The Sixteenth Annual Valley Film Festival (VFF) Announces Complete Line-Up

North Hollywood, California - The sixteenth annual Valley Film Festival (VFF) announces its feature selections and complete line-up.  

VFF returns in full force with a five-day festival showcasing over 50 of the best independent films, from the (818) and from around the world, September 28-October 2 at Laemmle NoHo7 in the NoHo Arts District. Tickets are $12 and available at ValleyFilmFest.com.

The Festival kicks off Opening Night, Wednesday, September 28, with the dramatic feature, A LIFE LIVED, the story of a single dollar and the many lives it passes along the way. Directed by Riley Wood and produced by Chris Cashman (VFF07, Carts) A Life Lived features Denise Richards (Wild Things, Love, Actually), Jennifer Taylor (Two and a Half Men), Brendan McCarthy (True Blood), Lili Bordan (Battle Star Galactica: Blood and Chrome) and Marshall Manesh (How I Met Your Mother, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End).

Currently nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category, HER STORY, Directed by Sydney Freeland, lights up the NoHo7 screen with the friendship of two trans women in Los Angeles who have given up on love, when chance encounters give them hope. Executive produced by Eve Ensler (“The Vagina Monologues”) and Katherine Fisher, the cast includes Jen Richards and Laura Zak.

VFF16’s Centerpiece Screenings include the World Premiere of BADSVILLE, Directed by April Mullen, about a violent greaser gang ripped apart when their leader finds love and is determined to leave BADSVILLE - a town where love doesn't exist. Cast: Robert Knepper (Prison Break, Heroes) Emilio Rivera (Sons of Anarchy) and Tamara Duarte (Degrassi: The Next Generation) and ELECTRIC SLIDE, a chronicle of the life of furniture salesman turned bank robber Eddie Dodson, Directed by Tristan Patterson and featuring Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas, 21) Chloë Sevigny (Bloodline, Big Love, American Horror Story) Isabel Lucas (Red Dawn, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Kate Micucci (Garfunkle and Oates, The Big Bang Theory) and Academy Award Winner, Patricia Arquette (Boyhood, Medium, True Romance).

The World Premiere of DRUGS & OTHER LOVE, Directed by Noah Applebaum, closes out The 2016 Valley Film Festival. In this comedy, a charming, terrible older sibling keeps his stoner brother high on drugs so he can win the heart of a lady dope dealer who happens to owe money to a gangster. Cast: Noah Applebaum (VFF12, Route 30, Too, VFF14, Route 30 Three!), John Weselcouch (The Purge), Angelina Spicer (Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live), Whitney Moore (Birdemic: Shock and Terror, Birdemic 2: The Resurrection) and Teri Fruichantie (Hollywood is Hard).

The Documentary selections launch with an intimate oral history of the trials, tribulations, heartbreak and joy of bringing some of the most iconic and memorable motion pictures to the screen in IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE STORY: CONVERSATIONS WITH ALAN LADD, JR., Directed by Stanley Isaacs, featuring interviews with Alan Ladd, Jr., Jay Kanter, Michael Gruskoff and Mel Brooks. “The Creative Life” documentary program also includes FOSSE: RECREATED, Directed by Wolfgang Glattes (All That Jazz, Star 80, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) and #NONAHENDRYX: TRANSORMATION from VFF alumni and two time Emmy Award winners, Renee Sotile and Mary Jo Godges (VFF06, Christa McAuliffe: Reach for the Stars).

The Festival remains fully committed to supporting local independent production by showcasing twenty-six films made by Angelenos, Vals, and shot in or about the glamorous San Fernando Valley, while continuing to promote diverse films from around the world, with shorts from Canada (Chaos Management, Flush, The Silence), France (West Empire), Germany (Chamber Music), Italy (Black Comedy), Kazakhstan (The Sky Over Berlin of my Childhood), Korea (I Am Grace), Serbia (Play!), Switzerland (Stories Upon Your Lips) and the United Kingdom (Dead Fred, I Used to be Famous).

