ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT

Diverse Films from 19 Countries on 2018 Stony Brook Film Festival Program

[caption id="attachment_29880" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Aurora Borealis: Északi fény[/caption] The 2018 Stony Brook Film Festival presented by Island Federal Credit Union presents films of great diversity this summer, both in their themes and their settings. The schedule for the ten-day Festival, held at Staller Center at Stony Brook University from July 19-28, is available online at stonybrookfilmfestival.com. Alan Inkles, founder and director of the Stony Brook Film Festival, comments, “Films from nineteen different countries, from Scotland to Spain, Argentina to Afghanistan, and coast to coast across the United States, promise to take filmgoers on an extraordinary journey. We have carefully curated this Festival to give patrons a great mix of the best in new independent films. Many filmmakers and actors are coming to the Festival to represent their films and will take the stage for questions and answers. It’s a highlight of the Festival to hear from them.” This year the Stony Brook Film Festival travels from a war-torn past to an embattled future, from light-hearted comedies to heart-stopping thrillers, and from modern class struggles to sexual abuse stories that feel straight out of the #MeToo movement. Some of the films take place over decades, while others unfold in real time. There are social-media addicted mobsters, Shakespearian partygoers, and a shoe-stealing soccer prodigy. The opening night film, Shelter, is an international spy thriller from returning filmmaker Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree, Zaytoun) that follows an Israeli agent protecting a Lebanese informant in Germany, and features actress Golshifteh Farahani (best known to U.S. audiences from Paterson, and to Stony Brook audiences from My Sweet Pepperland and About Ella) as well as acclaimed Israeli actress Neta Riskin. (Thursday, July 19 at 8:00 pm) The closing night film, Aurora Borealis: Északi fény, was directed and co-written by the incredible Márta Mészáros, who—with 65 directing credits to her name going all the way back to 1954—is one of Hungary’s most accomplished female directors. A film that is part mystery and part war-drama, it not only uncovers atrocities during the Soviet occupation of Hungary, it also confronts secrets from the past and the measures people will take to protect those they love. (Saturday, July 28 at 8:00 pm)
Premieres at the Stony Brook Film Festival
The World Premiere of Dean Darling on Saturday, July 21st at 4:00 pm is an ambitious, coming-of-age drama created by local, Long Island talent and shot entirely in Smithtown and Coney Island on a miniscule budget. The film was written and directed by Calogero Carucci and features Douglas Towers, Joel Widman and Allison Frasca. [caption id="attachment_29879" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] The Etruscan Smile[/caption] Acclaimed actor Brian Cox returns to the Stony Brook Film Festival in the U.S. Premiere of The Etruscan Smile, in which a rugged, old Scotsman who has reluctantly left his beloved Scottish Isle for medical treatment finds his life transformed by a new-found bond with his baby grandson. This gem also stars Thora Birch, JJ Field, and Roseanna Arquette, with several of the actors planning to be in attendance at the 9:30 pm screening on Saturday, July 21st. Other U.S. Premieres include Octav, a nostalgic, life-affirming story from Romania (Saturday, July 21st at 7:00 pm), Outdoors, a captivating film about a city couple building a home in the country from Israel (Tuesday, July 24 at 7:00 pm), Growing Up, a riotous, romantic comedy from Spain (Friday, July 20 at 9:30 pm), and A Dysfunctional Cat, a quirky story about two Iranians navigating their arranged marriage—and a very bizarre cat—while living in Germany (Wednesday, July 25 at 7:00 pm).
Female Filmmakers at the Stony Brook Film Festival
Fourteen films are by female directors, with Growing Up written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Clara Martínez-Lázaro, and A Dysfunctional Cat, written and directed by Iranian-German filmmaker Susan Gordanshekan. Another female-helmed feature, The Tale, has writer and director Jennifer Fox recounting her personal story of sexual abuse at a very young age in an intense, unnerving and cathartic work starring Laura Dern, Elizabeth Debicki, Ellen Burstyn and Isabelle Nélisse (Friday, July 27 at 7:00 pm). Other women filmmakers include writer and director Isabel Coixet, whose film The Bookshop was adapted from the novel by Penelope Fitzgerald about a widow who puts her grief behind her and opens a bookshop in a small, seaside town in England (Friday, July 20 at 7:00 pm). Virna Molina, who co-wrote and co-directed Symphony for Ana, recounts the struggle of high school students during the bloodiest coup d’etat in Argentina (Thursday, July 26 at 7:00 pm). Writer and director Samantha Davidson Green, whose Thrasher Road is a big-hearted father/daughter road trip, screens on Sunday, July 22 at 9:30 pm. Skye Borgman, director of the documentary Abducted in Plain Sight, recounts the absolutely bizarre double-kidnapping of Jan Broberg in the 70’s (Sunday, July 22 at 4:00 pm). Female-directed short films have been chosen that will stretch boundaries and touch hearts– shorts by Amy Wang, writer/director/actress Ashley Grace, Tesia Walker, Jackie L. Stone, and Helen Crosse.
