Jet Line: Voicemails from the Flight Path

An anonymous hotline elevates the voices beneath the deafening flight path of Vermont's F-35 fighter jet.

**AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER!!** "Desk worker or nerdy-guy by day and adventurer by night” is how Robert Bonner describes his father. Harry follows Henry “Harry” Miller Bonner on his journeys across the Atlantic Ocean in the ’60s and ’70s. He and a small crew traveled the distance in a 32-foot boat twice, the second time meeting his sons and wife in France. Using found footage from the trips, his granddaughter interviews her father and his brothers in order to piece together the story. *************Grace Bonner has been making films with her friends since 2010. She will begin her third year studying Cinema and Photography at Ithaca College this fall. Grace and her family lived with her grandfather for the first half of her life hearing about histraveling adventures. She created Harry at the beginning of quarantine using digitized footage of her grandfather. This is her first film accepted into a film festival and she is excited about the experience.

Harry

The story of an adventurous Atlantic crossing told through archival footage and interviews.

Kyiv, USSR Ukraine, the 90s. Two boys-pioneers leave the city for a weekend camping trip. Coming back, they find out that the Soviet Union has fallen, tearing apart everything they knew about their country and themselves. A student filmmaker at Dartmouth College, Polly Chesnokova, sets to push the creative boundaries of the medium by creating a silent black and white short film inspired by the artistic audacity of French New Wave.&nbsp;After its release in the summer of 2020,&nbsp;&nbsp;USSR is Canceled was officially selected at CIFF and TFF festivals, and screened at Cornell University, NY and Trinity College, CT. Polly Chesnokova is a current student at Dartmouth where she hopes to modify in Film, Philosophy, and Neuroscience. A student filmmaker and an environmental activist from Kyiv, Ukraine, Polly is interested in investigating the media's role in the public conversation around current issues&nbsp;and exploring the portrayal of mental illness, gender, and movement in cinema.&nbsp;

USSR is Canceled

Two boys in 90s Ukraine return from a camping trip and find the USSR has fallen.

A student on the autism spectrum magically receives the ability to read social cues, but will his newfound gift empower or crush him? ********************Christopher Brown (he/him) has lived in five countries, though he was born in the strange land of Washington, DC. He directed his first film, The T-Rex, at age six; this was made with action figures in his backyard in Reykjavik, Iceland. His first novel was completed at age eleven (no, you may not read it). From 2016 to 2020, Christopher attended the filmmaking program at Champlain College and has since directed, written, edited, and served as production assistant on numerous short films. His student directorial credits include the short films Tour de Montreal, The Big Blue Inn, and Clear as Crystal, the latter two of which he finished editing during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You may find a sample of his work at&nbsp;<a href="http://christopherbrownfilm.myportfolio.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">christopherbrownfilm.myportfolio.com</a>.

Clear as Crystal

A student on the autism spectrum magically receives the ability to read social cues, but will his newfound gift empower or crush him?

This film is based on the concept of Entropy. Entropy, derived from the Greek "entropia," means "a turning" or transformation. As the second law of thermodynamics, entropy rules that transformation will almost always lead to chaos and that disorder is inevitable and increasing in all aspects of the universe, even with the simple cracking of an egg. My piece both accepts and challenges this notion, speaking to the ephemerality of existence and the idea that humans can sometimes be set back or haunted by the impending disorder that entropy whispers will come. So, my film is for those angered or discouraged by humanity right now, and for the people working to make sure this chaos will not come. I posit that we can resist entropys rule, and that we can right wrongs through collectivism and love. That we can empower each other to put trust in the inexplicability of our cosmos and endeavor to reframe and revise the systems which govern our lives. *******Alexandra De Luise is an English &amp; Environmental Studies student at the University of Vermont.

Eggs

An enigmatic and poetic film about resisting entropy together.

Residue offers an experimental look at found footage of the filmmaker's grandfather traveling up Mt. Washington, juxtaposed with stills of his time in Vietnam. ********Jessica Moir is a filmmaking student at Keene State College. Her passion is directing, cinematography, color editing, and animation.&nbsp;

Residue

An experimental look at found footage of the filmmaker's grandfather traveling up Mt. Washington, juxtaposed with stills of his time in Vietnam.