Other features include:

BAD PEOPLE/U.S.A./World Premiere (Director: Alex Petrovitch) - Bad People is a dark comedy feature film that begs us to laugh at the absurdity that is all around us: crack smoking politicians, prostitutes turned reality stars, religious charlatans, sex obsessed online dating, elitist parents, infidelity, and political correctness. Told through the lens of several short stories, the film examines the hysterical dark side that permeates our society today. Cast: Ben Gleib (Showtime's Neurotic Gangster), Leah McKendrick (Bad Moms) Andy Mackenzie (HBO's True Detective Season 2), Christopher Goodman (Showtime's Ray Donovan), Jason Faunt (Power Rangers Time Force) and Jordan Wall (A&E's The Glades).

CHANGEOVER/U.S.A./Los Angeles Premiere (Director Estes Tarver) - After Haley suffers the loss of her parents in a fatal car wreck, she moves in with her almost estranged single uncle and his young son. Together the trio must attempt to move on and make a life as a new family. Cast: Madeline Taylor (John Adams, The Girl Next Door), Estes Tarver (Under the Dome, Finding Carter) and Carter Godwin (Solace).

THE RICH WOMAN/Vietnam/World Premiere (Director: Le-Van Kiet) – When an international business owner informs authorities that her partner has criminal ties, she is forced to face her enemy to save her daughter. Cast: Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, Truong Quynh Anh and Quang Su.

VIRTUAL REVOLUTION/U.S.A./France (Director: Guy-Roger Duvert) – The year is 2047 and most of the population spends their time online, connected into virtual worlds where they can fulfill all of their fantasies, losing all interest for reality and leaving it to a small minority. A shadow Agent is tracking and eliminating terrorists who want to destroy this system. Cast: Mike Dopud (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Universe, 300) and Jane Badler (V).

THE BUSINESS OF NOSTALGIA/U.S.A./Los Angeles Premiere (Directed by Mark DiNatale) – This documentary offers a glimpse into eleven business owners who own, operate, or create something that harkens back to a previous era.

The Valley Film Festival 2016 will open on Wednesday, September 28 and continue through Sunday, October 2 with daily screenings at the Laemmle NoHo 7, located at 5240 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Tickets are $12. For more information and tickets, visit ValleyFilmFest.com.

THE VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 

2016 SCREENING SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY – 9/28

8:00 pm - Opening Night Feature: A Live Lived with I Used to Be Famous and Hands Up (music video)

THURSDAY – 9/29

7:30 pm - Dramatic Shorts Program: Becoming a Man, Frieda’s Turn, Protocol: New Orleans, Rain, The Serene Heartache, Shackled, The Sky Over Berlin of my Childhood, Three-Legged Stool and West Empire.

10:00pm - Feature Program: Bad People with The Unconventional Gourmet and Dead Fred (Trailer)

FRIDAY – 9/30

7:30pm - Feature Program: Electric Slide with Welcome to the Party and Stories Upon Your Lips (music video)

10:00pm - Feature Program: Virtual Revolution with 2BR02B and Synapse (trailer)

SATURDAY – 10/1

12:00 pm/noon – “The Creative Life” Documentary Program: It’s Always About the Story: Conversations with Alan Ladd, Jr. with Fosse: Recreated and #NonaHendryx Transformation

2:00pm – Feature Program: Changeover with I Am Grace

4:30pm – “The Past is Present, and for Sale” Documentary Program: The Business of Nostalgia with Dockery & Son

6:30pm – Feature Program: The Rich Woman with Boxer and Chaos Management

9:00pm – Centerpiece Screening: Badsville with Black Comedy and Caihong City (trailer)

SUNDAY - 10/2

12:00 pm/noon – “Voices of Troubled Youth” Documentary Program: Be More with The Silence and Play!

