Birds of Passage, a viscerally stunning epic on the origins of the Colombian narcotics trade directed by Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra, won the $40,000 Knight MARIMBAS Award, the top Grand Jury prize of the 36th season of Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival.
Director Penny Lane’s provocative Sundance-sensation Hail Satan? opens this year’s 2019 Boston Underground Film Festival with its inspirational and entertaining chronicle of the extraordinary rise of one of America’s most colorful and controversial religious movements, The Satanic Temple (TST). A damning commentary on the role of organized religion in our purportedly secular society, Hail Satan? challenges preconceived notions about the objectives of the nontheistic, Salem-based, political activist movement and offers “a timely look at a group of often misunderstood outsiders whose unwavering commitment to social and political justice has empowered thousands of people around the world.” Filmmaker Lane and TST co-founder & spokesperson Lucien Greaves will be present for a post-screening Q&A.
This Changes Everything, a pivotal documentary examining historic and contemporary gender inequity in the American film and television industries, will open the 36th edition of Miami Dade College’s acclaimed Miami Film Festival, on Friday, March 1st at the historic Olympia Theater. Appearing on camera are leading Hollywood women Meryl Streep, Geena Davis, Sandra Oh, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Saldana, Jessica Chastain, Taraji P. Henson, Cate Blanchett, Amandla Stenberg, Natalie Portman, Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes, Jill Soloway and many more advocating for meaningful change.
The 30th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will open with All is True directed by Kenneth Branagh on Friday, January 4, and close with Ladies in Black, directed by Bruce Beresford on Sunday, January 13. The Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, with a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, FLOS: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!La, Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals and more.
In All is True, Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen star in Branagh’s intimate, revelatory portrait of William Shakespeare in the last act of his life. His career over, he returns to his home in Stratford-upon-Avon to encounter old ghosts, old loves, and his resentful family. Branagh is expected to attend.
Ladies in Black, set in Sydney in 1959, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Bruce Beresford takes us back to the heyday of glamorous upscale department stores, when a concierge met you at the door and clerks wore gloves. The film from Lumila Films stars Julia Ormond, Angourie Rice, Rachael Taylor, Ryan Corr, Shane Jacobson and Alison McGirr. Beresford, Ormond, Taylor and McGirr are expected to attend.
My Name is Myeisha[/caption]
The Ithaca Fantastik film festival wrapped up the 7th edition of genre programming, documentaries, events last Sunday, and awarded the top prize of Best Film to MY NAME IS MYEISHA, directed by Gus Krieger.
The 2018 edition of the festival hosted films from 19 different countries and welcomed guests such as STARFISH director A.T. White; GIRLS WITH BALLS actress Anne-Solenne Hatte; Perry Blackshear, director of THE RUSALKA; BOILED ANGELS director Frank Henenlotter, producer Mike Hunchback and criminal indie comic book artist and subject of the film Mike Diana; and CAM actor Patch Darragh. The festival also hosted the very first DRUNKEN CINEMA projection in the US where spectators were invited to participate to an informal drinking game involving secret rules while watching an 80’s classic genre film.
This year, the jury was composed of Yellow Veil Pictures co-owner Joe Yanick, programmer and producer Vanessa Meyer and the Archive co-owner and Vinegar Syndrome lead restoration artist Brandon Upson.
The Day I Lost My Shadow[/caption]
As the 48th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) fast approaches, the festival is announcing the first 26 confirmed titles, including new films by Claire Denis, Jia Zhangke and Garin Nugroho. IFFR 2019 will take place from January23 to February 3, 2019.
The confirmed titles include the world premiere of Simona Kostova’s Dreissig and the international premiere of Fabienne Godet’s Nos vies formidables. Other filmmakers on the selection list so far are Nadine Labaki with her new film Capernaum and Khalik Allah with his Black Mother, a piercing reflection on Jamaican identity which won the Yellow Robin Award at Curaçao IFFR in April 2018. BNK48: Girls Don’t Cry, a European premiere, is a remarkable documentary feature by Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit chronicling the intense lives of a group of pop singers living together in Bangkok. And with I diari di Angela – Noi due cineasti Yervant Gianikian has created a moving portrait of his partner in cinema Angela Ricci Lucchi, who passed away in 2018.
