Pity

  • 2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase to Feature 49 Foreign Films, Opens with COLD WAR

    [caption id="attachment_29874" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]COLD WAR by Pawel Pawlikowski 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.

    2018 AFI European Union Film Showcase Lineup

    Austria

    2018 Oscar® Selection, Austria THE WALDHEIM WALTZ After serving as U.N. Secretary General from 1972 to 1981, Kurt Waldheim was elected president of Austria in 1986. But it was a controversial election, as new details about Waldheim’s service in the Nazi Wehrmacht in Greece and Yugoslavia during WWII came to light — including grave allegations as to his complicity in war crimes — and for many around the world, Waldheim’s explanations failed to convince. Ruth Beckermann’s gripping documentary combines the long view of historical perspective with the immediacy of someone who lived through the era — Beckermann shot much of the footage from the ’70s and ’80s herself, when she was an active protester of Waldheim’s candidacy. DIR/SCR/PROD Ruth Beckermann. Austria, 2018, color, 93 min. In German and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere ANGELO (2018) Markus Schleinzer’s audaciously stylized film is based on the life of Angelo Soliman, who was kidnapped from sub-Saharan Africa as a child in the 1720s, purchased from the slave market by a wealthy Austrian countess (Alba Rohrwacher) and raised and educated to be a “court Moor,” a courtier/entertainer/exotic status symbol for the household. Over time, Angelo is passed from one royal house to another, eventually marrying and gaining a measure of freedom. But the same society that Angelo navigated so skillfully in life finds one last way to cruelly exploit his personhood in death. DIR/SCR/PROD Markus Schleinzer; SCR Alexander Brom; PROD Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, Alexander Glehr, Bady Minck, Franz Novotny. Austria/Luxembourg, 2018, color, 111 min. In German and French with English subtitles. NOT RATED JOY (2018) Joy is a Nigerian immigrant working as a prostitute in Vienna, who reluctantly has taken the newest arrival at the brothel, Precious, under her wing. Already stressed by having to support her family back home and paying off her debt to the madame, Joy now has to look out for the new teenage recruit. In her sophomore effort, director Sudabeh Mortezai gives a powerful and personal look at the immigrant experience through the lives of sex workers only recently arrived in Europe, often employing documentary techniques for an intimate portrait of this grim world. Featuring many former sex workers, the non-professional cast gives uniformly strong performances that anchor the story in reality. DIR/SCR Sudabeh Mortezai; PROD Sabine Moser, Oliver Neumann. Austria, 2018, color, 99 min. In English and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Belgium

    Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Belgium GIRL (2018) Lara (Victor Polster) is a 15-year-old ballet dancer doing her best to fit in while standing out. Among her peers, family and friends, her trans identity is rarely an issue. We follow her internal struggle as she transitions both from her assigned gender and into adulthood. This refreshingly nuanced portrait of adolescence turns an empathetic eye toward growing up trans with a raw naturalism that recalls the Dardenne brothers. This multi-award-winning debut feature is at once warm and real, with standout performances by first-time actor Polster and a wonderful turn from Arieh Worthalter (THE ATTACK) as the loving father. DIR/SCR Lukas Dhont; SCR Angelo Tijssens; PROD Dirk Impens. Belgium/Netherlands, 2018, color, 109 min. In French and Flemish with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere ANGEL (2018) [UN ANGE] After a drug scandal calls his reputation into question, world-famous Belgian cyclist Thierry goes on holiday with his brother to Dakar. There he meets Fae, a headstrong Senegalese sex worker who eschews the labels given to her profession and works to unite her colleagues against social stigmas. The two instantly fall for one another and indulge their passions and vices in a night that will change their lives forever. This vividly hued love story combines dreamy romance with more ominous undertones. DIR/SCR/PROD Koen Mortier, from the novel by Dimitri Verhulst; PROD Eurydice Gysel. Belgium/Netherlands/Senegal, 2018, color, 105 min. In French and Wolof with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Bulgaria

    ÁGA Bulgarian director/writer Milko Lazarov (ALIENATION) sets his sublimely shot sophomore feature in the barely populated snowy wilderness of northeastern Siberia, where an elderly Yakut couple, Nanook and Sedna, live in a yurt with their sled dog, continuing to practice centuries-old ancestral traditions in the face of climate change and increasing scarcity. As the pair go about the precarious daily business of survival, their one constant is the dream of reuniting with their only daughter, Ága, who left their slowly vanishing way of life to work at a diamond mine in a distant town. When Sedna’s health deteriorates, Nanook is determined to reach Ága and fulfill the couple’s wish. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Sydney and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Milko Lazarov; SCR Simeon Ventsislavov; PROD Veselka Kiryakova. Bulgaria/Germany/France, 2018, color, 96 min. In Yakut with English subtitles. NOT RATED 2018 Oscar® Selection, Bulgaria OMNIPRESENT (2017) [VEZDESUSHTIYAT] Emil has it all. He is a successful writer and owner of a small ad agency, with a wife and teenage son. But when his ailing father asks him to install a hidden camera after a few antiques go missing from the older man’s apartment, Emil is hooked. With cameras now in his home, office, bathroom and even his wife’s therapy practice, Emil knows more than he should. The constant surveillance has gotten out of hand, and it’s only a matter of time before it comes back to bite him in this probing and darkly comic examination of technology. DIR/SCR/PROD Ilian Djevelekov; SCR/PROD Matey Konstantinov; PROD Georgi Dimitrov. Bulgaria, 2017, color, 120 min. In Bulgarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Croatia

    2018 Oscar® Selection, Croatia THE EIGHTH COMMISSIONER [OSMI POVJERENIK] In this comedy from director/writer Ivan Salaj, an ambitious politician embroiled in a front-page scandal must lay low with a gubernatorial election looming. At the behest of the prime minister, Siniša Mesjak is shipped off to the remote island of Trećić. There, as its newly appointed state commissioner, he must organize the local elections and whip the government into shape on an island without internet or phone service. To make matters worse, Siniša doesn’t speak the local dialect. Seven commissioners in ten years have tried and failed. Will the eighth time be the charm? DIR/SCR Ivan Salaj, from the novel by Renato Baretić; PROD Jozo Patljak. Croatia, 2018, color, 139 min. In Croatian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Cyprus

    [caption id="attachment_28552" align="aligncenter" width="1392"]Smuggling Hendrix 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

    Czech Republic

    U.S. Premiere 2018 Oscar® Selection, Czech Republic WINTER FLIES [VSECHNO BUDE] In the dead of winter, the naïve and energetic Heduš runs into his stoic pal Mára and convinces him to go on a road trip to nowhere in a stolen Audi. Told from an interrogation room where Mára is recounting their misadventures, this coming-of-age, comedic road movie sees two first-time actors knock it out of the park. Combining first loves, light drinking and even a thrilling dog rescue, this lively romp revels in irresponsibility and gentle mayhem with an energetic camera and a playful score. DIR Olmo Omerzu; SCR Petr Pýcha; PROD Jiri Konecny. Czech Republic/Slovenia/Poland/Slovakia/France, 2018, color, 85 min. In Czech with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Denmark

    Special Presentation U.S. Premiere THAT TIME OF YEAR (2018) [DEN TID PÅ ÅRET] Katrine (Paprika Steen) prepares to host her annual Christmas Eve family dinner, but this year is shaping up to be the most stressful yet: her teenage daughter is giving her more attitude than usual; her divorced parents (Karen-Lise Mynster and Lars Knutzon) start bickering immediately; her sister Barbara (Sofie Gråbøl) brings her badly prepared cabbage, her badly behaved son (Sofus Sondergaard Mikkelsen) and her pretentious author husband Torben (Lars Brygmann); while her other sister Patricia (Patricia Schumann), just out of rehab, surprises everyone by showing up with a brand-new husband and stepdaughter. Director and star Steen’s winning family dramedy rings true for anyone who’s ever had to laugh to keep from crying during the holiday season. DIR Paprika Steen; SCR Jakob Weis; PROD Mikael Chr. Rieks. Denmark, 2018, color, 101 min. In Danish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Estonia

    2018 Oscar® Selection, Estonia TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT (2018) [VÕTA VÕI JÄTA] Thirtysomething construction worker Erik hasn’t seen his ex-girlfriend Moonika in six months when he gets the news that she is going into labor with his child, but has decided she is not ready for motherhood. With the cards on the table, Erik is determined to be a single father to a daughter he never knew existed lest she be given up for adoption. Based on a true story, this quietly comic social drama explores contemporary gender roles in Estonia and what it really means to be a man. DIR/SCR Liina Trishkina; PROD Ivo Felt. Estonia, 2018, color, 102 min. In Estonian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Finland

    2018 Oscar® Selection, Finland EUTHANIZER [ARMOMURHAAJA] Pitch-black humor meets Nordic noir and animal rights advocacy in what filmmaker Teemu Nikki (LOVEMILLA) has called “DIRTY HARRY with pets.” Veijo Haukka (Matti Onnismaa) is a reclusive mechanic with a second job as a black-market pet euthanizer and a side project doling out vigilante justice to neglectful animal owners. When a local neo-Nazi gang member asks him to euthanize his dog and Veijo secretly adopts it instead, a spiral of vengeance unfolds. Winner, Best Screenplay, 2017 Tokyo International Film Festival; FIPRESCI Prize, 2018 Norwegian International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR/PROD Teemu Nikki; PROD Jani Pösö. Finland, 2017, color, 85 min. In Finnish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    France

    SORRY ANGEL [PLAIRE, AIMER ET COURIR VITE] In this intimate, disarming romance set against the vibrant backdrop of gay life in early 1990s France, Jacques (Pierre Deladonchamps) is a worldly-wise HIV-positive writer living in Paris — and not expecting to find love any time soon, if ever again. When he meets Arthur (Vincent Lacoste), a curious, self-assured university student from Brittany, sparks fly. But as their fling gradually and unexpectedly evolves into a deep and tender bond, both men find their worlds transformed. What emerges is a complex, unconventional and utterly human love story, touched by humor, loss and hope. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes, New York and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Christophe Honoré; PROD Philippe Martin, David Thion. France, 2018, color, 132 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED A FAITHFUL MAN French heartthrob Louis Garrel (THE DREAMERS, GODARD MON AMOUR) moves behind the camera once more for his charming sophomore feature — a French New Wave-inspired rom-com starring Laetitia Casta (THE BLUE BICYCLE, GAINSBOURG: A HEROIC LIFE) and Lily-Rose Depp (YOGA HOSERS) and co-written by legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE, THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING). When Abel (Garrel) is abandoned by his girlfriend Marianne (Casta) for his best friend Paul (also, she reveals, the father of her unborn child), the hapless young man accepts the devasting news and moves on. Years later, Paul unexpectedly dies, and the two meet again. As they begin to rekindle their romance, however, Paul’s alluring younger sister (Depp) and Marianne’s highly suspicious young son throw things off course, making matters delightfully complicated. Winner, Best Screenplay (Carrière, Garrel), 2018 San Sebastián International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Toronto, New York and Tokyo film festivals. DIR/SCR Louis Garrel; SCR Jean-Claude Carrière; PROD Pascal Caucheteux, Grégoire Sorlat. France, 2018, color, 75 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation NON-FICTION [DOUBLES VIES] Olivier Assayas’ smart dramedy set in the publishing world deftly balances a serious, informed debate about the future of publishing in the digital age against the romantic foibles, workaday stresses and crazymaking tendencies of the characters’ messy lives. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Guillaume Canet as a veteran publishing exec; Juliette Binoche as his TV actress wife; Vincent Macaigne as a mid-list literary author whose work’s worsening reception has him slated to be dropped; and former standup comedian Nora Hamzawi as Macaigne’s devoted but distracted partner, a hard-working political staffer. “Only actors of the caliber and intelligence of Canet and Binoche can toss off their sparring lines with the ease and conviction of stimulating dinner-party conversations, conveying warmth, brains and fallibility in equal measure: You want to join in the discussion around the table, hoping you can keep up.” – Jay Weissberg, Variety. DIR/SCR Olivier Assayas; PROD; Charles Gillibert. France, 2018, color, 108 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED KNIFE + HEART [UN COUTEAU DANS LE CŒUR] This campy erotic thriller from Yann Gonzalez (YOU AND THE NIGHT) is set in the seedy milieu of the gay porn demimonde of Paris in the 1970s, where director/producer Anne (a fiercely committed Vanessa Paradis) aspires to be an underground auteur, working closely with her stock company of carefully selected “real men” actors and ace editor Loïs (Kate Moran), Anne’s former lover with whom she’s still self-destructively obsessed. But someone is preying upon the cast and crew of Anne’s latest production, a twisted killer with a sick vendetta. “Picture CRUISING as directed by Brian De Palma, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this frisky parody-homage, which is equal parts kinky and kitsch, rendered with the kind of meticulous attention to lighting, composition and sound (including a reunion with M83, who also scored Gonzalez’s first film) that all but guarantees a cult following.” – Peter Debruge, Variety. DIR/SCR Yann Gonzalez; SCR Cristiano Mangione; PROD Charles Gillibert. France/Mexico/Switzerland, 2018, color, 110 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation U.S. Premiere EVA (2018) Benoît Jacquot adapts the lurid 1945 James Hadley Chase novel previously brought to the screen by Joseph Losey in 1962, with Jeanne Moreau and Stanley Baker. Gaspard Ulliel is a hot young playwright with a potentially career-destroying skeleton in his closet, if his appetite for risk-taking doesn’t do the job first. Isabelle Huppert is the mysterious call-girl with whom he begins a series of meetings, initially for “research” purposes but increasingly for more dangerous games of cat and mouse. DIR/SCR Benoît Jacquot; SCR Gilles Taurand, from the novel “Eve” by James Hadley Chase; PROD Mélita Toscan du Plantier, Marie-Jeanne Pascal. France/Belgium, 2018, color, 100 min. In French with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Germany

