BOOBIE GIRL (dir. Brooke Keesling, Studio City, CA)
5 minutes, 35mm, EAST COAST PREMIERE
A young girl learns the hard way to "be careful what you wish for" in this cute fable that's delighting audiences from Sundance to Cannes. Narrated by June Foray (Rocky The Squirrel and Natasha from Rocky & Bulwinkle).

DRINK (dir. Pat Smith, NY, NY)
5 minutes, 35mm
A peculiar beverage catches the attention of a curious passer-by, who then suffers the unexpected after-effects. Gorgeous traditional cel animation!

LINT PEOPLE (dir. Helder K. Sun, LA, CA)
8 minutes, 35mm
Actual lint is animated to tell the struggle of a family of Lint People. When the father develops an appetite for his own young, the mother must stop her spouse from feasting on the fluffy brood.

VESSEL WRESTLING (dir. Lisa Yu, LA, CA)
13 minutes, 16mm
Years in the making, this mind-blowing clay animation is a sensual exploration of sex, body hair, and dinner.

THE HUNGER ARTIST (dir. Tom Gibbons, Oakland, CA)
16 minutes, 16mm, EAST COAST PREMIERE
This Franz Kafka story about a performer whose art consists of denying himself nourishment, is told with painstakingly beautiful stop-motion animation.

DEAD KITTY (dir. Rachel Max, Washington, DC)
3.5 minutes, BetaSP
Rachel Max returns with another autobiographical, Flash animation, this time in the form of a song about how her cat was dropped off to be groomed, but came home in a box.

DRUNKY (dir. Aaron Augenblick, Brooklyn, NY)
3 minutes, BetaSP
A classical animation style is used to tell the story of a miserable, drunken, homophobic sap caught up in a creepy world of sex, booze, and fantasy.

NESTING SEASON (dir. Paula Durette, Baltimore, MD)
2.5 minutes, BetaSP
The mating calendar of lesbians is demonstrated using rabbits.

SWEET KISS OF GRAVITY (dir. Jill Johnston-Price & Alan Price, Baltimore, MD)
22 minutes, BetaSP
A sci-fi epic about a young woman caught in the middle of a galactic war. Includes a gravitationally-challenged king, cool spaceships and an army of evil robots, all beautifully rendered in hand-drawn computer animation.

VINCENT'S POCKET (dir. Brinton Jaecks, Baltimore, MD)
5 minutes, BetaSP, FESTIVAL PREMIERE
Stop-motion meets 3D computer animation in this tale of creation, torture, imprisonment, and the occult. Reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer and The Bros. Quay.

LADIES TEA (dir. Paula Durette, Baltimore, MD)
2.5 minutes, BetaSP
The interactions in a lesbian dance bar are diagrammed using computer animation.

PARTHENOGENISIS (dir. Marina Zurkow, NY, NY)
1.5 minutes, VHS, EAST COAST PREMIERE
Parthenogenesis is a form of reproduction in which an unfertilized egg develops into a new individual. This highly stylized 2D computer animation is used to show test tube babies running amuck; an allegorical micro-opera about heartbreak and compassion.

Be sure not to miss other great animated shorts showing in the Black Maria shorts program.

(films are not necessarily listed in the order they will shown)