Three of the films selected so far received support from IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) in previous years: The Day I Lost My Shadow by Soudade Kaadan and Rafiki by Wanuri Kahiu in 2016, The Load by Ognjen Glavonić in 2013.
IFFR celebrates film art from all over the world and presents its program within four sections, each with its own distinct character: Bright Future (including the Tiger Competition and the Ammodo Tiger Short Competition), Voices, Deep Focus and Perspectives. Short films are strongly represented throughout all sections.
Festival director Bero Beyer: “We’re delighted to present an appealing and rich first selection of titles to screen at our upcoming festival. There are names we’ve seen before in Rotterdam, and ones that are brand new. Together they exemplify the type of bold and daring cinema we like to celebrate at IFFR.”
COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski[/caption]
Now in its 31st year, the 2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase, taking place November 30 to December 19 at the American Film Institute’s historic theater in Silver Spring, MD, will feature 49 foreign films representing 25 EU member states, plus 12 of the top contenders for this year’s Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film and eight U.S. premieres. Films on the lineup include Oscar®-winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s highly anticipated Berlusconi biopic LORO (Italy) and Benoît Jacquot’s Berlin-premiered psychological thriller EVA (France), starring Isabelle Huppert and Gaspard Ulliel.
This year’s AFI European Union Film Showcase opens on November 30 with COLD WAR (Poland), the stunning, black-and-white, 1950s-set romance from Oscar®-winning director Paweł Pawlikowski (IDA). The Closing Night selection is Scottish director Jon S. Baird’s Laurel and Hardy biopic STAN & OLLIE (UK), starring Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as the beloved comedy duo. Special presentations include two-time Oscar®-winning director Asghar Farhadi’s Spain-set thriller EVERYBODY KNOWS (Spain), starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem; off-the-wall critical hit DIAMANTINO (Portugal), winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize (and Palm Dog Jury Prize) at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; and the U.S. premiere of actress-director Paprika Steen’s Toronto-debuted family dramedy THAT TIME OF YEAR (Denmark).
Among the 12 official Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® submissions showcased this year are multi-award-winning coming-of-age drama GIRL (Belgium), winner of the Camera d’Or, FIPRESCI, Best Actor and Queer Palm awards at this year’s Cannes Film Festival; Ruth Beckermann’s engrossing documentary THE WALDHEIM WALTZ (Austria), winner of the Glashütte Original Documentary Award at this year’s Berlinale; NEVER LOOK AWAY (Germany), Oscar®-winning director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s first German-language film since 2007’s THE LIVES OF OTHERS; and Rada Jude’s powerful political satire I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS (Romania), winner of the Crystal Globe for Best Film at the 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
This year’s Showcase also presents an abundance of new works from some of Europe’s best-known filmmakers, including Olivier Assayas’ whip smart dramedy NON-FICTION (France), starring Juliette Binoche and Guillaume Canet; Christian Petzold’s stirring refugee drama TRANSIT; EUPHORIA, the sophomore feature from Italian actress-turned-director Valeria Golino; Christophe Honoré’s powerful ’90s-set gay romance SORRY ANGEL (France); Małgorzata Szumowska’s dark comedy MUG (Poland), winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale; and Matteo Garrone’s powerful Cannes-debuted drama DOGMAN, Italy’s official Oscar® submission.
