Industry

Ted Hope, Executive Director of San Francisco Film Society since August 2012, announced today that he will step down at the end of the year to pursue other film-related interests. He will continue in his current role and will manage all activities of the organization until December 31, working with the staff and board to facilitate a smooth leadership transition. Hope will join the SFFS Advisory Board, to assist in guiding the Film Society into the future in a new capacity.

Statement from Ted Hope:
“When I came to San Francisco after producing so many films, it surprised some that I wanted to lead a non-profit organization,” said Hope. “Over the past 14 months I’ve come to realize that as much as I fully embrace the mission of the Film Society, my passion is more entrepreneurial. We accomplished a great deal at SFFS over the last year, and the same fantastic team that initially drew me to the Bay Area is still in place to drive the organization well into the future. Vanessa and I plan to stay in the Bay Area and I look forward to staying involved in an advisory role and collaborating with the Film Society in our film-related activities.”

Statement from SFFS Board President David Winton:
“The Film Society has been fortunate to have Ted Hope at its helm,” said Winton. “He brought with him a lot of great ideas about expanding our already considerable role in promoting film culture given so much disruptive change in media, and we are grateful for his tenure and guidance. We are happy to have Ted’s continued creative input as he steps into his new role on our Advisory Board. The SFFS Board of Directors is committed to finding a new leader that will continue to work closely with our staff to further the mission of the Film Society and its core programs.”

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Three members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ newly created Casting Directors Branch have been elected to the Academy Board of Governors. The first-time governors are David Rubin, who is elected to a three-year term; Bernie Telsey, who is elected to a two-year term; and Lora Kennedy, who is elected to a one-year term.

“The addition of these exceptional professionals to our Board is another positive step toward making our organization more inclusive and more reflective of the broader industry,” Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said.  “We welcome them, their ideas and their insights wholeheartedly.”

The Academy’s 17 branches are each represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms.  The addition of the Casting Directors Branch was approved by the Board in July of this year. 

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Destin Cretton

14 narrative feature films finalists have been selected for the latest round of the (San Francisco Film Society) SFFS/ Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grant. SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grants are awarded twice annually to film projects that will have significant economic or professional impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community. 

Recent SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winners include SHORT TERM 12, Destin Cretton’s sophomore feature which won both the Narrative Grand Jury Award and Audience Award at South by Southwest 2013 and is currently in theaters nationwide; Ryan Coogler’s debut feature FRUITVALE STATION, which won the Un Certain Regard Avenir Prize at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category at Sundance 2013, has had a wildly successful two-month theatrical run and is an Oscar hopeful in multiple categories; and BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD, Benh Zeitlin’s debut phenomenon which won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and Cannes’ Camera d’Or in 2012, earned four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and became an indie box office smash.

FINALISTS

DOCTOR
Musa Syeed, director/producer/writer; Nicholas Bruckman, coproducer — screenwriting
Salim, a disgraced young doctor from India, will do anything to rebuild his former life. But when he starts practicing medicine illegally in New York, he’s drawn into a medical underworld where he risks losing everything. 

ESCAPE FROM MORGANTOWN
Peter Nicks, writer/director — screenwriting
A young addict arrives at a federal prison camp with a plan to turn his life around, but is drawn into the intoxicating world of a crew of seasoned inmates.

THE FIXER
Ian Olds, writer/director; Caroline von Kuhn, producer — packaging
An Afghan journalist is exiled from his war-torn country to a small bohemian community in Northern California. When he attempts to turn his menial job on the local police blotter into “Afghan-style” coverage of local crime he gets drawn into the backwoods of this small town-a shadow Northern California where sex is casual, true friendship is hard to come by, and an unfamiliar form of violence burbles up all around him.

G.E.Z.I.
Aslihan Unaldi, writer/director — postproduction
This political and psychological drama is a fictionalized account of the dramatic night when a peaceful demonstration in Istanbul’s Gezi Park turned into a major national uprising. The story follows three main characters: a strong, liberal woman, her idealistic boyfriend and her apolitical ex-lover. As intricate layers of past secrets are revealed, deeper insight is gained into their characters and situation, which is closely intertwined with the political events accelerating around them.

HELLION
Kat Candler, writer/director; Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams, producers — postproduction
When his delinquent behavior forces his little brother to be taken away, a motocross-obsessed teenager and his emotionally absent father must take responsibility for their destructive behavior to bring him home.

KICKS
Justin Tipping, writer/director; Joshua Astrachan, David Kaplan and Adele Romanski, producers — preproduction
Fifteen-year-old Brandon, from a rough part of Richmond, California, has always been picked on. He has survived by running away from trouble all his life. But after getting jumped over a new pair of kicks, Brandon recruits his two best friends to join him on a mission to get his shoes back. The odyssey they embark on is at once the night of their lives and a gamble with life-and-death stakes.

LITTLE ACCIDENTS
Sara Colangelo writer/director; Jason Michael Berman, Anne Carey, Thomas B. Fore and Summer Shelton, producers — postproduction
In a small American coal town, the disappearance of a boy draws a young miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive and a local 14-year-old together in a web of secrets.

LOS VALIENTES / THE BRAVE ONES
Aurora Guerrero, writer/director; Chad Burris, producer — packaging
Felix Lopez is gay, undocumented and living in San Francisco until his family obligations move him across the country to a small Pennsylvania mining town to join his undocumented sister. Once there, alienated by local and family politics, Felix finds unexpected solace in the company of one person: his sister’s husband.

LOVE LAND
Joshua Tate, writer/director/producer; Andrew Richey, producer — postproduction
Love Land follows Ivy, a young woman with a severe traumatic brain injury, as she faces her refusal to be identified as a person with an intellectual disability. When she is placed in an institution for being a danger to herself and others, Ivy will stop at nothing to prove to the world — and to herself — that she is “normal” enough to transcend the label of “special.”

MA
Destin Cretton, writer/director — screenwriting
After being a mom for 30 years, Jan is forced to deal with the fact that her youngest son has finally left the nest. On a road-trip down the Oregon Coast, she begins to learn what it means to live life after motherhood.

MANOS SUCIAS
Josef Wladyka, writer/director; Elena Greenlee and Márcia Nunes, producers — postproduction
A desperate fisherman and a naive young man embark on a dangerous journey trafficking drugs up the Pacific coast of Colombia. Hidden beneath the waves, they tow a narco-torpedo filled with millions of dollars worth of cocaine. Together they must brave the war-torn region while navigating the growing tension between them.

START AT THE END
Jonah Markowitz, writer/director — packaging
Start at The End is a character-driven drama that explores the similarities between the family we are born into and the one that we create. The story begins with a tragic accident that results in a gay couple becoming caretakers of their teenaged niece and nephew. As grief catapults all four onto seemingly individual paths of despair and discovery, the inherent bond of family contains these journeys into one that is shared. 

TERRIBLE LOVE
Christopher Thomas, writer/director; Luke Helmer, producer — postproduction
When her wounded husband returns home from Iraq with violent PTSD, a devoted wife must choose between her daughter’s safety and the preservation of her marriage. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Paula Wagner will produce the 5th Annual Governors Awards for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced today.  The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and three Honorary Awards will be presented to Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin and Piero Tosi, respectively, on Saturday, November 16, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

“Paula’s expertise, coupled with her love for film, makes her the ideal person to produce this special event,” said Boone Isaacs.  “She is certain to deliver an exciting and memorable evening for our honorees and guests.”

“It is a privilege to work with the Academy to produce this year’s Governors Awards, honoring iconic talents who have deeply influenced our contemporary culture with their artistry,” said Wagner.  “I look forward to being a part of an event that illuminates and supports these artists’ incredible achievements.”

Wagner has produced or executive-produced more than 20 feature films, including the first three “Mission: Impossible” films, “Vanilla Sky,” “The Others” and “The Last Samurai,” as well as the television film “Five” and three Broadway plays (The Heiress, which received two Tony® nominations, Grace and the recently announced Mothers and Sons).  After beginning her career as an actress and then becoming a top-ranking talent agent at CAA, she went on to co-found Cruise/Wagner Productions and serve as CEO for United Artists.  She now continues to independently produce film and theater through her company Chestnut Ridge Productions.  Wagner is an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Carnegie Mellon University, and also lectures at universities around the nation.  Wagner is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America and The Broadway League.  She also sits on the boards of the PGA, the Film Forum, American Cinematheque and the National Film Preservation Foundation.

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Director/writer, Andrea Arnold, has been selected as the 2013 Filmmaker in Residence at the The Film Society of Lincoln Center, to take place during the 51st New York Film Festival. The initiative is in partnership with luxury brand Jaeger-LeCoultre, to further the goals of filmmakers at an earlier stage in the creative process. Arnold will have the opportunity to focus on developing or refining new work, and participate in master classes, mentorships or cultural exchange and enrichment film programs with the Film Society of Lincoln members, the film community and the public.

“We are thrilled to announce Andrea Arnold as the 2013 Filmmaker in Residence during the 51st New York Film Festival.  Our partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre on this cornerstone program fosters excellence in the filmmaking community, and reflects our shared belief in the universal power of film to inspire and engage the global community.” — Rose Kuo, Executive Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center

Andrea Arnold is an English director and writer who made her debut with two short films, MILK in 1998 and DOG in 2001. In 2005, Arnold won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for WASP and her first feature film, RED ROAD won the Jury Prize in Cannes in 2006. Her 2009 film FISH TANK starring Kate Jarvis and Michael Fassbender, once again won the Jury Prize and in 2011, she directed an adaptation of Emily Bronte¹s Wuthering Heights. The film was shown at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Osella for Best Cinematography.

