Download our .pdf program, pick it up at the festival, or see details below!
VENUE
Celebrating 5 years of the Festival!
All events and screenings are ADMISSION FREE, at the Yucca Valley Community Center, 57090 Twentynine Palms Highway, Yucca Valley, CA 92284.
Some films may require an appropriate parental guidance. In such cases, it will be announced on the podium ahead of time, and such movie shall usually screen last.
The Masterclass with Rosanna Arquette is free of charge but rsvp is mandatory HERE.
All our previous Masterclasses, discussions and panels from previous years are on FACEBOOK.
DAY 1 | Friday Nov 10, 2023
Starting at 5pm, the Yucca Valley Film Festival Podcast, presented by State Farm Yucca Valley, will start streaming live for the 3 days of the festival!
Chloe Malaise will conduct interviews of filmmakers, artists and guests, promoting the Town of Yucca Valley and the festival non-stop for the 3-day event!
6:00pm: RED CARPET starts.
Open to everyone with local photographer snapping each and every guest, including you: come as you are!
Kick Off Event starts at 6:30pm with:
- Kick it off with SPIKE on the Red Carpet! Get your picture with him (photographer available for free)
- Arts & Mixed Medias Art Exhibit
- Red Carpet in presence of community leaders and filmmakers
- Red Carpet for everyone outside and photobooth inside
- Complimentary pop corn!
- Mayor RICK DENISON opening words
7pm: Opening Films
Opening film #1: WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JONNY FAITH
A famous country singer, who disappeared at the height of his career 30 years ago, tries to make things right with his son before it is too late.
Directed by Benjamin Pollack.
Starring Frank Noon (The Mentalist, The Kominsky Method), Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park), Bruce Greenwood.
Followed by QnA and a picture signing with the director and the lead actor.
Opening film #2: MURDER SHE WANTED
Stood up and fed up with letting men control her relationships, our true crime obsessed protagonist posts a Craigslist add seeking a man to act out a scripted and “safe” stabbing.
Directed by Rachel Shimko – Local filmmaker from Joshua Tree.
Starring Emily Browning, Adam Chambers.
Followed by QnA and a picture signing with the director and the lead actress.
Opening film #3: VIVA
Desperate to escape Cuba and find freedom, a young ballerina struggles to believe that she has the talent to dance her way off the impoverished island.
Directed by Steven Petersen.
Starring Arami Malaise, Alex Loynaz, Gley Viera.
Followed by QnA and a picture signing with the director, the lead actress and the producer.
DAY 2 | Saturday Nov 11, 2023
10am: Drone films & Documentaries
All screenings will be followed by:
- a discussion with the filmmakers moderated by TV host Kelly Kozakevich
- a picture signing with the filmmakers!
Trinity At Night
Directed by Skip Fredricks
Skip Fredricks is a 2X Emmy Awards Nominee. He produced or created content for FOX Sports, HBO, Universal Pictures, Google, Apple, and USA Networks.
La Jolla: Jewel of the Coast
Directed by Christopher Crass
On the coast of San Diego lies an ecological reserve teeming with aquatic life. This documentary takes you on an up close journey with the rambunctious California Sea Lions, friendly schools of Leopard Sharks, and the infamous yet misunderstood Great White Shark.
A Wild Idea
Directed by Amy Duchene
What happens when wildlife needs to cross the road? In A WILD IDEA, a young girl dreams of a way to help: a bridge just for the animals. There are no wheels bound for this bridge. The only traffic will be hooves and paws.
Colors of the Canyon
Directed by Bill Ohanesian
“Colors of the Canyon” examines the beauty of the wild isolated hills and valleys of Turnbull Canyon as seen and interpreted through a variety of local artists’ eyes.
The Place Where I Live
Directed by Guillermo García
Many people think that Valencian Community means sun, beach, paella and party… but there’s way more than that. Valencian Community also means nature, culture, beauty, history… and towns with an incredible charm.
Unforgotten: JD Smith
Directed by Danilo Dayani
JD Smith is a local veteran and artist in Venice, CA who does spec drawings of WW2 battle ships.
Women’s Voices: “I Am’
Directed by Bob Stevens
I asked each woman to be vulnerable when I photographed them, and we talked about what that meant. The prospect of posing in such a way created an intimacy which was palpable. Added to that, my request to appear without makeup of any kind seemed to open even more doors and stories.
Bobcats: Football Returns to Paradise
Directed by Ev Durán
The Paradise High School football team returns to play a game on their home field for the first time since the 2018 Camp Fire.
The film was nominated for two Northern California Area Emmy Awards.
