The 2022 Cinema Soup Film Festival took place at the Greystone Lodge in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on Saturday, August 14th.

SUNDAY AUGUST 14TH (11AM to 10PM)

11:00AM DOORS OPEN

11:30AM FILM BLOCK A (2HR 45M)

• POSTCARDS 18M
• DUST ANGEL 23M
• EVENING INTO NIGHT 34M
• DELIVERING HOPE 89M

2:30PM FILM BLOCK B (2HR 15M)

• MEMORIES 11M
• GODBOX 17M
• SCRIPT 9M
• BIRD'S EYE VIEW 17M
• A FEAT THAT NEVER COMES 16M
• BLOOD SISTERS 13M
• CAPRICIOUS COMPANY 11M
• COFFEE BREAK 6M
• BLACKHATTER 6M
• ONCE THERE WAS A GIRL 4M
• BEE-ROLL 3M
• GOOD GIRL GONE 7M
• THE FERALS 14M

5:00PM FILM BLOCK C (2HR 15M)

• THE BECOMING OF CAROLINE LONELY 4M
• BUTTERFLY SHORT 28M
• WJHC AM 92M

7:30PM FILM BLOCK D (1HR 30M)

• DINNER IS SERVED 3M
• LENORE 7M
• A GREAT BROTHER 17M
• FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION 13M
• LEGACY 7M
• AIN'T GOD ALRIGHT 27M

9:00PM AWARDS 

10:00PM CLOSE OF FESTIVAL

We have a great soup a'brewin, we have selected the perfect ingredients! Check out the awesome films screening at this year's Cinema Soup Film Festival!

2022 FILM SELECTIONS

A man prepares a meal for his pet and himself.

After losing his job and getting dumped Eugene Middlebrooks has one objective -- GET a job! The struggling musician finds himself running into a few old and new friends while learning what really matters in life. This short drama gives you a glimpse into a three day span full of pain, disappointment and triumph!

Unsure of who she is or where she belongs... Caroline Lonely becomes lost in a place where only ghost stories come from....

A young man's life is tragically changed after being accused of a despicable act.

Friends re-unite for a final weekend camping trip before they go off to college. Led by a proudul friend who takes them into the woods to which they find out nobody leaves alive. What lurks in the shadows?

A teenage girl, crippled by a severe speech impediment and her father's death, must learn to grow through her social anxiety and fully live her life in an unruly world.

A modern reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem "The Raven."

A mysterious traveler intrudes on a family’s night as he invites himself to join them for dinner around their campfire. After an evening filled with his songs and tales the morning brings horror as the children and traveler are nowhere to be found.

A mysterious box found in a field brings bad fortune to all who possess it.

A mother finds it hard facing memories of something dreadful happening in her past. The more she remembers the more she’s able to let go and move on with her life.

Keeping good folks joyful until the end of days.

A young girl having escaped from being trafficked seeks shelter, videotaping herself as a message for her drug-addicted mother with whether or not she could, or should, come back to the life she once knew.

Billy is a widowed father, the loss of his dear wife haunting him to the point he struggles with connecting with his young daughter, trying to find work, and properly care for his ailing mother. Most of his family has distanced themselves from him, unable to tolerate and deal with the consistent pain Billy puts himself through because of his never-ending grief. By saving an abused young woman through a random act of kindness, Billy finds himself the target of the woman's jealous, abusive husband. Ultimately, this will give Billy the one chance he's needed to repair his family, and save himself from certain death.

Four characters inhabit cycles within cycles of contentment, discontentment, inertia, movement, desire, and betrayal. A story emerges—told through the marriage of music (Ex-Fiancée) and dance (ChrisMastersDance)—functioning as a set of nesting dolls, inviting you to uncover as many layers as you wish. Directed by Maria Juranic.

Two screenwriters, a ghost story, the night that goes on. Who will put an end to this?

Why do stories we read as children stay with us through our lives and become broken bits of dreams, jumbled images from fairy tales that are always in the back of our minds?

An exploration of the history and modern day importance of postcards.

This short film reflects upon the love of nature and loss of innocence through the eyes of a young girl and her fascination with bees.

A lo-fi glimpse into the lives of two roommates with opposite work schedules who, out of the blue, choose to abandon the routine in their lives.

A long-stalled, once-lauded essayist now working as an avionics technician reconnects with her goddaughter on Halloween night.

When a graduate student demands a higher grade, she's challenged with an obsession that won't excuse her.