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FORBIDDEN STEPS by Iram Parveen Bilal

Film Independent announced the screenwriters selected for its 14th annual Screenwriting Lab, sponsored by the Writers Guild of America, West. The Screenwriting Lab is an intensive five-week program designed to help writers improve their craft, and take their current scripts to the next level in a nurturing yet challenging creative environment. 

Under the tutelage of the Lab Mentors, the Fellows are advised on the craft and business of screenwriting, and are also introduced to established screenwriters, producers and film professionals who serve as guest speakers and one-on-one Advisors. Writer/Director Robin Swicord (The Jane Austen Book Club, Memoirs of a Geisha) and Writer Jeff Stockwell (Bridge to Terabithia, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) return as this year’s Mentors. Guest Speakers include Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12) and Sian Heder (Orange is the New Black).

The Loyola Marymount University School of Film and Television (SFTV) has a unique partnership with Film Independent. For the second year in a row, Film Independent and SFTV have partnered on the LMU SFTV Screenwriting Fellowship. Out of the 10 fellows selected, Eli Ibok, who is also an LMU alum, will be awarded a $10,000 LMU SFTV grant to develop his script, Trauma, through the Screenwriting Lab.

The Screenwriting Lab is provided free to invited screenwriters, who upon acceptance become Film Independent Fellows, receiving year-round support, including access to Film Independent’s annual film education offerings and the Los Angeles Film Festival. In addition, Lab Fellows are eligible to join the Independent Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America, West. Recent projects developed through the Lab include Robbie Pickering’s Natural Selection, which garnered multiple awards at the 2011 SXSW Film Festival, Beth Schacter’s Normal Adolescent Behavior, Scott Prendergast’s Kabluey, Philip Flores’ and Max Doty’s The Wheeler Boys, Suzi Yoonessi’s Dear Lemon Lima, Erin Cassidy and Bruce Pavalon’s We Are the Mods, and Minh Nguyen-Vo’s Buffalo Boy, which was Vietnam’s entry to the 2006 Academy Awards.

The 2013 Screenwriters Lab participants and their projects are:

1. Broad Street Diner – Three elderly male friends who meet daily at a neighborhood diner, find that 70 is the new 40 as they deal with friendship, new love, sickness and fatherhood, making it hard for them to retire from “Life.”

Fred Thomas Jr. the seven time 2012 N.A.A.C.P award nominee and winner of Best Director, Best Playwright and Best Producer for his play12’ x 9’ is an alumnus of Lincoln University, where he received his Bachelors in Journalism before attending Temple University and receiving his Masters in Film and Media Arts. To date, Thomas is the producer of the feature The Bachelor Party for Image Entertainment, director and a producer of the film 24 Hour Love, director/writer on the web series The Taboo Diaries, director on Moms the web series, and the co-writer/producer/director for the stage play What Would Divas Do? Divalogues, for TV One’s Network show R&B Divas L.A.

2. Forbidden Steps – A Muslim daughter struggles with the divisions between her passion for dancing and the will of her family.

Iram Parveen Bilal was raised in Nigeria and Pakistan, and is conscious of the rare opportunity and voice she has on the filmmaking playground. Having directed internationally recognized, award-winning short films, Josh is her feature debut that just released theatrically nationwide in Pakistan. Josh has been commissioned by Channel 4 and is in the process of international distribution. Other feature projects in development have received attention by IFP, The Academy’s Nicholl Writing Fellowship, Mumbai Mahindra Sankalan Lab, Film Independent and Women In Film. A Film Independent Fellow, Bilal has participated in Film Independent’s Project Involve, Directing Lab and Screenwriting Lab. Prominent awards and honors include the Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, Stark Special Project Scholarship, Mabel Beckman Leadership Award, Paul Studenski Fellowship and the Dean’s Cup. She is an honors graduate of CalTech and the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC. More on www.iramparveenbilal.com.

3. Jamie and Jackie – Jamie and Jackie is the story of a small time thief who lives the life of a ghost until the day he’s invited to play a strange game with a woman he meets at a hotel. 

Tarik Karam is a filmmaker based in New York City who has worked side by side with director Stephen Daldry for the past six years. He co-produced the Oscar nominated Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close while also serving as Second Unit Director. Previously, Tarik collaborated with Daldry on the Oscar-nominated The Reader, serving as Second Unit Director and Associate Producer. Most recently, Tarik completed a short film entitled “ZZZZZZZ,” about two sleepwalkers in love, which premiered at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival and is set to play this year’s Austin Film Festival. Tarik graduated from the American Film Institute (AFI) with an MFA in Film Direction. He is a proud member of the DGA and his work can be found at www.tarikkaram.com.

4. Jane – After her sister’s fatal back alley abortion, Teresa, a bright, but naïve 1960’s college student, joins “Jane,” an underground group who break the law and risk their lives to help women find access to safe abortions.

Natalija Vekic is a screenwriter and director whose short films “The Sacred Heart” and “The Girl with the Pearl Suspended” have screened at the New York Underground Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, and Mill Valley International Film Festival. Natalija won a Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival for her short film “Lost & Found,” was the recipient of the prestigious Princess Grace Award in film and a San Francisco Individual Arts Commission Grant.

She is a co-producer on the documentary Strand: A Natural History of Cinema, directed by long time collaborator Christian Bruno. Strandreceived the inaugural Film Independent Fast Track HBO Fellowship and was selected to participate in the Documentary Lab at Film Independent.

Vekic is a recent graduate of the UCLA MFA screenwriting program where she spent countless sleepless nights writing screenplays and TV pilots. She received the Executive Board Award Fellowship, a UCLA Graduate Fellowship and was one of eight writers selected to work with Academy Award-winning screenwriter and UCLA alum Dustin Lance Black in a feature screenwriting seminar. She researched and wroteJane, which was inspired by a brave group of feminists in Chicago who broke the law to make sure women had access to safe abortions.

Vekic has a special place in her screenplays for runaways, outlaws and all the beautiful misfits who make the world so amazing. Family turmoil, forgiveness and how the past always manages to creep into the present — are at the heart of many of her scripts.

5. Love on the Tundra – Seemingly together, type-A Emily becomes obsessed with trying to “save” mentally ill Jacob, but in the process of helping him get better, begins to psychologically unravel herself.

Dana Turken is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker whose work lives somewhere between the real and the surreal, the dramatic and the comically absurd. She has directed eight short films and one play, through the Francis Ford Coppola One Act Festival. Dana grew up in Detroit and spent her youth training as a dancer. She studied semiotics at Brown University, directing at Prague’s FAMU Film Academy, and received her MFA in directing from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television.  A member of the International Cinematographers Guild, she spent five years in New York working in the camera department on feature films, episodic television, music videos, and commercials, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue her MFA.

While at UCLA, Turken’s short film, “Love on the Tundra,” screened at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Athens Film and Video Festival, among others. Her film, “Arthur and the Bunnies,” premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, and went on to screen at numerous venues, including, Comic-Con, Camerimage, Mill Valley Film Festival, Cucalorus, REDCAT, and the Columbus International Film Festival, where it won the Best of Festival award. In 2012, she was a directing fellow in Film Independent’s Project Involve. She recently directed a short screwball comedy, produced by Film Independent and sponsored by the Lincoln Motor Company and Vanity Fair. Turken is currently writing a script for independent producer Bergen Swanson about the 1960s battle between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs.

6. The Murch – An extremely smart boy from the Midwest moves to the projects of North Carolina and learns that there is a high price for trying to fit in.

Elliott Williams was born in Seattle, but claims New York, North Carolina and Los Angeles as home. He has lived on both coasts, but he’s almost lived in half the states in the US. He began his corporate career as a management professional in the Fortune 10 Company GE Capital before moving on to pharmaceutical sales and management. Williams is also an Emmy award-winning producer who began his career behind the camera with a bit of good fortune. Williams’ first professional offering was the 2010 Official Sundance Selection Night Catches Us, which was also a winner at the Seattle International Film Festival and nominated for Best First Feature at The Spirit Awards before being distributed by Magnolia Pictures. He went back to school and earned a Master’s degree in Producing from the American Film Institute (AFI) and, while there, he produced the award-winning comedy web series #nitTWITS based on funny tweets. Upon completion of school, his thesis film, “Usagi-san,” won The Grand Jury Prize at the Ivy Film Festival, a Student Emmy Award and a BAFTA-LA Special Jury Prize. He also began writing at AFI and The Murch is his first screenplay. Elliott is very happy and proud to be a part of Film Independent’s Screenwriting Lab and can’t wait to see this film reach its full potential.

7. Spa Night – Struggling to escape his crumbling family life, a closeted Korean-American teenager follows his desires and finds more than he bargains for at the Korean spa.

Andrew Ahn is a Korean-American filmmaker born and raised in Los Angeles. His short film “Dol (First Birthday)” premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and has screened at numerous other festivals and venues around the world, including Lincoln Center, REDCAT, and the Los Angeles Film Festival. The film received the Outfest Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Short Film. An alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, Ahn also participated in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab in June 2013 with his feature screenplay Spa Night. The project also received a Sundance Institute Cinereach Feature Film Fellow grant. Ahn is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve. He graduated from Brown University with a degree in English and received an MFA in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts.

8. Sugar – When a seasoned war correspondent is executed in a fancy Nairobi suburb, his 29 year-old lover is forced to confront corrupt politicians, Somali extremists and her own demons, in order to halt a coup d’état and expose the conspiracy behind his death.

