NOTE: Tickets and schedule have been on FilmFreeway and will be available at the door. All films subject to availability. Substitutions will be made where appropriate. Additional films may be added to the schedule. All times listed are approximate. The order in which films will appear is subject to change.

Click here for directions to the theater

OPENING NIGHT SOCIAL: Friday, October 21. Doors open at 6:30. This is an invitation only event with all our filmmakers AND THAT INCLUDES SCREENWRITERS, VIPs and their guests. It’s our first attempt at a social since 2019 and we’re a little bit nervous with Covid19 and now Monkey Pox on everyone’s mind. We’re keeping things small, nothing fancy but they’ll be some food and a cash bar. Location: Pvt. Charles J. Shutt Marine Corps League. 215 Mt Auburn St, Watertown, 02472. Please email the Screaming Ostrich staff with any questions.

Session-1: Saturday, October 22, 1pm. Candyman’s Gold. The story of a real life Willy Wonka, the inventor of the Jelly Belly jelly beans, and his contest to give away a candy factory. Also screening is “Fluxus,” an experimental nanoshort from Germany.

Session-2: Saturday, October 22, 3pm. A whole lot of short shorts! Dragon Poets of Boston, Homeward Clown, The Wandering Sock, Jopel, Touched, MIDAS, Speechless, Time, Revenge of Rod Bunco, Dresses, Black Action Figures, Ping Pong Parkinsons, Cloud Boy; An Autistic Journey, I don’t Want to go to Afghanistan, My Opinion, Be Free, By Dummy, Feet, The Plan, Daisy, There is Exactly Enough Time. All films subject to availability.

Session-3: Saturday, October 22, 5pm. Murder & Mahem/Crime & Horror: HOUSEHOLD DEMONS, Boomslang 2: The Dinner, Bounty Credited, Nursery Crimes Part One: The Ominous Overture, Routine, The Delle Morte Sisters, Love Shake, Final Girl, Laundry, Doors, Bitter Pill, Haunted for Life, The Desecrated. All films subject to availability.

Session-4: Sunday, October 23, 1pm. Lots of locals! Sleepless Beauty, The Forbidden Book of Sharks, F**k Love, I Am The Candidate, Unfinished, TWIN ROCK – Zero to Eleven, STUFFED, Calm Before… the rising storm, EXTRA INNINGS. All films are subject to availability.

Session-5: Sunday, October 23, 3pm. Hollywood on the Charles! Derrick & Boyd, Bloom, MeTube: August sings ‘Una furtiva lagrima’, Spoon, Return to Sender, TUTOPIQUE #SPLEEN, The Extinction of Up, At the Strawberry Stand, Graffiti. All films subject to availabiliity

Session-6: Sunday, October 23, 5pm. Small block plus awards! An awesome slate of films you do not want to miss: Sourdough, Far Away Man, The Candy Tin, Scrambled, Nice Girl, Love, Linnea’s Brain, Valentine’s Night, “Occhiali da Vista”. (All films subject to availability). Award announcements to follow the screenings.

SCREEENPLAYS

Hovelton Zombies by Mathew Tretola, Losing Patients by Cristian Xavier, Perfect Teeth by Scott Bastedo, CandyByte by Diana Foronda, American Superstar by Robert D Tolz, When Pigs Fly by Terry Luke Podnar & Ed Charles Learner, Two Nights at the Pine Street Inn by J Christopher Haslip, Incubation by Tom Botchii, Crispy by Dawson Roebig, We Don’t Talk About Godspell by Stevie Jackson, Bad Love Tigers by Kevin Schewe, Intergalactic lo by Seth Nesenholtz, Purgatory is a Grocery Store by Mackenzie Edmondson, Amy and Angel by Robert Craig, Tougher than Leather by Seth Kaiser, The Checkered by Mark GUnnion, Melinoe and the Dark Mirror by Penny Brommersma, The Cavendish Discovery of Witchcraft by James Fitzmaurice, Reformation by Stephen Morgan-MacKay & Stefan Alexander, Melinoe by Penny Brommersma, Call Me Thor by Jamie Campbell, A Moment. I Remember. by Ruth Finnegan, Obama’s Dream of His Literary Father by James Fitzmaurice, The Red Robe, A Tale of the Cardinal’s France by Ruth Finnegan, Kathy by Ruth Finnegan, Master Speesa by Rosie Malek-Yonan & Monica Malek-Yonan, The Scenic Route by Glenn Pulliam & Shay Pulliam, Vortex by Ricardo Moreno Jr, The Mountain by Rush Finnegan, We all Fall Down by Mike Spence, Perry by RJ Watson.

