Justin Hayward’s Sundance-selected short “Divorce Lemonade” headlines a selection of Midwestern shorts at the Midwest Independent Film Festival March 7.

The Midwest Indie also features George Eckart’s animated comedy “Time Traveler,” Junko Kajino and Ed Koziarski’s musical drama “Homesick Blues,” Jeremy Corray’s collision comedy “Every :30,” and John Weaver’s TransAlarm music video “The Process.”

Ashleigh Kennington in “Divorce Lemonade”

Divorce Lemonade
Hayward’s “Divorce Lemonade,” a Silver Plaque winner at the Chicago International Film Festival, is a dryly funny portrait of a 13-year-old girl (Ashleigh Kennington) coping with her parents’ ugly divorce in a muddy under-construction subdivision.

Hayward shot on 16mm and “painted” the footage in telecine, working with Optimus colorist Ken Wald to create a distinctive, moody look. “Divorce Lemonade” also screened at the Queens, Whistler and Alameda film festivals. With Tim Krueger, Janetta Ratiu and Travis Dow. See www.vacdoomedproductions.com/divorcelemonade.

“Time Traveler”

Time Traveler
Animator Eckart’s Flash sci-fi comedy “Time Traveler” won Best Film at the Chicago Short Comedy Video & Film Festival. It’s the first in a series of six shorts from director Matt Chapman’s Consortium Productions.

Eckart and ‘Time Traveler’ writers Mike Betette and Phillip Mottaz are working with Levity Entertainment to market the short as a pilot.

“We see it as a jumping off point for other things,” Eckart said. “Our goal is to get a run of ‘web-izodes’ of ‘Time Traveler’ on a web site like Comedy Central, MTV, Cartoon Network or even Sci-Fi Channel.”

Eckart, a web designer for the Tribune Company, Ignite Media and Q Interactive, is developing new animations “which may or may not involve ponies, drunk party girls, and/or pirates,” he said.

Featuring the voices of Dave Hill, Hans Holsen, Bill Arnett, Mottaz, Susan Chiara, Robyn Clark and Andrew Shapiro.

See www.theproducesection.com.

Zoey in “Homesick Blues”

Homesick Blues
Junko Kajino and Ed Koziarski’s “Homesick Blues” stars Japanese pop singer Zoey as an 18-year Osaka girl readying herself to run off from home to Chicago to break into the blues scene.

Prelude to the forthcoming feature film, “Homesick Blues” won Best Film at the IFP/Chicago Flyover Zone Film Festival and was an official selection of the Chicago and Hawaii International Film Festivals.

“Homesick Blues” has its international festival premiere this spring in the CinemAsia Amsterdam Asian Film Festival.

See www.homesickblues.com.

Jeremy Corray in “Every :30”

Every :30
“Every thirty seconds a man is hit by a drunk driver,” goes the tagline to Corray’s “Every :30.” “This is that man.”

St. Louis-based Corray plays “That Man” in an hilariously literal interpretation of the tagline, facing increasingly brutal pratfalls that culminate in a Hitchock homage.

Corray co-starred in Patrick Voss’ 2004 “Inbred Redneck Alien Abduction.”

See www.every30.com.

The Process
Weaver’s “The Process” is the second music video for techno artist Felix Milik’s incarnation as TransAlarm. “ ‘The process is a glimpse into the darkness that plagues the mind of an artist driven to create,” Weaver said. “It is not for the timid.”

Weaver also produced TransAlarm’s first video “Stand Up,” as well as Fashion Bomb’s “The Line.”

See www.johweaverproductions.com.

At Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema, 2828 N. Clark St. Doors open at 6 p.m., followed by a Zacuto Rentals demo of its Panasonic AG-HVX200 HD/DVC-Pro/DV camera. Screenings at 7:30 p.m. $10. After-party at Sausalito, 543 W. Diversey Ave.

MWFF runs the first Tuesday of each month. The festival premiere of Bruce Terris’ debut feature “Dirty Work” screens April 4. See www.midwestfilm.com. —Ed M. Koziarski

Ed M. Koziarski is co-director of the feature film “The First Breath of Tengan Rei”. Email:

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