2:00pm – Celebrating the LGBTQ Community: Her Story with The Prisoner

3:45pm – Girls on Film Shorts Program: Chamber Music, Chippy, Doble 9, Fanny Pack, Flush, Jordan Almonds, The Last Course, Slow Fade to Autumn and Tea & Therapy

6:00pm – Closing Night Program: Drugs & Other Love with The Invitation to Armageddon and $5

The 15th Annual Valley Film Festival Announces Film Line-Up

FIFTEENTH ANNUAL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL

ANNOUNCES FILM LINE-UP

North Hollywood, California – The fifteenth annual Valley Film Festival (VFF) announces its complete line-up and Opening Night screening.  VFF returns in full force with a five-day festival showcasing 40 of the best independent films, from the (818) and from around the world, October 21-25 at Laemmle NoHo7 in the NoHo Arts District. Tickets are $12 and available at ValleyFilmFest.com.

The Festival kicks off Opening Night, Wednesday, October 21, with a special screening of  FORBIDDEN ZONE – in color! Referred to as the Citizen Kane of underground movies, a French girl falls into an insane underworld ruled by a horny little king and his jealous queen. This cult classic stars Susan Tyrrell, Herve Villechaise, Danny Elfman, Matthew Bright, and Marie-Pascale Elfman. The soundtrack features music by Danny Elfman, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker and others.  Preceded by a fun, live pre-show with Richard Elfman, this screening is a tribute to Producer, Jack F. Murphy, who served on VFF’s Advisory Board from 2008 until his passing in 2014.

Other celebrity-driven films include TOM IN AMERICA, with Academy Award® nominees Sally Kirkland (JFK) and Burt Young (Rocky), OUR FATHER (Michael Gross, Family Ties), MARIYLN AND I (Ray Anthony, legendary trumpeter) ALL INTIME (Lynn Cohen, Sex and the City) PRETTY GOOD DAY (Chris Woods, comedian/violinist, Abby Elliott, Saturday Night Live and Marion Ross, Happy Days), I’LL TEXT YOU (Victor Williams, The King of Queens), BONED (Bai Ling, The Crow) and FRENCH KISS (Tyler Ritter, The McCarthy’s).

The Festival continues to proudly support local independent production, with twenty films made by Angelenos, Vals, and shot in or about the glamorous San Fernando Valley. THEWRISTWATCH, a drama directed by Gino Gaetano, uses Woodland Hills as the backdrop to transform the lives of four people who come in contact with a supernatural wristwatch.  Other local features include DIRTY BEAUTIFUL, a dysfunctional love story, and our closing night feature, ACTOR FOR HIRE, a comedy about a bald actor in Hollywood who discovers the power of persona in the form of a cheap wig. 

VFF continues to program diverse films from around the country and the world. This year’s programs include films from New Jersey to Ohio and Spain to Serbia.

7 DAYS IN SYRIA kicks off our documentary programming and follows Newsweek Middle East Editor, Janine di Giovanni, who risks it all to ensure the world knows about the suffering of the Syrian people. While CONGOBEAT THE DRUM takes us on an adventure, to catch-up with forgotten Reggae artists of the 70s & 80s, SLINGSHOT takes us into the world of Segway inventor, Dean Kamen, and his work to solve the world’s water crisis.

LA Premieres include the feature films: Boned, Congo Beat the Drum, It Plays Like Love, and The Wristwatch. Short films making their LA debut are: As it is in Heaven; A Divinely Twisted Comedy, Blue-Eyed Me, Californication, Fruitcake, It’s a Journey, Not a Destination, Number 2: If I Were Marilyn, Omid, Marilyn and I, My Sardasht, Pretty Good Day, and Wings

THE VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL:

CINEMA SO INDEPENDENT 
IT CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN THE (818)!

Founded in 2000, The Valley Film Festival, a project of Community Partners®, is the first and longest continually running film festival in the San Fernando Valley.  With a mission to join established and emerging talent with adventurous audiences in Los Angeles, VFF screens shorts, features, documentaries, animated films, experimental works, and music videos from around the world.  While emphasizing independent film, the festival also has screened studio productions including BOOGIE NIGHTS, CHINATOWN, ENCINO MAN, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, MAGNOLIA, TERMINATOR 2, VALLEY GIRL, and WORLD TRADE CENTER.

