The Las Vegas Film Festival today announced the shorts, labs and special screening for the upcoming 12th edition to take place April 28 through May 5, 2019 around Downtown Las Vegas, as well as the Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort.
Las Vegas Film Festival
Las Vegas Film Festival (LVFF) is a celebration of cultural discovery through the art of visual storytelling. It is a festival motivated by cinema culture, community and connecting industry professionals with independent filmmakers from all around the world. Our goal each year is to inspire festival attendees and offer a creative outlet to passionate independent storytellers in the energetic theaters in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada.
Las Vegas Film Festival started in 2008 and takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada
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2019 Las Vegas Film Festival Announces Shorts, Labs and Special Screening
Adams starring Patton Oswalt
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First 10 Films Revealed for 12th Las Vegas Film Festival
U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Knock Down The House The 12th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival will spotlight a mix of feature films and documentaries that have been favorites on the international festival circuit, as well as films with Las Vegas ties, including a documentary about The Amazing Johnathan, and Robin Greenspun’s personal portrait of local businesswoman Amy Ayoub. Additionally, one of the documentaries, Knock Down the House, follows the campaigns of four progressive women who ran against incumbents in the elections last fall, including Amy Vilela who ran for Congress in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House.
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Las Vegas Film Festival Announces 2019 Dates + New Sponsor
The 2019 Las Vegas Film Festival is scheduled to take place April 28 through May 5, with the majority of the Festival taking place in venues around Downtown Las Vegas, and some events held at the Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort, which has served as home to the Festival for the past two years. Additionally, Zappos has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the eight-day Festival.
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Las Vegas Film Festival Reveals 2018 Shorts, Labs and College Shorts Showcases Lineup
The Las Vegas Film Festival followed up its impressive initial programming lineup with even more programming for the upcoming 11th edition of the festival – including shorts, labs and college shorts showcases. The 2018 Festival will take place June 6 to 10 at Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort.
SHORTS
[O] (Director: Mario Radev) – A film that imitates nature in its manner of operation, depicting animated cycles in a world entirely based on sound frequency and vibration. After Her (Director: Laura Heberton) – A wayward teenage girl goes missing and her friend is haunted by her disappearance. An atmospheric sci-fi about first love and the lost girl. Counterfeit Kunko – In a city that houses millions, Smita discovers a strange prerequisite to renting a house in middle-class Mumbai. She would make an ideal tenant, except for one glaring flaw—she is an Indian woman without a husband. Emergency (Director: Joenique C. Rose) – Faced with an emergency situation, a group of young Black and Latino friends carefully weigh the pros and cons of calling the police. Footprint (Director: Laura Heberton) – FOOTPRINT is a purely observational meditation on how different people engage with the World Trade Center Memorial, exploring the ways we choose to commemorate tragedy in the age of technology, social media, and changing attitudes toward patriotism. Grandma’s House (Director: Savanah Joeckel) – Carol returns to a familiar position. Milk and Cookies (Director: Andrew Ramsay) – Grace is five. She wants milk and cookies. Everyday. Real bad. Nevada (Director: Emily Hoffman) – A young couple’s romantic weekend getaway is interrupted by a birth-control mishap in this stop-motion animated comedy. Painting with Joan (Director: Jack Robbins) – Are you curious about Minnesota’s #3 public-access painting show? Satellite Strangers (Director: James Bascara) – A strange cacophony. Symphony of a Sad Sea (Director: Carlos Morales) – Hugo, a Mexican child and victim of violence, flees his hometown with one single dream: crossing to the United States to meet his father and leave his past behind. The Blazing World (Director: Andrew Carlberg) – Margaret has been plagued with dreams of a strange world since she was a little girl. After a mysterious man with a map visits her one night, she decides to give in to the incessant calls of The Blazing World. THE PASSAGE (Director: Kitao Sakurai) – Phil, wide-eyed and mute, is on the run after escaping captivity. Three Course (Director: Noah Pitifer) – A server struggles with a three course meal. Thrifters (Director: Jake Pepito) – In the fiercely competitive world of second-hand chic, a loyal “thrifting duo” faces drama and challenges. We Summoned A Demon (Director: Chris McInroy) – They just wanted to be cool. Instead, they got a demon. Yule Tidings (Director: Charles Cantrell) – Trying to land their places in Hollywood royalty, two dudes prepare for their Christmas party. But when danger presents itself next door, they quickly get lured into a rabbit hole full of black magic and bunnies.COLLEGE SHORTS SHOWCASES
