Film Festivals

THROW, CANYON SONG, VOYAGERS WITHOUT TRACE Among Winners of 2017 Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_21185" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Throw[/caption] After screening nearly 100 films in six days, the Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival has announced the winners of the 15th Anniversary edition. Voyagers Without Trace directed by Ian McCluskey was awarded the prize for Best Feature, and Throw directed by Darren Durlach and David Larson won the People’s Choice award.
15th Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival Award Winners
People’s Choice: Throw Director(s): Darren Durlach, David Larson The first installment of Invisible Thread, an ongoing Early Light Media passion project series, Throw tells the story of an outsider from East Baltimore, an area challenged by gang violence and poverty. Often misunderstood, Coffin Nachtmahr found acceptance among a subculture of “throwers” and it turns out, he’s a virtuoso. He now helps others find a creative and social outlet by sharing the very toy that inspired him. The Invisible Thread series is fueled by our passion for telling people-driven stories and will be an ongoing project that explores human connectivity, life, death, and all the moments in between. We want it to be diverse, funny, serious, and informative. Director’s Choice: Canyon Song Director(s): Dana Romanoff and Amy Marquis Within the sacred walls of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, two young sisters, Tonisha and Tonielle Draper, learn about their Navajo culture and history. Above the rim, the girls compete in “royalty” pageants by singing songs in Navajo. But throughout the region, Navajo culture is fading. Beginning in the 1890s, native children were ripped out of their homes and forced into boarding schools in an effort to assimilate Indian tribes into the “American way of life.” Today, elders have less cultural knowledge to pass down to youth, and fewer than half of the country’s Navajo children entering school know their native language. This makes the Drapers’ story especially compelling. While their lives reflect many of the familiar aspects of a modern American family, they keep close ties to the land and work hard to teach their children the Navajo Way. This film illustrates the sacredness of a people and a place, the effort to define identities in both modern and traditional worlds, and the movement to honor Navajo culture for generations to come—all while reminding viewers of the critical role national parks play in preserving our country’s greatest stories, cultures, and landscapes. This is the second film in the National Park Experience film series. Tuckman Young Voice: To Scale: The Solar System Director(s): Wylie Overstreet, Alex Gorosh Every image of the solar system we ever encounter is not to scale: Nature’s real proportions will never fit within a textbook page or computer screen–they are simply too vast. The only way to see the real appearance of the solar system is to build a massive, physical scale model. [caption id="attachment_21186" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Voyagers Without Trace[/caption] Best Feature: Voyagers Without Trace Director(s): Ian McCluskey With the help of a few friends, filmmakers Alex Gorosh and Wylie Overstreet did exactly that. Using the dry lakebed of Black Rock Desert in Nevada and an earth the size of the marble, they constructed the first complete model of the solar system, measuring over seven miles wide. Do you know those stories where a kid finds a hidden treasure map in an attic or a lost letter in an old book? Growing up, I always dreamed someday I’d find a mysterious clue that set me on an adventure. In the remote southwest corner of Wyoming, I came across a curious historic marker. On the sign was a faded photograph: two handsome men and a fetching blonde. They didn’t look like the rugged mountain men or explorers of the American West that I’d seen before on historic signs. Instead, they seemed like they could have been my friends. The sign hinted at an incredible voyage. In the summer of 1938, newlyweds Genevieve and Bernard de Colmont and their friend, Antoine de Seynes, set off from France on the biggest adventure of their lives. They had a bold, perhaps even foolhardy plan: be the first to take kayaks down the mighty Green and Colorado rivers. They launched from Green River, Wyoming, and emerged 900 miles and two months later in Lee’s Ferry, Arizona, with their travels vividly documented on 16 millimeter color film—a year before Hollywood’s first color movie. And Genevieve, just age 21, would become the first woman to paddle her own boat on these rivers. A vanguard of recreational adventurers, the French Trio’s journey offers a unique and previously unseen window into a transitional moment in America: the last chapter of the Wild West, and the first chapter of the Modern era. What led an explorer, his new bride, and his best friend halfway around the world, on the eve of World War II? What ever happened to them? And what did these “Voyagers Without Trace” leave to be found? To go further on this search meant one unavoidable thing: I had to go down the river. There was just one problem: I didn’t know how to kayak! But that hadn’t stopped the French Trio; they weren’t professional kayakers, but just beginners. So I assembled my own trio, with acclaimed adventure athlete Paul Kuthe and his fiancée, Kate. We set off down the dangerous whitewater to search for any remaining traces of this journey. What I found was more than I could have expected: the original color film documenting their 1938 trip, unseen photos, a diary… and even one of the original kayaks, held in a 16th century fortress in the peaks of the Pyrenees, with an unexpected connection to the French Resistance. From my discoveries emerged a story more remarkable than I could have imagined, revealing the possibilities that free-spirited risk-taking offers to all. Best Short: Dodo’s Delight Director(s): Sean Villanueva-O’Driscoll, Josh Lowell, Nick Rosen, Peter Mortimer Jump on board a madcap sailing adventure to the biggest rock walls in the Arctic Circle with a team of elite climbers as zany as they are talented. Sean Villanueva, Nico Favresse, Olivier Favresse and Ben Ditto have made cutting edge first ascents in remote mountain ranges around the world — climbing hard, making music and goofing off thousands of feet in the air. Now they embark on their greatest expedition yet, voyaging to the massive walls of Greenland and Baffin Island on the good ship Dodo’s Delight, skippered by the spry 79-year old Captain Bob Shepton. Amongst rough seas, falling rocks and freezing temperatures, this hilarious and badass gang of adventurers forge bold new routes and have the time of their lives.
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2017 Boston Underground Film Festival Unleashes First Wave of Films – PREVENGE, THE VOID, BITCH and More

[caption id="attachment_21176" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] THE VOID[/caption] The 19th Boston Underground Film Festival returns to Harvard Square with what the festival describes as a “smorgasbord of phantasmagoria, dark comedy, thrillers, killers, and chillers” from March 22nd through the 26th, 2017. Veteran actress, co-writer of 2012’s Sightseers, and first-time director/writer/star Alice Lowe’s bloody British baby bump (off) slasher comedy Prevenge will open the festival on Wednesday March 22nd, and filmmaking triple-threat director/writer/actor Marianna Palka’s delightfully disturbing dive into dissociative doggone delirium, Bitch will close out the festival on March 26th. Bubbling up from down-under, also coming to Boston fresh from SXSW 2017, is not-to-be-missed Aussie crime thriller Hounds of Love, a masterful feat of tension, terror, and restraint from Perth-based, wildly talented first-time feature filmmaker Ben Young. In stark contrast to some of BUFF’s darker fare, prepare to meet your new obsession with first-time filmmaker Bill Watterson’s Slamdance 2017 standout Dave Made a Maze, which will beguile and a-maze with its hilarious odyssey through one man’s intricately crafted, booby trapped, living room box fort labyrinth; awe-inspiring stop-motion animation and strong lulz await. BUFF will also host the East Coast Premiere of 68 Kill from mad genius Trent Haaga, director of BUFF’s 2011 Director’s Choice Award-winner Chop and writer of 2013’s Cheap Thrills & 2008’s Deadgirl. Haaga’s highly anticipated punk rock heist film unites BUFF regulars AnnaLynne McCord & Matthew Gray Gubler in the ultimate highway to hell road film.
