The Los Angeles Italian Film Awards here announce the Short-Films that have been selected for competition at LAIFAFEST 2004, in April 20 - 24 at the ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood.

This years selection was very tough. We received well over 85 short-film entries, and all had an exceptional high quality.

"I would like to thank all the filmakers who sent in their short films, say festival director Luigi Campanile and I feel very sorry we're not able show all the high quality entries we received. But I am positive that in the years to come this festial will grow and one day we will be able to screen more films. Keep up the great work and we look forward to receiving more of your films in the years to come".

LAIFAFEST 2004  Short-Film Competition

THE PERFECT TRIP
IL VIAGGIO PERFETTO
Italy - 2003 - 15 min - BETA SP - Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Alessandro Barocco
Gio and Valeria, Alex and Luisa are two milanese couples in their thirties, heading to Tuscany for the weekend in a shining blue convertible Wolkswagen.

THE LAST PISTOLERO
L1ULTIMO PISTOLERO
Italy - 2002 - 10 Min - 35 mm
Dir. Dominici Alessandro
A man roves the vastity of a deserted industrial plant, ready to grasp his gun. Hat, boots, belt: the last pistolero is going to face the hardest of challenges...

YELLOW SAMBA
GIALLO SAMBA
Italy - 2003 - 14 min - 35 mm - Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Cecilia Pagliarani On the note of samba music and dreaming of a trip to brazil, a young student is faced with her past and the uncertainties of her future. She needs to leave a lesbian relationship behind and find a way to rebuild her future.

DEADLINE
Italy - 2003- 14 min - 35 mm - Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Massimo Coglitore Alex and his pregnant wife Laura, are isolated in a mountain road after their jeep breaks down. They are then helped by a man, who takes them to a bleak desolated hotel. The man1s illogical speeches have a double and deep meaning of their own. Only at the end does Alex understand what1s really happening.

STUFF THAT BEAR
USA - 2003 - 19 Min - 35 mm - English
Dir. Bruno Coppola
A quiet taxidermist, a relentless con-man, and a gorgeous but troubled lap-dancer embark on a bizarre night-time odyssey through Bucharest, stealing, scamming and stuffing that Bear!

Cannes 2003 - Winner Kodak Showcase For New Talent

MAREE
TIDES
USA - 2003 - 14 min - 35 mm - English
Dir. James Pellerito
An Albanian father and his son leave war-torn Macedonia in search of a better future in Italy. Once in Venice, the father makes the most painful decision of his life.

I1D LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT LOVE
VOLEVO SAPERE SULL1AMORE
Italy - 2003 - 11 min - 35 mm - Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Max Croci The fortune teller Maga Apollonia is a love affair advisor on Sole Mio TV. A viewer who calls her for advice, confesses during the show that he1s gay. She tells him not to worry about it and suggests him to face the issue with his mother. She doesn1t know that a very surprise is about to happen...

ROMA
Italy - 2004- 15 min - BETA SP- Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Sergio Premoli ROMA2 is about the city of Rome, about its decadence and at the same time about its immense beauty. It is the story of an antique dealer with his corrupt life and Roma his wife who accepts to be a prostitute for the the love that she has for Giorgio, her corrupt husband.

THE CHANT OF CICADAS
IL CANTO DELLE CICALE
Italy - 2004- 13 min - BETA SP - talian with English Subtitles Dir. Peter Marcias Carlo, after several months of rehabilitation due to a serious accident on the job, waits for two important 3sentences2, one from the doctor and the other from his lawyer. Life goes on...

BEST ACTRESS
USA - 2004 - 19 Min - BETA SP - English
Dir. Carlo Caccavale
During an emotional phone conversation, a closeted Best Actress nominee is asked by her female lover to walk together the red carpet and come out to the world. But will she?

STRESSZ
Italy - 2004- 5 min - BETA SP - Animation - English
Dir. Mario Lombardo
Make sure that Quiq - a small little honeybee - is not around if you want an easy day! Fully committed to put her daily honey backpack under control, Quiq will show all her talent for troubles getting involved in a chain reaction affair that will send her from the home safe hive into the uncomfortable squeezes of a food store.

LOVE FRANCESCA
USA - 2003- 17 min - BETA SP - Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Juli C. Laselle Love Francesca: a past, a present, a dream. 3Love Francesca2 is a visual poem reflecting on a woman1s complex childhood relationship with her mother. The long shadow of her mother1s tortured soul, as well as her father1s dark presence, reverberates deep into her adult life.

BROTHERS
USA - 2003 - 9 min - BETA SP - English
Dir. John Altobello
Two brothers come together for the first time in years to discuss an event that changed their lives forever.

STAND BY
USA - 2003- 15 min - BETA SP- English
Dir. Tony Osso
Sometimes you1re just not ready for your close-up

DUEL
USA - 2004- 23 min - 35 mm- English
Dir. Dominic Antonio Cerniglio
In a place out of time, in the furthermost reaches of the Kingdom, a lone soldier rides to a mysterious meeting. His fate takes an unexpected turn when he enters a desert tavern and stumbles upon an alteration between two men, forever changing the course of all their lives

THE TRAFFIC LIGHT BROTHERS
I FRATELLI SEMAFORO
Italy- 2002- 8 min - BETA SP- Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Simone Salvemini Two Albanian brothers employed themself as a local traffic light.

A PRESENT FROM CHRISTMAS
IL REGALO DI NATALE
Italy - 2002- 16 min - 35 mm- Italian with English Subtitles Dir. Daniele De Plano An elderly man decides to send a video message to his daughter, who left Sicily to go to America to be an actress, in order to wish her happy Christmas. Yet, his attempt is stopped by a thief who steels his precious camcorder.

THE EXTRA
USA - 2003- 14 min - 16 mm- I English
Dir. Robeto Donati
An unemployed actor imagines, himself in some of the greatest films of all the time.