Sundance Film Festival

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) has acquired this year’s 2014 Sundance Film Festival opening night feature film, WHIPLASH, starring J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller for worldwide distribution. Directed and written by Damien Chazelle (Guy And Madeline On A Park Bench), WHIPLASH is adapted from a short film that won Sundance’s jury award for fiction in 2013 (also written and directed by Chazelle).

WHIPLASH follows Andrew (Teller), a first-year college student as he begins his quest to become the core drummer of the top jazz orchestra in the country. Under the direction of a prestigious but borderline abusive instructor named Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), Andrew would do anything to become a famous musician. His commitment is put to the ultimate test when the unrelenting and eccentric band professor all but drives him to madness. Fletcher’s extreme teaching methods rattle Andrew’s faith in drumming…and in himself. In the end, the struggle is only worthwhile if Andrew is really the one-in-a-million talent that Fletcher believes him to be.

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The world premiere of U.S. Dramatic Competition film WHIPLASH directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Miles Teller, and J.K. Simmons kicked off the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on Thursday night. Whiplash, based on Chazelle’s 2013 Sundance Film Festival award-winning short film, open to rave reviews with Variety declaring “Miles Teller drums his heart out — and then some — in writer-director Damien Chazelle’s stellar career-starter, “Whiplash,” which demolishes the cliches of the musical-prodigy genre.”

In WHIPLASH, Andrew, a promising 19-year-old drummer at a cutthroat Manhattan music conservatory, has little interest in being just a musician. Haunted by his father’s failed writing career and plagued with the fear that mediocrity just might be genetic, Andrew dreams of greatness. Determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps, he practices daily until his hands literally bleed. The pressure of success ratchets into high gear when he is picked to join the school band led by the infamous Terence Fletcher, a brutally savage music instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student’s potential. Under Fletcher’s ruthless direction, Andrew begins to pursue perfection at any cost—even his humanity. 

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Check out this amazing clip from the new film APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR set to premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.  In APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR, written, directed by and starring Iranian American filmmaker Desiree Akhavan, Shirin is struggling to become an ideal Persian daughter, politically correct bisexual and hip young Brooklynite.  She fails miserably in her attempt at all identities, and being without a cliché to hold onto can be a lonely experience. After being dumped by her girlfriend Maxine, Shirin faces an unimaginable task: trading the idyllic lesbian haven of Park Slope for a shared artist’s loft in Bushwick.  Unable to let go of the memories of their excruciating highs and lows, the endearingly superficial narcissist finds herself plotting to win back her ex.

via Indiewire

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BOYHOOD by Richard Linklater, has been added to the program lineup for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and will premiere on Sunday, January 19, 2014, at the Eccles Theatre. The 2014 Festival takes place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. With the addition of Boyhood, the 2014 Festival will present 121 feature-length films.  

BOYHOOD / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Richard Linklater) — Filmed over short periods from 2002 to 2013, Boyhood is a groundbreaking cinematic experience covering 12 years in the life of a family. At the center is Mason, who with his sister Samantha, are taken on an emotional and transcendent journey through the years, from childhood to adulthood. Cast: Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater.

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Sundance Film Festival announced the members of the six juries awarding prizes at the upcoming festival set for January 16 to 26, 2014, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Short Film Awards will be announced at a ceremony on January 21 at Park City’s Jupiter Bowl. Feature film awards will be announced at a separate ceremony on January 25 in Park City.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY JURY

Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman is a Grammy Award–winning singer/songwriter and international recording artist. She has made eight studio albums since her multiplatinum debut in 1988, includingTracy Chapman, Crossroads, Matters of the Heart, New Beginning, Telling Stories, Let it Rain, Where You Live, and Our Bright Future. In 2008, Chapman made her theatre debut composing the music for a new production of Athol Fugard’s classic 1961 play Blood Knot, which opened at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre. She has toured extensively in the last 25 years in the United States and abroad and has appeared frequently to support social and humanitarian causes, including for the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour, the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, and concerts for Tibetan Freedom, Farm Aid, the Special Olympics, and amfAR.

Charlotte Cook
Charlotte Cooke is the director of programming at Hot Docs, North America’s largest documentary festival. She was previously head of film programming and training at the Frontline Club in London, an organization dedicated to championing independent journalism and freedom of expression. Cook has worked with the BBC’s Storyville, the Channel 4 BritDoc Foundation’s Puma Catalyst Awards, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where she curated the Conflict|Reportage program. She has also written extensively for a number of different publications and was the main photographic researcher for the launch of London’sThe Times online archive project. In addition to her programming activities, Cook advises organizations on media literacy, specializes in investigative journalism on international conflict, and has an academic background in the role technology plays for the media.

Kahane Cooperman
Kahane Cooperman is the producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She has been with the show since its inception in 1996, moving from field producer to senior producer, supervising producer and then coexecutive producer from 2005 to 2013. For her work, she has received ten Primetime Emmy Awards and two Peabodys. Cooperman began her career in documentaries at Maysles Films in New York City. She has produced and directed several documentaries, including the short Cool Water, which premiered at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival, andMaking Dazed about Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, which was acquired by the Criterion Collection. Kahane also produced the feature doc Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam,directed by Nick Broomfield. Currently, Cooperman is producing two independent docs, Going Pro and Judee Sill and is on the advisory board of the Montclair Film Festival. She holds an MFA in film from Columbia University.