2017 BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL FIRST WAVE OF FILMS
BITCH – East Coast Premiere Marianna Palka | USA | 2017 Caged in the suburbs of our discontent, a woman (Marianna Palka) snaps and enters a fugue state, consumed by the psyche of a vicious dog. Her philandering, stay-at-work husband (Jason Ritter) must grudgingly assume the role of family caretaker, forcing him to engage with his four children and sister-in-law (Jaime King) as they attempt to strengthen their familial unit and entice mom back to reality. Marianna Palka writes, directs, and stars in her bitingly funny and profound fourth feature. DAVE MADE A MAZE – East Coast Premiere Bill Watterson | USA | 2017 Dave (Nick Thune) is an artist who has yet to complete anything of significance in his short career; out of frustration, he builds an elaborate box fort in his living room. When his girlfriend and friends (including Kirsten Vangsness, Adam Busch, and Meera Rohit Kumbhani) enter against his protests, he must save them all from a series of fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and creatures of his own creation. Actor Bill Watterson writes and directs his hilarious and idiosyncratic first feature. HOUNDS OF LOVE – East Coast Premiere Ben Young | Australia | 2016 In Ben Young’s tense, chilling feature debut, 17-year-old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by a disturbed couple and held prisoner in their home. As she observes the volatile dynamic between her captors, she soon realizes the key to survival lies in driving a wedge between them. PREVENGE – East Coast Premiere Alice Lowe | UK | 2016 In her directorial debut, Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Hot Fuzz, Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place) writes, directs and stars in a pitch black comedic tale of vengeance about seven-months-pregnant Widow Ruth and the unborn serial killer that compels her on her homicidal rampage. SAINT BERNARD – North American Premiere Gabe Bartalos | USA/France | 2013 Prolific creature designer Gabe Bartalos (Brain Damage, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, Gremlins 2, and the Leprechaun series) crafts a phantasmagoric vision of a classical music conductor descending into insanity with his sophomore feature. Seemingly vanished from a short-lived run on the festival circuit in 2014, BUFF is proud to give this must-see nightmare, and the visionary filmmaker who created it, a proper North American premiere. 68 KILL – East Coast Premiere Trent Haaga | USA | 2017 Trent Haaga (writer of Deadgirl, Cheap Thrills) returns to the director’s chair following 2011’s Chop with a punk-rock after hours thriller about femininity, masculinity and the theft of $68,000. When Liza (AnnaLynne McCord) asks her boyfriend Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler) to help her rob her wealthy sugar daddy, he can’t say no. Once they step into the man’s home, Chip & Liza embark on a breakneck roadtrip to hell. Adapted from Bryan Smith’s 2013, no-holds-barred crime novel of the same name. THE VOID – New England Premiere Jeremy Gillespie, Steven Kostanski | Canada | 2016 ASTRON-6’s Jeremy Gillespie & Steven Kostanski return with a Carpenteresque saga of brutal, cosmic dread, packed with creatures straight out of hell. In the middle of a routine patrol, officer Daniel Carter (Aaron Poole) happens upon a blood-soaked figure limping down a deserted stretch of road in the middle of the night. When he rushes the young man to a nearby rural hospital, he finds that patients and personnel are transforming into something… inhuman. As the horror intensifies, Carter must lead the other survivors into the subterranean depths of the hospital in a desperate bid to save their lives and end the nightmare before it’s too late. TRINITY – Boston Premiere Skip Shea | USA | 2016 Award-winning Massachusetts-based filmmaker, writer, artist and actor Skip Shea brings to life a deeply personal and disturbing first feature based on the true story about a moment in the life of a clergy abuse survivor. While at a coffee shop, a man accidentally bumps into the priest who abused him when he was a child, triggering a surreal, PTSD-induced dissociative moment that sends him on a twisted journey through his past.
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2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Announces Winning Films

[caption id="attachment_21104" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE[/caption] The 2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival announced the winning films, awarding the Big Sky Award to 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE by Melinda Janko. Says Festival Director Rachel Gregg: “We’re extremely proud to have been able to share these incredibly accomplished films with the people of Montana and all our visiting guests. We’re thrilled to provide an opportunity for these movies to find an even larger audience thanks to the reach of these prestigious awards. Thanks to our juries for making the hard decisions!” With over 200 films in the festival, the following competition films have been given awards in the four categories. Big Sky Award: Presented to one film that artistically honors the character, history, tradition and imagination of the American West WINNER: 100 YEARS: ONE WOMAN’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE Melinda Janko, 2016, USA, 76 minutes / Montana Premiere 100 Years is the David vs. Goliath story of Elouise Cobell’s courageous fight for justice for 300,000 Native Americans whose mineral rich lands were mismanaged by the United States Government. For 30 years Elouise Cobell fought “the good fight.” This is the compelling true story of how she prevailed and made history. Big Sky Artistic Vision Award WINNER: OYATE Dan Girmus , 2016, USA, 73 minutes / World Premiere OYATE is a film about life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota. It follows two families as they go about their daily activities over the course of a single summer. They attend rodeos, shoot clay pigeons, and participate in pow wows. Family members get married, have children, and celebrate the 4th of July. All the while, the difficult, often intractable realities of modern reservation life threaten to encroach upon them. Jury statement: In recognition of the film’s artistic merit, approach and cinematography, the jury presents Dan Grimus’s OYATE the Artistic Vision Award for its cinematic eye, observational gaze, and ability to capture the beauty in the everyday. Mini-Doc Competition – films 15 minutes and under WINNER: THE FOURTH KINGDOM Alex Lora, Adan Aliaga, 2017, Spain, USA, 14 minutes / World Premiere The Fourth Kingdom is the kingdom of plastics, a redemption center in NY for immigrants and underdogs where the American Dream becomes possible indeed. Short Competition – films between 15 and 40 minutes in length WINNER: KAYAYO: THE LIVING SHOPPING BASKETS Mari Bakke Riise, 2016, Norway, 32 minutes / North American Premiere In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets – called Kayayo, carrying heavy loads on their head (from 130 to 220 pounds), earning very little and some end up in prostitution to make ends meet. This documentary is about Bamunu, an 8-year old girl who hasn’t seen her family since she was sent away from home