BORN TO BE BLUE[/caption]
The 2016 Louisiana International Film Festival (LIFF) announce its lineup of feature films, including Ethan Hawke as troubled jazz legend Chet Baker in BORN TO BE BLUE.
The 2016 Louisiana International Film Festival slate of international and USA-made films includes the world premiere of earthquake relief documentary SEVEN DAYS IN NEPAL from executive producer D.A. Pennebaker (the legendary filmmaker of Don’t Look Back, Monterrey Pop and The War Room fame), Ethan Hawke as troubled jazz legend Chet Baker in BORN TO BE BLUE, and THE WRONG LIGHT about a filmmakers’ journey to document a non-profit in Thailand dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking among others.
In addition, this year’s festival boasts a brand new category: Southern Perspectives.
Southern Perspectives is a regionally-focused slate that will include nearly a dozen movies telling a wide range a narratives from the American South—from the erosion of small town culture with BOGALUSA CHARM, to AFTER THE SPILL, a documentary exposing the details of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
LIFF 2016 also is proud to showcase an impressive Women and Film category that includes 17 titles about women or directed by women, including Anne Fonteyne’s post-war Warsaw doctor drama THE INNOCENTS and Barbara Kopple’s MISS SHARON JONES!—the rousing music documentary following soul singer Sharon Jones’ battle with cancer and preparations for a world tour.
A complete schedule of screenings will be released soon.
Confirmed feature titles are listed in alphabetical order as follows.
FEATURE FILMS – LIFF 2016
The Adderall Diaries (USA) 105 min. James Franco heads a cast that includes Ed Harris, Christian Slater and Amber Heard in this heady thriller based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott. Burdened with writer’s block and an escalating drug problem, Elliott becomes obsessed with a high-profile murder case that unleashes childhood memories of his cruel and distant father. When Daddy suddenly appears with his own story to tell, fact and fiction merge in an amphetamine-induced haze. After The Spill (USA) 62 min. Five years after Katrina devastated the coast of Louisiana, the BP operated Deepwater Horizon exploded and spilling 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Melissa Leo narrates this in-depth look at the worst ecological disaster in North American history, the effect of the spill and Big Oil’s production operations on the Louisiana coast. L’Attesa (Italy|France) 100 min. Juliette Binoche is simply magnificent as a Sicilian woman so grief-stricken by the sudden death of her son that she tells his new girlfriend (Lou de Laâge) – who has travelled from Paris to meet him – that he is delayed on business. And so ‘the wait’ (l’attesa) begins, and the lie becomes a ticking bomb. Marked by striking images and painterly lighting, L’Attesa is an intense psychological drama. Baskin (Turkey) 97 min. A backup squad of Turkish police called to a desolate mansion stumble upon a squalid and blood-soaked den of satanic ritual. Winner of the ‘Best Director’ award at Fantastic Fest, Baskin was hailed as “a meticulously crafted baroque puzzle box… a film to dread, a film that slips deep into the psyche and uncovers the topography of hidden nightmares.” Bogalusa Charm (USA) 83 min. WORLD PREMIERE. ‘Charming’ is not a word easily applied to Bogalusa, Louisiana with its smelly paper mill, closed up shops and aging population. However, one business is still going strong: a charm school that transforms local girls into ladies. Native son Steve Richardson portrays this dot on the map with affection, insight, and sadness while addressing a bigger American malaise: the erosion of small town life. Born to Be Blue (USA|Canada|UK) 97 min. Ethan Hawke turns in a soulful, sexy, and often funny performance – for which he learned to play the trumpet – as Jazz legend Chet Baker whose battle with addiction was as famous as his music. Set in 60s California with flashbacks to 50s New York, the film focuses on Baker’s search for redemption while juggling a new girlfriend, a movie offer and plans for a comeback at jazz mecca Birdland. Boy and the World (Brazil) 80 min. No dialogue is required to tell the beguiling story of a small boy who follows his father from their idyllic farm to an overpopulated city where he discovers an alien industrial and automated world. A soundscape of pan-flute, samba, and Brazilian hip-hop mixes with whirling carnival colors and exploding fireworks in this dazzling and completely original Oscar-nominated animated feature. Chevalier (Greece) 99 min. A female director casts a witty, sardonic eye on men and their competitive drive in this highly original film. Six men on a luxury yacht invent a series of surreal games complete with oblique rules and a point system. As the stakes heighten, comparisons are made, measurements taken, songs butchered, blood tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will do anything to win. Community (UK) 78 min. Do packs of feral working class teenagers, high on super addictive weed, really roam the Drayman Housing Estate in Essex? The cops stay clear, but when 2 filmmakers arrive to debunk the myth, they soon find themselves on the menu! Bloody and brutal, Jason Ford’s shocker is a bold example of the new wave of hoodie-horror films to come out of the UK. [caption id="attachment_9801" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Dheepan[/caption]
Dheepan (France) 115 min.
