Virginia Film Festival

A collection of short films devoted to the art and obsession of craftwork. From a mother making stained-glass pyramids to honor her late son, to a group of hearse-driving car enthusiasts, to a master gardener dedicated to preserving heirloom seeds, these films explore hobbies and passions that are anything but ordinary. Films include:

Coffin Cruisin’

2015. USA. 16 min. Director: Brenton Richardson.

The Carolina Coffin Cruisers are a taboo-breaking Charlotte-based club of macabre motorists. These creepy classic car enthusiasts convoy the Carolinas to share their appreciation of hearses and all things Halloween.

Glass Gardens

2015. USA. 7 min. Director: Leon Guanzon. Featuring: John Wharton.

The story of a slightly obsessive, yet ordinary guy who built a business selling creative energy and artistic passion with succulent terrarium gardens in Norfolk, Virginia.

John’s Follies

2015. USA. 8 min. Director: Bruce Dale. Featuring: John Henry.

A short film about a successful businessman with an obsession for building in stone. His artistic side is expressed in his stone wall creations: there are seven which he calls his “Follies.” His follies range from one large circle consisting of tall stones brought back from Indonesia to an amphitheater, which seats 500 people.

Last Pyramid

2015. USA. Director: Dave Schachter.

Following her son Kevin’s epilepsy-related death in 2001, Patricia Barnes thought her life was over until one day she awoke with the urge to create a series of stained glass pyramids. Thirteen years and twenty pyramids later, Trish has decided to complete the final piece and move forward from her loss. A story of healing through creation, Last Pyramid will chronicle Trish’s journey from tragedy to triumph as she finishes her final tribute to the life of her child.

Prairie

2015. USA. 16 min. Director: William Wylie.

This documentary chronicles the first week of practice for the Prairie Mustangs six-man football squad, a small rural high school located within the Pawnee National Grasslands in eastern Colorado. Thirteen teenagers come together to develop a team out on the extraordinary expanse of the Great Plains. Shot under the dramatic skies of the open prairie, the landscape functions as an austere stage set for the dance-like repetitions and synchronized dynamics of the players.

Seed Saver

2015. USA. 4 min. Director: Kenneth Price.

In the past 100 years we have lost 93% of our planet’s seed diversity. John Coykendall, master gardener of Blackberry Farm, has dedicated his life to growing and preserving heirloom varieties of seeds to ensure irrecoverable losses are slowed.

Signwriter

2015. USA. 5 min. Director: Paul Zinder.

Graham Brown has his dream job; he’s painted signs and narrowboats on British canals for sixty years. His life is exactly what he wants it to be.

Tuba Guy

2015. USA. 4 min. Director: Vinh Le. Featuring: Jay Converse.

Jay Converse can be seen walking around George Mason University’s campus with his sousaphone, spitting out tunes and literal fire. He’s not homeless. He’s not a dragon. He’s the Tuba Guy.