Bluefin

  • Tommy Swerdlow’s A THOUSAND JUNKIES To Open DTLA Film Festival + Feature Films Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_24667" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]A Thousand Junkies A Thousand Junkies[/caption] The 9th annual DTLA Film Festival will kick off on Thursday, September 21st with the Los Angeles premiere of A Thousand Junkies, the feature film directorial debut from multi-hyphenate Tommy Swerdlow (Cool Runnings, Little Giants, and Snow Dogs), who directed and co-wrote the film and co-stars with Blake Heron and TJ Bowen, who shares a writing credit. In A Thousand Junkies features three junkies named for the actors playing them, crisscross Los Angeles in search of relief, considering increasingly reckless options in the pursuit of a score, and coming across all sorts of odd characters along the way. The film will be released theatrically by The Orchard later this year. The Festival, taking place September 21 to 30 at L.A. LIVE, announced its feature films including all documentary and narrative feature-length films in competition. In keeping with this year’s theme – “Movies. Not walls” – the festival will host the first Enemy Nations Film Series. This series will present films from the countries labeled by immigration initiatives and Presidential tweets as homes to enemies of the state. From The Orchard is The Work by directors Jairus Mcleary and Gethin Aldous, a powerful documentary set inside a single room in Folsom State Prison (California), which follows three level-four convicts as they participate in a four-day, innovative group therapy retreat. Rounding out the trio from The Orchard is Super Dark Times, Kevin Phillips’ harrowing, meticulously observed look at teenage age lives. Continuing with the dark side, Most Beautiful Island explores the unforgettable and decidedly sinister day in the life of a young woman immigrant struggling to leave behind a mysterious past as she copies with life New York City. Ana Asensio directs and stars in this psychological thriller, which nabbed this year’s SXSW Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize and will be released later this year by Samuel Goldwyn Films. In Kasra Farahani’s Tilt, Joe is a filmmaker making a definitive documentary about the dark side of America’s post WW2 “golden age.” However, he soon finds himself falling down the rabbit hole of self-doubt and paranoia. In a similar vein Erik Nelson with A Gray State has created a chilling portrait of real-life alt right personality David Crowley as he struggles to complete his opus film project. Adults struggling with children in their lives is at the heart of several of this year’s narrative features. In Adam Cushman’s Restraint a young married woman’s mental health begins to deteriorate as she attempts to adapt to life in suburbia with her controlling husband and his 9-year-old daughter. In Zach Brown’s Hard Surfaces (formerly Moleskin Diary) life in the fast lane for an artist-photographer suddenly grinds to a halt when he unexpectedly is left in sole custory of his 9-year-old niece. In Jorge Xolalpa, Jr.’s Blue Line Station a high school couple have a child of their own on its way as they struggle with the best solution for an unwanted pregnancy. In Christopher J. Hansen’s Blur Circle, to be released later this year by Indie Rights, a mother desperately wants to find her missing child, even it means accepting help from a man with a shrouded past. On the lighter side of relationships, in Jade Jenise Dixon’s Dog Park, also an Indie Rights upcoming release, it’s a canine to the rescue as a group of twenty-somethings struggle with the dating game. In Michael Ferrell’s Laura Gets A Cat, an unemployed writer considers what to do with her unexciting boyfriend while jumping into an affair with a performance artist, all fuel for your vivid imaginary life. Striking a similar tone but in the context of a documentary, The Dating Project by Jonathan Cipiti confronts the eye-opening statistics that today in America fully half of all adults are single – a far higher percentage than with past generations. Five college-age single Millennials confront their own lack of success in finding a mate in this eye-opening look at dating in the age of social media. The havoc wreaked by social media is reflected in two of the festival’s rom coms. In director David Tyson Lam’s Viral Beauty our protagonist simply wanted a date. She got a million subscribers, instead. Sloan Copeland’s Life Hack is a humorous but cautionary about privacy and cyber threats in the digital age. The take away? Cover your webcam. On the other hand Gigi Gorgeous is one girl who ain’t complainin’ about the power of the world wide web. In This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous the life and history of the eponymous Internet superstar is explored in a poignant and inspiring documentary by Oscar-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA). Could video games be a contributing factor to Millennials’ singleness? Who cares! In Jeremy Snead’s multi-episodic documentary Unlocked: The World Of Games Revealed everybody involved in all levels of video gaming from creators to players certainly seems to be having a helluva good time. Ditto, all those involved in that other counter culture revolving around music audio cassette tapes. In Zachary Taylor, Georg Petzold and Seth Smoot’s Cassette: A Documentary Mix Tape rabid mix tapes fans, including the likes of Henry Rollins, share what makes this once forgotten and now beloved blast-from-the-past so very au courant. Yes, nostalgia for the music of the Eighties is part of the appeal of mix tapes. This same nostalgia is captured in Ellen Goldfarb’s Dare To Be Different, a look back at WLIR, the pioneering Long Island, N.Y. radio station that helped to pave the way for new wave and punk, and launch the careers of everyone from Blondie to Joan Jett. (Oh, did we mention Prince, U2 and Madonna were also heard first in the U.S. on the WLIR airwaves?) The past meets the future in the “lost” 1938 screwball comedy set in the future of 2018 in Jamie Greenberg’s Future ’38. Confused? All will be revealed in this highly original satire that wowed the crowds at Slamdance earlier this year. Gabriel Cruz Rivas and Rodrigo Guardiola’s gaze is firmly fixed in the present in his documentary Zoe: Panoramas, an introspective look inside one of Latin America’s biggest rock bands. The festival’s signature curated film series this year is entitled Enemy Nations, which refers to how whole nations of people suddenly became identified by the highest levels of the U.S. government as anti-American. The series presents a selection from each of these seven countries in an opportunity for you, the audience, to decide for yourself if the enemy is from beyond the borders, or within. The series includes Shiva Sanjari’s Here The Seats Are Vacant, a stunning portrayal of Iran’s first female director, who herself became an enemy of her nation with the rise of the Islamic Revolution. Also part of the series is Avo Kaprealian’s Houses Without Doors, a documentary shot surreptitiously by director with a small camera from the balcony of his home on the Syrian front line. The camera records the dramatic changes in his neighborhood and his own family. Five short films, which will be announced later, are part of the series as well. Forbidden Cuba is the first American feature film shot after the thawing of diplomatic relations between the island nation and the U.S. Art Jones’ picture is a cautionary tale about an American businessman who travels to Cuba to retrieve an executive gone rogue, only to have his own eyes opened to the beauty and vibrant culture of the country. In Sea Gypsies: The Far Side Of The World filmmaker Nico Edwards sets off for his own adventure as part of a motley crew of amateurs and seasoned sailors attempting the nearly impossible and certainly risky goal of traversing the ocean between New Zealand and Patagonia by way of Antarctica in a sailboat – in the dead of winter. Yes, in the Digital Age real-life adventure is yours for the taking IF you’re willing to pursue it. Water is also the subject of two more documentary films screening at the festival. In John Hopkins’ Bluefin, fresh from its U.S. premiere at Santa Barbara Film Festival earlier this year, the plight of a magnificent oceanic creature, which unfortunately is best known as a mainstay of sushi, is explored from different perspectives. It’s fresh water and the plight of humans in developing countries who lack it that is explored in Brian Wood’s A World Without Water. This special screening and event will be co-hosted by Los Angeles-based PH8, a NGO with international outreach. Rounding out the festival’s feature film line-up are two documentaries about the impact of encroaching civilization on precious forest land and its wildlife. Mónica Alvarez Franco’s Cloud Forest – which boasts stunning cinematography – documents the people of a small community in Mexico who are the guardians of one of the ecosystems most at risk in country. Tony Lee’s The Cat That Changed America is about a bona fide Hollywood star. P22 is the most famous lion in America, a cougar who lives in Griffith Park, and this is his amazing story. A final note about a late entry to the festival. VAXXED: From Cover-up to Controversy was a feature-length documentary invited to make its world premiere at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival when the screening was abruptly cancelled — the only film ever pulled from the festival’s line-up. Soon after, Robert DeNiro in his guise as Tribeca’s co-founder went on national television to proclaim he regretted his festival’s decision and urged the viewing public to go see the film, which by then had entered theatrical release. The man at the center of that film, medical researcher and author Andrew Wakefield, is also the focus of The Pathological Optimist, a biopic about the former medical doctor whose discovery of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism profoundly changed his life and challenged medical orthodoxy that all vaccines were safe for all children. In her film, which is making its Los Angeles theatrical premiere during DTLA Film Festival, director Miranda Bailey weaves a delicate portrait of a man who is both revered and vilified by millions, a full-access look at the man at the center of one of the biggest medical and media controversies of our times. “One of the missions of our nonprofit film festival is to reflect the rich ethnic-cultural diversity and creative free spirit of DTLA and its surrounding environs. We believe our audiences will agree that this year’s line-up wholeheartedly embraces that mandate,” said Greg Ptacek, festival director. The complete list of announced feature film presentations at the 9th DTLA Film Festival follows