A University of Chicago and AFI graduate born in New York and currently residing in Los Angeles, Thymaya Payne has directed a number of films including the short films “Apparent Horizon” (starring Peter Coyote), “Let’s Not and Say We Did,” and “Coup De Grace,” which premiered at the HBO Latino Film festival. In the summer of 2010 he completed his documentary film Love Limits, which was later released by Icarus films.

In 2008 Payne began a four-year journey to direct and produce an in-depth documentary about Somali piracy and its root causes calledStolen Seas. The film premiered at the Locarno Film festival and was awarded the Boccolino’ D’oro. Later, at the Palm Springs Film Festival,Stolen Seas won the John Schlesinger award for best Documentary. “A dangerous 90-minute immersion in a world where lawlessness applies to all sides” said Variety. The New York Times called the Stolen Seas “Magnificent.” Stolen Seas was theatrically released in early 2013.

9. Trauma – A veteran discharged after a spontaneous act of violence struggles to reorient himself to home town life and must face emotional scars resulting from a sexual assault he experienced in the military.

Edi Ibok wrote for online sites including IGN and Cracked.com and worked as a videographer and editor after graduating from Princeton University with a BA in Philosophy.  While enrolled in Loyola Marymount University’s Graduate Program in Film and Television Production, he won the Cosgrove Family Endowment and LMU’s Oscar Micheaux Award.  After earning his MFA, he photographed projects for the 18th Street Arts Center before his current job in distribution at Fox Home Entertainment.

10. Varenya – Varenya, a South Indian Hindu priest, accepts a young apprentice and is forced to question the doctrines of his religion.

Shripriya Mahesh is an Indian-born filmmaker based in San Francisco and New York City. Mahesh wrote and directed “The Color of Time,” a short film featuring Oscar nominees, James Franco and Jessica Chastain. The short is part of the collaborative feature film, Tar, which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. Her award-winning short films have played at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival (Frameline) and dozens more. Her film, “Reprise”, won the Best Student Film Award at the 12th deadCenter Film Festival, the Best Short by a Woman award at the 9th Salento International Film Festival, and was a finalist for the 6th Iris Prize. Mahesh’s first feature, Varenya, has been selected for IFP’s Emerging Storyteller section and will participate in Independent Film Week, 2013. It has also been selected for Film Independent’s Screenwriting Lab, 2013. Mahesh had a successful career in Silicon Valley, ultimately managing a $400M business for eBay, before leaving the corporate world to dedicate herself to filmmaking. She is an MFA candidate at NYU’s Tisch Graduate Film Program, where she was awarded a Tisch School of the Arts Fellowship. She also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

 

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Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Diab (CAIRO 678) has been selected for the San Francisco Film Society’s sixth Artist in Residence program, October 1 – 15.  Diab’s schedule will include a screening of his debut feature film CAIRO 678, described as feminist drama exploring sexual harassment in Egypt. 

In Cairo 678, three Cairene women from different backgrounds join together in uneasy solidarity to combat the sexual harassment that has impacted each of their lives. We begin on an overcrowded bus line, dreaded by Fayza as a daily site of humiliation and anguish. Responding to a self-defense talk by Seba, whose own assault has driven her marriage apart, Fayza fights back-and soon has a police detective searching for her amid public panic. Meanwhile, Nelly, an aspiring comic, faces pressure from her family to drop a lawsuit against her attacker. Mohamed Diab’s deftly braided narrative tells a gripping, timely social tale through its patchwork of interconnected lives and deeds. — Rob Avila, Global Film Initiative

Mohamed Diab was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 1977. Having migrated to Egypt, he studied commerce at Suez Canal University in Ismailia before pursuing film at the New York Film Academy. In 2011, Diab received a Webby Special Achievement Award for his role as a social media activist during the revolution in Egypt, for “embodying the spirit of the Internet and harnessing its power to bring freedom and democracy to [his] nation.” Prior to his directorial debut Cairo 678, he was the writer of four films (Real Dreams, The Island, The Replacement, and Congratulations), each of which enjoyed commercial success in Egypt. 

http://youtu.be/COesFcvkXaE

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Djerassi Resident Artists Program

The San Francisco Film Society, in partnership with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, announced the finalists for the 2014 Djerassi Residency Award / San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship, given annually to encourage the career of an emerging or established screenwriter. The fellowship is one of a number of screenwriting initiatives offered by Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s innovative and dynamic filmmaker services program.

The Djerassi Residency Award / San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship provides uninterrupted time for work, reflection and collegial interaction, making this award unique in its capacity to provide a screenwriter with an inspiring and supportive environment in a stunningly beautiful rural location. Located 40 miles south of San Francisco in the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this residency offers living and work-studio accommodations and all meals from August 5 through September 3, 2014, at no cost to the recipient. The finalists were selected from applications submitted in response to an international call for entries.

FINALISTS
Bretten Hannam — SPEAK THE WOLF
A rebellious Métis teenager finds himself at a youth boot camp in the far north. After accidentally shooting a staff member, he flees into the Arctic, where he encounters a young Inuit hunter. Stranded in a remote hunting camp, they are forced to face their inner demons in order to survive.

Kate Marks — MIRACLE MAKER
A washed up miracle maker, crippled by the problems and demands of a desperate world, runs away from her destiny and uncovers the land beyond her control.

Lea Nakonechny — A SWEETER WORLD
After falling on hard times when his bees die off, Jim Wiebe kills a competing beekeeper for his honey. Finding refuge in a Hutterite colony, he sees a chance at salvation. But how long can a guilty man stay in a place where the number one rule is to love thy neighbor?

Previous recipients of the Djerassi Residency Award are Joshua Zeman (2013) for his scientific drama Collider, Julie Tosh (2012) for her science fiction-infused family drama Program Rose, Adam Chanzit (2011) for his psychological thriller The 15th Stone and Kathryn Mockler (2010) for her project Weak People Are Fun to Torment.

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ROOFTOP FILMS & AT&T FEATURE FILM GRANT:Jonas Carpignano, A CHJANA

Rooftop Films which wraps up it’s Summer Series this weekend, announced the 2013 Filmmakers’ Fund grantees. Rooftop Films’ Founder and Artistic Director, Mark Elijah Rosenberg, said of the grants: “Every year, it is an honor for us at Rooftop to be able to support a new crop of amazing films thanks to the support of our community—our audience, partners and sponsors. We are proud to reflect the diversity of our community by awarding grants to a wide range of films this year, from comedies and wild new media projects to serious films addressing global political issues. Each of these filmmakers previously screened at our festival, so it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to give something back to them and help them make new films which will soon astonish the world.”

The 2013 Grantees are:

ROOFTOP FILMS & AT&T FEATURE FILM GRANT: Jonas Carpignano, A CHJANA
ROOFTOP FILMS & EASTERN EFFECTS EQUIPMENT GRANT: Todd Rohal, SWEET CHEEKS
ROOFTOP FILMS & EDGEWORX POST-PRODUCTION GRANT: Zachary Treitz & Kate Lyn Sheil, MEN GO TO BATTLE
ROOFTOP FILMS EQUIPMENT GRANT: Keith Miller, FIVE STAR
ROOFTOP FILMS & ADRIENNE SHELLY FOUNDATION SHORT FILM GRANT FOR WOMEN: Heather Courtney, Untitled Texas documentary
ROOFTOP FILMS & DCTV EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES GRANTS:
Darius Monroe Clark, EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL
Sam Green, THE GREAT HEART OF HUMANITY
Natalie Paul, SWEET TEA
ROOFTOP FILMMAKERS’ FUND SHORT FILM GRANTS:
Riley Hooper, WORLD’S LONGEST YARD SALE
Yung Jake, KICKSTARDER
Mike Plante, GIUSEPPE MAKES A MOVIE
Tom Schroeder & Lisa Paclet, ISLAND

Jonas Carpignano, A CHJANA
Determined and courageous Burkinabé friends, Ayiva and Abas, must persevere through the difficult journey across Africa on their way to finding new opportunities in Europe. But with their family and new home, local hostility and intolerance all hanging in the balance, Ayiva and Abas must consider what price a ‘better life’ is really worth. Rooftop screened Carpignano’s award-winning short film, A Chjana in 2012 and Bayou Black in 2011.

Todd Rohal, SWEET CHEEKS
Sweet Cheeks is the story of two nine-year-old brothers, Tyson and Tyler Butterfield, growing up among the twenty-four adopted children that live together in a one-room house where they eat, sleep, and get raised up by their loving parents. The boys find a gift for their mother inside of an abandoned mailbox which leads them on a mission where they run afoul of a slick reverend with strange ideas about love, steal a car from a daredevil hobo, get chased by a 6-inch tall man in a balloon, and confront Jesus Christ in heaven above. Sweet Cheeks exists in the uncharted territory located somewhere between the Our Gang shorts of the 1930s, Paper Moon, Night of the Hunter, Duck Soup and Forbidden Zone. Rooftop screened Rohal’s short films Knuckleface Jones and Hillbilly Robot in 2000 and 2001 and his feature-length films The Guatemalan Handshake in 2006 and The Catechism Cataclysm in 2012.

