Robert De Niro, the film TANGERINE, were among the best in film, television, and journalism honored at the 27th GLAAD Media Awards hosted by Laverne Cox, at the Waldorf Astoria New York on Saturday.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD’s work to amplify stories from the LGBT community and issues that build support for acceptance.
At the ceremony, Academy Award-winning actress and surprise guest Jennifer Lawrence presented Robert De Niro with GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award, which is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5zm67vgX1w
In his acceptance speech, De Niro celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark decision for marriage equality, while cautioning to “also remember oppressive laws like the ones in North Carolina that let us know the struggle continues and challenges us to be vigilant and aggressive in protecting all our rights.” De Niro continued, “Thank you for this honor, I’m proud to stand with you, I’m GLAAD.”
Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures) was given the award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
The complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York.
Excellence in Media Award: Robert De Niro (presented by Jennifer Lawrence)
Ally Award: Mariah Carey (presented by Lee Daniels)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Bruce Jenner: The Interview” 20/20 (ABC) [accepted by: Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Sloan, senior executive producer]
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Interview with Jim Obergefell” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN) [accepted by: U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell]
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Cosmopolitan [accepted by: Laura Brounstein, special projects director]
Outstanding Film – Limited Release: Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
Outstanding Individual Episode: “The Prince of Nucleotides” Royal Pains (USA Network)
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: “Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution” Vice Reports (Vice.com)
Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Cold Case: The Murders of Cosby and Jackson” by Dianna Wray (Houston Press)
Outstanding Magazine Article: “Behind Brazil’s Gay Pride Parades, a Struggle with Homophobic Violence” by Oscar Lopez (Newsweek)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “This Is What It’s Like To Be An LGBT Syrian Fleeing For Your Life” by J. Lester Feder (Buzzfeed.com)
SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES
Outstanding Daytime Program Episode: “¿El marido de mi padre o yo?” Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: “Amor que rompe barreras” Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo) and “En cuerpo ajeno” Aquí y Ahora (Univision)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Víctimas de abusos” Noticiero Univision (Univision)
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: “Campeones de la igualdad” (Univision.com)LGBTQ
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Robert De Niro, TANGERINE, Honored at 27th GLAAD Media Awards
Robert De Niro, the film TANGERINE, were among the best in film, television, and journalism honored at the 27th GLAAD Media Awards hosted by Laverne Cox, at the Waldorf Astoria New York on Saturday.
The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. The GLAAD Media Awards also fund GLAAD’s work to amplify stories from the LGBT community and issues that build support for acceptance.
At the ceremony, Academy Award-winning actress and surprise guest Jennifer Lawrence presented Robert De Niro with GLAAD’s Excellence in Media Award, which is presented to media professionals who, through their work, have increased the visibility and understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5zm67vgX1w
In his acceptance speech, De Niro celebrated the Supreme Court’s landmark decision for marriage equality, while cautioning to “also remember oppressive laws like the ones in North Carolina that let us know the struggle continues and challenges us to be vigilant and aggressive in protecting all our rights.” De Niro continued, “Thank you for this honor, I’m proud to stand with you, I’m GLAAD.”
Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures) was given the award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
The complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York.
Excellence in Media Award: Robert De Niro (presented by Jennifer Lawrence)
Ally Award: Mariah Carey (presented by Lee Daniels)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: “Bruce Jenner: The Interview” 20/20 (ABC) [accepted by: Diane Sawyer, Caitlyn Jenner, and David Sloan, senior executive producer]
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Interview with Jim Obergefell” Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN) [accepted by: U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell]
Outstanding Magazine Overall Coverage: Cosmopolitan [accepted by: Laura Brounstein, special projects director]
Outstanding Film – Limited Release: Tangerine (Magnolia Pictures)
Outstanding Individual Episode: “The Prince of Nucleotides” Royal Pains (USA Network)
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: “Stopping HIV? The Truvada Revolution” Vice Reports (Vice.com)
Outstanding Newspaper Article: “Cold Case: The Murders of Cosby and Jackson” by Dianna Wray (Houston Press)
Outstanding Magazine Article: “Behind Brazil’s Gay Pride Parades, a Struggle with Homophobic Violence” by Oscar Lopez (Newsweek)
Outstanding Digital Journalism Article: “This Is What It’s Like To Be An LGBT Syrian Fleeing For Your Life” by J. Lester Feder (Buzzfeed.com)
SPANISH-LANGUAGE NOMINEES
Outstanding Daytime Program Episode: “¿El marido de mi padre o yo?” Caso Cerrado (Telemundo)
Outstanding TV Journalism – Newsmagazine: TIE: “Amor que rompe barreras” Un Nuevo Día (Telemundo) and “En cuerpo ajeno” Aquí y Ahora (Univision)
Outstanding TV Journalism Segment: “Víctimas de abusos” Noticiero Univision (Univision)
Outstanding Digital Journalism – Multimedia: “Campeones de la igualdad” (Univision.com)
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Max Landis’ Directorial Debut ME HIM HER to Open on March 11th | TRAILER
[caption id="attachment_11878" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
ME HIM HER[/caption]
ME HIM HER, written and directed by Max Landis, and starring Luke Bracey, Dustin Milligan, Emily Meade, will be released in New York, Los Angeles, and on VOD platforms, on March 11th by FilmBuff.