Morgan Neville
Morgan Neville is an award-winning filmmaker who has spent 20 years working as a cultural documentarian. Neville has been nominated for three Grammys for his music films: Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story, Muddy Waters Can’t Be Satisfied, and Johnny Cash’s America.His other films include Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues, The Cool School, and Troubadours,which screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Through his company, Tremolo Productions, Neville has also produced films such as The Rolling Stones’ Crossfire Hurricane,Pearl Jam Twenty, The Night James Brown Saved Boston, and Beauty Is Embarrassing. His most recent film is 20 Feet from Stardom, which premiered on Day One of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and went on to become the top-grossing documentary of the year.

Jonathan Oppenheim 
Jonathan Oppenheim is a documentary film editor whose credits include the now-classic Paris Is Burning, cowinner of the 1991 Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize, an IDA Award, and awards from the New York and Los Angeles film critics. Other credits include Sister Helen,which won the Documentary Directing Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival; Arguing the World, which earned a Peabody Award; and Children Underground, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Oppenheim edited and coproduced The Oath, the second film in Laura Poitras’s post-9/11 trilogy, a winner of multiple awards, including a Gotham. Most recently, he was editor/coproducer of Andre Gregory: Before and After Dinner, and coeditor of William and the Windmill, winner of the 2013 Grand Jury Prize at SXSW. He has participated as both advisor and fellow at the Sundance Institute Documentary Edit and Story Lab.

U.S. DRAMATIC JURY

Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is best known for his annual Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide and his 30-year run on television’s Entertainment Tonight. He teaches at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and appears on Reelz Channel. Maltin’s books include The 151 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons, The Disney Films, and The Art of the Cinematographer. He has served as president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, votes on selections for the National Film Registry, and sits on the Board of Directors of the National Film Preservation Foundation. He also hosted and coproduced the popular Walt Disney Treasures DVD series. Maltin has received awards from the American Society of Cinematographers, the Telluride Film Festival, the Anthology Film Archives, and San Diego’s Comic-Con International. He holds court at leonardmaltin.com and on his self-named YouTube channel.

Peter Saraf
Peter Saraf’s producing credits include The Kings of Summer, Safety Not Guaranteed, Our Idiot Brother, Jack Goes Boating, Sunshine Cleaning, Away We Go, Is Anybody There?, Little Miss Sunshine, Everything Is Illuminated, The Truth About Charlie, Adaptation, Ulee’s Gold, and the feature documentaries Mandela and The Agronomist. He recently completed work on Gods Behaving Badly and is in postproduction on Me Him Her. Saraf has been nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards and has won multiple other honors, including Independent Spirit, Gotham, and Producers Guild of America awards. He is the cofounder of Big Beach, a New York–based independent film-production and financing company. Saraf is also the current chair of the Producers Guild of America East.

Lone Scherfig
Lone Scherfig began her career directing award-winning commercials and television dramas in her native Denmark. Her first feature as director, The Birthday Trip, premiered at the 1991 Berlin International Film Festival, and her second feature, On Our Own, won the Grand Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival. Scherfig wrote and directed Denmark’s fifth Dogme film, Italian for Beginners, which won the Silver Bear, the FIPRESCI Prize, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival. Her first English-language film, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, which she cowrote with Anders Thomas Jensen, received four British Independent Film Award nominations. Scherfig directed An Education, which won the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and received Academy Award nominations for best picture, best adapted screenplay, and best actress. She is currently in postproduction on Posh.

Bryan Singer
Bryan Singer is an American filmmaker, writer, and producer who has been a tour de force for nearly 20 years. Singer’s first feature film, Public Access, was cowinner of the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. Since then he’s assembled an award-winning and critically acclaimed resume with the 1995 crime-thriller classic, The Usual Suspects, which won Academy Awards for best original screenplay and best supporting actor, as well as the seminal comic-book films X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003). Singer executive-produced the Emmy Award-winning series House, as well as producing the 2011 hit X-Men: First Class. Currently, he is back at the helm of the franchise that he helped create, both directing and producing X-Men: Days of Future Past. Coming back to the Sundance Film Festival marks a return to his filmmaking roots at the festival that gave him his first major break.

Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens is the film critic at Slate.com. She is also cohost of the Slate Culture Gabfest podcast and the host of another podcast, the Slate Spoiler Special. Stevens is one of 12 contributors to the weekly “Bookends” column on the back page of the New York Times Book Review. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Stevens studied comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley and got started writing about film in 2002 with a personal movie blog, “The High Sign.” She now feels very lucky to live in Brooklyn with a man, a child, and a dog, and to get to write and talk about movies, books, and culture for a living.

WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY JURY

Andrea Nix Fine
Andrea Nix Fine is an Academy Award- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker who specializes in creating visually powerful and authentic portraits of characters who tell their own story. Crafted with her husband and directing partner, Sean, the Fines’ films have been hailed by critics as “unflinching,” “spirit raising,” and “visually ravishing.” Their short film Inocente won the 2013 Academy Award for best documentary short. The Fines’ feature documentary, Life According to Sam, debuted at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO. The film won awards at the Heartland, Nantucket, AFI, and Mountainfilm film festivals. The Fines’ filmWar/Dance won the documentary Directing Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival as well as Emmy Awards for best documentary and best cinematography and was nominated for an Academy Award. Colby College recently honored Nix with a doctorate of fine arts. The Fines have two sons and live in Washington, DC.

Sally Riley
A Wiradjuri woman, Sally Riley has been at the forefront of Indigenous filmmaking in Australia for more than 13 years. Currently the head of the Indigenous Department at ABC1 television, Riley’s mandate is to bring distinctive Indigenous content to a primetime audience for that national network. She was responsible for the award-winning TV drama series, Redfern Now. As manager of Screen Australia’s Indigenous Department, Riley initiated the production of a significant body of short films, documentaries, and feature films and fostered a new generation of Indigenous filmmakers, including Warwick Thornton (Samson and Delilah), and Wayne Blair (The Sapphires). A filmmaker herself, Riley’s film, Confessions of a Headhunter, won the AFI Award for best short film in 2000. In 2011, she was awarded the Cecil Holmes Award from the Australian Directors Guild.

