2019 Hobnobben Film Festival Schedule
October 11 - 17, 2019
Friday: 5:30 PM - 10:30 PM • Main Theater & Spectator’s Lounge
Opening Night Events
Come celebrate the kickoff of Hobnobben 2019 with three big events on one night! It all starts with cocktails. hors d’oeuvres and general “hobnobbing,” followed by awards for the best Narrative Feature, Documentary, Short, Hoosier Spirit and Student Film. This year, we’ll also announcing nominees! Then grab some popcorn and settle back for our opening night film, Before You Know It, presented by Punch Films.
Before You Know It: Two sisters learn the mother they thought was dead is actually alive and starring in a soap opera. Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin, Alec Baldwin, and Hannah Pearl Utt star in this charming, female-directed comedy about family dysfunction.
OPENING RECEPTION
Spectator Lounge • 5:30 PM
AWARDS CEREMONY
Main Theatre • 7:00 PM
Film: Before You Know It
Main Theater • 8:30 PM
Saturday: 10:30 AM - 11:35 PM • Main Theater
Moments of Transformation
An unconventional and lighthearted collection of four short films that take on life’s most challenging moments – from facing the mortality of your parents to realizing new relationships are okay after a loved one has passed.
Saturday: 11:45 AM - 1:35 PM • Spectator Lounge
Embracing Life
This pair of films profiles two very different people with two very different but equally powerful stories.
Saturday: 12:30 PM - 2:05 PM • Main Theater
Book Week
When it looks like his novel is going to be published, high school teacher and once-famous novelist Nicholas Cutler thinks his luck had finally changed. But what promises to be the best week of his life quickly spirals into seven days of hell.
Saturday: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM• Spectator Lounge
Vulnerability in Human Connection
Life is fleeting yet full of joy. These four short films address loss, loneliness, and the comfort we get from those we let into our lives, despite convention.
Saturday: 2:45 PM - 4:15 PM • Main Theater
Life•Love•Dogs
Every dog’s life has value. Every one, a story worth telling. Through the lens of three distinctly different stories, Life•Love•Dogs explores the intense emotional bonds we share with our dogs, and how these bonds inspire human and dog to mutually rescue each other.
Saturday: 3:45 PM - 5:40 PM • Spectator Lounge
Black Pool
Thirty years ago, Michael’s life was shattered by a shadowy figure he saw for only a fleeting moment. Through a chance encounter, he believes he’s found the man responsible for ruining his life. And he’s going to make him pay. But does he have the right man?
Saturday: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM• Main Theater
Tough Topics, Thoughtful Reflections
Double lives, secrets, and absurdist kafkaesque experience, and the hegemonic rules that dictate our lives. These four shorts examine the subtle (and not so subtle) ways cultural norms influence or are reinforced in the character’s lives.
Saturday: 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM• Spectator Lounge
Contemplative International Shorts
A block of contemplative and visually stunning films. These four short films find heart and humor in dire and unavoidable situations.
Saturday: 6:45 PM - 8:10 PM • Main Theater
Ako
A Young Kurdish porter works to provide for his family at Tehran’s grand bazaar. At the bazaar, every product has a secret. Ako does not want anyone to know his secret.
Saturday: 7:45 PM - 8:10 PM • Spectator Lounge
We
In the pursuit of love and the better side of humanity, Ethan must face many obstacles, some that threaten to end his quest. As he makes his way through this kaleidoscope of challenges, he meets an eclectic mix of people who help him better understand life and its complexity.
Saturday: 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM• Main Theater
Not All Blocks of Movies Need Titles
This block has it all: dancing, deceit, your mother’s voicemails. Republicans, and an order of queer and trans nuns.
Saturday: 9:45 PM - 10:50 PM• Spectator Lounge
Scintillating Shorts for a Saturday
A quirky block of three shirts featuring a family of vampires, a group of punk clowns, and some “ganjapreneurs” looking to break into a new industry.
Sunday: 10:00 AM - 10:55 AM• Spectator Lounge
Family-Friendly Animations
A family-friendly block of five animated shorts with topics ranging from feline dominion, encounters with UFOs, taking time to follow the best cookie recipe, an epic battle for mayor, and a greenhouse disaster.
Sunday: 10:15 AM - 11:55 AM• Main Theater
American Dreaming
Two powerful films. Onward Ever highlights the benefits of riverfront development in Indiana, while Owned: A Tale of Two Americas examines the U.S. housing economy, the history of segregation, and who really benefits from the American Dream.
Sunday: 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM • Spectator Lounge
Body Swap
A high strung business woman switches places with a laid-back slacker. Now, they must content with each other’s lives before finding the true meaning of love: loving yourself, making the other person better, and two people becoming one. Quite literally.
Sunday: 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM• Main Theater
Serving Others
Unheard stories and unique people. The two films in this block serve as a powerful reminders of the power of decency and compassion.
Sunday: 1:00 PM - 1:55 PM• Spectator Lounge
Define “Us“
A delightful block of rom-com and rom-com adjacent shorts. First-date mishaps, communication barriers, and growing family struggles are all featured in this fun selection of six films.
Sunday: 2:30 PM - 3:20 PM • Spectator Lounge
Skin: The Movie
When a socially awkward Midwestern woman inherits a porn studio, she plans to take the money and run – until her dead father and a band of misfits force her to face her fears and learn that misfits are people, too.
Sunday: 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM • Main Theater
Day of the Western Sunrise
In June 1955, the Japanese tuna trawler Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5) accidently encountered an early hydrogen bomb test conducted by the U.S. Day of the Western Sunrise is a beautifully animated documentary that follows three survivors of this encounter. Their story is a reminder that people have the ability to make decisions for both good and ill, and those decisions can affect generations.
Sunday: 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM • Spectator Lounge
Whores on Film + Unsolicited
Whores on Film explores depictions of sex workers in cinema through the gaze of sex workers themselves, while Unsolicited examines how a woman’s initial excitement of getting a text message can quickly turn sour. 🍆
Sunday: 5:00 PM - 6:20 PM• Main Theater
Confronting Borders
Borders may separate us, but humanity and kindness connect us all in these three compelling short films.
Sunday: 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM• Spectator Lounge
Sometimes You Gotta Slay
Desperate situations can lead to extreme measures. This quartet of shorts showcases women who refuse to relinquish control of their lives. Bullies, abusers and abductors, beware…
Sunday: 7:15 PM - 9:15 PM • Main Theater
Last Call
Last Call follows a suicidal alcoholic on the anniversary of his son’s death. When he attempts to call a crisis hotline, a misdial connects his with a single mother working as the night janitor at a local community college. The split screen showcases a life-changing conversation.