    2017 DTLA Film Festival | Feature Films

    BLUE LINE STATION Director: Jorge Xolalpa Jr. Country: USA, Running Time: 80″ A high school couple embarks on an unusual journey to planned parenthood, in order to find the best solution to an unwanted pregnancy. BLUEFIN Director: John Hopkins Country: USA, Running Time: 53″ In the stunning documentary Bluefin, director John Hopkins crafts a tale of epic stakes set in the “tuna capital of the world.” Filmed in North Lake, Prince Edward Island, Canada, the film explores the baffling mystery of why the normally wary bluefin tuna no longer fear humans. BLUR CIRCLE Director: Christopher J. Hansen Country: USA, Running Time: 92″ Jill Temple is a single mother still grieving the loss of her young son after he disappeared two years ago. Unable to face the possibility that she has lost him forever, she pursues every lead and meets Burton Rose, a man with a shrouded past. CASSETTE A DOCUMENTARY MIX TAPE Director: Zachary Taylor, Georg Petzold and Seth Smoot Country: USA, Running Time: 92″ Cassette inventor Lou Ottens digs through his past to figure out why the audiotape won’t die. Rock veterans like Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, and Ian MacKaye join a legion of young bands releasing music on tape to push Lou along on his journey to remember. THE CAT THAT CHANGED AMERICA Director: Tony Lee Country: USA, Running Time: 75″ P22 is the most famous cat in America, a mountain lion who lives in Griffith Park in the middle of LA. This is his amazing story. CLOUD FOREST Director: Mónica Alvarez Franco Country: MEXICO, Running Time: 90″ The people of a small community in Veracruz are the guardians of one of the ecosystems facing the most risk in the country: the cloud forest. They are trying to redesign their own culture: needs, food, education and relationship with other people and with nature, searching for a simpler and sustainable life. DARE TO BE DIFFERENT Director: Ellen Goldfarb Country: USA, Running Time: 93″ A wonderfully nostalgic look back at WLIR 92.7, the Long Island-based radio station on the cutting edge of music throughout the 1980s. Going rogue, the station defied the record industry and played global imports before their release by literally picking up the singles at the airport,rushing back to the studio and spinning them live. THE DATING PROJECT Director: Jonathan Cipiti Country: USA, Running Time: 70″ 50% of America is single. The way people seek and find love has radically changed. The trends of hanging out, hooking up, texting and social media have created a dating deficit. Dating is now…outdated. Follow 5 single people, ages 18 to 40, as they navigate this new landscape. DOG PARK Director: Jade Jenise Dixon Country: USA, Running Time: 91″ The romantic tribulations of a group of Toronto twenty-somethings whose relationships with their dogs are more stable and long-lasting than their romances with people. FORBIDDEN CUBA Director: Art Jones Country: USA, Running Time: 81″ The first American feature made in Cuba since the revolution of 1959. Part ‘Local Hero’ and ‘Hearts of Darkness,’ it’s a cautionary tale about capitalism and the state of the American soul. STORY: An American businessman travels to Cuba to retrieve an executive gone rogue, and finds his eyes opened to the beauty and vibrant culture of Cuba, challenging his corporate directives, his identity and everything he has known. FUTURE ’38 Director: Jamie Greenberg Country: USA, Running Time: 75″ A 1938 screwball comedy set in the far future year of 2018. A GRAY STATE Director: Erik Nelson Country: USA, Running Time: 93″ In 2010, David Crowley worked on a film about a future in which the government crushes civil liberties. When Crowley and his wife and child are found dead in 2014, conspiracy theorists speculate that they have been assassinated by the government. HARD SURFACES Director: Zach Brown Country: USA, Running Time: 89″ Adrian is a self-made man, despite the tragedy of his parents dying when he was a child. He is a famous photographer who has earned a following for his provocative style. Life appears to perfect until his sister Samantha suddenly dies, leaving him as the sole guardian of her 9-year-old daughter Maddy, whom he has never even met. Even while he clings to his life in the fast lane, he realizes everything must change if Maddy is to avoid the same pain he suffered as a child. HERE THE SEATS ARE VACANT Director: Shiva Sanjari Country: IRAN, Running Time: 81″ This is the story of a relentless spirit that refuses to be broken. The Iranian filmmaker known simply as Shahrzad in 1977 became the first female director in Iran after a successful career as a singer-dancer-actress. Two years later the Iran Revolution roared across the nation, and it has no room for a self-made woman like Shahrzad. The government never let her work again. Worse, she was imprisoned where she became mentally unraveled, eventually ending up in a mental institution. Today, she is 72 years old and dealing with a life in a small village in Iran. Oh, but her memories are wholly intact. This poignant documentary includes fantastic archival film footage of Shahrzad at the height other career. HOUSES WITHOUT DOORS Director: Avo Kaprealian Country: SYRIA, Running Time: 90″ The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted Armenians 100 years ago and today to many displaced Syrians. From the balcony of his home, the director films with a small camera the changes in