    IN MY ROOM (2018) Armin (Hans Löw, TONI ERDMANN) is a fortysomething cameraman slacking his way through life in Berlin, still clinging to the days of his youth. But the club nights are starting to take their toll. After going back home to help with his ailing grandfather at the insistence of his father, he gets a chance to reinvent himself when he wakes up to find that he is inexplicably the last human alive on Earth. The absence of humanity provides an eerie calm in this smart and meticulous end-of-the-world tale. DIR/SCR Ulrich Köhler; PROD Christoph Friedel, Claudia Steffen. Germany/Italy, 2018, color, 119 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED THE SILENT REVOLUTION [DAS SCHWEIGENDE KLASSENZIMMER] Based on a true story, Lars Kraume (THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER) directs an excellent young cast in this gripping historical drama. 1956 East Berlin: a classroom of high school students stages two minutes of silence during lessons, in solidarity with the Hungarian Uprising recently crushed by the Soviet army — which is simultaneously an amusing prank to pull on their uptight teacher. But things escalate as the students are referred first to the principal, then to the school superintendent and ultimately to the GDR’s Education Minister, who is intent on throwing the book at these would-be counter-revolutionaries for dabbling in dangerous ideas from the West (and admittedly, that’s where the students learned about the events in Hungary, from a newsreel preceding the sex farce film they traveled into West Berlin to watch). DIR/SCR Lars Kraume; SCR from the book by Dietrich Garstka; PROD Miriam Düssel, Susanne Freyer, Kalle Friz, Isabel Hund, Thomas Kufus. Germany, 2018, color, 111 min. In German and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED STYX In this taut and timely nautical thriller, a German doctor (Susanne Wolff) encounters a wrecked trawler filled with refugees while on a solo sailing trip to Ascension Island. Alone, save for an SSB radio, she is given conflicting information by the coast guard and quickly becomes torn between maritime law and her own moral compass. As the stakes continue to rise, she is forced to reckon with the limits of her compassion. Winner, Heiner Carow Prize, Label Europa Cinemas Awards and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, 2018 Berlinale; Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Toronto, London and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Wolfgang Fischer; SCR Ika Künzel; PROD Marcos Kantis, Martin Lehwald. Germany/Austria, 2018, color, 94 min. In German with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation TRANSIT (2018) This exquisite adaptation of Anna Seghers’ 1942 novel about German refugees trying to escape Nazi-occupied France gains additional resonance from director Christian Petzold’s (BARBARA, PHOENIX) daring decision to eschew any ’40s period trappings, instead telling the tale in contemporary settings and dress. Modern-day Marseille becomes a compelling stage for history: 75 years ago, against a backdrop of apartment buildings and commercial centers, a refugee crisis was taking place, one with eerie reverberations in today’s resurgent ethno-nationalism. The excellent cast includes Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Barbara Auer and Alex Brendemühl. DIR/SCR Christian Petzold, from the novel by Anna Seghers; PROD Antonin Dedet, Florian Koerner von Gustorf. Germany/France, 2018, color, 101 min. In German, French and French Sign Language with English subtitles. NOT RATED ICEMAN (2017) [DER MANN AUS DEM EIS] Filmed amid the stunning Alpine beauty of Bavaria (Germany), south Tyrol (Italy) and Carinthia (Austria) and based on the imagined final days of Ötzi the Iceman, the oldest natural mummy of the Copper Age, ICEMAN may be the first Neolithic revenge Western. More than 5,300 years ago, Kelab (Jürgen Vogel) returns from a hunting trip to find his family murdered, his home burned and his holy amulet stolen. He sets out through the freezing mountains to wreak vengeance on the killers, and the result is mankind’s first unsolved murder case. The dialogue is entirely in an early version of Rhaetian, a now-extinct language spoken in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. No translation is required to grasp the essence of this ancient tale. Official Selection, 2017 Locarno and Hamburg film festivals. DIR/SCR Felix Randau; PROD Jan Krüger, Andreas Pichler. Germany/Italy/Austria, 2017, color, 97 min. In Rhaetian. NOT RATED 2018 Oscar® Selection, Germany NEVER LOOK AWAY [WERK OHNE AUTOR] Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s first German film since 2007’s Oscar®-winning THE LIVES OF OTHERS is another exercise in Vergangenheitsbewältigung ­— “coming to terms with the past” ­— this time, a bildungsroman about Kurt (Tom Schilling), a talented young artist from Dresden who finds the GDR and its totalitarian state machinery stifling to his art and a mere substitution for the recently discarded fascist state he grew up in. Emigrating to Düsseldorf in the West, Kurt makes a new life for himself, but finds that events, and people, from his past will always have a grip on him. Closely based on the life and art of Gerhard Richter, NEVER LOOK AWAY is an epic of mid-century modernism spanning the worlds of art and politics, with characters doing their best to survive in rapidly changing times. With Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer and Saskia Rosendahl. DIR/SCR/PROD Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; PROD Quirin Berg, Jan Mojto, Christiane Henckel von Donnersmarck, Max Wiedemann. Germany/Italy, 2018, 188 min. In German and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Greece

    Special Presentation PITY With his wife in a coma and his life in a rut, a sullen, nameless everyman soon finds himself addicted to his own sadness — with those around him continually throwing pity his way. As his kind neighbor brings yet another bundt cake, the man becomes more and more content with his sorrow, even going so far as to forbid his son from playing upbeat tunes on the piano. But what will he do if his wife wakes up? This pitch-black comedy is a riotous affair, with comedian Yannis Drakopoulos in the lead role and a script co-written by Efthymis Filippou (DOGTOOTH, THE LOBSTER). DIR/SCR Babis Makridis; SCR Efthymis Filippou; PROD Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Amanda Livanou, Beata Rzezniczek, Klaudia Smieja. Greece/Poland, 2018, color, 97 min. In Greek with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Hungary

    THE WHISKEY BANDIT [A VISZKIS] Nimród Antal made a name for himself with 2003’s KONTROLL; now, following a string of Hollywood genre films (ARMORED, PREDATORS, VACANCY) and music-related features (METALLICA: THROUGH THE NEVER), he returns to Hungary with this stylish and action-packed true crime tale. In the 1990s, an unknown bandit pulled off a string of daring, daylight bank robberies in and around Budapest, eluding the befuddled police, who had no leads save for one identifying trait: the faint aroma of whiskey the tellers noticed on the thief. Drawing comparisons to Sandor Rozsa, a Robin Hood type-character from Hungarian legend, the so-called “Whiskey Bandit” became something of a modern-day folk hero for Hungary’s chaotic, post-communist era. DIR/SCR Nimród Antal; PROD Barnabás Hutlassa, Tamás Hutlassa. Hungary, 2017, color, 126 min. In Hungarian and Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED THE BUTCHER, THE WHORE AND THE ONE-EYED MAN [A HENTES, A KURVA ÉS A FÉLSZEMÜ] János Szász (2013’s THE NOTEBOOK) directs this moody and noirish true crime story from 1920s Budapest. Local meat-packing magnate Ferenc Kudelka falls madly in love with Mici, a former prostitute married to disabled former gendarme Gusztáv Léderer, who now toils in Kudelka’s plant. For a while, the Léderer couple extract a fee from Kudlelka for Mici’s services, but then attempt and fail to kill him. The trio’s bizarre and murderous love triangle descends into further madness as ever more desperate measures and subsequent murder attempts ensue. DIR/SCR János Szász; SCR Márk Bodzsár; PROD István Bodzsár. Hungary, 2017, color, 105 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED JUPITER’S MOON [JUPITER HOLDJA] Syrian refugee Aryan is crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary with his father when he’s suddenly gunned down by a trigger-happy border guard. In his wounded state, he discovers he can now mysteriously levitate at will. How should he use these new powers? Will he be able to live freely in his new country, or be exploited? Will he become a superhero, or a circus freak? Kornél Mundruczó’s (WHITE GOD) quirky tale combines genre spectacle and gritty realism to tackle the refugee crisis in a fresh and unexpected way. DIR/SCR Kornél Mundruczó; SCR Kata Wéber; PROD Viola Fügen, Michel Merkt, Viktória Petrányi, Michael Weber. Hungary/Germany/France, 2017, color, 129 min. In Hungarian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Ireland

    Special Presentation BLACK ’47 Lance Daly (KISSES) pulls off the unthinkable with this brutal revenge Western — set in 1847 Ireland during the worst year of the Great Famine — creating an insightful thriller which melds genre conventions with gritty realism and historical critique. Deserting the British army to return home to Ireland, battle-weary soldier Feeney (James Frecheville, ANIMAL KINGDOM) finds his country — and family — devastated by the famine sweeping the land. With nothing more to lose, Feeney embarks on a relentless quest to get even with the criminally negligent British government and to track down landowner Lord Kilmichael (Jim Broadbent). Pursued by disgraced soldier-turned-policeman Hannah (Hugo Weaving), Feeney will stop at nothing to avenge his family and his country. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Toronto and Busan film festivals. DIR/SCR Lance Daly; SCR P.J. Dillon, Pierce Ryan; PROD Arcadiy Golubovich, Macdara Kelleher, Jonathan Loughran, Tim O’Hair. Ireland/Luxembourg, 2018, color, 100 min. In English and Irish with English subtitles. RATED R