Drew exists on the edge of society never considering the lives of others. Why should he? They never cared for him. It is a past full of bad choices filled with untreated trauma that have lead him to this moment. This decision to take his fortune at gunpoint in a connivence store might have gone off perfectly if it weren’t for a curious little customer and a shadowed stalking presence known only as the Blackhatter.

Bird’s Eye View is an art-science exploration of interspecies friendship between young people and birds for a survivable future that is looking up. This film integrates their embodied movement with science, words, puppets, and music from the imaginations of our Boulder City’s youth and is filmed on Boulder’s majestic Open Space Mountain Park trails.

Delivering Hope is a feature film documentary that tells the ultimate story of people coming together for something bigger than themselves. On November 16, 2019, eight days before his 50th birthday, ultra-runner Kevin Kline set out to become the first person in history to run the northernmost 300 miles of Alaska's dangerous Dalton Highway, in winter, to raise awareness for children battling pediatric cancer. Traversing the world's 10 most dangerous road, Kline and his crew face a hostile environment of -40F temperatures on a road made of ice in near total darkness to run an 8lb backpack full of childhood cancer names to the virtual top of the world. When Kline's body shuts down after 200 miles, the crew is faced with a life-changing dilemma.

During the Earth/Mars conflict, a lone soldier explores a mysterious planet in the Andromeda galaxy. As the human searches for resources, he discovers that he is not alone.

Nothing brings family together like a holiday feast. Sibling rivalry, sisterly teasing, and type O blood to spice up a Christmas snack. These vampire sisters love the holidays, even if they are on Santa's naughty list.

SCREENPLAY SEMI-FINALISTS

by Amanda Grafe

Instead of making other people fall in love, Cupid fights against tradition and spends Valentine's Day trying to find love for himself.

by Richard Devon Endacott

When Kerry returns to the family farm with a money making proposition for his estranged brother Thad, both men discover they share ownership of an antique tractor purchased by their father before he died. Figuring out whether the tractor has a seized engine means the difference between a wad of cash or a hunk of junk. If the two can work together to get the old beast to turn over, it might mean more than money to both of them.

by Kevin L. Schewe, MD

When Kerry returns to the family farm with a money making proposition for his estranged brother Thad, both men discover they share ownership of an antique tractor purchased by their father before he died. Figuring out whether the tractor has a seized engine means the difference between a wad of cash or a hunk of junk. If the two can work together to get the old beast to turn over, it might mean more than money to both of them.

by Jeion Isaiah Green

“By This Time Next Year” the feature, is a unique tale of Romance.

The setting, Baltimore, MD. The actions, inspired by real events. In this story we follow Jay Greene, a hopeless romantic desperate to find love again after running into their ex during their birthday celebration.

However, the thought of being forever lonely clouds Jay’s mind to the point where they do not recognize how much it has affected their other relationships. Most importantly, their connection and love for themselves.

Relatable, artistic, and rooted in the mindset of vulnerability, “By This Time Next Year” is a literal love letter in remembering to love yourself before trying to love someone else.

by Julia Verdin & DeeDee Benkovich

Shy 16-year old Amy just wants to dance, but her deafness causes her dreams to be shattered when she is bullied out of dance class. Finding the most unbelievable new dance partner, her neighbors neglected dog, they perform a spectacular routine that lands them on a national TV talent show where they compete against her former dance crew.

by Vera J. Brooks

From A TO Z is the story of a family’s visit to a Chicago art gallery where they engage with a piece that affects them emotionally. A mother, her son and her daughter view a collection of names of victims of police shootings framed and mounted on a wall. Based on the first letter of their first names the canvases are arranged alphabetically, with their ages they were at the time of their deaths.

by Chris Hite

An unlikely trio traverses a haunted canal system to solve the disappearances of men from a rural Pennsylvania village under fantastic circumstances. Each of the three faces the potential to learn their true skills and self-worth on this journey, while also running the risk of being killed by supernatural forces in the process.

by Kathy Rucker

In 1985 small-town Indiana a writer with little success starts penning fake letters to men all across the county, gaining their trust and money, until one day one of his "victims" who really falls for the woman in the letters finds out about the deception.