two years ago to work as a Kayayo to support her family. We follow her incessant longing to get away from the harsh markets, her journey back home and what awaits there. Shorts Competition Artistic Vision Award WINNER: THE RAIN WILL FOLLOW Eugene Richards, 2016, USA — 15 minutes / Northwest Premiere Though confined to a nursing home, 90-year-old Melvin Wisdahl lives an interior life, filled with images of the war he fought in, the struggles of the early Norwegian settlers of North Dakota, his ghost town of a home, his love of the ever-evolving and threatened land. Jury Statement: The jury presents an Artistic Vision Award to THE RAIN WILL FOLLOW, which beautifully marries internal and external landscape imagery in a way that infuses the whole film with a third complete and powerful through line. Feature Competition – films over 40 minutes in length WINNER: CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS Bartle B Bull, 2017, USA, 100 minutes / Northwest Premiere Fighting for your life in the city of dreams. Three extraordinary young people battle to change their lives through the three-month odyssey of the New York Daily News Golden Gloves—the biggest, oldest, most important amateur boxing tournament in the world. Feature Competition Artistic Vision Award WINNER: LET THERE BE LIGHT Mila Aung-Thwin, 2017, Canada, 100 minutes / World Premiere LET THERE BE LIGHT follows the story of dedicated scientists working to build a small sun on Earth, which would unleash perpetual, cheap, clean energy for mankind. After decades of failed attempts, a massive push is now underway to crack the holy grail of energy. Jury Statement – In recognition of the film’s artistic merit and educational value, the jury presents LET THERE BE LIGHT with an Artistic Vision Award for its cinematic eye, innovative animation, and engaging (passionate) investigation into the future of fusion (clean energy).
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SXSW Documentary MISSION CONTROL: THE UNSUNG HEROES OF APOLLO Sets Release Launch Date | Trailer

The documentary Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, directed by David Fairhead, about the NASA team that guided the United States’ early astronauts, has been acquired by Gravitas Ventures for release in the U.S. Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, which is set for its world premiere on March 14 at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, will be released in select U.S. theaters and through video on demand (VOD) on April 14. Featuring archival and on-site footage and stories from the men who lived it, “Mission Control” includes interviews with the founder of NASA’s Mission Control Center (and now its namesake) Chris Kraft and Apollo-era flight directors Gene Kranz (portrayed by Ed Harris in the 1995 film “Apollo 13”), Glynn Lunney and Gerry Griffin. Also appearing in the film are Apollo flight controllers Jerry Bostick, John Aaron and Sy Liebergot, and astronauts James Lovell (played by Tom Hanks in “Apollo 13”), Charles Duke, and the late Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon. Through their testimony, the movie explores the journey in Mission Control, from the Mercury and Gemini trailblazing flights to the tragic Apollo 1 fire and, ultimately, the glories of the moon landings. “To make this film of the unsung heroes [of NASA Mission Control] has been a fantastic experience,” Fairhead said. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7maQ_-k6DI
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Gasparilla International Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup, and World Premiere of ALL NIGHTER Starring J.K. Simmons

[caption id="attachment_21069" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] All Nighter[/caption] The 2017 Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) taking place March 2 to March 9, at the Tampa Theater and AMC Centro Ybor in Tampa, Florida, announced its official selection. The festival will open with Burn Your Maps and close with Unleashed. The festival will also host the world premiere for All Nighter starring Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons and directed by Gavin Wiesen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0pNVrNLasI There will be 35 films and over 70 shorts, in which it will host international and regional premieres of narrative features, documentaries and short films around the world.
2017 Gasparilla International Film Festival Film Line up:

OPENING NIGHT FILM:
Burn Your Maps: A nine-year-old boy, grieving with his parents over the recent loss of his baby sister, becomes obsessed with the idea that he’s a Mongolian goat herder who belongs back home in his small village in Mongolia. Cast: Vera Farmiga, Jacob Tremblay, Virginia Madsen, Suraj Sharma. Directed by Jordan Roberts
CLOSING NIGHT FILM:
Unleashed: When a cosmic event turns Emma’s dog and cat into two perfect guys, Emma reconsiders her outlook on dating, hilariously works out her trust issues, and ultimately learns to love herself. Cast: Justin Chatwin, Steve Howe, Sean Astin, Kate Micucci. Directed by Finn Taylor
SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS:
Breakable You: The film follows the Wellers, a dynamic New York City family as they come to terms with themselves and each other. Cast: Holly Hunter, Tony Shalhoub, Alfred Molina, Cristin Milloti. Directed by Andrew Wagner Danger Close: (Documentary) Female war reporter Alex Quade’s daring missions to tell soldiers’ stories during a series of unprecedented embeds with Conventional Forces and US Special Ops Forces at the height of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Directed by Christian Tureaud and David Salzberg The Last Word: Retired businesswoman Harriet, controlling to the end, writes her own obituary, but the newspaper writer tasked with the piece insists on learning the truth about Harriet’s life and the two become reluctant partners and friends. Cast: Shirley MacLaine, Amanda Seyfried, Tom Everett Scott, Anne Heche, Philip Baker Hall. Directed by Mark Pellington The Lost City of Z: Based on author David Grann’s nonfiction bestseller, The Lost City of Z tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett. Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson. Directed by James Gray
LATE NIGHT FUN & THRILLS:
First Round Down: Tim Tucker, a former hockey prodigy, returns home to take care of his younger brother having spent the last ten years as a hit man for the mob. Tim now lives on the straight and narrow, but his checkered past catches up to him faster than he can deliver pizza. Cast: Dylan Bruce, Rachel Wilson, John Kapelos. Directed by Brett Butler and Jason Butler Veras Mantel: A successful writer, Veras Martel, is prevented from leaving her house by agoraphobia. Sinister threats from a fan eventually lead her uncovering the secret of her illness. Cast: Lea Fassbender, Nico Zitek, Charlotte Ulrich. Directed by Ronald Unterberger Women Who Kill: Commitment phobic Morgan and her ex-girlfriend Jean, hosts of a female serial killer-centric podcast, still show all the signs of being a couple. But everything changes when Morgan falls hard and fast for the mysterious Simone, who may or may not be a killer. Cast: Ingrid Jungermann, Ann Carr, Sheila Vand, Annette O’toole. Directed by Ingrid Jungermann.
