Macon Film Festival announces 2014 competition lineup for Animation, Documentary categories

The Macon Film Festival is getting an early start on its 9th edition. Today, the festival announced its competition lineup in the Documentary Feature, Documentary Short and Animation categories. The festival takes place from February 27th through March 2nd.

While the selections in these categories showcase films from the USA, Iceland, the Netherlands and Russia, the festival will also feature selections from France, India, Italy, Lebanon, Sweden and the United Kingdom. More films will be announced in the coming weeks, including the competition lineups for the Narrative Feature, Narrative Short, Student Short, Music Documentary and Music Video categories. Each night of the Macon Film Festival features a special screening, often including a special guest and/or anniversary presentation of a beloved film. Wonderful music documentary "Muscle Shoals" has already been announced as the first special screening for the 2014 festival.

Check out the first films announced after the jump. More information will be posted as it becomes available. In the meantime, check out www.maconfilmfestival.com for more information.

Documentary Features

A Fragile Trust
Director: Samantha Grant (USA)

The shocking story of Jayson Blair, the most infamous serial plagiarist of our time, and how he unleashed the massive scandal that rocked the New York Times and the entire world of journalism.

Bittersweet

Director: Marieke Niestadt (Netherlands)

Female boxer Diana Prazak always want to fight the best in her league, therefore she accepts the invitation by the number one in the world Frida Wallberg to fight her for the WBC world title in Stockholm. Lucia Rijker, former 6x world champion, coaches Dianato prepare her physically and mentally for the toughest fight of her life and her biggest and most paralyzing fear: losing. In Stockholm they are confronted with the picture-perfect Frida and her glamorous and extended entourage. The brutal fight however, takes a dramatic turn. Diana is left to consider if she truly got what she wished for.

Landfall: The Eyes of Sandy

Director: Andrew Pearson (USA)

The resurgence of the Long Beach Island Communities and Stafford Township, New Jersey following the wake of Super Storm Sandy.

Linar

Director: Nastia Tarasova (Russia)

Linar doesn’t have a heart. The boy can’t grow up without it. Linar embarks on a journey to another country in search of a heart. It is a long and gradual initiation ceremony for a boy to wait for the heart transplantation and to get accustomed to a new organ. One by one his guardians accompany Linar from death to adult life. In two years Linar comes back to his huge Motherland, where hundreds of children are waiting for new hearts.


Documentary Shorts

Herd in Iceland
Director: Lindsay Blatt (Iceland/USA)
For over 1,000 years, Icelandic law has made it illegal to import horses onto the island. For that reason, Icelandic horses are a pure breed, isolated by oceanic borders. During the summer months, the horses live a remote and wild existence, grazing in the highlands and raising their young. Every September, they are rounded up by local farmers and directed across the rugged terrain to reunite with their owners. It's a breathtaking tradition that unites the country. "Herd in Iceland," a film by Lindsay Blatt and Paul Taggart, documents the annual horse round-up. The result is a unique and moving portrait of Iceland's people, horses, and stunning landscape.

Humanexus
Directors: Katy Borner, Ying-Fang Shen (USA)
The human race has long searched for meaningful interpersonal connections. Tools and technologies have made it easier to reach out and share ideas, but each presents a new, unforeseen challenge. We must always ask: 'Is this what we want? What do we want?'

I’ll Be Fine
Director: Micha Hilliard (USA)
A family, their home, and the trials of living with a nineteen-year-old son who has autism. In the past, Tim's behavior was deeply upsetting. Rarely did a day pass without confrontation. His parents, Richard and Rebecca, awaited the school bus with tense shoulders and baited breath. Tim is doing better now. Years of experience have helped him to bring his behavior under control. His progress, however, is still tenuous to his parents. They remember his earlier behavior and fear that he could regress. There is a delicate peace in their home, but Tim's autism constantly threatens to undermine it all. Love alone holds their family together as they face everyday exhaustion and an unknown future.

Jungle Warfare College
Director: Jesse Veverka (USA)
When people think of India they think of spiritual awakening, 'the world’s largest democracy,' lush jungles and the towering Himalaya. But inside this country of 1.1 billion is an ongoing insurgency that tests the limits of India’s constitutional democracy. Chhattisgarh, a new state formed in 2000 is the center of a Maoist uprising that has continued since the 1960s. “Jungle Warfare College” is a documentary short that shows a cross section of this conflict and Brigadier BK Ponwar who vows to fight it.

Soaring on Invisible Wings
Director: Jamari Perry (USA)
Her entire life Jamari Perry has watched her mother struggle with Lupus. Now an adult, she wonders how to best help her aging mother, all the while knowing that she has a 10% chance of getting this chronic illness. There is no cure for lupus. An autoimmune disease, it can attack any organ of the body. Primarily a disease of African American women, until recently there was very little information about lupus. It is called a quiet disease because its effects vary from person to person and its painful symptoms are sometimes invisible. "Soaring on Invisible Wings" follows Jamari's journey into the lives of four women and their families as they grapple with an incurable disease and uncover the courage to keep living.


Animation

Baxter
Director: Ty Coyle (USA)
The story revolves around a raccoon and a candy store. Baxter, the obsessive-compulsive raccoon, breaks into Granny's Sweet Shop to clean, color coordinate, and reorganize the disorderly candy store. However, Baxter's compulsiveness to clean everything ultimately leads to the destruction of the shop itself. In the end, Baxter is so upset he breaks the last remaining unbroken jar of candy.

Building a Relationship
Director: Brittany Portman (USA)
Red Brick, a dilapidated red brick building, is part of urban blight. Steele N. Glass is a magnificent structure that adorns the skyline and stands next to Red Brick. Red Brick is infatuated with Steele and wishes to win her. Watch Red Brick as his transformation unfolds in this Eco romantic film short. Ah...love is in the air!

The Mega Plush
Director: Matt Burniston (USA)
As night falls over the city, an epic showdown is about to take place. The evil Monkey Foot clan has been laying a trap for Mega Bear, one of the four heroes who makeup The Mega Plush, four vigilante plush toys with an attitude.

Light Me Up
Director: Derek Dolechek (USA)
Meet the Wattsons, a family of light bulbs that work in an antique shop. Frank and Linda run a business of managing all the bulbs in the store. When they ask their son, Louie, to take over, they find out he has bigger dreams of traveling across the street to be a spotlight in the local theater.

Sole Searching
Directors: Aaron Cullen, Erica Bardin (USA)
Sole, a lone white sock, sets out to make the journey of his life as here counts the horrible day when his other half named Mate went missing. What lies outside the sock drawer is a scary mystery but one this right tube must face to find his love.