JUNE 13, 2022

In addition to the above, we held a “Little Bit of October in June” session, because local surrealist & filmmaker, Mick Cusimano, was not expected to make it until October. We lost Mick in July. But, the following films did screen in June and they are all “Official Selections” of the 2022 Screaming Ostrich International:

Schach Matt (The Game), Face Crusher 2, Hold Off On the Wall, Bought & Soul’d, LUNGS, HEAD and HEART, FOR BEST RESULTS, The Times We Were Living In, City of Dark Shadows, Gregg vs. the Rack Tom, Last Day.

DECEMBER 2022

We are also scheduling a December schedule, a block of all “Family” appropriate films. We obtained special permission from the filmmakers to move their screenings to December but they are all “Official Selections” of the 2022 Screaming Ostrich International. The films are as follows:

A Gift for All Ages, Billy Kills the Internet, W.U.B.L.O. (Weird, Unidentified, Baby-Like Organism), A Christmas Drop, MIDAS

OUR 2021 SCHEDULE

For no apparent reason, I decided to leave the 2021 schedule here, unedited, archived for the time being….

Session-1: Quarantine/Covid19 films. Thursday, October 21. Doors open at 7pm. It seems that 2020 is destined to be recognized as a defining event, shaping our world in a way that has not been seen since WWII. Recognizing this importance, we have chosen to open the festival with works created during and about the Coronavirus crisis. In a way they are uniquely Ostrich, these films, being far more likely to rely on creativity and raw talent instead of money and resources.

Creatures in my House. The Fuzzies. Paperweight. Broken. The Disparity. When Life Resumes. Afterify. Impreggnable. The Pandemic Artist. Difference/Indifference. It Takes a Little Time. Another Father. Did I Have Covid? The Mutation. Change of Course. Temporary Regression. The Bird Feeder. Hinterland – Election Night. Blue. Bandwidth.

Session #2: Hollywood on the Charles. Friday, October 22, 7pm at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington St, Newton MA. There’s no special theme here just really good films. I can promise you a roller coaster of emotions bringing you everywhere from SciFi to serious Documentary, all of it good.

WELCOME TO FOREVER. Pulp Fishin’. Behind the Glass. Take the Vax. Happy Moments. The 44 Scarves of Liza Minnelli. Last Time at Liam’s. Gaydream. My Life Was the Size of My Life. A Journey to the Moon. A Tale of Redemption and Regret with Sunny the Heat. Being Young Men – Trailer. Cutting Room Floor. Garage Romantic. Frederick Von Scholar’s How-to Series.

Session #3: Midnight Madness in the Afternoon. October 23, 1:30pm at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street West Newton. All Horror/Halloween appropriate but not all scary, the session includes some light subject matter and even a killer music video. Scheduled for an appearance will be our Special Guest, Producer Chet Turner, whose films not only demonstrate wonderful production values but one of them, “Paying Up,” has to be amongst the most shocking & artistic films I have ever seen. Joining Chet will be Lynn Weissman, a talented cinematographer who owns her own equipment!

Night of the Devil. Streamer Stalker. Nesting Grounds. The Next Stop. Viviana Triumphant. Numbers Call. Purgatory. Wee Shadows. Absence. Geneva Jacuzzi’s Casket. Luna, the Witch. Sleep Well. Amy. 

Session #4: Stand Strong (from Japan) & shorts. October 23, 5:45pm at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton Ma. A live action Anime were a team of amateur skateboarders is torn apart after two of their numbers turn pro. This one is fascinating for it’s glimpse of American culture as seen reflected within the eyes of Japanese skateboarders. Joining it will be a number of shorts making this a truly international session. Or at least as international as all our other sessions.

 STAND STRONG. Soiled Shorts: THE SERIES. On/Off. Your 6 String Gospel. Encased. CAPTIVITY. I Think He Knew. 

Session #5: Mick Cusimano & Friends. October 24, 2:30pm at the West Newton Cinema, 1296 Washington Street, West Newton MA. Mick Cusimano is a prolific poet, surrealist artists, filmmaker and friend to many. We wanted to dedicate an entire session to Mick this year to honor him and his withering struggle with cancer but Mick would have none of it. He wanted to be in a session with his friends and soon to be friends, and this is that session.

Lockdown Lust. Mindful Dating. Orion 1925. A Hero’s Quest. Rise of the Dead: The Undead Heart. 21st. Sabrina and the Zoom-DeLorean. Head in the Clouds. 1962. STORY. Searching for a Friend. First Rock and roll played on Moon. Fools, Gold. You Don’t Have to Take Orders From The Moon. (We will likely be adding a few films to this and perhaps other sessions) AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS TO FOLLOW SCREENING

Screenplays: Leaf Blower Armageddon, Avalon Farms Academy, AT THE MERCY OF FAITH – Alternative Horror. Half Day, Ace of Cups, One Man Army, Death Offers Life – last moments of Vincent Van Gogh, Veil, Hobgoblin Gennel, Ho-Ho-Kus Pocus Episode 2, Mismatch, Anti Social