his neighbourhood and his own family, interweaving his images with extracts from classical films to illustrate the parallels between the Armenian genocide and Syrians’ reality today. LAURA GETS A CAT Director: Michael Ferrell Country: USA, Running Time: 83″ An unemployed writer in New York City, tries to juggle an unexciting boyfriend, an affair with a performance artist, and a vivid imaginary life. LIFE HACK Director: Sloan Copeland Country: USA, Running Time: 90″ A humorous, cautionary tale about cyber threats in the digital age. Cover your webcam. MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND Director: Ana Asensio Country: USA, Running Time: 80″ Luciana is a young immigrant woman is struggling to make ends meet in New York while striving to escape her past. As her day unfolds, she is whisked, physically and emotionally, through a series of troublesome, unforeseeable extremes. Before her day is done, she inadvertently finds herself a central participant in a cruel game. Lives are placed at risk, while psyches are twisted and broken for the perverse entertainment of a privileged few. THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST Director: Miranda Bailey Country: USA, Running Time: 106″ In the center of the recent Tribeca Film Festival scandal surrounding his film, VAXXED: From Cover-up to Controversy stands Andrew Wakefield, discredited and stripped of his medical license for his infamous study suggesting a link between the MMR vaccine, bowel disease, and autism. The Pathological Optimist takes us into the inner sanctum of Wakefield and his family from 2011- 2016 as he fights for his day in court in a little-known defamation case against the British Medical Journal. Wakefield attempts to clear his name as the media-appointed Father of the Anti-vaccine movement. Director Miranda Bailey weaves a delicate portrait of a man who is THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST utilizing a never-before-seen, full access look at the man at the center of one of the biggest medical and media controversies of our times. RESTRAINT Director: Adam Cushman Country: USA, Running Time: 95″ Angela Burroughs has been submerging her violent impulses for years. After moving to the suburbs with her controlling new husband and his 9-year-old daughter, Angela starts to unravel. She becomes obsessed with a short story called The Yellow Wallpaper and begins to see parallels between her own life and the life within the story. As her husband Jeff remains oblivious to her emerging demons, Angela plunges deeper and deeper into her own dark reality. SEA GYPSIES: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD Director: Nico Edwards Country: USA, Running Time: 77″ The story of a small group of modern seafaring gypsies, following them as they strike out across the largest expanse of uninhabited geography on earth, in search of adventure, awe and whatever else lies at the far side of the world. SUPER DARK TIMES Director: Kevin Phillips Country: USA, Running Time: 100″ A harrowing but meticulously observed look at teenage lives in the era prior to the Columbine High School massacre. THIS IS EVERYTHIG: GIGI GORGEOUS Director: Barbara Kopple Country: USA, Running Time: 91″ Are there limits to your love for your family? One family’s acceptance is tested when a champion diver, destined for the Olympics, announces they’re transitioning from male to female and invites their YouTube followers along for every moment. It’s a story about unconditional love and finding the courage to be yourself. A THOUSAND JUNKIES Director: Tommy Swerdlow Country: USA, Running Time: 75″ Things grow more and more desperate, and ridiculous, as three heroin addicts drive all over Los Angeles in search of what they need. TILT Director: Kasra Farahani Country: USA, Running Time: 99″ Joe is working on a political documentary about America’s “Golden Age,” with the support of his wife Joanne. However, he begins to descend into paranoia and roams the streets at night in this haunting psychological thriller. UNLOCKED: THE WORLD OF GAMES REVEALED Director: Jeremy Snead Country: USA, Running Time: 90″ Video games have gone from an obscure science experiment in the early 1960’s to the biggest entertainment medium on the planet. Unlocked is a groundbreaking documentary from director Jeremy Snead that provides firsthand stories by industry icons, celebrities, consumers, and field experts on the culture, technology, history and future of the video game industry. VIRAL BEAUTY Director: David Tyson Lam Country: USA, Running Time: 90″ She wanted a date. She got a million subscribers instead. THE WORK Directors: Jairus Mcleary and Gethin Aldous Country: USA, Running Time: 89″ Set inside a single room in Folsom Prison, three men from the outside participate in a four-day group-therapy retreat with a group of incarcerated men for a real look at the challenges of rehabilitation. A WORLD WITHOUT WATER Director: Brian Woods Country: USA, Running Time: 80″ Every day 3900 children die as a result of insufficient or unclean water supplies. ‘A World Without Water’ tells of the personal tragedies behind the mounting privatization of water supplies. ZOE: PANORAMAS Director: Gabriel Cruz Rivas and Rodrigo Guardiola Country: MEXICO, Running Time: 89″ A unique and introspective look inside one of Latin America’s biggest rock bands: Zoé. The film takes you on a contemplative and audiovisual journey through one of the bands decisive years.

