PRODUCTION

Queen of the Sun is a documentary that celebrates the bees from a perspective of life, love, and renewal. Reality and imagination blend as six heroes whose lives are entwined with the fate of the bees embark on efforts to save them. Fierce investigation combines with holistic philosophy, as the six journeys weave together with ancient myths and progressive visions to deliver a luminous message. The mystery of missing bees will not be solved through a microscope, but through the heart: the salvation of the crucial pollinators lies in the transformation of culture and the recovery of a sustainable and reverent alliance with nature. Help complete this film by donating to this project.

Life is Real explores the filmmaker's dramatic recovery from clinical depression through his unconventional exercise methods and his unlikely friendship with an inspired artist. Find out more at the Life is Real website. Help complete this film by donating to this project.

Seven-tenths of the Earth's surface is covered by water. Nearly 50% of the US population lives within just a few miles of the coast. When we look out at the vast blue ocean, it's hard to tell much about the shape it's in. Blue-water sailors know how the ocean has changed in just the past 20 years. Pristine water once teeming with life is now over-fished and supporting a plastic flotilla.

This film is a portrait of Tom Wylie, a sailboat designer whose innovative path has taken him from designing world-class racing boats to breaking the rules of boat design, and making significant innovations in hulls, keels, ballast and the sailing rig. And now, he's taken on a new challenge: creating environmentally sound working vessels such as the Derek M. Baylis to minimize the negative impact from a research vessel on the environment. It's a film about one man's mission to help save the ocean. View a video preview or visit the wyliecat.com website for more information.

CARNY: Alive on The Inside opens the door on a faded, ghostly culture who’s vibrant repercussions are felt throughout modern media. Launched as an hour long documentary, living links to this forgotten world will take us inside the tent of their memories, fleshed out with historical footage, manipulated stills and re-enactments.

Just scratching the surface has shown us characters like Bobby Reynolds: As one of the last surviving sideshow pitchmen, he is the real deal and keeper of giant killer rats, two-headed babies and much more.

Are you ready to meet hootchie-kootchie dancers, ride-operators, show owners, and dare-devil riders? Only true carny folk can deliver a passport into this secret world. You may even find a bit of yourself in these nomadic enchanters.

War Within  tells a lively, intimate story about the long-term effects of war.  Writer/Director  Christopher Upham and four comrades journey back to Vietnam to visit the site where their Army unit was abandoned during combat by the U.S. command.  Relentlessly probing the inner harm inflicted by war, Upham discovers a deeper level of understanding through an astounding personal transformation.

Find out more at www.cinesmith.net.

The Booksellers of Siem Reap chronicles Cambodian street kids as they participate in a photography and dance workshop that empowers them with creative expression, an opportunity for education, and life off the streets of Siem Reap.

Find out more at www.cinesmith.net.