In addition to screenings, the festival provides educational panels, social mixers, audience awards, and the juried "Ten Degrees Hotter" award.

THE VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 2015 will open on Wednesday, October 21 and continue through Sunday, October 25 with daily screenings at the LAEMMLE NOHO 7, located at 5240 Lankershim Blvd. in North Hollywood. Tickets are $12. For more information and tickets, visit ValleyFilmFest.com.

THE VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 
2015 SCREENING SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY - 10/21
8:00 pm - Opening Night Feature: Forbidden Zone – in Color! Includes Fun, Live Pre-Show with Richard Elfman

THURSDAY – 10/22

8:00 pm - Girls on Film Shorts Program: It’s a Journey, Not a Destination, Our Father, Pig, Pretty Good Day, Texting: A Love Story, and Wings

FRIDAY – 10/23
7:30pm – “Made in the (818)” and Alumni Shorts Program: Attraction, The Co-Star, Cocaine vs. Corn 4 Gold Malt Liquor, A Craigslist Exorcism, Did You Hear the One About…, Dog Bowl, and The One and Only Eddie Duke
9:00 pm - Feature Program: Boned with Number 2: If I Were Marilyn

SATURDAY – 10/24

12:00 pm/noon – Documentary Program: 7 Days in Syria with My Sardasht and Omid.

2:00 pm – Feature Program: The Wristwatch with As it is in Heaven: A Divinely Twisted Comedy

4:00 pm – Feature Program: It Plays Like Love with Dreamcatchers

6:30 pm – Feature Program: Dirty Beautiful with Mulligan’s Island

9:00 pm – Feature Program: All in Time with Shelter from the Storm

SUNDAY – 10/25
12:00 pm/noon - Documentary Program: Congo Beat the Drum with The Fallen Phoenix
2:30 pm – Documentary Program: SlingShot with Blue-Eyed Me
4:00 pm – “Love My Way” Shorts Program: The After Party, Californication, French Kiss, Hanky Panky, I’ll Text You, Marilyn and I, and Tom in America

6:00pm – Closing Night Program: Actor for Hire with Fruitcake

Last Chance to Submit to VFF15 ~ Submissions Close August 15th

Dear Filmmakers: 

Don't let the VFF15 submission deadline pass you by. Once submissions are closed, they're closed. We have a record number of submissions (and they're still coming in) and made a promise to filmmakers to view every film, from start to finish. No exceptions. 

Have no fear. If you miss the August 15th deadline, you can always submit to VFF16, in January 2016. 

Film submitted through July 31 are $75 USD and submissions sent in between August 1-15 are $100 USD. Now don't you wish you submitted in February when it was pay-what-you-can?

If you're unsure whether or not to submit your film, we encourage you to look through our archives to get a feel for our programming. 

You may submit through FilmFreeway.com, Festhome.com, or to VFF directly. 

Waves '98 Wins Palme d'Or for Short Film at Cannes Film Festival

Waves '98, a mixed media 14 minute film (animation and archival footage) took home the prestigious Palm d'Or, Short Film Category, at the 68th Annual Cannes Film Festival. 

Written and Directed by Lebanese filmmaker, Ely Dagher, Waves '98 follows Omar, a teenager growing up in Beirut, sometime between post-war 1990's and today's uncertain future. A dreamer at heart, an unexpected discovery leads Omar to explore outside of his reality. 

Congrats to Ely and to the other eight short filmmakers who were talented enough to be programmed in competition. 

The Valley Film Festival 2015 Call For Entries

North Hollywood, CA (February 9, 2015) – The Valley Film Festival is now accepting submissions for its fifteenth annual season of independent films from around the Valley and the world.  The initial period is “pay what you can.”  The final deadline is August 15, 2015.