Winner of the 2015 Cannes Palme d’Or, this gritty film tells the story of Dheepan, a refugee from Sri Lanka and a former Tamil Tiger, who concocts a fake family to gain passage to France. But his violent past still haunts him. Slow-burning tension punctuated by explosions of violence mark Jacques Audiard’s timely, passionate film about a driven man caught in a unique moral dilemma.
El Clan (Argentina) 110 min.
Alejandro, a teen rugby star manipulated into helping his family profit from a series of meticulously planned abductions, discovers that the father he reveres is a cold-blooded killer. Produced by Pedro Amoldovar and based on the real-life exploits of the notorious Puccios, El Clan uses upbeat 80s pop as an ironic comment on the cynicism and immorality of the waning Argentinian dictatorship.
Embrace of the Serpent (Columbia) 125 min.
This Oscar nominee from Columbia, set in the Amazon jungle and inspired by the journals of two German explorers, follows a shaman and his unlikely travel companions in search of a rare psychedelic, medicinal herb. First-time director Ciro Guerra employs stunning black and white widescreen cinematography to take us deep into the heart of darkness… merging two parallel stories, 40 years apart, into a hallucinatory finale.
The Fits (USA) 72 min.
Director Anna Rose Holmer celebrates the physicality and fluidity of adolescence in her infectious character study of Toni, an African American tomboy who boxes at the same gym where a dance drill team practices. Toni yearns to join the tight-knit tribe of older girls but when mysterious fits of shaking and fainting strike the troupe, her desire for acceptance becomes complicated.
Giving Birth in America (US) 46 min.
Maternal health nonprofit Every Mother Counts presents a new three-part, short documentary series, “Giving Birth in America,” to examine some of the key reasons that the U.S. is falling so far behind in maternal healthcare. Each short film follows pregnant women and their healthcare providers in Florida, Montana and New York in the days leading up to delivery. Together, they navigate challenges of race, poverty, chronic illness, overuse of medical interventions and other inequalities that impact maternal health outcomes in America. Special Guest Christy Turlington Burns in attendance for Q&A.
Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words (Sweden) 114 min.
Three-time Oscar-winner Ingrid Bergman was a creative woman and loving mother who forged a career that few actresses do: from Swedish ingénue to Hollywood star, from exile in Italy with director Roberto Rossellini to cherished international stage and screen legend. Bergman’s own home movies, newsreels, and recollections by daughters Isabella and Pia combine to paint a nuanced portrait of a gifted, intelligent and sometimes conflicted individual.
The Innocents (France|Poland) 115 min.
In this dramatic, nuanced film set in post-war Warsaw, a Red Cross doctor who is summoned to a convent to deliver a baby in the middle of the night, discovers a pious, cloistered community brutalized by Soviet soldiers. Rising star Lou de Laâge (L’Attesa) gives a great performance as an idealistic young woman who puts herself in danger to guard a shameful secret.
Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? (USA) 97 min.
Small town Texas is rocked by an epic battle of the sexes when the local women band together to withhold sex until their men rid the town of guns. With a cast that includes Andrea Anders, Cloris Leachman and John Heard, this raunchy comedy/satire that won the audience award at the recent Sedona Film Festival tackles one of the hot-button issues of modern society.
Ixcanul (Guatemala) 93 min.
Eking out an existence on the remote slopes of a volcano (Ixcanul), a teenager admits to her loving mother that she is pregnant by the local dreamboat who has departed for America. Impoverished and unable to speak Spanish, the family embarks on a perilous journey to the big city to save the life of the child. A debut feature and winner of 13 international festival prizes, Ixcanul is a universal human tale.
Lit Lo And Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (USA) 98 min.
The droll, tech-phobic Werner Herzog – who has travelled to Antarctica and up the Amazon to document mankind’s dreams and fears – now explores the Internet’s unknown impact on human interaction, pro and con. Tracking its origins from a classroom at UCLA, thru its present day ‘dark side’, into a future world of robot cars and intergalactic tourism, the film is both scary and thrilling in its implications.