Smuggling Hendrix[/caption]
SMUGGLING HENDRIX
This charming feature debut from Marios Piperides takes a wry and comic look at Cypriot border politics, with the aid of an adorable dog named Jimi. Loafing man-child Yiannis (Adam Bousdoukos, SOUL KITCHEN) is about to leave his fading music career and broken relationship on the Greek Cypriot side of Nicosia for a new life in Holland. But his dog, Jimi, has other plans. When the pup wanders across the UN buffer zone and into the Turkish side of the divided city — the capital of northern Cyprus, a country recognized only by Turkey — Yiannis is forced to enlist a trans-border band of misfits (including his ex-girlfriend) to skirt EU law and get the pooch back home before it’s too late. Winner, Best International Narrative Feature, 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Marios Piperides; PROD Martin Hampel, Thanassis Karathanos, Kostas Lambropoulos, Janine Teerling. Cyprus, 2018, color, 93 min. In Greek and Turkish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Stan & Ollie[/caption]
Closing Night:
STAN & OLLIE
Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly bring their brilliant comedic chops to bear as legendary comedy duo Stan “Laurel” (Coogan) and Ollie “Hardy” (Reilly) in this hilarious road movie recounting the pair’s famed 1953 “farewell” tour of Britain and Ireland. Initially underwhelming, the tour gradually picks up steam as the duo move toward a big London finale, reigniting their celebrity and causing the world to fall in love with them all over again. But health issues, the stress of being on the road and the arrival of their wives Lucille and Ida (Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda) threaten to upset the delicate balance required for their creative partnership. Director Jon S. Baird (FILTH) and screenwriter Jeff Pope (PHILOMENA) offer a nuanced study of lifelong male friendship and a suitably laugh-inducing tribute to two of cinema’s comedy greats. Official Selection, 2018 London and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR Jon S. Baird; SCR Jeff Pope; PROD Faye Ward. UK/Canada/U.S., 2018, color, 97 min. In English. NOT RATED
RAY & LIZ
Turner Prize-nominated British photographer Richard Billingham makes his feature film debut with this gritty, 16mm-shot family portrait, based on the 1996 photo series “Ray’s a Laugh,” which put him on the map as a Young British Artist and brought the term “squalid realism” into the lexicon of contemporary art. Inspired by his own upbringing in the Black Country, west of Birmingham, RAY & LIZ is named for Billingham’s highly dysfunctional parents and comprises three episodes in the family’s life, spanning the early 1980s to the late 2000s. Like “Ray’s a Laugh,” the result is grimy, shocking and truthful, yet grounded by a humor and humanity that breathes life and empathy into every frame. Winner, Special Mention Jury Prize, 2018 Locarno Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Toronto, New York, London and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR/SCR Richard Billingham; PROD Jacqui Davies. UK, 2018, color, 108 min. In English. NOT RATED
Perry Blackshear, Best Director winner for THE RUSALKA – 2018 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Awards[/caption]
Following what is considered the biggest year yet, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival announced the 2018 award winners, with the top awards going to Cannibal Club, winner of the Best Film – Horror Feature, and Family, winner of the Best Film – Head Trip. CAM was voted the winner of the Audience Award.
“Watching our festival grow in ways we never could have imagined is such an exciting experience. Enormous thank you to the entire staff and volunteers, you are a dream-team and congratulations to our award winners. We’ll be back again next year bigger and better than ever before!” says festival director Justin Timms.
Everybody Knows (Todos Lo Saben) by Asghar Farhadi[/caption]
Some of the most highly anticipated films and episodic series will play in the Special Screenings, Cinema’s Legacy and Midnight sections at AFI FEST 2018 presented by Audi.
Narrative features screening in the Special Screenings section are COLD WAR (DIR Paweł Pawlikowski), EVERYBODY KNOWS (DIR Asghar Farhadi), THE FAVOURITE (DIR Yorgos Lanthimos), ROMA (DIR Alfonso Cuarón), the North American Premiere of STAN & OLLIE (DIR Jon S. Baird), UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (DIR David Robert Mitchell) and VOX LUX (DIR Brady Corbet). Documentaries screening are THE COLD BLUE (DIR Erik Nelson) and DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES (DIR Alexis Bloom). Also screening are are an episode of the docuseries ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI (DIR Jed Rothstein), and the World Premiere of the first episode of the limited series I AM THE NIGHT (DIR Patty Jenkins, AFI Class of 2000).
In this year’s Cinema’s Legacy program, AFI FEST highlights films directed by women. This section is a celebration of motion picture history and a special opportunity to screen recent restorations of classic and lesser-known films. The festival spotlights six independent filmmakers across subjects and genres, including two world-premiere restorations, and newly struck 16mm presentations: THE CRUZ BROTHERS AND MISS MALLOY (DIR Kathleen Collins, 1980), DRYLONGSO (DIR Cauleen Smith, 1998), THE JUNIPER TREE (DIR Nietzchka Keene, 1990), MEETINGS OF ANNA (DIR Chantal Akerman, 1978), NITRATE KISSES (DIR Barbara Hammer, 1992) and QUEEN OF DIAMONDS (DIR Nina Menkes, 1991).