The directorial debut of Max Landis, who had previously penned the screenplays for Chronicle and American Ultra, ME HIM HER is a madcap romantic comedy about Brendan (Point Break’s Luke Bracey), a heartthrob television star who enlists Cory (90210’s Dustin Milligan), his shiftless slacker best friend to fly out to LA and help him keep his newly-realized homosexuality a secret from Hollywood. Upon arrival in LA, Cory has a drunken one-night stand with Gabbi (The Leftovers’ Emily Meade) and is mostly too busy trying to see her again to help Brendan – despite the fact that Gabbi is a lesbian. With a rowdy cast rounded out by Alia Shakwat, Geena Davis, and Haley Joel Osment, ME HIM HER is a bizarrely endearing high-energy sendup of modern love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGRAYRs2964
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17 Year Old Harry Comes to Terms With His Sexuality in HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY | TRAILER
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY, the new film from writer/director Stephen Cone (The Wise Kids), focuses on a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality during his emotionally charged birthday party. Marking his feature film debut, Cole Doman plays Henry; Henry is turning 17, and Henry might be gay. But he’s not telling his pastor father (Pat Healy, Cheap Thrills, Compliance)—not during his pool party, where school and church collide in a sunny, hormonal afternoon.
The film will open in New York at the IFP’s Made in NY Media Center on January 8th, before expanding to additional markets and VOD platforms.
HENRY GAMBLE’S BIRTHDAY PARTY spans the 24 hours containing the birthday pool party of 17-year-old preacher’s kid Henry Gamble (Cole Doman).
The night before the party, Henry and his friend Gabe (Joe Keery), have a sleepover. Typical teenage boy chat quickly turns sexual, and it’s silently implied that Henry, on a search for identity, has a crush on Gabe.
As dawn arrives on the day of the party, Henry’s mom Kat (Elizabeth Laidlaw) wakes in a state of limbo, middle-aged, with a secret. A little while later, Pastor Bob (Pat Healy) is making breakfast, and they are joined by Henry’s 19-year-old sister Autumn (Nina Ganet), home from college for the party. Later that afternoon, guests begin to arrive – the assistant pastor, youth minister, husbands and wives; sons and daughters trapped between youth and adulthood, as well as Henry’s own teenaged church and “secular” friends, including the closeted young Logan (Daniel Kyri), who has eyes for Henry.
As day turns to night and clothes come off, Henry & Co. carefully navigate the religious strictures and sexual secrets held within the community, all struggling to tread the public and private, and their longing, despite themselves and their faith, for earthly love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lptlZe5EYDU
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LGBT Thriller ‘Downriver’ Sails to Summer 2016 Release | TRAILER
Downriver, a chilling mystery feature film from award-winning writer/director Grant Scicluna which premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival is set to be released in the US. Breaking Glass plans a theatrical and VOD/DVD release for Summer 2016, but no specific date is available.
A young ex-con encounters secrets from the past and danger in the present when he returns to the rural Australian community to discover the truth behind a crime he supposedly committed when he was a child.
A moody thriller awash in grim secrets and slowly surfacing revelations, this first feature from Australian writer-director Grant Scicluna exhibits a formal elegance and thematic maturity we would normally expect from a fully developed auteur. Reminiscent of Winter’s Bone or Jane Campion’s miniseries Top of the Lake, Downriver courageously deals with loss, identity, trauma, and hard-won redemption.
