Newport Beach Film Festival 2008

Take a thousand sketchbooks, glue covers on them, stamp them a thousand times, hand number them from 1 to 1,000, and send them out into the world. Then create a website and try to keep track of them all. This is the story of 1,000 Journals, a global, collaborative project, which was started in the year 2000 by a graphic designer in San Francisco who calls himself 'Someguy.' In September 2003, one of the 1,000, number 526, returned to Someguy, filled. What happened to the other 999? This film tells their stories. 1,000 Journals shares the experience of their worldwide journeys, and chronicles the self-governed collaboration of thousands of random people who have added to this global 'message in a bottle.'

The intent of California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law is to make violent criminals into lifetime inmates. However, many believe that the law inflicts unjust and disproportionate life sentences on people who have committed non-violent crimes. In an effort to move public policy by raising public awareness the film will present various social, economic and emotional implications of the law. Ultimately the audience will have to decide if California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law is practical and just. This is a story of people on all sides of the law: the victims of crime, the inmates who are unreasonably sentenced, and those families who are subject to the law’s mechanism through a loved one.

A mockumentary detailing the misadventures of five not-so-brave members of the Spartan army charged with guarding a seemingly ordinary goat path. But when their actions lead to the death of King Leonidas and his army of 300 men, the five are shamed throughout the land and forced into hiding. But with Sparta cowering under the threat of Persian invasion, the five must band together once more and become true warriors. Do the five have what it takes to save the day?

Maeve is 13 going on 14, striding, lurching, sometimes stumbling on the road from girlhood to womanhood. Today she’s going to put on her brand new bra for the very first time. Maeve and her best pals Ruth, Claire, and Orla realize that it’s a lot harder than they thought to become a woman. There’s the matter of breasts, for example, which troubles and fascinates Maeve. And, of course, there are boys. When Maeve snares the local sixteen-year-old heartthrob she is so smitten that she lets her friends down just when they need her most. Becoming an adult doesn’t seem like such a great idea anymore. Aware that her first steps toward womanhood were misguided, Maeve returns to the fold a little wise as her friends rally around for her 14th birthday.

Short films screening in this program include: A Day's Work, A Day's Work , Dreamtime, Plates

An ex-Marine, discharged from Iraq, has to confront his violent father in order to save his sister and himself from falling into the same violent family history that plagued them when they were kids.

Ibrahim is forced to question his own motives for avenging the death of his brother, who was killed by Israeli soldiers, when he meets a Jewish shopkeeper and her family.

Over the course of an entire night, Vera and Alejandro pursue a path that they will never be able to retrace. Through the different situations and conversations this couple experiences; we soon discover the intimate secrets of their relationship. In effect, Vera and Alejandro allow us to explore the great lies that can exist just below the surface, but also the great truths of being human. POST PARTY: This screening will be part of the Latino Showcase. The post party will be held at Orange County Museum of Art. Food will be provided by several of Orange County's award wininng restaurants, including Taleo Mexican Grill, Amazon Churrascaria Brazilian Restaurant. The bar will be hosted by Karl Strauss beer and Chilean wine. The event is sponsored by the Chilean Consulate General and ProChile.

In a world of sickness, where blood runs black, dark figures await the one who reject the cure. Being deceived into buying temporary relief daily, a young boy hears of a place where there is no sickness. After his grandmother is taken by the darkness, the young boy must find a cure for himself and his dying brother.