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  • 2017 Raindance Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens with OH LUCY! Starring Josh Hartnett

    [caption id="attachment_23914" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Oh Lucy! starring Josh Hartnett Oh Lucy! starring Josh Hartnett[/caption] The 25th Raindance Film Festival will take place in London’s West End from September 20th to October 1st, 2017. The International Premiere of Atsuko Hirayanagi’s Oh Lucy! (USA), starring Josh Hartnett, will open the festival. The film is a drama-comedy and tells the story of Setsuko Kawashima, a lonely, chain-smoking office lady in Tokyo who is past her prime and adopts an American alter ego.

    The Feature Films

    In Competition

    Maya Dardel Directed by Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak (USA) A famous writer claims on NPR that she intends to end her life and male writers may compete to become executor of her estate. Men drive up the mountain and are challenged intellectually and erotically until one discovers Maya’s end game. Cast: Lena Olin, Rosanna Arquette, Nathan Keyes Mukoku Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (Japan) -UK Premiere Kengo Yatabe’s mother dies and his father is in a coma. He, like his father, was good at kendo. Those days are long gone and he now lofts around as a security guard and generally wastes time. Meeting the young Tooru, Kengo is inspired and decides to shape up. Cast: Atsuko Maeda, Jun Fubuki, Kaoru Kobayashi Noise Directed by Koichiro Miki (Japan) – European Premiere Eight years after the indiscriminate killing spree committed in Akihabara, two girls search for their role in life. Cast: Ayami Nakajo, Jun Shison, Yuta Koseki, Yosuke Sugino The Constitution Directed by Rajko Grlc (Croatia) – UK Premiere The story follows four people who live in the same building, but avoid each other because of the differences in their assets, sexual habits, nationality and religion. Cast: Nebojsa Glogovac, Dejan Acimovic, Ksenija Marinkovic Hello Again Directed by Tom Gustafson (USA) – UK Premiere Inspired by Arthur Schnitzler’s controversial 1896 play Der Reigen and the classic 1950 Max Ophuls film LA Ronde, in the early ’90s the Lincoln Center commissioned Broadway composer Michael John LaChiusa to create the musical Hello Again. This film adaptation explores 10 fleeting love affairs across 10 periods of time in New York City history, through 10 lust-fueled episodes. The Traveller Directed by Hadi Ghandour (France, Lebanon) – UK Premiere A travel agent who has never travelled is sent on a business trip to Paris, only to find himself confronted by temptations that he cannot handle. Swaying Mariko Directed by Koji Segawa (Japan) – International Premiere Mariko, a seemingly normal housewife, has been with her younger husband, Tomoharu, for six years but is dissatisfied daily. Despite having a son together, Tomoharu is often absent from home and she suspects that he might be having an affair. High & Outside: A Baseball Noir Directed by Evald Johnson (USA) – World Premiere In the streets of Los Angeles, a minor league baseball player recklessly claws to keep his dreams alive. Geoffrey Lewis, Phil Donlon, David Yow, Ernie Hudson, Jason Richter and Lindsey Haun star in this dark drama that explores the dangerous nature of living in someone else’s shadow. Black Hollow Cage Directed by Sadrac González-Perellón (Spain) – UK Premiere A girl who lives secluded in a house in the woods with only the company of her father and a wolfhound finds among the trees a mysterious cubic device with the ability to change the past. Djam Directed by Tony Gatlif (France) An emotionally charged storytelling style that spread from poor urban communities in Greece and Turkey to the islands of the Aegean.

    Best Documentary Feature

    The Family I Had Directed by Katie Green and Carlyle Rubin (USA) – UK Premiere In The Family I Had, a mother recalls how her brilliant teenage son came to shatter their idyllic family through one horribly violent and shocking act. Now left to pick up the pieces, the survivors test the boundaries of their newly defined reality in the moving true crime exploration of the nature and limits of familial love. Cast: Charity, Paris, Ella, Kyla RiverBlue: Can Fashion Save the Planet? Directed by David McIlvride and Roger Williams (Canada) – UK Premiere RiverBlue follows internationally celebrated river conservationist Mark Angelo on an around-the-world journey by river that uncovers the dark side of the fashion industry. Infiltrating one of the world’s most pollutive industries, and speaking with fashion designers and water protectors world-wide, RiverBlue reveals stunning and shocking images that will forever change the way we look at the clothes we wear. Cast: Jason Priestley On Yoga The Architecture of Peace Directed by Heitor Dhalia (Brazil, USA) – UK Premiere On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace is based on Michael O’Neill’s book of the same name. This project tells the story of the 10 years the author spent photographing Yoga’s great masters. By posing very human questions from our current perspective, and mixing it with elements of movement and experiential sound, the film results in a new view of the art of Yoga. Michael O’Neill, Edie Stern, Deepak Chopra, Mooji, Elena Brower Bluefin Directed by John Hopkins (Canada) – European Premiere Endangered giant bluefin tuna have returned to Prince Edward Island, Canada in surprising abundance after a disappearance from overfishing. But something strange is going on. With stunning cinematography, filmmaker John Hopkins’s acclaimed documentary explores the mystery of why normally wary bluefin tuna no longer fear humans and turning into pets. Cast: Dr. Carl Safina, Brian Skerry, Dr. Boris Worm, Capt. Jamie Bruce, Capt.Jeff MacNeill Speak Up Directed by Stéphane de Freitas and Ladj Ly (France) – UK Premiere Every year, at the University of Saint-Denis, a competition is held to decide “The Best Orator in the 93”. Any student can participate and many prepare with the help of professional advisors. Armed with new-found knowledge, Leïla, Elhadj, Eddy and the others face off in a bid to become the best orator in the 93. Cast: Leïla Alaouf, Souleïla Mahiddin, Eddy Moniot, Elhadj Touré