We have begun accepting short and feature-length submissions for our 2015 season.  We are seeking quality narrative / fiction films, documentaries, animation, and music videos that were produced independently anywhere in the world.  The films or filmmakers may have some connection to the San Fernando Valley area, but this is not required. 

We are accepting entries from now through August 15, with a total of five submission periods.  For each period, the application fee is the same for any film, whether short or feature-length.  Here is the schedule of dates and fees (US dollars) per film:   

February 1 - 28, 2015 -- pay what you can

March 1 - April 25, 2015  -- $25

April 26 - June 20, 2015 -- $50

June 21 - July 31, 2015 -- $75

August 1 - August 15, 2015 -- $100

The initial submission period (February 1 to February 28) is “pay what you can.”  During this time, applicants may pay whatever they like, including nothing.  If they pay little or nothing, we request that they do something additional of their own choosing that helps promote the festival. This could include, for example, “liking” the festival on Facebook, or perhaps distributing some useful information or praise via Twitter.  After this initial period, the per film entry fee then gradually increases until the final deadline in August. 

The tentative festival dates are October 28 - November 1, 2015, to be held at the Laemmle NoHo 7, located in the NoHo Arts District.  For further details, see http://www.ValleyFilmFest.com.

Founded in 2000, The Valley Film Festival, a project of Community Partners®, is the first and longest continually running film festival in the San Fernando Valley.  With a mission to join established filmmakers and emerging talent with adventurous audiences in Los Angeles, the VFF has screened a total of nearly 500 shorts, features, documentaries, animated films, and music videos from all over the world.  While emphasizing independent film, the festival also has occasionally shown studio productions, including Boogie Nights, Chinatown, Encino Man, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Magnolia, Terminator 2, Valley Girl, and World Trade Center. 

In addition to screenings, the festival provides educational panels, social events, and awards.  The juried "Ten Degrees Hotter" award is for one short and one feature from a competitive section.  Additionally, there is an award for short films, in the non-competitive section, as chosen by the audience.

For more information, visit the festival website www.ValleyFilmFest.com

Or send an email to Info@ValleyFilmFest.com

And follow us on:

Twitter (@ValleyFilmFest)

Facebook (“The Valley Film Festival”)

Our blog (http://www.ValleyFilmFest.blogspot.com)

...And That's a Wrap on VFF14

The Valley Film Festival (VFF) closes the curtain on another thought provoking, entertaining lineup of cinema so independent it could only be found in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.

ODD BRODKSY and THE GREEN GIRL took home the top Narrative and Documentary Jury Awards, respectively, while WINDS AND STRINGS snagged both the Jury and Audience Awards for short film. Additional short film Audience Award winners included: ANY OTHER FRIDAY, SPIDORA, and TRACES OF MEMORY.

JURIED “10 DEGREES HOTTER” AWARDS:

Feature – ODD BRODSKY (Cindy Baer) 

Documentary - THE GREEN GIRL (George Pappy) 

Short – WINDS AND STRINGS (Ricardo Ultreras)

AUDIENCE AWARDS:

ANY OTHER FRIDAY (Peter Paul Basler) 

SPIDORA (Fred Olen Ray) 

TRACES OF MEMORY (Jody Jaress) 

WINDS AND STRINGS (Ricardo Ultreras)

The 5-day festival, which ran December 10-14 at Laemmle NoHo7, screened 45 of today’s most provocative films from 17 countries, such as Australia’s FLYBOY, the newest short film produced by Academy Award Nominee Drew Bailey (MIRACLE FISH, 2009) and BAGHDAD MESSI, a UAE-Belgium co-production, currently shortlisted for an Oscar.

With a mission further the education, production, and distribution of filmmaking in The Valley, VFF continues to promote local independent production with over fifteen films made by Angelenos, Vals, and shot in or about the glamorous San Fernando Valley this year. Valley-based filmmakers with an LA premiere were ROUTE 30 THREE, directed by John Putch (Cougar Town, Scrubs), SING YOUR OWN SONG: AN OPERA DOCUMENTARY from Anne O’Neal, and YOU OR A LOVED ONE, directed by Matt Mercer.

