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Captain Fantastic[/caption]
The 2016 Seattle International Film Festival announced the complete lineup of films, guests, and events for the 42nd annual 25-day
Festival taking place May 19 to June 12, 2016.
This year, SIFF will screen 421 films representing 85 countries: 181 features (plus 4 secret films), 75 documentaries, 8 archival films, and 153 shorts. The films include 54 World premieres (29 features, 25 shorts), 56 North American premieres (42 features, 14 shorts), and 27 US premieres (15 features, 12 shorts).
Both Opening and Closing Nights include period comedies: hearkening to the golden 1930s heyday of Hollywood, Opening Night film Café Society from master filmmaker Woody Allen stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, and Blake Lively; the 1950s-set Australian revenge comedy-drama The Dressmaker closes SIFF 2016 on Sunday, June 12 with an acclaimed cast including Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, and Hugo Weaving. The emotionally wrenching documentary Gleason, follows Spokane-born NFL star Steve Gleason’s battle with ALS using intimate footage masterfully assembled by director Clay Tweel, and will screen at the Festival’s Centerpiece Gala on Saturday, June 4.
The Northwest premiere of Matt Ross’s Captain Fantastic, filmed in Washington, will screen as part of a tribute presentation to Viggo Mortensen on Saturday, June 11, where the acclaimed actor will be presented with the Festival’s Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award and interviewed on stage at the flagship SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Selections from Mortensen’s rich and diverse career are slated during SIFF 2016 in celebration of his work, including A Walk on the Moon, Eastern Promises, and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
Among this year’s 53 World premieres is Seattle native Megan Griffiths’s The Night Stalker, a penetrating psychological thriller centered on the spine-chilling character of Richard Ramirez, California’s most notorious serial killer. Griffiths and star Lou Diamond Phillips will be in attendance at the June 4 screening.
GALAS
Opening Night Gala
Café Society
Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg star in a sparkling new romantic comedy from Woody Allen about a movie-industry hopeful who arrives in 1930s Hollywood, falls in love, and finds himself swept up in the vibrant café society that defined the age. North American Premiere (d: Woody Allen c: Kristen Stewart, Jesse Eisenberg, Blake Lively, Steve Carell, Parker Posey, Judy Davis, USA 2016, 96 min)
Centerpiece Gala
Gleason
Director Clay Tweel delivers a bold and moving portrait of beloved Spokane born, former WSU and New Orleans Saints football player Steve Gleason, who at age 34 was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease and courageously filmed his journey for the public eye. (d: Clay Tweel f: Steve Gleason, Michel Gleason, Rivers Gleason, USA 2016, 110 min)
Closing Night Gala
The Dressmaker
Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, and Judy Davis star in this hysterically madcap adaptation of the beloved novel about a chic 1950s dressmaker who returns from Paris to her small Australian town to right the wrongs of the past and revolutionize the local couture. (d: Jocelyn Moorhouse c: Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis, Hugo Weaving, Australia 2015, 118 min)
SPECIAL GUESTS
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN ACTING AWARD
Viggo Mortensen
Featuring Captain Fantastic
Plus screenings of A Walk on the Moon, Eastern Promises, and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
An actor, painter, poet, photographer, and jazz musician, Viggo Mortensen’s combination of rugged exterior and reflective interior have infused his wide range of film roles with equal parts gravitas and compassion—from criminals to cowboys, lovers to lieutenants, post-apocalyptic survivors to sagacious psychoanalysts, and the rightful king of Gondor.
Past honorees of the SIFF Outstanding Achievement in Acting Award include Laura Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kyle MacLachlan, Sir Ben Kingsley, Kevin Bacon, Edward Norton, Sissy Spacek, Joan Allen, and Anthony Hopkins amongst others.
AN AFTERNOON WITH
Molly Shannon
Featuring Other People
Plus World Premiere of Miles
Molly Shannon’s penchant for theatrical comedy inspired some of “Saturday Night Live”’s most famous characters from 1995-2001, including Mary Catherine Gallagher and Sally O’Malley. Shannon went on to appear in several films such as Superstar, Wet Hot American Summer, Marie Antoinette, last year’s SIFF favorite Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and the TV series “Glee” and “Enlightened.” Her ability to shift seamlessly from comic characters to more nuanced dramatic roles is something not many can match. Tonight, SIFF will welcome her to the stage for an interview featuring film clips from her career, followed by a screening of one of Shannon’s latest films, Other People, directed by Chris Kelly. There will also be an opportunity for audience questions following the screening.
