Festival's Acclaimed Short Film Showcase Returns This Week
The April installment of the HollyShorts monthly screening series returns on Friday, April 25th at the Echo Park Film Center in Los Angeles. The organizers of HollyShorts will highlight 5 new acclaimed short films, with the filmmakers in attendance for a Q&A session with the audience. Tickets are $10 and available at the door. Doors open at 7:30 pm, screening begins at 8pm, event ends at 11pm.  Q&A session and reception to follow screening.  Free Wine and Beer provided. The Echo Park Film Center is located at 1200 N. Alvarado Street (@ Sunset Blvd) Los Angeles, CA 90026. RSVP by emailing staff@hollyshorts.com.

Friday's lineup includes the following shorts:

Grand Wheel by Gavin Heffernan (sunchaserpictures@gmail.com) (6 minutes, Experimental)
As one of the most dramatic Presidential campaigns in U.S History reaches a boiling point, Gavin Heffernan's experimental documentary about the Peace Movement in the United States takes a passionate, often disturbing look at a divided nation. Created in the vein of KOYANNISQATSI, GRAND WHEEL features exclusive footage from an eclectic list of settings - including a Surfside Veteran's Memorial, a California Carnival, and an Iraq War Protest in downtown Los Angeles.

"Love Conquers Al" by Kamali Minter (kamali@lucentrain.com) (13 minutes, Comedy)
Al dreams about having one thing, Bridgette, his clutzy but cute co-worker.
Before he can make his dream come true, he must convince all the personalities
in his head that this is what's best. In the Central Post Between Thought and
Reality, Al battles all parts of himself, to determine if love really can conquer all.

"Sacrament" by Craig Ouellette (Thriller, 3:52) (craigofilm@gmail.com)
In a desperate attempt to rescue their son, distraught parents interrogate the cult member who kidnapped him.

"Sleeper" by Philippe Casseus (casseus@gmail.com) (12 minutes, Drama)
(World Premiere)
Simeon wakes up in a coma with no idea how long he's been sleeping. The sound of Noelle's voice reaches him, urging him to wake. But Simeon's ego has other plans for his id.

Sound Machine Vera Freitag (freitagvera@yahoo.com) (15 minutes Drama/Sci Fi)
Sound Machine is a modern psychological drama that takes place in a world parallel to ours. Professor Henry Kleeblatt, a former biophysicist, trapped in a mental institution, believes that plants can talk. In order to prove that his theory is correct, he builds the Sound Machine, an instrument which can capture high pitched sound waves such as those of plants and converts them into sounds that the human ear can hear.

The last HollyShorts monthly screening series took place in March at the Echo Park Film Center and featured a standing room crowd.

HollyShorts Film Festival late deadline is May 16th, 2008. Submit today online by using:Withoutabox