1pm: KIDS SECTION, animated films for the whole family. Best for kids under 10.
THE BRAVE LOCOMOTIVE
By Andrew Pierce Chesworth.
An Old West musical tale with 1940s flair about a mighty little train facing harrowing disaster.
Andrew Chesworth is an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. He was an animator at Disney on such films as ‘Frozen’, ‘Big Hero 6’, ‘Zootopia’.
WEIRDOS
By Paul Hollingsworth.
What if Jasmine and her middle school frenemies are humanity’s best chance at stopping a Monster invasion?
Paul Hollingsworth is a Canadian stop-motion animator who worked on projects with Disney, LEGO, Warner Bros. and Google.
Director and stop-motion animator of WEIRDOS Paul Hollingsworth ( @paul.digitalwizards ) will do a puppet’s demonstration for the kids, explaining how stop motion animation works and help us understand how he created his movie.
Free admission, @townofyuccavalley Community Center, Saturday Nov 11,2023, at 1pm.
BLOOM IN
By Avery Robinson Rouda.
An awkward cactus learns to bloom in her own divine timing.
This is a story about a girl finding her place in the world, personified through a cactus who judges herself and compares her truth to the Poppy flowers around her.
FLOWER
By Carolyn Gair.
Zip, a character made from found objects, finds a “broken” flower and tries to fix it while his friends look on. There is no dialog. Only music.
Carolyn Gair is a quirky Canadian Emmy Award winning filmmaker living in Los Angeles. She has over 30 years of experience in the animation industry. This is her first stopmotion short for festivals.
PECULIAR AND STRANGE
By Hanna Kim.
A playful but profound story of two eccentric girls who discover the power of finding a friend as peculiar as you.
Hanna Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently working as a storyboard artist with DreamWorks Animation Studio.
CORVINE
By Sean McCarron.
An eccentric boy has trouble fitting in at school due to his obsession with crows.
Sean is an animator and storyboard artist with over twenty years of industry experience, including roles at Oscar nominated Irish studio Cartoon Saloon and Oscar winning Norwegian studio Mikrofilm.
ROBIE
By Pei-Lun Hsieh.
A robot student starts his school life in the robot school to learn the skills of a robot assistant. He feels inferior to his classmates at the beginning because he looks different from them and fails to do well in class. He tries to blend in and learn to do better but finally realizes that his talents are not those repetitive movements but the comprehension of knowledge and emotions.
2:30pm: Student Films, presented by Copper Mountain College
Followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and a picture signing.
WARNING: some student films may contain scenes or depictions of actions that may not be suited for under age 21.
Carrie Lives Alone
Directed by Kali Veach
After a breakup, Carrie spends her first weekend alone. She isn’t sure what to do with herself, but she is sure that she doesn’t want to lose her dog, Dax, who her ex also wants to keep.
Things To Do Before You Turn 18
Directed by George Tsereteli Ortiz
A day before turning 18, Jay decides to fulfill his lifelong dream of committing a crime. Naturally, he decides to rob his neighborhood convenience store.
He Loves Me Not
Directed by Alexandra Miller
After befriending the man imprisoned in her basement, 8 year-old Ada loves listening to the fantastical stories he tells. One day, a story starts to blur the lines of fantasy and reality, unraveling her family’s darkest secret.
Camping Short
Directed by Maria Valdez
A single-mother tries to find a male role-model for her son, only to find out he has other ideas.
Copper Mountain College Wildland Fire Academy
Directed by Steve Brown and Henry Power
Copper Mountain College in Joshua Tree hosts the CMC Wildland Fire Academy to teach students, in one short course, how to become wildland firefighters.
4pm: MASTERCLASS with keynote speaker ROSANNA ARQUETTE.
This event is free but reservation is mandatory. CLICK HERE TO SECURE YOUR SEAT.
Rosanna started working professionally as a teenager and has never stopped.
She has appeared in over 70 films, which have earned over $450 million in domestic box office sales. Her vast experience in the world of film and television has inspired her to explore and expand her talent as a filmmaker into the realm of directing and producing with two highly acclaimed documentaries, 2002’s “Searching for Debra Winger” and 2005’s “All We Are Saying.”
She is currently developing projects for both television and film through her company, Flower Child Productions.
As a busy actress, filmmaker, and activist, her passion for her work is matched only by her passion for her daughter Zoe Bleu Sidel and her family.
Followed by a picture signing.
6pm: RED CARPET.
Open to anyone for selfies tonight, come as you are!
7pm: SHORT FILMS SECTION
A curated selection of western movies, comedies, dramas and science fiction!
BLOCK 1: for all audiences.