    Italy

    Special Presentation EUPHORIA (2018) [EUFORIA] Celebrated Italian actress and director Valeria Golino’s (HONEY) Cannes-premiered sophomore feature is a riveting drama about two very different brothers forced back into each other’s lives when one is diagnosed with a brain tumor. Wealthy, flamboyant and successful, Matteo (Riccardo Scamarcio, LORO) is the polar opposite of his melancholy middle-school teacher brother Ettore (Valerio Mastandrea, PERFECT STRANGERS), who still lives in the small provincial town where the two grew up. Ordered by his brother to move to Rome while he undergoes therapy, Ettore is reticent, but as the men reconnect with one another, they also reassess themselves in the process. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes and Karlovy Vary film festivals. DIR/SCR Valeria Golino; SCR Francesca Marciano, Valia Santella; PROD Viola Prestieri. Italy, 2018, color, 115 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere LUCIA’S GRACE [TROPPA GRAZIA] Pressed to rush things through so that an ambitious architect’s new building can break ground, single-mom land surveyor Lucia (Alba Rohrwacher, HUNGRY HEARTS, I AM LOVE) grinds things to a halt first when she discovers that the old maps are inaccurate and need redoing, then again after the Virgin Mary (FILL THE VOID’s Hadas Yaron) appears to her in the field and commands her to build a church instead. Gianni Zanasi’s quirky comedy won the Europa Cinema Label prize at the 2018 Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. DIR/SCR Gianni Zanasi; SCR Giacomo Ciarrapico, Michele Pellegrini, Federica Pontremoli; PROD Beppe Caschetto, Rita Rognoni. Italy, 2018, color, 110 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED BOYS CRY (2018) [LA TERRA DELL’ABBASTANZA] GOMORRAH meets Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Ragazzi di vita” in the D’Innocenzo brothers’ stunning first feature, which is both a gripping crime drama and an astute study of toxic masculinity. Manolo (Andrea Carpenzano) and Mirko (Matteo Olivetti) are pizza delivery boys on the outskirts of Rome, bored out of their minds and itching for something to happen. And then it does. When the pair are involved in a hit and run and learn that they have killed a marked man, inadvertently doing the local mafiosi a great service, Manolo’s wannabe-mobster father jumps at the chance to get his son in with the crime bosses. As the two boys enter an enticing world of sex, money and guns, there seems to be no turning back. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Damiano D’Innocenzo, Fabio D’Innocenzo; PROD Agostino Saccà, Giuseppe Saccà, Maria Grazia Saccá. Italy, 2018, color, 95 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Italy DOGMAN (2018) Set in a picturesquely dilapidated seaside town outside of Naples, Matteo Garrone’s (GOMORRAH, TALE OF TALES) latest is a Neapolitan noir with the DNA of a revenge Western and a darkly humorous bite. The eponymous “Dogman” is Marcello (Marcello Fonte, who won the Best Actor award at Cannes for the role), a gentle dog groomer who deals cocaine on the side in order to make ends meet and raise his young daughter. Bullied by one of his regular customers (Edoardo Pesce), a puffed-up petty criminal who terrorizes the tight-knit community, Marcello becomes implicated in a criminal plan and pushed to the limits of his sanity. Winner, Best Actor (Marcello Fonte), 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Telluride, Toronto and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Matteo Garrone; SCR Ugo Chiti, Massimo Gaudioso; PROD Paolo Del Brocco, Jean Labadie, Alessio Lazzareschi, Jeremy Thomas. Italy/France, 2018, color, 103 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED U.S. Premiere LORO Having dramatized the demise of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti in 2009’s IL DIVO, Academy Award® winner Paolo Sorrentino (THE GREAT BEAUTY, THE YOUNG POPE, YOUTH) turns his caustic eye to another titan of Italian politics: media tycoon, billionaire and scandal-plagued ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (Toni Servillo, IL DIVO). The result is an eye-popping, candy-colored and surreal skewering of early 21st-century Italy and Berlusconi’s milieu of unfettered wealth, raucous “bunga bunga” parties and cutthroat political power games — a tale told in counterpoint to that of provincial arriviste Sergio (Riccardo Scamarcio, EUPHORIA), an ambitious wannabe from the Southern town of Taranto, desperate to impress Berlusconi and enter the big time. Originally spilt into two parts for its Italian release, LORO will be presented in its single, epic theatrical form. Official Selection, 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Paolo Sorrentino; SCR Umberto Contarello; PROD Carlotta Calori, Francesca Cima, Nicola Giuliano, Viola Prestieri. Italy/France, 2018, color, 150 min. In Italian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Latvia

    HOMO NOVUS (2018) In 1930s Riga, if you aren’t part of the in-crowd of the bohemian art scene, you might as well put away your brushes. Juris Upenājs, a poor young artist from the rural outskirts, is determined to break into the scene, and finds the love his life at a party on his very first night in town. From there, he’s off to the races, bumping up against the established elites and a rival artist just back from Paris in this hilarious and touching historical tale. Anna Viduleja’s award-winning feature debut is a romantic comedy of errors and intrigues. DIR/SCR Anna Viduleja; SCR Maureen Thomas; PROD Ivo Ceplevičs, Jānis Kalējs. Latvia, 2018, color, 123 min. In Latvian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Lithuania

    ACID FOREST [RŪGŠTUS MIŠKAS] This observational documentary experiment takes place in one of the strangest tourist attractions in the world: a dying forest full of cormorants actively killing off the trees with their acid-fortified droppings along the border of Lithuania and Russia. Drone shots give a literal bird’s eye view of the beautiful ruin that draws in sightseers from throughout Europe and beyond. We listen in on the observers from afar as the hypnotic sounds of the black birds surround them in the woods. Official Selection, 2018, Locarno and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė. Lithuania, 2018, color, 63 min. In Lithuanian, English, German, French and Finnish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Netherlands

    LOVE REVISITED [OUDE LIEFDE] In this highly untraditional tale of forbidden romance, sixtysomethings Fer and Fransje are long-divorced when the sudden death of their forty-year-old son unexpectedly brings them back together. United in their shared grief, they console one another over the tragedy— and soon find themselves falling in love all over again. Worried about upsetting their family’s delicate balance, the pair try to keep their affair a secret, but this is easier said than done and when both their children and their current partners find out, things get complicated. Nicole Van Kilsdonk crafts a tender romantic dramedy about the endurance of love, the complexity of family life and the hope of second chances. DIR Nicole Van Kilsdonk; SCR Peer Wittenbols, Joris Oonk; PROD Ineke Kanters, Jan Van Der Zanden. Netherlands/Belgium, 2017, color, 99 min. In Dutch with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Poland

    Opening Night: 2018 Oscar® Selection, Poland COLD WAR (2018) [ZIMNA WOJNA] Fans of Paweł Pawlikowski’s Oscar®-winning 2013 hit IDA will not be disappointed by his follow-up, a stunningly shot, music-drenched love story for the ages, which won the Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War in Poland, East Germany, Yugoslavia and France — and loosely based on the story of Pawlikowski’s own parents — COLD WAR follows a pair of star-crossed lovers from their first fateful meeting in post-World War II Poland. Wiktor (Tomasz Kot, SPOOR) is a jazz-loving musicologist tasked with recruiting traditional folk musicians to tour the Eastern Bloc as part of a state-sponsored showcase. When Zula (Joanna Kulig, IDA, THE WOMAN IN THE FIFTH) poses as a villager to infiltrate auditions for the troupe and escape her troubled home life, she quickly becomes the star of the show, captivating Wiktor and sparking a 15-year love affair that spans borders, political regimes and musical genres. Winner, Best Director, 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Karlovy Vary, Telluride, Toronto, New York, Busan and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR Paweł Pawlikowski; SCR Janusz Glowacki; PROD Ewa Puszczynska, Tanya Seghatchian. Poland/France/UK, 2018, color, 88 min. In Polish, French, German, Croatian, Italian and Russian with English subtitles. RATED R ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE [JESZCZE DZIEŃ ŻYCIA] Based on the eponymous memoir by famed Polish war correspondent Ryszard Kapuściński, this stunningly crafted, graphic-novel-style biopic traces the journalist’s experiences of the 1975 Angolan civil war during a three-month period in which he travelled from the capital of Luanda across the war-torn country in search of a renowned rebel. Animation is interspersed with live-action testimony from survivors of the period, as writer-directors Raúl de la Fuente and Damian Nenow paint a vivid picture of Kapuściński’s harrowing journey and how it shaped the writer he became. Winner, Audience Award, 2018 San Sebastián International Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Cannes, Annecy Animation and CPH PIX film festivals. DIR/SCR Raúl de la Fuente, Damian Nenow; SCR/PROD Amaia Remirez; SCR Niall Johnson, David Weber, from the memoir by Ryszard Kapuściński; PROD Jaroslaw Sawko. Poland/Spain/Germany/Belgium/Hungary, 2018, color, 85 min. In English, Portuguese, Polish and Spanish with English subtitles. NOT RATED MUG [TWARZ] Winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlinale, Malgorzata Szumowska’s (BODY, IN THE NAME OF) deadpan dark comedy takes a critical look at politics, identity, media and religion in contemporary Poland. Jacek (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz) is a carefree, heavy-metal-loving laborer working on the construction site of what is to be the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. When a terrible fall disfigures him, the media and everyone around him are whipped into a frenzy as he undergoes Poland’s first ever facial transplant. The operation is a success, but as Jacek is painted as a national hero by the press, receiving star treatment and lucrative endorsement deals, his family and friends find it hard to cope with his new appearance. As Jacek’s celebrity grows, so too does his ostracization from those who once claimed to be closest to him. Winner, Silver Berlin Bear, Grand Jury Prize, 2018 Berlinale; Official Selection, 2018 Edinburgh, Busan and Chicago film festivals. DIR/SCR/PROD Malgorzata Szumowska; SCR/PROD Michal Englert; PROD Jacek Drosio. Poland, 2018, color, 91 min. In Polish with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Portugal

    Special Presentation DIAMANTINO (2018) To sum up this brilliantly nutty, outrageously funny Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Prize winner as an astute political sci-fi satire with giant puppies, soccer, genetic engineering, neo-fascists and a fiercely pro-European Union agenda doesn’t really do it justice. But it’s a start. Diamantino (Carloto Cotta) is a Cristiano Ronaldo-like hero of Portuguese soccer — until he makes an unforgivable error at the 2018 World Cup, letting down his country and ending his career. As the guileless former icon starts to look for a new purpose in life — much to the dismay of his scheming twin sisters, who have other plans — a truly bizarre and wonderful odyssey unfolds, touching on the refugee crisis, the rise of nationalism and, of course, a delightfully unconventional romance. Winner, Critics’ Week Grand Prize, Palm Dog Jury Prize, 2018 Cannes Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Karlovy Vary, Toronto, Vancouver and New York film festivals. DIR/SCR Gabriel Abrantes; DIR/SCR Daniel Schmidt; PROD Maria João Mayer, Justin Taurand, Daniel van Hoogstraten. Portugal/France/Brazil, 2018, color, 92 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Romania