US NARRATIVE FEATURES:
American Wrestler: The Wizard: In 1980, a teenage boy escapes the unrest in Iran only to face more hostility in America, due to the hostage crisis. Determined to fit in, he joins the school’s floundering wrestling team. Cast: Jon Voight, William Fichter, Ali Afshar. Directed by Alex Ranarivelo The Architect: When a couple sets out to build their dream house, they enlist the services of an uncompromising modernist architect, who proceeds to build HIS dream house instead of theirs. Cast: Parker Posey, James Frain, Eric McCormack. Directed by Jonathan Parker AWOL: A young woman Joey is in search of direction in her small town. A visit to an army recruiting office appears to provide a path, but when she meets and falls in love with Rayna that path diverges in ways that neither woman anticipates. Cast: Lola Kirke, Breeda Wool, Dale Soules, Ted Welch. Directed by Deb Shoval Carrie Pilby: Carrie is person of high intelligence who graduated from Harvard at 19, and struggles to make sense of the world as it relates to morality, relationships, sex and leaving her apartment. Cast: Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, Jason Ritter. Directed by Susan Johnson Dean: An illustrator falls hard for an LA woman while trying to prevent his father from selling the family home in the wake of his mother’s death. Cast: Demetri Martin, Asif Ali, Jesaiah Baer, Katherine Barnes. Directed by Demetri Martin Future 38: A 1938 screwball comedy set in the far future year of 2018. Cast: Betty Gilpin, Robert John Burke, Sean Young. Directed by Jamie Greenberg So B. It: A 12-year-old girl decides to take a cross-country trip by herself, leaving the safety of her home with her mentally-challenged mother and agoraphobic neighbor. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Dash Mihok, Jacin Barrett, John Heard, Cloris Leachman. Directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal
INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURES:
About Us: Diego, a hopeless romantic desperately trying to salvage his relationship with long- time girlfriend Sofía, plans a beach getaway to propose and clear the air. A ‘chance’ encounter with Sofía’s old friend Malena will cast doubts on his relationship and skewed understanding of love, quickly turning a perfect weekend in paradise into Diego’s worst nightmare. Cast: Hernan Jimenez, Noelia Castano, Marina Glezer. Directed by Hernan Jimenez Frantz: In the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé’s grave to lay flowers. Cast: Paula Beer, Pierre Niney, Ernst Stotnzer. Directed by Francois Ozon Handsome Devil: Two opposites, a loner and the top athlete at a rugby-obsessed boarding school, become friends until the authorities test their friendship. Cast: Fionn O’Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, Andrew Scott. Directed by John Butler Past Life: In the 1970s, two sisters try to solve a wartime mystery that has cast a shadow over their lives. Cast: Nelly Tagar, Joy Rieger, Doron Tavory. Directed by Avi Nesher Queen of the Desert: A chronicle of Gertrude Bell’s life, a traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer, and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century. Cast: Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, Robert Pattinson. Directed by Werner Herzog The Sense of an Ending: A reclusive older man must face the flawed recollections of his younger self and his long buried secrets. Cast: Jim Broadbent, Michelle Dockery, Emily Mortimer. Directed by Ritesha Batra
DOCUMENTARIES:
Disturbing the Peace: The film explores people born into conflict, sworn to be enemies, who challenged their fate by taking extraordinary actions by standing for what they believe in. It challenges us all to decide what role we will play in creating a more humane world, starting with our willingness to disturb the peace. Directed by Stephen Apkon and Marcina Hale Finding Oscar: Feature length documentary about the search for justice in the devastating case of the Dos Erres massacre in Guatemala. That search leads to the trail of two little boys who were plucked from a nightmare and offer the only living evidence that ties the Guatemalan government to the massacre. Directed by Ryan Suffern, Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg Good Fortune: Homeless, Gang member, Billionaire, Philanthropist; this film reflects “conscious capitalism.” Interviewees include Robert Kennedy Jr., Cheech Marin, Dan Akroyd, Arianna Huffington and Danny Trejo. Directed by Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell Lea and Mira: The film tells the story of two elderly women living in Argentina. As children, they were taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The movie depicts the thoughts of these women who, in the twilight of their lives, transmit their wisdom, their resilience, and their way of looking at life after trauma. Directed by Poli Martinez Kaplun Score: This documentary brings Hollywood’s premier composers together to give viewers a privileged look inside the musical challenges and creative secrecy of one the world’s most widely known music genre: the film score. Interviewees include Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, James Cameron and Quincy Jones. Directed by Matt Schrader
FLORIDA FOCUS:
World premiere of independent films made in Florida Joey’s Show Will Go On: Tampa drag queen legend Joey Brooks, the ‘First Lady Of Ybor City’, talks about her decades-long female-impersonator career and judges a whacky contest to choose a new diva for her Christmas show. Cast: Joey Brooks. Directed by Marcus Kempton King Charles: A shady DEA agent does everything in his power within and outside the law to catch a cocaine kingpin. During a city’s crime investigation the DEA’s partner is gunned down. TC will now stop at nothing to catch his man and what he’s about to do next is pure justice. Cast: Rod Grant, Nicholas Naylor and Buddy Winsett. Directed by Nicholas Taylor The Lost Digit: After accidentally cutting off his finger, a man can’t escape the dire feeling that something important in his life is missing. As a dangerous obsession takes hold his career, marriage and grasp on reality suffer. The best part of his life gone, he ends up in a nursing home devoid of love and utterly alone. Cast: Christopher Rutherford, George Cassermey, Hillary Pyles, Jim Wicker. Directed by Garrett Brown Turtle Tale: TURTLE TALE is inspired by events that took place at the George C. McGough Nature Park in Largo, Florida – the story of JR the OWL as witnessed and told by the nature park’s first inhabitants, ‘THE TURTLES’. The turtles, HANK, RAFI and GOLIATH, and their community live in a beautiful pond with nice clean water, lots of food and are witnesses to all the events of the park as they get ready for another busy summer camp season, never suspecting what is about to happen at the park and to themselves. Cast: Mary Rachel Dudley, Noah Schnacky, Lily Cardone, Isiah McCaffrey. Directed by Luc Campeau There will also be Industry Panels featuring Meet The Press, Casting Directors, Special Effects, The Pitch and the Performance Actor’s panel.
