Crush It All Weekend Long

The Walla Walla Movie Crush is programmed thematically, comprised of shorts 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 moviemakers (moderated by Crush Curator, Warren Etheredge), transition between blocks, and refill your wine glass.

IMPORTANT: Please note that all content is unrated and may not be suitable for younger viewers.

KEY FOR SYMBOLS:
⭐ = moviemaker in attendance
🏆 = 2023 Movie Crush award finalist
🌏 = world premiere
❤️ = CrushFam (work has been shown at a previous Movie Crush and/or previously served as a Crush juror)

SCHEDULE OF FILMS

FRIDAY, JULY 7 | 6PM-9PM

6:00 PM: OFF DUTY

You can take the individual out of the service, but you can’t take the service out of the individual. Combat comes with a cost. Meet those who are still fighting at home with the repercussions of their time in the armed forces. Anxiety, addiction, PTS, and moral injury are the enemies captured in this trio of stirring shorts.

  • THE ARMY WE HAD (d. Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker)

  • CHECKED BAGS (d. Mark Cline)

  • RACHEL (d. Zen Pace)

7:00 PM: BEREAVE IT OR NOT

Death is not an end, it is a beginning. At least, it most certainly is for those who outlive the deceased. Here, five varied lessons in how we cope with loss – whether the passing of parents, friends, strangers, our world, or our own pending demises.

  • TAKE ME HOME (d. Liz Sargent) 🏆

  • EVERYTHING WRONG AND NOWHERE TO GO (d. Sindha Agha) ❤️

  • EXISTENTIAL (d. Kaiya McMurdo) 

  • DEADMAN DEADMAN DEADMAN (d. Dylan Friese-Greene)

  • THE OLD YOUNG CROW (d. Liam LoPinto) 🏆

8:00 PM: OUTSIDE THE BOX
Presented by Diana Knauf & Björn Levidow

Wandering eyes often can’t see quite where they’re headed. Is that paradise or a pothole ahead? Co-workers, co-habitators, musical otters, and a naughty bookbinder all push the limits of their lovers’ knowledge and tolerance. 

  • CHASIN’ BUTTERFLIES  (d. Matt Klug, Adam Hobbs, Josh Harding) ⭐

  • THREE SECOND TRILOGY (d. Aaron Bourget) ⭐ 🌏 ❤️

  • BODY LANGUAGE (d. Leo Pfeifer) ❤️

  • LE BALLET DU POMMES DE MERDE (THE NUTCRACKER)  (d. The Western Cuck Exchange) ❤️

  • NOTICE OF REJECTION  (d. Steven Vander Meer) ⭐ 🏆 

  • SHORTLIST (d. Aaron Bourget) ⭐ ❤️

  • I’M USUALLY PRETTY GOOD AT NAMING THINGS (d. Mac Premo) 🏆 🌏 ❤️

  • PROOF OF CONCEPT (d. Ellie Sachs & Max Cohn) 🏆 ❤️

SATurday, JULY 8 | 11AM-10PM

11:00 AM: WHERE DO I BELONG?

Finding one’s tribe means more than finding one’s lookalikes. Indeed, what many seek is another who connects on a deeper level. Here, a woman emulates the Barefoot Contessa and evaluates her lover. A prodigal pal reconsiders his friendships. A trans-woman unites Seattle skaters. A trucker is cowed by the animals he saves. And, a bear discovers kinship while securing a late-night snack.

  • ESCAPE ARTISTS: THE TALE OF MIKE, MIKE JR & FREDDIE (d. Nancy Siesel) ⭐ 🏆 

  • SALAD DAYS (d. Lauren Blumenfeld) ⭐ 🏆 ❤️

  • MIDNIGHT SUSHI (d. John Osebold) 🌏 ❤️

  • CATALINA (d. Tyler Rabinowitz) 🏆 ❤️

  • TRANSENDERS (d. Diane Russo Cheng)

12:00 PM: CRUSHED

The pursuit of intimacy can be overwhelming. Our “best-laid plans'' often unravel. Here, first-daters, long-distance lovers, dating app hook-ups, and a cubicle Cyrano put love before reason.

  • [subtext] (d. Erin Brown Thomas) ⭐ 🏆 

  • REALLY GOOD FRIENDS (d. Adam Sekuler) ⭐ 🏆 

  • THE TRUTH OF A THOUSAND NIGHTS (d. Chris Molina)

  • DOTTING THE “I” (d. Doug Tompos) ⭐

1:00 PM: OH, MAN!