Lost & Found (USA) 90 min.
Two brothers forced to spend the summer on an island in Canada embark on a treasure hunt when they discover a map left behind by their eccentric wealthy grandfather who has mysteriously vanished. Pitting their wits against a ruthless land developer and two thugs, the boys uncover more than treasure and learn that the bonds of family are the most valuable riches of all.
Marguerite (France) 127 min.
Catherine Frot, Best Actress winner at this year’s Césars, is divine as a woman who dreams the impossible dream and possesses the innocence, madness and wealth to pursue it. Marguerite’s passion is opera and her delusion – fueled by the sycophants who swill champagne in her castle outside Paris – is that she sings beautifully. Ironically, this delightful comedy about sour notes is awash in gorgeous music, and features sumptuous 1920s clothes and décor.
The Mayor: Life of Riley (USA) 66 min.
The massacre of nine African Americans by a white supremacist on June 17, 2015 in Charleston, S. C. was a “worst nightmare” for Joseph P. Riley Jr, an Irish Catholic Democrat and the city’s mayor for an incredible 40 years. From the Civil Rights era forward, Riley was a visionary, fighting for inclusion in the face of divisiveness and for the restoration of once shabby Charleston to its former architectural glory.
[caption id="attachment_9499" align="aligncenter" width="1500"]
MISS SHARON JONES![/caption]
Miss Sharon Jones! (USA) 93 min.
A cinema verité portrait of soul singer Sharon Jones as she battles cancer, develops a new album, and readies for a world tour. The film, bursting with funk and soul music, features toe-tapping excerpts of Jones’s performances with the Dap-Kings. Whether she is breaking barriers in the music business or beating disease, Jones is a fighter and a survivor, and Kopple’s rousing tribute celebrates the singer as an effusive life force
5 Missing People (USA) 76 min.
Missing People is a nonfiction mystery about Martina Batan, a prominent New York art dealer, who investigates her brother’s long unsolved murder while obsessively collecting and researching the violent work and life of an outsider artist from New Orleans. As Martina struggles to process her discoveries, the inevitable collision of these parallel narratives leads to a chain of dramatic events.
My Father, Die (USA) 102 min.
Deaf and mute since having his hearing knocked out at the age of 12, Asher – played by action star Joe Anderson (Hercules, The Grey) – has been training to avenge himself on Ivan, the man that killed his older brother 21 years earlier. And now that his nemesis is out of prison, he gets his chance. But Asher’s target also happens to be his father.
No Greater Love (USA) 92 min.
The place is mountainous Kunar Province, Afghanistan, infamous for jihad, guerrilla warfare, and suicide bombers; and the soldier armed with the camera, not a gun, is Chaplain Justin Roberts. In this heartstopping and heart-wrenching documentary, distinguished by extraordinary combat footage, Roberts follows his comrades in the legendary ‘No Slack’ battalion from battlefield to home front where many veterans face other enemies: PTSD, depression and loneliness.
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (USA) 91 min.
A warm portrait of the father of hit shows like All in the Family, Maud and The Jeffersons. Now a spry 92, Lear reflects on his role as the first television producer to use the genre of American sitcom to address serious subjects – racism, feminism, and homosexuality. In the words of Robert Redford he “brought humanity, edge, humor and vulnerability into the mainstream.”
The Ones Below (UK) 87 min.
Affluent professionals Kate and Justin are expecting their first baby, as are sexy Teresa and domineering Jon, the mysterious new couple in the downstairs flat. Suppressing her fears about motherhood, Kate bonds with her extroverted neighbor until an awkward dinner party turns tragic and a burgeoning friendship implodes. A dash of Polanski and Haneke season this eerie, stylish debut feature by acclaimed UK theater director David Farr.
Presenting Princess Shaw (Israel) 80 min.
Samantha Montgomery, 38, lives alone in one of New Orleans’ toughest neighborhoods working as a caregiver for the elderly. But at night she transforms into Princess Shaw, belting out original songs at local clubs and posting homemade a cappella clips on YouTube. Completely unaware that a secret admirer – an Israeli musician living on a kibbutz outside Tel Aviv – will change her life forever.
Raiders! (USA) 106 min.