    The Discovery Award – Best Debut Feature

    A Trip to the Moon Directed by Joaquin Cambre, Argentina, UK Premiere Tomas is an outcast young teenager trying to pass an exam. His family is constantly pressing him and his mother forces him to take antipsychotic drugs. In his need to escape, Tomas plans an intriguing trip to the moon. In this particular journey where reality and fiction mingles, he will disentangle an old family secret. Cast: Ángelo Mutti Spinetta, Leticia Brédice, Germán Palacios, Ángela Torres, Luis Machín I Still Hide To Smoke Directed by Rayhana Obermeyer, France Fatima, a strong-minded woman, is the lead masseuse of a hammam in Algiers. This is 1995 and the situation is tense in the capital. The day ahead promises to be hectic for all, and for Fatima in particular. Already, while walking to her place of work, she is the distant witness of a terrorist attack. At the hammam, Fatima should feel better, but the atmosphere proves electric in her small enclosed world, she has great difficulty in maintaining order. Scaffolding Directed by Matan Yair (Israel, Poland) – UK Premiere 17-year-old Asher has always been the wild troublemaker at school. While his oppressive father sees him as a natural successor to his scaffolding business, Asher forges a special connection with Rami, his new literature teacher, and begins to glimpse new possibilities for himself. That is, until an unexpected tragedy occurs, and changes everything. Cast: Asher Lax, Ami Smolartchik, Jacob Chen Children of the Night Directed by Andrea De Sica (Italy) – UK Premiere Giulio, a seventeen-year-old from a well-to-do family, is sent to a boarding school. In this isolated place in the Alps, where iron-clad rules limit all contact with the outside, he makes friends with Edoardo, who is rather odd. Their friendship is sealed by frequent escapes at night, when the surveillance of the students seems to lapse. The Story of a Satellite Directed by Sonia Albert-Sobrinoa and Miriam Albert-Sobrino (Spain) – European Premiere Almost 20 years after losing his father to a freak satellite-related accident, Rafael, an undertaker, realizes that his whole life has been orbiting in the wrong direction. With the help of his own “Sancho Panza”, Melito, Rafael will begin a transformational journey that he could never have anticipated.

    Best UK Feature

    In Another Life Directed by Jason Wingard – World Premiere Our once beautiful homeland has become uninhabitable. Too dangerous to walk the streets, drive a car, visit friends. Many have already left Syria, risking their lives on the open water. Giving all we had to the ruthless opportunists who trade in the currency of human misery. Europe was meant to offer us hope. Cast: Mudar Abbara, Elie Haddad, Yousef Hayyan Jubeh, Toyah Frantzen Stooge Directed by Madeleine Farley – World Premiere Stooge is a feature documentary about Robert Pargiter, Iggy Pop’s No1 fan. It covers the three years leading up to his 50th birthday when he tries to track his hero down in a final absolution. His journey has taken him all over the world in search of redemption after years of struggling with addiction, and of celebrating the communal lust that is Rock’n Roll. Cast: Rober Pargiter, Pete Thellusson, Iggy Pop, Scott Asheton, Steve Mackay The Dark Mile Gary Love – UK Premiere “Deliverance” meets “Rosemary’s Baby” – The Dark Mile is a psychological thriller built around a strong central relationship of two very different yet sympathetic characters. A tense psychological horror-thriller, The Dark Mile blends The Wicker Man, Deliverance and Duel, to come up with a film rich in atmosphere and tension. London couple Louise and Clare (Rebecca Calder and Deirdre Mullins) book a sailing trip in the Highlands to recover from a personal tragedy. The location may be idyllic but soon they are tormented by a black industrial barge that follows them, and by the dysfunctional folk on board… Hints of the occult and paganism point to dark times ahead as tension mounts. Cast: Rebecca Calder, Deirdre Mullins, Finlay MacMillan, Paul Brannigan, Sheila Hancock Edie Directed by Simon Hunter Edith Moore (Edie) is a bitter, gruff woman in her eighties. Following her husband’s death, she decides to take herself off to the Highlands on a climbing trip that her father had planned for them many years before. Cast: Sheila Hancock, Kevin Guthrie, Amy Manson, Paul Brannigan Isolani Directed by R. Paul Wilson – World Premiere After witnessing a brutal murder, a young single mother becomes a pawn in a deadly game of deception. To protect her son and start a new life she must outwit an ambitious prosecutor, a corrupt detective and a desperate killer. Cast: Kate McLaughlin, Catriona Evans, Jim Sweeney, Gianni Capaldi, Atta Yaqub

    The Shorts

    Best International Short Film

    Game Directed by Jeannie Donohoe (USA) – UK Premiere A new kid in town shows up at the high school boys’ basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team? Cast: Rick Fox, Nicole Williams, Tye White, Jamie McShane, Charles Parnell Goddess Directed by Karishma Dube (India, USA) The film explores the reality of being a closeted lesbian in contemporary India. Tara, a feisty teenager begins to risks family and tradition as she pursues her attraction towards her housemaid, Devi. When they are caught together at a dinner party, Tara must suddenly define who she really is. Cast: Priyanka Bose, Aditi Vasudev, Tanvi Azmi Lethe Directed by Dea Kulumbegahsvili (France, Georgia) A lonely horseman wanders past the river of forgetfulness and through a rural Georgian village, where both children and adults explore life’s more instinctual pleasures. Cast: Dato Gogoladze, Vika Chocheva, Mikheil Gomiahsvili Mixtape Marauders Directed by Peter Edlund (USA) – International Premiere A nine-song visual mixtape following two young stoners into a world of mindless day jobs, petty drug deals and obsessive mixtape curation. Cast: Peter McNally, Ian Edlund, Emily Chisholm, Madeline Anderson Viola, Franca Directed by Marta Savina (Italy) – UK Premiere In 1965 Sicily, a 17 year-old girl single-handedly alters the course of Italian history with an unexpected act of defiance that causes a short circuit in her traditionalist community. Cast: Claudia Gusmano, Carlo Calderone, Ninni Bruschetta, Maurizio Puglisi

