Crush It All Weekend Long

To properly fall in love with the Crush, we highly recommend staying until Monday.

The Walla Walla Movie Crush is programmed thematically, comprised of short films packaged in hour long blocks.  In each block, you’re likely to find a mix of animation, live action, documentary, and music video.  

Blocks run 45 - 50 minutes total, with a few minutes leftover to enjoy conversation with visiting filmmakers (moderated by Movie Crush curator Warren Etheredge), transition between blocks, and refill your wine glass.

💙 = member of filmmaking team in attendance

❤️ = CrushFam (work has been shown at a previous Movie Crush and/or previously served as a Crush juror)

🏆 = 2020 Movie Crush award finalist

🌎 = World Theatrical Premiere

Schedule of Films

Friday, July 10 | 6PM-10PM

6:00 PM: AFTER-ACTION REVIEW
presented by Micki & Bryce Breitenstein

Politicians provide reasons for going to war, historians discuss the geo-political impacts. Too few, however, are concerned or charged with evaluating what happens to the women and men who serve and to those who survive war. Here, American veterans from multiple conflicts and Korean children recall what happened, question why it did and wonder how to move forward healthfully. 

  • DISPATCHES FROM THE VIETNAM WAR (d. Keith Lane)

  • THE BUBBLEMAN (d. Sachin Dheeraj Mudigonda)

  • 1951 (d. Jay Lee)

  • THE LONG RIVER HOME (d. Seth Dahl)

7:00 PM: VIRAL VIDEOS
presented by Diana Knauf and Björn Levidow

Social distancing, sanitizing and masks may be smart ways to prevent further transmission of COVID-19, but even stay-at-home orders can’t stop moviemakers from creating art in response to our national health crisis. Here, a virtual care package of shorts that address life in (and out of) quarantine, from love-making to heart-breaking, from home-schooling to Earth-learning. All you need to do is watch and… listen.

  • EVERYBODY MUST STAY HOME (d. Stephen Goldblatt)

  • YOU HAVE MY RESPECT (d. Kathryn Bigelow)

  • BEYOND NOH (d. Patrick Smith, Kaori Ishida)  ❤️🌎

  • HOLD THE NIGHT (d. Kevin Tadge)

  • LOVE IN THE TIME OF CORONA (d. Anne Windsland, Sam Rex)

  • BLOOD WILL ALWAYS BE (d. Jared Varava) 🌎

  • PETS IN ISOLATION (d. Ze Frank)

  • NOT OK (QUARANTINE EDITION)  (d. Will Kindrick)  ❤️

  • THE QUIET (d. Mateo Marquez)  ❤️🌎

  • EVEN THIS IS GOING TO PASS (d. Antje Duvekot)

  • SEE YOU AFTER QUARANTINE (d. Alex Oliver)  ❤️

  • YOU CAN’T STOP US (d. Oscar Hudson)

  • #ASCOLTA (#LISTEN)  (d. Darinka Montico)

8:00 PM: MEN OF VISION

If you build it up, others will come… to their senses? This is appears to be the m.o. of many males who think speaking louder, trying harder is all one needs to succeed. Here, an extreme athlete, a novice art collector, a Muslim convert, a mansplainer and a dumb cluck, all try to put the man back in manifesting destinies.

  • 1 OUT OF 30 (d. Vishnu Vallabhaneni)  🏆

  • PETER’S PAINTING (d. Olivier Bernier)  🏆❤️

  • LIFEHACK (d. Will Dennis)

  • EGG (d. Michael J. Goldberg)

  • SOUVENIR (d. Aaron Bourget)  ❤️💙🌎

  • THE FLIP (d. Reed Rickert)  🏆

9:00 PM: LADYLIKE?

One size doesn’t fit all, how could it? Yet society still begs the female-identifying to conform to centuries-old “standards” and to smile and accept inequities in pay, pride and opportunity. Here, myriad women — celebs, stand-ups, teachers and mentors — define their roles, defend their sisters and demand their rights.