Films with Heart and Films with Guts
Other selected films include My Brother Simple, a heart-warming and humorous story about a young man trying to take custody of his mentally-handicapped adult brother, screening on Sunday, July 22 at 7:00 pm. The Guilty, an edge-of-your-seat thriller from Denmark that takes place entirely in an alarm dispatch facility, screens on Monday, July 23 at 9:30 pm. Trauma, an intense documentary about the medics and pilots of a US Black Hawk medevac unit in Afghanistan screens on Tuesday, July 24 at 9:30 pm. Wednesday, July 25 at 9:30 pm showcases Funny Story, a dark comedy about a womanizing former TV star trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. The emotional journey of A Boy, A Girl, A Dream unfolds in real time against the backdrop of the 2016 Presidential election on Thursday, July 26 at 9:30 pm. Other shorts include stories about a young woman with cerebral palsy falling in love, an Israeli patient finding out she has an Arab doctor, a foreman protecting her workers from the Department of Labor, and a law school student trying to explain a rather dire situation to police detectives. Images credit: The Etruscan Smile (Rosanna Arquette and Brian Cox pictured), photo credit: Po Valley Productions Aurora Borealis: Eszaki feny (Closing Night feature, Franciska Töröcsik pictured) photo credit: The Hungarian National Film Fund
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ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT, MY NAME IS MYEISHA and More Among Lineup for Inaugural Toronto True Crime Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_29103" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT[/caption] The Toronto True Crime Film Festival will have its first annual edition this June 8th to 9th, 2018 at The Royal Cinema and Monarch Tavern in Toronto. The inaugural lineup includes five film screenings and three symposium events, with 15% of all pass and ticket sales being donated to charity.
FILMS
ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT Dir. Skye Borgman / USA / 2017 / 91 min / International Premiere ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT is a stranger-than-fiction documentary about the Brobergs; a naïve, church-going Idaho family that fell under the spell of a sociopathic neighbor who would stop at nothing to be with their twelve-year-old daughter. You will not believe how bizarre this true tale of obsession gets! Screens with short film MAYBE IF IT WERE A NICE ROOM (Dir. Alicia K. Harris, Canada, 2016). MY NAME IS MYEISHA Dir. Gus Krieger / USA / 2018 / 82 min / Canadian Premiere The award-winning Slamdance hit MY NAME IS MYEISHA is a hip-hop musical inspired by the 1998 police shooting of California teen Tyisha Miller (as well as countless other acts of police brutality against African American citizens) and adapted from the internationally acclaimed play, Dreamscape. Screens with Oscar-nominated short film TRAFFIC STOP (Dir. Kate Davis, USA, 2017). THE STRANGER Dir. Nicole Nielsen Horanyi / Denmark / 2017 / 100 min / Canadian Premiere After meeting the man of her dreams on Facebook, Amanda finds herself being swept off her feet by Casper, the dedicated father and charming heir to a family fortune. There’s only one problem—everything that Casper has told her is a lie. This documentary-narrative hybrid is made all the more fascinating with reenactments played out almost entirely by the actual characters of this twisted story of an imposter. Fans of the investigative podcast Dirty John will find themselves being drawn in by the similar themes of love, lies, and con artistry in THE STRANGER and won’t want to miss this DOC NYC Grand Jury Prize-winning film. Screens with short-film 42 COUNTS (Dir. Jill Gevargizian, USA, 2018). HOSTAGES Dir. Rezo Gigineishvili / Georgia | Russia | Poland / 2017 / 103 min / Canadian Premiere HOSTAGES is a tension-filled drama based on the true story of a 1983 airplane hijacking by a group of Georgian youth trying to escape the Soviet Union. Screens with short film DON’T BE A HERO (Dir. Pete Lee, USA, 2018). MONSTER Dir. Patty Jenkins / USA / 2003 / 109 min The film programming is rounded out by a 15th-anniversary screening of Patty Jenkin’s Academy Award-winning biopic MONSTER, which tells the tale of one of the world’s most infamous female serial killers, Aileen Wuornos. Screens with short film THE SANDMAN (Dir. Lauren Knapp, USA, 2017). The symposium section will feature three daytime events through which