Founded in 2000, The Valley Film Festival, a non-profit project of Community Partners ®, is the first and longest continually running film festival in the San Fernando Valley. VFF has screened over 500 shorts, features, documentaries, animated films, experimental works, and music videos from around the world. While emphasizing independent film, the festival also screens studio productions, including BOOGIE NIGHTS, CHINATOWN, ENCINO MAN, FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, MAGNOLIA, TERMINATOR 2, VALLEY GIRL, and WORLD TRADE CENTER. In addition to screenings, the Festival provides educational panels and networking opportunities throughout the year.

Looking ahead, The Valley Film Festival will begin accepting submissions for VFF15 in January. More information available at ValleyFilmFest.com 

Win a DVD Courtesy of 1st Sight Films by Attending The Valley Film Festival

The team behind Love at First Sight is collecting pictures of people wearing Love at First Sight pin badges from around the world and would be over the moon to have VFF14 patrons participate...especially if you're in love! They will pick one photo per month...maybe the most romantic, maybe to the funniest, or just to someone they'd like to surprise. 

(1) Attend The Valley Film Festival, now through December 14, and pick up your pin at our will-call table. 

(2) Take a picture of you with your pin in front of the festival step and repeat

(3) Post the picture on the Love at First Sight Facebook page (don't forget to tagThe Valley Film Festival)

Love at First Sight will re-post the pictures and will send at least one FREE DVD per month.

Love at First Sight screens Saturday, December 13, 5:00pm

The 14th Valley Film Festival Is Here!

The 14th Valley Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with a packed house for Route 30 Three! we could not have asked for a better film, crowd, or cast & crew to share our special night with. 

The fun continued Thursday night with 8 films directed, produced, and/or written by the awesome women in our "Girls on Film" shorts program.

Dreams Deferred and Realized: An Interview with Venkat Krishnan about His Film “Butterfly Dreams”

By James Latham

Butterfly Dreams is one of the terrific films in our Dramatic Shorts program on Saturday, December 13.  This drama, made in India by Loyola Marymount University student Venkat Krishnan, shows problems with poverty and child labor practices, but is not preachy or didactic.  Instead, it brings honesty, subtlety, and humanity to its subject.  It does so via the story of Sumi, a nine-year-old orphan who lives by herself in a hut, works in a garment factory, and dreams of learning to read, write, and become a doctor.  The other main character, Ravi, is an educated man who comes to her village to sell his family’s property.  He befriends and tutors Sumi, and eventually offers to adopt her.  Ultimately, this does not happen, but Sumi continues to hope and work toward a better future. 

After seeing this film, I wanted to talk with Venkat, to go deeper into what it's about.

James Latham:  You have described the “butterfly” in the title as symbolizing Sumi’s dream of transformation.  Maybe it also suggests her desire for freedom and the fragility of that dream.  Anyway, to me, the title also evokes the documentary Hoop Dreams, which follows the lives of two African-American boys struggling to achieve success via basketball.  These are different films, but what do you make of their similarities? 

Venkat Krishnan:  Dreaming is one thing that is common for both rich and poor.  Whether they are attainable or not, every human being has dreams - some big, some small.  In Butterfly Dreams, Sumi, a nine-year-old girl, works in a factory.  She has no parents.  She lives alone and takes care of herself.  At her workplace, she is verbally and physically harassed by her employer. In this oppressive environment, she decides to shed her skin like a caterpillar and yearns to fly free as a butterfly and strive for a more meaningful existence to her life.

Butterfly Dreams is a 22-minute film and Hoop Dreams is almost 3 hours.  However, the underlying themes of both films are the same.  In these two films, the main characters’ real-life struggles unfold on the screen as they strive to find a way to achieve their dreams.  Both films capture the elements of oppression, disappointment, hope, and determination. These films also portray how important society is in shaping one’s life.  Though Butterfly Dreams is fiction, nothing rings false.  The story is based on the real life experiences of working children.  In that sense, both films are real, human dramas.

