In his richly moving memoir, Lost Decency, Atta Arghandiwal shares his own as well as the people of Afghanistan’s turbulent journey to escape their war-torn country. Spanning a history of 50 years, Atta tells his life story of growing up in Afghanistan and eventually having to leave. Revealing the truth about his beloved and once peaceful nation and how it became one of the deadliest and most dangerous in the world.
Atta Arghandiwal was born in Afghanistan but has spent over half his life in the West. He left Afghanistan eight months after the Russian invasion, in August of 1980, and became a refugee in Germany before immigrating to the United States where he built a successful banking career of twenty-eight years. Arghandiwal wrote his story to increase awareness about his country’s political upheaval and the innocent people who have been caught in the chaos.
Meeting of the National League of American Pen Women, Modesto Chapter, a professional organization of over 55,000 women writers, artists and musicians, founded in 1897.
The first annual TDFF will take place on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013, at the Building Imagination Center in downtown Modesto. Two programs of stellar short films will be presented, with awards for special jury select winner and audience favorite. In addition to the two programs, there will be an award ceremony and closing night party with food and drink. Tickets are $8, and can be purchased HERE at Brown Paper Tickets.
Program One: (2 screenings) 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm
- TED KACZYNSKI TAKES A DAY OFF – 3 minutes (World Premiere) This handmade, animated film was constructed entirely in Portland filmmaker Zach Ericcson’s living room. It’s humor matches it ingenuity.
- FIRST WEEK – 4 minutes (World Premiere) A beautiful short and one of the greatest home movies ever made. Bay Area filmmaker Chris McGilvray chronicles the first week of his newborn baby’s life.
- SEED – 14 minutes. Set in the year 2071, where technology has brought mankind to the brink of colonization on a planet named Gaia, one astronaut takes an isolated mission and discovers unearthly horrors that could bring an end to human life.
- THE BEGINNING – 9 minutes (Winner: PlayGround Film Festival) This gem from acclaimed writer Tom Swift and director Brian Tolle explores the sweet, funny, awkward and sometimes painful moments at the beginning of a new relationship between two men.
- ALL I THINK OF IS YOU – 9 minutes. After her work-obsessed husband dies in an accident, a woman is approached by a stranger possessing his memories and emotions in this sci-fi thriller.
- TURN ON – A GAME OF SEDUCTION – 7 minutes. This witty PSA from Bollywood delivers a humorous tale with a twist.
- SCREENSHOT – (Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival) 6 minutes. An online story of love and betrayal, told entirely through Facebook. Produced in Ireland.
- METHOD – 9 minutes. This film by the Strong Brothers depicts an actress taking her new role seriously…a little TOO seriously.
Program One Running Time: 61 minutes
Program Two: (2 screenings) 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm
- THE SHOP – 5 minutes (World Premiere) This short documentary follows the inner workings of a barber shop in Merced, California, where a group of young men strive to survive in one of the hardest hit economies in the Central Valley.
- FIELDWORK – 3 minutes (World Premiere) An experimental work by New York filmmaker Christian Hali that uses impressionist style painting as inspiration in detailing the struggles of fatherhood and the day to day.
- SUSPICION – 3 minutes. What starts out as an innocuous music video on the beach soon goes to a dark and humorous place.
- CINCO DE MAYO – 55 minutes (World Premiere) After being unjustly fired, harassed by his students and labeled a menace to society, a meek, idealistic Chicano studies instructor sets out to teach everyone one final lesson in this slasher film that pays homage to the Grindhouse films of the 1970’s.
Program Two Running Time: 66 minutes
Mature audiences only for both programs, please, for mature situations, nudity, foul language and scenes of horror.