audiences can get up close and personal with true crime professionals and media practitioners whose work centers on the world of true crime. First up is the panel “Why Do Women Love True Crime?” presented by Investigation Discovery, America’s top-rated women’s network. Featuring ID’s own Keila Woodard, as well as filmmaker Catherine Legge (Met While Incarcerated) and more to be announced, this panel will look at womens’ historical engagement with true crime fandom, from the Victorian era to today. Next, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies presents visiting filmmaker and writer Rémy Bennett, who will present “L.A. Despair: Chasing Death with John Gilmore,” a multimedia presentation exploring the life and work of the late Noir and true crime writer John Gilmore that is a meditation on the relationship between pop-cultural crime landmarks of the past century and celebrity iconography viewed amidst the landscape of the tragedies he chronicled. And finally the symposium will close with the star-studded panel “The Rise of the Armchair Detective,” moderated by author Naben Ruthnum (who writes crime stories under the pen name Nathan Ripley), which looks at non-law enforcement professionals who have taken it upon themselves to investigate – and sometimes solve! – ongoing and cold cases, including journalists Christine Pelisek (who broke L.A’s Grim Sleeper case) and Kevin Flynn (who broke the Sheila LaBarre case), filmmaker Joshua Zeman (A&E’s The Killing Season, Cropsey), Bek and Tyler Allen of The Minds of Madness podcast and more to be confirmed.
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Impressive Slate of 96 Feature Film Selections on Lineup for 4th Bentonville Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_27971" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Mary Goes Round[/caption] The inclusive lineup for this year’s 2018 Bentonville Film Festival includes 42 Competition Films, 13 episodic content presentations, notable showcase screenings of top festival films, critical favorites, anniversary screenings of classics, a presentation of family focused and animated greats, and every film to date from the Marvel Cinema Universe in a special free-to-the-public presentation for BFF’s film fans. “This year’s edition of the Bentonville Film Festival truly exemplifies our mission,” said BFF co-Founder Geena Davis. We are thrilled to honor industry pioneers, while at the same time recognizing current trendsetters and changemakers, and showcasing a new class of inclusive storytellers. To be able to bring them all together in one place to enact change – that is what BFF is all about.” Films in the dramatic feature competition this year include: Marisol Gomez-Mouakad’s ANJELICA; Sanghoon Lee’s BANANA SEASON; Kevin Arbouet’s BENJI THE DOVE; Marinanna Palka’s EGG; Tom Huang’s FIND ME; Sean Olson’s F.R.E.D.I.; Anne-Marie Hess’s GOOD AFTER BAD; Jenna Laurenzo’s LEZ BOMB; Molly McGlynn’s MARY GOES ROUND; Autumn McAlpin’s MISS ARIZONA; Vashhti Anderson’s MOKO JUMBIE; Santiago Rizzo’s QUEST; Alex Ranarivelo’s RIDE; Jenn McGowan’s RUST CREEK; Megan Griffith’s SADIE; Anthony Nardolillo’s SHINE; Ramaa Mosley’s TATTERDEMALION; Mark Dennis and Ben Foster’s TIME TRAP; Teddy Smith’s URBAN COUNTRY; Nadine Truong’s I CAN I WILL I DID; Suzi Yoonessi’s UNLOVABLE; and Kendall Goldberg’s WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD. Documentary features in competition include: Marvin Blunte’s 6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY; Joanna James’s A FINE LINE; Skye Borgman’s ABDUCTED IN PLAIN SIGHT; Robin Hauser’s BIAS; Stacey Reiss’s DAUGHTERS OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION; Luis Prieto’s THE DISUNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Brian Ivie’s EMANUEL; Dan Habib’s INTELLIGENT LIVES; Susan Kucera’s LIVING IN FUTURE’S PAST; Trish Russo and Craig E. Shapiro’s LOVE ALWAYS, MOM; T Cooper’s MAN MADE; Sebastien Paquet’s MIND OVER MATTER; Rob Herring and Ryan Wirick’s THE NEED TO GROW; Kulap Vilaysack’s ORIGIN STORY; Kate Hickey’s ROLLER DREAMS; Mark Hayes’s SKID ROW MARATHON; Robin Berghaus’s STUMPED; Jillian Moul and Matthew Moul’s SURVIVING HOME; Maya Washington’s THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDARS; P.J. Marcellino, and Hermon Farahi’s WHEN THEY AWAKE and Sally Colón-Petree’s WOMEN LIKE US. The Episodic Projects vying for prizes are: Ben Strang’s Beast; Morgan Beck’s Brooke; Keith Miller’s Brooklynification; Jennifer Morrison’s Fabled; Raj