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Plays in Shorts Program: Field Notes
Friday, June 13
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Regal Gallery Place

701 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

The Conscience Files

Director

Brian Bolster

Executive Producer

Thomas Harrington

Producer

Brian Bolster

Editor

Brian Bolster

Consulting Editor

Co-Editor

Assistant Editor

Cinematographer

Brian Bolster

Additional Cinematography

Music

Stéphane Laporte / Domotic

Sound

Shane Sharpe

Narration

Contact

Brian Bolster, Exit 36 Productions briansbolster@icloud.com

The phrase “Take only photographs, leave only footprints,” commonly seen on signage by the U.S. National Park Service, is the guiding principle for visitors to its 400+ majestic locations. However, at Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, many visitors find it impossible to resist the temptation to take home some of the park’s glittering, colorful rocks as keepsakes. This act is long rumored to be cursed, leading to the return of hundreds of these “souvenirs” each year. The letters that accompany these returned items, stored in the Park’s library archives, are often far more colorful than the rocks themselves. Set against the grandeur of the park, THE CONSCIENCE FILES delves into the woes—and the redemptive journeys—of these notorious “return” visitors, as told through their own written words.

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Brian Bolster

Director, The Conscience Files

Brian Bolster grew up in suburban Boston, MA before attending and graduating from the film program at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. His short documentary films have screened at over eighty international film festivals including Sundance, Full Frame, Outfest, Slamdance, and AFI Docs, and have also been distributed by The New Yorker, The Atlantic Video, Aeon Video, and United Airlines among other channels. In 2014 his short documentary One Year Lease won the award for Best Documentary Short at the Tribeca Film Festival and was a Cinema Eye Honors 2015 nominee for Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking. Other awards include the 2017 New Hampshire Film Festival’s Film of the Year for his short film Winters Watch, and Best Director at the 2016 Tacoma Film Festival for his documentary The Tricks List. His most recent film, Departing Gesture, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Documentary at the 2019 Florida Film Festival and the Audience Prize at TheWrap’s 2019 ShortList Film Festival. Brian is currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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