Slate features a selection of critically acclaimed films, including the short, “Well Groomed” by director Rebecca Stern, Corina Schwingruber Ilić and Thomas Horat’s “In the Woods,” and more.

Vimeo announces December’s slate of Staff Pick Premieres, with a different film making its global online premiere each Wednesday exclusively on Vimeo. To check out the Staff Pick Premieres channel, visit https://vimeo.com/channels/premieres.

This month’s slate includes titles such as Rebecca Stern’s “Well Groomed,” a story that follows two lively women and the amusing world of competitive dog grooming; Fx Goby’s award winning animated homage to Jack London, “To Build a Fire”; Corina Schwingruber Ilić and Thomas Horat’s story about the customary craft of log rafting in Switzerland, “In the Woods”; and “Twisted,” the stranger than fiction documentary about a tornado that may or may not have hit a drive in movie theater while the movie Twister was being screened.

December 6th: “Well Groomed” – Documentary (Dir. Rebecca Stern)
Synopsis: “Well Groomed” journeys into the visually stunning and humorous world of competitive creative dog grooming alongside the colorful women transforming their beloved poodles into living sculptures. This short follows Adriane Pope and Angela Kumpe at the world’s largest grooming show: the Groom Expo competition in Hershey, PA.

“Well Groomed” has played at the Seattle International Film Festival, Traverse City Film Festival, in-flight on Alaska Airlines and is now being adapted into a feature film.

About the Filmmaker: Rebecca is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker focusing on documentary film. She is the producer of “Sons and Daughters of the Incarcerated,” a feature documentary that explores the lives of children affected by parental incarceration, currently in production. She is the associate producer of “the bomb,” an innovative installation and film experience which premiered as the Closing Night Event of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival and the Opening Nights of the 2017 Berlinale.

Her previous work includes the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary “Cartel Land,” which premiered at Sundance, was broadcast on A&E, and released worldwide theatrically as well as on Netflix and other streaming platforms. She produces short and serial content for clients including Showtime, Vice and Oxygen.

December 13th: “To Build a Fire” – Animation (Dir. Fx Goby)
Synopsis: To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jack London's death, director Fx Goby adapted London’s famous novel To Build a Fire into an animated short film. It tells the terrible and tragic tale of a trapper and his dog trying to survive the freezing and hostile nature of the Yukon Territory. With Goby’s minimal style and refined animation, the viewer enters into a polar vortex filled with sensations of bitter cold and frostbite.

About the Filmmaker: Fx Goby loves telling stories and switching storytelling techniques. He began making films at the age of 10 and has gone on to have his films programmed at Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festivals around the world where he has collected over 40 awards. His work has been seen on TV channels such as Canal+, France Television, and in Super Bowl ads. He is currently creating an animated short film in VR and is writing his first live action feature.

December 20th: “In the Woods” – Documentary (Dir. Corina Schwingruber Ilić & Thomas Horat)
Synopsis: Snow, sweat, testosterone and the sound of chainsaws: every four years, over a three-month period in winter, wood is cut on a steep mountain, high above Lake Ägeri, in preparation for log rafting. Neither economic change nor technology have replaced this traditional and sustainable craft in Switzerland.

About the Filmmakers: Corina Schwingruber Ilić was born in Werthenstein, Switzerland. She is a filmmaker that directs, shoots, edits, and teaches filmmaking at universities. Her last short documentary “Baggern” was nominated for the national Swiss Movie Award and won several festival awards around the world. Corina studied at the University of Design & Art in Basel, majoring in Fine Arts/New Media. She completed her studies at the Lucerne University of Art & Design, with a major in Video.

Thomas Horat is a self taught filmmaker who began his career in 2003 directing the feature documentary Wätterschmöcker, which screened in cinemas and festivals in Switzerland, U.S.A. and Austria. His second feature film, Alpsummer also screened in Swiss cinemas and won several awards in the U.S. Today, he works as a filmmaker; directing, sound engineering, distributing and producing films.

December 27th: “Twisted” – Documentary (Dir. Jay Cheel)
Synopsis: In Thorold, Ontario in the summer of 1996, a movie legend was born when a real-life tornado hit a drive-in theatre during a screening of the movie Twister. But how much truth really lies inside this tale of life (or weather) imitating art?

About the Filmmaker: Jay Cheel is a Canadian filmmaker known for directing the feature-length documentary Beauty Day as well as Cooking with Gerry – Episode #2: Poutine that premiered at the Flyway Film Festival. Cheel is also a co-host of the Film Junk Podcast.

Advance links to all of the films are available; please reach out to Kiran@vimeo.com to request.

Filmmakers interested in having their work considered for a Staff Pick Premiere can submit here: https://vimeo.com/submit.

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