JL:  I understand you required all the shooting locations in Butterfly Dreams to be authentic, which made it hard to secure a local factory setting, as owners did not want to risk being criticized in the film.  You eventually found a place.  To me, the locations are just part of the broader and deeper authenticity of your film.  The content and style generally seem quite faithful to the characters, their surroundings, and their situations—without slick stylization or common melodramatic techniques for depicting poor people, such as exaggerating or exoticizing their victimization.  Yes, the factory owner is exploitive (though not purely evil) and Sumi has a hard life, but this comes across as sort of matter-of-fact, just the way things are in the everyday lives of a lot of people in the world.  What do you think?

VK: The reality is much more difficult than what was portrayed in the film.  In many cases, children work seven days a week, 18 hours a day in inhuman conditions.  Sometimes they are given no money at all and the only compensation they get is food and shelter.  Most inhuman of all is the bonded labor.  Children are often sold to a buyer as a commodity for a certain period of time by the parents to pay their debts.  Until the parents repay this borrowed money, the children are treated as collateral security and the owners exploit them.  In addition to all of this, statistics say that more than 50% of children report facing one or more forms of sexual abuse.  It is impossible to cover all of this in one short film.  I am now working on a feature film script, which explores all these issues.

JL:  A pivotal and emotionally tough scene is when Ravi leaves the village on a bus and we see Sumi behind him, through the rear window, running toward him and eventually giving up—all in one long take.  We see them both reacting at the same time, and wonder whether he will get off the bus.  Part of what I like about how the film portrays Ravi is that he is generous but ultimately not a heroic savior.  This seems much more authentic than if he just facilitated a happy ending, to make audiences feel good.

VK:   A happy ending is, most of the time, a pretentious ending because in real life, not everything ends happily.  For this story, I always wanted to have a real and plausible ending.  To me, an honest ending justifies the script and respects the characters in the film.

Many times we come across people we want to help, but the situations don’t permit it.  Ravi himself is struggling for money and has his own family to take care of.  As you mentioned, Ravi is not a heroic savior, just an ordinary person who has a good heart.  Sometimes that alone is not enough.

JL:  This scene comes after what, for me, may be the most striking moment in the film.  After Ravi plans to adopt Sumi, the other local families get word and bring their kids to ask for the same thing from him:  to take them away for a presumably better life.  Shocked and overwhelmed, Ravi changes his mind.  For me, there is a lot packed into that scene, including what it says about impoverished families and the complex dynamics and ethics of adoption.  With literally millions of children living in these conditions in India, what options do these families have?

VK:   Some families have been working as child laborers for more than two generations.  Poverty is the biggest reason for this.  Other reasons are the lack of implementation of child labor laws, the absence of compulsory education, and the non-accessibility of schools, to name a few.  It is estimated that it would take at least $500 billion over a 20-year period to end child labor, if it happens at all.  The Indian government has strict laws regarding child labor, but the factory owners know how to get around them.  For example, children under 14 years of age are considered as child laborers.  Many children don’t have birth certificates as they were not born in the hospital, and changing birth certificates for the purpose of working is not that difficult. Children are threatened by exploiters in many ways and are forced to lie about their ages to the officials to keep their jobs.  Only if factories decide not to hire children, can child labor be stopped completely.  But what is the probability they will do this when they are making a ton of money by exploiting children?  Another way to end child labor is through educational awareness of this issue.  Parents also have to understand that only a good education can lead to a better life for their children and to realize that the current income from their children is only a temporary solution to their problems.

JL:  I like that Sumi is portrayed as a strong, sensible, capable, optimistic, and resilient person.  What particular challenges are there for girls living in these conditions, versus boys?  What hopes can they realistically have?

VK:   Children who live in these conditions learn to take care of themselves sooner than most other children.  They face struggles everyday in their lives and that makes them stronger, more capable and more mature.

