NYPD Blues

COPPERHEAD ROAD - Director Ian Ogden - 15 mins

Deeply affecting, no-holds-barred drama about a drunken woman's nightmarish run-in with a sociopathic New York cop.

Is anyone there?

FRIDAY NIGHT RITE - Director Kevin Napier - 8 mins

From the director of last year's festival hit, Rory Fielding, this revealing slice of New York life was shot guerilla-style on the NY subway. It reveals how a desperately lonely guy called Curly uses a platform phone to make his Friday night plans.

BUSINESS AS USUAL - Director Joe Hiscott - 10 mins

Described as an art-film version of The Corporation, this remarkable film asks the question: are 21st century business-leaders visionaries or monsters: men or machines, beasts or gods? And who, exactly, is really running things? Whether you live (and work) in New York, London, Tokyo or Brighton, this powerful film reveals the nightmare at the heart of our global economy.

More information about this film at: www.business--as--usual.com

ESTES AVENUE - Director Paul Cotter - 3 mins

Born in Brighton and based in London, Cotter is an award-winning film-maker who works mostly in the US. In this simple yet powerful short, he tells the story of five people living on the same street saying the same word at the same time. But each one has a very different reason.

2005 Sundance Film Festival - official selection

A BRAZILIAN IMMIGRANT - Director Daniel Florencio - 15 mins

Remarkable documentary combining live footage and animation to reveal the mistreatment of immigrants by Customs and Immigration staff at Heathrow airport. Although Florencio pulls no punches in this highly personal film, he cannot hide his underlying surprise and sadness that a country, famous for its democratic and liberal traditions, can treat people so badly.

TEAM QUEEN - Director Leah Meyerhoff - 4 mins

This full-on music video concerns the new girl in school who find herself thrown into a madhouse of high school hellcats. The cheerleaders are drag queens, the nerds are nymphos, the punks breathe fire and the prom band is none other than the queer post-punk phenomenon, Triple Creme. Featuring the some of the best New York burlesque performers: Murray Hill, Julie Atlas Muz, Scarlet Sinclair, 'Tigger', and 'Scotty the Blue Bunny'. Who?

'A gender-bending, fire-breathing, burlesque-performing, post-punk rock 'n roll prom.'

PINCH ME JESUS - Director James Scott 3 mins

Another festival outing for a truly hilariously bad-taste send up of American evangelical TV and its wall-to-wall money-grabbing 'ads. Not genuinely American, but totally authentic in look and feel...and made in Hove!

Joel Kuwahara

JOEL KUWAHARA RETROSPECTIVE

Although LA-based Kuwahara's film career has mainly involved producing TV animation series (including The Simpsons), he is also a talented documentary film-maker who uses the internet to put his work before a world audience. Produced to very high technical standards, his huge body of work is comprised mainly of fast-paced mini-docs with a maximum duration of 4 minutes. Viewed by many thousands of people each day, the films focus on lesser-known aspects of life in America's largest city that are rarely seen in mainstream cinema or TV.

For tonight's exclusive screening, Joel has filmed himself answering a series of questions put to him by Final Cut. This is the first time he has been on camera, so eat your collective hearts out all those JK fans around the world. We saw him first!

We screened 10 of Joel's films tonight - here is a taster

A+B PART 1 - Director Joel Kuwahara - 3:42 mins

The story of how 'Mashups' (bootlegs in the UK) started in LA back in 2002 and their development since then , mostly via the club scene and the internet, as told by top Mashup DJs Adrian & Mr D - and DJ 'Fab'. Needles to say, the record companies hate them and in A+B Part 2, Joel manages to film a couple of industry suits spouting the usual line (and no doubt snorting same in the exec 'washrooms' afterwards).

XBOX MODDING - Director Joel Kuwahara - 2:47 mins

Fascinating look at an underground industry in LA producing highly illegal modified XBoxes that play unauthorised versions of 'official' XBox games or different games from other sources, e.g. Atari.

SHOT CALLER BIKE CLUB - Director Joel Kuwahara - 2:41 mins

Wry film about a Los Angeles bicycle club who's members build and ride their own Harley-style 'low-rider' bikes. More chrome than you can point a stick at.

'ACID HEAD' RELEASE PARTY - Joel Kuwahara - 2:52 mins

You've heard of book signings, well in LA they have doll signings. Designer dolls have become very fashionable in this part of America and Joel's film covers yet another launch event - this time for a doll called Dunny (also an Australian expression for toilet). Best place for it, if you ask us, but it's fascinating to hear LA collectors/buyers explaining the attraction of these toys as they form long queues outside the shop to buy the latest version. It really is another world over there. We say, bring back Mutant Ninja Turtles.