The Festival’s three college showcases feature a collection of short films produced by students from UNLV, CSN and NSC. The College Shorts Showcases will be held Wednesday, June 6 and will feature the following: UNLV Showcase: Programmed by Francisco Menendez, UNLV Professor and Artistic Director CSN Showcase: Programmed by John C. Aliano, CSN Program Director and Instructor NSC Showcase: Programmed by Adam Davis, NSC Assistant Professor and Interim Department ChairFESTIVAL LABS
Returning this year, for the fifth time, is a program that has become a community favorite, the Music Video Lab. Local filmmakers are given a $400 grant to produce a music video for a local band that premieres at the Festival. Participating bands this year include Paige Overton (Directors: Danny Chandia and Rachel Johnson), OLAN (Director: Engie Herrera), The American Weather (Director: Tony Clifford), Sonia Barcelona (Director: Savanah Joeckel), Cameron Calloway (Director: Brett Levner) and Indigo Kidd (Director: Zachary VanTilborg). The Music Video Lab screening will take place Sunday, June 10. Another favorite local program, the Young Cinema Lab, returns for a fourth year. Children are taught how to write a screenplay with the assistance of UNLV film students, who each receive a $300 grant. The Las Vegas Film Festival then helps the UNLV filmmakers bring the screenplay to life with a special screening event at the Festival, to be held Saturday, June 9. This year’s films include: Cat Ear Trio (Director: Patrick Gonzales; Screenwriter: Hayden Balino, age 9) Rise of the Carrots (Director: Diana Sheik Yosef; Screenwriter: Ava Trundle, age 10) The Doge (Director: Sam Rodriguez; Screenwriter: Constantine Holmes, age 7) The Four Square King (Director: Aaron Lockheart; Screenwriter: Aces Umlauf, age 9) The Game (Director: Blake Gilmore; Screenwriter: Kane Trundle, age 11) The Power Dangers (Director: Brandon Mowles: Screenwriter: Raffi, age 6) Trouble over Time (Director: Rose Nordberg; Screenwriter: Paige, age 10) Weird Things (Director: Shane Gallo; Screenwriters: Olivia Runco, age 7 and Xander Peachey, age 9)
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John McEnroe Documentary Among First Confirmed Films + Events for 2018 Las Vegas Film Festival
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John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection[/caption]
The 11th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival, partnered with CineVegas, announced this morning the initial programming lineup for the 2018 Festival, to be held at Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort June 6 to 10.The lineup includes a mix of feature films and documentaries that have been favorites on the international festival circuit, as well as new additions to this year’s Festival – live discussions and live comedy. 2018 also marks the first year with seasoned film festival programming veteran Mike Plante serving as the Festival’s Captain of Strategy.
FEATURE FILMS
Clara’s Ghost / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Bridey Elliott; Producer: Sarah Winshall) — Ted Reynolds, an aging comedian, lives a quiet life in rural Connecticut with his wife Clara. When they invite their two daughters home to celebrate the family dog’s birthday, the vodka-loving clan devolves into a drunken mess, and Clara finds herself face-to-face with a supernatural spirit only she can see. Cast: Paula Niedert Elliott, Chris Elliott, Abby Elliott, Bridey Elliott, Haley Joel Osment Damsel / U.S.A. (Directors and Screenwriters: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner; Producers: Nathan Zellner, Chris Ohlson, David Zellner) — Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson), an affluent pioneer, ventures across the American Frontier to marry the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). As Samuel traverses the Wild West with a drunkard named Parson Henry (David Zellner) and a miniature horse called Butterscotch, their once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel. Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska I Am Not a Witch / United Kingdom – (Director and Screenwriter: Rungano Nyoni; Producers: Juliette Grandmont and Emily Morgan) When eight-year-old Shula turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village, the locals are suspicious. A minor incident escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life on a state-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. As the days pass, Shula begins to settle into her new community, but a threat looms on the horizon. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision – whether to resign herself to life on the camp, or take a risk for freedom. Cast: Maggie Mulubwa, Henry B.J. Phiri, Nancy Mulilio Nancy / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Christina Choe; Producers: Amy Lo, Michelle Cameron, Andrea Riseborough) – NANCY is a provocative psychological thriller about love, intimacy, and trust – and what happens when lies become truth. Craving connection with others, Nancy creates elaborate identities and hoaxes under pseudonyms on the internet. When she meets a couple whose daughter went missing thirty years ago, fact and fiction begin to blur in Nancy’s mind, and she becomes increasingly convinced these strangers are her real parents. As their bond deepens, reasonable doubts give way to willful belief – and the power of emotion threatens to overcome all rationality. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, J. Smith-Cameron, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo Sadie / U.S.A. (Director: Megan Griffiths; Producers: Lacey Leavitt and Jennessa West; Executive Producer: Eliza Shelden) – While her father is away serving in the military, Sadie (Sophia Mitri Schloss) battles to preserve his place on the home front when her mother, Rae (Melanie Lynskey,) takes an interest in a new man, Cyrus (John Gallagher, Jr.) When Sadie sees the relationship developing, she pledges to come between them, whatever it takes. Cyrus becomes the enemy, and if she’s learned nothing else from the world she inhabits, it’s that the enemy deserves no mercy. Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Melanie Lynskey, John Gallagher, Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale The Unicorn / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Schwartzman; Screenwriters: Will Elliott & Kirk C. Johnson & Nicholas Rutherford; Producer: Russell Wayne Groves) – When an engaged couple, Caleb and Malory are forced to go to Palm Springs for a weekend to celebrate Malory’s parents’ 25th wedding vow renewal, they discover the secret to their happy marriage—threesomes. Horrified but intrigued, and determined to properly celebrate their own ‘re-engagement,’ they set out on a wild night in search of a threesome of their own. Cast: Lauren Lapkus, Nick Rutherford, Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett, Dree Hemingway When She Runs / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck; Producer: Laura Heberton) – A young mother of limited means puts everything on the line to pursue her dream of becoming a competitive runner. Her marriage failing, exhausted and broke, Kirstin has left her husband, Ivan, and their very young son, Jonah, seeking refuge across town. When She Runs follows Kirstin through the last day before the trial that could change her life forever. Cast: Kirstin Anderson, Ivan Gehring, Jonah GrahamDOCUMENTARY FILMS
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Julien Faraut; Producers: William Jehannin and Raphaelle Delauche) – Written and directed by Faraut and narrated by Mathieu Amalric, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection revisits the rich bounty of 16-mm-shot footage of the left-handed tennis star John McEnroe, at the time the world’s top-ranked player, as he competes in the French Open at Paris’s Roland Garros Stadium. Close-ups and slow motion sequences of McEnroe competing, as well as instances of his notorious temper tantrums, highlight a “man who played on the edge of his senses.” Far from a traditional documentary, Faraut probes the archival film to unpack both McEnroe’s attention to the sport and the footage itself, creating a lively and immersive look at a driven athlete, a study on the sport of tennis and the human body and movement, and finally how these all intersect with cinema itself. Minding the Gap / U.S.A. (Director and producer: Bing Liu, Producers: Diane Quon and Joshua Altman) – First-time filmmaker Bing Liu’s documentary Minding the Gap is a coming-of-age saga of three skateboarding friends in their Rust Belt hometown hit hard by decades of recession. In his quest to understand why he and his friends all ran away from home when they were younger, Bing follows 23-year-old Zack as he becomes a father and 17-year-old Keire as he gets his first job. As the film unfolds, Bing is thrust into the middle of Zack’s tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend and Keire’s inner struggles with racial identity and his deceased father. While navigating a complex relationship between his camera and his friends, Bing explores the gap between fathers and sons, between discipline and domestic abuse, and ultimately that precarious chasm between childhood and becoming an adult. Cast: Zack Mulligan, Keire Johnson, Bing Liu, Nina Bowgren, Kent Abernathy Narcissister Organ Player / U.S.A. (Director: Narcissister) — American performance artist Narcissister takes a smart, sassy, spectacle-rich approach to exploring the kinds of sexual fetishism that notoriously fix racial and gender stereotypes. She combines unabashed eroticism, humor, and poignancy to stretch viewers’ sensibilities and achieve surprising psychic effects. Narcissister Organ Player is originally a Bessie Awards–nominated performance that takes place in a metaphorical restaurant where Narcissister, unsated by a few spinach leaves, tries to eat the restaurant furniture and ends up “consuming herself” by entering and traveling through her own body, represented by an enormous onstage puppet. As the performance plays out on stage, in real life, her mother’s long-term illness brings on a decline that ends in death. The artist’s loss provokes an exploration of how her own complex, interracial family history has compelled her to create the masked, erotic performance character Narcissister. Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me / U.S.A. (Director: Sam Pollard; Screenwriter and Co-Producer: Laurence Maslon; Executive Producer and Producer: Michael Kantor; Producer: Sally Rosenthal) – Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me is the first major film documentary to examine Davis’ vast talent and his journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America. Featuring new interviews with such luminaries as Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, with never-before-seen photographs from Davis’ vast personal collection and excerpts from his electric performances in television, film and concert, Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s.LIVE EVENTS