    Special Presentation 2018 Oscar® Selection, Romania I DO NOT CARE IF WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS [ÎMI ESTE INDIFERENT DACA ÎN ISTORIE VOM INTRA CA BARBARI] Mariana is a young theater director working to stage a production about the ethnic cleansing on the Eastern Front of 1941, in which Romanian soldiers executed 10,000 Jews. As tempers flare in rehearsals and city officials ramp up the pressure to tone down the portrayal of the massacre, Mariana must ask herself if she is willing to compromise her art in order for the show to go on. As slyly humorous as it is politically layered, Radu Jude’s (AFERIM!) powerful story evokes the old adage of not forgetting one’s past lest it be tragically repeated. Winner, Crystal Globe for Best Film, 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Radu Jude; PROD Ada Solomon. Romania/Germany/Bulgaria/France/Czech Republic, 2018, color, 140 min. In Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED LEMONADE (2018) Produced by Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu (4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS; GRADUATION), Ioana Uricaru’s potent and timely debut feature follows Mara (Mãlina Manovici, GRADUATION), a young Romanian woman working in the U.S. as a physical therapist while awaiting her green card. Having recently married, Mara brings her nine-year-old son from Romania to live in their new home, but when she is accused by an immigration officer of falsifying paperwork and suffers an inexcusable abuse of power, a spiral of injustice unfolds. An unflinching look at one woman’s experience of the gender and power imbalances baked into the U.S. immigration system, and her determination to survive despite the odds, LEMONADE heralds a courageous new voice in Romanian cinema. Official Selection, 2018 Berlin, Tribeca, Seattle, Mill Valley and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR/SCR Ioana Uricaru; SCR Tatiana Ionascu; PROD Eike Goreczka, Christoph Kukula, Yanick Létourneau, Cristian Mungiu, Sean Wheelan. Romania/Canada/Germany/Sweden, 2018, color, 88 min. In English and Romanian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Slovakia

    2018 Oscar® Selection, Slovakia THE INTERPRETER (2018) Octogenarian translator Ali Ungár (Jirí Menzel, CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS) is on a quest for vengeance after stumbling across the identity of the former SS officer he believes murdered his parents. Instead of finding the man who pulled the trigger, he meets Georg Graubner (Peter Simonischek, TONI ERDMANN), the officer’s son. Despite a rocky start, the gregarious Georg hires Ali as his translator, and the two set out on the open road to discover what really happened to Ali’s parents in this funny and poignant odd-couple dramedy. DIR/SCR/PROD Martin Sulík; SCR Marek Lescák; PROD Rudolf Biermann, Bruno Wagner. Slovakia/Czech Republic/Austria, 2018, color, 113 min. In German, English, Slovak and Russian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Slovenia

    CONSEQUENCES (2018) [POSLEDICE] Teenage angst and toxic masculinity abound in Darko Štante’s powerful debut feature, a Slovenian answer to Alan Clarke’s SCUM set in a youth detention center and inspired by the director’s experience working as teacher in a correctional facility. When Andrej’s (Matej Zemljic) youthful criminal tendencies look set to spiral out of control, he is packed off to a center for troubled young men, where he quickly falls in with Zele (Timon Sturbej), the center’s bordering-on-psychopathic alpha male gang leader. Beginning a deep dive into violence and criminality, Andrej simultaneously grapples with his unsure identity as a young gay man and the potentially disastrous consequences of his developing feelings for Zele. Official Selection, 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Darko Stante; PROD Andraz Jeric, Jerca Jeric. Slovenia, 2018, color, 93 min. In Slovenian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    Spain

    Special Presentation EVERYBODY KNOWS [TODOS LO SABEN] Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín and Bárbara Lennie star in Oscar®-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s (THE SALESMAN, A SEPARATION) acclaimed thriller set in Spain. When Laura (Cruz) travels from her home in Buenos Aires with her family to her hometown in Spain for her sister’s (Lennie) wedding, a startling crime and some long-buried secrets alter the course of their lives. A visually rich and thrilling emotional rollercoaster, EVERYBODY KNOWS is bursting at the seams with star power and peerless performances. Official Selection, 2018 Cannes and Toronto film festivals. DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi; PROD Álvaro Longoria, Alexandre Mallet-Guy. Spain/France/Italy, 2018, color, 132 min. In English, Spanish and Catalan with English subtitles. NOT RATED Special Presentation U.S. Premiere DISTANCES (2018) [LAS DISTANCIAS] When longtime friends Olivia, Eloi, Guille and Anna travel to Berlin to surprise their college classmate Comas for his 35th birthday, he is less than pleased to see them. During their weekend together, the group tries to revive the closeness of their student years, but contradictions and tensions emerge as they slowly come to realize that Comas’ life in Berlin is not what he’d made it out to be — and that perhaps they don’t know one another as well as they’d thought. Part twisted buddy comedy, part mystery, part existential crisis drama, Elena Trapé’s subtly powerful examination of friendship explores the fissures caused by time, distance and coming of age. Winner, Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress (Alexandra Jiménez), 2018 Málaga Film Festival; Official Selection, 2018 Busan International Film Festival. DIR/SCR Elena Trapé; SCR Josan Hatero, Miguel Ibáñez Monroy; PROD Marta Ramírez. Spain, 2018, color, 99 min. In Catalan, English, Spanish and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED

    UK

    [caption id="attachment_31228" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]Stan & Ollie 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

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  • 49 Feature Films Eligible for European Film Awards 2018

    Borg/McEnroe
    BORG/McENROE

    49 films have been named by the European Film Academy for this year’s EFA Feature Film Selection,

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  • WILDLIFE Starring Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal to Open 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_29567" align="aligncenter" width="1259"]Wildlife, Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal Wildlife[/caption] The first films of the 2018 Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) were revealed today along with big announcement that the 67th edition will open with the Australian premiere gala screening of Paul Dano’s directorial debut Wildlife – starring Carey Mulligan, Jake Gyllenhaal and Australia’s Ed Oxenbould. The First Glance selection of 32 films demonstrating MIFF’s expansive reach was also uncovered. Based on the 1990 Richard Ford novel of the same name, Dano’s debut directorial outing (co-written by Zoe Kazan, seen alongside Dano at MIFF’s 2012 Ruby Sparks) tells a tender and empathetic story about a teen dealing with his family falling apart in 1960s Montana. A hit at Sundance and Cannes, Wildlife is a bittersweet and elegant debut that represents a major coming-of-age – both off screen and on – for Oxenbould, an actor who broke out in MIFF 2014’s Paper Planes and last year’s MIFF Premiere Fund-supported The Butterfly Tree. Buoyed by exquisite cinematography from Diego Garcia (Neon Bull, MIFF 2016; Cemetery of Splendour, MIFF 2015) the film’s fine-tuned attention to period detail underscores its exceptional performances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gSi0Qvki3o “We are thrilled to announce Wildlife for this year’s Opening Night Gala. Paul Dano’s debut as a director provides a glimpse into a successful shift in his career from on screen to off, and the cast including Australia’s very own Ed Oxenbould (a special name here at MIFF) is an impressive way to kick off proceedings,” said MIFF’s Artistic Director Michelle Carrey. “This in addition to the sneak peek of the rest of the program is an exciting time. Finally we can start talking about the most important thing…the films!” This year’s MIFF program will feature more than 500+ screenings, including: Ethan Hawke features with both on and off-screen contributions: he portrays a troubled priest experiencing a ‘crisis of faith’ in cinematic legend Paul Schrader’s latest feast of brooding menace, First Reformed; in Blaze, Hawke directs a daringly unconventional biopic of an unsung country music legend, featuring newcomer Benjamin Dickey in the title role (which won him a Sundance acting award) and Alia Shawkat. Chloë Grace Moretz turns in a career-best performance in Desiree Akhavan’s sophomore feature The Miseducation of Cameron Post, winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize (US Dramatic); Cannes 2017 best actor winner Joaquin Phoenix features in Lynne Ramsay’s vengeance feature You Were Never Really Here, playing a war vet and ex-FBI agent whose new job includes rescuing children from paedophile rings; meanwhile, Bodied is the result of an unlikely pairing between Grammy-winning director Joseph Kahn and rapper turned producer Eminem who present their satirical story about an accidental battle-rap star. In a variety of filmmaking firsts, acclaimed TV director Michael Pearce makes his feature debut in the sly, unsettling Beast – an impressive British crime drama love story wrapped in an intriguing psychosexual thriller; veteran slow-cinema auteur Tsai Ming-liang makes his debut foray into virtual reality with The Deserted, a 55-minute experience with a wordless, near-feature length tale of ghosts, grief and fish; and a little closer to home, Nash Edgerton’s TV series directorial debut Mr Inbetween brings The Magician’s charismatic killer-for-hire Ray Shoesmith back to our screens. MIFF will screen all six episodes before its television premiere on Foxtel’s Showcase channel. The 2018 program delves deep into three iconic names spanning fashion, sport and Hollywood, starting with McQueen, a flamboyant portrait of one of the world’s most revered designers, Alexander McQueen – a man who once said “My shows are about sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. It’s for the excitement and the goosebumps. I want heart attacks. I want ambulances.” This biographical documentary by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui represents nothing less. Julien Faraut’s John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection serves up a fascinating combination of instructional clips and exquisite 16mm footage of tennis bad boy John McEnroe at the height of his career at the 1984 French Open; and looking into the life of another legend, Tommy Avallone’s Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man follows the trail of the star’s alleged appearances musing on the interconnection of pop culture and ordinary life. An Elephant Sitting Still takes us on a four-hour journey as Hu Bo paints a compelling, empathetic portrait of contemporary China in this FIPRESCI Prize-winning debut; and winner of SXSW’s Grand Jury Prize for documentary, People’s Republic of Desire is Hao Wu’s unsettling and fascinating look into the online world of live-streaming, social media and virtual relationships. Turning impending loss into a poignant, poetic dreamscape, The Seen and Unseen is the second feature from Indonesia’s Kamila Andini and winner of best youth film at the 2017 Asia Pacific Screen Awards; Tigers Are Not Afraid is a stunning contemporary fairytale that does for Mexico’s drug war what Guillermo del Toro did for the Spanish Civil War. Praised by Stephen King, the film saw Issa López become the first woman to win Fantastic Fest’s Best Horror Director award. Denmark’s Gustav Möller makes his directorial debut with the Sundance and Rotterdam award-winning The Guilty, an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller told entirely in real time. The UK’s Daniel Kokotajlo makes a devastating debut with Apostasy, a daring study of an all-female Jehovah’s Witness family riven by religious conflict starring Siobhan Finneran (Downton Abbey and Happy Valley); Babis Makridis proves he is coming into his own as a star with a second feature, Pity. A follow up to L (MIFF 2012), the quintessentially bleak and absurdist Greek New Wave comedy from the co-writer of The Lobster and Dogtooth was co-written with Yorgos Lanthimos’ key collaborator Efthymis Filippou (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, MIFF 2017). Irreverent Iranian director Mani Haghighi (A Dragon Arrives! MIFF 2016) presents his latest meta-comedy magic, Pig – a riotous Iranian film industry satire about a serial killer; and Vivian Qu continues to interrogate crime, corruption and control in modern-day China in Angels Wear White, which won her the Best Director award at the Golden Horse Film Festival. Based on Anna Seghers’ WWll novel of the same name, Transit is the slow-burn thriller from revered auteur Christian Petzold – a discomfiting fable of trans-European displacement that channels both Hitchcock and Casablanca; and one of contemporary cinema’s most esteemed directors Lucrecia Martel makes her long-awaited return with the historical fiction Zama, centred on an 18th-century Spanish magistrate marooned in a far-flung South American outpost where he’s losing touch with civilization and sanity. Spaghetti Western, ’70s Euro-pulp and delirious psychedelia collide in Let the Corpses Tan – a glorious homage to cinema’s seedier retro fringes from genre connoisseurs Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani; audiences will step back in time to the French fashion scene with legendary fashion photographer William Klein’s award-winning black and white mockumentary that is now a groovy cult classic, Who are you, Polly Maggoo? and nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2018 Academy Awards, The Insult is the multi-award winning new work from Lebanese visionary Ziad Doueiri (The Attack, MIFF 2012). Delving into the complex emotions of passionate pop-music appreciation, emerging local director Jessica Leski presents I Used to be Normal: A Boyband Fangirl Story – an empathetic documentary exploring why we hold pop music so dear to our hearts. The NSFA-restored The Cheaters offers viewers a rare big-screen treat of a pioneering silent-era classic. A major landmark of Australian cinema, this is not just one of our earliest feature films – it’s one of the first by women filmmakers, the McDonagh sisters. The remaining fragments of the sisters’ popular first feature Those Who Love will screen alongside. An exhilarating debut feature from Australian director Jason Raftopoulos, the Venice-premiering West of Sunshine stars Pawno’s Damian Hill alongside his real-life step-son Ty Perham and Offspring’s Kat Stewart (Sucker, MIFF 2015). Shot in Melbourne, it explores fatherhood, trauma and second chances. Director Jeremy Sim’s (Last Cab to Darwin, Beneath Hill 60) Wayne is a must-see for moto-GP fans. Here, Sims explores a defining piece of Australian sporting history that saw Wayne Gardner conquer the world of motorcycle racing and return home a hero; while Island of the Hungry Ghosts takes audiences on a unique and moving cinematic journey through the intersection of Christmas Island’s migrating land crabs, lost souls caught in limbo and political detainees. Sundance award-winner, Stephen Loveridge digs deep into the life of his good friend Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasm in MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A, demonstrating her pull-no-punches personality and focus on political activism, and how this caused her career to suffer; and rounding up the First Glance lineup, directors Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown dive wholeheartedly into the African-American roller rink scene, circling around racial profiling, the roots of rap and communities in crisis with Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award winner, United Skates.

