Crush It All Weekend Long
The Walla Walla Movie Crush is programmed thematically, comprised of shorts packaged in hour-long blocks. In each block, youβre 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:
β = moviemaker in attendance
π = 2024 Movie Crush award nominee
π = world premiere
π = CrushFam (work has been shown at a previous Movie Crush and/or previously served as a Crush juror)
Schedule of Films
Friday, July 5th 2024
6:00 PM β BREAKING B(re)AD
Food for thought: if we are what we eat, wouldnβt it behoove us to eat better or, at the very least, choose our dining companions with greater care? Here, a farmer reimagines how best to feed the incarcerated, a death row inmateβs mind wanders while contemplating a final meal, a young woman seeks support from an uncertain neighbor, and a series of unusual guests leave an unseen host questioning hospitality.
SEEDS OF CHANGE (d. Maximillian Armstrong) β π
DINNER GUESTS: CAL (d. Erin Elders) β π
GUTS (d. Margaux Susi)
DINNER GUESTS: HEATHER (d. Erin Elders)
NINETY-FIVE SENSES (d. Jared & Jerusha Hess)
DINNER GUESTS: KENNY (d. Erin Elders)
7:00 PM β HEAVY METTLE
Do you have what it takes? The brave souls of this block exhibit true grit, from the underrepresented dances making their way in ballet to the immigrant whose possessions are confiscated at the border to the adrenaline junkie breaking barriers for women in racing sports.
I HAD NOTHING (d. Elyse Kelly) β π
WAVES (d. Rick CastaΓ±eda) π
THEN COMES THE BODY (d. Jacob Krupnick)
APPLE SEED (d. Zach Strum) π π
POEMS FOR AN AEOLIAN HARP (d. Neely Goniodsky) β π
MOTORCYCLE MARY (d. Haley Watson)
DINNER GUESTS: RICKY (d. Erin Elders)
I AM WHAT YOU IMAGINE (d. Matthew Modine)
8:00 PM β BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (Presented by Diana Knauf & BjΓΆrn Levidow)
Can you ever fully know someone? Even if you shared the most intimate moments. Here, friends, strangers, lovers, siblings and parents and their offspring, slowly strip away defenses and expose their true selves in tender moments, during holiday hook-ups and over lifetimes.
3 2 1 (d. Aleksa Palladino) β
& YET HERE WE ARE (d. Andy Clay Huey)
CLOSE SPACES (d. Kamari Bright) β π
THE HARDEST PART (d. Paul Trillo)
NOSTRIL (d. Michael Dondero, Shengnan Dong) β
HANKY PANKY (d. Scout Durwood) β π π
TODAY, I <3 U _____ (d. Neely Goniodsky) β π
GUY I USED TO BE (d. Deanie Chen)
DIRTY TOWEL (d. Callie Carpinteri) β
Saturday, July 6th 2024
11:00 AM β WALLA WALLA HOLLA HOLLA
Walla Wallans make more than wine, they make movies, too. Check out this yearβs vintage. Youβll recognize notes of peach, nutmeg, teen ennui and historic racism.
NOT INVINCIBLE (d. Tyson Kaup) β π π
IN VINO VERITAS (d. Harley Monleon) β π
COLOR OF THREADS (d. Richard L Ramsey) β π
NOON β ESPRIT DE CORPSE (Presented by the Seattle-Based Warren & Nancy Fan Club)
Death comes for everyone, and for those who bear witness to otherβs passings, the toll can be great. Thus, how we respond to the mortality of our loved ones might be the most defining moments in our own lives, whether sons coping with big emotions, pet owners missing their furry children, a grieving spouse dealing with unaccepting in-laws, or a stranger mourning a neighborhood stalwart.