Bobcat Goldthwait and Friends Live – Veteran film director Bobcat Goldthwait first came to CineVegas with Windy City Heat in 2004 and brought his first film Shakes the Clown to the Las Vegas Film Festival two years ago. Now he returns to the stage in Vegas for some much-needed comedy. Christine Vachon in Conversation with Mary Ann Marino – The Black Mountain Institute will sponsor a live discussion with acclaimed producer Christine Vachon, who co-founded Killer Films with Pamela Koffler in 1995. Since then, they have produced over 100 films including: Carol (nominated for six Academy Awards), Far From Heaven (nominated for four Academy Awards), Still Alice (Academy Award winner), Boys Don’t Cry (Academy Award winner), and I’m Not There (Academy Award nominated). Killer also produced Z: The Beginning of Everything for Amazon Studios, as well as Todd Haynes’ latest film, Wonderstruck. Mary Ann Marino is a longtime producer and current head of physical production for Amazon Studios. An Evening With Don Hertzfeldt / U.S.A. (Director and Screenwriter: Don Hertzfeldt) — The highly anticipated follow-up to Don Hertzfeldt’s “World of Tomorrow” finds Emily Prime swept inside the brain of an incomplete back-up clone of her future self, who’s on a mission to reboot her broken mind. Continuing the tradition of the first film, “World of Tomorrow Episode Two” was written entirely around candid audio recordings of Hertzfeldt’s five-year-old niece. Cast: Julia Pott and Winona Mae The Rudy Casoni Boozebag Revue – The Rudy Casoni Boozebag Revue returns to Las Vegas. Sinatra’s Singing Bastard brings his drunken and dangerous lounge act to Fremont Street. See him croon the standards and selected punk covers with his swing band as his show of comedians and low rent, dumdum, variety acts, careens off the rails and slams headfirst into a rat pack nightmare. Cast: Toby Huss, Mark Fite, Billy the Mime, Pat Healy, and the Dago5 Band and featuring mostly nude dancers who are mostly women.
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GOOK, THE RABBIT HUNT, and AMERICAN PARADISE Among Winners of Las Vegas Film Festival
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Gook[/caption]
“Gook” directed by Justin Chon won the Best Feature and “The Rabbit Hunt” directed by Patrick Bresnan won the Best Documentary awards at the 10th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival, which wrapped after six fun-filled days and nights of films, panels, special screenings and events at the Brenden Theatres and Palms Casino Resort.
The Festival also introduced a new award this year – Best in Show – for the film that best encapsulated the spirit of the Festival. The inaugural award was given to director Joe Talbot for his short, “American Paradise.” A desperate man in Trump’s America tries to shift his luck with the perfect crime. Inspired by true events.
Additionally, Christina Najar was named winner of the Music Video Lab Audience Award for her music video for the band Scartoon.
2017 Las Vegas Film Festival Award Winners
Best Short “Shy Guys” Director: Fredric Lehne 2016 Tony winner Reed Birney brings the laughs as strangers confront and resolve one of the most insidious and perplexing scourges to ever afflict mankind – while standing at neighboring urinals – in this first film from ubiquitous character actor Fredric Lehne. Best Animation “Pussy” Director: Anna Kerrigan Alone at home one evening, a young girl decides to have a solo pleasure session—but not everything goes according to plan. Best Vegas Cinema “Mary Shelleys Fankenweed” Directors: Nick & Zachary Thomas Byer After the legalization of both recreational and medical Marijuana- Moses, a local drug dealer, tries to unload a shipment of his “Mary Shelley’s FrankenGreen”, but no one’s buying. After getting a hold of one of his most trusted buyers, Randy- Moses comes to find out Randy has also jumped on the ‘Medical Marijuana’ bandwagon. Through the heartache of this ‘drug dealer to drug user’ break-up, Moses goes on an emotional breakdown. Best Music Video “Terror” Director: Joseph Armario While cleaning her house, a woman finds a creature living in her couch that will not die. Best Wildcard “5 Stages of Dying” Director: Nima Shoghi A young man spirals through a wild array of emotions when diagnosed with a terminal illness. Best Documentary “The Rabbit Hunt” Director: Patrick Bresnan On the weekends during the harvest season, seventeen-year-old Chris and his family hunt rabbits in the sugarcane fields of the Florida Everglades. Best Feature “Gook” Director: Justin Chon Eli and Daniel are two Korean American brothers that run their late father’s shoe store in a predominantly African American community of Los Angeles. These two brothers strike up a unique and unlikely friendship with an 11-year-old African American girl, Kamilla. As Daniel dreams of becoming a recording artist and Eli struggles to keep the store afloat, racial tensions build to a breaking point in L.A. as the “infamous” L.A. Riots break out.