COMPETITIONS
Official Competition
Battle of Sevastopol (d: Sergey Mokritskiy, Ukraine/Russia 2015, North American Premiere)
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Burn Burn Burn[/caption]
Burn Burn Burn (d: Chanya Button, United Kingdom 2015, North American Premiere)
Creepy (d: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan 2016, North American Premiere)
Eternal Summer (d: Andreas Öhman, Sweden 2015, North American Premiere)
Girl Asleep (d: Rosemary Myers, Australia 2016, North American Premiere)
Holding the Man (d: Neil Armfield, Australia 2015, North American Premiere)
Moon in the 12th House (d: Dorit Hakim, Israel 2016, World Premiere)
News From Planet Mars (d: Dominik Moll, France/Belgium 2016, US Premiere)
Radio Dreams (d: Babak Jalali, Iran/USA 2016)
The Scent of Mandarin (d: Gilles Legrand, France 2015, North American Premiere)
The Sound of Trees (d: François Péloquin, Canada (Québec) 2015, US Premiere)
Welcome To Norway! (d: Rune Denstad Langlo, Norway 2016, North American Premiere)
New Directors Competition
Antonia (d: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, Italy/Greece 2015, North American Premiere)
Before the Streets (d: Chloé Leriche, Canada (Québec) 2016, US Premiere)
Coconut Hero (d: Florian Cossen, Germany/Canada 2015, North American Premiere)
Family Film (d: Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic/Germany/Slovenia/France/Slovakia 2015, North American Premiere)
The Lure (d: Agnieszka Smoczynska, Poland 2015)
Nakom (d: Kelly Daniela Norris, TW Pittman, Ghana/USA 2016)
The Paradise Suite (d: Joost van Ginkel, Netherlands/Sweden/Bulgaria 2015)
Rara (d: Pepa San Martín, Chile/Argentina 2016, North American Premiere)
Sand Storm (d: Elite Zexer, Israel 2016)
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Sparrows[/caption]
Sparrows (d: Rúnar Rúnarsson, Iceland/Denmark/Croatia 2015)
The Violators (d: Helen Walsh, United Kingdom 2015)
Where Have All the Good Men Gone (d: René Frelle Petersen, Denmark 2016, World Premiere)
Ibero-American Competition
Awaiting (d: Daniela Fejerman, Spain/Lithuania 2015, North American Premiere)
Deconstructing Dani García (d: Iñigo Ruiz, Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas, Spain 2015, North American Premiere)
How Most Things Work (d: Fernando Salem, Argentina 2015, US Premiere)
Nueva Venecia (d: Emiliano Mazza de Luca, Colombia/Mexico/Uruguay 2016, US Premiere)
The Pretty Ones (d: Melisa Liebenthal, Argentina 2016, North American Premiere)
Red Gringo (d: Miguel Ángel Vidaurre, Chile 2016, North American Premiere)
Warehoused (d: Jack Zagha, Mexico 2015, US Premiere)
You’ll Never Be Alone (d: Alex Anwandter, Chile 2016, US Premiere)
New American Cinema Competition
11:55 (d: Ari Issler, Ben Snyder, USA 2016)
All the Birds Have Flown South (d: Joshua H. Miller, Miles B. Miller, USA 2016, World Premiere)
Americana (d: Zachary Shedd, USA 2016, World Premiere)
The Architect (d: Jonathan Parker, USA 2016, World Premiere)
As You Are (d: Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA 2016)
Claire in Motion (d: Lisa Robinson, Annie J. Howell, USA 2016)
Free In Deed (d: Jake Mahaffy, USA/New Zealand 2015)
Middle Man (d: Ned Crowley, USA 2016, World Premiere)
The Night Stalker (d: Megan Griffiths, USA 2016, World Premiere)
Transpecos (d: Greg Kwedar, USA 2016)
Documentary Competition
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The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin[/caption]
The 1,000 Eyes of Dr. Maddin (d: Yves Montmayeur, France 2015, US Premiere)
Action Comandante (d: Nadine Angel Cloete, South Africa/Lesotho 2016, World Premiere)
Death By a Thousand Cuts (d: Juan Mejia Botero, Jake Kheel, USA 2016, US Premiere)
Death by Design (d: Sue Williams, China/Ireland 2016, World Premiere)
Finding Babel (d: David Novack, USA/Ukraine/Russia/France 2015, North American Premiere)
The IF Project (d: Kathlyn Horan, USA 2016, World Premiere)
Mr. Gaga (d: Tomer Heymann, Israel/Sweden/Germany/Netherlands 2015)
Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale (d: Ben Bowie, Geoff Luck, USA/Botswana 2016, World Premiere)
The Queen of Ireland (d: Conor Horgan, Ireland 2015, North American Premiere)
The Revolution Won’t Be Televised (d: Rama Thiaw, Senegal 2016, US Premiere)
Tsukiji Wonderland (d: Naotaro Endo, Japan 2016, World Premiere)
We the People 2.0 (d: Leila Conners, USA 2016, World Premiere)
Shorts Competition
All short films shown at the Festival are eligible for both the Golden Space Needle Audience Award and Jury Award. Jurors will choose winners in the Narrative, Animation, and Documentary categories. Each jury winner will receive $2,500 and winners in any of the three categories may also qualify to enter the respective Short Film category of the Academy Awards® for the concurrent season without the theatrical run.