The Midnight section features an international selection of macabre and provocative genre films: CAM (DIR Daniel Goldhaber), IN FABRIC (DIR Peter Strickland), KNIFE+HEART (DIR Yann Gonzalez) and PIERCING (DIR Nicolas Pesce).
THE UNTHINKABLE[/caption]
Ithaca Fantastik will close the upcoming 7th edition in upstate NY with the breathtaking Swedish war drama THE UNTHINKABLE from Victor Danelland. The 10-day festival running October 26th to November 4th announced the final wave of 2018 programming including the highly acclaimed and award-winning MY NAME IS MYEISHA by Gus Krieger’s and Daniel Goldhaber’s electrifying CAM, and notable IF alum Perry Blackshear returns following his 2015 psychological horror hit THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE with an eerie and out-of-the-world fable THE RUSALKA!
The Cinema Pur side-bar is back with one of the festival’s strongest vanguard focused programs to date adding Joel Potrykus’ latest niche nostalgia nerd-fest RELAXER and A.T. White’s spellbinding debut STARFISH, hands down one of the most beautiful and gripping fable we’ve seen this year to previously announced titles in wave one. The Ithaca Fantastik will host also special screening of BOILED ANGELS: THE TRIAL OF MIKE DIANA with celebrated cult director Frank Henenlotter and Mike Diana paired with a discussion. Taking the Piss Down Under, a mini series with two of our favorite films of the year coming from South East Pacific: BROTHER’S NEST, MEGA TIME SQUAD. What would Ithaca Fantastik be without a dose of gore and fun! Get ready for the gruesome French insanity that is Alfonso’s GIRLS WITH BALLS and the international festival midnighter darling, Ueda’s ONE CUT OF THE DEAD!
For it’s 7th edition, Ithaca Fantastik goes wild with its shorts with four massive blocks – GASP! The Horror!, WTFantastik!, Light+/-Dark Shorts, and the very special Eyeslicer Halloween Special, a curation of the weirdest and wackiest American indie spooky shorts from NYC producers Dan Schoenbrun and Vanessa McDonnell.
Ithaca Fantastik rounds out the final wave with a dive into AR/VR and brings a program of six experiences, including the award winner DINNER PARTY and Alexandre’s Aja’s CAMPFIRE CREEPERS!
Closing:
The Unthinkable East Coast Premiere
Victor Danell | 2018 | Sweden | 129min
While Alex attempts to reconnect with the long lost love of his youth, a series of strange events unfold—each bizarre occurrence leading to the next until it culminates in a declaration of war by a belligerent foreign country. Carried on by his quest for love, Alex must also manage to find his family and save them from the war. This epic adventure pushes him to overcome each obstacle and face the deepest, darkest corners of his past.
Scandinavia has produced some of recent years’ most impressive action films with a healthy dose of heart—from The Wave (2015) to The Quake (2018)—redefining what it means to be a blockbuster in the global market. Following in this grand tradition, Crazy Pictures takes us by storm with this genre blurring piece of cinema. It expertly navigates the arthouse drama landscape while using a backdrop of a war as metaphorical elements enhance the frustration of the protagonist. THE UNTHINKABLE will make you think, cringe, laugh out loud, and cry- all in the span of a second. You’ll be talking about this perfect IF8 closing film for months to come.
Boy Erased[/caption]
Following the big announcement of Yen Tan’s award-winning AIDS drama 1985 as Opening Night Film, NewFest today announced the full lineup of more than 140 LGBT films from around the world for their 30th annual celebration. The festival runs from October 24 to 30 at the SVA Theatre, Cinépolis Chelsea, and The LGBT Community Center in New York City.
This year’s NewFest will feature several other galas and special screenings, including the New York Centerpiece screening of Ondi Timoner’s MAPPLETHORPE, starring Emmy®-nominee Matt Smith (“Doctor Who”, THE CROWN) about the iconic queer artist; and the U.S. Centerpiece screening of Joel Edgerton’s BOY ERASED, starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Troye Sivan, Cherry Jones, Flea and Xavier Dolan.
