The 29th AFI FEST taking place November 5 to 12, 2015 in the heart of Hollywood, revealed 20 more films on the lineup – the films that will be featured in the New Auteurs and American Independent programs during AFI FEST 2015.
The American Independents section represents the best of independent filmmaking this year includes 9 films; and the New Auteurs section includes 11 first and second-time narrative feature film directors from around the world, whose films will be eligible for the Grand Jury Prize.
NEW AUTEURS
DESDE ALLÁ – When a middle-aged man is assaulted and robbed by a young criminal, an unlikely relationship develops. DIR Lorenzo Vigas. SCR Lorenzo Vigas. CAST Alfredo Castro and Luis Silva. Venezuela/Mexico. U.S. Premiere
DISORDER – Matthias Schoenaerts plays an ex-soldier who becomes locked in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with ski-masked home invaders at a wealthy estate. DIR Alice Winocour. SCR Alice Winocour. CAST Matthias Schoenaerts, Diane Kruger, Paul Hamy, Zaïd Errougui-Demonsant, Percy Kemp, Victor Pontecorvo, Mickaël Daubert, Franck Torrecillas, Chems Eddine, Philippe Haddad, Jean-Louis Coulloc’h. France/Belgium
EVOLUTION – On an island inhabited only by women and boys, a 10-year-old receiving strange medical treatment investigates the horrific things the women do at night. DIR Lucile Hadžihalilović. SCR Lucile Hadžihalilović, Alanté Kavaïté, Geoff Cox. CAST Max Brebant, Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier. France
THE GULLS (CHAIKI) – In winter near the Caspian Sea, a fisherman’s wife becomes free of her suppressed domestic existence after a life-altering event. DIR Ella Manzheeva. SCR Ella Manzheeva. CAST Evgeniya Mandzhieva, Sergey Adianov, Evgeny Sangadzhiev, Lyubov Ubushieva, Dmitry Mukeyev. Russian Federation. North American Premiere
IXCANUL – A young Mayan woman becomes pregnant outside of an impending arranged marriage, throwing her and her family’s future into dire uncertainty. DIR Jayro Bustamante. SCR Jayro Bustamante. CAST María Mercedes Coroy, María Telón, Manuel Antún, Justo Lorenzo, Marvin Coroy. Guatemala/France
LAND AND SHADE (LA TIERRA Y LA SOMBRA) – An aging farmer returns to rural Colombia where the family and land he long ago abandoned have been devastated by industrial progress. DIR César Augusto Acevedo. SCR César Augusto Acevedo. CAST Haimer Leal, Hilda Ruiz, Edison Raigosa, Marleyda Soto, José Felipe Cárdenas, Edison Raigosa. Colombia/France/Netherlands/Chile/Brazil. U.S. Premiere
MEDITERRANEA – In this timely film, a migrant from Burkina Faso makes a perilous journey from North Africa to Europe. DIR Jonas Carpignano. SCR Jonas Carpignano. CAST Koudous Seihon, Alassane Sy, Adam Gnegne, Davide Schipilliti. Italy/France/USA/Germany
MOUNTAIN – To escape her troubles at home, a young Orthodox Jewish woman falls in with a nocturnal community of prostitutes and drug dealers in the ancient cemetery atop Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives. DIR Yaelle Kayam. SCR Yaelle Kayam. CAST Shani Klein, Avshalom Pollak, Haitham Ibrahem Omari. Israel/Denmark. U.S. Premiere
MUSTANG – Five Turkish sisters must fight back against harsh societal restrictions when a seemingly innocent act is blown out of proportion. DIR Deniz Gamze Ergüven. SCR Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour. CAST Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan, Ilayda Akdogan, Ayberk Pekcan. France/Germany/Turkey
SWORN VIRGIN (VERGINE GIURATA) – A young Albanian woman bucks her destiny by appealing to an ancient regional law allowing her to live free as a man if she takes an oath of eternal virginity. DIR Laura Bispuri. SCR Francesca Manieri, Laura Bispuri. CAST Alba Rohrwacher, Flonja Kodheli, Lars Eidinger, Luan Jaha, Bruno Shllaku, Ilire Celaj, Drenica Selimaj, Dajana Selimaj, Emily Ferratello. Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Republic of Kosovo