The 35th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark would not be complete without this true story of two 11- year-old Mississippi kids who in 1982 remade the Hollywood blockbuster scene by scene with a Super 8mm camera. After 7 turbulent years that tested their resolve and strained their friendship, there was one scene left un-filmed. Thirty-three years later, the ‘boys’ reunite to realize their childhood dream.
Rams (Iceland) 93 min.
Brothers Gummi and Kiddi have been estranged for years, living separate lives on neighboring sheep farms in rural Iceland. When a fatal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s herd, he schemes to save the breed while this isolated community comes to grips with its own economic extinction. A wry, charmingly deadpan and poignant comedy, Rams is the recipient of 17 international festival awards.
Search Engines (USA) 98 min.
This imaginative satire focuses on man’s relationship to his cell phone and suggests that technology can lead us astray from meaning, purpose and love. It’s Thanksgiving, and family and friends have just gathered to celebrate togetherness. But when cell phone reception mysteriously goes dead throughout the house, 6 each character is thrown into crisis: marriages are tested, values questioned, and futures hang in the balance.
Seven Days in Nepal (USA) 62 min.
WORLD PREMIERE. On April 2015, just before noon in Nepal, an earthquake took everything the Bajagain family possessed: house, farm, cattle, happiness. This cinema verité documentary takes us into the devastation with New Orleans contractor Michael Fanasci, a Katrina survivor, and Minoj Ghimire, a Nepali student from Missouri, who bring much-needed building materials – and hope – to a devastated family.
Sidemen: Long Road to Glory (USA) 78 min.
An intimate look at the lives and legacies of piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie Smith, and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, all of whom were Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf sidemen. This rousing film depicts these artists’ thru their last interviews and their final live performances together and features additional music and personal insights from blues and rock stars inspired by these legendary sidemen.
Songs My Brothers Taught Me (USA) 98 min.
Two siblings coping with the loss of their father forms the heart of Chloé Zhao’s stunning directorial debut set among the Lakota people of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In her directorial debut, Zhao sketches a complex, sensitive portrait of a community connected not only thru a rich cultural heritage but also by deep inner conflicts that manifest themselves in destructive ways.
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Sunset Song[/caption]
Sunset Song (UK) 135 min.
Master director Terence Davies brings an epic sweep and grandeur to this saga of a young woman who comes of age in rugged north Scotland and sees her family beset by tragedy and the ravages of WWI.Though burdened with a stern father and an alcoholic husband, Chris endures. A woman with a passion for life, she draws strength from the ancient land and looks to the future.
Tickled (New Zealand) 92 min.
After stumbling upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled, reporter David Farrier reaches out to Jane O’Brien Media… only to be threatened with extreme legal action. Not one to be bullied, he digs deeper, uncovering a vast empire of secret identities and criminal activity. “Tense and increasingly weird… painful and funny and deeply sad.” – Screen Daily
Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt (Israel) 125 min.
This no-holds documentary provides a rare insight into the philosopher, author and outspoken intellectual Hannah Arendt who incited anger, praise, devotion, and scorn up to and beyond her death in 1975. A German Jew who fled Europe for New York in 1941, Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to describe how someone as seemingly insignificant as Eichmann could be responsible for the Holocaust.
The Wrong Light (USA) 77 min.
Setting out to document a non-profit in Thailand dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking, two idealistic filmmakers uncover a shocking truth: none of the ‘saved’ girls were victims of the sex trade; and Mickey, its charismatic leader, is perpetrating a scam to extort money from wealthy Westerners. This just completed film is an illuminating expose of an insidious industry dubbed ‘poverty porn.’
The 
The 27th Palm Springs International Film Festival (
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
Eighty-one countries have submitted films for consideration in the 2015 Foreign Language Film Oscar category for the 
The 
The TIFF Next Wave committee of young film enthusiasts has hand-picked 10 Toronto International Film Festival films that will resonate with their peers. Founded in 2010, the TIFF Next Wave Committee is a group of 12 students ranging in age from 15 to 18 and selected from a competitive pool of young film enthusiasts, hailing from schools across the Greater Toronto Area.