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  • Oak Cliff Film Festival Announces 2018 Feature Film Lineup, Opens with Joan Jett’s Documentary BAD REPUTATION

    [caption id="attachment_29262" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]BAD REPUTATION BAD REPUTATION[/caption] Oak Cliff Film Festival yesterday announced the Feature Program lineup for the 7th annual edition of the festival, taking place June 14-17, 2018 at the historic Texas Theatre, Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Kessler Theater, and numerous other venues around Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood. The schedule is comprised of twenty-five feature-length films, with ten of the films having their Texas premiere at this year’s festival. The festival also includes 40 short films, as well as filmmaking workshops, live music and parties. Kicking off proceedings with this year’s opening night film are director Kevin Kerslake and writer/editor Joel Marcus in attendance to present the Texas Premiere of BAD REPUTATION, their hard-rocking documentary on legendary rock-n-roll icon Joan Jett. The screening will be followed by a karaoke party behind the screen! The festival closes with NEVER GOIN’ BACK, a raunchy party comedy filmed and set in DFW, from Dallas filmmaker Augustine Frizzell and produced by Sailor Bear. Additional festival highlights include: MEOW WOLF: ORIGIN STORY, a documentary on the Santa Fe based artist collective famous for their unique and immersive multimedia art installations; a screening of the newly restored 1928 silent film classic THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, featuring a live score accompaniment composed by indie electronic artist George Sarah and performed by Curtis Heath and his Orchestra; The Zellner Bros’ new comedy western DAMSEL with the film’s composers, Austin-based indietronica band The Octopus Project, playing a live concert at The Texas Theatre; and director Penelope Spheeris in attendance for a new digital theatrical presentation of her rescued-from-obscurity and newly-restored 1987 punk rock western DUDES.

    Oak Cliff Film Festival 2018 Feature Program Lineup.

    OPENING NIGHT SELECTION

    BAD REPUTATION (USA, 95 mins) Dir. Kevin Kerslake TEXAS PREMIERE – Director Kevin Kerslake and writer/editor Joel Marcus in attendance Joan Jett is so much more than “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll.” It’s true, she became mega-famous from the number-one hit, and that fame intensified with its endless play on MTV. But that staple of popularity can’t properly define a musician. Jett put her hard work in long before the fame, ripping it up onstage as the backbone of the hard-rock legends The Runaways, influencing many musicians—both her cohort of punk rockers and generations of younger bands—with her no-nonsense style.

    CLOSING NIGHT SELECTION

    NEVER GOIN’ BACK (USA, 85 mins) Dir. Augustine Frizzell DFW PREMIERE – Producers Toby Halbrooks, James M. Johnston, Liz Cardenas in attendance w/ a special Skype-in from director Augustine Frizzell BFFs Angela (Maia Mitchell) and Jessie (Cami Morrone) are high school dropouts working dead-end waitressing jobs in the same shitty diner. Their dream vacation to sunny Galveston, Texas, is only a few shifts away. But after a drug deal goes bad and their home is invaded—and they have to serve a short stint in juvenile detention—their beach trip is in serious jeopardy. They’ll have to use every bit of guile their perpetually buzzed teenage brains can muster as they try to get (relatively) rich quick while wandering suburban Dallas.

    NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

    BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS (USA, 84 mins) Dir. Wendy McColm DFW PREMIERE – Director Wendy McColm in attendance Desperate for human interaction, six emotionally damaged individuals put self respect on the line, shedding their disillusionment in a last grasp for happiness. Birds Without Feathers is a cruel-world dark comedy populated by struggling Instagram stars, Russian cowboys, Self-help gurus and more, as their lives crash and collide in astounding and awkward ways. DON’T LEAVE HOME (USA, 86 mins) Dir. Michael Tully DFW PREMIERE – Director Michael Tully in attendance Melanie Thomas is an American artist whose latest show recounts the infamous Irish urban legend of Father Alistair Burke, who painted a portrait of 8-year-old Siobhan Callahan in 1986. Days later, Siobhan went missing on the very morning that her figure miraculously vanished from the painting as well. Though absolved of any wrongdoing, Burke abandoned the priesthood and went into self-exile. After receiving a bad review before her opening, Melanie is contacted by the reclusive Burke, who offers to fly her to Ireland to create a new sculpture that he will help her to sell while she’s there. Telling no one where she’s going, Melanie never stops to consider that some urban legends are real. I AM NOT A WITCH (UK, ZAMBIA, 93 mins) Dir. Rungano Nyoni TEXAS PREMIERE When eight-year-old Shula turns up alone and unannounced in a rural Zambian village, the locals are suspicious. A minor incident escalates to a full-blown witch trial, where she is found guilty and sentenced to life on a state-run witch camp. There, she is tethered to a long white ribbon and told that if she ever tries to run away, she will be transformed into a goat. As the days pass, Shula begins to settle into her new community, but a threat looms on the horizon. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision – whether to resign herself to life on the camp, or take a risk for freedom. TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (Mexico, 83 mins) Dir. Issa López DFW PREMIERE Estrella (Paola Lara), a ten-year-old girl living in Mexico, finds herself the owner of three wishes soon after her mother disappears. After her wish first – the bring her mother back wish – has some unexpectedly frightening repercussions, she finds herself on the streets. Before too long, Estrella partners up with a young boy, El Shine (Juan Ramón López), and his band of orphaned boys. The newly formed group find themselves at war with the local cartel, witnessing and enduring things that no child should ever have to. VIRUS TROPICAL (Colombia, 96 mins) Dir. Santiago Caicedo DFW PREMIERE Born in a not-so-conventional family, Paola grows up between Ecuador and Colombia and finds herself unable to fit in any mold. With a unique feminine vision of the world, she will have to fight against prejudice and struggle for her independence while her universe is struck by a series of crises. Based on the graphic novel by Powerpaola. WINTER BROTHERS (Denmark, Iceland, 94 mins) Dir. Hlynur Pálmason TEXAS PREMIERE We follow two brothers working in the harsh environment of a rural chalk-mining community during a cold winter. Younger brother Emil, who distills moonshine made from stolen chemicals from the factory, is an outsider, an oddball, who made a conscious choice for loneliness and is only accepted by the mining community due to his older brother Johan. When a fellow worker becomes sick, the moonshine and Emil are prime suspects. Gradually a violent feud erupts between him and the tightly-knit mining community. Revenge, loneliness, and lack of love pervade this modern brother odyssey.

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

    BLACK MOTHER (USA, 77 mins) Dir. Khalik Allah TEXAS PREMIERE Part film, part baptism, director Khalik Allah mixes film formats from Super 8mm to HD, while experimenting with voice over audio techniques that cast his view between the prostitutes and churches of Jamaica. Black Mother creates a visual prayer of indelible portraits and an intimate polyphonic symphony. GOSPEL OF EUREKA (USA, 79 mins) Dir. Donal Mosher and Michael Palmieri DFW PREMIERE Love, faith and civil rights collide in a southern town as evangelical Christians and drag queens step into the spotlight to dismantle stereotypes. The film takes a personal, and often comical look at negotiating differences between religion and belief through performance, political action, and partnership. Gospel drag shows and passion plays set the stage for one hell of a show.3-4 sentence summary here. INGRID (USA, 52 mins) Dir. Morrisa Maltz TEXAS PREMIERE – Filmmaker Morrisa Maltz in attendance Ingrid tells the story of a prominent Dallas fashion designer in the 80s–who dropped her life and ran off to the woods in order to pursue a personal and creative one. She has since become a total hermit and spends her time, creating clay sculptures and art out of rocks from the nearby creek. Ingrid peels off the layers of this woman’s persona, questioning what would drive a successful Texas fashion designer to immerse herself in nature to create and become an entirely self sufficient woman of the woods. MAISON DU BONHEUR (Canada, 62 mins) Dir. Sofia Bohdanowicz TEXAS PREMIERE Maison du bonheur is a documentary that studies the day-to-day life of a Parisian astrologer, Juliane Sellam, who has been residing in the same Montmartre apartment for over 50 years. As we listen to her muse about her life as an astrologer, Sellam moves through her daily routine: making her morning coffee, watering plants, putting on makeup. Each segment is narrated by Sellam or the filmmaker herself, slowly constructing a dual portrait of two very different but equally charming women. MILFORD GRAVES FULL MANTIS (USA, 91 mins) Dir. Jake Meginsky and Neil Young DFW PREMIERE – Filmmaker Jake Meginsky in attendance This is the first ever feature-length portrait of renowned percussionist Milford Graves, exploring his kaleidoscopic creativity and relentless curiosity.Graves tells stories of discovery, struggle and survival, ruminates on the essence of ‘swing,’ activates electronic stethoscopes in his basement lab to process the sound of his heart, and travels to Japan where he performs at a school for children with autism, igniting the student body into an ecstatic display of spontaneous collective energy. Oscillating from present to past and weaving intimate glimpses of the artist’s complex cosmology with blistering performances from around the globe, MILFORD GRAVES FULL MANTIS is cinema full of fluidity, polyrhythm and intensity, embodying the essence of Graves’ music itself. OPUNTIA (Mexico/USA, 60 mins) Dir. David Fenster DFW PREMIERE – Filmmaker David Fenster in attendance In 1528 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca crossed the Gulf of Mexico on a raft made of melted armor and slaughtered horses. Over the next eight years, experiences with various Native American groups transformed him from conquistador to shamanic healer. When he returned to Spain he wrote La Relación, a chronicle of his experiences in the “New World”. Using these writings and with help from a psychic medium, David Fenster (director) attempts to communicate with Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca through a prickly pear cactus, also known as Opuntia, the plant that saved him from starvation.