Zachary Treitz & Kate Lyn Sheil, MEN GO TO BATTLE
In the fall of 1861, most Americans predicted that the War Between the States would end by Christmas. Henry and Francis Mellon couldn’t care less. The two are struggling to hold on to their crumbling estate while bracing for another winter in central Kentucky. Living together in the last remaining structure on their family’s hemp farm, the two have become suffocatingly close. Francis’ practical jokes become more and more antagonistic until the night he accidentally injures Henry in a fight. Henry disappears in the night, leaving Francis alone to discover the hardship and deprivation that the war has in store for him. Rooftop has screened numerous films starring Kate Lyn Sheil, and showed Treitz’s short films The Mean Time (2008) and We’re Leaving (2011).

Sam Green, THE GREAT HEART OF HUMANITY
The Great Heart of Humanity is a new feature-length ‘live documentary’ by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Sam Green. The film, which is inspired loosely by the Guinness Book of Records, will weave together portraits of record-holding people places and things to create a meditation on fate and the outer contours of the human experience. The film will be screened with live narration and live soundtrack performed by the chamber group yMusic. Rooftop Films screened Sam Green’s film “Pie Fight ’69” (co-directed with Christian Bruno) in 2000 and his live documentaries Fog and The Biggest Smallest in 2013.

Darius Monroe Clark, THE EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL
Deep in the heart of Texas, what begins as an innocent tale of family, sacrifice, and financial hardship quickly escalates into a true-crime thriller. Fusing together compelling interviews, striking re-enactments, and home video, we are forced to ask ourselves how a 16 year old honor roll student evolved into a bank robber. Rooftop screened Monroe’s short film Train in 2011.

Natalie Paul, SWEET TEA
It’s a hot afternoon in gentrified Brooklyn, when Nicki, a tough native Brooklynite meets for the first time her boyfriend’s “baby mother” Amy – who turns out to be a Southern blond belle. The two women, as opposite as they are, challenge each other and somehow come to see each other in ways only the other can. Sweet Tea explores the reality of complicated relationships and complicated people – and how they desperately try to hang on, move on, make things work or let things go. Rooftop Films screened Natalie Paul’s first short film, Everything Absolutely (co-directed with Terence Nance) in 2013.

Keith Wilson, FIVE STAR
Five Star follows Primo and John as they face the challenges of urban manhood. For Primo, who turned Blood at age 12 (in the movie and in real life), this includes understanding what it means to be a father and an honest man. John has to decide if gang life is the path for him. Connecting them is John’s father, who was Primo’s mentor, and whose recent death by a supposedly stray bullet sets the story in motion. Based closely on real life elements, the distinction between the story in the movie and events in the ‘real world’ is intentionally blurred. Five Star is a follow up to Keith Miller’s award winning feature Welcome to Pine Hill (Rooftop 2012), which was based off his short filmPrince/William (Rooftop 2010).

Heather Courtney, Untitled Texas Project
“Untitled Texas Project” will follow one Planned Parenthood clinic’s struggle to survive in a state that has made massive cuts in family planning funding, and vilified Planned Parenthood in particular. In their efforts to get rid of abortion, Texas state legislators have also restricted access to contraception, women wellness exams, and pre-cancer screenings, resulting in 76 clinics either closing completely or cutting family planning services. This short documentary explores the human side of policy decisions, as we follow a year-in-the life of one west Texas clinic and the fall-out for their patients. Rooftop screened Courtney’s feature documentaries Letters from the Other Side (2006) and Where Soldiers Come From (2011).

Riley Hooper, THE WORLD’S LONGEST YARD SALE
Now in its 26th year, the world’s longest yard sale runs from Michigan to Alabama the first weekend of every August. It’s a massive exchange of not only goods, but also cultures, customs, ideas, and narratives. Riley Hooper’s short documentary focuses on objects being sold and bought along the route of the sale to reveal personal stories about the people buying and selling them — universal stories of family histories, love, loss, nostalgia, and the human experience. Rooftop screened Hooper’s film Flo in 2013.

Yung Jake, KICKSTARDER
“ayo this Yung Jake. i’m about to drop the most interactive rap video ever. 4 reel. it’s gonna be a video that automatically inserts my supporters; the people who have my back from day one (through day 30) of the time that KS is release will be forever embedded into the video, they jus have to pay a little. my day 1-30 niggas. yeah, so whatever img you want can be dragged onto the video wherever/whenever and publicly displayed for the world to see. like on my shirt or you can be in the background of the shot in my hood. prices range on how dope the area of insertion is. Rooftop Films screened my Datamosh video in 20013 that’s how they found me. email kickstarder@gmail.com to inquire about pre-ordering img spots.”

Mike Plante, GIUSEPPE MAKES A MOVIE
In Ventura, CA, Giuseppe Andrews makes movies in his trailer park. A former child actor, Giuseppe is inspired by the crazy independent filmmakers of history: Cassavetes, Bunuel and Fassbinder… and now has 30 features of his own. With a handwritten script, a video camera, an acting ensemble of neighbors and homeless men and a few hundred bucks, we follow Giuseppe and crew as he sets out to make a feature film in just two days and shows that filmmaking is not for a small elite group but for everyone. Made by Adam Rifkin and by Mike Plante, whose Orbit(film): Earthshort played at Rooftop in 2012.

Tom Schroeder & Lisa Paclet, ISLAND
Isola del Giglio is the smallest island of the archipelago that includes Elba and Monte Cristo. One of the three small villages on the island, Campese, serves as a summer vacation retreat for middle class Italian families. Island will be a 12 minute animated film documenting the course of one day in Campese rendered in an impressionistic, sketchbook style. Rooftop screened Paclet’s film Ursonate (2006) and three of Schroeder’s films: Bike Ride (2002), Bike Race(2011) and Marcel, King of Tervuren (2013).

descriptions via Rooftop Films

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Cheryl Boone Isaacs was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (July 30) by the organization’s Board of Governors.

Boone Isaacs, who is beginning her 21st year as a governor representing the Public Relations Branch, served as Academy first vice president during the past year. She also produced the 2012 Governors Awards. Boone Isaacs succeeds Hawk Koch, who served a one-year term as president.

In addition, John Lasseter was elected first vice president; Jeffrey Kurland and Leonard Engelman were elected to vice president posts; Dick Cook was elected treasurer; and Phil Robinson was elected secretary.

These will be the first officer stints for Engelman, Kurland and Cook.  Lasseter previously served one-year terms as treasurer (2011-2012) and secretary (2009-2010). Robinson served as vice president during the past year, his fourth consecutive term in that office (2009-2013).

Boone Isaacs currently heads CBI Enterprises, Inc., where she has consulted on such films as “The Call,” “The Artist,” “The King’s Speech,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Tupac: Resurrection.”Boone Isaacs previously served as president of theatrical marketing for New Line Cinema, where she oversaw numerous box office successes, including “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Rush Hour.” Prior to joining New Line in 1997, Boone Isaacs was executive vice president of worldwide publicity for Paramount Pictures, where she orchestrated publicity campaigns for the Best Picture winners “Forrest Gump” and “Braveheart.”

Academy board members may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms, while officers serve one-year terms, with a maximum of four consecutive years in any one office.

[via press release]

 

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163 new films in development have been selected for the Project Forum at 2013 Independent Film Week taking place September 15-19, 2013 at Lincoln Center in New York City. Through the Project Forum, creatives connect with the financiers, executives, influencers and decision-makers in film, television, new media and cross-platform storytelling that can help them complete their latest works and connect with audiences.

Featured works at the 2013 Independent Film Week include filmmakers and content creators from a variety of backgrounds and experience. From Academy Award® winners Louie Psihoyos (THE COVE) and Cynthia Wade (FREEHELD) to web-series innovators such as Mesh Flinders (LONELYGIRL 5) and Thom Woodley (THE BURG).

RBC’s Emerging Storytellers

Always Shine directed by Sophia Takal, written by Lawrence Michael Levine, produced by Kim Sherman and John Baker. Two best friends, Anna and Beth, take a weekend trip that turns deadly when Anna’s repressed jealousy and insecurities begin to surface. (Dramatic Thriller)

Awesome Asian Bad Guys directed by Patrick Epino and Stephen Dypiangco, written by Milton Liu, produced by Patrick Epino, Stephen Dypiangco, Milton Liu and Diana Williams, executive produced by Phil Yu, cinematography by Nasar Abich, edited by Soham Mehta. Two offbeat filmmakers must assemble a volatile group of Asian bad guy actors to take down LA’s most nefarious mobster. (Comedy)

Blues Run the Game directed and written by Alexander Jablonski. Out of jail and working on a cattle ranch, a recovering drug addict battles to solve a murder that no one will admit took place. (Mystery/Crime Thriller)

Claude is Waiting directed and written by Chris Mason Wells, produced by Jason Klorfein, Brendan McFadden and Rachel Wolther. A comic epic of self-delusion, crippling neurosis, intellectual posturing, and emotional devastation — a jagged and ragged portrait of the artist as a young mess. It’s a comedy? (Comedy)

Doubles with Slight Pepper directed and written by Ian Harnarine, produced by Christina Piovesan and Karina Rotenstein. A young Trinidadian street-vendor must travel to New York and decide if he will save his estranged father’s life. (Coming of Age)

Everything Beautiful is Far Away directed and written by Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson, produced by Sarah Schutzki and Albert Uria, cinematography by Pete Ohs and Nandan Rao, edited by Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson. A dystopian fable about a man, his robot girlfriend, and a beguiling young woman who all traverse a desert planet hoping to find a better life. (Sci-Fi)

Faith directed and written by Eli Daughdrill, produced by Mike S Ryan. After the tragic and untimely death of his son, a deeply religious man confronts God, his community, and himself as he tries to understand his new reality. (Drama)

