Take an unabashed ‘80s pop aesthetic, mix it with that indefinably unique Midwestern wistfulness, add a dash of surf rock and you get Coastal Club. Sweeping with an understated grandeur, this Ohio quartet crafts winsome tunes of immediate charm, luring you into their dayglo realm and calling you to abandon all cares.
$5 at the door
After a decade of making music together, Jim and Sam, a recently married singer/songwriter duo from Los Angeles, were not the conventionally successful band they hoped they’d be. Feeling stuck and anxious about their future, the duo made a spontaneous decision to go “all in,” making a pact to play one show every day for a year. With suitcases and a guitar, the troubadours ventured out for a 365-day tour down unexplored roads, and onto unexpected stages, bringing their music to new audiences throughout 14 different countries. After So Many Days, is an intimate front row seat to the highs and lows of what it’s like for two people to pursue a dream, together.
A struggling actor's life is turned upside down when his estranged mother appears on his doorstep with a terminal illness. Kenny’s mother, Barb, returns to his life in desperate circumstances and attempts to rekindle a relationship with a son she no longer understands. Their complicated relationship and the promise of buried treasure complicate every aspect of his life, which may not be a bad thing.
Float
HHM Jury Nomination: Best Cinematography
HHM Jury Nominations - Best Shorts 2019: The Wind Phone
In this Program
- The Drink
- Cosima Spender12mGBEnglish Narrative Short
- Cells
- Raymond Wood12mEnglish Narrative Short
- Sven
- Christopher Rucinski11mEnglish Narrative Short
- The Great Record Hunt
- Ethan Minsker, Shayne Kamat25mEnglish Documentary Short
- Dough
- Kurt Schneider9mEnglish Narrative Short
- THE WIND PHONE
- Kristen Gerweck16mJapanese (English Subtitles)Narrative Short
- Too Late
- Clayton Dean Smith4mEnglish Narrative Short
- Fuck you, Steve
- 9mEnglish Narrative Short
As all Hellions know, the best way to cap off a day of independent films is with a night of independent music. To that end, we give you the Hell’s Half Mile Friday Music Night!
Tickets available for Friday night or buy a Music Pass!
Good Feels on Wheels follows a twentysomething, Opal, during her weekend trip to Austin, Texas. After her long-distance romantic interest stands her up, she roams the streets of the hip city, aching for a connection. She hadn’t planned on traveling alone, but that’s how she finds herself when she meets Wyatt. And though they stumbled upon each other under somewhat undesirable circumstances, the pair set out for a day in the city that Opal will never forget (no matter how hard she may try).
A deliciously twisted comedy set in a demented, timeless suburbia where every adult wears braces on their straight teeth, couples coordinate meticulously pressed outfits, and coveted family members are swapped in more ways than one in this competition for acceptance. Suburban soccer moms find themselves constantly competing against each other in their personal lives as their kids settle their differences on the field.
Greener Grass
HHM Jury Nominations: Best Feature Film 2019, Best Screenplay, Best Lead Actress - Jocelyn DeBoer (Jill)
Follow the stories of three women in a re-entry house as they attempt to acclimate to life after being released from incarceration and battling addiction. Get to know their real hopes, dreams, desires, and disappointments, and gain insight into their choices. The house is full of diverse personalities driven by survival instincts, and characters who use their humor and intelligence to deal with a broken justice system - a system that contributes to the recidivism of its criminals.
Guest House
~ ~ World Premiere ~ ~
A crust punk named Bug grapples with the realities of homelessness, mental health, drug use and toxic friendships. On his 21st birthday he resolves to find his way home to the family he left behind, a task that leads him and his misfit crew down a dangerous path.
Gutterbug
HHM Jury Nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Soundtrack, Best Lead Actor - Andrew Yackel (Bug)
The HHM Film Slam pits filmmaking teams against the clock creating a fun, challenging and highly creative collaborative challenge by making a 3-7 minute short film in just 2 days, September 20-21!
Estranged from his manipulative cancer-stricken mother, a handsome teenage boy deforms his face with bandages and joins a therapy workshop for disfigured patients in a misguided attempt to reconnect with her. His deception leads the group in a radical new direction that will require them to find courage that they didn’t know that they had to show their true face to the world.