    Best UK Short Film

    Work Directed by Aneil Karia Jess is an 18 year-old from London balancing her responsibilities as a daughter with her ambitions of a career in dance. When she is confronted with just how cold and unjust life can be during a journey to work, her perspective of the world around her begins to shift. Cast: Jasmine Breinburg, Taurean Steele, Carl Prekopp Diagnosis Directed by Eva Riley – European Premiere Sally’s secretive evening job as a medical roleplay actress forces her to face up to feelings she thought she had under control. Cast: Charlotte Spencer CLA’AM Directed by Nathaniel Martello-White – European Premiere A dark, surreal comedy about a local man who becomes convinced that a vast conspiracy is behind the impossibly rapid gentrification in his London area. But is it all in his head, or is the truth even darker than he imagines? Cast: Joel Fry, Ivanno Jeremiah, Brian Bovell Wild Horses Directed by Rory Alexander Stewart Joan has been housebound with M.E. for most of her adolescence. Now in slow recovery, her urge for independence is causing friction with her mother. When Joan’s tutor encourages her to push herself she throws caution to the wind, leaving home in search of new experiences. And a horse. Cast: Emma Curtis, Emma Cater, Ainslie Henderson, Stephanie Compton 46.0 Directed by Joseph A. Adesunloye, World Premiere Friends Adam and Luke are the life of the party. When they decide that Luke should host a party at his house, what was meant to be a night of fun without responsibilities turns out to be a nightmare for Adam. Cast: Adam Strawford, Guetan Calvin-Elito, Michelle Tiwo, Amy Lynch

    The Virtual Reality

    Best Interactive Narrative VR Experience

    Life Of Us Directed by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin (USA) Breathe fire, swim underwater, survive the Ice Age, and soar over volcanoes as you evolve through different creatures and a billion years of evolution in this action packed, multi-person VR adventure! Experience new voices, bodies, and special abilities before joining a post-singularity intergalactic dance party set to original music by Pharrell Williams. Created by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin, with music by Pharrell Williams. A Within Original, produced by Chris Milk, Megan Ellison through her Annapurna Pictures, and Made with Unity. Manifest 99 Directed by Adam Volker and Bohdon Sayre (USA) – World Premiere Created by Flight School Studio, Manifest 99 is an eerie story about finding redemption in the afterlife. Set on a mysterious train, rambling through an unknown void, you assist four travel companions on their journey to their final destination. Using character engagement as a method of movement, Manifest 99 explores scale and navigation unlike any other interactive VR experience. Ray Directed by Rafael Pavón (Spain) – World Premiere Ray is a VR fairy tale created by Future Lighthouse. It combines 360º stereoscopic video, impressive visual effects and arresting soundtrack. Immerse yourself in Lucy’s room the night when Ray, a nosy beam of light, comes to play on her dreams. Ray is also an interactive experience where Ray is alive, and you can play with it using voice recognition and gestures. Cast: Laia Manzanares Treehugger: Wawona Directed by Robin McNicholas, Barney Steel and Ersin Han Ersin (UK) Treehugger: Wawona, the latest virtual reality installation from Marshmallow Laser Feast, reveals the secret life of the giant sequoia and never-before-seen inner workings of the world’s largest tree. Treehugger uniquely illustrates the sequoia’s immense scale and questions our relationship with the natural world at a time of crisis and change.

    Best Mobile Interactive VR Experience

    Horizons Directed by Yuli Levtov (UK) Horizons is a series of interactive VR music journeys where you control the music, and the music controls the world. Make an otherworldly jungle come alive with sound, or travel at breakneck speed through colourful hyperspace. Featuring music from Bonobo, Reuben Cainer and My Panda Shall Fly. In the Eyes of the Animal Directed by Robin McNicholas, Barney Steel and Ersin Han Ersin (UK) In the Eyes of the Animal allows you to explore the forest through the eyes of four woodland species. It is an artistic interpretation of how animals view the world and their living environment. The Unfinished Directed by Balthazar Auxietre (France) – International Premiere In the museum, at night, the statues come alive. Through flashbacks, the viewer is told the love story behind the unfinished statue in the center of the room, and gets to interact with it to finish the unfinished, and free the sculptures within. This majestic ballet in VR unfolds to the score of The Planets by Gustav Holst. Cast: Raphaelle Boitel, Pauline Journe, Tarek Aitmeddour Virtual Virtual Reality Directed by Samantha Gorman and Adam Veal (USA) – UK Premiere Created by Tender Claws, Virtual Virtual Reality is a meta-satire about VR in VR. Welcome to “Activitude”: Real Labor Like You’re Really There! Cater to the whims of A.I. clients, or put on VR headsets in VR to escape into Activitude’s layers of reality as Chaz, the A.I overlord, attempts to boot you out PERMANENTLY. Cast: Ted Evans, Jared Ramirez, Skip Pippo, Alice Winslow, Hugh Kennedy

    Best Cinematic Narrative VR Experience

    Alteration Directed by Jérome Blanquet (France) – UK Premiere Alexandro volunteers for an experiment carried out to study dreams in this poetic trip into the future. He can’t imagine that he will be subjected to the intrusion of Elsa, a form of Artificial Intelligence who desires to digitize his subconscious in order to feed off of it. Cast: Bill Skarsgard, Pom Klementieff, Lizzie Brocheré, Amira Casar Broken Night Directed by Alon Benari and Tal Zubalsky (USA) – UK Premiere A woman and her husband return home one evening to discover an intruder. As she recounts the events of that evening to a police detective, the viewer chooses which of her memories to follow. Exploring the nature of memory itself, Broken Night takes the viewer on a psychological journey to uncover the truth of what transpired. Cast: Emily Mortimer, Alessandro Nivola, Michael Nathanson, Josh Green The Tragic Story of Betty Corrigall Directed by Peter Boyd Maclean (UK) – European Premiere Abandoned by her whaler lover and left pregnant, Betty Corrigall drowned herself to escape her shame in the 1770s. Gather round the smoky peat fire to hear storyteller Tom Muir recall her tragic fate as Virtual Reality meets the centuries old tradition of oral storytelling. Cast: Betty Corrigall, Tom Muir, Barbara Scollay, Willy Sinclair, James Watson UTURN Directed by Nathalie Mathe and Ryan Lynch (USA) – European Premiere What happens when a young female coder joins a male-dominated floundering startup that’s deep in an identity crisis? UTURN is an immersive live-action VR comedy where viewers get to experience both sides of the gender divide. Cast: Sophia DiPaola, Steve Goldbloom, Marc Fong Jr., Wynton Odd, Shruti Tewari