Frail directed and written by Matthew Petock, produced by Daniel Carbone and Zachary Shedd. Over the course of a cold winter day, nineteen year-old Vanessa plots a petty theft that she hopes will lead to a better life for her and her young daughter -– but piece by piece, her plan unravels. (Dramatic Thriller)

Free the Town directed and written by Nikyatu Jusu, produced by Nikkia Moulterie and Vincho Nchogu, cinematography by Daniel Patterson. A Native virgin, a Brooklyn teen, and a European filmmaker collide in the midst of witch-hunting hysteria in Freetown, Sierra Leone. These three disparate lives build towards a deadly climax. (Dramatic Thriller)

The God of Rain and Thunder directed and written by Mesh Flinders, produced by Neda Armian. When the girl he loves is kicked out of his father’s commune, 15-year-old Indra goes to public high school to get her back. (Coming of Age)

The Highway Kind directed and written by J. Todd Walker. Two loners running from different wars meet on the American road. The farther they travel together, the closer they come to finding their ways home. (Drama)

I Like You Like You directed and written by Jac Schaeffer. Convinced that technology is the reason she’s still single, a woman searches for her grade school crush without any help from the Internet. (Romantic Comedy)

Just the Three of Us directed, written and produced by Angela Tucker. Regina and Hank, a couple in their early 70s, have lost the spark in their marriage. They decide to take a radical step to spice things up: What about a threesome? (Dark Comedy)

Little Sister directed and written by Zach Clark, produced by Daryl Pittman and Melodie Sisk, cinematography by Daryl Pittman, edited by Zach Clark. A young nun returns to the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina to visit her estranged parents and older brother, who was injured in the Iraq war. (Comedy)

Loners Together directed and written by Carlen Altman. A 29-year-old girl, obsessed with staying wrinkle-free at any cost, shares an eccentric, isolated life with her carefree mother in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where they live surrounded by a menagerie of pills and pets. (Dark Comedy)

Lucky Grandma directed by Sasie Sealy, written by Angela Cheng and Sasie Sealy, produced by Krista Parris and Cara Marcous. A chain-smoking, gambling Chinese grandma ends up on the wrong side of luck… and the law. (Dark Comedy)

Nancy directed and written by Christina Choe, produced by Gerry Kim. Nancy, a 40-year-old serial imposter lives at home with her abusive, elderly mother. Desperate for love, she creates a fake blog and catfishes a lover, until her hoaxes grow to epic and tragic consequences. (Drama)

Raker directed by Andrew Rossi, written by Kate Novack and Andrew Rossi, produced by Josh Braun. A law student recruited to spy on a group of hacktivist classmates discovers that his professor is watching him to protect her own dark secret. (Dramatic Thriller)

Scape Goat directed, written and produced by Thom Woodley. A strange, anonymous performance artist in a goat costume turns the lives of several Brooklyn hipsters upside down. (Drama)

Shale directed and written by Jed Cowley. A submissive 70-year-old housewife makes the terrifying decision to leave her domineering husband after 50 years of marriage, and faces the consequences that follow. (Drama)

Slash directed and written by Clay Liford, produced by Brock Williams. A teen’s online erotic fiction leads him to discover truths about his own sexuality when his newfound notoriety forces him out into the real world. (Coming of Age)

Spare directed and written by Kevan Tucker. When a struggling model discovers that she has a more successful doppelganger, she kidnaps her and begins using her for spare parts. (Horror)

The Strange Ones directed and written by Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein, written by Christopher Radcliff. A boy is found wandering alone on a rural highway. As his story is revealed, a deeper mystery emerges – one founded on lies, half-truths, and secrets. (Dramatic Thriller)

Varenya directed and written by Shripriya Mahesh, produced by Dev Benegal. Varenya, a South Indian Hindu priest accepts a young apprentice, and is forced to question the doctrines of his religion. (Drama)

Independent Filmmaker Labs

Documentary Labs:

Approaching the Elephant directed by Amanda Wilder and produced by Jay Craven. One year in the lives of a group of children at a newly opened ‘free school,’ where classes are voluntary and rules created by all-school democratic vote.

Bringing Tibet Home directed by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay and produced by Tenzing Rigdol. A Tibetan artist smuggles 20 tonnes of native Tibetan soil from Tibet to India for an art project to bring Tibet closer to its people in exile–literally.

Do I Sound Gay? Directed by David Thorpe, produced by Howard Gertler and Jenny Raskin, and executive produced by Dan Cogan. Determined to overcome his shame about “sounding gay,” director David Thorpe embarks on a hilarious, poignant, taboo-shattering exploration of the phenomenon of the “gay voice.”

Evolution of a Criminal directed by Darius Clark Monroe, produced by Darius Clark Monroe and Jen Gatien, and executive produced by Spike Lee. Ten years after robbing a Bank of America, filmmaker Darius Monroe returns home to examine how his actions affected the lives of family, friends…and victims.

Farmer Veteran directed by Jeremy Lange and Alix Blair and produced by D.L. Anderson. Adrift after years of combat, a wounded U.S. veteran begins farming to cultivate new meaning in a life after war.

In Country directed by Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara and produced by Mike Attie, Meghan O’Hara, Daniel Chalfen, and Jim Butterworth. As a platoon of veterans recreates the Vietnam War in the woods of Oregon, surreal layers of fantasy and reality unearth America’s complicated relationship with war.

Kasamayaki (Made in Kasama) directed and produced by Yuki Kokubo. Shaken by the tsunami and nuclear disasters, a grown daughter returns to a rural Japanese artist community to reconnect with her estranged parents.

The Life & Mind of Mark DeFriest directed by Gabriel London, produced by Daniel Chalfen, and executive produced by Jim Butterworth. When a legendary escape artist comes up for parole after 30 years behind bars, a chance for freedom must be weighed against his infamous past.

Mateo directed by Aaron Naar and produced by Benjamin Dohrmann. Mateo follows America’s most notorious troubadour on his misadventures to Cuba.

Roots and Webs directed by Sara Dosa and produced by Josh Penn. Amid the frontier world of Oregon’s mushroom-hunting camps, two soldiers discover a new family in the woods, helping them to heal the wounds of war.

Narrative Labs:

AWOL directed by Deb Shoval, written by Karolina Waclawiak and Deb Shoval, produced by Jessica Caldwell, cinematography by Gal Deren. Days before deployment to Afghanistan, Joey, 19, returns home to Pennsylvania with plans to go AWOL with her married older lover Rayna and Rayna’s kids. (Drama)

Below Dreams directed, written, and produced by Garrett Bradley, edited by Carlos Marques-Marcet and Garrett Bradley, cinematography by Milena Pastreich and Brian C. Miller Richard. Three 26-year-olds struggle to find themselves in the shifting streets of New Orleans. (Drama)

Beneath the Harvest Sky directed and written by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, produced by Kavita Pullapilly, Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, executive produced by Allison Jones, cinematography by Steven Calitri, edited by Aron Gaudet. Two small town teens end up in a world of trouble as they get caught up in the illegal drug trade between Maine and Canada. (Drama)

Dig Two Graves directed and written by Hunter Adams, produced by Claire Connelly, PJ Fishwick and Hunter Adams, cinematography by Eric Maddison, edited by Scott Hanson. As a young girl takes desperate measures to save her broken family, she becomes entangled in a deadly quest for revenge. (Dramatic Thriller)

Dukhtar directed and written by Afia Nathaniel, produced by Cordelia Stephens, Khalid Ali and Afia Nathaniel, executive produced by Muhammad Nadeem Nawaz, cinematography and editing by Armughan Hassan. A mother pulls off a daring escape to save her daughter from a child marriage. A relentless hunt begins for them. (Dramatic Thriller)

Gabriel directed and written by Lou Howe, produced by Ben Howe and Luca Borghese, cinematography by Wyatt Garfield, edited by Jane Rizzo. A teenager’s obsessive search for his childhood girlfriend becomes increasingly frantic, and puts himself and everyone around him in danger. (Drama)

Homemakers directed and written by Colin Healey, produced by Dave Schachter, Ella Hatamian and Colin Healey, cinematography by Ben Powell, edited by Dave Schachter.A rootless young singer with a penchant for destruction must reconcile her domestic fantasies as she attempts to restore her late grandfather’s abandoned Pittsburgh home. (Comedy)

Kick Me directed, written, and edited by Gary Huggins, produced by Betsy Gran, cinematography by Michael Wilson. When a meek guidance counselor accidentally crosses a deadly criminal warlord, he must take to his feet in this urban-nightmare action-comedy. (Comedy)

Something, Anything directed and written by Paul Harrill, produced by Ashley Maynor, executive produced by Dee Bagwell Haslam and Ross Bagwell, Sr., cinematography by Kunitaro Ohi, edited by Jennifer Lilly. A would-be suburban mom’s life is upended in this movie about change and that which can be felt but not seen. (Drama)

Stay Then Go directed and written by Shelli Ainsworth, produced by Geoffrey Sass and Christine Walker, cinematography by Alan Canant, edited by Bo Hakala.Marian Baird is a wife, mother and event planner extraordinaire. When confronted with an unlikely incident that turns her life upside down, she is forced to choose whether or not to abandon the life she’s carefully created for herself and her family. (Drama)

No Borders International Co-Production Market

#PostModem directed by Lucas Leyva and Jilian Mayer, produced by Brett Potter and Jon David Kane, written by by Lucas Leyva and Jilian Mayer. #PostModem is a comedic, satirical sci-fi pop musical about a young girl who frees a futuristic Miami on the verge of the singularity. (Musical)