In order to help their peers navigate the Festival, the Committee has identified the following youth-driven 2015 TIFF selections that will appeal specifically to the next generation of movie aficionados:
As I Open My Eyes (A peine j’ouvre les yeux)
Leyla Bouzid, Tunisia/France/Belgium (Contemporary World Cinema) North American Premiere
Born To Dance
Tammy Davis, New Zealand (Discovery) World Premiere
The Final Girls
Todd Strauss-Schulson, USA (Midnight Madness) International Premiere
Girls Lost Alexandra-Therese Keining, Sweden (Contemporary World Cinema) World Premiere
He Named Me Malala (pictured above)
Davis Guggenheim, USA (TIFF Docs) International Premiere
The Idol (Ya Tayr El Tayer)
Hany Abu-Assad, United Kingdom/Palestine/Qatar/ United Arab Emirates (Special Presentations) World Premiere
Ixcanul
Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala/France (Discovery) Canadian Premiere
Keeper
Guillaume Senez, Belgium/Switzerland/France (Discovery) North American Premiere
My Name is Emily
Simon Fitzmaurice, Ireland (Discovery) North American Premiere
Sleeping Giant
Andrew Cividino, Canada (Discovery) North American Premiere
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.
The Toronto International Film Festival announced its Discovery program showcasing 30 feature films, including 16 World Premieres, by first and second time directors from Canada and across the globe.
The diverse 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Discovery Program lineup includes Desde Allá, an intense social drama from Venezuelan newcomer Lorenzo Vigas; Tom and Sam McKeith’s Manila-set thriller Beast; German filmmaker Sebastian Ko’s riveting suspense We Monsters; Michael Lennox’s A Patch of Fog which chronicles a British anti-bromance; Very Big Shot, the debut from Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, delving into a darkly comedic world of coke smuggling in Lebanon; Maris Curran’s intimate drama Five Nights in Maine; Irish director Simon Fitzmaurice’s feature debut, the coming-of-age story My Name is Emily; and Mexico’s Alejandra Márquez Abellas’ debut, the poignant drama Semana Santa.
The Toronto International Film Festival also announced an additional title has been added to the Cinematheque Program — a special 20th anniversary screening of Michael Mann’s magnum-opus Heat, followed by a Q&A with the acclaimed writer/director; and in the Vanguard Program, the Festival announced the world premiere of Pedro Morelli’s Zoom.
DISCOVERY PROGRAMME
A Patch of Fog
Michael Lennox, United Kingdom World Premiere
A celebrated novelist and TV personality finds his reputation on the line when he is caught shoplifting by a lonely security guard, intent on becoming his friend for life. Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean, Boardwalk Empire) stars alongside Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Lara Pulver (Sherlock), Arsher Ali (Four Lions) and Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones).
The Ardennes
Robin Pront, Belgium World Premiere
Two bandit brothers, one fresh from prison, the other eager to escape their criminal past, form a potentially explosive love triangle with the ex-con’s ex-girlfriend, in Robin Pront’s Cain vs. Abel update.
Beast
Tom McKeith, Sam McKeith, Australia/Philippines World Premiere
Deep in the slums of Manila, a young boxer’s life is changed forever when his father pressures him to cheat in a fight.
Black
Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Belgium World Premiere
Fifteen-year-old Mavela is a member of the notorious Black Bronx gang. She falls head over heels in love with the charismatic Marwan, a boy from the rival gang 1080ers. The two young people are brutally forced to choose between loyalty to their gang and their love for each other. An impossible choice … or not?
Born to Dance
Tammy Davis, New Zealand World Premiere
A Maori teen faces parental and social pressure while leading his competitive hip-hop dance crew toward the regional championships, in this exhilarating feature directorial debut from New Zealand actor Tammy Davis.
Dégradé (pictured above)
Arab Nasser, Tarzan Nasser, Palestine/France/Qatar North American Premiere
Gaza Strip, present day. Christine’s beauty salon is heaving with female clients: a bitter divorcée, a stern religious woman, a disenchanted housewife addicted to prescription drugs, and a young bride-to-be, among others. But their day of leisure is disrupted when gunfire breaks out across the street. A gangland family has stolen the lion from Gaza’s zoo, and the police have decided it’s time to wrestle control. Stuck in the salon, the women start to unravel…
Desde Allá
Lorenzo Vigas, Venezuela North American Premiere
Fifty-year-old Armando picks up young boys in the streets of Caracas and pays them to come home with him. He also regularly spies on an older man with whom he seems bound by something in the past. One day he meets 17-year-old Elder, the leader of a small gang. Violent at first, their relationship morphs into something beautiful … until the inevitable happens.
Downriver
Grant Scicluna, Australia International Premiere
James has served time for drowning a little boy when he himself was just a child, although the body was never found. Upon his parole, a visit from his victim’s mother sends him on a quest to find the truth. With little time and danger at every turn, James risks his freedom and his life to uncover the trail of sins that might give closure to a grieving mother.