Other gala presentations include the International Centerpiece and New York premiere of Wanuri Kahiu’s groundbreaking love story RAFIKI, which screened at Cannes and was originally banned in its home country of Kenya for depicting a relationship between two young women, and the New York City premiere of Documentary Centerpiece film DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION!, which will be followed by a conversation on female representation in the film industry and lesbian visibility in cinema.
The festival will close on October 30th with the New York premiere of Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon’s documentary MAKING MONTGOMERY CLIFT, which is co-directed by the late Hollywood star’s nephew and features exclusive archival footage and audio interviews from the family’s archives.
This year’s edition continued in the tradition of receiving submissions from around the world, with films and episodic programming coming from 32 countries. In addition, 60% of content is by and about underrepresented voices (Women, People of Color, Trans, Bi and Differently Abled). Overall, the festival will screen 46 feature length films (including over 80% of feature works from first-time feature filmmakers, such as, Caroline Berler Tchaiko Omawale and Jonah Greenstein), 89 shorts and 9 episodic series, including the French Canadian production FÉMININ/FÉMININ by Chloé Robichaud, for a total of 144 selections.
The International Narrative Features section includes the New York premieres of Anne Fontaine’s Venice Film Festival Queer Lion winner REINVENTING MARVIN (featuring a turn by Isabelle Huppert as…Isabelle Huppert) and 2018 Berlinale Teddy Award for Best Feature winner HARD PAINT from Filipe Matzembacher and Marcio Reolon (NewFest alums for 2016’s “The Nest”), as well as 2018 Berlinale Teddy Award for Best First Feature winner RETABLO from Alvaro Delgado Aparicio. Other premieres include the New York premiere of two films submitted for next year’s Academy Awards®: Marcelo Martinessi’s THE HEIRESSES from Paraguay and Blerta Zeqiri’s Kosovoan entry THE MARRIAGE; as well as Jamie Patterson’s TUCKED, another New York premiere, which picked up multiple awards at this year’s Outfest, including the Best Narrative Audience Award and the International Feature Grand Jury Prize which it shared with HARD PAINT.
This year’s Documentary Features section is particularly strong and features some of the best new trans and non-binary stories from the U.S. and around the world, including T Cooper’s MAN MADE, about trans fitness models, which picked up the Best Documentary Feature Audience Award at Outfest 2018, Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscila’s BIXA TRAVESTY, about the political activism of black Brazilian transgender singer Linn da Quebrada (Teddy Award for Best Documentary/Essay Film, Berlinale 2018), and SIDNEY & FRIENDS, Tristan Aitchison’s look at an underground network of trans and intersex people fighting to survive on the edge of Kenyan society.
Also featured are the North American premiere of Gustavo Sánchez’s I HATE NEW YORK (Spain, 2018), which features New York nightlife luminarie Amanda Lepore; the East Coast premiere of Matt Alber and Jon Garcia’s ROOM TO GROW about what it means to be an LGBT teen in today’s world, and Jeff Kaufman’s EVERY ACT OF LIFE, a profile of multi-Tony Award®-winning playwright Terrence McNally, featuring appearances by Meryl Streep, Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Wilson, Angela Lansbury and Rita Moreno.
A hallmark of every NewFest is the bringing of new work to New York audiences, highlighting the emerging voices of queer cinema and 80% of the films in this year’s U.S. Narrative Features section are either New York, East Coast, or World premieres, and 9 of 10 films are from first or second-time filmmakers. In addition, in keeping with this year’s emphasis on inclusion, diversity and representation, 4 of the 10 films have female directors and 6 feature female leads.
NewFest’s commitment to bringing new films from around the world to New York audiences has never waivered and this year’s edition is no different. With the ever decreasing cost of technology and ever increasing reach of the Internet, previously underrepresented countries and communities are finding their voices like never before. As a result, more and more films like Wanuri Kahiu’s RAFIKI, a story (written with Jenna Cato Bass) about the first love between two women in Kenya are seeing the light, as well as films like Christiaan Olwagen’s South African Apartheid-set musical CANARY and Ruth Caudeli’s EVA + CANDELA (Colombia), to name but a few.