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Las Vegas Film Festival Opens and Closes with Sundance Hits LEMON and LANDLINE
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Lemon[/caption]
The 10th Las Vegas Film Festival kicks off on Tuesday, June 6 with “Lemon,” which premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
In Lemon, Isaac Lachmann has seen better days. His acting career is tanking, while his colleagues succeed; his blind girlfriend of 10 years plans to leave him; and his own family singles him out as a constant disappointment at their latest reunion. Even as he takes a chance on new romance, Isaac struggles to define his place in a world that has seemingly turned against him. Director Janicza Bravo’s (the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Jury Award winner for “Gregory Go Boom”) description-defying debut feature promises to delight and unsettle audiences in equal measure with its unique brand of discomforting humor. Bravo unflinchingly strips down her stellar lead and co-writer, Brett Gelman, to appalling levels of vulnerability, emphasized by idiosyncratic supporting turns from Michael Cera, Judy Greer, Nia Long, Martin Starr and Gillian Jacobs. Bursting with meticulous unease and loving contempt, Bravo questions what it means to truly unravel.
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Jenny Slate and Abby Quinn appear in Landline by Gillian Robespierre[/caption]
Closing out the Festival on Sunday, June 11 is another Sundance Film Festival 2017 premiere, “Landline,” starting Jenny Slate, John Turturro, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn, Jay Duplass and Finn Wittrock. The Manhattan of 1995: a land without cell phones, but abundant in CD listening stations, bar smoke, and family dysfunction. Enter the Jacobs. Eldest daughter Dana’s looming marriage to straight-laced Ben prompts a willful dive into her wild side, while her younger sister, Ali, is still in high school but leads a covert life of sex, drugs, and clubbing. After discovering love letters penned by their father, the sisters try to expose his apparent affair while keeping it from their all-too-composed mother. Director Gillian Robespierre’s follow-up to “Obvious Child” reprises her talent for subversive comedy and explores how family bonds grow sturdier through lying, cheating, and strife. Compelled by the emotional snarl of people’s poor choices, “Landline” relishes in the dark humor of life’s low points while basking in ’90s nostalgia. An honest, observant portrait of sibling rivalry stumbling awkwardly toward friendship, and of children realizing that parents are people too, there’s no attempt at concealing the indulgences and insecurities of its characters—all of which make them endearing and human.