    Best Documentary VR Experience

    First Impressions Directed by Francesca Panetta and Nicole Jackson (UK) Created by the Guardian VR team using the latest research in neural development and colour vision in infants, this 360º film allows you to experience and interact with the world from the point of view of a baby. It’s a period that none of us remember but is the most crucial stage of our development. Cast: Chetna Pandya, Natascha McElhone Iranian Kurdish Female Fighters Directed by Namak Khoshnaw (Iraq, UK) – World Premiere 17-year-old Aso Saqzi ran away from home in Iran to join the battle against the Islamic State. She is not alone. Hundreds of Iranian Kurds, many of them young women, have volunteered to defeat IS – and to fight for a Kurdish homeland. Songs of the Vine Directed by Maira Clancy and Blake Montgomery (USA, Peru) – European Premiere Songs of the Vine’ focuses on the healing modalities and medicine songs of the Shipibo, an indigenous group well-known for its tradition of plant-spirit shamanism and mastery of the visionary ayahuasca medicine. Through the immersion of VR, the film illustrates an ancient but increasingly relevant dynamic between humans and nature. Cast: Ynes Sanchez Gonzalez, Jose Lopez Sanchez, Lila Lopez Sanchez, Laura Lopez Sanchez, Damian Pacaya Rodriguez ¡Viva La Evolución! Directed by Fifer Garbesi (Cuba) – UK Premiere As American culture streams into Cuba for the first time in 50 years, DJ Joyvan Guevara struggles between the new opportunity for global success and a responsibility to the culture he helped build in the face of commercialization. Cast: Joyvan Guevara

    Best Animation VR Experience

    Arden’s Wake Directed by Eugene Chung (USA) – UK Premiere A young woman lives with her father in a lighthouse perched atop an Endless Sea. When he goes missing, she must descend deep into the post-apocalyptic waters previously forbidden to her, embarking on a thrilling journey of family history and self-discovery. From the creators of the magnificent Allumette, Arden’s Wake continues the elegant evolution of storytelling from Penrose Studios. Dear Angelica Directed by Wesley Allsbrook and Saschka Unseld (USA) -UK Premiere From Emmy Award winning Oculus Story Studio comes Dear Angelica, a journey through the magical and dreamlike ways we remember our loved ones. Entirely painted by hand inside of VR by artist Wesley Allsbrook, Dear Angelica plays out in a series of memories that unfold around you. An immersive, illustrative short story starring Geena Davis and Mae Whitman. Cast: Geena Davis, Mae Whitman Rain or Shine Directed by Felix Massie (UK) Rain or Shine is Nexus’ interactive 360° mobile VR short film made for Google Spotlight Stories. Directed by Felix Massie, Rain or Shine follows Ella, a charismatic young girl who loves being outside in the sunshine, but whenever she puts her sunglasses on all loveliness disappears – her very own raincloud appears above her head. Song of the Sea Directed by Jerrica Cleland and Tomm Moore (Ireland, UK, Denmark) – International Premiere The Song of the Sea Virtual Reality experience is inspired by our Oscar-nominated hand-drawn animated feature film Song of the Sea by Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon. Cast: Jon Kenny

    Best Music VR Experience

    Beethoven’s Fifth Directed by Jessica Brillhart (USA) A journey into interstellar space with a performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, First Movement by the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Cast: Esa-Pekka Salonen Chapita: Mind Enterprises Directed by Eran Amir (UK) Chapita is brought to life in this VR experience combining an ambitious 360º storytelling experience with cinemagraphs and clonemotion technology. The result is an immersive narrative in which the dancer leads us into a multi-coloured world of choreographed dance loops, set against a backdrop of stark contrast that lends a sense of infinite space. Cast: Mimi Jeong Floating Points: Peroration Six Directed by Fabien Coupez (USA) – World Premiere Get blown away by the force of elements inside this stunning VR experience! Set in the middle of the iconic Utah desert, this mesmerizing live performance will take you on an incredible journey that will unleash the natural and supernatural elements. Cast: Sam Shepherd, David Okumu, Alex Reeve, Leo Taylor, Phillip Granell, Paloma Deike, Anisa Arslanagic, Magda Pietraszewska Reeps One: Does Not Exist Directed by John Hendicott and Gawain Liddiard (UK, USA) – UK Premiere Does Not Exist drops you into the centre of Reeps One’s first virtual reality beatbox performance – exploring the latest technology for VR and head-tracked 3D spatial audio. Working in 360º from the ground up, the track was composed to fully utilise the 360º sonic and visual space, creating a totally new style of music video. Cast: Reeps One  

    Best Branded VR Experience

    Manchester City – Match Day Directed by Adam May (UK) – World Premiere Get closer to the matchday action at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium in a new 360º fan experience. From the tunnel to the player, changing rooms to the grass being cut, experience a behind the scenes view of Etihad Stadium in full matchday action. A can’t-miss for football and sports fans across the world. Snatch VR Heist Experience Directed by Rafael Pavón and Nicolás Alcalá (Spain, USA) – UK Premiere Inspired by a real-life heist in London, Crackle’s new series, Snatch, centers on a group of twenty-something, up-and-coming hustlers who are suddenly thrust into the high-stakes world of organized crime. Cast: Rupert Grint, Phoebe Dynevor, Luke Pasqualino, Lucien Laviscount The Chainsmokers Paris VR Directed by Brynley Gibson and Russell Harding (UK) – European Premiere Go on an epic journey with Grammy-winning DJ Duo and The Chainsmokers as you travel through dreamlike environments. Influence new remixes of the hit song Paris based on the choices you make. Choose a new path each time you enter the experience, let the music engulf you as you lean into it, or simply lean back and enjoy the daydream. Cast: Drew Taggart, Alex Pall Welcome To Laphroaig Directed by Darren Emerson (UK) – World Premiere Created by VR City, this 360º film takes you on an epic journey into the heart of the historic Laphroaig whiskey distillery on the beautiful island of Islay.