Americana directed by Zachary Shedd, produced by Daniel Carbone and Matthew Petock. The brother of a murdered actress suspects that his sister’s death was meant to serve the box office returns on her last film. (Dramatic Thriller)

Bab El Gehenom (The Gateway to Hell) directed by Oded Ruskin, produced by Saar Yogev and Naomi Levari. A routine military navigation drill in the desert turns into a nightmare as the soil of a demolished Bedouin village comes to life. (Supernatural Thriller)

The Beach House directed by Jeff Brown, produced by Sophia Lin, Matthew Yeager, and Jeff Brown, written by Jeff Brown. A romantic getaway for two high school sweethearts turns into a struggle for survival when unexpected guests exhibit signs of a mysterious transformative affliction. (Horror)

Beastdirected by Michael Pearce, produced by Kristian Brodie. When they kissed, a darkness opened within her… (Drama)

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea directed, and produced by Emre Akay, written by Emre Akay and Deniz Cuylan. Turkey, 1956. A small American base monitors Russian activity in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, a young Turkish Lieutenant falls desperately for the American Major’s wife. (Historical Fiction)

The Cavanaughs produced by Julie Lynn and Julien Farve. When an Evangelical mother suddenly falls in love with a woman, rejects motherhood and disavows her beliefs, her devout teenage son Luke is thrown into chaos, forcing him to forge new meaning from the ruins of love, family and faith. (Drama)

Curse the Darkness produced by Daniel Noah, Josh Waller, and Elijah Wood, written by Brandon Williams. A political activist advocating for workers’ rights in Miami discovers a corrupt plantation owner using Haitian toxins to turn illegal immigrants into zombie-like slaves. (Horror)

Dance for Me directed by Pia Marais, produced by Trish Lake and Dan Lake, written by Roger Monk. In the Afrikaans society of South Africa, a woman finds the lines between revenge, justice and love are blurred when she finally entraps her mother’s attacker. (Drama)

The Detective directed by Peter Andrikidis, produced by Sarah Boote and Michael Robertson, written by Roger Joyce. An Australian cop arrives in Afghanistan to investigate the death of a former colleague – his only ally is an Afghani policewoman and together they find his friend was caught up in the intrigue involving a village massacre. (Drama)

Dos Mujeres Y Una Vaca (Two Women and a Cow) written and directed by Efraín Bahamón, produced by José Antonio “Chepe” Calderón Gómez, executive produced by Alberto Amaya. Two illiterate women begin a journey to find someone that can read them a letter. Trapped in the war, they struggle to find their way back. (Drama)

The Edible Woman written and directed by Francine Zuckerman, produced by Judy Holm, Francine Zuckerman, and Michael McNamara. Marian is about to get married; it’s all she ever wanted. But when a free-spirited man comes into her life, Marian’s careful plans are upset. (Drama)

The Fire Dance written and directed by Rama Burshtein, produced by Assaf Amir. What happens to a woman when she falls deeply under the spiritual influence of a wise, honest, charismatic man? And what if this man isn’t her husband, and she and him belong to the biggest Hassidic group in New York? (Drama)

The Fixer directed by Ian Olds, produced by Caroline von Kuhn, written by Paul Felten and Ian Olds. An exiled Afghan journalist working in Northern California investigates the dark and morally complex backwoods of a seemingly peaceful bohemian community. (Drama)

The Innocent written and directed by Matthew Thompson, produced by Christine Alderson. John, a convicted murderer, takes a young girl hostage and escapes from prison, determined to prove his innocence. A powerful psychological thriller that keeps you guessing. (Dramatic Thriller)

Into the Light written and directed by Rowland Jobson, produced by Alastair Clark. A young mentally and physically scarred man, racked with guilt, is led to the truth behind his fractured dreams and nightmares on London’s unforgiving streets. (Dramatic Thriller)

Ivan Lendl Never Learnt to Volley directed by Justin Kurzel, produced by Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw, written by Jed Kurzel. When a fatal accident of an opponent rocks the Moscow junior tennis circuit, 13-year-old Alexander and his father, Dimitri, begin a desperate journey across Europe to keep their dreams alive. (Based on a True Story)

Jätten (The Giant) written and directed by Johannes Nyholm; produced by Maria Dahlin and Morten Kjems Juhl; executive produced by Peter Hyldahl, Mimmi Spång, and Rebecka Lafrenz.Rikard, autistic and severely deformed, and haunted by the loss of his mother, escapes into an imaginary world where he is a 50-meter tall giant. (Drama)

Kashmir (working title) written, directed, and produced by Ashvin Kumar. Ten year old Noor’s father ‘disappeared’ after the Indian army arrested him in war-torn Kashmir, but when she goes looking for him, she stumbles upon mass-graves that implicate the Indian army. When her story makes national news, she herself is arrested and made to ‘disappear’.(Coming of Age)

King Jack written and directed by Felix Thompson, produced by Gabrielle Nadig. When shouldered with the responsibility of watching his younger cousin for the weekend, a delinquent 15 year-old finds himself stumbling towards maturity while struggling against the neighborhood bully in their small town. (Drama)

Love After Love directed by Russell Harbaugh, produced by Michael Prall, written by Eric Mendelsohn and Russell Harbaugh. In the tradition of Woody Allen and John Cassavetes, Love After Love is the sad, funny, romantic account of a mother and two grown sons as they struggle in the wake of a father’s death. (Drama)

The Love Songs of Nathan Swirsky written and directed by Peter Goldsmid; produced by Margaret Goldsmid and Peter Goldsmid. In 1951 Johannesburg, a shy white boy befriends an albino youth and, inspired by a flamboyant new pharmacist, rebels against his formidable, racist mother. (Coming of Age)

Manchild written and directed by Ryan Koo, produced by Chip Hourihan. A talented basketball player gets nationally ranked & must choose between schools, coaches, & faiths – all at the age of 13. (Drama)

Mimi & Me produced by Blake Corbet and Marly Reed, written by Marly Reed, executive produced by Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny. Teenage misfit Em Dash and her gambling-addicted Grandma Mimi must become con-artists to save their family home from bikers in small town Vancouver Island. (Comedy)

Nervous Translation written and directed by Shireen Seno, produced by John Torres. Eight year-old Yael, shy to a fault, lives in her own private world. One day she finds out about a pen that can translate the thoughts and feelings of nervous people. (Drama)

Nowhere Road written and directed by Lea Nakonechny, produced by Christine Falco and Simon Nakonechny. An outlaw father’s shadow. A mother who’s in over her head. A brother and sister risking it all in an 18-wheeler bound for the border. (Drama)

Out of Range directed by Alexandra Roxo, produced by Kelly Williams and Jonathan Duffy, written by Devon Kirkpatrick and Alexandra Roxo. A neurotic gallery girl, forced to leave her posh NYC life and move to Texas for work, hitches a ride with a free-spirited college friend across the country. (Comedy)

Papaw Easy directed by Martha Stephens, produced by Brett Potter, written by Karrie Crouse and Martha Stephens. Under the watch of his vain, ‘Modern Christian’ uncle, a shy boy forges an unlikely partnership with a foul-mouthed, down and out playboy. (Drama)

Paramour directed by Phil Abraham, produced by Amy Rapp, written by Jordan Katz, executive produced by Meredith Vieira and Paul Brett. Paramour is a dramatic thriller, inspired by a true story, about a married German heiress who falls for a charming Swiss businessman with unforeseen motives. (Dramatic Thriller)

Pardon My Downfall directed by David Zellner, produced by Chris Ohlson and Nathan Zellner, written by David Zellner and Nathan Zellner. Pardon My Downfall tells the story of The Jibcutters, a country-western band as infamous for their debauchery as their musical talents, as they try to recapture their previous magic on one final tour through the American South. (Drama)

Saturn written and directed by Elan Gamaker, produced by Bridget Pickering. A domestic worker must protect two children from the spirit of their dead brother, out to wreak revenge on their father by capturing their souls. (Supernatural Thriller)

The Sky is Blue like an Orange directed by Caveh Zahedi, produced by Mike Ryan, written by Arnold Barkus. A reclusive middle-aged artist falls in love with a young coffee shop waitress who pretends to reciprocate his affections in order to steal his artwork. (Based on a True Story)

Solidarity directed by Rungano Nyoni, produced by Juliette Grandmont. A fire breaks out in a large compound in the centre of Lusaka. The very next day, its residents continue their lives as if nothing happened. (Dark Comedy)

Solitaire King written and directed by Bassam Jarbawi, produced by Shrihari Sathe. Unable to relive past basketball glory, or attain the girl of his future, Solitaire King follows a hallucinating Ziad, an ex political prisoner determined to become the champion he believes is expected of him. (Drama)

Soller’s Point written and directed by Matt Porterfield; produced by Ryan Zacarias, Jordan Mintzer, and Steve Holmgren; executive produced by Dan Carey. Serving parole on detention in his father’s house, an ex-offender finds the adjustment to society and the workforce more difficult than the confines of home. (Drama)

Taminex directed by Anya Meksin, produced by Kristie Lutz , written by William Gerrard and Anya Meksin, executive produced by Lawrence Mattis, and cinematography by Ian Bloom. During a pandemic, a sheltered young woman must venture into the city’s most dangerous district to procure the drug that can save her boyfriend’s life. (Thriller)