Additional special screenings include:
Person to Person (part of CINEVEGAS PRESENTS AT LVFF) Friday, June 9 at 8 p.m. Director: Dustin Guy Defa During a single day in New York City, a variety of characters grapple with the mundane, the unexpected, and the larger questions permeating their lives. An investigative reporter struggles with her first day on the job, despite help from her misguided boss; a rebellious teen attempts to balance her feminist ideals with other desires; and a young man seeks to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, even as her brother threatens revenge. Meanwhile, an avid music lover traverses the city in search of a rare record for his vinyl collection. Director Dustin Guy Defa’s hotly-anticipated second feature (his first, “Bad Fever,” was named one of the best films of 2012 by The New Yorker), is a playful ode to the analog, the unassuming, and to New York itself. Shot entirely in 16mm, “Person to Person” effortlessly humanizes its characters, invoking an earnest realism in the performances of its ensemble cast: Michael Cera, Abbi Jacobson, Tavi Gevinson, Philip Baker Hall, George Sample III, and Bene Coopersmith. Are You Really My Friend? The Movie Saturday, June 10 at 2 p.m. Director: Robin Greenspun In 2011, photographer Tanja Hollander decided to visit each one of her Facebook “friends” (all 626 of them) in their homes and make formal portraits of each of them. Armed with her cameras and iPhone, Tanja traveled throughout the U.S. and around the world for 5 years, meticulously documenting her experiences in real time and creating a historical narrative, both visual and written, along the way. Her project is an exploration of friendships, the effects of social networks, the intimate places we call home and the communities in which we live. “Are You Really My Friend? The Movie” is part of Tanja Hollander’s current exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art which documents her entire project through photographs, portraits and ephemera The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Robin Greenspun and Tanja Hollander. Bright Lights Sunday, June 11 at 2 p.m. Directors: Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom The festival will also feature a special screening of the HBO documentary, “Bright Lights,” starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds. The story of a family’s complicated love, this hilarious and heart-rending film is an intimate portrait of a unique mother/daughter relationship and Hollywood royalty in all its eccentricity. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Todd Fisher.FESTIVAL PANELS AND COMMUNITY FORUMS
LVFF Panels give movie-goers the opportunity to hear behind-the-scenes stories and invaluable insider insight from industry professionals. Stop by Festival HQ, located inside the Lounge at Palms Casino Resort, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday for panels paired with Festival mixers. Storytellers Panel and Mixer Wednesday, June 7 at 2 p.m. Prior to the 3 p.m. UNLV showcase screening, join screenwriter Marc May (former UNLV professor and current Towson University professor), producer and UNLV alumni Thomas Mahoney and Francisco Menendez (Artistic Director for the UNLV Department of Film) for a conversation focusing on inspiration, creativity and developing. Then, after the UNLV showcase screening, there will be an additional panel at 5 p.m. with UNLV professor David Waldman and Damien Stanford. Community Spark Panel and Mixer Thursday, June 8 at 3 p.m. A few rowdy filmmakers born in Las Vegas will share their filmmaking adventures in this panel with an emphasis on being a rebel and making films in Sin City. Panelists include Branden Christensen (director of the feature film “Still/Born” and director of the Music Video Lab), local producer Chuck Aiken, Brian Merrick (UNLV alumni and producer of the feature film “10 Days”) and Constanza Castro (producer of the short films “Joy Joy Nails” and “Cuddle Buddy”). Culture Panel and Mixer Saturday, June 10 at 2 p.m. Jury members from the 2013 LVFF will share their stories about filmmaking and the Festival mission. Panelists include director J.T. Gurzi, screenwriter Marika Cahn and producer Thomas Mahoney.PARTIES AND CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS
What would a film festival in Las Vegas be without some parties? On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, the official Festival parties will be held inside Ghostbar at the Palms Casino Resort from 10 p.m. until close. All parties are open to the public, with a special VIP section for all passholders. Kick Off Mixer Tuesday, June 6; 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Festival HQ at “The Lounge” inside Palms Casino Resort Music Video Lab Party Friday, June 9; Doors open 9 p.m., with the Music Video Labs premiere at 10 p.m. “Moon” inside Palms Casino Resort Hard ticket is required (available for purchase for $10 at lvff.com/box-office) Closing Night Festival Party and Awards Ceremony Saturday, June 11; 9 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. Palms Casino Resort Pool
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First Films Announced for 2017 Las Vegas Film Festival , GOOK, RAT RACE and More
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Gook[/caption]
The 10th Annual Las Vegas Film Festival taking June 6 to 11, 2017 at Brenden Theatres and the Palms Casino Resort announced today the initial programming lineup.
This year’s Festival lineup includes a mix of feature films and documentaries that have been favorites on the international festival circuit, animated works, shorts, music videos, festival labs and local films that were produced in Southern Nevada or were directed by a local filmmaker.
Highlights include winner of the NEXT Audience Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Gook, directed by Justin Chon; SXSW standouts California Dreams from Mike Ott and Theo Anthony’s Rat Race; and Dave Made a Maze from director Bill Watterson.