Happy Face
HHM Jury Nomination: Best Feature Film 2019, Best Screenplay, Best Soundtrack, Best Lead Actor - Robin L' Houmeau (Stan), Best Lead Actress - Debbie Lynch-White (Vanessa)
A warm slice-of-life film about Fiona and her younger brother Tom, whom she takes care of. We follow Fiona over a few life-changing summer months on the north-western coast of Norway, where she juggles the care of her brother, her job at the local ferry and her interest in music.
Hurry Slowly
HHM Jury Nominations: Best Feature Film 2019, Best Cinematography, Best Lead Actress - Amalie Ibsen Jensen (Fiona)
When Skylar, a cloistered nun, gets word of her sister’s death, her life’s future suddenly comes into question. Granted eight days outside the convent by the Mother Abbess, Skylar ventures out on a pilgrimage to the religious town of Chimayo, New Mexico, where her sister is buried. On her journey Skylar is joined by two other outsiders, a runaway teenager and a train-hopping drifter, whose presence and friendship challenge her life’s dedication to God. I AM THAT is a sparkling modern pop style film whose novelty and original soundtrack breathe new life into the timeless story about the pursuit to find connection and certainty in one’s life.
A touchstone in the lives of millions of young people, as well as a home for musicians and filmmakers to display their frequently offbeat sense of artistic vision, upstart music network MTV burst onto televisions on August 1, 1981. Via a combination of the scrappy handful of young adults serving as hosts, the fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants production style, and the music mini-movies that were the foundation of the original channel, MTV was like nothing Americans had ever seen before.
Best friends Jack and Yaya celebrate their 30th year of friendship in their hometown in South Jersey alongside a motley crew of extended family and neighbors. While they party and reminisce, Jack and Yaya support each other as they both fight for acceptance as openly trans people.
The eccentric Captain Seafield hires a crew of specialists to help him plot revenge against the creature that killed his father. After several failed attempts, Seafield is forced to take matters into his own drunken hands. What began as a simple case of man verses beast, soon turns into a rabbit hole of mysterious unknowns and Lovecraftian hijinks. Lake Michigan Monster -- banned in four lakes!
Abandoned: Chris Randall (writer, director, producer)
Apollyon: Bret Miller (writer, director), Emily Nichols (producer), Adam Rock (DP), Steve VanMaele (gaffer), Jimmy Doom (actor)
Inhuman: Hayley Tibbenham (writer, director, actor)
In Good Health: Jerrod Rachow (director, cinematographer), Logan Histed (sound op, script manager), Rachel M Beck (actor), Bryan Landon (actor)
License & Registration: Chris Randall (co-producer)
Magic Moe's: Joel Lopez (director), Brian Lewless (producer), Khalen Berry (actor)
Nephrectomy: Kevin Lazzaro (actor, editor), Trevor Bluew (director), Kelly Winters (cinematographer, make-up artist), Stephanie Miller (screenwriter, prop-designer)
The Orchestra: Curtis Matzke (writer, director, producer) Justin Reifert (producer)
Stood Up: Jeff Vande Zande (writer, director, producer)
Timmy and the Dream Killers: Jeremy Berkowitz (co-director, producer, writer), Esteban Melean (co-director, producer)
Like many 9-year-old boys, Eli Braverman believes something menacing lives in his basement. When his older sister leaves him home alone one night, Eli discovers if this evil is real or all in his head. What Eli confronts may end up being far more terrifying than even his worst nightmare.
Celebrate the 14th Annual Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival with a community of music lovers, film lovers, and filmmakers. Hang out in the beautiful Pere Marquette Depot and enjoy tasty snacks, fun drinks, a little music, and whole lot of lively conversation.
Tickets are available for the party only, the party and the opening night film, or purchase an All Access Pass to get in to every reception, music event, and film.
A dark comedy based on true events, Postal reimagines the emotional meltdown of Philip Tress, a Jacksonville millennial described by local media as “unable to break from a psychotic, unrequited love affair." Phil's downfall gained notoriety as his breakdown was documented by multiple recordings of calls Phillip made to a customer service agent at an international shipping company. Bronco brings us into the heart and mind of Phillip Tress on the morning his downward spiral began.