Golden Space Needle Awards
For the past 30 years, SIFF has celebrated its most popular films and filmmakers with the Golden Space Needle Audience Award. Awards by Festival audiences are given in five categories: Best Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Short Film.
AFRICAN PICTURES
African Pictures showcases the best filmmaking happening in and about Africa today. This program, made possible through the generous support of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, will bring shorts and features, documentaries and fiction films to American audiences who might never have the chance to see them otherwise. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to experience innovative and inspiring filmmaking from across the continent.
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Action Comandante[/caption]
Action Comandante (d: Nadine Angel Cloete, South Africa/Lesotho 2016, 90 min)
Aisha (d: Chande Omar c: Godliver Gordian, Adarusi Walii, Flora Nicholas, Juma Madenge, Tanzania 2015, 112 min)
As I Open My Eyes (d: Leyla Bouzid c: Baya Medhaffer, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari, Aymen Omrani, Lassaad Jamoussi, Tunisia/France/ Belgium/ United Arab Emirates 2015, 102 min)
Atlantic Heart (d: Robbie McCallum c: Elton Medina, Aurizania Monteiro, Julio Brito, Christian Neves, José ‘Bana’ Delgado, Cape Verde/United Kingdom 2016, 87 min)
Checks and Balances (d: Malek Bensmaïl f: Omar Belhouchet, Hacène Ouali, Hassene Moali, Mustapha Benfodil, Ali Benyahia, Algeria/France 2015, 97 min)
Eye of the Storm (d: Sékou Traoré c: Maïmouna N’Diaye, Fargass Assandé, Abidine Dioari, Issaka Sawadogo, Burkina Faso/France 2015, 101 min)
Lamb (d: Yared Zeleke c: Redial Amare, Kidist Siyum, Welela Assefa, Rahel Teshome, Surafel Teka, Ethiopia/France/Germany/Norway/Qatar 2015, 94 min)
Much Loved (d: Nabil Ayouch c: Loubna Abidar, Asma Lazrak, Halima Karaouane, Sara Elmhamdi Elalaoui, Abdellah Didane, Morocco/France 2015, 103 min)
Nakom (d: Kelly Daniela Norris, TW Pittman c: Jacob Ayanaba, Grace Ayariga, Justina Kulidu, James Azudago, Felicia Atampuri, Ghana/USA 2016, 90 min
Naledi: A Baby Elephant’s Tale (d: Ben Bowie, Geoff Luck, USA/Botswana 2016, 90 min)
The Revolution Won’t Be Televised (d: Rama Thiaw, Senegal 2016, 110 min)
CHINA STARS
SIFF is proud to launch the China Stars Showcase series in Seattle during the 42nd annual Seattle International Film Festival, with support from WASA North America Group and Hainan Airlines. With the purpose of fostering cross-cultural exchange and artistic vision, SIFF has collaborated with WASA North America Group to select five wonderful feature films from mainland China to screen as part of the 2016 showcase series. These films will screen before audiences in Seattle, Renton, Shoreline, and on the Eastside at Bellevue’s Lincoln Square.
The Big Road (d: Sun Yu c: Chen Yanyan, Zheng Junli, Li Lili, Liu Qiong, Jin Yan, China 1935, 104 min)
Death by Design (d: Sue Williams f: Ted Smith, Ma Jun, Kyle Wiens, Luke Soules, Paul Maher, China/Ireland 2016, 73 min)
The Final Master (d: Xu Haofeng c: Liao Fan, Song Jia, Jiang Wenli, Jin Shijie, Song Yang, China 2015, 109 min)
Mountains May Depart (d: Jia Zhangke c: Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Liang Jin Dong, Dong Zijian, Sylvia Chang, China/Japan/France 2015, 131 min)
Paths of the Soul (d: Zhang Yang c: Yang Pei, Nyima Zadui, Tsewang Dolkar, Tsring Chodron, Seba Jiangcuo, China 2015, 115 min)
CULINARY CINEMA
Popcorn is no longer king as the phenomenon of food culture has exploded into cinema. We’ve selected 9 extraordinary films that explore different aspects of taste and the senses for the cinematically inclined.