Caspar Sonnen
Caspar Sonnen thinks big screens are the best but theorizes that Dziga Vertov would have loved the Internet. At the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), he created the online documentary channel IDFA.tv and founded the festival’s new media program, IDFA DocLab, which has become one of the world’s leading platforms for interactive documentary storytelling. Sonnen regularly travels with the program to film festivals like Cannes, Berlin, SXSW, and Tribeca. He has commissioned installations and organized events with the National Film Board of Canada and worked with artists like Ira Glass, Brent Hoff, and Jonathan Harris. Before joining IDFA, Sonnen worked in theatrical exhibition, distribution, and journalism. In 2003, he cofounded the Open Air Film Festival Amsterdam, one of Europe’s biggest outdoor events devoted to international art-house cinema. Sonnen is an advisor for SXSW Film, MIT’s Open Documentary Lab, and IFP’s New Media Center.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC JURY

Carlo Chatrian
Journalist, author, and programmer Carlo Chatrian graduated in literature and philosophy from Turin University with additional emphases in journalism and communications. From the early 1990s, he worked regularly as a film critic for the magazines Filmcritica, Duellanti, andCineforum and is director of the magazine Panoramiques. Chatrian has published numerous essays and monographs on filmmakers ranging from Errol Morris to Wong Kar-Wai, Frederick Wiseman to Nicolas Philibert. As a programmer, he has worked with festivals and institutions such as Cinéma du Réel in Paris, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin, and the Courmayeur Noir Film Festival in Italy. Chatrian was deputy director of the Alba International Film Festival from 2001 to 2007 and started working with the Locarno International Film Festival in 2002, where he was named artistic director in 2012. At Locarno, he has curated retrospectives on Nanni Moretti, Manga Impact, Ernst Lubitsch, Vincente Minnelli, and Otto Preminger. In 2011, he became director of the Film Commission Vallée d’Aoste Foundation.

Sebastián Lelio
Sebastián Lelio is a Chilean director. In 2006, his first film, La sagrada familia, premiered at the San Sebastián Film Festival. The film received 28 awards and earned him international recognition. Lelio’s second film, Navidad, debuted in 2009 at the Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight. El año del tigre, his third feature, screened at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2011. Lelio’s fourth film, Gloria, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013, where it was a critical and popular success. It won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and earned a Silver Bear for best actress for Paulina García. The National Board of Review namedGloria one of 2013’s top five foreign language films, and it is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as one of the best foreign language films. Lelio is currently working on his fifth feature film.

Nansun Shi
Esteemed and prolific producer Nansun Shi has produced such blockbuster hits as Infernal Affairs (2002), Detective Dee: Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), Late Autumn (2010), Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in 3-D (2011), and Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013).Variety named Shi one of the 50 most influential independent filmmakers around the world, and CineAsia acclaimed her producer of the year in 2005. She was pivotal in the success of Cinema City and Film Workshop Co. Ltd., which she founded with internationally acclaimed producer/director Tsui Hark. Committed to the progress of Hong Kong cinema, Shi is a member of the Hong Kong Film Development Council. She has been a juror at both the Cannes Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.

SHORT FILM JURY

Vernon Chatman
Vernon Chatman is a four-time Emmy Award-winning producer, writer, director, and voice actor. He cocreated the cult series Wonder Showzen, as well as Adult Swim’s Xavier: Renegade Angeland The Heart, She Holler. Chatman is currently a writer/producer on Louie on the FX network and has worked on South Park since its fourth season. Chatman has written for The Chris Rock Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Adult Swim’s Delocated. He made the experimental filmFinal Flesh, which both Sight & Sound and Film Comment called “one of the best films of 2010.” Chatman cowrote the 2011 animated short The External World, which won more than 20 international awards. He is the author of the 2013 book Mindsploitation and producer of the 2013 Andy Kaufman comedy album Andy and His Grandmother.

Joshua Leonard
Filmmaker/actor Joshua Leonard first came to the Sundance Film Festival in 1999 with the cult-classic sensation The Blair Witch Project. His directorial debut, the short film The Youth in Us, premiered at the Festival in 2005. His narrative feature debut, The Lie, screened at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Leonard’s recent acting work includes Humpday, which won a Special Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival; HBO’s series True Detective; Vera Farmiga’sHigher Ground, which screened at the Festival in 2011; and MGM’s upcoming If I Stay, directed by acclaimed Festival veteran R.J. Cutler. Leonard has also directed music videos for popular acts such as Fitz and the Tantrums, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Morcheeba, as well as teaching directing and acting at the New York Film Academy, University of California Irvine, and Academia Internacional de Cinema in São Paulo, Brazil.

Ania Trzebiatowska
Ania Trzebiatowska is the artistic director of the Off Plus Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema, based in Krakow, Poland. This annual celebration of independent film is one of the leading events of this kind in Europe. She has been with the festival for the last five years, and under her direction, it has grown significantly in stature with its competition for first- and second-time filmmakers offering financial support for new talent. Trzebiatowska hosts numerous guest events and designs parallel sidebars as well as the festival’s touring program. With her background in film studies and digital culture, she has worked in both the BBC’s documentary programs and the broadcast department of the British Museum as well as in the United Kingdom, around Europe, and in the United States. In 2012, she produced The Unspeakable Act, directed by Dan Sallitt, which played at festivals in Sarasota, Rotterdam, and Vienna.