  • BE A LADY THEY SAID (d. Paul McLean)

  • THE KNOT (d. Lizzy Sanford)   ❤️

  • A LETTER TO MYSELF AT 16 (d. Claire Tankersley)

  • LITTLE CHIEF (d. Erica Tremblay)

  • WISH YOU WERE GAY (d. Christina Xing)

  • LLAMA (d. Sammi Cohen)

  • BLACK GIRL POEM (d. Daryl Paris Bright)

  • BROKEN BIRD (d. Rachel Harrison Gordon) 🏆

Saturday, July 11 | 11AM-8PM

11:00 AM: YOUNG AT ART

Just because one hasn’t yet graduated from high school doesn’t mean one can’t make movies masterfully. Here, a collection of some of the year’s best shorts created by moviemakers still in their teens, including tales of crusades, compulsions, heartache, heart surgery and… The Fab Four!?!

  • FIRST SIGHT (d. Peter Prudente)  ❤️💙

  • TATTWO (d. Emma Nebeker)  🏆

  • REST THIS WORRIED HEART (d. Catherine McCord)

  • THE RULE OF FOURS (d. Max Rogoff)  🏆

  • PRAY FOR WATER (d. Rene Rehak)  🏆

  • DEAR AMERICA (d. Molly Smith, Sage Croft)

  • KEEP YOUR HEAD UP, SWEET PEA! (d. Sophie Meissner)  🏆

  • YOU’RE GONNA BE OKAY (d. Catherine McCord)  🏆

NOON: AND THE BEAT GOES ON?

If music calms the savage breast, what happens when it stops? If we fail to find our daily rhythms, can there only be discord? Here, a municipal school district, a bickering couple, an exiled punk, a troubled drummer and a wary dreamer… face the music and the absence of it.

  • BROKEN ORCHESTRA (d. Charlie Tyrell)

  • SOUTH X (d. JP Olsen)

  • HUNGRY CHILD (d. Saman Kesh)

  • EX-DISPOSER (d. Daniel Ferrer)  🏆

  • LOST TIME (d. Leo Pfeifer)  🏆

1:00 PM: WHEELS OF FORTUNE

For those confined to wheelchairs, genetically or accidentally, life needn’t be handicapped. With the right attitude, a little muscle and a whole lot of grit and imagination, you can keep on rolling. Meet an extreme athlete, a dance-floor beauty, a compassionate guardian, a loving brother, and a racing champ all ready to get behind and beyond the wheels.

  • DAY 1 (d. Josh Berman)

  • A$$ LEVEL (d. Alison Becker)   ❤️

  • LOWLAND KIDS (d. Sandra Winther)

  • UNCHAINED (d. Clara Aranovich)

2:00 PM: THE HAUNTED

The outside world can be a scary place, but nothing is more frightening than the memories we carry, the nightmares we invent. Here, an agoraphobe, an animal-lover, an athlete and a Holocaust survivor confront their greatest fears and live to tell their tales.

  • STUCCO (d. Janina Gavankar, Russo Schelling)  🏆

  • SEE ANIMALS (d. Scott Wenner)  🏆

  • TOMMY JOHN (d. Alex Goldberg)

  • COLETTE (d. Anthony Giacchino)

3:00 PM:  FLUID, BODILY

Gender is a construct, identity is a mindset. Either can change as fast as fashion or be as set and solid as mountains. No matter, neither comes at any expense to others; so why do so many question an individual’s rights to see themselves, be themselves, as they choose? Here, a celebration of those who blaze their own trails daily in whatever mode compels them. Meet clubbers and tomboys, cross-dressers and trans adventurers all of whom choose their own — sometimes secret, sometimes not — identities.

  • HOUSE OF [AS] (d. Leah Shore)

  • A CLUB CALLED RHONDA (d. Greg Ferro)

  • THE MAN (d. Taylor Swift)

  • AYE, BOY (d. My-Hanh Lac)  💙🏆

  • FEEL LIKE HOME (d. Joseph Robert Redl)

  • VENTURE OUT (d. Palmer Morse, Matt Mikkelsen, Jamie DiNicola)   ❤️

4:00 PM: MORAL ACCOUNTING

Ultimately, we may or may not be judged by a higher power, but while we are alive, it’s up to each of us to hold ourselves and others accountable, spiritually as much as legally. Here, war crimes, acts of censorship, xenophobic policies and climate crises are addressed by individuals eager to balance the books and pull us out of the moral red.