Ants on a Shrimp (d: Maurice Dekkers f: René Redzepi, Lars Williams, Rosio Sanchez, Thomas Frebel, Dan Giusti, Netherlands 2016, 88 min)
Bugs (d: Andreas Johnsen f: Ben Reade, Josh Evans, Roberto Flore, Denmark 2016, 76 min)
Ceviche’s DNA (d: Orlando Arriagada f: José Antonio del Castillo, Victor Pimentel, Ulla Holmquist, Valentín Paso Purisaca, Santiago Uceda Castillo, Canada/Peru 2015, 85 min)
Deconstructing Dani García (d: Iñigo Ruiz, Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas, Spain 2015, 72 min)
Hummus (d: Oren Rosenfeld f: Eliyahu Shmueli, Suheila Al Hindi, Jalil Dabit, Israel 2016, 70 min)
Insatiable: The Homaro Cantu Story (d: Brett A. Schwartz f: Homaro Cantu, Richie Farina, Angela Cantu-Reeder, Trevor Rose-Hamblin, Mark Caro, Scott Trotter, USA 2016, 98 min)
Sam Choy’s Poké to the Max screens with Harlem on My Plate (28 minutes) (d: Terrence Jeffrey Santos f: Sam Choy, Geo Quibuyen, Yuji Okumoto, Max Heigh, USA 2016, 40 min)
Sustainable (d: Matt Wechsler f: Marty Travis, Greg Wade, Rick Bayless, Mark Bittman, John Ikerd, USA 2016, 96 min)
Tsukiji Wonderland (d: Naotaro Endo f: Jiro Ono, Rene Redzepi, Theodore C. Bestor, Japan 2016, 110 min)
FACE THE MUSIC
Four out of five SIFF programmers agree that regular exposure to music and film are essential to your overall well-being. With that in mind, this year’s Face the Music program has been specifically designed to provide a holistic regimen for your audio-visual health. Taken together, these remedies are guaranteed to expand your visual and sonic parameters, as well as set you on the righteous path to living a more audio-visually conscious lifestyle, with optimal aural performance.
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BANG! The Bert Berns Story[/caption]
BANG! The Bert Berns Story (d: Brett Berns, Bob Sarles f: Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, Ronald Isley, Solomon Burke, Ben E. King, USA 2016, 94 min)
Concerto – A Beethoven Journey (d: Phil Grabsky f: Leif Ove Andsnes, Gustavo Dudamel, United Kingdom 2015, 92 min)
Contemporary Color (d: Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross f: David Byrne, Lucius, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, Nelly Furtado, St.Vincent, Devonte Hynes, How To Dress Well, Zola Jesus, AD-
Rock, Money Mark, tUnE-yArDs, USA 2016, 96 min)
The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (d: Morgan Neville f: Yo-Yo Ma, Wu Man, Kinan Azmeh, Kayhan Kalhor, Cristina Pato, USA 2015, 96 min)
Presenting Princess Shaw (d: Ido Haar f: Kutiman, Samantha Montgomery, Israel 2015, 80 min)
The Prince Sing Along
Red Gringo (d: Miguel Ángel Vidaurre f: Dean Reed, José Roman, Gonzalo Planet, Chile 2016, 67 min)
A Song For You: The Austin City Limits Story (d: Keith Maitland f: Willie Nelson, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Ray Vaughan, Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, Beck, Ray Charles, Emmylou Harris, Buddy Guy, USA 2016, 91 min)
We Are X (d: Stephen Kijak f: Yoshiki, Toshi, Pata, Hiroshi, USA/Japan/United Kingdom 2016, 89 min)
NORTHWEST CONNECTIONS
Seattleites see more films per capita than the residents of any other American city, and a growing number of these selections have their roots in the fertile Pacific Northwest film community. Each year, SIFF honors the many ways in which the Puget Sound region contributes to the world of cinema, whether as an evocative location for outside filmmakers or as inspiration for local filmmakers ready to strut their stuff.
The Architect (d: Jonathan Parker c: Parker Posey, Eric McCormack, James Frain, John Carroll Lynch, USA 2016, 95 min)
Big Sonia (d: Leah Warshawski, Todd Soliday f: Sonia Warshawski, USA 2016, 90 min)
Finding Kim (d: Aaron Bear f: Kim B, Dan Savage, Buck Angel, Carmen Carrera, Calpernia Addams, Jamison Green, Dr. Tony Mangubat, USA 2016, 82 min)
Finding October (d: Nick Terry c: Michael Ward, Karin Terry, Nick Terry, Delaney Berreth, Ryan Woodyard, USA 2016, 77 min)
Full Court: The Spencer Haywood Story (d: Martin Spirit f: Spencer Haywood, Charles Barkley, Pat Riley, Lenny Wilkens, Chuck D, USA 2016, 90 min)
Gold Balls (d: Kate Dandel f: John Powless, Ron Tonidandel, Bob Sherman, George McCabe, Marcus Freeman, Steve Tignor, USA 2016, 85 min)
The IF Project (d: Kathlyn Horan f: Kim Bogucki, Renata Abramson, Tiffany Doll, Angela Vargas, LaKeisha “”KeWee”” Hamilton, USA 2016, 88 min)
If There’s a Hell Below (d: Nathan Williams c: Carol Roscoe, Conner Marx, Mark Carr, Paul Budraitis, USA 2016, 94 min)
The Memory of Fish (d: Jennifer Galvin, Sachi Cunningham Narrated by Lili Taylor, USA 2016, 54 min)
A New High (d: Samuel Miron, Stephen Scott Scarpulla USA 2015, 100 min)
Paralytic (d: Joey Johnson c: David S. Hogan, Darlene Sellers, Angela DiMarco, D’Angelo Midili, Richard Carmen, USA 2016, 87 min)
Tiny: The Life of Erin Blackwell (d: Martin Bell f: Erin Blackwell, Mary Ellen Mark, USA 2016, 86 min)
Read more
Weed, religion & trouble make up the ingredients for the award winning film Dough directed by John Goldschmidt.