    SPOTLIGHT FEATURES

    BISBEE ‘17 (USA, 112 mins) Dir. Robert Greene TEXAS PREMIERE An old mining town on the Arizona-Mexico border finally reckons with its darkest day: the deportation of 1200 immigrant miners exactly 100 years ago. Townspeople confront this violent, misunderstood past by staging dramatic recreations of these devastating events. Directed by the Townspeople themselves, these recreations show the personal history of the families affected by the deporations on the 100th anniversary of their occurence. DAMSEL (USA, 112 mins) Dir. David Zellner and Nathan Zellner DFW PREMIERE – Film producers and composers The Octopus Project in attendance It’s the age of The Wild West, circa 1870. An affluent pioneer, Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) ventures deep into the American wilderness to reunite with and marry the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). For his journey he brings Butterscotch, a miniature horse intended as a wedding present for his bride, and enlists drunkard Parson Henry (David Zellner) to conduct the ceremony. As they traverse the lawless frontier their once simple journey grows treacherous, and the lines between hero, villain, and damsel are blurred. HAL (USA, 90 mins) Dir. Amy Scott TEXAS PREMIERE In the 1970’s Hal Ashby spent 9 years pushing Hollywood norms directing an unconventional, uncompromising string of remarkable films — including The Landlord (1970), Harold and Maude (1971), The Last Detail (1973) and Being There (1979) — that influenced generations of filmmakers to follow. His everlasting legacy on cinema is evident by the group of talented interview subjects including David O. Russell, Judd Apatow, Allison Andres and Jeff and Beau Bridges. However he failed to sustain success fighting for the importance of art and socially consciousness stories against the looming weight of Hollywood’s profit driven machine. HAL is a celebration of his lifework. HALF THE PICTURE (USA, 94 mins) Dir. Amy Adrion DFWPREMIERE – Penelope Spheeris in attendance for Q/A with Seed & Spark Founder Emily Best HALF THE PICTURE consists of interviews with high profile women directors, including Ava DuVernay, Jill Soloway, Lena Dunham, Catherine Hardwicke, Miranda July, Penelope Spheeris and many more. These artists discuss how they made their first features, how they transitioned to studio films or television, how they balance a demanding directing career with family, and the challenges and joys along the way. In addition, experts on gender inequality in Hollywood, including the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman, Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Keegan, and USC’s Dr. Stacy Smith, weigh in on the magnitude of this issue as women are shut out, across the board, of an industry that systemically denies women’s expression and point of view. MEOW WOLF: ORIGIN STORY (USA, 100 mins) Dir. Jilann Spitzmiller and Morgan Capps DFW PREMIERE – Filmmakers Morgan Capps and Jilann Spitzmiller in attendance A group of artists in Santa Fe, NM become a DIY collective called Meow Wolf. Their immersive, large-scale exhibitions crack open a profitable niche in the arts industry, even as their social mission is challenged by the demands of rapid success. The group’s members navigate fracture and loss for years in pursuit of their idealistic vision. When they spark the interest of George R. R. Martin and receive his support to take over an old bowling alley, Meow Wolf builds a massive exhibition with over 140 artists working at a breakneck pace. With the wild success of the House of Eternal Return, Meow Wolf now faces its own internal turmoil as it begins to change the lives of creatives everywhere. PITY (Greece, 97 mins) Dir. Babis Makridis TEXAS PREMIERE A miserable middle aged man enjoys only one thing in life, the sorrow from others. After his wife re-emerges from a long coma he’s willing to do anything to continue to evoke this emotion from those around him. Addicted to misery, this man seeks to maintain the only feeling to give him pleasure, pity. RELAXER (USA, 91 mins) Dir. Joel Potrykus DFW PREMIERE – Director Joel Potrykus, Cinematographer Adam J. Minnick and actor Andre Hyland in attendance Doom and gloom are on the way. The Y2K apocalypse can’t be stopped. Abbie’s older brother issues him the ultimate challenge before it goes down: stay on the couch until he beats the infamous Billy Mitchell record on Pac-Man by getting past level 256. No getting up, no matter what. No quitting. Abbie must survive inside a rotten living room with no food or water, and numbnut friends and toxic gas getting in his face. Luckily, Abbie’s secret 3D glasses begin to give him new abilities, controlling the powers of his tiny universe. SKATE KITCHEN (USA, 100 mins) Dir. Crystal Moselle TEXAS PREMIERE – Members of the filmmaking team in attendance Introverted skateboarder Camille befriends “The Skate Kitchen,” an all-girl skateboarding crew in New York City. She finds the home she never had with her mother in Long Island as she becomes part of the in-crowd. They quickly accept her into this wild new world of trick-shot videos and their own mania filled, underground, New York subculture. However this new friendship becomes tricky to navigate when she falls for a boy skateboarder from a rival group.

    REPERTORY

    BEING THERE (USA, 1979, 130 mins) Dir. Hal Ashby In one of his most finely tuned performances, Peter Sellers plays the pure-hearted, childlike Chance, a gardener who is forced into the wilds of Washington, D.C., when his wealthy guardian dies. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn’t respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Melvyn Douglas, in an Oscar-winning performance), who mistakes his protégé’s horticultural mumblings for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (Shirley MacLaine) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Being There is both deeply melancholic and hilarious; a the culmination of Hal Ashby’s remarkable string of films in the 1970s, and a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fueled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade and still ring true today in 2018. DUDES (USA, 1987, 90 mins) Dir. Penelope Spheeris New DCP with Director Penelope Spheeris in attendance Penelope Spheeris’s 5th feature film which came after her punk soap SUBURBIA and was “released” the year before her magnum opus DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART II; DUDES, was never given much of a proper release. Distributors and exhibitors were confused on how to market the punk rock western and it quickly excited theaters. The home video VHS was its last available version until this years HD remaster by SHOUT FACTORY. The film, which features early Cinematography from future three time Oscar winner Robert Richardson and a fantastic punk / metal soundtrack featuring The VANDALS, JANES ADDICTION and MEGADETH exists in a late 80’s ahead of its time capsule. THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC with Live Score Accompaniment (France, 1928, 81 mins) Dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer New Restoration with live score accompaniment composed by indie electronic artist George Sarah, performed by Curtis Heath and his orchestra Spiritual rapture and institutional hypocrisy are brought to stark, vivid life in one of the most transcendent achievements of the silent era. Chronicling the trial of Joan of Arc in the final hours leading up to her execution, Danish master Carl Theodor Dreyer depicts her torment with startling immediacy, employing an array of techniques—including expressionistic lighting, interconnected sets, and painfully intimate close-ups— to immerse viewers in her subjective experience. Anchoring Dreyer’s audacious formal experimentation is a legendary performance by Renée Falconetti, whose haunted face channels both the agony and the ecstasy of martyrdom. Thought to have been lost to fire, the film’s original version was miraculously found in perfect condition in 1981 in a Norwegian mental institution, heightening the mythic status of this widely revered masterwork.

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  • Eight Films in Big Screen Competition at 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam

    [caption id="attachment_26244" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Pity by Babis Makridis Pity by Babis Makridis[/caption] Eight films have been selected for the Big Screen Competition at the 2018 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR): three world premieres, one international premiere and four European premieres.  The three world premiere nominees are: Nina, Polish filmmaker Olga Chajdas’s feature film debut in which a couple’s love is tested as they struggle to find a surrogate mother for their child; Father to Son, the third feature by Taiwanese filmmaker Hsiao Ya-chuan (Mirror Image), a story of reconciliation in which a 60-year-old man goes to Japan to look for his father who abandoned him when he was 10, and An Impossibly Small Object by Dutch filmmaker David Verbeek, which confronts the relationship between maker and subject. In this meditative film, Verbeek himself plays a Dutch photographer transfixed by a picture he took of a girl in a Taiwanese parking lot. IFFR has screened many of Verbeek’s films in the past. His  Shanghai Trance and Dead & Beautiful were both selected for CineMart. The Big Screen Competition also includes the international premiere of Night Comes On, Jordana Spiro’s debut feature about an 18-year-old woman who takes her 10-year-old sister on a journey that could destroy their futures.
    Lastly, the four European premieres. British filmmaker Jim Hosking’s comedy An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn stars Aubrey Plaza as a woman whose unsatisfactory marriage is shaken when she sees a performance piece by a mysterious man from her past. Danish filmmaker Gustav Möller’s intense feature debut  The Guilty revolves around one emergency phone call – an initially disinterested police officer quickly jumps into action when he hears a woman being kidnapped. Pity by Greek filmmaker Babis Makridis (selected for CineMart in 2014) is about a man with such need for pity he’s willing to do absolutely anything to get it from others. IFFR previously screened Makridis’ film L, in 2012 in the Tiger Awards Competition. Sebastián Hofmann’s second feature Tiempo compartido was also selected for CineMart in 2014, and also received a grant from the Hubert Bals Fund. This satire follows the struggle of two paranoid men against the ever-smiling staff of an all-inclusive resort. Hofmann made his debut at IFFR 2013 with Halley, which also competed in the Tiger Awards Competition.
    In 2013, the VPRO Big Screen Award was inaugurated to promote the presence of quality films on the big screen and public television in the Netherlands. Of the €30,000 in prize money, €15,000 is spent towards the winning film’s theatrical release and €15,000 towards the production of the filmmaker’s next project. In 2017 the award was won by Kirsten Tan’s Pop Aye. Earlier winners were Les ogres by Léa Fehner in 2016, Second Coming by Debbie Tucker Green in 2015, Another Year by Oxana Bychkova in 2014 and Bellas mariposas by Salvatore Mereu in 2013. A jury of five experienced festival-goers picks the winner of the VPRO Big Screen Award, worth €30,000. The winning film will be released in Dutch cinemas and will be purchased by the Dutch public broadcasting network NPO to screen on national television.

    Full selection Big Screen Competition:

    An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, Jim Hosking, UK/USA, 2018, European premiere
    Father to Son, Hsiao Ya-chuan, Taiwan, 2018, world premiere
    The Guilty, Gustav Möller, Denmark, 2018, European premiere
    An Impossibly Small Object, David Verbeek, Taiwan/Netherlands/Croatia, 2018, world premiere
    Night Comes On, Jordana Spiro, USA, 2018, international premiere
    Nina, Olga Chajdas, Poland, 2018, world premiere
    Pity, Babis Makridis, Greece/Poland, 2018, European premiere
    Tiempo compartido, Sebastián Hofmann, Mexico/Netherlands, 2018, European premiere

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  • 2018 Sundance Film Festival Unveils Feature Film Lineup of 110 Films

    [caption id="attachment_25705" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Kindergarten Teacher The Kindergarten Teacher[/caption] The 2018 Sundance Film Festival returns to Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort, from January 18 to 28, and today announced the feature films lineup showcasing bold, independent storytelling. For the 2018 Festival, 110 feature-length films were selected, representing 29 countries and 47 first-time filmmakers, including 30 in competition.These films were selected from 13,468 submissions including 3,901 feature-length films and  8,740 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 1,799 were from the U.S. and 2,102 were international. One-hundred feature films at the Festival will be world premieres Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance Institute, said, “The work of independent storytellers can challenge and possibly change culture, illuminating our world’s imperfections and possibilities. This year’s Festival is full of artfully-told stories that provoke thought, drive empathy and allow the audience to connect, in deeply personal ways, to the universal human experience.”