ALFRED P. SLOAN FEATURE FILM PRIZE JURY (SCIENCE IN FILM)

Dr. Kevin Hand
Dr. Kevin Hand is deputy chief scientist for Solar System Exploration at NASA. His research focuses on the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the solar system. His fieldwork involves exploring some of Earth’s most extreme environments from the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, to the depths of the Earth’s oceans, to the glaciers of Kilimanjaro.

Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a science journalist living in New York. She has worked as a video journalist for the New York Times and National Public Radio’s Science Friday and writes regularly forPopular Science magazine. She is the coauthor of Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us.

Max Mayer
Max Mayer is a founder and producing director of New York Stage and Film and has directed over 50 new plays by writers such as John Patrick Shanley, Lee Blessing, and Eric Overmyer. In addition to writing and directing Better Living and Adam, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won the Sloan Prize, Mayer has directed As Cool as I Am and episodes of The West Wing, Alias, and Family Law and written three produced plays.

Jon Spaihts
Jon Spaihts is the screenwriter of The Darkest Hour, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, and the upcoming Passengers and The Mummy. The one-time physics student and science writer continues to specialize in science fiction.

Jill Tarter
Astronomer Jill Tarter, the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for the SETI Institute, has devoted her career to hunting for signs of sentient beings elsewhere. The lead for Project Phoenix, a decade-long SETI scrutiny of about 750 nearby star systems, she now leads SETI’s efforts to build and operate the Allen Telescope Array. A 2009 TED prize recipient, she is also the real-life researcher upon whom the Jodie Foster character in Contact is largely based.

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Check out the trailer for the Japanese comedy R100 directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto and set for the upcoming 2014 Sundance Film Festival. In R100, which premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, Nao Ohmori (star of Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer) plays Takafumi Katayama, a mild-mannered father who escapes the pressures of daily life by joining a mysterious S&M club, where the so-called Queens visit clients in real-life settings. While at first the rough treatment and humiliation he receives from leather-clad women in cafés and restaurants is enjoyable, Takafumi soon realizes that he’s opened a door that cannot be closed.

Unable to end his relationship with the club, he finds himself pursued by a gang of ruthless dominatrices, each with a very unique talent. Takafumi must either find a way to turn the tables, or walk even further down this dark yet sexy path.

The Sundance Film Festival program describes the film as “Employing an exuberant swirl of gonzo set pieces, imaginative plot twists, and absurd meta experiences executed with complete control, director Hitoshi Matsumoto unleashes a wildly over-the-top, intense sex comedy upon an unsuspecting international audience. Even the title, referencing Japanese rating systems, suggests that no mind younger than 100 years old can grasp the fantasia within the film. Be warned.”

http://youtu.be/jLMWi2udXGY

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The documentary LAMBERT & STAMP directed by James D. Cooper has been added to the lineup for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival taking place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah, U.S.A., and the third Sundance London film and music festival taking place April 25 to 27 at The O2 in London. The screening in Utah in the Festival’s Documentary Premieres section will be the film’s world premiere, and the screening at Sundance London will be its UK premiere. LAMBERT & STAMP is the first film to be announced as part of the 2014 Sundance London program, and the full program for that festival will be announced in March.

LAMBERT & STAMP / U.S.A. (Director: James D. Cooper) — In this crazy, chaotic gospel of chance, aspiring filmmakers Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert set out to search for a subject for their underground movie, leading them to discover, mentor, and manage the iconic band known as The Who and create rock ‘n’ roll history.

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 WISH I WAS HERE directed by Zach Braff

WISH I WAS HERE directed by Zach Braff, CLERKS directed by Kevin Smith, and HOOP DREAMS directed by Steve James have been added to the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.  Wish I Was Here will screen in the Premieres section, Clerks and Hoop Dreams will screen in the From the Collection program. Both Clerks and Hoop Dreams premiered at the 1994 Festival, which will be the subject of “Class of ’94,” a Power of Story panel at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday, January 24. The 2014 Festival will be January 16 to 26, 2014, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

WISH I WAS HERE / U.S.A. (Director: Zach Braff, Screenwriters: Zach Braff, Adam Braff) — Aidan Bloom, a 35-year-old struggling actor, father, and husband, is still trying to find purpose in his life. In coming to terms with the death of his father, Aidan and his family unite to discover how to turn the page onto the next chapter. Cast: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Josh Gad, Ashley Greene, Joey King. World Premiere

FROM THE COLLECTION

CLERKS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kevin Smith) – One wild day in the life of a pair of overworked counter jockeys whose razor-sharp wit and on-the-job antics give a whole new meaning to customer service! Cast: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, Lisa Spoonauer.

Clerks premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. A newly struck print of Clerks, created by Miramax Films to commemorate the film’s 20th anniversary, will screen on Friday, January 24 at 11:59 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City. Director Kevin Smith is expected to introduce the film and participate in the Q&A.

HOOP DREAMS / U.S.A. (Director: Steve James) – Filmed over five years, with unprecedented access, Hoop Dreams, directed by Steve James, chronicles the lives of Arthur Agee and William Gates, two inner-city teenagers from Chicago. Through their skills on the basketball court they struggle to escape their surroundings and realize their dreams of making it to the NBA. It won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. Despite its length (171 minutes) and unlikely commercial prospects, it received high critical and popular acclaim, became an Academy Award nominee for Best Film Editing and was added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 2005

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 A Portrait of Marina Abramović / U.S.A. (Director: Matthu Placek)

Sundance Film Festival unveiled the short films selected for the 2014 festival taking place January 16 to 26 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. The 2014 Short Film program is comprised of 66 short films selected from a record 8,161 submissions (59 more than for the 2013 Festival). Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Short Film program for the 2014 Sundance Film Festival features an astonishing array of new stories, viewpoints and filmmaking talent, positioning it at the core of our work to discover and share independent perspectives on our culture and world.”