Eva Nová
Marko Škop, Slovakia World Premiere
Eva would do anything to regain the love of the one she hurt the most — her son. She is a recovered alcoholic, but decades ago she was a famous actress.
Five Nights in Maine
Maris Curran, USA World Premiere
Reeling from the tragic, sudden death of his wife, a man travels to rural Maine to seek answers from his estranged mother-in-law, who is herself confronting guilt and grief over her daughter’s death. Starring David Oyelowo (Selma), Dianne Wiest and Rosie Perez.
The Here After (Efterskalv)
Magnus von Horn, Poland/Sweden/France North American Premiere
When John returns home to his father after serving time in prison, he is looking forward to starting his life afresh. However in the local community, his crime is neither forgotten nor forgiven. John’s presence brings out the worst in everyone around him and a lynch-mob atmosphere slowly takes shape. Feeling abandoned by his former friends and the people he loves, John loses hope and the same aggressions that previously sent him to prison start building up again. Unable to leave the past behind, he decides to confront it.
Ixcanul
Jayro Bustamante, Guatemala/France Canadian Premiere
María, a young 17-year-old Mayan girl, lives and works with her parents on a coffee plantation in the foothills of an active volcano in Guatemala. An arranged marriage awaits her. Although María dreams of going to the “big city,” her status as an indigenous woman does not permit her to change her destiny. A snake bite forces her to go out into the modern world where her life is saved, but at what price?
James White
Josh Mond, USA Canadian Premiere
James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but as his mother (Cynthia Nixon) battles a serious illness James is forced to take control of his life. The directorial debut of Martha Marcy May Marlene producer Josh Mond, James White, which had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2014 where it was the winner of the Audience Award: NEXT, is a confident and closely observed debut that explores loss and the deep relationship between a mother and son.
Keeper
Guillaume Senez, Belgium/Switzerland/France North American Premiere
Maxime and Mélanie are in love. Together, they clumsily explore their sexuality with fiery curiosity until the day Mélanie realizes she’s pregnant. At first Maxime takes the news badly, but then he gets used to the idea of becoming a father. He convinces Melanie to keep the baby. So it’s been decided – Maxime and Mélanie, all of fifteen years old, will become parents.
Les Cowboys
Thomas Bidegain, France/Belgium North American Premiere
A vast prairie, a country and western gathering somewhere in the east of France. Alain is a central figure in this community. He’s dancing with his daughter, 16-year-old Kelly, as his wife and their young son Kid watch from the sidelines. But on this day, Kelly disappears, and the family falls apart. Alain embarks on a relentless search for his daughter, even though it costs him everything and takes him to dark, unsettling places, where his sole support is Kid, who sacrifices his youth to accompany his father on this seemingly endless quest.
Meghmallar
Zahidur Rahim Anjan, Bangladesh World Premiere
A case of mistaken identity throws an apolitical chemistry teacher into the maelstrom of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, in the striking debut feature from director Zahidur Rahim Anjan.
Mountain
Yaelle Kayam, Israel/Denmark North American Premiere
An Orthodox Jewish woman, living at the edge of the cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, becomes fascinated by a nocturnal community of prostitutes and drug dealers congregating amongst the tombstones. Mountain is a haunting and dramatic exploration of a women’s search for identity.
My Name is Emily
Simon Fitzmaurice, Ireland North American Premiere
Packed off to a foster home after her father is institutionalized, a rebellious young Irish girl resolves to bust her dad out of the hospital where he’s been confined, in this spirited coming-of-age tale from celebrated memoirist and first-time feature director Simon Fitzmaurice.
The Paradise Suite
Joost van Ginkel, Netherlands/Sweden/Bulgaria World Premiere
This dexterous tale of survival from director Joost van Ginkel traces the intersecting stories of six immigrants from very different backgrounds in Amsterdam who learn that they can irreversibly influence each other’s lives, sometimes with just one glance.
Semana Santa
Alejandra Márquez Abella, Mexico World Premiere
Dali and her eight-year-old son Pepe take a vacation to Acapulco with Dali’s boyfriend, Chavez. Instead of bringing them closer, their beach holiday brings out things in each of them that threaten to pull this emerging family apart.