Postal
HHM Jury Nominations: Best Feature Film 2019, Best Lead Actor - Michael Shenefelt (Phillp Tress)
Marion Stokes secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years from 1975 until her death in 2012. For Marion taping was a form of activism to seek the truth, and she believed that a comprehensive archive of the media would be invaluable for future generations. Her visionary and maddening project nearly tore her family apart, but now her 70,000 VHS tapes are being digitized and they’ll be searchable online.
Josh, played by Justin Long, is an adjunct creative writing instructor who spends a week reconnecting with his family while defending his reputation over controversial behavior at his college and the backlash to a class discussion that he saw as innocent but others felt crossed the line. Beyond college controversies about speech and standards, he must navigate the human dramas of his separated parents, played by Fran Drescher and Richard Schiff, and his ailing grandmother.
Safe Spaces
HHM Jury Nominations: Best Feature Film 2019, Best Soundtrack
When it comes to the music side of the Hell’s Half Mile Film & Music Festival, it all builds to this. The Saturday night event at the Warehouse is the grand poobah of HHM music events.
This year’s lineup features the Prude Boys (Detroit) and co-headliners the Mynabirds (Los Angeles) and Dilly Dally (Toronto).
Special Guests:
Companion: Andrew Greco (Director), James Cates (Assistant Director), Susan Bohl (Producer), Nor Seyedmorteza (Sound Recordist, Engineer, Audio mix/master, Folly, Composer), Anne Cates (UPM)
Bay County Historical Museum
SeriesFest is a non-profit organization dedicated to championing artists at the forefront of episodic storytelling. With year-round educational programs, initiatives supporting underserved voices, and professional development opportunities, SeriesFest inspires, educates, and connects a worldwide community of creators.
Each June, SeriesFest culminates in a highly-curated and celebrated Denver-based festival and marketplace. Dedicated to showcasing innovative episodic content, the annual festival (June 18-24, 2020) also includes a musical performance and network screening at the world-renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre, in-competition independent pilot screenings, panels, workshops, live reads, parties and network television premieres.
Adam Wolnik graduates college next semester and he is anxious, especially when it comes to his long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Lauren. What's next? Marriage? Cohabitation? Separation? When Adam tells Lauren about his fears she suggests they take a break...a sex-break in order to experience other sexual encounters before they tie the knot. What could go wrong? Adam will spend his last semester fumbling through clumsy attempts at casual sex and dealing with the fallout. He discovers that his sexual adventures are mirrored by his animal behavior class, thus proving that humans, especially young drunk humans, aren't immune to shows of aggression, courtship, and stupidity.
Sexual Animals
~ ~ World Premiere ~ ~
In this Program
- Cold Storage
- Thomas Freundlich9mFinlandEnglish Narrative Short
- The Slows
- Nicole Perlman20mEnglish Narrative Short
- Behave, Kids
- Tripp Crosby10mEnglish Narrative Short
- La Merde
- Ben Adam-Harris8mGBEnglish Narrative Short
- Vanished At the Finish
- Jason Cooper17mEnglish, Italian (English Subtitles)Documentary Short
- The right night (Le bon soir)
- Jeremias Nussbaum9mFranceFrench (English Subtitles)Narrative Short
- I, Rose
- Daniele Guerra13mGBEnglish Narrative Short
- Seven
- Benjamin Saad11mGBEnglish, Norwegian, Russian (English Subtitles)Narrative Short
- Asparagus Tips
- Sam Bailey4mEnglish Narrative Short
Cynthia and Mary show up to collect Cynthia's inheritance from her deceased grandfather, but the only item she receives is an antique sword that was believed by her grandfather to be proof that the South won the Civil War. When they take the sword to a grumpy pawn shop owner, they learn that there might be more to the sword than they thought and the group begins a tour through the American South in this timely comedy.
Closing Night Film --- Violet is a shy teenager who dreams of escaping her small town and pursuing her passion to sing. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a local singing competition that will test her integrity, talent and ambition. Driven by a pop-fueled soundtrack, Teen Spirit is a visceral and stylish spin on the Cinderella story.
A freewheeling comedian determined to save her family business persuades an uptight entrepreneur to go on a road trip to sell a van with a complicated history. Romance ignites on their three day trip south to New Orleans, but is tested as they discover each other's secrets. When the van sale deteriorates, they must decide if their connection is worth more than an old van.