James (Reef Ireland) has just been released from prison after serving time for drowning a little boy when he himself was just a child. The boy’s body was never found, and James, guilt-ridden and still haunted by questions about what really happened that day, returns to the rural community where the crime took place and undertakes a quest to find the body. Along the way, he is confronted by bullies and sexual predators from his past, and the punishment he risks by breaking parole now pales next to the threat of violence from the shadowy characters emerging all around him.
Downriver boasts a bold sense of place: under the surface of its seemingly sleepy milieu lies a hidden network of abuse and exploitation, blackmail and desire. Scicluna maintains the suspense with spellbinding layers of flashbacks and dialogue, creating a tense atmosphere that’s amplified by the riveting performances from Ireland, Tom Green, and Kerry Fox in the role of James’ tormented guardian. Downriver takes us to some dark places, but it does so in pursuit of those brutal truths that aren’t so easily washed away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs47n0m48n4
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Coming Out Comedy “4th Man Out” to Hit Theaters on February 5, 2016
The comedy film 4th Man Out, from director Andrew Nackman which won the Outstanding Narrative Feature prize at 2015 Outfest, will be released on VOD and in theaters on February 5, 2016, via Gravitas Ventures.
The film was written by Aaron Dancik, and stars Evan Todd, Chord Overstreet, Kate Flannery, Parker Young, and Jon Gabrus.
Just like his pals, twenty-something auto mechanic Adam enjoys beer, hockey and inappropriate bodily functions. But Adam also likes guys. A hilarious mash-up of man-child and coming-out comedies, FOURTH MAN OUT examines a small-town, blue-collar guy who lets his friends know he’s gay – and what happens when they try to help him find a boyfriend. Both rudely funny and daring in its exploration of the kind of gay man we rarely see on the big screen, this bawdy comedy features Chord Overstreet (“Glee”) and Kate Flannery (“The Office”).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEoXzmuKdFc
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THOSE PEOPLE, THE SAME DIFFERENCE Win 2015 NewFest “NY’s LGBT Fest” Audience Awards
The 2015 NewFest, New York’s LGBT Film Festival, concluded its 27th anniversary year with a sold-out screening of GIRLS LOST. Following the Closing Night Gala screening, NewFest announced the 2015 Audience Award winning films. THOSE PEOPLE, directed by Joey Kuhn, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Feature Film, and THE SAME DIFFERENCE, directed by Nneka Onuorah, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature.
THOSE PEOPLE, directed by Joey Kuhn, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Feature Film for its crowd-pleasing depiction of a complicated romance between two young men in the gilded halls of Manhattan’s high society. Those People will be distributed by Wolfe Releasing in 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-yM9ahuAeo
THE SAME DIFFERENCE, directed by Nneka Onuorah, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Feature. The film, which shines a light on the all-too-often ignored problem of homophobia and gender discrimination within the African-American lesbian community, broke NewFest records, selling out four screenings to audiences eager to finally see the issue addressed onscreen and within the lively panels that followed each screening. The Same Difference will be distributed by Women Make Movies in 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I97yTXz980
TREMULO, directed by Roberto Fiesco, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Narrative Short, thanks to its tender and beautifully realized depiction of a brief encounter between two young men in Mexico. A feature version is currently in the works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YTT2saA334
IN THE HOLLOW, directed by Austin Bunn, won the Audience Award for Outstanding Documentary Short. Bunn, the screenwriter of last year’s Kill Your Darlings, masterfully combined documentary and narrative techniques to place audiences at the center of a horrific crime against two gay women.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q2cSy6Oudo
Speaking on behalf of the programming team, NewFest’s senior programmer Adam Baran also singled out Martin Edralin’s narrative short HOLE and Blair Fukumura’s documentary short BEDDING ANDREW for special recognition, for using brave, emotionally stirring methods to tell the often-overlooked stories of gay men with disability and their need for physical and emotional support.
The highly successful six-day festival screened nearly 100 films to a number of sold-out audiences and included a centerpiece gala screening of Todd Haynes’ CAROL, a star-studded World Premiere of new trans series “” followed by a discussion moderated by Laverne Cox, a MasterClass discussion with award-winning filmmaker Ira Sachs, NewFest’s first ever Queer Horror Night, and an enlightening panel discussion on the evolution of transgender representation in modern media.