Spear
Stephen Page, Australia World Premiere
Djali, a young Aboriginal man, sets off on a journey of initiation to understand what it means to be a man in a modern day world. He sees the problems being faced by Aboriginal men in remote and urban communities. As he struggles to find his place, he becomes awakened to a spiritual force within, guiding him on his journey into manhood.
Very Big Shot (Film Kteer Kbeer)
Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya, Lebanon/Qatar World Premiere
Intending to smuggle the amphetamine Captagon to Iraqi Kurdistan, a small-time Lebanese drug dealer discovers that a way to foil customs, with the help of a talentless filmmaker. Posing as a film producer, he has no qualms manipulating public opinion to his advantage.
The Wait (L’attesa)
Piero Messina, Italy North American Premiere
Waiting for someone is an act of faith. Anna and Jeanne, isolated in a Sicilian country house in Caltagirone, are waiting for Giuseppe’s arrival. He is the former’s son, the latter’s boyfriend. Their wait turns into a mysterious act of love and will, while in the streets people are celebrating Easter.
We Monsters (Wir Monster)
Sebastian Ko, Germany North American Premiere
Paul and Christine know their teenage daughter Sarah has been thrown off track by their separation — but is she capable of committing a horrible crime? Wanting to protect her, they decide attempt to hide her wrongdoing, but their joint guilt forces the family back together under a web of lies. The directorial debut from German actor Sebastian Ko, We Monsters is a gripping psychological
thriller.
Wedding Doll (Chatona Meniyar)
Nitzan Gilady, Israel International Premiere
Fixated on romantic fantasies, a kindly and strong-willed young woman with a mild mental disability embarks on a relationship — much to the concern of her protective mother — in this assured first feature from director Nitzan Gilady.
Previously announced Canadian titles in the Discovery Program include Stephen Dunn’s Closet Monster, Adam Garnet Jones’ Fire Song, Jamie M. Dagg’s River, Kire Paputts’ The Rainbow Kid, and Andrew Cividino’s Sleeping Giant.
CINEMATHEQUE PROGRAMME
Heat
Michael Mann, USA
Hard-boiled ex-con Neil McCauley is the leader of a crew of seasoned thieves who operate with grim determination and military discipline. But when a last-minute replacement on his team leads to a bloody triple murder during an armored truck robbery, McCauley is targeted by veteran detective Vincent Hanna, whose obsessive dedication both mirrors and contrasts with McCauley’s ruthless professionalism. Starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro with Jon Voight, Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Tom Sizemore and Amy Brenneman.
VANGUARD PROGRAMME
Zoom,
Pedro Morelli, Canada World Premiere
Zoom is a fast-paced, pop-art inspired, multi-plot contemporary comedy. The film consists of three seemingly separate but ultimately interlinked storylines about a comic book artist, a novelist and a film director. Each character lives in a separate world but authors a story about the life of another.
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.
The Horizontes Latinos program of the 63rd San Sebastian Festival will include fourteen films from Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Cuba, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Films that have competed or premiered at important international festivals, but which have not yet been screened at a Spanish festival or had their commercial release in Spain.
The Horizontes Latinos program will open with Pablo Larraín’s El club, Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the last Berlin Festival. The film tells the tale of four men who share a secluded house in a small beach town, sent there to purge the sins they have committed in the past.
The selected films compete for the Horizontes Award, decided by a specific jury and coming with €35,000, of which €10,000 will go to the director of the winning film, and the remaining €25,000 to its distributor in Spain.
EL CLUB (THE CLUB) (pictured in main image above)
PABLO LARRAÍN (CHILE)
Opening Night Film
Pablo Larraín won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the last Berlin Festival with this film. Four men share a secluded house in a small beach town, sent there to purge the sins they have committed in the past.
600 MILLAS (600 MILES)
GABRIEL RIPSTEIN (MEXICO)
Arnulfo Rubio, a young gun trafficker between the United States and Mexico, is being followed by ATF agent Hank Harris. After a risky mistake by Harris, Rubio makes a desperate decision: he smuggles the agent to Mexico. Best First Feature Award in the Panorama section of the Berlin Festival.
EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE (EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT)
CIRO GUERRA (COLOMBIA – ARGENTINA – VENEZUELA)
Premiered at the Cannes Festival Directors’ Fortnight, the latest film from Ciro Guerra tells the epic story of the first contact, encounter, approach, betrayal and, eventually, life-transcending friendship, between an Amazonian shaman and two Western explorers.