U.S. NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS

130919 • A Portrait of Marina Abramović / U.S.A. (Director: Matthu Placek) — This one-take, 3-D film majestically documents legendary performance artist Marina Abramovic, capturing the breadth of space in infinite detail: the life of an artist, her keen sense of transition, a space’s decay, and the ripeness of rebirth.

Afronauts / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Frances Bodomo) — On July 16th 1969, America prepares to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat America to the moon. Inspired by true events.

The Big House (Al Bayt Al Kabeer) / U.S.A., Yemen (Director and screenwriter: Musa Syeed) — When a young Yemeni boy ventures out of his cramped apartment and finds a key to the empty mansion down the street, he lets himself and his imagination run wild in the big house.

The Bravest, the Boldest / U.S.A. (Director: Moon Molson, Screenwriters: Eric Fallen, Moon Molson) — Two army casualty-notification officers arrive at the Harlem projects to deliver some news to Sayeeda Porter about her son serving in the war overseas. But whatever it is they have to say, Sayeeda ain’t willing to hear it.

Catherine / U.S.A. (Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp, Screenwriters: Dean Fleischer-Camp, Jenny Slate) —Catherine returns to work after a hiatus.

Chapel Perilous / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matthew Lessner) — Chapel perilous is an occult term describing a psychological state where people are uncertain if they have been aided or hindered by a force outside the natural world. 

Cruising Electric (1980) / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Brumby Boylston) — The marketing department green-lights a red-light tie-in: 60 lost seconds of modern movie merchandising.

Dawn / U.S.A. (Director: Rose McGowan, Screenwriters: M.A. Fortin, Joshua John Miller) — Dawn is a quiet young teenager who longs for something or someone to free her from her sheltered life.

Dig / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Toby Halbrooks) — A young girl watches her father dig a hole in their backyard. Mystified about his purpose, the neighborhood comes to watch.

The End of Eating Everything/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Wangechi Mutu) — The End of Eating Everything traces the journey of a flying, planetlike creature navigating a bleak skyscape. This sick soul is lost in a polluted atmosphere without grounding or roots, led by hunger toward its destruction.

Funnel / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andre Hyland) — A man’s car breaks down and sends him on a quest across town that slowly turns into the most fantastically mundane adventure.

Gregory Go Boom/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Janicza Bravo) — A paraplegic man leaves home for the first time only to discover that life in the outside world is not the way he had imagined it.

Here Come the Girls / U.S.A., Norway (Director and screenwriter: Young Jean Lee) — An examination of the life of Joe Truman, an aspiring musician, father, and drug user. This unsettling paradocumentary investigates Joe’s private life through invasive snapshots of his environment and relationships and is a painful pleasure to watch.

I’m a Mitzvah / U.S.A. (Director: Ben Berman, Screenwriters: Ben Berman, Josh Cohen) — A young American man spends one last night with his deceased friend while stranded in rural Mexico.

The Immaculate Reception / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Charlotte Glynn) — It’s 1972 in the hardworking steel town of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sixteen-year-old Joey has the chance to prove himself when his crush ends up at his house to watch the infamous football game between the Steelers and the Raiders.

Jonathan’s Chest / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Christopher Radcliff) — Everything changes one night for Alex, a troubled teenager, when he is visited by a boy claiming to be his brother—who disappeared years earlier.

Kekasih / U.S.A., Malaysia (Director and screenwriter: Diffan Sina Norman) — While pursuing his late wife, a botanical professor encounters a divine presence that will transform him forever.

Master Muscles / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Efrén Hernández) — Veronica and Efren go on a trip.

Me + Her / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Oxford) — In a faraway world, tucked away in a small fold of land behind an enormous willow tree, exists the tiny city of Cardboard. After a tragic event, Jack Cardboard goes on a journey to mend his broken heart.

Person to Person / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Dustin Guy Defa) — Waking up the morning after hosting a party, a man discovers a stranger passed out on his floor. He spends the rest of the day trying to convince her to leave.

Rat Pack Rat / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Todd Rohal) — A Sammy Davis Jr. impersonator, hired to visit a loyal Rat Pack fan, finds himself performing the last rites at the boy’s bedside.

Verbatim / U.S.A. (Director: Brett Weiner, Screenwriter: Court Document) — A jaded lawyer wastes an afternoon trying to figure out if a dim-witted government employee has ever used a photocopier. All the dialogue in this short comes from an actual deposition filed with the Supreme Court of Ohio.

INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILMS

2 Girls 1 Cake / Denmark (Director and screenwriter: Jens Dahl) — Two girls reunite after a traumatic near-death experience, which occurs in 10 central minutes of 24-year-old Julie’s life. She stands face to face with unbearable injustice.

Best / United Kingdom (Director: William Oldroyd, Screenwriter: Adam Brace) — With his wedding only moments away, a man and his best friend confront their future.

Black Mulberry / Georgia, France (Director: Gabriel Razmadze, Screenwriters: Gabriel Razmadze, Tinatin Kajrishvili) — In a small, remote mining town in the Republic of Georgia, Nick and Anna, two teens from vastly different backgrounds, come together for an idyllic moment in time.

Burger / United Kingdom, Norway (Director and screenwriter: Magnus Mork) — It’s late night in a burger bar in Wales…

Butter Lamp/ France, China (Director and screenwriter: Hu Wei) — A photographer weaves unique links among nomadic families.

The Cut/ Canada (Director and screenwriter: Geneviève Dulude-Decelles) — The Cut tells the story of a father and a daughter, whose relationship fluctuates between proximity and detachment, at the moment of a haircut.