Dough stars Jonathan Pryce and Jerome Holder, and is the winner of the Audience Award at Hartford Jewish Film Festival 2016, Green Mountain Film Festival 2016, and New Hampshire Jewish Film Festival 2016.
The film is set in London and tells the story of a Jewish bakery owner (Nat) played by Jonathan Pryce who is in need of a boost to his bakery so he hires a new apprentice Ayyash played by Jerome Holder. While working one day in the bakery Ayyash drops his weed in the bread dough and Nat business started to get a major boost in sales but in the end the shop was turned upside and unlikely friendship was created.
Dough puts off highly realistic vibes and all the actors worked really well together. I loved the fact “Dough” tackled religion and still had the ability to add comedy and weed in the same film. My only dislike about the film is that at times it got a little too predictable, however, over all I would recommend this film.
So with that said Dough will be opening this weekend in 
CLAMBAKE[/caption]
Award winning filmmaker ANDREA MEYERSON and renowned standup comedian VICKIE SHAW will join 2016 QCinema’s Lesbian Film Festival opening night for the Southwest Premier of CLAMBAKE.
Senegalese documentary The Revolution Won’t Be Televised[/caption]
The Seattle International Film Festival will continue its African Pictures program at the upcoming festival, thanks to a $25,000 FilmWatch grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Since 2013, African Pictures has presented 67 films from 37 countries, including 6 World premieres, 17 North American premieres, and 3 US premieres.
Engaging once again with critical issues of our time, African Pictures for 2016 presents two looks at political unrest among youth with the thrilling first-hand Senegalese documentary The Revolution Won’t Be Televised, making its US Premiere at 
MR. PIG[/caption]
Diego Luna’s MR. PIG and Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca’s THE PEARL took home the top prizes at the 2016 Dallas International Film Festival awards ceremony.
MR. PIG starring Danny Glover and Maya Rudolph took home the Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize and Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca’s THE PEARL was awarded the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize at the 
THE PEARL[/caption]
Far from the celebrity and magazine covers of Laverne Cox and Caitlin Jenner, THE PEARL witnesses the loss and extraordinary risk of four middle-aged and senior war vets, steel foremen, and fathers and grandfathers coming out for the first time as transgender women in the hyper-masculine culture of the Pacific Northwest.
Each year, their lives intersect at the annual Esprit Conference for T-girls, a weeklong event enlivening a community broken by closeted isolation and loss due to suicide. Filmmakers Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca create a language for the film that is built on their subject’s honesty; an honesty that therapeutically hides nothing from the camera.
Over the course of the film, these four transgender women emerge with beauty, conviction, strength, and a newfound personal integrity.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE
DIR: Patrick Shen
In this beautiful, meditative documentary, filmmaker Patrick Shen crafts exquisite footage with a delicate soundtrack, creating a comprehensive and thought-provoking discussion of how noise impacts our daily life. From the early religious aspects of solitude to John Cage’s seminal silent composition 4’33”, silence has always fascinated society and played an important role in our humanity. As our lives become modernized with technology, noise has taken a larger toll on our wellness and behavior.
TEXAS COMPETITION GRAND JURY PRIZE (PRESENTED BY PANAVSION): TOWER
DIR: Keith Maitland
On August 1st, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. When the gunshots were finally silenced, the toll included 16 dead, three dozen wounded, and a shaken nation left trying to understand.
Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way, TOWER reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.
TEXAS COMPETITION SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: BOOGER RED
DIR: Berndt Mader
Booger Red is a hybrid narrative/documentary film where fictional journalist, Onur Tukel, investigates the true case of the ‘Mineola Swingers Club’ trials. In 2006, seven people were sentenced to life for purportedly running the largest child sex ring in Texas history–inside of a swingers club in Mineola, Tx. Onur, portraying a veteran reporter, interviews the actual defendants and lawyers involved in the trials. On his journey through the seedy underbelly of east Texas, Onur is forced to confront his own history with abuse while he discovers that the allegations at the root of his investigation might have never happened.