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2 Live & Onstage Programs Featuring Performances by Will Oldham and Terence Nance Added to San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_21052" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A still from experimental filmmaker Jerome Hiler’s BAGATELLE II, who’s work will be played alongside Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s original musical compositions during the Headlands and San Francisco Film Society special program PARALLEL SPACES: WILL OLDHAM AND JEROME HILER.[/caption] “Parallel Spaces: Will Oldham and Jerome Hiler” and “18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines” have been added to the popular Live & Onstage section of the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival. Composer Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (Headlands Artist in Residence, 2008), and Chicago-based Bitchin Bajas (Drag City) present Parallel Spaces: Will Oldham and Jerome Hiler, a special program of improvised music to be performed live alongside the projection of experimental films created by Bay Area artist Jerome Hiler. Joining Oldham and the Bajas is Bay Area-based Cornelius Boots, known as both a virtuosic clarinetist, and a burgeoning master of the shakuhachi flute of Zen Buddhism. Screenings of Hiler’s 16mm films, recognized for their mastery of visual composition, is an all too rare thing, and Hiler and Oldham have selected three that will be shown: Words of Mercury (2011), Marginalia (2015), and Bagatelle II (2016). Each film displays a different approach to the poetics of moving imagery and the deceptively simple, yet powerful, practice of viewing light passing through celluloid. This program will take place Monday April 10, 8:00 pm, at the historic Castro Theatre. Artist and filmmaker Terence Nance (Headlands Artist in Residence, 2014; An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Festival 2012) presents his compelling, interactive dual live programs, 18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines. Accompanied by his brother, multidisciplinary artist Norvis Junior, and by local musicians and dancers, Nance investigates the predispositions of our culture and media by taking audiences through a tour of the ways in which various narratives of black youth, beginning with age one and progressing through year 18, are presented via simple internet search functions. Using Google’s autocomplete algorithms and responding to audience feedback, Nance’s project presents a virtual self-portrait of our society that reflects our biases and norms back to us. Featuring live music, personal digressions, improvisation, and chance, Nance’s unique, and at turns heartwarming, heartbreaking, and insightful presentations will unfold at the Victoria Theatre over two consecutive days. The “girls” program will be featured on Sunday, April 16 at 5:00 pm, and the “boys” program on Monday, April 17 at 6:00 pm. “We’re delighted to be partnering with Headlands Center for the Arts to bring these dynamic performers to the Festival,” said Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Society’s director of programming.”Artists in creative dialogue with moving images make the Live & Onstage section one of our most thrilling offerings at the Festival, and it’s especially gratifying to be able to collaborate with an organization that supports such creative exploration.” “We’re excited to join San Francisco Film Society in sharing new work from Headlands’ Artist in Residence alumni Terence Nance and Will Oldham with Festival audiences,” says Sean Uyehara, Headlands Center for the Arts Director of Programs. “Supporting artists with opportunities for this kind of thoughtful, cross-disciplinary collaboration is what we’re all about.”
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2017 Toronto International Film Festival Will Eliminate Vanguard and City to City + Reduce Numbers of Films on Lineup

The Toronto International Film Festival organizers today revealed its plan to retire the Vanguard and City to City sections and reduce the overall number of films in the 2017 lineup by 20 percent. The festival also announced their 2017 lineup of programs and programmers – unveiling 14 diverse programs and a programming team of 22, including two new additions. “As we build on the success of the Festival’s past four decades, we’re challenged to balance providing a generous choice of movies for over 400,000 festival-goers with maintaining strong curatorial focus,” said Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF. “For 2017 we’re offering a refreshed, more tightly curated edition. In addition to trimming the lineup, we’re excited to introduce two new Festival programmers to the TIFF team.”
2017 Toronto International Film Festival Programs
Contemporary World Cinema Compelling stories, global perspectives. Discovery Directors to watch. The future of world cinema. Gala Presentations Movie stars. Red-carpet premieres. Major audience interest. In Conversation With… Engaging onstage conversations with leaders in the film industry and beyond. Masters The latest from the world’s most influential art-house filmmakers. Midnight Madness The wild side: midnight screenings of the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy cinema. Platform Directors’ cinema now. Launched in 2015, this juried programme shines a light on up to 12 selections that demonstrate directorial vision from international filmmakers. Primetime Serial storytelling: television in its artistic renaissance. Short Cuts The world. In short form. Special Presentations High-profile premieres and the world’s leading filmmakers. TIFF Cinematheque Curated gems from the history of Canadian and international cinema. TIFF Docs Candid and unscripted: the best non-fiction cinema from around the world. TIFF Kids and TIFF Next Wave For the next generation of movie lovers. Wavelengths Daring, visionary and autonomous voices. Works that expand our notions of the moving image.
2017 Toronto International Film Festival Programmers
Piers Handling Western Europe, Italy, Poland; Gala Presentations, Platform Cameron Bailey South Asia, Gala Presentations, Special Presentations, Platform Michèle Maheux Ireland, the Netherlands; Gala Presentations Kerri Craddock Western Europe, USA, Turkey, Gala Presentations, Special Presentations Brad Deane TIFF Cinematheque Dimitri Eipides Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Western Asia Giovanna Fulvi East and Southeast Asia Steve Gravestock Canada, the Philippines, Nordic Region Peter Kuplowsky* Midnight Madness Michael Lerman Primetime Elizabeth Muskala TIFF Kids Andrea Picard Wavelengths Thom Powers TIFF Docs Kiva Reardon* Africa and the Middle East Diana Sanchez Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Caribbean Theresa Scandiffio In Conversation With… Jane Schoettle Australia, New Zealand, Israel, USA Magali Simard Canada Jesse Wente TIFF Cinematheque Jason Anderson Short Cuts Danis Goulet Short Cuts Karina Rotenstein Industry programming *new to the programming team.