FEATURE FILMS
10 Days Director: Nathaniel Katzman Estlin and Ellie reconnect on Christmas Eve after nine months of separation. However, they are both wary of jumping right back into a relationship and therefore propose a challenge: they must spend 10 days with each other before a decision can be made. The film is about relationships, the holidays and being young in New York. There’s plenty to laugh, cry, and pull your hair out about. The 60 Yard Line Director: Leif Gantvoort Based on a true story. Set during the 2009 football season. Ben “Zagger” Zagowski and Nick “Polano” Polano, best friends and co-workers, buy a house in the parking lot of Lambeau Field (home of the Packers), and are forced to pick between a football fan lifestyle and a girl. Lives change. There’s a cow. Dave Made a Maze Director: Bill Watterson Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves trapped in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur. Gook Director: Justin Chon Eli and Daniel, two Korean American brothers, own a struggling shoe store and have an unlikely friendship with Kamilla, a street-wise 11-year-old African American girl. Kamilla ditches school, Eli stresses about the store, and Daniel tries to have a good time. It’s just another typical day at the store until the Rodney King verdict is read and riots break. With the chaos moving towards them, the trio is forced to defend the store while contemplating the future of their own personal dreams and the true meaning of family. Still/Born Director: Brandon Christensen Still/Born follows Mary, a new mother who lost one of her twins in childbirth. As she struggles with the loss of one of her children, she starts to suspect something sinister is after her surviving child – a supernatural entity that has chosen her child and will stop at nothing to take it from her.DOCUMENTARIES
California Dreams Director: Mike Ott From acclaimed director, Mike Ott comes to the new documentary feature “California Dreams,” presenting five unique individuals in pursuit of a big life change. Through auditions set up in small towns across Southern California, the film shows genuine characters with big Hollywood aspirations who, for various reasons, have never had the opportunity to pursue it. No matter what the endgame is, whether it’s fame, love, or a fleeting shot at immortality, this bitingly funny film reveals the strange and entrancingly hypnotic grip that Hollywood has, in some way or form, on everyone. The Rabbit Hunt (Short) Director: Patrick Bresnan In the Florida Everglades rabbit hunting is considered a rite of passage for young men. The Rabbit Hunt follows seventeen year old Chris and his family as they hunt in the fields of the largest industrial sugar farms in the US. The film records a tradition by which migrant farm workers in the communities surrounding Lake Okeechobee have been hunting and preparing rabbits since the early 1900s.CINEVEGAS PRESENTS AT LVFF
This year’s Festival will once again include CINEVEGAS PRESENTS AT LVFF, featuring a selection of films curated by the CineVegas team of Trevor Groth and Mike Plante. Rat Film Director: Theo Anthony Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. “Rat Film” is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them–to explore the history of Baltimore. “There’s never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it’s always been a people problem.”ANIMATIONS
Black Holes Director: David Nicolas Dave is about to lead the first mission to Mars when he’s teamed up with a sentient melon, who claims to be the reincarnation of a fashion designer, upstaging his big moment and driving him to the brink of madness. LOVE Director: Réka Bucsi LOVE is a short film describing affection in 3 different chapters, through an impact on a distant solar system. Luscious Director: Xuecheng Xu A 2D motion graphics video looks at human nature, human instinct and the power of imagination. Minimally styled illustrations tell the story of a beautiful woman who achieves satisfaction by having a psychedelic, metaphoric, sensual journey during dinner in 1930s Shanghai. Pearl Director: Patrick Osborne Set inside their home, a beloved hatchback, Pearl follows a girl and her dad as they crisscross the country chasing their dreams. It’s a story about the gifts we hand down and their power to carry love. And finding grace in the unlikeliest of places. Pussy Director: Renata Gasiorowska A young girl spends the evening alone at home. She decides to have some sweet solo pleasure session, but not everything goes according to plan.MUSIC VIDEOS
Between Leos Director: Jeremy Collins Music video from the band Small Black. Hallways Director: Sarah May Four band members explore a wacky and vivid house filled with hallways leading them to strange rooms in this dance-pop music video. Make Our Relationship Great Again Director: Zachary David Honea A sobering song about the dangers of codependency, Donald Trump, and puppet murder. Spare the Ones That Weep by Mark Stoermer Part 1 & 2 Directors: Mike & Jerry Thompson Music video featuring Mark Stoermer, bassist from The Killers. Terror Director: Joseph Armario Steady Holiday – Terror. While cleaning her house, a woman finds a creature living in her couch that will not die.SHORT FILMS