Keeping a dairy farm alive in 2021 is no easy task – for seventh-generation farmer Karie Thompson Atherton, it requires a whole lot more than milking cows a few times a day.&nbsp;Aries-Hill Farm is located right on the border of Canada in the small, rural town of Berkshire, VT. Karie has found that keeping her family’s medium-sized farm alive requires adaptation, long days of hard work, and help from her family. Sammie Boyer, Luke Marcheski, and Holly Studwell wanted to help them tell their story to a wide range of audiences and to help raise awareness of what is happening inside of the food industry, and how the everyday person can help.&nbsp; ********Sammie Boyer has loved music since she was a child, and hopes to turn that love into a career in audio production and editing. She is graduating from Champlain with a BS in Broadcast Media Production and a specialization in Sonic Arts. While she has truly loved her time in Vermont, Sammie plans to return home to the Delaware Valley to start her career and be closer to her family. Luke Marcheski is a passionate media producer who has been creating content since he was 10. He is graduating with a BS in Broadcast Media Production and a specialization in Motion Graphics. As a proud New Englander, he has admired his time in Vermont, whether he was attending classes at Champlain or racing at the Thunder Road Speedbowl in Barre. Media and racing keep Luke going, and he is looking to turn his hobbies into successful careers. Holly Studwell is an avid photographer and videographer pursuing a career in video editing. She is graduating with a BS in Broadcast Media Production and will be staying in Vermont after graduation. She has fallen in love with the natural beauty of the Green Mountains, and can’t wait to call them her home.

Keeping the Farm Alive

Keeping a dairy farm alive in 2021 is no easy task

Emily Dickinson’s poetry is particularly cinematic, employing imagery and auditory elements to generate a rich sensory experience for the reader. Cece King and Clara Pakman sought to create short experimental films that manifested the sensory effects of reading Dickinson’s poetry. The two-part short Violent Logic, based on the Dickinson poems “A still Volcano Life” and “I felt a Cleaving in my Mind,” explores the idea of a “split self,” one that simultaneously exists in and beyond the domestic sphere. Set in domestic spaces during April of the COVID-19 pandemic, the films do not overtly associate lines of Dickinson’s poetry with specific images to prevent them from imposing narratives on poems whose author refused to title her work. Instead, they abstractly evoke the concept that breaking out of a state of mental domesticity is a violent process, which Adrienne Rich summarizes in the following quote: “It is an extremely painful and dangerous way to live–split between a publicly acceptable persona, and a part of yourself that you perceive as the essential, the creative and powerful self, yet also possibly unacceptable, perhaps even monstrous.” *************&nbsp;Clara Pakman is a sophomore at Dartmouth College who spends a lot of time thinking about topics such as game design, cognitive science, philosophy, English literature, poetry, and art. She is pursuing a major in Cognitive Science and minors in Computer Science and Human-Centered Design with the intention of injecting poetry into science and toppling the materialist view of the universe. Outside of that, Clara has spent much of the last year researching feminist film studies, evaluating the representation of female characters in video games, and working with the Dartmouth Film and Media Studies department to analyze the performance styles of early actresses in archival film collections. Inspired by her spirit guide Emily Dickinson, she produced the short film “A Cleaving” in the two-part series Violent Logic with her co-creator Cece King to explore and translate the dissonance between Dickinson’s conventional domestic existence and her explosive artistic force.

Violent Logic: A Cleaving

A two-part short film based on Emily Dickinson poems exploring the idea of the "split self."