Forcefields
Directed by Marco Colosimo
Two criminals have a strange encounter while on a kidnapping job.
In the Skies
Directed by Chris Lee
Two siblings venture out to the desert, hoping to glimpse some aliens… but get looped into something much more serious.
Lunch Tattoo
Directed by Nicholas Luciano
Two friends who are getting their first tattoo in an attempt to break their family’s anti-tattoo legacy. Filmed at Rabble Rouser Tattoos in Los Angeles with real tattoo artists and the actors’ parents.
X AE A-12
Directed by Chris Collins
X wakes up from a haunting nightmare in which the Tesla Roadster his dad gave him explodes right in front of his eyes, setting off a series of reflections and insights that will change his perspective on life.
Followed by a picture signing with all participating filmmakers.
BLOCK 2: some film contain adult themes (thriller, horror, social issues…).
Savage Dawn
Directed by Tamiah Bantum
In the rugged expanse of the Wild West, Tom Havis’ life is torn asunder by an elusive and ruthless killer. Consumed by a burning desire for revenge, his path converges with a young woman harbouring secrets that could untangle the web of mystery.
Unripe
Directed by P.M Nelson
Recent to the outlaw life, Reese a confused cowgirl finds herself being challenged to a duel by self proclaimed best in the west gunslinger Sally. This silly feud turns out to be nothing of the ordinary when Reese starts to struggle through her uncertain final moments and fate.
Twenty One at the Belle Saloon
Directed by Scott Seagren
A female cardsharp hell-bent on revenge challenges a dangerous man to a high-stakes game of Black Jack, or “vingt et un” as they used to call it. Intrigued, the man takes her up on the game, thinking it would be an easy win. But he has no idea who he’s up against…
Kombucha!
Directed by Jake Myers
Kombucha! is a story about a musician trapped in an office job he couldn’t care less about. Luke dreams of being on stage while doing B2B marketing work that feels completely meaningless. His coworkers all sip a red kombucha beverage and seem to have found purpose in this place.
Followed by a picture signing with all participating filmmakers.
DAY 3 | Sunday Nov 12, 2023
♦️The industry Mixer event is reserved to participating filmmakers with a badge. It is the only program not open to the general audience.♦️
Morning: Industry Mixer at the Yucca Bowl.
Guest Speaker: Desiree Staple, producer & actress of upcoming feature “MY DIVORCE PARTY“, starring Rumer Willis.
We will discuss independent filmmaking, and finding natural locations that will bring production value to your project.
1pm: MUSIC COMPOSERS PANEL & LIVE PIANO DEMONSTRATION
Brian Katona is an Emmy & Telly Award Winner as well as a Grammy Award Voting Member.
He will demonstrate, live on stage, how he approaches music composition for the screen.
What are his first steps? How do the first notes come to his brain, then his hands?
This will be an interactive event: we will be taking questions from the audience, as we go.
The music composers listed in competition this year are:
| COMPOSER | MOVIE | STATE |
| Jason Allen Weber | 37 | Cathedral City, CA |
| Kurt Schawacker | Hymns of a Dying World | Bermuda Dunes, CA |
| Brian Katona | My Hatton | Pennsylvania |
It’ll be followed by a picture signing with all the musicians participating in the panel.
2pm: SCRIPTWRITERS ROUNDTABLE
As it became a tradition, we will gather all scriptwriters selected in competition for a roundtable about writing, scriptwriting, and the process behind putting stories on paper.
It’ll be followed by a picture signing with the script writers.