by Alexander Julian

Seasoned drifter Will Fellows is plagued by visitations from anyone or anything significant to him that has died. The apparitions usually enter his life unbidden when they perceive a need on his part…or when a need they have intertwines with Will’s present circumstances. Will can sometimes summon their assistance, but they often come to him unwelcomed. And the consequences are not always what Will wants and frequently can be very, very bad for the people around him…
His ghosts include his deceased wife of 20 years, good hearted Sally, and Gina, a rough biker girlfriend who died in a motor cycle accident while riding with him 30 years previously. They are both capable of “meeting his needs” when they sense Will could use the contact and, in Gina’s case, prone to mix punishment for Will into the mix.
His loyal dog Bandit is one of the strongest and most loyal of his spirits, but a pack of half wolf canines he rescued as newborn pups in his youth have found him again as well. And their behavior is not always subject to Will’s control…
Will’s other ghosts include Brendan, a fearless and formidable macho man he befriended in the Army, who was always way too willing to find trouble at the end of his bayonetted rifle. His long lost, judgmental parents are also in the picture, there to give Will a moral compass and to remind him of his past transgressions, including his abandonment of Gina’s young son Woody, whom he didn’t bother to look after following Gina’s untimely death.
In the Necromancer tale,, we meet Will and some of his ghosts as he comes out of seclusion in a small Texas rat hole town to gather up supplies and move on, particularly as Gina is responding to his self-imposed isolation by smothering him with her overly aggressive “attentions” most nights. Some of his “companions” help him procure money and meals, but his path deviates when he meets a young, hardened, drug dealing stripper named Debbie and her six year old daughter, Chloe. Fighting his own impulses to stay isolated, he rescues the pair from crack dealing thugs, and reluctantly becomes attached to Chloe. When he tries to move on, the ghosts of his parents guilt induce him into returning to try and bail Chloe and her sociopathic mom out of trouble. He and his uninvited ghosts eventually dispatch of most of a large North Texas gang of dirt bag dealers in bizarre and violent fashion, but not before Debbie herself bites a bullet when she gets a too greedy.
In the end, Will is left with the orphan Chloe, who has touched him to the point that he breaks out of his long standing pattern of social isolation. He decides to take her with him, but both soon find out they have a new ghost spirit in tow; Debbie herself.

by Alexander Julian

170 years in the future, a rag tag tribe of humans struggles for survival. After an apocalypse, they have lived for generations on the Eiffel Tower, where two levels are converted into farming and quarters. But an unusual drought has them starving.
Many on the Tower have mutations. Monthly, a ceremony is held to decide if a child turning 4 years old is sufficiently human to stay “up top”. Kids found lacking are exiled to the ground, where they must live (or die) among the severely mutated
At the ceremony, five,, including tribe leaders Par and Jib, are voted to take an elevator down. They are joined by Nanky. a 4 year old girl with a long tail, whose fate hinges on her behavior on the ground.
The group approaches Notre Dame, where deer were seen years earlier. On the way, they encounter hostile mutated dogs, gigantic albino rats and a family of humanoid ogres at the cost of life. Throughout, they are watched by a horde of starving hare-lipped mutants..
Meanwhile, a massive conjoined set of Siamese twins, Jax and Trax, roam the city. Jax’s head is perfect, but his nature savage. Trax’s head is ape-like, but he has a heart. Unfortunately for Trax, Jax controls most of the body. Jax impels the pair to mount the elevator cable up in search of prey.
Elsewhere, the foraging party finds the cathedral inhabited by a group of mutants (the “Saved”) who look a lot like Nanky. Inside, the cathedral is a jungle gym town, traversable via ropes and ladders.
The Saved accept the visitors when they see Nanky’s tail and escort the group to the roof, where they meet Yancey, a human survivor from the last Tower mission who stayed behind due to the gentle nature of the Saved. He shows the group a scope he uses to observe the Tower. When the humans look, they are shocked to see the conjoined mutants pulling themselves up. They must get back!
The Saved ambush the Harelips to help the humans when they leave. They provide the humans with deer meat, but water won’t be needed as clouds are gathering!
At the Tower, the conjoined mutants reach the tribe’s levels. After spotting goats, they grab one and eat it. Nearby, Chubbs, Jib’s huge, moronic son has cornered Par’s daughter Josie in a shed, where he intends to have his way.
The human group rushes back to the elevator cage, but not before losing Jib, who sacrifices himself to rescue Nanky from giant albino rats. The cage is pulled to the top, then Josie’s screams impel a rush to the next level.
Her screams also alert the conjoined mutants who burst into the shed and slaughter Chubbs. Unfortunately, Jax also has rape and a meal in mind!
Just as Jax is about to grab Josie, Trax skewers his brother through the skull with an axe, also dooming himself. The tribe charges into the shed, ready to finish Trax off, but Josie stops them, blurting out Trax saved her. She tries to comfort Trax, who touches her hand with affection before dying.
Par’s family gathers for a meal where he talks about the experiences with mutants, concluding that despite weird appearances, they possess what is best in humans. It may be time to return to the ground…