UNTIL I LOSE MY BREATH – A Turkish teenager dreams of leaving her abusive home and moving in with her father, a long-distance truck driver. DIR Emine Emel Balcı. SCR Emine Emel Balcı. CAST Esme Madra, Rıza Akın, Sema Keçik, Gizem Denizci, Ece Yüksel, Uğur Uzunel, Yavuz Pekman, Pinar Gök, Yavuz Özata. Turkey/Germany. North American Premiere
AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS
BOB AND THE TREES – A middle-aged logger gambles his personal and professional livelihood on harvesting an unyielding piece of land. DIR Diego Ongaro. SCR Diego Ongaro, Courtney Maum, Sasha Statman-Weil. CAST Bob Tarasuk, Matt Gallagher, Polly MacIntyre, Richard Bradley, Winthrop Barrett. USA
FIELD NIGGAS – Khalik Allah’s stylized documentary chronicles summer nights spent at the intersection of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Harlem. DIR Khalik Allah. USA
FUNNY BUNNY – A trio of people look to make meaningful connections in this sweet natured comedy. DIR Alison Bagnall. SCR Alison Bagnall. CAST Kentucker Audley, Joslyn Jensen, Olly Alexander, Louis Cancelmi, Josephine Decker, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Grace Gonglewski, Caridad de la Luz, Nicholas Webber. USA (pictured in main image above)
H. – Two different Helens of Troy live parallel lives in this brilliantly unnerving apocalyptic vision. DIR Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia. SCR Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia. CAST Robin Bartlett, Rebecca Dayan, Will Janowitz, Julian Gamble, Roger Robinson. USA/Argentina
JAMES WHITE – A young New Yorker is forced to take control of his self-destructive lifestyle as he navigates his mother’s fight with a serious illness. DIR Josh Mond. SCR Josh Mond. CAST Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi, Makenzie Leigh, Ron Livingston. USA
KRISHA – Estranged relative Krisha shows up to a family Thanksgiving to make amends, but as the day unfolds she can’t escape her dark past. DIR Trey Edward Shults. SCR Trey Edward Shults. CAST Krisha Fairchild, Robyn Fairchild, Bill Wise, Trey Edward Shults, Chris Doubek, Olivia Grace Applegate, Alex Dobrenko, Chase Joliet. USA
MEN GO TO BATTLE – In this indie American period piece, two farming brothers in 1861 are torn apart by the encroaching Civil War. DIR Zachary Treitz. SCR Kate Lyn Sheil, Zachary Treitz. CAST David Maloney, Timothy Morton, Kate Lyn Sheil, Rachel Korine. USA
SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME – A brother and sister living on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation cope with the loss of their father in very different ways. DIR Chloé Zhao. SCR Chloé Zhao. CAST John Reddy, Jashaun St. John, Irene Bedard, Eleonore Hendricks, Taysha Fuller, Cat Clifford. USA
STINKING HEAVEN – When a new member arrives at a home for sober living, a self-destructive spiral begins. DIR Nathan Silver. SCR Nathan Silver, Jack Dunphy. CAST Deragh Campbell, Keith Poulson, Hannah Gross, Eléonore Hendricks, Tallie Medel, Henri Douvry, Jason Giampietro, Jason Grisell, Eileen Kearney, Larry Novak. USA
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OLIVER’S DEAL, directed by Barney Elliott (pictured above) won the Maverick Award for Best Feature Narrative, and INCORRUPTIBLE, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi won the Maverick Award for Best Feature Documentary at the 2015 Woodstock Film Festival which ran Wednesday, September 30, through Sunday, October 4, 2015.