EL BOTÓN DE NÁCAR (THE PEARL BUTTON)
PATRICIO GUZMÁN (FRANCE – CHILE – SPAIN )
Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán talks to us in his latest documentary about water, the cosmos and ourselves, human beings. It all begins with the discovery of two mysterious buttons in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Chile.
CHRONIC
MICHEL FRANCO (MEXICO – FRANCE)
David is a nurse who works with terminally ill patients. Efficient and dedicated to his profession, he develops strong and even intimate relationships with each person he cares for. But outside of his work David is ineffectual, awkward, and reserved. Best Screenplay Award-winner at the Cannes Festival.
DESDE ALLÁ (FROM AFAR)
LORENZO VIGAS (VENEZUELA)
Armando, aged 50, looks for young men in the streets of Caracas and pays them to come back to his house with him. He also regularly spies on an older man with whom he seems to have ties from the past. One day he meets Elder, aged 17, leader of a small band of thugs. Competitor in the Official Selection of the Venice Festival.
LAS ELEGIDAS (THE CHOSEN ONES)
DAVID PABLOS (MEXICO – FRANCE)
David Pablos’s second film took part at the San Sebastian Co-production Forum in 2014 and premiered in the Un Certain Regard section of Cannes Festival. Sofia, 14 years old, is in love with Ulises. Because of him, in spite of him, she is forced into a prostitution ring in Mexico. To set her free, Ulises will have to find another girl to replace her.
IXCANUL
JAYRO BUSTAMANTE (GUATEMALA – FRANCE)
María, a 17 year-old Mayan girl, lives and works with her family in a plantation on the Guatemalan plateau. Her days go by uneventfully until her parents arrange her marriage to the estate foreman, Ignacio. A film that landed a special mention at the last edition of Films in Progress and competed at the Berlin Festival, where it won the Alfred Bauer Award.
MAGALLANES
SALVADOR DEL SOLAR (PERU – ARGENTINA – COLOMBIA – SPAIN)
Winner of Films in Progress at last year’s Festival. Magallanes recognises a woman getting into a taxi. It’s Celina, the young peasant girl he randomly arrested more than twenty years ago, when he was a soldier. They both have unfinished business. And for Magallanes, this is an opportunity to redeem himself. Damián Alcázar, Magaly Solier and Federico Luppi play the leading parts.
LA OBRA DEL SIGLO (THE PROJECT OF THE CENTURY)
CARLOS M. QUINTELA (CUBA – ARGENTINA – GERMANY -SWITZERLAND)
Amidst a mosquito plague, Leonardo, struggling with the breakdown of his relationship, moves back to live with a grandfather who fights with everyone and everything, and a father living with the melancholy of the unfinished. Tiger Award-winner at the last Rotterdam Festival.
PAULINA
SANTIAGO MITRE (ARGENTINA – BRAZIL – FRANCE)
Paulina decides to leave her brilliant law career to teach in a downtrodden Argentinian region. In a hostile atmosphere, she will set about her pedagogical mission, even if it means losing her boyfriend and confrontation with her father. Fipresci Prize-winner at the last Cannes Festival Critics’ Week.
PARA MINHA AMADA MORTA (TO MY BELOVED)
ALY MURITIBA (BRAZIL)
Fernando is a good man who takes care of his only child, Daniel, a shy and sensitive boy. Following the death of his wife Ana, every night Fernando recalls their love as he sorts out his beloved dead spouse’s belongings. One day he finds a VHS tape that will change everything. This movie participated in the Films in Progress section at the last Festival. The film took part at the Co-Production Forum in 2014.
TE PROMETO ANARQUÍA (I PROMISE YOU ANARCHY)
JULIO HERNÁNDEZ CORDÓN (MEXICO – GERMANY)
Julio Hernández Cordón’s new film was selected for the Locarno Festival Competition. Miguel and Johnny have known each other since childhood. They spend their time skateboarding and having fun. To make easy money and continue skateboarding, they sell their own blood clandestinely. They turn the ploy into a business, until a major transaction doesn’t turn out as they’d expected.
LA TIERRA Y LA SOMBRA / LAND AND SHADE
CÉSAR AUGUSTO ACEVEDO (COLOMBIA – CHILE – BRAZIL – NETHERLANDS – FRANCE)
Winner of the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Festival, after having participated at the San Sebastian Co-Production Forum in 2013, this film portrays a family as they try to repair the fragile ties that bind them in the face of their imminent disappearance, brought about by the overwhelming power of progress.