IF I DIE IN AMERICA (d. Ward Kamel) π
YOU CANβT SHRINK LOVE (d. Veena Rao)
BIG BROTHERS (d. Matt Mazany) β
TENNIS, ORANGES (d. Sean Pecknold) π π
1:00 PM β KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESING
The personalities in this block of shorts is, well, naturally addictive β whether the birthday celebrant who keeps building bigger bonfires, the influencer who keeps winning questionable fans, the young woman who lusts for connection, the New Yorker who craves a spotlight, or the smoker who just needs someone to sing about.
FOLLOWERS (d. Julia Bales) π π
LYNNβS FIRE (d. Steve Zahn)
THIRSTYGIRL (d. Alexandra Qin) π
DAVID AGAIN (d. Adam Elliott)
HOLDING ON FOREVER (d. Chelsea Christer) β
2:00 PM β NARY A CAREGIVER?
Over 43 million Americans provide unpaid care to an adult or child every year. And these numbers continue to grow at staggering rates. Despite the obvious burdens, too rarely are these individuals rewarded or even recognized. Here, we pay cinematic tribute to put their lives on hold, to hold others in their most vulnerable moments.
CODA (d. Joshua Elias Palmer)
RELATIONSHIP TO PATIENT (d. Caroline Creaghead)
TURNING BLUE (d. Dana White, Chris Knoblock) π
LOLA (d. Grace Hanna) β π
3:00 PM β BTW WTF?
First they tell us we canβt go to work. Then, we must work from home. Then, they insist we return to the office. Well, what if we didnβt love our jobs or workplaces or colleagues? Here, HR provides a new-age tutorial, an employee assumes a literal request, another learns the ropes in an unorthodox interview, a criminal goes straight with a twist, a race questions its privilege and the help aspires to a better tomorrow.
THE NEW, NEW NORMAL (d. Mike Egan) β π
I NEED IT YESTERDAY (d. Chris Smith, Jack De Sena) π
MARATHON (d. Matthew Pimental)
THE FIFTH COLUMN (d. DΕΎan Harba) β
THE βWOAH, DIDNβT EXPECT TO SEE HIM THEREβ GUY (d. Chris Smith, Jack De Sena) π π
WHITENESS AT WORK (d. Peter Bonde Becker Nelson) π
THE INVITE (d. Catherine Licata)
4:00 PM β LONE WOLVES AND CASTAWAYS
If you want to go together, if you want to go fast, go alone. Like it or not, sometimes forging forward on oneβs own is the only path available. Here, a politician, a filmmaker, a visual artist, a conceptual artist, a cult leader and the deserted find themselves on trying, solo journeys.
DECIDING VOTE (d. Jeremy Workman, Robert Lyons)
NO. 419 (d. Aaron Bourget) β π π
LONELY ISLAND (d. Kristie Kish) β
THE CACTUS OF KLAUS (d. Tony Blahd, Lydia Fine)
LETβS START A COUNTRY (Brett Bittner, Cody Lee Brown)
FAR WEST (d. Stephen Michael Simon) β π
7:00 PM β COURTING IS NOW IN ORDER
Is there any action in our lives that can be as equally and ardently invigorating and infuriating as looking for love? Here, a diverse group of women set out in hopes of finding (or making?) Mr. and/or Ms. Right.
STITCHED (d. Lorena LourenΓ§o) β π
INTERRACIAL FIRST DATE FOR RALPH (d. Rachel LaForce)
TACCHI (d. Courtenay Johnson) β π π
VAN GOGH (d. Camille Summers-Valli)
METEOROID (d. Mo Lu)
RIPE! (d. Tusk) π
8:00 PM β SICK (HEART)BURN
Love sucks when itβs unrequited, neglected or rejected outright. How we heal from the slings and arrows of romantic misfortune determine our ability to love again. Here, the hopeful, the spiteful and the mournful cope with heartbreak in lyrical, metaphorical and musical ways.