Exchange & Mart / United Kingdom (Directors: Cara Connolly, Martin Clark, Screenwriter: Cara Connolly) — Reg is a lonely girl at a remote Scottish boarding school where paranoia about rape is rife. Her unorthodox self-defense class provides the human touch she craves so deeply. When she is attacked in the woods, she knows what she has to do…

Here I Am…There You Are… / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Dikla Jika Elkaslassy) — Domination emerges during foreplay between a married couple. As the film evolves, the gray areas between controlling and being controlled cause confusion for both partners. When reality eclipses their imaginary game, they realize what is controlling them.

Life’s a Bitch / Canada (Director: François Jaros, Screenwriter: Guillaume Lambert) — Love. Grief. Choc. Denial. Sleeplessness. Bubble bath. Mucus. Masturbation. Pop tart. Pigeons. Toothpaste. Hospital. F__k. Bye. Hair. Sports. Chicken. Bootie. Kids. Rejection. Squirrels. Cries. Awkward—95 scenes, five minutes: life’s a bitch.

Metube: August Sings Carmen “Habanera” / Austria (Director and screenwriter: Daniel Moshel) — George Bizet`s “Habanera” from Carmen has been reinterpreted and enhanced with electronic sounds for MeTube, a homage to thousands of ambitious YouTube users and video bloggers, and gifted and less gifted self-promoters on the Internet.

Mi nina mi vida / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Yan Giroux) — Jack and his giant stuffed bear move through the bustling crowds and noisy rides at an amusement park. In this strange world he can no longer relate to, he searches for a reason to smile.

More Than Two Hours / Iran (Director: Ali Asgari, Screenwriters: Ali Asgari, Farnoosh Samadi) — It’s 3:00 a.m., and a boy and girl are wandering in the city, looking for a hospital to cure the girl, but it’s much harder to find one than they thought.

My Sense of Modesty / France (Director and screenwriter: Sébastien Bailly) — Hafsia, an art history student, must remove her hijab for an oral exam. To prepare, she goes to the Louvre to view the painting she has to comment on.

Mystery / Spain (Director and screenwriter: Chema García Ibarra) — They say that if you put your ear to the back of his neck, you can hear the Virgin talk.

Pleasure / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Ninja Thyberg) — Behind the scenes of a porn shoot, the actors practice various positions. The rumor is that one of the girls is doing an advanced routine that requires someone extremely tough. Pleasure is a startling film about workplace intrigue.

Syndromeda / Sweden (Director and screenwriter: Patrik Eklund) — Leif wakes up on the road—naked and bloody—with no memory of what has happened. No one believes him when he claims he was abducted by aliens.

Wakening / Canada (Director: Danis Goulet, Screenwriter: Tony Elliott) — In the near future, the environment has been destroyed, and society suffocates under a brutal military occupation. A lone Cree wanderer, Weesakechak, searches an urban war zone to find the ancient and dangerous Weetigo to help fight the occupiers.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILMS

Choreography / U.S.A. (Directors: David Redmon, Ashley Sabin) — Donkeys gaze at those who gaze at them.

Fe26 / U.S.A. (Director: Kevin Jerome Everson) — Two gentlemen make a living hustling metal in Cleveland, Ohio.

Godka Cirka (A Hole in the Sky) / Spain, France, U.S.A. (Directors: Alex Lora, Antonio Tibaldi) — Young Alifa looks up at the Somali sky and thinks about her daily life as a shepherdess. She knows the day that will change her life forever is about to come.

Hacked Circuit / U.S.A. (Director: Deborah Stratman) — This circular study of the Foley process portrays sound artists at work constructing complex layers of fabrication and imposition.

I Think This Is the Closest to How the Footage Looked / Israel (Directors: Yuval Hameiri, Michal Vaknin) — A man with poor means recreates a lost memory of the last day with his mom. Objects come to life in a desperate struggle to produce a single moment that is gone.

The Last Days of Peter Bergmann / Ireland (Director: Ciaran Cassidy) — In 2009, a man claiming to be from Austria arrived in the town of Sligo, Ireland. During his final days, Peter Bergmann went to great lengths to ensure no one ever discovered who he was and where he came from.

The Lion’s Mouth Opens / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker) — A stunningly courageous young woman takes the boldest step imaginable, supported by her mother and loving friends.

Love. Love. Love. / Russia (Director: Sandhya Daisy Sundaram) — Every year, through the endless winters, her love takes new shapes and forms.

Notes on Blindness / United Kingdom, U.S.A., Australia (Directors: Peter Middleton, James Spinney) — In 1983, writer and theologian John Hull became blind. To help make sense of his loss, he began keeping an audio diary. Encompassing dreams, memories, and his imaginative life, Notes on Blindness immerses the viewer in Hull’s experience of blindness.

Of God and Dogs / Syrian Arab Republic (Director: Abounaddara Collective) — A young, free Syrian soldier confesses to killing a man he knew was innocent. He promises to take vengeance on the God who led him to commit the murder.

One Billion Rising / U.S.A. (Directors: Eve Ensler, Tony Stroebel) — In 2013, one billion women and men rose and shook the earth through dance to end violence against women in the biggest mass action ever. The event was a radical awakening of body and consciousness. This is what it looked like.

Remembering the Artist, Robert De Niro, Sr. / U.S.A. (Directors: Perri Peltz, Geeta Gandbhir) — Robert De Niro, Sr., was a figurative painter obscured by the powerful pop art movement. His work has returned to the spotlight because of his son, who happens to be one of the world’s most famous actors.

Tim and Susan Have Matching Handguns / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Callander) — Love is swapping clips with your spouse in the middle of a three-gun problem.

Untucked / U.S.A. (Director: Danny Pudi) — This documentary explores the iconic “untucked” jersey worn in 1977 when Marquette University won its first and only national college basketball championship. It was designed by one of Marquette’s players, Bo Ellis, under the fearless leadership of Coach Al McGuire.