Trivedi’s From Jappan; Corrie Chen and Tori Garrett’s Mustangs FC; Kholi Hicks’s Reaver Vs. Specter; Max Rissman’s Root for the Villain; Will Seefried’s Sink Sank Sunk; Andrew Olsen’s SusaneLand; Jeremy Redleaf’s Threads; Milena Govich’s Unspeakable; and Allison Vanore’s Whatta Lark (Ep 1). BFF previously announced that Elissa Downs’s THE HONOR LIST would make its world premiere as the Opening Night selection, with Lea Thompson’s THE YEAR OF SPECTACULAR MEN screening as this year’s Centerpiece selection. Special Spotlight selections include; Carlos Lopez Estrada’s drama BLINDSPOTTING, about the intersection of race and class, set against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Oakland; Sara Driver’s documentary BOOM FOR REAL, about legendary New York City-centric artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; Brett Haley’s crowd-pleaser HEARTS BEAT LOUD, starring Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons as a father and daughter, who form an unlikely songwriting duo; Julie Cohen and Betsy West documentary RBG, about the inestimable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Andrew Bujalski’s latest, SUPPORT THE GIRLS, about a restaurant manager attempting to outmaneuver the owner as she tries to help one of her employees; and Jennifer Fox’s Sundance hit, THE TALE, which stars Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, and Common, in a devastating film which dramatizes Fox’s reconciling her memories of her first sexual relationship with the reality of what actually transpired. The Sony/ConAgra Outdoor Theatre @ Lawrence Plaza will offer a number of family-friendly and animated hits including; the recent Academy Award winner, Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina’s COCO, Ang Lee’s classic, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000); Otto Bell’s adventure film, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (2016); both Joe Johnston’s JUMANJI (1995) and Jake Kasdan’s recent blockbuster hit, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, and Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook’s animated classic, MULAN (1998), celebrating its 20th Anniversary. Additional highlights and events within the film festival are; the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Finalists screening on Wednesday, May 3, followed by a Q&A with founder Nic Novicki; the special Project Zero screening and event on, Sunday, May 5, to raise awareness for the Arkansas-based organization’s mission to diligently and passionately promote adoption through the foster care system; the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, Ready Nation, Moms in Film and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families presentation of Raising America on Friday, May 4, followed by a panel discussion with Kyle Peterson, Alysia Reiner and others; the Samsung Create Event, on Thursday, May 23, presenting student filmmakers challenged to make a short film based on the mission of BFF by utilizing a Samsung Galaxy phone and tablet; and Marvel Experience, Wednesday May 2 – Friday May 4, at Skylight Cinema which will offer the ultimate Marvel Experience for film fans, with free film screenings, themed concessions and galactic experiences. For the 4th consecutive year, BFF will remain the only film festival in the world to offer guaranteed distribution to its narrative feature film winner. BFF’ s distribution partners include AMC Theatres, Lifetime, Starz, ACI-Inspires and others. In 2018, BFF will add new prizes for its other juried categories. Through a partnership with MarVista Entertainment, the winner of the Short Film Competition will be awarded a directing role on one of MarVista’s future feature films, providing an opportunity for diverse ideas, opinions and stories to be heard. The winner of the Documentary Film Competition will receive a mentorship prize package sponsored by ITVS, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that has, for over 25 years, funded and partnered with a diverse range of documentary filmmakers to produce and distribute untold stories. The Episodic Competition winner will receive a prize package sponsored by SeriesFest, an award winning festival dedicated to showcasing the best and boldest in episodic storytelling from around the world, that includes a screening at the SeriesFest Season 4 in Denver, a consultation with an industry professional, and a VIP Badge.
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