SILVER HEART AWARD (PRESENTED BY THE EMBREY FAMILY FOUNDATION): HOOLIGAN SPARROW
DIR: Nanfu Wang
The danger is palpable as intrepid young filmmaker Nanfu Wang follows maverick activist Ye Haiyan (a.k.a Hooligan Sparrow) and her band of colleagues to Hainan Province in southern China to protest the case of six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal.
Marked as enemies of the state, the activists are under constant government surveillance and face interrogation, harassment, and imprisonment. Sparrow, who gained notoriety with her advocacy work for sex workers’ rights, continues to champion girls’ and women’s rights and arms herself with the power and reach of social media.
Filmmaker Wang becomes a target along with Sparrow, as she faces destroyed cameras and intimidation. Yet she bravely and tenaciously keeps shooting, guerrilla-style, with secret recording devices and hidden-camera glasses, and in the process, she exposes a startling number of undercover security agents on the streets.
Eventually, through smuggling footage out of the country, Wang is able tell the story of her journey with the extraordinary revolutionary Sparrow, her fellow activists, and their seemingly impossible battle for human rights.
SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE: THE BLACK BELT
DIR: Margaret Brown
SHORT FILM SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: MINOR SETBACK
DIR: Augustine Frizzell
STUDENT SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE: FATA MORGANA
DIR: Amelie Wen
STUDENT SHORT SPECIAL JURY PRIZE: THE MINK CATCHER
DIR: Samantha Buck
ANIMATED SHORT FILM GRAND JURY PRIZE (PRESENTED BY REEL FX): SNOWFALL
DIR: Conor Whelan
2016 Dallas International Film Festival Awards – Audience Awards (PRESENTED BY THE ARTHUR E. BENJAMIN FOUNDATION)
NARRATIVE FEATURE: TRANSPECOS
DIR: Greg Kwedar
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TRANSPECOS[/caption]
On a remote desert highway a makeshift Border Patrol checkpoint is manned by three agents: Flores (Gabriel Luna): with an uncanny ability to track; Davis (Johnny Simmons): joined the Border Patrol with dreams of romancing señoritas and riding on horseback; Hobbs (Clifton Collins, Jr.): one of the old guards who believes a college degree can’t stop a bullet.
It starts out like most boring days, but soon the contents of one car will change everything. What follows is a journey to uncover the surreal, frightening secrets hidden behind the facade of this lonely outpost. The end of the path may cost them their lives along a border where the line between right and wrong shifts like the desert itself.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
DIR: Jenna Jackson and Anthony Jackson
UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT is every parent’s worst nightmare come to life.
In 2006, Corpus Christi homemaker Hannah Overton and her husband were in the process of adopting 4-year-old Andrew Burd. In October of that year, Andrew died. His death was determined to be the result of deliberate salt poisoning, and Hannah was charged with capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. Maintaining her innocence the entire time, Hannah spent almost eight years incarcerated before a hard-won battle resulted in her conviction being overturned. All of the inconsistencies, flawed arguments and erroneous conclusions from her original trial—along with her being ruthlessly portrayed in the media as a cold-hearted killer—were finally brought to light.
Directors Jenna and Anthony Jackson have extensively detailed Hannah’s story to show how it took a team of lawyers that fervently believed in justice to finally gain her freedom.
SHORT FILM: SO GOOD TO SEE YOU
DIR: Duke Merriman
THE GOD CELLS, a film directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker, Eric Merola will open at Cinema Village in New York on June 3rd and at Laemmle Music Hall in Los Angeles on June 10.
A national release will follow.
THE GOD CELLS explores one of the most controversial and polarizing subjects facing mankind today: the harvesting of stem cells from aborted fetuses to be used for therapeutic use. Currently, the clinical practice fetal stem cell therapy is illegal in the United States, but research toward seeking FDA-approval has been underway for more than a decade.
Stem Cell research and therapy have been growing at a rapid rate over the past 15 years. Scientific advances coupled with consumer demand has proven that stem cell therapy is the wave of the future, and is poised to change the face of medicine. THE GOD CELLS takes the audience on a journey by following those who are seeking fetal stem cell therapy abroad—while avoiding these seemingly insurmountable roadblocks at home.
Originally harvested by abortions, Fetal Stem Cells are arguably the most contested and controversial form of stem cell therapy to date. Not only does this technology face enormous religious opposition, but commercial and regulatory agencies wish to slow down the approval process for fetal stem cells due to profit and market reasons— creating an atmosphere for a seemingly insurmountable dilemma. The documentary follows patients from all walks of life who sought fetal stem cells for a variety of reasons: including Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Lupus and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Also included are interviews with some of the patients’ doctors, who were once highly skeptical, but now stand baffled by the full remissions their patients have achieved due to fetal stem cells.