LOVEBUGS (d. Teddy Alvarez-Nissen)
60 SECOND THOUGHTS: BOX OF LETTERS (d. David Baeumler)
MORNING JOY (d. John Henry Hinkel) π
ANYONE WHO KNOWS (d. Kate Harpootlian)
THANK YOU FOR NOT ANSWERING (d. Paul Trillo)
LISTA (d. Bianca Poletti) β π
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT (d. Gustavo T Astudillo) π
HEARTACHE (d. Iker Karrera, Alberto D Centeno)
9:00 PM β X MARKS THE SPOT
The Crush wants to test your carnal knowledge and your comfort level with an arousing block that block that pushes Puritan buttons. From porn consumed on the internet, via VR or behindthe-scenes, these thrill-seekers are just playing with themselves.
UR HEINOUS HABIT (d. Eugene Kolb) π
LAST BRUNCH, THE (d. Jim Cummings) π
ANYWAY U WANT IT (d. Erin Murray)
A CERTAIN KIND (d. Gabriel Gutierrez Morales) β π
I DONβT NEED TO KNOW (d. Erin Murray)
Sunday, July 7th 2024
NOON β PUH-LEEZE STATE
Crush Mad-Lib: All Cops Are (word starting with B). Here, law enforcement gets checked in two docs and a playful music video that should inspire us to challenge authorities to do more to βprotect and serve.β
ACCIDENTAL ARCHIVISTS (d. Scott Calonico) π
GANGSTA (d. Francois Rousselet)
INCIDENT (d. Bill Morrison) π π
1:00 PM β BECHDEL TESTED!
These shorts pass the test due to these three elements: 1) The short must have at least two women in it; 2) the women must talk to each other; 3) their discussion must be about something other than men. Was that so hard, Hollywood?
PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (d. Sandy Honig) π
KASBI (d. Farah Jabir) π
GOODBYE TANGO (d. Jason Laurits) π
AS YOU ARE (d. Daisy Friedman) π
2:00 PM β PEOPLE SUCK
Hey, we love people. We donβt call it The Crush for nuthinβ. That said, there are many who test our limits and our patience. Here, a lover, an animator, a filmmaker, a microbiologist, a wineglass-person, toxic men and toxic friends will make you question your affection for humanity. In a good way?
BIG LOT (d. Cassidy Batiz) π
I WOULDβVE BEEN HAPPY (d. Jordan Wong) π
A BODY CALLED LIFE (d. Spencer MacDonald)
ONWARD YE COSTUMED SOULS (d. Patrick Smith) π
ICARUS (d. Andy Madeleine)
FIX (d. Aaron Bourget) β π π
+ENDING (d. Nathaniel Webner)
HATERβS ANTHEM (d. Anonymous)
3:00 PM β DADDY ISSUES
Father? Figures. Can there be any more confounding individual in our lives? Here, older men and, at times, their kids, contemplate whether they can be lived with or without in heartrending ways.
DAD BOD (d. Daniel Flahiff) β
PLAY THIS AT MY FUNERAL (d. Ray Smiling) β
ALL TIED UP (d. Blake Bogosian, Matt Klug) π
NINE BALL (d. Matthew Dillon Cohen)
CHA CHA CHARLIE (d. Matt Bieler)
THE RED BIKE (d. Toben Bech) π
4:00 PM β ARTISTS, PERFORMING (Presented by Barnaby Dorfman & Sheri Wetherell)
If all the worldβs a stage, best we embrace our roles as players as these brave souls have. Here, pugilists and shutterbugs, drag queens and acrobats, stand-up comedians and karaoke underdogs approach their parts with passion, anxiety and aplomb.
THE STAGE (d. Ray Smiling) β π
CURATING ANNEβS INSTAGRAM (d. Aaron Bourget) β π π
PERSONAL MYTHOLOGIES (d. Susan OβBrien)
FRANCESCA (d. Chester Vincent Toye) β π
VOICES (d. Mac Premo) π
MOMO (d. Mike Schwartz)
OUT OF TUNE (d. Portlynn Tagavi) β