  • NAZI VR (d. David Freid)  🏆  ❤️

  • THE GATEKEEPERS (d. Elyse Kelly)  ❤️

  • WELCOME STRANGERS (d. Dia Sokol Savage)

  • THIS IS THE WAY WE RISE (d. Ciara Lacy)  🏆

5:00 PM: PHONING IT IN

We all have our hang-ups, but our attachment to our smartphones may be moving from habit to addiction. Can we live without them? Here, New Yorkers and Californians, siblings and spouses, technophobes and influencers — heck, even Green Day! —all try to put down their devices or be put down for them.

  • GREG (d. Will Dennis)

  • THIS IS MY FLIP (d. Sean Pecknold)  ❤️

  • BASIC (d. Chelsea Devantez)

  • OH YEAH! (d. Malia James)

  • PRIVACY PLEASE (d. Anjali Nath) 🌎

  • NEW PILGRIMAGE (d. Barna Szász) 🌎

  • LAST CALL (d. Richard Gerst)  ❤️

  • NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM (d. Kirsten Lepore)  🏆  ❤️

  • WAKE UP (d. Olivia Wilde)

6:00 PM: INTIMACY COORDINATION

If you want to round the bases, you’ve got to step into the batter’s box and learn to swing… the right way. Here, an American gigolo, a speed-dater, a co-worker, the cuckold, bros, sistahs, neighbors and the common housefly learn how to get their game on before they get their groove on.

  • UNFINISHED BUSINESS (d. Mary Dauterman)

  • SECRETS (d. King Bach)

  • STAR OR POUND (d. Will Dennis)

  • LOVE AT FIRST LIGHT (d. Cain)

  • QUERY (d. Sophie Kargman)

  • I DON’T WANT TO BE YOUR LOVE (d. Zach Shields)

  • HE WANTS TO KNOW MY NUMBER (d. Sakinah Iman)

  • SHARPEST EDGES (d. Bennett Johnson)

  • SOMETHING LIKE LONELINESS (d. Ben Epstein, Seth Epstein)  🏆

7:00 PM: ANGER MISMANAGEMENT

Do men ever learn how to deal with their emotions properly? Evidence suggests that many men have no idea what do wither their feelings and certainly haven’t found enough outlets for their ire. Here, scientists and students, office workers and buskers, an actor and an entrepreneur all release steam in less than healthy, though sometimes humorous ways.

  • TALK OUTSIDE (d. Austin Davison)

  • NATURE PLANET: STAFFER DUEL (d. Michael Sime)

  • ASSHOLES (d. Jonny Look)

  • A HOLE (d. Molly Murphy)  🏆

  • GOLDMAN V SILVERMAN (d. Josh & Benny Safdie)

  • THE OPPOSITES GAME (d. Anna Samo, Lisa LaBracio)  🏆

  • EAR ACHE (d. Alex Kavutskiy)  🏆  ❤️

Sunday, July 12 | 12PM-5PM & 7PM-9PM

NOON: WHO’S YOUR DADDY?

Fathers don’t know best, not even close. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t try; sometimes they even succeed in being loving, caring and… surprising, even themeselves. Here, four dads face very different parenting challenges and reveal the men behind the masks.

  • WONDER (d. Javier Molina)  🏆

  • BAD HOMBRE (d. Mohammad Gorjestani)  ❤️

  • ONLY THE MOON (SOLAMENTE LA LUNA)  (d. Maya Cueva)  🏆

  • THE ONE YOU NEVER FORGET (d. Morgan Jon Fox)

1:00 PM: MOTHERS’ DAZE

A mother’s work is never done and the strain is starting to show. Over a lifetime of cooking, cleaning and child-caring, who can blame these moms for giving voice to their anger, their joy, their heartache, their hope, their opinions and their dreams. From the baby-blessed to the empty nest, these women take charge in unexpected ways and, once a year, they are recognized for their heroic efforts.