The most difficult problem girls face after a certain age is sexual abuse.  In some cases, unfortunately, girls are trafficked into the sex industry.

India is a huge country and child labor is practiced in many places from roadside stalls to big manufacturing industries.  The government has strict laws against child labor, but still has to go further to make sure the laws are applied and strictly monitored.  Even though it is impossible to stop this child labor immediately, frequent monitoring and severe punishment of those who employ these children would definitely bring the count down.  The government is also trying its best to help some of the children go to school, by providing free education and free food.  There are some non-governmental organizations that perform these services too.  They also provide some stipends to families, whose children go to school, to compensate for the missed income.  At the end of the day, it all comes down to money.  The more money spent, the more children can be saved.

Child labor in India is not just a national issue, it is a global issue.  Thefts or murders cannot be completely stopped by laws; they can be stopped only by the people who commit them.  Similarly, child labor can be stopped only by the people who hire children.

JL:  For an adoptive parent of a young girl from rural Ethiopia, this film resonated for me on many levels.  Though my daughter is being raised American, we are fortunate to live in a place where there are great ongoing opportunities for her to connect with other adoptees, immigrants, Ethiopians, and people of color generally.  As an adult immigrant to the U.S., how has that transition worked for you?

VK:  When I came to the US, I had to admit that I had cultural shock.  I was raised in a typical Indian family and was used to Indian customs only.  Indian culture is very different from Western culture.  But eventually I learned how people do things here.

America is very diverse, particularly Los Angeles.  Most of the time, I hang out with filmmakers, some of whom came from different countries.  Mostly we talk about films, but we also talk about each of our cultures, our food, and the languages we speak.  The more I interact with people of other cultures, the more I come to know that, deep inside, humans are the same.

JL:  I understand you came from rural India, where as a child you had no TV and could go to the movies only once a year, so instead read a lot.  There are obvious parallels between your youth and Sumi’s.  So how did you manage to come here and attend film school at LMU? 

VK:  In the town where I grew up, child labor is not that common.  My parents strongly believed that education is a must for a promising and secure future and a stable life.  In India, the more educated we are, the better career options we have.  With my parents’ support, I was able to complete my bachelor’s degree in India.

I never thought I would come to the US and study film.  Even though the film schools here are excellent and have cutting edge technologies, they are expensive.  When I was admitted into Loyola Marymount University for my MFA, I didn’t want to miss this great opportunity for financial reasons.  I worked and saved money for my education.  I am glad I went to LMU and trained to be a professional filmmaker.

JL:  I’m sure you know that filmmaking is a tough field to enter and stay, much less succeed.  Hard work, talent, a strong education, and an award-winning student film all provide a good start.  Looking ahead, if you were to fulfill your long-term dreams in filmmaking, what would that look like?

VK:  Even for accomplished filmmakers, making movies and marketing them has become more challenging these days.  So, obviously for beginning filmmakers like me, it is not going to be easy. Everyday I attempt to complete five pages of work on my new screenplay.  Every week I participate in a filmmakers group to discuss films and new opportunities in the business.  I also constantly read film-related articles and learn something new every day.  After all, success comes from a daily routine and only today’s efforts will pay off tomorrow.

JL:  Is there anything you’d like to mention that we haven’t already covered?

VK:  The main reason I made this short film is to show the world how children are exploited in poor working conditions in these places and to bring awareness to the public, global governments and other non-profit agencies throughout the world so that they may consider contributing to protect these children.  I sincerely thank The Valley Film Festival for screening this film and being a part of spreading the awareness.

JL:  OK, thanks for your time, and for sending us your film. 

VK:  Thank you.  For more information on the film, please visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2973224/

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The 14^th annual Valley Film Festival takes place December 10-14, 2014, at the all-digital Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood.  For more info, visit our website or Facebook page.  Butterfly Dreams screens with our Dramatic Shorts program at 12:00 noon, Saturday, December 13.