Of course, no NewFest would be complete without a few frightfully scary queer offerings and this year’s HalloKween sidebar is no exception! Featuring the New York Premiere of Drew Bolton’s KILLER UNICORN, a satirical stab at the slasher flick featuring a bevy of Brooklyn drag queens; NewFest alum Yann Gonzalez’s Cannes competition entry KNIFE + HEART (starring Vanessa Paradis); and the New York premiere of CARMILLA: THE MOVIE, based on the lesbian vampire web series sensation.
Continuing its long tradition of working with many New York City organizations, this year NewFest partnered with over 100 organizations across the city to bring audiences some of their most exciting programs, including HIP TO BE QUEER: Youth Shorts, presented by the NYC Department of Education and in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment; a Spotlight Screening & Conversation of Dir. Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson’s multiple award-winning TRANSMILITARY presented in partnership with GLAAD, and a screening of CONVERSATIONS WITH GAY ELDERS: DANIEL, a new film from NewFest alum David Weissman (WE WERE HERE, THE COCKETTES), presented in partnership with The Generations Project.
Birds of Passage (Pájaros de verano)[/caption]
Ithaca Fantastik today announced the first wave of films for the 7th edition of 10-day festival of genre films, electrifying music and dynamic art, taking place October 26th to November 4th, 2018. Films include Quentin Dupieux’s newest work KEEP AN EYE OUT! (Au Poste!), an uproariously absurd piece of cinema as only the maker of the fondly remembered tire-on-a-rampage comedy RUBBER could deliver, and the Cannes critics week winner DIAMANTINO, directed by Abrantes and Schmidt, with its layers of magical realism and social commentary seen through the eyes of the titular character—a star footballer who sees giant fluffy puppies surrounded by a pink mist… but only when he’s ready to score!
Aaron Schimberg’s NYC indie festival fav CHAINED FOR LIFE challenges the perception of the viewer by creating a cinematic meta-reality where the notion of image and personality is blurred against the backdrop of a horror movie set. Kalik Allah’s BLACK MOTHER will takes you on an anthropological journey into Jamaica to reveal a tale that is truly larger than life. Following their academy award winning film EMBRACE THE SERPENT Gallego and Guerra are back with BIRDS OF PASSAGE (Pájaros de Verano), which depicts tribal life and the destruction of the social fabric of 1970s la Guaija, Colombia as the drug trade begins in South America.
A pitch perfect statement on our narcissistic Western society Alexandros Avranas’s LOVE ME NOT, on par with the best work from Lanthimos, but without the fluff, and we promise it will punch you in the guts with it’s foreboding and uncompromising premise. Incorporating similar visual language, Nicolas Pesce’s sophomore film PIERCING offers a colorful descent into the deranged mind that excites the senses while shocking the heart with its unflinching bleakness.
Yann Gonzales continues to awe and impress audiences with his formidable second feature KNIFE+HEART (shot on 35mm) is the ultimate modern-day Giallo with the alluring setting of the 70s Paris pornography scene. Similarly, Japanese ‘geki-mation’ pioneer Ujicha delivers more of his unique animation blend of child-like innocence and ultra-violence in his own highly stylized second film, VIOLENCE VOYAGER!
IF will also present three delightfully demented BobbyPills productions starting with the vibrant and utterly off-the-wall CRISIS JUNG, that takes audiences on an epic journey and feast of visual extravaganzas à la Fist of the North Star with a dash of smutty humour. BobbyPills scores again with VERMIN, an anthropomorphized buddy cop film with a stench of Peter jackson’s skin crawling musical freak fest MEET THE FEEBLES… What can go wrong? To add a charmingly irreverent cherry on top, viewers can revel in unrestrained positive sexuality with an exclusive look at Bobbypills’ new series, PEEPOODO AND THE SUPER FUCK FRIENDS—come to learn, and you won’t be disappointed! René Manzor’s glorious new transfer of GAME OVER (3615 Père Noël) rounds out our curation of crazy French cinema —an earlier, darker, take on the genius-child-defending-his-home holiday thriller that (adult) fans of Christmas classic Home Alone will devore with love!