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Toronto’s 14th Human Rights Watch Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opening with A SYRIAN LOVE STORY

[caption id="attachment_21041" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A Syrian Love Story[/caption] Toronto’s 14th annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival, presented by TIFF and Human Rights Watch, will feature an eight-film lineup that galvanizes an impassioned call for social change through extraordinary stories of struggle, survival and hope. Showcasing brave cinematic works at the forefront of the human rights movement, the festival presents documentary feature films from Afghanistan, Canada, China, Egypt, France, the United States, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Syria, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Running from March 29 to April 6 at TIFF Bell Lightbox, the festival kicks off with an opening night fundraising reception followed by a screening of A Syrian Love Story — a documentary that dives into the refugee experience through the telling of a love story between a Palestinian freedom fighter and a Syrian revolutionary who met as political prisoners — and closes with Nick de Pencier’s Black Code, which follows cyber stewards who travel the world to expose unprecedented levels of global digital espionage. Additional highlights include the Toronto premiere of Tickling Giants, which follows a popular television show host who has been dubbed “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” and Alanis Obomsawin’s We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice, an epic documentary chronicle of a legal battle waged against the injustices inflicted on Indigenous children in Canada. Complete film lineup Opening Night Film. A Syrian Love Story dir. Sean McAllister | UK/France/Lebanon/Syria 2015 | 76 min. | 14A International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2015 Comrades and lovers Amer and Raghda met in a Syrian prison cell 15 years ago. When director Sean McAllister first meets their family in 2009, Raghda is back in prison, leaving Amer to look after their four boys alone; but as the Arab Spring sweeps the region, the family’s fate shifts irrevocably. Filmed over five years, the film charts their incredible odyssey to political freedom. For Raghda and Amer, it is a journey of hope, dreams and despair: for the revolution, their homeland and each other. Wednesday, March 29 at 8 p.m. Complicit dirs. Heather White and Lynn Zhang China/Hong Kong/USA/Netherlands 2017 | 88 min. | PG | North American Premiere A courageous factory worker struggling with leukemia helps a group of young Chinese workers who have also been poisoned while making our favourite cell phones and electronic gadgets. Filmed over four years, this lushly photographed film takes the audience on an 8,000-mile journey to the world’s electronics factory floors and the neighbourhoods and hospitals surrounding the world’s largest electronics supplier, Foxconn. Complicit reveals the human costs of global outsourcing while highlighting the choices made by a group of inspired activists seeking change. Thursday, March 30 at 6:30 p.m. Nowhere to Hide dir. Zaradasht Ahmed | Norway/Sweden 2016 | 86 min. | 14A | Canadian Premiere International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2016 Nowhere to Hide follows male nurse Nori Sharif through five years of dramatic change, providing unique access into one of the world’s most dangerous and inaccessible areas: the “triangle of death” in central Iraq. Initially filming stories of survivors as American and Coalition troops retreat from Iraq in 2011, conflicts continue with Iraqi militias, and the population flees accompanied by most of the hospital staff; Nori is one of the few who remains. When ISIS advances on Jalawla in 2014 and takes over the city, he too must flee with his family at a moment’s notice, and turns the camera on himself. PRECEDED BY: Fantassút / Rain on the Borders dir. Federica Foglia | Canada 2016 | 16 min. | 14A Over 11,000 refugees from Syria, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other countries lived for months in dismal conditions hoping for the borders to open, and to continue their journey through the Balkan route. Friday, March 31 at 6:30 p.m. Tickling Giants dir. Sara Tacksler | Egypt 2016 | 111 min. | 14A | Toronto Premiere In the midst of the Egyptian Arab Spring, Bassem Youssef makes a decision that’s every mother’s worst nightmare: he leaves his job as a heart surgeon to become a full-time comedian. Dubbed “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” Bassem creates the most-viewed television program in the Middle East: he has 30 million viewers per episode, compared to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s 2 million. In a country where free speech is not settled law, Bassem comes up with creative ways to non-violently challenge abuses of power. He endures physical threats, protests and legal action, all because of jokes. No unicorns or falafel were harmed in the making of this film. Saturday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. Introduction and Q&A by filmmaker Sara Tacksler. We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice dir. Alanis Obomsawin | Canada 2016 | 163 min. | PG Toronto International Film Festival 2016 In 2007, the Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations filed a landmark discrimination complaint against Indian Affairs and Northern Development Canada. They argued that child and family welfare services provided to First Nations children on reserves and in Yukon were underfunded and inferior to services offered to other Canadian children. Veteran director Alanis Obomsawin’s We Can’t Make the Same Mistake Twice documents this epic court challenge, giving voice to the tenacious childcare workers at its epicenter. Sunday, April 2 at 2 p.m. Introduction and Q&A by filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. Girl Unbound: The War to be Her dir. Erin Heidenreich | Afghanistan 2016 | 80 min. | PG Toronto International Film Festival 2016 In Waziristan, “one of the most dangerous places on earth,” Maria Toorpakai defies the Taliban by disguising herself as a boy so she can play sports freely. But when she becomes a rising star, her true identity is revealed, bringing death threats on her and her family. Undeterred, they continue to fight for their freedom. Tuesday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. No Dress Code Required dir. Cristina Herrera Borquez | Mexico 2016 | 92 min. | PG | Canadian Premiere International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2016 Victor and Fernando are stylists in Mexicali, Mexico who are the go-to professionals for the city’s socialites. To their customers, they were a lovely couple — until they decided to legally marry. Losing the support of customers and friends and confronting a backlash of criticism, through their fight they woke up members of Mexicali’s society to fight homophobia and inequality. Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. Introduction by Kyle Knight, Researcher, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program, Human Rights Watch. Closing Night Film. Black Code dir. Nick de Pencier | Canada 2015 | 90 min. Toronto International Film Festival 2016 Based on the book by Prof. Ron Deibert, Black Code is the story of how the internet is being controlled and manipulated by governments in order to censor and monitor their citizens. As they battle for control of cyberspace, ideas of citizenship, privacy and democracy are challenged to the core. Thursday, April 6 at 6:30 p.m. Introduction and Q&A by filmmaker Nicholas De Pencier, with guest speaker Prof. Ron Deibert.
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Natasha Kermani’s IMITATION GIRL, Starring Lauren Ashley Carter to World Premiere at Cinequest Film Festival | VIDEO

[caption id="attachment_21019" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] IMITATION GIRL[/caption] Iranian-American filmmaker Natasha Kermani’s film IMITATION GIRL, featuring indie horror actress Lauren Ashley Carter (DARLING, POD), will celebrate its world premiere at the Cinequest Film & VR Festival 2017. A mysterious being appears in the Southwestern desert and assumes the identity of the first person she sees – a woman on a magazine cover. Taken in by Iranian immigrants, she forms an understanding of her new surroundings, and comes to appreciate the beauty and the sadness of her new world. At the same time, Julianna, Imitation’s world-weary earthly double, knows both glitz and grit working as an entertainer in New York City, where her fraying life and relationships threaten her dreams for an audition that might finally set her on a happier path. On learning of Juliana’s existence, Imitation heads to New York, where only by sacrificing themselves to each other can the cosmic twins complete a full portrait of a woman.