Eric Merola’s previous films within the same genre of 
WEINER[/caption]
Rooftop Films announced the Opening Weekend lineup and the first batch of feature film programming for the 20th Annual Summer Series.
The 2016 Rooftop Films Summer Series opens on Wednesday, May 18th with a special sneak preview screening of 2016 Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize Winner Weiner on the rooftops of Industry City.
The official opening night will follow on Friday, May 20th, with “This is What We Mean By Short Films,” a collection of some of the most innovative, new shorts from around the world.
The 2016 Rooftop Films Summer Series continues through August, with screenings of some of the best independent films of the past year in a variety of exciting and engaging outdoor locations across all five boroughs.
This year’s slate includes phenomenal works of non-fiction such as Jerzy Sladokowski’s thoughtful and intimate IDFA winner Don Juan, Roger Ross Williams’ critically acclaimed Life, Animated; Kirsten Johnson’s form-challenging and deeply poetic Cameraperson; Jesse Moss’ Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham doc, The Bandit, David Farrier’s stranger than fiction film, Tickled, Joe Berlinger’s Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru, and many more.
The 20th Summer Series also includes exceptional fiction films, such as Elizabeth Wood’s self-reflective and provocative White Girl; Bernardo Britto’s timely surveillance culture satire, Jacqueline, Argentine; Taika Waititi’s off-kilter comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople; Matthew Brown’s understated and intimate teen drama In the Treetops; among others.
In addition to feature and short film programming, this year’s series will include a number of unique events and partnerships, including: the return of the Rooftop Films Storm King Art Center Cinema Ramble featuring multiple film installations, and specialty programming with International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), The Sundance Film Institute, and SXSW Film.
Life, Animated[/caption]
Life, Animated
(Roger Ross Williams | USA | 91′)
A young man with autism discovers a way to make sense of world via classic Disney animated films.
Presented in Partnership with: The Orchard, in theaters July 8
Los Punks: We Are All We Have
(Angela Boatwright | USA | 79′)
All thrash, noise, and pits; meet the fans and bands of the thriving backyard punk scene in LA.
Presented in partnership with: House of Vans
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The Music of Strangers: Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble[/caption]
The Music of Strangers: Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble
(Morgan Neville | USA | 96′)
The extraordinary story of the renowned international musical collective which was created by famed cellist, Yo-Yo Ma.
Presented in Partnership with The Orchard, in theaters June 10
Tickled
(David Farrier & Dylan Reeve | New Zealand | 92′)
The shadowy world of competitive tickling is exposed in this stranger than fiction tale.
Presented in Partnership with: Magnolia Pictures
Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru
(Joe Berlinger | USA | 115′)
Go behind the scenes of renowned life and business strategist Tony Robbins in a revelatory cinema verite by renowned director Joe Berlinger.
Presented in Partnership with: Netflix
Fiction Feature Films
Donald Cried
(Kris Avedisian | USA | 85′)
Stranded in his hometown, a favor from Peter’s old friend becomes a long van ride into the past.
The Fits
(Anna Rose Holmer | USA | 72′)
A tomboy’s desire for a dance team’s acceptance warps when its members fall prey to mysterious spasms.
Presented in Partnership with: Oscilloscope Laboratories, in theaters June 3rd
Hunt For the Wilder People
(Taika Waititi | New Zealand | 101′)
Raised on hip-hop and foster care, a defiant city kid starts new in the New Zealand countryside.
Presented in Partnership with: The Orchard, in theaters June 24
Hunter Gatherer
(Josh Locy | USA | 85′)
A darkly comic tale of unlikely friendship with an indelible central performance by Andre Royo.
In the Treetops
(Matthew Brown | USA | 78′)
Driving all night, packed in a car, 5 high school friends avoid their final destination: home.
Jacqueline, Argentine
(Bernardo Britto | USA | 87′)
A playfully mysterious whistle-blower comedy from Film Fund Grantee Bernardo Britto.
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White Girl[/caption]
White Girl
(Elizabeth Wood | USA | 88′)
A NYC college girl goes to wild extremes to get back her drug dealer boyfriend.
Presented in Partnership with: FilmRise and Netflix, in theaters this September
The Return[/caption]
Here Alone, and The Return are the winners of the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Awards. The 
Here Alone[/caption]
The Return, directed by Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway, written by Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway, and Greg O’Toole. (USA) – World Premiere. How does one reintegrate into society after making peace with a life sentence? California’s controversial and notoriously harsh three-strikes law was repealed in 2012, consequently releasing large numbers of convicts back into society. The Return presents an unbiased observation of the many issues with re-entry through the varied experiences of recently freed lifers.
