Adam Jack’s Award Winning Indie Thriller Film ‘Jackknife’ Set for Release on April 29 | Trailer
The indie thriller film Jackknife written and directed by Adam Jack, will be released on April 29, 2025 via Breaking Glass Pictures.
Starring in the film are Tivon Charles, Payton Mills, Erica Sherwood, Douglas Vermeeren, Thain Wesley, Dillon Parnell, Marc Rico Ludwig, Red Carlsen, Evan Lewis Dolinski, and Michael James.
A chilling thriller with dramatic intensity, Jackknife follows a young Black brother and sister whose peaceful afternoon of fishing takes a terrifying turn when they are attacked in the woods by a drifter. In a desperate struggle to defend themselves, the brother fatally wounds their assailant with a jackknife—setting off a chain of events that will change their lives forever.
Watch the trailer for Jackknife
Rock Climber Beth Rodden to Headline 23rd NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival
Rock climber Beth Rodden is set to headline the speaker line-up at the 23rd New Zealand Mountain Film & Book Festival, taking place this June in Wānaka and Queenstown.
An American climber and globally recognised ambassador for the outdoor community, Rodden has accomplished numerous notable free climbs on El Capitan, the iconic 1,000m granite monolith in Yosemite National Park. In 2008, she made history with the first ascent of Meltdown, one of the world’s most challenging traditional climbs, marking the first time a female climber had reached the pinnacle of the hardest climbing grades.
Rodden’s inspiring story also includes surviving a harrowing ordeal during a climbing expedition to Kyrgyzstan in 2000, where she and her then-boyfriend, Tommy Caldwell, along with two friends, were held hostage by rebels for six days. The group escaped after bravely overpowering one of their captors and reaching safety at a Kyrgyz army camp.
Recently, Rodden published her memoir, A Light Through the Cracks, which has been met with widespread acclaim. During the festival, she will present in Wānaka and Queenstown, as well as host a free one-hour session for local high school students.
Local adventurers Nick Pascoe (Alexandra) and Sam Smoothy (Wānaka) also feature on this year’s festival program. Pascoe will be speaking about his 2023 mission using skis and packrafts to cross from Raspberry Flat in Mt Aspiring National Park to the Tasman Sea following a direct route around Tititea/Mt Aspiring and down the Volta Glacier and Waiatoto River.
“We’re stoked to welcome these remarkable adventurers to the festival,” says Festival Director Whitney Oliver. “Their diverse experiences, ranging from wild NZ epics to far-flung expeditions, promise to deliver a programme of exhilarating and insightful stories. Expect solid backcountry banter as well as deeply personal journeys. Don’t miss a show!”
Carson Lund’s Baseball Comedy Film ‘Eephus’ Out on Digital on April 15
As an imminent construction project looms over their beloved baseball field, two New England recreational teams face off one last time in the baseball comedy film, Eephus.
Starring in the film are Keith William Richards, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Wayne Diamond, Cliff Blake, and Joe Castiglione.
Directed by Carson Lund (making his directorial debut) Eephus will be available on Digital April 15; then on DVD and Blu-ray on June 24.
Two recreational baseball teams, the River Dogs and Adler’s Paint, have been meeting on their New England field on Sunday afternoons for longer than anyone can remember. These middle-aged sportsmen can’t run as fast as they used to or connect as reliably with a pitch, but their vigorous appetite for socializing, squabbling, and busting chops remains undiminished. After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators. As day turns to night and innings bleed together, the players face the uncertainty of a new era.
Watch the trailer for Eephus.
The Harrow Brothers’ Screwball Comedy Film ‘Afternooner’ Out on Digital on April 1
Written and directed by The Harrow Brothers, the screwball comedy feature Afternooner will be available to rent/own on all North American digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, as well as on DVD, starting April 1, 2025 via Freestyle Digital Media.
The ensemble cast features Alex Molina (‘Howie’), Bryce Harrow (‘Douglas’), Kate Marley (‘Gretel’), Michael Boucher (‘Handy Herman’), Monette Moio (‘Bardbados’), Frank Bond (‘Howard Sr.’), and Rob Harrow (‘Drunk Driver Danny’).
In Afternooner, a beachfront bicycle rental shop owner scrambles to beat out a competing rental shop opening the next day. Howie is the hard luck owner of Beverly Bikes, a failing beachfront bicycle rental shop. He’s constantly butting heads with his dimwitted staff and taking his aggression out on the few customers that mosey up to their window; the result of the hubris he uses to conceal his insecurities. Today is no different. With the inevitable opening of the competition, Transcendental Rentals, Howie, to no avail, implements every idea he can come up with to maintain his foothold on the beach. With tensions high and time running out, he hatches the ultimate plan to edge out the competition — to get his hands on a very special smoke machine. Now he just needs the money, of which he has none. To make matters worse, his cheating girlfriend, Barbados, dumps him and his father disowns him. As he scrambles for the money and the day carries on, he encounters knucklehead thieves, farting dead bodies, a potential new love interest and the hope to turn his luck around. The only question is, will it all work out?
“The film is a day-in-the-life chronicling the ridiculous misadventure of this hapless antihero, who exudes false confidence to mask his broken soul,” said filmmakers The Harrow Brothers. “The film takes place in a slightly heightened reality and is a dark comedic social commentary on the current state of the world with zany characters. It is a careful presentation seasoned with dashes of dark dramatic tones and deadpan. Our goal is to challenge the audience and open a dialogue on things that need talking about; all under the guise of the fun wacky 90s/early 2000s style of comedy that doesn’t get made anymore.”
Watch the trailer for Afternooner.