IMITATION GIRL is Brooklyn-based Kermani’s first feature film and is a co-production between Illium Pictures and Cup of Joe Film. The film will World Premiere Saturday, March 4th at 7:30 PM at Cinequest in San Jose, California. The film will have repeat screenings Sun, March 5 at 4:05 PM, Tue, March 7 at 1:00 PM, Sat, March 11 at 6:30 PM and Sun, March 12 10:30 AM. [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" ids="21017,21018,21019,21020"]
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LIFE Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds to Close 2017 SXSW Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_21010" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Life directed by Daniel Espinosa[/caption] The World Premiere of Life directed by Daniel Espinosa has been selected as the Closing Night Film of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals. Life is a terrifying sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station whose mission of discovery turns to one of primal fear when they find a rapidly evolving life form that caused extinction on Mars, and now threatens the crew and all life on Earth. The SXSW will take place March 10 to 19, 2017, with the closing night film screening on Saturday March 18, 2017 at the Zach Theatre. “We are thrilled to close out the 2017 SXSW Film Festival with such a special film as Life,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. “Our audiences will love this taut space thriller’s twists and turns as well as its amazing cast.” “I’m so honored that Life has been chosen as the closing film at South by Southwest,” added Daniel Espinosa. “The people that flock to Austin each year are some of the most engaged and passionate fans of film out there and are the perfect audience to introduce our visceral sci-fi thriller. I hope that, with Life, we find new ways to entertain them, terrify them, and thrill them.” Life features an ensemble cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya. The film is directed by Daniel Espinosa, written by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and produced by David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Bonnie Curtis, and Julie Lynn. Columbia Pictures and Skydance will release the film on March 24, 2017. SXSW also announced several titles titles set to screen at the 2017 event, including world premieres Atomic Blonde directed by David Leitch and featuring an ensemble cast including Charlize Theron, James McAvoy and John Goodman, and Parker Smith’s Ramblin’ Freak. Another addition includes a celebratory 10th Anniversary screening of Gary Hustwit’s Helvetica, plus VR projects Miyubi and The People’s House by Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël. Late titles added to the 2017 SXSW Film Festival:
HEADLINERS
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema. Atomic Blonde Director: David Leitch, Screenwriter: Kurt Johnstad, Based on the Oni Press graphic novel series by Antony Johnston Oscar® winner Charlize Theron explodes into summer in Atomic Blonde, a breakneck action-thriller that follows MI6’s most lethal assassin through a ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors. Cast List: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones (World Premiere) Life (UK) Director: Daniel Espinosa, Screenwriters: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick Life is a terrifying sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station whose mission of discovery turns to one of primal fear when they find a rapidly evolving life form that caused extinction on Mars, and now threatens the crew and all life on Earth. Cast List: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya (World Premiere)
VISIONS
Visions filmmakers are audacious, risk-taking artists in the new cinema landscape who demonstrate raw innovation and creativity in documentary and narrative filmmaking. Ramblin’ Freak Director: Parker Smith In the wake of a devastating personal tragedy, a struggling would-be filmmaker finds a revealing home video in an old camcorder purchased on eBay and takes off with his cat on a cross-country road trip to find its owner: “The Man Whose Arms Exploded” Cast: Parker Smith, Gregg Valentino (World Premiere)
VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual reality and augmented reality technologies are finding new ways to enhance our ability to perceive the world that surrounds us, and in many instances they are redefining how we experience the world. The 38 projects presented in our new Virtual Cinema emphasize storytelling, ingenuity and also showcase how other industries are embracing this new medium. Miyubi Directors: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël Love in the age of obsolescence. The People’s House Directors: Félix Lajeunesse, Paul Raphaël An intimate tour of the White House that gives the viewer extraordinary access to explore the iconic institution’s profound history – from the past eight years of the Obama administration to defining events of the last two centuries.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Live soundtracks, cult re-issues and much more. Our Special Events section offers unusual, unexpected and unique one-off film events. Helvetica: 10th Anniversary Screening Director: Gary Hustwit The pioneering design documentary Helvetica premiered at SXSW in 2007, and kickstarted a wave of dozens of design films that have been released since. Join director Gary Hustwit for this special 10th Anniversary screening of Helvetica.
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SOME FREAKS, FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION Among 2017 Oxford Film Festival Winners

[caption id="attachment_16212" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] SOME FREAKS[/caption] The 2017 Oxford Film Festival celebrated the best of the fest, handing out Hoka awards for Ian MacAllister-McDonald’s SOME FREAKS for Best Narrative Feature, Andrea Kalin’s FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION for Best Documentary Feature, Julie Sokolow’s WOMAN ON FIRE for Best LGBTQ Feature, and the presentation of the Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award to Victoria Negri for her performance in GOLD STAR. There was a rare tie for the Audience Award honors with Raoul Peck’s I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO and Sally Sussman’s MIDNIGHT RETURN: THE STORY OF BILLY HAYES AND TURKEY sharing the award. Oxford Film Festival Executive Director Melanie Addington said, “For the past two years, the Oxford Film Festival has enjoyed larger audiences to go along with the increased number of films we have accepted and presented. There is a lot of satisfaction to see that, as this film festival continues to grow and adapt with our increased base of enthusiastic film fans and the local film community, that the ambition and quality of the films we present somehow continues to trend upward as well.”