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VIVA, Ireland’s Oscar Entry for Best Foreign Film, to Get 2016 Release
Viva, directed by Irish filmmaker Paddy Breathnach, and Ireland’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film, will be released in theaters in 2016 via Magnolia Pictures.
The film, which received a positive response when it premiered at the 2015 Telluride Film Festival in September, stars Hector Medina, Luis Alberto Garcia and Jorge Perugorria.
“Viva stars Héctor Medina as Jesus, a young hairdresser working at a Havana nightclub that showcases drag performers, who dreams of being a performer himself. Encouraged by his mentor, Mama (Luis Alberto García), Jesus finally gets his chance to take the stage. But when his estranged father Angel (Jorge Perugorría) abruptly reenters his life, his world is quickly turned upside down. As father and son clash over their opposing expectations of each other, ‘Viva’ becomes a love story as the men struggle to understand one another and reconcile as a family.”
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‘Straight’ John Refuses to Marry Transexual Martine Until She Gets a Real Vagina in Trans Documentary TRANSFIXED | TRAILER
Alon Kol’s feature documentary TRANSFIXED will be presented within the FOCUS section at the Festival du nouveau cinema in Montreal, Canada, on October 14th and Octber 17th. In the film Martine Stonehouse and John Gelmon are middle-aged underdogs, living with Asperger Syndrome. Despite their social limitations, both dream of getting married, but straight-identifying John refuses to tie the knot until transsexual Martine gets a real vagina. Will Martine and John find together the happiness that they deserve? Transfixed will be released in Canada in early 2016.
Throughout his life, Martine Stonehouse fought for his rights as transgender. His spouse John Gelmone, Asperger’s syndrome and Tourette’s unconditional support. But the two can not consummate their love Martine must undergo the final sex change operation. Although the director Alon Kol had enough material to trace the route of the activist awarded the Pride Award of Toronto in 2012, he chose instead to present the difficult Martine path toward its complete transformation into a woman. A difficult road since even if it is surrounded by friends that show him gratitude and affection, his weight problem, highlighted by several experts, represents a dangerous obstacle to his surgery and his health. Without compromise or complacency documentary Kol enters the intimacy of this woman and reveals a fragile but an unrivaled determination. Forget the prestige Caitlin Jenner; the portrait offers the filmmaker is that of a woman whose daily lives are much more modest and the economic situation certainly more precarious, but the narrative is no less upsetting. While the transgender community is recognized as never before, Martine Stonehouse itself as a heroine to be welcomed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJrLhGOwqsI
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Magnolia Pictures, Duplass Brothers Launch TANGERINE Oscar Campaign for Transgender Stars
Magnolia Pictures and the Duplass Brothers are launching an Oscar campaign for TANGERINE stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, reports Variety. This will reportedly be the first awards season push for transgender actress by a movie distributor in Hollywood history. Rodriguez will be pushed as Lead Actress and Taylor as Supporting. They plan on bids for screenwriting and cinematography for the film as well.
TANGERINE directed by Sean Baker, was released earlier this Summer via Magnolia Pictures, and earned a lot of well deserved attention for not only featuring transgender actresses in prominent roles, but also for its technical feat – it was shot on an iPhone 5s. The film follows a prostitute, who’s just released from prison, and headed to Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
Mark Duplass points out that AMPAS is behind the various TV academies in terms of recognizing trans actors; he tells Variety, “Jay and I are new to the Academy, so we’re just figuring this whole thing out. One thing that has become apparent to us as we look at this stuff, it seems that the TV Academy has embraced what’s happening in the trans movement with ‘Transparent’ and ‘Orange is the New Black.’ We feel that the film Academy is a little behind on that front.”
This TANGERINE campaign offers a vital counterpoint to “Oscar bait” campaigns in which straight, cisgender, white actors portray trans characters. Mark Duplass tells Variety of this counterpoint, “This is the time for it. We’re in the middle of a civil rights movement.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALSwWTb88ZU
It’s Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, STARLET, “Generation Kill”) hasn’t been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity. Director Sean Baker’s prior films (STARLET, PRINCE OF BROADWAY) brought rich texture and intimate detail to worlds seldom seen on film. Shot on an iPhone 5s, TANGERINE follows suit, bursting off the screen with energy and style. A decidedly modern Christmas tale told on the streets of L.A., TANGERINE defies expectation at every turn.