The 
INCORRUPTIBLE, directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“This remarkable film traces a journey from idealism to corruption in one of Africa’s oldest democracies, asking the question – is power an inherently corrupting influence? What the leaders of the country do not count on is that — in the end — it is the people of Senegal who turn out to be incorruptible. Through unprecedented access to all the players, filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi weaves a complex and thrilling picture of a country at the precipice.” – 2015 Woodstock Film Festival Jury
Honorable Mention was presented to THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, directed by Holly Morris, Co-directed by Anne Bogart
“A lyrical, poetic portrait of an unknown group of women in a forgotten land. The Babushkas of Chernobyl live mostly alone, in the shadow of the world’s largest nuclear meltdown, surrounded by huge amounts of invisible radiation contamination. Strong and independent, their indelible ties to their homes trumps any health risk to which they might be exposed. A beautifully crafted documentary, this film does what documentaries do best – transport us to an unknown world and introduce us to extraordinary people we might never meet.” – 2015 Woodstock Film Festival Jury
The Maverick Award for BEST ANIMATION was presented by jurors Signe Baumane and Linda Beck to:
THE FIVE MINUTE MUSUEM, directed by Paul Bush
Honorable Mention was presented to RELIGATIO, directed by Jaime Giraldo
The Markertek Award for BEST SHORT NARRATIVE was presented by Benjamin Scott, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Nancy Collet to:
STANHOPE, directed by Solvan “Slick” Naim
Honorable Mention was presented to WELCOME (BIENVENIDOS), directed by Javier Fesser
The Markertek Award for BEST STUDENT SHORT FILM was presented by jurors David F. Schwartz, Isil Bagdadi, and Marjoe Aquilling to:
AGAINST NIGHT, directed by Stefan Kubicki
The Markertek Award for BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY was presented by jurors Hugo Perez, Cynthia Kane, and Jedd Wider to:
ALL ABOUT AMY, directed by Samuel Centore
Honorable Mention was presented to NANEEK, directed by Neal Steeno
The Haskell Wexler Award for BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY was presented with a special introduction by Haskell Wexler to:
BOB AND THE TREES, directed by Diego Ongaro, with cinematography by Chris Teague and Danny Vecchione
James Lyons Award for BEST EDITING of a FEATURE NARRATIVE was presented by jurors Meg Reticker and Sabine Hoffman to:
OLIVER’S DEAL, directed by Barney Elliott and edited by J.L. Romeu & Roberto Benavides
Honorable Mention was presented to TOUCHED WITH FIRE, directed by Paul Dalio and edited by Paul Dalio & Lee Percy
James Lyons Award for BEST EDITING of a FEATURE DOCUMENTARY was presented by jurors Sabine Hoffman, Katherine Barnier, and Michael Berenbaum to:
THE BABUSHKAS OF CHERNOBYL, directed by Holly Morris and edited by Michael Taylor, Richard Howard, and Mary Manhardt
Honorable Mention was presented to I WILL NOT BE SILENCED, directed by Judy Rymer and edited by Paul Hamilton
ULTRA INDIE AWARD was presented by jurors Lori Singer and Leah Meyerhoff to:
LAMB, directed by Ross Partridge
Honorable Mention was presented to BOB AND THE TREES, directed by Diego Ongaro
TANGERINE ENTERTAINMENT JUICE AWARD FOR BEST FEMALE FEATURE DIRECTOR was presented by jurors Amy Hobby and Anne Hubbell to:
Linda-Maria Birbeck, director of THERE SHOULD BE RULES
CARPE DIEM AWARD ANDRETTA AWARD FOR BEST FILM was presented by Lauri and Jim Andretta to: WAFFLE STREET, directed by Eshom Nelms and Ian Nelms
WORLD CINEMA AWARD was presented by jurors Claude Dal Farra and Lucy Barzun Donnelly to: MEET ME IN VENICE, directed by Eddy Terstall
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE was presented to Roberta Petzoldt (Meet Me in Venice)
FIERCELY INDEPENDENT AWARD was presented by Atom Egoyan to: GUY MADDIN
HONORARY MAVERICK AWARD was presented by Guy Maddin to: ATOM EGOYAN
The American film, Bob and the Trees, starring Bob Tarasuk, playing himself, as Bob, a fifty-year old logger, struggling to make ends meet in a threatened industry, was awarded with the Crystal Globe at the