RUNNERS UP
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Midsummer in Newtown[/caption]
Midsummer in Newtown, directed by Lloyd Kramer. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. Midsummer in Newtown is a testament to the transformative force of artistic expression to pierce through the shadow cast down by trauma. From auditions to opening night, we witness the children of Sandy Hook Elementary find their voice, build their self-confidence, and ultimately shine in a rock-pop version of A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
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Children of the Mountain[/caption]
Children of the Mountain, directed and written by Priscilla Anany. (USA, Ghana) – World Premiere, Narrative. When a young woman gives birth to a deformed and sickly child, she becomes the victim of cruelty and superstition in her Ghanaian community. Discarded by her lover, she is convinced she suffers from a ‘dirty womb,’ and embarks on a journey to heal her son and create a future for them both. With Rukiyat Masud, Grace Omaboe, Akofa Edjeani, Adjetey Annang, Agbeko Mortty (Bex), Dzifa Glikpo, Mynna Otoo. In Twi with subtitles.
Zanzibar Soccer Dreams[/caption]
23 films featuring Rio to Toronto and around the world, are on the lineup for the 2016 Canadian Sport Film Festival (
Bastards y Diablos[/caption]
Bastards y Diablos, with several cast and crew members who hailed from nearby Medford, Oregon, swept both the juried and audience awards for Best Feature at the 2016 Ashland Independent Film Festival.The film is a voyage of self-discovery and reconciliation for two estranged half-brothers told in an unconventional manner. It was shot entirely on location in Columbia, on a budget of only $25,000. The co-star was Dillon Porter, who grew up in Medford.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4NuLLJmHQo
The documentary Mothering Inside by Portland director Brian Lindstrom won the audience award for Best Short Documentary, and the audience award for Best Feature length documentary went to Voyagers Without Trace, which was directed, produced and written by Ian McCluskey, also from Portland. The audience award for Short Film was awarded to The Stairs, which co-stars Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) actor Anthony Heald.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkS0bxwoF-k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fig2VaOZmEc
“As an Oregon filmmaker, I have always wanted to bring a film to the 
Wesley Morris[/caption]
Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic and New York Times Critic at Large Wesley Morris will deliver the State of Cinema Address at the 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival.
Each year, the San Francisco Film Society invites a visionary thinker to discuss the intersecting worlds of contemporary cinema and visual arts, culture and society, images and ideas. In this year’s address, Morris will argue for the radicalization of Sidney Poitier and how it parallels the current climate of race in the movies.
Morris was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for “his smart, inventive film criticism, distinguished by pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office.” He was recently appointed as Critic at Large for the New York Times, where he is the paper’s sole African American cultural critic. Times lead film critic A.O. Scott said of his colleague, “He’s like Oscar Wilde-breathtakingly funny and absolutely serious in the same breath, able to illuminate the deepest and sometimes darkest meanings of a piece of popular culture without losing sight of the fact that it’s all supposed to be fun.”
Prior to joining the Times, Morris wrote for the sports and pop-culture website Grantland and spent ten years as a staff film critic with the Boston Globe, where he earned the Pulitzer. Earlier in his career, he wrote film reviews and essays for the San Francisco Examiner and the San Francisco Chronicle. He appears in the 2009 documentary film For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism, which features clips and interviews with many of the nation’s most celebrated film critics from the past 100 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFgL9cyLDGI
Over the years SFIFF has invited many visionary thinkers to deliver their views on the current state and evolution of filmmaking. Director Steven Soderbergh provoked a media sensation with his 2013 address when video of his searing critique of the movie business went viral via the New York Times, Wired, The Hollywood Reporter and hundreds of other media outlets. In addition to Soderbergh, previous State of Cinema speakers have included visual effects wizard Douglas Trumbull, author Jonathan Lethem, film producer Christine Vachon, film editor Walter Murch, photographer Mary Ellen Mark, Wired publisher Kevin Kelly, actress Tilda Swinton, writer/director Brad Bird, cultural commentator B. Ruby Rich and Michel Ciment, longtime editor of the influential French film magazine Positif.
Blanca Engström in GRANNY’S DANCING ON THE TABLE[/caption]
The 6th World Cinema Spotlight at the 
A scene from Lewis Klah’s SIXTY SIX[/caption]
Sixty Six (USA 2015) – Sixties pop-art heroines and DC comic-strip heroes are suffused with the passions of Greco-Roman gods in Lewis Klahr’s short film compilation spanning 14 years of filmmaking, chosen by the New York Times’ Manohla Dargis as one of the best films of 2015. Lovers of melodrama, all your paper-doll superstars are here, but an individual heart beats beneath the vivid imagery.