    Best Sensual VR Experience

    Come! (Viens!) Directed by Michel Reilhac (France) Three women and four men, all naked, appear out of nowhere in the white, sunny space of a bright room outside of time. They meet, touch, share their energy, and are transformed spiritually, letting themselves become one with the world. Cast: Amador Jojo, Ayoti, Christophe De La Pointe, De La Fouquette, Flozif, Yumie Volupté, Fox In My Shoes: Intimacy Directed by Jane Gauntlett and Andrew Somerville (UK) In My Shoes: Intimacy is a 360º experience which explores the power of human connection. Put aside your inhibitions, let these strangers guide you through their impromptu, unconventional and intense moments of intimacy. Intimacy is a first-person documentary designed for two people to experience three encounters from six very different perspectives. Cast: Sarah Cowan, George Collie, Daniel James, Ellie Stamp, Neil Connolly, 
Stella Taylor Second Date Directed by Jennifer Lyon Bell, Netherlands (USA) – World Premiere Set on an Amsterdam houseboat, Second Date is a lighthearted, unscripted Virtual Reality portrait of two young people fumbling towards ecstasy. Trying to find common ground, their conversation veers from clumsy to joyous and back again – until they finally start connecting for real. Cast: Anne De Winter, Bishop Black Through You Directed by Saschka Unseld and Lily Baldwin (USA) Using dance to inhabit a common mortal story of love born, lived, lost, burned and seemingly gone forever, Through You is a live-action VR richly infused with an atmosphere of raw passion. Cast: Joanna Kotze, Amari Cheatom, Marni Thomas Wood

    Best Social Impact VR Experience

    42 Days Directed by Animal Equality (USA, Spain) Imagine you’ve just been born, but you have no mother to keep you warm. You are afraid. Just one chick among billions. And your life will only last until you’re big enough to slaughter. This is the stark reality for billions of young chickens around the world. Cast: Amanda Abbington Aftershock: Nepal’s Untold Water Story Directed by Catherine Feltham (UK) Two earthquakes. One lifeline. One man’s remarkable journey. This VR film follows Krishna, the only plumber in his district, as he works tirelessly to help repair his community’s vital water system which was damaged during the 2015 Nepal earthquakes. Cast: Krishna Sunuwar Munduruku: The Fight to Defend the Heart of the Amazon Directed by James Manisty and Grace Boyle (UK, Brazil) Combining cutting-edge Virtual Reality filmmaking and multisensory storytelling, Munduruku opens a window into the lives, stories and struggle of the Munduruku Indigenous People in the heart of the Amazon rainforest. You Are There. On the road to ending Polio Directed by Peter Collis and Vanessa Moussa (UK, USA, France, Switzerland) You Are There takes us to a Kenyan village to meet a nine-year-old boy, Job, infected with polio and Sabina, a dedicated vaccinator, on her travels to do whatever it takes to spare other children his fate. Cast: Ewan McGregor  

    Best Sound Design VR Experience

    Life Of Us Directed by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin (USA) Breathe fire, swim underwater, survive the Ice Age, and soar over volcanoes as you evolve through different creatures and a billion years of evolution in this action packed, multi-person VR adventure! Experience new voices, bodies, and special abilities before joining a post-singularity intergalactic dance party set to original music by Pharrell Williams. Created by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin, with music by Pharrell Williams. A Within Original, produced by Chris Milk, Megan Ellison through her Annapurna Pictures, and Made with Unity. Reeps One: Does Not Exist Directed by John Hendicott and Gawain Liddiard (UK, USA) – UK Premiere Does Not Exist drops you into the centre of Reeps One’s first virtual reality beatbox performance – exploring the latest technology for VR and head-tracked 3D spatial audio. Working in 360º from the ground up, the track was composed to fully utilise the 360º sonic and visual space, creating a totally new style of music video. Cast: Reeps One The Resistance of Honey Directed by Peter Boyd Maclean (UK) – UK Premiere Step inside the world of Bioni Samp, an urban beekeeper who makes honey–and music–from his bees. A fascinating, mind-expanding glimpse into the extraordinary world inside the beehive. Cast: Bioni Samp The Tragic Story of Betty Corrigall Directed by Peter Boyd Maclean (UK) – European Premiere Abandoned by her whaler lover and left pregnant, Betty Corrigall drowned herself to escape her shame in the 1770s. Gather round the smoky peat fire to hear storyteller Tom Muir recall her tragic fate as Virtual Reality meets the centuries old tradition of oral storytelling. Cast: Betty Corrigall, Tom Muir, Barbara Scollay, Willy Sinclair, James Watson

    The Web Series

    Best International Web Series

    The Adventures of A Broken Heart Directed by Ariel Martínez Herrera (Argentina) If the heart could talk, this would be its first television show. With the special appearances of Rabid Penis, Drunk Liver and Operated Kidney High Life Directed by Glen Dolman and Luke Eve (Australia) Genevieve, a very sensible, creative and overachieving 17-year-old student in a respectable, middle class family, seems to be having the perfect ride, until her sanity spectacularly unravels in her manic episode of Bipolar Disorder. Cast: Lily Hatwell, Ezekiel Simat, Di Adams The Break Up List Directed by Aaron Khoo (Singapore) When Luke Wong gets dumped by his girlfriend of 6 years, his whole world crumbles around him. Joe, his best buddy, is also abandoned by his girlfriend on the same day, leading the two set off on a journey to rebuild their lives and survive singlehood. Cast: Benjamin Kheng, Elliot Lucas Marcell Tan Jezebel Directed by Julien Bittner, France A mute musician in search of new inspiration after getting famous on the internet Cast: Hélène Kuhn, Martin Nissen Save Me Directed by Fab Filippo and Dylan Pearce (Canada) Save Me drops us into random lives, mid-sentence. We get to know people through storylines that unravel with humour and pathos and a built-in ticking time bomb – that one of them at some point will be blindsided by a medical emergency Cast: Fab Filippo, Amy Matysio, Suresh John Clash of the Narratives Directed by Robin Forestier-Walker Exploring what its like to be on two opposing sides of a narrative. Cast: Irma Inashvili, Tamara Chergoleishvili

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