Can’t live with them, could live without them, but…  Here, five shorts explore the best and worst the patriarchy has to offer – from a tone-deaf husband to a recovering cowboy, closed-off men seeking therapy, to game-playing men seeking affection, the history of Man-kind is… complicated.

  • YOU NEED TO PROCESS THIS (d. Eleanor Morrison) 🏆 

  • THERE’S A BISON ON THE PRAIRIE (d. Morgan Miller)

  • THE ART OF TENNIS (d. Marshall Copous) ⭐

  • EBULLIENT (d. Autie Carlisle)

  • INTIMACY WORKSHOP (d. Eddie Prunoske) 🏆

2:00 PM: REPRODUCTIVE RITE. RIGHT?

From a woman’s menstrual cycle to her purchase of contraceptives to her freedom of choice, bodily autonomy has become her battleground, a fight for her rights. These shorts examine rites of passage as well as systemic sexism, with dollops of wordplay and activism in our Crushing effort to honor womanhood.

  • SWIM CAPTAIN (d. Christa Haley) 🏆  

  • THEY’RE ONLY ANIMALS (d. Matthew Palmer) ❤️

  • BOOB COCKPIT (d. Erin O. Kay) ⭐

  • YOUR FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (d. Esther King)

  • CONTINGENCY (d. Aaron Bourget) ⭐ ❤️

  • HEMORRHAGE (d. Ruth Hayes) ⭐

  • LONG LINE OF LADIES (d. Rayka Zehtabchi, Shaandiin Tome) 🏆 ❤️

3:00 PM: PREDATOR/PREY

When the hunter becomes the hunted… Look out, ladies, ravens, con-men, and conformists!

  • FUCK ME, RICHARD (d. Lucy McKendrick, Charlie Polinger) 🏆 

  • POUR GAMES (d. Patrick Smith) ❤️

  • ECO-HACK! (d. Josh Izenberg, Brett Marty)🏆 

  • MAHOGANY DRIVE (d. Jerry Milligan)

4:00 PM: BLACK DOGS & BLUE STREAKS

Rates of depression and anxiety are skyrocketing, yet still too little is done to destigmatize mental health crises. Here, a photographer, a free-diver, a movie star, a pop star, a young boy, a college student, and many 20-somethings think hard about grey matters.

  • LIGHT BEAMS FOR HELENA (d. Kirk Horton)

  • THE GIRL IS CRYING IN HER LATTE (d. Ron & Russell Mael, Richie Starzec)

  • THE BOY AND THE MOON (d. Christopher James Cuthrell)

  • THE BLUE HOUR (d. Aiden Boomer) ⭐ 🌏

  • BEAUTIFUL LIFE (d. Phillip Youmans)

  • 988/NAZARETH (d. Mike Steinkamp)

  • EAT FLOWERS (d. River Finlay) 🏆

  • DANCE AWAY THE PAIN (d. Kate Hollowell)

7:00 PM: BODIES BODIES BODIES
Presented by Walla Walla Cannabis Co.

Ectomorph. Endomorph. Dad bods. Beauty queens. BBW. Trans men. It’s not the shape, size or color that counts, but how we all fit together.

  • A FOLDED OCEAN (d. Ben Brewer)

  • HOW TO CARRY WATER (d. Sasha Wortzel) ⭐

  • ABOUT DAMN TIME (d. Christian Breslauer)

  • PREP (d. Raymond Knudsen)

  • STILL THE ONE (d. Taisiya Zaretskaya)

8:00 PM: LOVESTRUCK

Romantic. Hopeless. You know the type. Here, a U2 fan, a music-hater, a desperate teen, an animated admirer, and a theater critic deal with the fallout of their idealized coupledom.

  • I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR (d. Steve Collins) ⭐ 🌏 ❤️

  • IF I DIDN’T LOVE YOU (d. Jillian Bell)

  • WHEN YOU LEFT ME ON THAT BOULEVARD (d. Kayla Abuda Galang) ❤️

  • FUR (d. Zhen Li) 🏆

  • HATING BECKETT (d. Matthew Gossin) 🏆

9:00 PM: REACHING CLIMAX

Have fun? Escape their bully? Join a sorority? Lose their virginity?