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Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez Win Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellowships in Film
Queer/Art/Mentorship, the multi-disciplinary, inter-generational arts program that pairs and supports mentorship between emerging and established LGBTQI artists in NYC, has announced the eleven Fellows accepted for its 2015-2016 annual mentorship cycle.
The Fellows chosen in five artistic disciplines are Monstah Black, Eva Peskin and Justine Williams in Performance; Jacob Matkov and Brendan Williams-Childs in Literary; Rodrigo Bellott, Erin Greenwell and Mylo Mendez in Film; Caroline Wells Chandler and Doron Langberg in Visual Arts; and Hugh Ryan in Curatorial.
The 2015-2016 Queer/Art/Mentorship Fellows in Film are
Rodrigo Bellott was born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. His breakout film, Sexual Dependency won over 15 awards in over 65 film festivals around the world and was also Bolivia’s first film competing for “Best Foreign Language Film” at the 2004 Academy Awards. VARIETY magazine named Bellott as one of the “TOP TEN Latin American Talents to Watch”.
Bellott will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Silas Howard on the film adaptation of his play Tu Me Manques, that explores contemporary queer identity in the moment of historical change in contrast with the current situations in other parts of the world.
Erin Greenwell wrote and directed the feature film My Best Day, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012. Her other directing endeavors include Oh Come On, a punk DIY performance video for Kathleen Hanna’s band The Julie Ruin and The Golden Age of Hustlers, featuring Justin Vivian Bond’s remake of the iconic song written by legendary punk chanteuse Bambi Lake. In 2006, Greenwell formed Smithy Productions, a production company, with the aim of cultivating talents from the queer/independent art community under the umbrella of narrative and documentary storytelling.
Greenwell will be working with Mentor, director and screenwriter Stacie Passon to develop her narrative feature length script, The Flight Deck, based on the butch/femme lesbian bar scene in Buffalo, NY during the 1950s.
Mylo Mendez is a Texas-born video artist currently based in Brooklyn. Hir work uses humor, narrative, and characters with aberrant bodies to navigate identity, social and geographical borders, and history. Mendez has been featured in group shows in New York City and Austin. Ze received hir MFA from Parsons The New School for Design.
Mendez will be working with Mentor, filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris on a film about the intersection of trans and punk identities and communities in New York City.
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2015 AFI Latin American Film Festival to Open with Lesbian Romantic Drama SAND DOLLARS | TRAILER
The 2015 AFI Latin American Film Festival taking place at the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland from September 17 to October 7, opens with the romantic drama SAND DOLLARS, based on the novel “Les Dollars des Sables” by Jean-Noël Pancrazi. SAND DOLLARS is the fourth film by directors Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas (COCOCHI, JEAN GENTIL), and stars Geraldine Chaplin (DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, THE ORPHANAGE) as a wealthy foreign tourist who is head over heels for a much-younger local woman. The film was recently announced as the Dominican Republic’s Official Academy Award® Submission.
In the picturesque seaside town of Las Terrenas, French expat Anne (Geraldine Chaplin, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO) has fallen in love with the much younger local, Noeli (Yanet Mojica). But the feeling isn’t exactly mutual — Noeli makes a living scamming off the kindness of tourists. She shares her earnings with her boyfriend, whom she passes off to Anne as her brother. Things become complicated when Anne promises to take Noeli back to France with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HeEPnn7ioE
The Closing Night film, TRASH, directed by Stephen Daldry (BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS) and written by Richard Curtis (LOVE ACTUALLY, WAR HORSE), follows three trash-picking boys from Rio de Janeiro who team up with two American missionaries, Martin Sheen (THE WEST WING) and Rooney Mara (THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE SOCIAL NETWORK), to uncover political corruption.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN08JrXZ9eM
Other highlights include MESSI, a docudrama about the world’s greatest soccer player; the U.S. premiere of Colombia’s ALIAS MARÍA, straight from its debut at the Cannes Film Festival; Kristen Wiig (BRIDESMAIDS) in NASTY BABY, a Brooklyn-set dark comedy from Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Silva; and WITHOUT WINGS, the first U.S. feature to be made in Cuba since 1959.
The complete schedule of the 2015 AFI Latin American Film Festival is available online.