  • IRONRITE (d. Clayton Combe)

  • MARIPOSA (d. Kristian Mercado Figueroa)

  • ZOE AND HANH (d. Kim Tran)

  • MOTHER’S SONG (d. Signe Baumane)  ❤️

  • BLOCKS (d. Bridget Moloney)

  • THE LUMINEERS: DONNA (d. Kevin Phillips)

  • NOTHING TO SEE HERE (d. Amy Barham)  🏆❤️

  • DIA DE LA MADRE (d. Ashley Brandon, Dennis Hohne)

2:00 PM: THE DRUG STORE

You want to unwind… take the edge off… forget… escape… Hard to blame you. These are trying times. Everyone needs a break. But when one drink turns to one bottle, one high turns to habit, addiction takes over and we are doomed to repeat our patterns. Here, we meet some folks as they fall towards rock bottom and others walking the road to recovery: mothers, loggers, a sister, a male model and… Hunter S. Thompson?

  • CANDY SHOP (d. Patrick Smith)  ❤️

  • THE LUMINEERS: GLORIA (d. Kevin Phillips)

  • RECOVERY COUNTY (d. Cody Ball)

  • INTO THE WOODS (WITH A CHAINSAW) (d. Elyse Kelly)  ❤️

  • 6 AM (READY TO WRITE) (d. Ian Pons Jewell)

  • A SISTER’S HOPE (d. Michael Marantz)

  • ETRE A L’OUEST (d. Bianca Poletti)  ❤️🌎

  • BILLY (d. Francisco Gonzalez Sendino)

3:00 PM: KISS MY ASH

Whether or not one believes climate change is the reason, there is no denying that the frequency and fury of forest fires increases annually. So, we best learn how to limit and live with their destructive power. Here, a filmmaker finds terrifying beauty in the flames, a potter crafts arts from the ashes and the home-insecure discover what truly matters.

  • CALIFORNIA ON FIRE (d. Jeff Frost)

  • IGNIS (d. Ashleigh McArthur)

  • HOUSE ON FIRE: DIGNITY VILLAGE & KENTON WOMEN’S VILLAGE (d. Reed Harkness, Heather Hawksford)  ❤️

4:00 PM: BLACK LIVES & WHITE LIES
presented by Bill & Bonnie Szuch

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper.” Thus, a cry becomes a shout becomes a protest becomes a revolution. Those who shout, eventually, will be heard. Those who remain quiet, ultimately, will lose their voices. Here, BIPOC women and men spill their stories, while white folks whisper theirs…

  • DEAR BRUH: A EULOGY, A BAPTISM, A CALL TO ACTION (d. Ya’Ke Smith)

  • ELEGY ENDING WITH A CELL DOOR CLOSING (d. Louisa Bertman)

  • BLACK GHOST SON (d. Chris Low)  🏆

  • SUE ME (d. Kerby Jean-Raymond)

  • ASMR FOR WHITE LIBERALS (d. John Connor Hammond)

  • ABOUT FACE (d. Yoram Savion)

  • BROTHER (d. Ya’Ke Smith)   🏆

  • AN ANTI-RACIST PSA FOR WHITE PEOPLE FROM WHITE PEOPLE (d. Erin Greenwell)  ❤️

7:00 PM: CRUSH CHALLENGE: FOUR MORE YEARS?

As is Crush tradition, Artistic Director Warren Etheredge has invited ten of his favorite moviemakers/moviemaking teams to create brand-new short movies in response to a single, unifying prompt. The moviemakers are given no constraints other than this year’s prompt (“the rule of three"), and the guideline that the completed piece may be no longer than seven minutes.  The shorts can be any genre or style, and are meant to reflect a diverse range of creative expression. No one — including the Crush team — will have seen these movies until they hit the Power House screen this evening.

This year’s participants are:

  • Tiffany Bartok   💙

  • Erin Greenwell  ❤️

  • additional names to be confirmed - stay tuned!

8:00 PM: Walla Walla Movie Crush Award Ceremony

Like good parents with their children, we love all of the movies we program equally. That’s why we have called upon multiple juries comprised of Oscar®-winners, nominees, cult heroes and up-and-coming superstars to select this year’s best shorts. The presentation is a wildly entertaining, semi-formal celebration of talent and perseverance.

Awards will be announced for Best Narrative, Best Documentary, Best Animation, Best Youth Short, Best Screenplay, and Best Performance. Additionally, Warren will proclaim the winner of the Curator’s Choice Award as well as the winner of our first Short Script competition, and the dedicated movie-lovers who watched every single short this weekend (aka The Iron Ass Jury) will determine the 2020 Audience Award.