Torchbearer directed by Charles Officer, produced by Paul Barkin, written by David Bradley Halls. A forensic-geologist risks his life to seek closure for the family of a cold-case murder victim, in a desperate attempt to atone for his own personal tragedy. (Dramatic Thriller)

Torus directed by Michael Axelgaard, produced by Michael Axelgaard and Matthew Holt. When a physics experiment creates a tear between parallel universes, a bereaved boy sets out to find a world where his mother is still alive. (Science Fiction)

Tramontane directed by Vatche Boulghourjian, produced by Spencer Kiernan and Caroline Oliveira. Rabih, a young blind man, searches for a record of his own birth after discovering that his identity card is a forgery. He travels across Lebanon and gradually descends into a Kafkaesque encounter with a nation unable to retell his or its own past. (Drama)

Tree of Crows directed, produced, and written by Stephen Abbott. Among the ruins of post-apocalyptic South Africa lives Cain, a violently desperate man who suppresses his murderous past—until he falls for an alluring traveler. (Thriller)

Twelve Hundred and Ninety Six Hits directed by Moon Molson, produced by Daniella Kahane and Diana Ossana, written by Mark Poirier and Bill U’ren. A character driven comedy about a seventeen year-old SKA obsessed boy whose entire life changes the day he accidentally steals a sheet of acid. (Comedy)

The Witch of New Canaan Woode written and directed by Robert Eggers, produced by Jodi Redmond. A devout Christian family starts a small farm at the edge of a wood in early New England, only to be torn apart and driven to madness by an evil witch. (Drama)

Spotlight on Documentaries

Am I Don Quixote? Written, directed, and produced by Jimmy Ferguson. When a legendary circus star faces a broken marriage and career, he embarks on a fantastical quest to rediscover himself as the fabled knight Don Quixote.

The Autobiography of Michelle Maren directed by Michel Negroponte and Michelle Maren, written by Michel Negroponte, and produced by Michel Negroponte and Marie-Emmanuelle Hartness. The story of an abused child, who became a runaway, a beauty queen and a porn star in the 80’s. Today, barricaded in her apartment and impaired by multiple mental disorders, she attempts to reconcile with the past.

Ballet 422 (New York City Ballet Documentary) directed by Jody Lee Lipes and produced by Ellen Bar and Anna Rose Holmer. From first rehearsal to world premiere, Ballet 422 takes us backstage at New York City Ballet as emerging choreographer Justin Peck crafts a new work.

BE•HOLD directed by Richard Kroehling and produced by Sirad Balducci and Janet Kirchheimer. A performance film of Holocaust poetry. Poets, survivors, and actors perform poems from the Shoah to the present. A marriage of cinema and poetry.

Brick directed by Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca and produced by KateBrickwitnesses the loss and extraordinary risk experienced by five fathers and grandfathers finding courage to live as transgendered women within the Pacific Northwest’s hyper-masculine culture.

Brillo Box (3¢ off) directed and produced by Lisanne Skyler. In 1969, my parents bought a Warhol Brillo Box for $1,000. In 2010, it fetched $3,000,000. This is the story of what happened in between.

Children of the Inquisition written, directed and produced by Joseph Lovett. From medieval tortures, to the present, Children of the Inquisition follows descendants of the Iberian Inquisitions, as they unravel their complex—often buried—Jewish identity.

Cocaine Prison directed by Violeta Ayala and produced by Daniel Fallshaw, Cedric Bonin, and Alexandra Daly. From inside one of Bolivia’s notorious prisons, a cocaine worker, a drug mule, and his little sister reveal the country’s complex relationship with cocaine.

The Cure written and directed by Bernadette Wegenstein and produced by Bernadette Wegenstein and Jon Reiss. The Cure interweaves the intimate stories of a surgeon and her patients with the history, mythology, and current treatment battles in the breast cancer industry.

Dark Money written, directed, and produced by Kimberly Reed. After the Citizens United verdict, 501c4 dark money fuels corrupt politics across America, but one election cycle in Montana clarifies complex problems and offers solutions.

The Destruction of Memory directed by Tim Slade and produced by Joanna Buggy. Based on the acclaimed book, The Destruction of Memory is a vital, urgent exploration of the purposeful destruction of the built heritage, language, and culture of one people by another, and the disintegration of memory and identity that results.

Dinosaur 13 directed and produced by Todd Miller. The true tale of one of the greatest discoveries in history.

Elephant in the Room directed by Lucia Small and Ed Pincus and produced by Lucia Small, Ed Pincus, and Mary Kerr. Two filmmakers of different generations turn the camera on each other to explore friendship, legacy, loss, and living with terminal illness.

Evaporating Borders directed by Iva Radivojevic, produced by Landon Van Soest and Leandros Savvides, and executive produced by Laura Poitras. A visual essay about political migrants in Cyprus that explores the meaning of displacement and search for identity.

Flickering Time Bomb written, directed, and produced by Pietra Bretkelly. What is a country without a past? As Afghanistan teeters on an unpredictable future, Flickering Time Bombunwraps the world of three dreamers and 8,000 hours of film covered by the dust of 100 years of war. What surprises will emerge from the cloak of time?

Freedom Fighters directed by Jamie Meltzer and produced by David Alvarado and Kate McLean. There’s a new detective agency in Dallas, Texas, started by a group of exonerated men who have all spent decades in prison.

The Girl Who Knew Too Much directed by Amy Benson and Ramyata Limbu, produced by Amy Benson and Scott Squire, and executive produced by Karol Martesko-Fenster. A bold girl with a golden opportunity takes her own life and reveals South Asia’s newest epidemic.

The Good, Bad, and Deadly: China, U.S. and their Relationship written and directed by Vanessa Hope, produced by Vanessa Hope and Ted Hope, and executive produced by Geralyn Dreyfous. Courageous blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng’s escape from house arrest to NYU highlights U.S. democratic dysfunction, U.S.-China relations, and the “Wild West” way China runs.

Good Men, Bad Men, and a Few Rowdy Ladies directed by Andrea Scott, produced by Andrea Scott and Dev Brand, and executive produced by Julie Goldman and David Menschel. Florence, Arizona is a cowboy town with a prison problem. In the historic Wild West, what does a culture of incarceration do to a place and its people?

The Hand That Feeds written and directed by Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears and produced by Robin Blotnick, Rachel Lears, and Patricia Benabe. A scrappy crew of undocumented immigrant workers face long odds and the threat of deportation when they take on a well-known New York restaurant chain.

The Heist directed by Louie Psihoyos, written by Mark Monroe, and produced by Fisher Stevens and Olivia Ahnemann. An unlikely team of activists comes together to give threatened species a voice and stop a mass extinction.

How to Become an Extreme Action Hero directed by Catherine Gund and produced by Catherine Gund and Tanya Selvaratnam. Hero harnesses the forces of action architect and provocateur Elizabeth Streb – colliding her life and work, testifying to the power and necessity of art.

In the Middle directed by Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo and produced by Filippo Piscopo. The collision of two epic crises unfolds in small-town Italy, hit by a ferocious economic downturn when African migrants fleeing the Arab revolutions arrive by the thousands, demanding work and visas.

In the Shadow of the Dream directed by Asa Mader and produced by Christoph Jorg and Corinne Weber. A portrait of Clarence B. Jones, one of Martin Luther King’s trusted allies, comes out of the shadows of civil rights history to tell his tale.

In Your Voice, In Your Heart directed by Edward Lovelace and James Hall and produced by Lucas Ochoa. In February 2005, musician Edwyn Collins suffered a serious stroke. Unable to move and barely able to speak, his spectacular recovery back to center stage is both courageous and life affirming.

Island Soldier written and directed by Nathan Fitch and produced by Nathan Fitch and Jeremy Levine. A character-driven documentary about the service of Micronesians in the U.S. military–service that occurs at very high rates per capita.

The Joneses directed by Moby Longinotto, produced by Aviva Wishnow, and executive produced by Caroline Spry and Peter Day. A portrait of Jheri, a73-year-old transgender trailer park matriarch, and her sons in Bible Belt Mississippi. Recently reunited, will new revelations tear this family apart?

Journey Story directed by Keren Shayo and produced by Osnat Trabelsi, Galit Cahlon, Hilla Medalia, and Neta Zwebner-Zaibert. Timnit, 20, escaped Eritrea in 2011 and disappeared on her way to Israel. We follow the search for her and reveal the secret Torture Housecamps ran by Bedouins in Sinai.

Letters from Baghdad directed by Zeva Oelbaum and Sabine Krayenbühl, produced by Zeva Oelbaum, and executive produced by Thelma Schoonmaker and Denise Benmosche. More famous in her day than colleague Lawrence of Arabia, Gertrude Bell created a country, a king, and a museum in Baghdad. Who was she?

Long Year Begin directed by David Osit, written by David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall, and produced by David Osit, Malika Zouhali-Worrall, and Caleb Heller. A science fiction documentary that examines humanity’s perpetual quest for preservation, and the consequences of choosing what we lose and what we save.

Make Me Normal directed by Mitch McCabe and produced by Jeff Kusama-Hinte. Are we medicalizing “Normal?” 30% of Americans are diagnosed with a mental disorder and 20% are on psychiatric drugs. What’s led to our new “Disorder Culture?” And what happened to “normal?”

Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw directed and produced by Rick Goldsmith. The rise from broken home to superstardom of “the female Michael Jordan” and her subsequent roller-coaster battle with mental illness.

Mudflow directed by Cynthia Wade and Sasha Friedlander and produced by Sasha Friedlander and Vanessa Bergonzoli. Villagers in East Java, Indonesia, living with the results of fracking gone terribly wrong, seek justice from the corporate powers responsible for this man-made disaster.