ANIMATED SHORT FILMS

Allergy to Originality / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Drew Christie) — A humorous, animated op doc explores the rich history of adaptation, plagiarism, and other forms of appropriation in art.

Astigmatismo / Spain (Director and screenwriter: Nicolai Troshinsky) — A boy loses his glasses and can only see one thing in focus at a time. With his sight shaped by the sounds around him, he must learn to explore a blurry world of unknown places and strange characters.

Blame It on the Seagull / Norway (Director: Julie Engaas, Screenwriters: Julie Engaas, Cecilie Bjørnaraa) — An animated documentary about Pelle Sandstrak and the way he showed the first signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette’s syndrome as a teenager.

Crime: The Animated Series (Marcus McGhee) / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Alix Lambert, Sam Chou) — When Hartford teacher Marcus McGhee has his car stolen, the police refuse to assist him. Directors Alix Lambert and Sam Chou mix humor with stark reality in this animated documentary short.

Marilyn Myller / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Mikey Please) — Marilyn maketh. Marilyn taketh awayeth. Marilyn is trying really hard to create something good. For once, her expectation and reality are going to align. It will be epic. It will be tear-jerkingly profound. It will be perfect. Nothing can go wrong.

The Obvious Child / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Stephen Irwin) — Somebody broke the girl’s parents. The rabbit was there when it happened. It was an awful mess.

Passer Passer / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Louis Morton) — An animated city symphony celebrates the hidden world of background noise.

Phantom Limb / United Kingdom, Australia (Director and screenwriter: Alex Grigg) — James and Martha narrowly survive a motorcycle accident. During the aftermath, however, James begins to experience Martha’s phantom pains.

Piece, Peace / South Korea (Director and screenwriter: Jae-in Park) — Psychological changes among different characters lead to a more and more extreme situation.

The Present / Taiwan (Director: Joe Hsieh, Screenwriters: Joe Hsieh, Ching-Chwang Ho) — A married man on a business trip checks into a hotel. The hotel manager’s daughter falls for him at first sight. Rejected by the man, she embarks on a journey of revenge.

Subconscious Password / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Chris Landreth) — Chris Landreth, the director of the Academy Award–winning short Ryan, plays Charles, a man paralyzed by his inability to remember a friend’s name. Thus begins a mind-bending romp through a game show of the unconscious—complete with animated celebrity guests.

White Morning / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Paul Barritt) — A short film about the violence of little boys and little men.

Yearbook / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Bernardo Britto) — A man is hired to compile the definitive history of human existence before the planet blows up.

 

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RUDDERLESS directed by William H. Macy

Sundance Film Festival revealed the films in the out-of-competition Premieres and Documentary Premieres sections of the festival  taking place January 16 to 26, 2014, in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.  Films include RUDDERLESS directed by William H. Macy and selected as the Closing Night film.  RUDDERLESS features a star studded cast including Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne, and William H. Macy , and is about when a grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles upon a box of his deceased son’s original music, he forms a rock ‘n’ roll band, which changes his life.

PREMIERES
A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated dramatic films of the coming year. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.

Calvary / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: John Michael McDonagh) — Calvaryis a blackly comedic drama about a priest tormented by his community. Father James is a good man intent on making the world a better place. When his life is threatened one day during confession, he finds he has to battle the dark forces closing in around him. Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Marie-Josée Croz.

Frank / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Lenny Abrahamson, Screenwriters: Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan) — 
Frank is an offbeat comedy about a wannabe musician who finds himself out of his depth when he joins an avant garde rock band led by the enigmatic Frank—a musical genius who hides himself inside a large fake head.
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy.

Hits / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Cross) — A small town in upstate New York is populated by people who wallow in unrealistic expectations. There, fame, delusion, earnestness, and recklessness meet, shake hands, and disrupt the lives around them. Cast: Meredith Hagner, Matt Walsh, James Adomian, Jake Cherry Derek Waters, Wyatt Cenac.

I Origins / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Mike Cahill) — A molecular biologist and his lab partner uncover startling evidence that could fundamentally change society as we know it and cause them to question their once-certain beliefs in science and spirituality. Cast: Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Steven Yeun, Archie Panjabi.

Laggies/ U.S.A. (Director: Lynn Shelton, Screenwriter: Andrea Seigel) — Laggies is a coming of age story about a 28-year-old woman stuck in permanent adolescence. Unable to find her career calling, still hanging out with the same friends, and living with her high school boyfriend, Megan must finally navigate her own future when an unexpected marriage proposal sends her into a panic. Cast: Keira Knightley, Sam Rockwell, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin, Mark Webber.

Little Accidents / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sara Colangelo) — In a small American coal town living in the shadow of a recent mining accident, the disappearance of a teenage boy draws three people together—a surviving miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive, and a local boy—in a web of secrets. Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Lofland, Josh Lucas.

Love is Strange / U.S.A. (Director: Ira Sachs, Screenwriters: Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias) — After 39 years together, Ben and George finally tie the knot, but George loses his job as a result, and the newlyweds must sell their New York apartment and live apart, relying on friends and family to make ends meet. Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Darren Burrows, Charlie Tahan, Cheyenne Jackson.

A Most Wanted Man / Germany, U.S.A. (Director: Anton Corbijn, Screenwriter: Andrew Bovell) — Based on John le Carré’s bestselling book, Anton Corbijn directs this modern-day thriller with Academy Award–winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright, and two-time Academy Award nominee Willem Dafoe headlining an ensemble cast. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright.