The script writers listed in competition this year are:
| SCRIPT WRITER | TITLE | CITY / STATE | PITCH |
| Rob York | Trickster | Morongo Valley | A wise old horse narrates his extraordinary life. After a near death accident he finds the meaning of life through the eyes of a special needs little girl. |
| Josh Smith | Pink X Blue | Hi-Desert | Two self aware food delivery robots are in love and fight to stay together. |
| Jackie Hovorka | Dear Cancer | TX | A woman’s courageous will to fight inspires an entire town and beyond decades after her death. |
| Rommel Rojas | Naughty Maids | LA | Ramon takes over his late mother’s struggling sexy cleaning business – Naughty Maids, that has only one client. But Ramon’s estranged best friend, Calixto, suspects their client of murder. |
| Stephen Burns | Ludlow | Massachusetts | Jessica Eldridge wants to rid her home town of a violent gang when a freak accident reveals a long time mysterious neighbor who is from the future. He has special abilities that will help them free her home of this violence. |
| Kevin Mann | ap*pe*tite | Palm Springs | When an obese gay man loses weight, he must fight his former coping mechanism come to life — a physically perfect mirror image of himself — before it devours the people who threaten their bond. |
| Mark Landau | Cancer | Riverside | Cancer depicts a young creative struggling to create a name for himself in the literary world. His life, an allegory for the dehumanizing nature of illness, becomes a disease-state as forces beyond his control force him from agent to object. |
| Cathy Trope | 10 West | CA | A bitter widowed attorney, estranged from his daughter, encounters an unexpected spark of hope in the form of an annoyingly extroverted realtor. |
| Richard Brown | Arsenal of Doom | Maryland | During World War II, A US Army Captain is sent in behind enemy lines to uncover evidence of top secret armored flying wing the Germans are developing. |
| Rubayat Hassan | Catharsis 1 | Bangladesh | In a dystopian future, technology has grown and spread in scattered spurs, hyper-accentuating divisions among socio-economic classes, regional boarders, cultures and human values. |
| Jesse Dorian | As Scared As You | TX | A male drifter antihero, and a blind woman become caged prisoners at a bed and breakfast in small-town northern California, where a group of malicious locals and their two animalistic zombified residents seek vengeance against them. |
| Emerson Tenney | Freesia | LA | It’s been two-hundred years since humanity moved underground and 13-year-old Freesia Walls is fed up with living a half-life. |
3:15pm: MUSIC VIDEOS, DANCE FILMS & VISUAL ARTS (EXPERIMENTAL FILMS)
Each block followed by a discussion with filmmakers and a picture signing.
Other Side
Directed by Florian Cioffi | Trailer
“Look at me. I’ve been here since the beginning. I’ve been watching you for a long time… I was waiting for you…”
Florian Cioffi is a previous YVFF winner.
Imagine You’re Not In Pain – Noisy Letter 3.1.17
Directed by Heather Williamson
“It’s wise not to share all your secrets. Keep some for yourself so you can listen to them later.”
Heather Williamson is a local artist.
The Arizona Storm
Directed by Randy Woods
Storm Timelapse collection from Randy Alan Woods out of Scottsdale, AZ. Years of his best timelapses condensed into a short film to showcase the power of the weather in the desert.
Randy Woods is a previous YVFF winner.
The Man Who Couldn’t Clap
Directed by Josh Rose, Hyunoh Chang
Caught in a complicated affliction that makes it impossible for him to clap or put his hands together, he ultimately finds a way to live with it. A dance of acceptance, a silent applause to learning to live with what life hands us.
Josh Rose is a returning artist to the YVFF.
Shotgun
Directed by Roberto de la Cruz
Artist Shook Sings
Filmed locally in the Joshua Tree National Park, “Shotgun” reached over 350,000 streams on Spotify.
Shook Sings is a local artist.
Sinful Betty’s Band – Forgotten
Directed by Damian Wiśniewski, Beata Wiśniewska
Starring Danny Trejo (Machete)
This is a story about an old man who is lonely, sad, and helpless.
Danny Trejo already appeared in a movie screening at the YVFF in 2020 “The Fixer”.
Plant Seeds
Directed by Jaletta Kalman
Artist Palo Xanto
Plant Seeds is a song about freedom, individuality and “growing your own” by alternative rap artist Palo Xanto, an exploration the sacred beauty of the Hi-Desert.
Palo Xanto is a local artist.
Mothers of Mayhem – Elijah Jones
Directed by Kelsey Blasdell
A rock-western style “murder ballad” set in Utah in the late 1800s, highlighting the strong women from the past fighting back against abuse. The scene takes place near Bluff, Utah in 1889 centered around Elijah Jones, a fictional self-righteous outlaw, who stayed behind while many other settlers moved on. It fully embraces the wild west, filled with gritty desert sand, harsh conditions, polygamy, and guns.
Higher – Michael Buble
Directed by Derek Hough
Director of photograhy Michael Stine
The Official Music Video for Michael Bublé’s “Higher”.
6pm: Final RED CARPET!
Open to everyone with local photographer snapping each and every guest, including you: come as you are!
Internationally sought after harp player ARAMI, will perform live on stage to open the final Award Ceremony.
She will play a selection of famous music from movies, re-arranged especially for the Harp.
7pm: Awards and closing event in presence of:
- Miss Yucca Valley Court 2023, and Miss Yucca Valley first and second Princesses!
- Awards giveaway co-hosted by TV host Kelly Kozakevich and festival director Matt Beurois
- and other surprises!
8pm: Group picture, Mix & Mingle.
MONDAY NOV 13, 2023
Publication of the Award results on our website, release sent to the press.
Yucca Valley Film Festival 