  • SCOTTY’S VAG (d. Chaconne Martin-Berkowicz) 🏆

  • BETWEEN LINES (d. Sarah Beth Morgan) 🏆 

  • MY YEAR OF DICKS (d. Sara Gunnarsdóttir) 🏆

  • I AM WHOLE (d. Bianca Poletti) ⭐ ❤️

sunDAY, JULY 9 | 12pM-5PM & 7pm-8PM

12:00 PM: PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED

When you get right down to it, loving one’s family is all relative(s). Here we see stories of offspring embracing their elders, bickering with their mothers, coming out to their parents, or just reclaiming a family name.

  • PARKER (d. Sharon Liese, Catherine Hoffman)

  • NOW I’M IN THE KITCHEN (d. Yana Pan)

  • SULAM (THE LADDER) (d. Noam Argov)

  • BUT CAN YOU GO BACKWARDS? (d. Lydia Ricci) 🏆 ❤️

  • A PART OF YOU/MADE ME WHOLE AGAIN (d. Destyn Fuller-Hope, Andrew Wonder)

  • THE EXTERNAL-INTERNAL MONOLOGUE OF AN INTERDEPENDENT INSOMNIAC (d. Felix Aaronson) 🏆 

  • DON’T YOU GO NOWHERE (d. Bryan Poyser)

1:00 PM: DEARTH OF A SALESMAN

We may live in a Capitalist society, bombarded by ads almost every moment of our waking hours, yet can anyone cut through the commercial clutter? Here, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Gates, a scalper, an ad-man, a test-marketer, and a fish do their best to close the deal.

  • HELP ME UNDERSTAND (d. Aemelia Scott)

  • WOOD MILK (d. Hannah Levy)

  • THE BEST HAM SANDWICH ACCORDING TO A FISH (d. Jessica Xu)

  • THE LAST MARCH OF AN AD CREATIVE (d. Kiran Koshy)

  • BENNY (d. David Dominguez, Troy Vetri)

  • THE LAUNCH (d. KK Apple)

  • FIVE CENTS (d. Aaron Hughes)

  • INTERRACIAL COUPLE IN A CHEERIOS AD (d. Christine Lakin) ⭐

2:00 PM: THERE GOES THE NEIGHBOR…

What goes on behind closed doors? Take a gander as we provide a sneak peek into your neighbors’ lives – whether they’re packing boxes, turning tricks, begging for money,  demanding reparations or… harmonizing.

  • TROY (d. Mike Donahue) 🏆 

  • LET ME IN (d. The Kiffness)

  • WHAT I HAD TO LEAVE BEHIND (d. Sean David Christensen)

  • EVERY TIME YOU SAY SOMETHING IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL, YOU HAVE TO GIVE EVERY NATIVE-AMERICAN PERSON YOU KNOW TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS (d. Joey Clift) ❤️

  • HOLD UP (d. Alex Rollins Berg) ⭐ 🏆

3:00 PM: COSTUME DRAMA

Kids play dress up, and so do some adults. Here, an unlucky actor, a flirty oddball, a queer Merman and a desperate Harry Styles don different disguises to cope with their day-to-day dilemmas.

  • DONKEY (d. Matt Kazman)

  • MERMAN (d. Master Sterling) ❤️

  • MUSIC FOR A SUSHI RESTAURANT (d. Aube Perrie)

  • BOB (d. Drew Bierut)

4:00 PM: STORIED PASTS

With time and therapy, we can learn to control our own narratives… or can we? Here, a filmmaker, an animator, a singer, a survivor, a teetotaler, an alien, and a neuroscientist reflect on their histories in search of new truths.

  • BABYSITTING (d. Patrick Noth) ⭐ ❤️

  • VIEWFINDER (d. Nate Milton) ❤️

  • TUNING RENÉ MARIE (d. Rachel Kessler)

  • AMPERS&ND (d. Sade Abiodun) ⭐ 🏆 🌏 ❤️

  • STILL LIFE WITH WOMAN, TEA AND LETTER (d. Tess Martin) ❤️

  • THE FUTURE’S PAST (d. Chris Smith, Jack De Sean) ⭐

  • DEMON BOX (d. Sean Wainsteim) ⭐ 🏆

7:00 PM: Walla Walla Movie Crush Award Ceremony

After screening 96 shorts, the Iron Ass Jury determines the Audience Award winner — and a pantheon of Oscar® winners, nominees, and celebrated moviemakers share their choices for Best Narrative, Best Documentary, Best Animation, Best Screenplay, Best Performance, and Best Youth Short. Additionally, Nancy names this year’s Beast of the Crush, and emcee Warren bestows his Curator’s Choice Award. Join us for this star-studded affair that never takes itself too seriously, yet pays tribute to the talent, honesty, and passion behind this year's films.