Put on by the same people who produce the Akron Film Festival,
Revenge of the Freakishly Short Animation Festival returns for
the second year to the Akron Art Museum (1 S. High, Akron,
330.376.9185, akronartmuseum.org) for screenings at
7 p.m. Thursday, October 29, and 2 p.m. Saturday, October 31. One of
the highlights is the premiere of Seeds of the Damned, a film by
Akron-based director and animator Cory Sheldon. Sheldon made the entire
short — which he calls a “piteous look at botanical apartheid”
— on his home computer. The festival features 15 movies from the
U.S. and Europe, but the total running time is only 70 minutes. “Last
year was our first year to put together a Halloween program,” says
co-executive director Rob Lucas. “We were really inspired by its
success. It’s a unique program, especially for the Akron area. They’re
all original films by real filmmakers. It’s a short program, which is
kind of cool. It’s not three hours of difficult-to-swallow shorts. It’s
a really fun program.” For more information and to check out a trailer
for the festival, go to akronfilm.com.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers director Andrew Swensen will be in town on
Monday, November 2, to promote the upcoming Three Rivers Film
Festival, taking place in Pittsburgh November 6-21. He’ll introduce
the 7 p.m. films at the Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee Rd.) and then head
down the street to Jimmy O’Neill’s Tavern (2193 Lee Rd.) to meet
informally with film buffs. The Three Rivers Film Festival program
includes more than 50 films and a series of parties and post-screening
discussions. Go to 3rff.com for
information.

The Summit County Progressive Democrats are hosting a special
showing of Rethink Afghanistan, a documentary
about current U.S. involvement in that country. The screening takes
place at 7 p.m. Thursday, October 29, at the Akron-Summit County Public
Library (60 S. High St., 330.643.9000, akronlibrary.org) and will be followed
by a Q&A session with Afghan vets. The screening is free, but
reservations are required. Go to bravenewtheaters.com for more
information.

The 2380 Project Film Festival doesn’t take place until
mid-February, but organizers are currently looking for submissions, and
there’s no fee if you get your film to them before November 30. Contact
the festival’s director, Ben Sliwa at bensliwa@yahoo.com for more
information.

jniesel@clevescene.com

This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2009.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.