Emily Dickinson’s poetry is particularly cinematic, employing imagery and auditory elements to generate a rich sensory experience for the reader. Cece King and Clara Pakman sought to create short experimental films that manifested the sensory effects of reading Dickinson’s poetry. The two-part short Violent Logic, based on the Dickinson poems “A still Volcano Life” and “I felt a Cleaving in my Mind,” explores the idea of a “split self,” one that simultaneously exists in and beyond the domestic sphere. Set in domestic spaces during April of the COVID-19 pandemic, the films do not overtly associate lines of Dickinson’s poetry with specific images to prevent them from imposing narratives on poems whose author refused to title her work. Instead, they abstractly evoke the concept that breaking out of a state of mental domesticity is a violent process, which Adrienne Rich summarizes in the following quote: “It is an extremely painful and dangerous way to live–split between a publicly acceptable persona, and a part of yourself that you perceive as the essential, the creative and powerful self, yet also possibly unacceptable, perhaps even monstrous.” *************&nbsp;In the last few years, Dartmouth undergraduate Cece King studied Arabic in Morocco through a State Department scholarship, traveled to Texas as a legal assistant/interpreter to advocate for asylum seekers, and was appointed to Manhattan Community Board 8 to represent her district in New York City. This past year, she helped found the education startup Curious Cardinals, featured in Bloomberg. She is currently a production assistant on IN THE MAKING, a documentary set to premiere this fall that explores whether the systems meant to nurture emerging artists are failing. Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poetry and her professor Ivy Schweitzer, Cece turned to film and co-created the two-part short series Violent Logic with her classmate Clara Pakman during the first few months of the pandemic. She chose to translate the poem A still Volcano Life to film to visually explore why Emily Dickinson associated herself with an unassuming volcano ready to explode.

Violent Logic: A Still Volcano Life

Living On The Shelf is a documentary that delves into the importance of maintaining over 40,000 hours of archival footage conserved at Vermont’s CCTV/Channel 17 studio (recently rebranded to Town Meeting TV). Through the lens of archivist Michael Blood, the tedious process of maintaining and preserving endless shelving holding over three decades of video material is revealed. CCTV is an active public access resource located in the greater Burlington area, and the organization highly values maintaining and rescuing the precious materials that hold our history, especially as the older magnetic medium begins to disintegrate. Created for audience members who value public access, the connections between folks within a community, and the merit of archival footage. ******** Jordan is a recent graduate of the University of Vermont with a B.A. in Film and Television Studies. She is a filmmaker who has been working in the greater Burlington community over the past few years, focusing on producing interview-driven stories that detail the lives of local researchers and community members. On the weekends you can often find her in the mountains someplace (usually skiing or hiking)!

Living On The Shelf: The Importance of Archival Footage

A documentary about the importance of preserving Vermont's history through archival footage at CCTV.

Thank you to all of the young filmmakers who shared their work at WRIF this year! We were extremely impressed by the quality of all of the submissions and were so thrilled to bring our community of longtime movielovers to see the world through your fresh eyes. There were a few films we especially want to highlight for their artistic excellence and indie spirit. Longtime WRIF collaborator Janine Kanzler presents awards to the following films in honor of her son Jamie Kanzler: 1st Place: Duane Peterson III and Patrick McCormack, Jetline2nd Place: Cedar O'Dowd, Noah's Last Day3rd Place: Rachel Phillips and Samantha Simpson, 5:01Honorable Mention: Patricia Bubis, Alone TogetherAudience Award: Grace Bonner, Harry

WRIF Emerging Filmmakers Showcase Winners

WRIF Emerging Filmmakers Showcase

Donation to {{name}}

Donate

Gift Cards

These are all the passes tied to your account. Now, use our online schedule to reserve tickets. You can access your tickets via {{my_tickets_link|"My Tickets"}} or via the PDFs attached to each ticket order confirmation email. {{buy_pass_link|Looking to buy more passes?}}

These are all your purchased tickets. Open this page on your phone, and at the door tap the "Show Barcode" button and show your screen to the attendant. Prefer paper? You can always print the PDF attached to the order confirmation email, or click one of the gears below and select "Download tickets PDF". If purchasing multiple tickets for an event, be sure to print or show each unique ticket barcode.

"Take five" film package

All-Access VIP Pass

One Day Pass

WRIF Sponsors All-Access Pass

Virtual Screening Pass

WRIF 2021 Festival Pass

WRIF Make-the-Arts Accessible Pass

WRIF Supporters Pass

None available

Check out our line-up of virtual screenings, workshops and discussions. Click on a screening to get a ticket, or buy a pass to see them all!

The White River Indie Festival celebrates the power of local and global cinema to affect positive change. A majority of the films in our 2021 lineup were directed by women or BIPOC filmmakers, and each one was carefully chosen for its unique lens on our changing wold.

Here's what's coming up soon. Can't make it? No sweat. Recorded conversations with artists will be available for on-demand viewing as well.