Nick Offerman: American Ham / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Nick Offerman) — WARNING: MINOR NUDITY AND NOT SUITABLE FOR VEGETARIANS. This live taping of Nick Offerman’s hilarious one-man show at New York’s historic Town Hall theater features a collection of anecdotes, songs, and woodworking/oral sex techniques. The routine includes Offerman’s 10 tips for living a more prosperous life, so hearken well. Cast: Nick Offerman.

The One I Love / U.S.A. (Director: Charlie McDowell, Screenwriter: Justin Lader) — Struggling with a marriage on the brink of falling apart, a couple escapes for the weekend in pursuit of their better selves, only to discover an unusual dilemma waiting for them. Cast: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson.

The Raid 2 / Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Gareth Evans) — Picking up where the first film left off, The Raid 2 follows Rama as he goes undercover and infiltrates the ranks of a ruthless Jakarta crime syndicate in order to protect his family and expose the corruption in his own police force. Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, Alex Abbad.

Rudderless / U.S.A. (Director: William H. Macy, Screenwriters: Casey Twenter, Jeff Robison, William H. Macy) — When a grieving father in a downward spiral stumbles upon a box of his deceased son’s original music, he forms a rock ‘n’ roll band, which changes his life. Cast: Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez, Laurence Fishburne, William H. Macy.CLOSING NIGHT FILM

They Came Together / U.S.A. (Director: David Wain, Screenwriters: Michael Showalter, David Wain) — This subversion/spoof/deconstruction of the romantic comedy genre has a vaguely, but not overtly, Jewish leading man, a klutzy, but adorable, leading lady, and New York City itself as another character in the story. Cast: Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Ed Helms, Cobie Smulders, Max Greenfield, Christopher Meloni.

The Trip to Italy / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriters: Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Michael Winterbottom) — Michael Winterbottom reunites Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon for more delectable food, some sharp-elbowed rivalry, and plenty of laughs. Cast: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon.

The Voices / U.S.A., Germany (Director: Marjane Satrapi, Screenwriter: Michael Perry) — This genre-bending tale centers around Jerry Hickfang, a lovable but disturbed factory worker who yearns for attention from a woman in accounting. When their relationship takes a sudden, murderous turn, Jerry’s evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog lead him down a fantastical path where he ultimately finds salvation. Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver.

White Bird in a Blizzard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Gregg Araki) — Based on the acclaimed novel by Laura Kasischke, White Bird in a Blizzard tells the story of Kat Connors, a young woman whose life is turned upside down by the sudden disappearance of her beautiful, enigmatic mother. Cast: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni, Shiloh Fernandez, Gabourey Sidibe, Thomas Jane.

Young Ones / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jake Paltrow) — When a series of events is set into motion, altering his young life forever, Jerome is forced to make choices that no child should ever have to make. Cast: Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Elle Fanning, Kodi Smit-McPhee.

DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES
Renowned filmmakers and films about far-reaching subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries. Each film is a world premiere.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball / U.S.A. (Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way) — Hollywood veteran Bing Russell creates the only independent baseball team in the country—alarming the baseball establishment and sparking the meteoric rise of the 1970s Portland Mavericks.

Finding Fela / U.S.A. (Director: Alex Gibney) — Fela Anikulapo Kuti created the musical movement Afrobeat and used it as a political forum to oppose the Nigerian dictatorship and advocate for the rights of oppressed people. This is the story of his life, music, and political importance.

Freedom Summer / U.S.A. (Director: Stanley Nelson) — In the summer of 1964, more than 700 students descended on violent, segregated Mississippi. Defying authorities, they registered voters, created freedom schools, and established the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Fifty years later, eyewitness accounts and never-before-seen archival material tell their story. Not all of them would make it through.

Happy Valley / U.S.A. (Director: Amir Bar-Lev) — The children of “Happy Valley” were victimized for years, by a key member of the legendary Penn State college football program. But were Jerry Sandusky’s crimes an open secret?  With rare access, director Amir Bar-Lev delves beneath the headlines to tell a modern American parable of guilt, redemption, and identity.

Last Days in Vietnam / U.S.A. (Director: Rory Kennedy) — During the chaotic final weeks of the Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese Army closes in on Saigon as the panicked South Vietnamese people desperately attempt to escape. On the ground, American soldiers and diplomats confront a moral quandary: whether to obey White House orders to evacuate only U.S. citizens.

Life Itself / U.S.A. (Director: Steve James) — Life Itself recounts the surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert. The film details his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.

Mitt / U.S.A. (Director: Greg Whiteley) — A filmmaker is granted unprecedented access to a political candidate and his family as he runs for President.

This May Be the Last Time / U.S.A. (Director: Sterlin Harjo) — Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo’s Grandfather disappeared mysteriously in 1962. The community searching for him sang songs of encouragement that were passed down for generations. Harjo explores the origins of these songs as well as the violent history of his people.

To Be Takei / U.S.A. (Director: Jennifer Kroot) — Over seven decades, actor and activist George Takei journeyed from a World War II internment camp to the helm of the Starship Enterprise, and then to the daily news feeds of five million Facebook fans. Join George and his husband, Brad, on a wacky and profound trek for life, liberty, and love.

We Are The Giant / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — We Are The Giant tells the stories of ordinary individuals who are transformed by the moral and personal challenges they encounter when standing up for what they believe is right. Powerful and tragic, yet inspirational, their struggles for freedom echo across history and offer hope against seemingly impossible odds.

WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger / U.S.A. (Director: Joe Berlinger) — Infamous gangster James “Whitey” Bulger’s relationship with the FBI and Department of Justice allowed him to reign over a criminal empire in Boston for decades. Joe Berlinger’s documentary chronicles Bulger’s recent sensational trial, using it as a springboard to explore allegations of corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement.

 

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