The Other Man: F.W. de Klerk and End of Apartheid in South Africa directed by Nicolas Rossier and produced by Nicolas Rossier, Naashon Zalk, and Tami Woronoff. F.W. de Klerk was the last apartheid president of South Africa. In less than four years he went from being Mandela’s jailor to his second deputy vice president. The Other Man is the definitive film on de Klerk’s political journey and legacy.

Out of Mind directed and produced by Kristi Jacobson and executive produced by David Menschel.� Out of Mind is a compelling journey into the most invisible corners of the American justice system, prompting us to confront what happens behind the locked door and how it impacts us all.

The Overnighters directed by Jesse Moss and produced by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine. Moths to a flame, broken, desperate men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor risks everything to help them.

Run and Gun directed by Marshall Curry and produced by Marshall Curry and Matthew VanDyke. A young Baltimorean with a gun in one hand and a camera in the other sets off to become a rebel fighter in the Libyan revolution.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda directed by Stephen Schible and produced by Stephen Schible, Eric Nyari, and Amy Lo. Intimate portrait of one of the foremost composers of our era; from iconic star of techno-pop during Japan’s economic boom to leading anti-nuclear activist, post-Fukushima.

Science Fiction Land directed and produced by Judd Ehrlich and executive produced by Nancy Schafer. The stranger than science fiction story of the theme park that changed the world but was never built.

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry directed by Mary Dore and produced by Mary Dore and Nancy Kennedy. Protesters, poets, and shameless hussies! These women fought for their rights, and made a revolution.

Shield and Spear directed by Petter Ringbom and produced by Petter Ringbom and Alysa Nahmias. An artist paints a caricature of South African president Jacob Zuma that provokes a lawsuit, death threats, and massive street protests.

A Slippery Slope directed and produced by Yael Melamede and executive produced by Dan Ariely. A Slippery Slope is an exploration of the architecture of dishonesty. How can human beings lie, cheat, steal and still sleep at night?

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa directed and produced by Abby Ginzberg and written by Rick Goldsmith. Albie Sachs, maimed in a car bomb attack, becomes a leading spokesperson for democracy and reconciliation in the new South Africa and then the world.

Tough Love directed by Stephanie Wang-Breal and produced by Stephanie Wang-Breal, Kristi Jacobson, Carrie Weprin, Ursula Liang, and Evan Briggs. Fighting to reunite with their children,Tough Love follows the lives of two parents in their emotional and trying journey through the child welfare system.

Trapped written, directed, and executive produced by Dawn Porter. In the abortion wars, the fight for the hearts, minds, and bodies of black women may be a decisive factor in America’s fight over the right to choose.

Untitled Chris Burden Documentary directed by Timothy Marrinan and Richard Dewey. A probing portrait of the man who risked his life in the name of art.

Untitled Transgender Youth Documentary directed by Eric Juhola and produced by Eric Juhola, Randy Stulberg, and Jeremy Stulberg. The film follows a landmark transgender rights case in Colorado, where a 6-year-old transgender girl is banned from the girls bathroom at her elementary school.

The Visual Crash directed by Yael Hersonski and produced by Itay Ken-tor. Unseen footage of the Gaza flotilla raid exposes the gap between reality and the media.

Walking Thunder: The Last Stand of the African Elephant directed and produced by Marie Wilkinson and Cyril Christo and executive produced by Lori Cheatle and Wendy Blackstone. A family’s journey over the course of a decade, witnessing and documenting awe-inspiring stories and breathtaking images of East Africa’s people and wildlife, focusing on the iconic elephant.

The Yes Men Are Revolting directed by Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, and Carl Deal; produced by Laura Nix; and executive produced by Adam McKay and Alan Hayling. Notorious activists the Yes Men are on a gonzo mission to save the planet, one stunning hoax after another… but this time, it’s personal.

Trans Atlantic Partners

18% Gray directed by Viktor Chouchkov, produced by Borislav Chouchkov, written by Borislav Chouchkov, Viktor Chouchkov and Zachary Karabashliev. After his wife leaves him, a failed photographer stumbles upon a bag of marijuana, and determined to sell it, sets off to a wild trip that may lead him to the truth about his lost love and ultimately to himself. (Drama)

Afraid of the Dark produced by Magnus Ramsdalen. David is terrified of the dark. His therapist sends him to the North to go through exposure, but David quickly finds there’s a reason for his fear. (Horror)

Berlin Balagan produced by Sol Bondy, written by Rolf Basedow. Jewish spring breakers in post-war Berlin. (Drama)

Break a Leg directed by Francisco Padilla, produced by Germán Méndez. Two unemployed Mexican actors want to make it big in Hollywood but end up on the run in Texas from a real life mob boss. (Comedy)

Chained Melody written and directed by David Gleeson, produced by Nathalie Lichtenthaeler. A washed-up concert pianist finds redemption when he takes the only job on offer – teaching music to the inmates of a maximum-security prison. (Drama)

Cold Hands produced by Carole Sheridan. A fast-paced and exciting thriller that follows the story of Donnie Miller, a young husband and father whose extremely comfortable life in a small, remote Canadian town is suddenly wrecked by his past. (Drama)

Covet directed by Karen Lam, produced by Karen Wong. A young woman begins an adulterous affair with a rich man, unaware that he may be involved in the disappearance of her relative. (Drama)

Crush Season produced by Daniel Bekerman. A vineyard worker embarking on a new life in Canada fights to restore a community’s trust after a vindictive landowner tries to engineer his deportation to the country and past he has risked everything to escape. (Drama)

Cunningham produced by Kelly Gilpatrick. A 3D cinematic event about legendary American choreographer, Merce Cunningham, orchestrated through his dances. (Documentary- Experimental/Non-Traditional)

Dead and Buried directed by William Phillips, produced by Paula Devonshire. On an isolated farm, an intellectually disabled man struggles against a ghost who threatens to unearth a horrible secret from his past. (Supernatural Thriller)

Family Remains directed by Gaby Dellal, produced by Ailish McElmeel, written by Eoin O’Connor, executive produced by John Pinckard and Paul Donovan. Three American siblings are forced to fulfill their mother’s dying wish to have her ashes scattered in her home country – Ireland. (Comedy)

Get Happy written and directed by Jordan Christianson, produced by Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski. Get Diploma, Get Girl, Get Job, Get Happy! (Comedy)

A Good Girl directed by Sean Garrity, produced by Marc Almon, written by Jonathan Williams. A thirty-something inventor tries to hold onto his youth by dating a free-willed eighteen-year-old, but it becomes an obsession that threatens his destiny with another woman. (Comedy)

Hungry For Love directed by Justin Ambrosino, produced by Soojin Chung. One lonely night, two depressed over-eaters make a suicide pact to eat until they have a heart attack. (Romantic Comedy)

League of Monster Slayers produced by Leonard Farlinger. Two orphaned children and their nanny battle an onslaught of monsters and confront a demon building a portal to a darker more evil nether world. (Drama)

Likho. Don’t Wake the Devil directed by Mitja Okorn, produced by Marcin Wierzchoslawski. A young boy discovers a dark family secret in the hostile world, full of imaginary monsters, created by his oppressive father. (Horror)

Man With Van written and directed by Ed Blythe, written by James Windeler, produced by Shrihari Sathe. An upright electrician bumbles into arson to provide for his daughter, until a lethal accident pits him against his best friend and their sociopathic boss. (Dramatic Thriller)

Nearly Dead directed by Christian Schwochow, produced by Katja Kuhlmann and Sebastian Storm. When Sarah realizes that her never-ending nightmares are reflections of a true murder, she enters the kingdom of the dead to find the killer. (Mystery/Crime Thriller)

Phantom Limbs written and directed by Michael Sladek, produced by Joseph Krings, Paul Schnee, Michael Sladek, and Mark Steele. Set in rural Nebraska, Phantom Limbs is an elegiac tale about two young sisters overcoming years of chronic abandonment by embarking on separate, precarious paths that force them to reconcile their shared history in ways they never expected. (Drama)

Record Breaking written and directed by Craig Abell-Champion, produced by T.R. Boyce, Jr. A British woman afflicted by long interval narcolepsy wakes from a world record breaking long coma with an irrepressible need to have a child. (Drama)

The Silver produced by Paul Pope. In a tale of redemption the life-or-death stakes of a perilous murder investigation reawakens the spirit of the beautiful but emotionally damaged Detective Vivien Ellis. (Dramatic Thriller)

Slightly Sane produced by Gaurav Dhingra. In 1947, the end of British colonial rule creates two nations by partitioning one motherland into; India and Pakistan. People have the freedom to choose their country. All people, even those in mental asylums. (Drama)

The Tale directed, produced, and written by Jennifer Fox, executive produced by Oren Moverman and Jack Lechner. Based on a true story, “The Tale” chronicles a woman’s journey to unravel the mystery of her first sexual relationship during the summer of 1973. (Drama)

Untitled Ryan Silbert Project, produced by Ryan Silbert.

Umrika written and directed by Prashant Nair, produced by Alan McAlex and Mathias Schwerbrock. To save his mother from heartbreak, a young Indian village boy invents letters from his missing brother in America, all the while searching for him. (Drama)

Vacationship produced by Yanick Létourneau, written by Cynthia Knight. A romantic comedy about love, sex, freedom and “vacationships” – relationships on vacation. No commitment. No long term prospects. No consequences. Or so the theory goes. (Romantic Comedy)

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