Keep an Eye Out! (Au Poste!) East Coast Premiere
Quentin Dupieux / 2018 / France / 73min
When Fugain trips over a dead body in front of his condo, his first impulse is to report it to the police—as any good, logical citizen would. He quickly realizes his mistake when he learns that the obsessive Captain Buron will gleefully grill him until he cracks.
Black Mother Regional Premiere
Khalik Allah / 2018 / USA / 77min
The history of Jamaica retold through the framework of a woman’s pregnancy, Black Mother is a heartfelt look at Jamaican identity that transcends its documentary form to offer an unusual and unique exploration of humanity.
Birds of Passage (Pájaros de verano) Regional Premiere
Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra / 2018 / Colombia / 125min
In La Guija, Colombia in the 1970s, an indigenous Wayuu family gets swept up in the newly-booming marijuana trade. When greed and passion overtake their tribe’s honor, their lives and ancestral traditions are forever fractured.
Chained for Life Regional Premiere
Aaron Schimberg / 2018 / USA / 91min
Freda is an actress cast as the lead in a schlocky horror film. Her co-star and much of the supporting cast are played by actors with disabilities. As she connects with her peers off-screen, she begins to consider if their treatment on set is exploitational and whether our current standards of representation in modern film are really as equal as we would like to believe.
Crisis Jung US Premiere
Baptiste Gaubert and Jérémie Hoarau / 2018 / France / 70min
Jung and Maria are sweethearts enjoying their blossoming love in an innocent world. But their starry-eyed love is imperiled when the malignant Little Jesus kidnaps Maria’s body to build his nefarious temple of pain!
Diamantino Regional Premiere
Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt / 2018 / Portugal / 92min
After missing the penalty shot at the world cup final, footballer Diamantino’s career is over. Floundering, he falls prey to sinister forces offering him a job as a political mascot—shilling the promise to “make Portugal great again”. Hoping for a second chance, he is instead transported on a surreal and satirical journey through a dysfunctional modern landscape.
Game Over (3615 Code Père Noël) East Coast Premiere
René Manzor / 1989 / France / 87min
Thomas, a French kid obsessed with American action films, believes he will be the first kid to catch Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. When a thief dressed as Santa shows up instead of the real deal, Thomas’s vengeance for broken childhood dreams takes on epic proportions in this cornerstone film.
Knife + Heart (Un Couteau Dans Le Coeur) Regional Premiere
Yann Gonzales / 2018 / France / 110min
After producer Anne breaks up with her editor girlfriend, the late 70s low-budget gay French porno they were shooting begins to take an… artistic turn. The sensual film becomes a real-life erotic thriller when one of her adult film stars is brutally murdered. Anne and her sidekick, Archibald, can’t seem to out-maneuver the chaos that ensues.
Love Me Not East Coast Premiere
Alexandros Avranas / 2018 / Greece, France / 99min
An infertile, upper-middle-class couple hires a young woman as a surrogate and all three move into a remote villa. The ladies start to bond, the husband becomes envious, and an unfortunate chain of events turns the table on the already dysfunctional new family dynamic.
Violence Voyager Regional Premiere
Ujicha / 2018 / Japan / 83min
Bobby and Akkun set out for an end-of-school celebration in the mountains where they discover an abandoned amusement park. Surprise! The owner greets them and conveniently offers them free tickets. Against their better judgement, they take him up on his offer.
Piercing Regional Premiere
Nicolas Pesce / 2018 / USA / 81min
Reed takes off from his idyllic life with his wife and baby for a very important business trip. But the business he has in mind is murder! All set with his plan to commit the perfect crime, Reed finds his victim in mysterious call girl Jackie…but Reed may have called the wrong person.
Vermin
Alexis Beaumont / 2018 / France / 81min
A young praying mantis follows in his father’s many footsteps and moves to the big city to become a police officer. A greenhorn kid from the country, young Reggie is totally unequipped for the dangers and temptations of city life. But when Reggie is assigned a partner with a history of drinking and bad police work, the sparks fly and both characters get more than they bargained for.