American Paradise Director: Joe Talbot A forgotten man in Trump’s America attempts to shift his fate with the perfect crime. Inspired by true events. BACKSTORY Director: Joschka Laukeninks As a young child, our protagonist is left by his mother and has to live with his violent father. He fights his way through adolescence and falls in love with the woman of his dreams, and just as everything seems to be finally working out for him, a sudden event changes the course of his life forever. A story about how everything we love, everything we learn, everything we build, everything we fear, will one day be gone. Ballooinator Director: Joshua Seigel Two friends find a new toy gun with a very special ability. Soon, they find the power of the gun might have been more dangerous than they had imagined. Bambina Director: Alexis O. Korycinski An isolated expatriate experiences psychosis and depression after giving birth. Cuddle Buddy Director: Max Barbakow A depressed woman must come to terms with her own vulnerability when she hires an eager Professional Cuddler on Christmas Eve. Do No Harm Director: Roseanne Liang Save the patient. Nothing else. Do Not Lose Director: Shilpi Shikha Agrawal A lonely late night at the coin laundry goes wrong. — Pay attention, Mona. Dawn of the Deaf Director: Rob Savage When a sonic pulse infects the hearing population, a small group of Deaf people must band together to survive. Fever Director: Logan George Four high schoolers across the world reveal their primal selves when faced with moral dilemmas. Get Wed Soon Director: Kathrina Bognot Faced with her parents’ desire for her to marry, a Filipino millennial takes dating to absurd lengths. Girl #2 Director: David H. Jeffery When a deranged killer sets his sights on an unsuspecting sorority, he realizes he’s not the craziest one in the house. Grandma’s House Director: Joshua Giuliano An old woman. Alone. At night. Hot Seat Director: Anna Kerrigan Teen Andrea uses a male stripper to gain the respect and admiration of cool girl Daphne. Hot Seat, which is based on a true story, explores coming-of-age sexuality and the complexities of relationships between teen girls. It’s Been Like a Year Director: Cameron Fay A sexually stifled young man grows increasingly distracted during a rendezvous with an attractive young woman. Joy Joy Nails Director: Joey Ally Sarah manages Joy Joy Nails with a cheerful iron fist – but she gets her manicured claws out when Chinese Mia, a manicurist trainee, looks to be stealing the boss’s son’s affections, soon discovering that under the varnish, everyone’s a victim. Kid Gambled Director: Alexander Familian In Las Vegas, Nevada, an anxious 15 year old reluctantly smokes weed and agrees to steal beer from a gas station— all to impress his hooligan friends and a girl that he likes. There is no explanation for what comes next… Don’t be a little bitch. #LOCALCINEMA Mary Shelley’s FrankenGreen Directors: Nick & Zach Byer After the legalization of both recreational and medical Marijuana, Moses tries to unload a shipment of his “Mary Shelley’s FrankenGreen”, but no one’s buying. After getting a hold of one of his most trusted buyers; Randy, Moses comes to find out Randy has also jumped on the ‘Medical Marijuana’ train. Through the heartache of this ‘drug dealer to drug user’ break-up, Moses goes on an emotional breakdown. Mouse Director: Celine Held Fueled by coke, Vanessa and Danny attempt to capitalize on an unlikely opportunity. NIGHT SHIFT Director: Marshall Tyler A day in the life of a bathroom attendant in an LA nightclub. Pastel Director: Robert Shupe A troubled woman has a bizarre encounter with a transient man on the streets of Las Vegas. The Rideshare Director: Derek Olson Before tonight, Carl was just another driver for the latest Rideshare App., now his next passenger might be his last. The Robbery Director: Jim Cummings Crystal robs a liquor store—it goes pretty OK. Rubber Heart Director: Lizzy Sanford A first-time sexual encounter that just doesn’t click. Shy Guys Director: Fredric Lehne Strangers (Tony winner Reed Birney and Blake DeLong) bravely confront and resolve one of the most terrifying and perplexing scourges to ever afflict mankind…while standing at urinals with their willies out. Valencia Director: Logan George While driving to the reading of her father’s will, Catherine is faced with an anomaly on the side of the road. WASTE Director: Justine Raczkiewicz Roger lives a grim and detached life, picking up medical waste for a living, but looks forward to his evening conversations with his quirky roommate and foodie, Olive. But as the meals become increasingly strange, and push the limits of curiosity, Roger must ask himself how far he will go for love? WIDE-o Director: Kirk W. Murray After a mother finds her two children up late one cold December night, she searches the house only to find the terrifying reason…WILDCARD
Wildcard is the Las Vegas Film Festival’s experimental films category. These #NSFW short films are not for the faint of heart. 5 Stages of Dying Director: Nima Shoghi A young man struggles with his mortality when diagnosed with a terminal illness. Iverson Director: Spencer Wilson A basketball player’s demons interfere with his game. Unfocused, he gets knocked unconscious, forcing him to travel through an inward journey. Milk Director: Tyler Yarbro A lactose noir.