2017 OXFORD FF AWARD-WINNING FILMS
SOME FREAKS – BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE Director: Ian MacAllister-McDonald Country: United States, Running Time: 95min When one-eyed high school senior Matt meets 250 lb. Jill, he falls more in love than he ever thought possible. However, when graduation comes and Jill moves cross-country to go to college, she then loses over 50 lbs. – much to Matt’s surprise when he arrives to visit her. While Matt struggles to accept Jill’s new body, Jill begins to question whether Matt is really the man she wants to date. As the distance widens between them, the characters are propelled onto a collision course with brutality and loss, forcing them to confront who they are, who they were, and who everyone thinks they’re supposed to be. FIRST LADY OF THE REVOLUTION – BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Director: Andrea Kalin Countries: Costa Rica, United States, Running Time: 67min While visiting an aunt and uncle in the exotic countryside of Costa Rica, a young Southern belle from Alabama accepts a ride on the back of a motorcycle belonging to a charismatic local farmer—a ride that would propel her down narrow mountain roads and into history. DON’T COME AROUND HERE – BEST MISSISSIPPI FEATURE Director: Navid Sanati Country: United States, Running Time: 95min When he learns that his father may not have much longer to live, Chuck goes back to the home he ran away from. There he must come to terms with his troubled brother Lenny, his own fears, and a secret he has been hiding for years. SHAKE ‘EM ON DOWN – BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY Director: Joe York Country: United States, Running Time: 57min SHAKE ‘EM ON DOWN tells the story of Mississippi Fred McDowell, the godfather of the North Mississippi style of blues. WOMAN ON FIRE – BEST LGBTQ FILM Director: Julie Sokolow Country: United States, Running Time: 95min As a third-generation firefighter, Brooke Guinan has a passion for heroism that runs in her blood. But when Brooke transitions from male to female in her father’s workplace, it poses not only a challenge to a macho profession, but also to the customs of the people she cares about the most – her traditional family. GOODBYE NEENAW – BEST NARRATIVE SHORT Director: Donald Ian Black Country: United States, Running Time: 5:59min David and Jennifer are a brother and sister dealing with the recent and sudden loss of their grandmother who raised them from a young age in the absence of their parents. They are traveling deep into the California mountains to scatter Neenaw’s ashes when a mishap occurs. ON SUNDAY – SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – NARRATIVE SHORT Director: David Lea Country: United Kingdom, Running Time: 6:30min An old man and his dog make their routine walk to the isolated cliff tops of deepest Cornwall…but this time they’re not alone. REFUGE – BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT Director: Matthew Firpo Country: Greece, Running Time: 20min REFUGE is a chronicle of human stories from the European Refugee Crisis, focused on humanity and hope. THROUGH THE WALL – SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – DOCUMENTARY SHORT Director: Tim Nackashi Country: United States, Running Time: 6:20min A short documentary about a family divided by the US/Mexico border. OTHA TURNER – BEST MISSISSIPPI SHORT FILM Director: Ava Lowrey Country: United States, Running Time: 6:02min In the late 1950’s, fife and drum legend Otha Turner began hosting annual Labor Day picnics at his property in Gravel Springs, Mississippi. This short documentary film digs into the archives to take us back in time to Labor Day 1978. PRISMA – SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – MISSISSIPPI SHORT FILM Director: Coop Cooper Country: United States, Running Time: 9:13min A corporate promotional VHS tape from 1984 conceals a hidden signal which is said to grant increased health, longevity and psychic powers to those who watch it. View at your own risk. BROKEN PATHS – BEST MISSISSIPPI MUSIC VIDEO Director: J.B Lawrence Country: United States, Running Time: 4:44min Debut music video filmed in Brandon, Miss. Created by Stace and Cassie and J. B. Lawrence. LESS HELL, MORE ANGEL – REEL SOUTH AWARD Director: Christian D’Andrea Country: United States, Running Time: 11:20min In Mississippi, I came across black and white biker clubs doing something surprising… hugging. And blessing each other. I, PHILLIP – BEST VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) Director: Pierre Zandrowicz Country: France, Running Time: 14min In early 2005, David Hanson is developing his first android human. His name is Phil and it is simply the copy of the famous science fiction author Philip K. Dick. THE TRADER – BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM Directors: Manuel Alvarez Diestro, Sergio Belinchon Country: Spain, Running Time: 12:06min A successful stock trader decides to start a journey far from the trading floor. PACO – BEST NEW MEDIA Director: Catalina Jordan Alvarez Country: United States, Running Time: 12:10min He wants you to bounce on his lap. GUNNER JACKSON – SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR ACTING – NEW MEDIA Christian Strevy Director: Christian Strevy Country: United States, Running Time: 8:52min My name is Jason Gunner Jackson, and I know without a doubt that I am a target of a multi-agency program that intends to surveil, track, and document my life. THE FOX AND THE WHALE – BEST ANIMATION Director: Robin Joseph Country: Canada, Running Time: 12:03min The tale of a curious fox who goes in search of an elusive whale. A journey of pursuit, longing and discovery. A LITTLE LOVE GOES A LONG CLAY – SPECIAL JURY AWARD FOR CONCEPT – ANIMATION Director: Juliet Buckholdt Country: United States (Mississippi), Running Time: 3:20min This video was made as a school project about stopping social media bullying. Victoria Negri (GOLD STAR) – Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award Erin Heidenreich (GIRL UNBOUND) – Alice Guy-Blaché Female Filmmaker award Juliet Buckholdt (A LITTLE LOVE GOES A LONG CLAY) – Pat Rasberry Emerging Mississippi Filmmaker Award BREAKFAST – BEST EDITING Director: Tyler Byrnes Country: United States, Running Time: 9:44min When a young man suffering from anorexia is pressured to eat breakfast by his boyfriend, the couple are thrust into another world where their anxieties and frustrations are made horrifyingly real. I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO – AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER (TIE) Director: Raoul Peck Countries: United States, France, Running Time: 95min Writer James Baldwin tells the story of race in modern America with his unfinished novel, Remember This House. MIDNIGHT RETURN: THE STORY OF BILLY HAYES AND TURKEY – AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER (TIE) Director: Sally Sussman Country: United States, Running Time: 99min Documentary explores the emotional and political power of film, as seen through the lens of the blockbuster hit MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, a movie that turned the real Billy Hayes into an international celebrity and made him the enemy of Turkey. Join Hayes on a daring journey back to Turkey as he faces the country still haunted by MIDNIGHT EXPRESS.
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THE PREACHER’S SON to Open, EVERYTHING BUT A MAN to Close 2017 Hollywood Black Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_20711" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] EVERYTHING BUT A MAN[/caption] The 2017 Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) will open on Wednesday February 22 with the feature film “The Preacher’s Son” and close on Saturday February 25 with “Everything But A Man.” The HBFF will feature an exciting line up of 100 films, along with panels, panelists and festivities over a four-day period. HBFF happens February 22 to 26, 2017 and will be hosted at Hotel MdR, 13480 Maxella Ave, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. Known as one of the leading Black film festivals in the world, the Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) is now in its fourteenth year, the upcoming edition of Hollywood Black Film Festival’s theme is “Festival at the Beach”. OPENING NIGHT THE PREACHER’S SON Director: Trey Haley Writer: Carl Weber Stars: Christian Keyes, Clifton Powell, Valarie Pettiford, Vanessa Bell Calloway and MORE… Based on the characters from New York Times bestselling author Carl Weber’s novel The Preacher’s Son. Bishop T.K. Wilson, his wife & two children are a well-respected family in their community — yet the Wilson kids are fighting temptations, and the bishop’s son, Dante, has plans that don’t include taking over his father’s church. Tri-Destined Studios
CLOSING NIGHT EVERYTHING BUT A MAN Writer/director: Nnegest Likke Stars: Monica Calhoun, Jimmy Jean-Louis and Camille Winbush and MORE… She’s sexy, smart, successful… and still single. “Everything But A Man” explores the paradox modern career women face, having to think and act like a man in the work world, but still be expected to behave like “a lady” in order to keep a man. The story follows a high achieving but secretly lonely lawyer who despite all her material success is a failure when it comes to love. Things heat up for her when she meets a handsome, mysterious man from another culture. But his radical lifestyle differences threaten to shake up her world and challenge her beliefs on love, relationships and what it means to be a “strong” woman. Race, class, gender and culture all clash in this unconventional romantic comedy-drama. N’Vision Pictures, Jet Media Productions, Bek Films & Sneak Preview Entertainment
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