    U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION

    American Animals / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Bart Layton, Producers: Derrin Schlesinger, Katherine Butler, Dimitri Doganis, Mary Jane Skalski) — The unbelievable but mostly true story of four young men who mistake their lives for a movie and attempt one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history. Cast: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd, Udo Kier. World Premiere BLAZE / U.S.A. (Director: Ethan Hawke, Screenwriters: Ethan Hawke, Sybil Rosen, Producers: Jake Seal, John Sloss, Ryan Hawke, Ethan Hawke) — A reimagining of the life and times of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas Outlaw Music movement; he gave up paradise for the sake of a song. Cast: Benjamin Dickey, Alia Shawkat, Josh Hamilton, Charlie Sexton. World Premiere Blindspotting / U.S.A. (Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada, Screenwriters: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Producers: Keith Calder, Jess Calder, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs) — A buddy comedy in a world that won’t let it be one. Cast: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones. World Premiere. DAY ONE Burden / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Heckler, Producers: Robbie Brenner, Jincheng, Bill Kenwright) — After opening a KKK shop, Klansman Michael Burden falls in love with a single mom who forces him to confront his senseless hatred. After leaving the Klan and with nowhere to turn, Burden is taken in by an African-American reverend, and learns tolerance through their combined love and faith. Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Forest Whitaker, Andrea Riseborough, Tom Wilkinson, Usher Raymond. World Premiere Eighth Grade / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Bo Burnham, Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Christopher Storer, Lila Yacoub) — Thirteen-year-old Kayla endures the tidal wave of contemporary suburban adolescence as she makes her way through the last week of middle school — the end of her thus far disastrous eighth grade year — before she begins high school. Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton. World Premiere. I Think We’re Alone Now / U.S.A. (Director: Reed Morano, Screenwriter: Mike Makowsky, Producers: Fred Berger, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fernando Loureiro, Roberto Vasconcellos, Peter Dinklage, Mike Makowsky) — The apocalypse proves a blessing in disguise for one lucky recluse – until a second survivor arrives with the threat of companionship. Cast: Peter Dinklage, Elle Fanning. World Premiere The Kindergarten Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sara Colangelo, Producers: Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman-Keren, Talia Kleinhendler) — Lisa Spinelli is a Staten Island teacher who is unusually devoted to her students. When she discovers one of her five-year-olds is a prodigy, she becomes fascinated with the boy, ultimately risking her family and freedom to nurture his talent. Based on the acclaimed Israeli film. Cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Rosa Salazar, Anna Barynishikov, Michael Chernus, Gael Garcia Bernal. World Premiere Lizzie / U.S.A. (Director: Craig William Macneill, Screenwriter: Bryce Kass, Producers: Naomi Despres, Liz Destro) — Based on the 1892 murder of Lizzie Borden’s family in Fall River, MA, this tense psychological thriller lays bare the legend of Lizzie Borden to reveal the much more complex, poignant and truly terrifying woman within — and her intimate bond with the family’s young Irish housemaid, Bridget Sullivan. Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens, Denis O’Hare. World Premiere The Miseducation of Cameron Post / U.S.A. (Director: Desiree Akhavan, Screenwriters: Desiree Akhavan, Cecilia Frugiuele, Producers: Cecilia Frugiuele, Jonathan Montepare, Michael B. Clark, Alex Turtletaub) — 1993: after being caught having sex with the prom queen, a girl is forced into a gay conversion therapy center. Based on Emily Danforth’s acclaimed and controversial coming-of-age novel. Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, John Gallagher Jr., Jennifer Ehle. World Premiere Monster / U.S.A. (Director: Anthony Mandler, Screenwriters: Radha Blank, Cole Wiley, Janece Shaffer, Producers: Tonya Lewis Lee, Nikki Silver, Aaron L. Gilbert, Mike Jackson, Edward Tyler Nahem) — “Monster” is what the prosecutor calls 17 year old honors student and aspiring filmmaker Steve Harmon. Charged with felony murder for a crime he says he did not commit, the film follows his dramatic journey through a complex legal battle that could leave him spending the rest of his life in prison. Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Hudson, Rakim Mayers, Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson. World Premiere Monsters and Men / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Reinaldo Marcus Green, Producers: Elizabeth Lodge Stepp, Josh Penn, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Luca Borghese) — This interwoven narrative explores the aftermath of a police killing of a black man. The film is told through the eyes of the bystander who filmed the act, an African-American police officer and a high-school baseball phenom inspired to take a stand. Cast: John David Washington, Anthony Ramos, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chanté Adams, Nicole Beharie, Rob Morgan. World Premiere NANCY / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Christina Choe, Producers: Amy Lo, Michelle Cameron, Andrea Riseborough) — Blurring lines between fact and fiction, Nancy becomes increasingly convinced she was kidnapped as a child. When she meets a couple whose daughter went missing thirty years ago, reasonable doubts give way to willful belief – and the power of emotion threatens to overcome all rationality. Cast: Andrea Riseborough, J. Smith-Cameron, Steve Buscemi, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo. World Premiere Sorry to Bother You / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Boots Riley, Producers: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Charles King, George Rush, Jonathan Duffy, Kelly Williams) — In a speculative and dystopian not-too-distant future, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe. Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, Armie Hammer, Omari Hardwicke. World Premiere The Tale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jennifer Fox, Producers: Oren Moverman, Lawrence Inglee, Laura Rister, Mynette Louie, Sol Bondy, Simone Pero) — An investigation into one woman’s memory as she’s forced to re-examine her first sexual relationship and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive; based on the filmmaker’s own story. Cast: Laura Dern, Isabel Nelisse, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, Ellen Burstyn, Common. World Premiere TYREL / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sebastian Silva, Producers: Jacob Wasserman, Max Born) — Tyler spirals out of control when he realizes he’s the only black person attending a weekend birthday party in a secluded cabin. Cast: Jason Mitchell, Christopher Abbott, Michael Cera, Caleb Landry Jones, Ann Dowd. World Premiere Wildlife / U.S.A. (Director: Paul Dano, Screenwriters: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Producers: Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Oren Moverman, Ann Ruark, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker) — Montana, 1960: A portrait of a family in crisis. Based on the novel by Richard Ford. Cast: Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, Jake Gyllenhaal. World Premiere

    U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

    Bisbee ’17 / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Robert Greene, Producers: Douglas Tirola, Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott) — An old mining town on the Arizona-Mexico border finally reckons with its darkest day: the deportation of 1200 immigrant miners exactly 100 years ago. Locals collaborate to stage recreations of their controversial past. Cast: Fernando Serrano, Laurie McKenna, Ray Family, Mike Anderson, Graeme Family, Richard Hodges. World Premiere Crime + Punishment / U.S.A. (Director: Stephen Maing) — Over four years of unprecedented access, the story of a brave group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and one unrelenting private investigator who, amidst a landmark lawsuit, risk everything to expose illegal quota practices and their impact on young minorities. World Premiere Dark Money / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kimberly Reed, Producer: Katy Chevigny) — “Dark money” contributions, made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, flood modern American elections – but Montana is showing Washington D.C. how to solve the problem of unlimited anonymous money in politics. World Premiere The Devil We Know / U.S.A. (Director: Stephanie Soechtig, Producers: Kristin Lazure, Stephanie Soechtig, Joshua Kunau, Carly Palmour) — Unraveling one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, a group of citizens in West Virginia take on a powerful corporation after they discover it has knowingly been dumping a toxic chemical — now found in the blood of 99.7% of Americans — into the local drinking water supply. World Premiere. THE NEW CLIMATE Hal / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Scott, Producers: Christine Beebe, Jonathan Lynch, Brian Morrow) — Hal Ashby’s obsessive genius led to an unprecedented string of Oscar®-winning classics, including Harold and Maude, Shampoo and Being There. But as contemporaries Coppola, Scorsese and Spielberg rose to blockbuster stardom in the 1980s, Ashby’s uncompromising nature played out as a cautionary tale of art versus commerce. World Premiere Hale County This Morning, This Evening / U.S.A. (Director: RaMell Ross, Screenwriter: Maya Krinsky, Producers: Joslyn Barnes, RaMell Ross, Su Kim) — An exploration of coming-of-age in the Black Belt of the American South, using stereotypical imagery to fill in the landscape between iconic representations of black men and encouraging a new way of looking, while resistance to narrative suspends conclusive imagining – allowing the viewer to complete the film. World Premiere Inventing Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director: Laura Nix, Producers: Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Laura Nix) — Take a journey with young minds from around the globe as they prepare their projects for the largest convening of high school scientists in the world, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Watch these passionate innovators find the courage to face the planet’s environmental threats while navigating adolescence. World Premiere. THE NEW CLIMATE Kailash / U.S.A. (Director: Derek Doneen, Producers: Davis Guggenheim, Sarah Anthony) — As a young man, Kailash Satyarthi promised himself that he would end child slavery in his lifetime. In the decades since, he has rescued more than eighty thousand children and built a global movement. This intimate and suspenseful film follows one man’s journey to do what many believed was impossible. World Premiere. DAY ONE Kusama – Infinity / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Heather Lenz, Producers: Karen Johnson, Heather Lenz, Dan Braun, David Koh) — Now one of the world’s most celebrated artists, Yayoi Kusama broke free of the rigid society in which she was raised, and overcame sexism, racism, and mental illness to bring her artistic vision to the world stage. At 88 she lives in a mental hospital and continues to create art. World Premiere The Last Race / U.S.A. (Director: Michael Dweck, Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw) — A cinematic portrait of a small town stock car track and the tribe of drivers that call it home as they struggle to hold onto an American racing tradition. The avant-garde narrative explores the community and its conflicts through an intimate story that reveals the beauty, mystery and emotion of grassroots auto racing. World Premiere Minding the Gap / U.S.A. (Director: Bing Liu, Producer: Diane Quon) — Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. World Premiere On Her Shoulders / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandria Bombach, Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams, Bryn Mooser, Adam Bardach) — A Yazidi genocide and ISIS sexual slavery survivor, 23-year-old Nadia Murad is determined to tell the world her story. As her journey leads down paths of advocacy and fame, she becomes the voice of her people and their best hope to spur the world to action. International Premiere The Price of Everything / U.S.A. (Director: Nathaniel Kahn, Producers: Jennifer Blei Stockman, Debi Wisch, Carla Solomon) — With unprecedented access to pivotal artists and the white-hot market surrounding them, this film dives deep into the contemporary art world, holding a funhouse mirror up to our values and our times – where everything can be bought and sold.World Premiere Seeing Allred / U.S.A. (Directors: Sophie Sartain, Roberta Grossman, Producers: Roberta Grossman, Sophie Sartain, Marta Kauffman, Robbie Rowe Tollin, Hannah KS Canter) — Gloria Allred overcame trauma and personal setbacks to become one of the nation’s most famous women’s rights attorneys. Now the feminist firebrand takes on two of the biggest adversaries of her career, Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, as sexual violence allegations grip the nation and keep her in the spotlight. World Premiere The Sentence / U.S.A. (Director: Rudy Valdez, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Jackie Kelman Bisbee) — Cindy Shank, mother of three, is serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement with a Michigan drug ring years earlier. This intimate portrait of mandatory minimum drug sentencing’s devastating consequences, captured by Cindy’s brother, follows her and her family over the course of ten years. World Premiere Three Identical Strangers / U.S.A. (Director: Tim Wardle, Producer: Becky Read) — New York,1980: three complete strangers accidentally discover that they’re identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds’ joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever. World Premiere

    WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION

    And Breathe Normally / Iceland, Sweden, Belgium (Director and screenwriter: Ísold Uggadóttir, Producers: Skúli Malmquist, Diana Elbaum, Annika Hellström, Lilja Ósk Snorradóttir, Inga Lind Karlsdóttir) — At the edge of Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula, two women’s lives will intersect – for a brief moment – while trapped in circumstances unforeseen. Between a struggling Icelandic mother and an asylum seeker from Guinea-Bissau, a delicate bond will form as both strategize to get their lives back on track. Cast: Kristín Thóra Haraldsdóttir, Babetida Sadjo, Patrik Nökkvi Pétursson. World Premiere Butterflies / Turkey (Director and screenwriter: Tolga Karaçelik, Producers: Tolga Karaçelik, Diloy Gülün, Metin  Anter) — In the Turkish village of Hasanlar, three siblings who neither know each other nor anything about their late father, wait to bury his body. As they start to find out more about their father and about each other, they also start to know more about themselves. Cast: Tolga Tekin, Bartu Küçükçağlayan, Tuğçe Altuğ, Serkan Keskin, Hakan Karsak. World Premiere Dead Pigs / China (Director and screenwriter: Cathy Yan, Producers: Clarissa Zhang, Jane Zheng, Zhangke Jia, Mick Aniceto, Amy Aniceto) — A bumbling pig farmer, a feisty salon owner, a sensitive busboy, an expat architect and a disenchanted rich girl converge and collide as thousands of dead pigs float down the river towards a rapidly-modernizing Shanghai, China. Based on true events. Cast: Vivian Wu, Haoyu Yang, Mason Lee, Meng Li, David Rysdahl. World Premiere The Guilty / Denmark (Director: Gustav Möller, Screenwriters: Gustav Möller, Emil Nygaard Albertsen, Producer: Lina Flint) — Alarm dispatcher Asger Holm answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman; after a sudden disconnection, the search for the woman and her kidnapper begins. With the phone as his only tool, Asger enters a race against time to solve a crime that is far bigger than he first thought. Cast: Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen, Omar Shargawi. World Premiere Holiday / Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (Director: Isabella Eklöf, Screenwriters: Isabella Eklöf, Johanne Algren, Producer: David B. Sørensen) — A love triangle featuring the trophy girlfriend of a petty drug lord, caught up in a web of luxury and violence in a modern dark gangster tale set in the beautiful port city of Bodrum on the Turkish Riviera. Cast: Victoria Carmen Sonne, Lai Yde, Thijs Römer. World Premiere Loveling / Brazil, Uruguay (Director: Gustavo Pizzi, Screenwriters: Gustavo Pizzi, Karine Teles, Producers: Tatiana Leite, Rodrigo Letier, Agustina Chiarino, Fernando Epstein) — On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, Irene has only a few days to overcome her anxiety and renew her strength before sending her eldest son out into the world. Cast: Karine Teles, Otavio Muller, Adriana Esteves, Konstantinos Sarris, Cesar Troncoso. World Premiere. DAY ONE Pity / Greece, Poland (Director: Babis Makridis, Screenwriters: Efthimis Filippou, Babis Makridis, Producers: Amanda Livanou, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Klaudia Śmieja, Beata Rzeźniczek) — The story of a man who feels happy only when he is unhappy: addicted to sadness, with such need for pity, that he’s willing to do everything to evoke it from others. This is the life of a man in a world not cruel enough for him. Cast: Yannis Drakopoulos, Evi Saoulidou, Nota Tserniafski, Makis Papadimitriou, Georgina Chryskioti, Evdoxia Androulidaki. World Premiere The Queen of Fear / Argentina, Denmark (Directors: Valeria Bertuccelli, Fabiana Tiscornia, Screenwriter: Valeria Bertuccelli, Producers: Benjamin Domenech, Santiago Gallelli, Matias Roveda, Juan Vera, Juan Pablo Galli, Christian Faillace) — Only one month left until the premiere of The Golden Time, the long-awaited solo show by acclaimed actress Robertina. Far from focused on the preparations for this new production, Robertina lives in a state of continuous anxiety that turns her privileged life into an absurd and tumultuous landscape. Cast: Valeria Bertuccelli, Diego Velázquez, Gabriel Eduardo “Puma” Goity, Darío Grandinetti. World Premiere Rust / Brazil (Director: Aly Muritiba, Screenwriters: Aly Muritiba, Jessica Candal, Producer: Antônio Junior) — Tati and Renet were already trading pics, videos and music by their cellphones and on the last school trip they started making eye contact. However, what could be the beginning of a love story becomes an end. Cast: Giovanni De Lorenzi, Tifanny Dopke, Enrique Diaz, Clarissa Kiste, Duda Azevedo, Pedro Inoue. World Premiere Time Share (Tiempo Compartido) / Mexico, Netherlands (Director: Sebastián Hofmann, Screenwriters: Julio Chavezmontes, Sebastián Hofmann, Producer: Julio Chavezmontes) — Two haunted family men join forces in a destructive crusade to rescue their families from a tropical paradise, after becoming convinced that an American timeshare conglomerate has a sinister plan to take their loved ones away. Cast: Luis Gerardo Mendez, Miguel Rodarte, Andrés Almeida, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Monserrat Marañon, R.J. Mitte. World Premiere Un Traductor / Canada, Cuba (Directors: Rodrigo Barriuso, Sebastián Barriuso, Screenwriter: Lindsay Gossling, Producers: Sebastián Barriuso, Lindsay Gossling) — A Russian Literature professor at the University of Havana is ordered to work as a translator for child victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster when they are sent to Cuba for medical treatment. Based on a true story. Cast: Rodrigo Santoro, Maricel Álvarez, Yoandra Suárez. World Premiere Yardie / United Kingdom (Director: Idris Elba, Screenwriters: Brock Norman Brock, Martin Stellman, Producers: Gina Carter, Robin Gutch) — Jamaica, 1973. When a young boy witnesses his brother’s assassination, a powerful Don gives him a home. Ten years later he is sent on a mission to London. He reunites with his girlfriend and their daughter, but then the past catches up with them. Based on Victor Headley’s novel. Cast: Aml Ameen, Shantol Jackson, Stephen Graham, Fraser James, Sheldon Shepherd, Everaldo Cleary. World Premiere

    WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

    A Polar Year / France (Director: Samuel Collardey, Screenwriters: Samuel Collardey, Catherine Paillé, Producer: Grégoire Debailly) — Anders leaves his native Denmark for a teaching position in rural Greenland. As soon as he arrives, he finds himself at odds with tightly-knit locals. Only through a clumsy and playful trial of errors can Anders shake his Euro-centric assumptions and embrace their snow-covered way of life. Cast: Anders Hvidegaard, Asser Boassen, Julius B. Nielsen, Tobias Ignatiussen, Thomasine Jonathansen, Gert Jonathansen. World Premiere Anote’s Ark / Canada (Director: Matthieu Rytz, Producers: Bob Moore, Mila Aung-Thwin, Daniel Cross, Shari Plummer, Shannon Joy) — How does a nation survive being swallowed by the sea? Kiribati, on a low-lying Pacific atoll, will disappear within decades due to rising sea levels, population growth, and climate change. This exploration of how to migrate an entire nation with dignity interweaves personal stories of survival and resilience. World Premiere. THE NEW CLIMATE The Cleaners / Germany, Brazil (Directors: Moritz Riesewieck, Hans Block, Screenwriters: Moritz Riesewieck, Hans Block, Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Producers: Christian Beetz, Georg Tschurtschenthaler, Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, Fernando Dias, Mauricio Dias) — When you post something on the web, can you be sure it stays there? Enter a hidden shadow industry of digital cleaning, where the Internet rids itself of what it doesn’t like: violence, pornography and political content. Who is controlling what we see…and what we think? World Premiere Genesis 2.0 / Switzerland (Directors: Christian Frei, Maxim Arbugaev, Producer: Christian Frei) — On the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, hunters search for tusks of extinct mammoths. When they discover a surprisingly well-preserved mammoth carcass, its resurrection will be the first manifestation of the next great technological revolution: genetics. It may well turn our world upside down. World Premiere MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. / Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, U.S.A. (Director: Stephen Loveridge, Producers: Lori Cheatle, Andrew Goldman, Paul Mezey) — Drawn from a never before seen cache of personal footage spanning decades, this is an intimate portrait of the Sri Lankan artist and musician who continues to shatter conventions. World Premiere Of Fathers and Sons / Germany, Syria, Lebanon (Director: Talal Derki, Producers: Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert, Hans Robert Eisenhauer) — Talal Derki returns to his homeland where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years. His camera focuses on Osama and his younger brother Ayman, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up in an Islamic Caliphate. North American Premiere The Oslo Diaries / Israel, Canada (Directors and screenwriters: Mor Loushy, Daniel Sivan, Producers: Hilla Medalia, Ina Fichman) — In 1992, Israeli-Palestinian relations reached an all time low. In an attempt to stop the bloodshed, a group of Israelis and Palestinians met illegally in Oslo. These meetings were never officially sanctioned and held in complete secrecy. They changed the Middle East forever. World Premiere Our New President / Russia, U.S.A. (Director: Maxim Pozdorovkin, Producers: Maxim Pozdorovkin, Joe Bender) — The story of Donald Trump’s election told entirely through Russian propaganda. By turns horrifying and hilarious, the film is a satirical portrait of Russian media that reveals an empire of fake news and the tactics of modern-day information warfare. World Premiere. DAY ONE Shirkers / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sandi Tan, Producers: Sandi Tan, Jessica Levin, Maya Rudolph) — In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore’s first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges’ vanishing footprints. World Premiere This is Home / U.S.A., Jordan (Director: Alexandra Shiva, Producer: Lindsey Megrue) This is an intimate portrait of four Syrian families arriving in Baltimore, Maryland and struggling to find their footing. With eight months to become self-sufficient, they must forge ahead to rebuild their lives. When the travel ban adds further complications, their strength and resilience are put to the test. World Premiere Westwood / United Kingdom (Director: Lorna Tucker, Producers: Eleanor Emptage, Shirine Best, Nicole Stott, John Battsek) — Dame Vivienne Westwood: punk, icon, provocateur and one of the most influential originators in recent history. This is the first film to encompass the remarkable story of one of the true icons of our time, as she fights to maintain her brand’s integrity, her principles – and her legacy. World Premiere A Woman Captured / Hungary (Director and screenwriter: Bernadett Tuza-Ritter, Producers: Julianna Ugrin, Viki Réka Kiss, Erik Winker, Martin Roelly) — A European woman has been kept by a family as a domestic slave for 10 years – one of over 45 million victims of modern-day slavery. Drawing courage from the filmmaker’s presence, she decides to escape the unbearable oppression and become a free person. North American Premiere

    NEXT

    306 Hollywood / U.S.A., Hungary (Directors: Elan Bogarín, Jonathan Bogarín, Screenwriters: Jonathan Bogarín, Elan Bogarín, Nyneve Laura Minnear, Producers: Elan Bogarín, Jonathan Bogarín, Judit Stalter) — When two siblings undertake an archaeological excavation of their late grandmother’s house, they embark on a magical-realist journey from her home in New Jersey to ancient Rome, from fashion to physics, in search of what life remains in the objects we leave behind. World Premiere. DAY ONE A Boy, A Girl, A Dream. / U.S.A. (Director: Qasim Basir, Screenwriters: Qasim Basir, Samantha Tanner, Producer: Datari Turner) — On the night of the 2016 Presidential election, Cass, an L.A. club promoter, takes a thrilling and emotional journey with Frida, a Midwestern visitor. She challenges him to revisit his broken dreams – while he pushes her to discover hers. Cast: Omari Hardwick, Meagan Good, Jay Ellis, Kenya Barris, Dijon Talton, Wesley Jonathan. World Premiere An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn / United Kingdom, U.S.A. (Director: Jim Hosking, Screenwriters: Jim Hosking, David Wike, Producers: Sam Bisbee, Theodora Dunlap, Oliver Roskill, Emily Leo, Lucan Toh, Andy Starke) — Lulu Danger’s unsatisfying marriage takes a fortunate turn for the worse when a mysterious man from her past comes to town to perform an event called ‘An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn For One Magical Night Only.’ Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Emile Hirsch, Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry, Craig Robinson. World Premiere Clara’s Ghost / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Bridey Elliott, Producer: Sarah Winshall) — Set over the course of a single evening at the Reynolds’ family home in Connecticut, Clara, fed up with the constant ribbing from her self-absorbed showbiz family, finds solace in and guidance from the supernatural force she believes is haunting her. Cast: Paula Niedert Elliott, Chris Elliott, Abby Elliott, Bridey Elliott, Haley Joel Osment, Isidora Goreshter. World Premiere Madeline’s Madeline / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Josephine Decker, Producers: Krista Parris, Elizabeth Rao) — Madeline got the part! She’s going to play the lead in a theater piece! Except the lead wears sweatpants like Madeline’s. And has a cat like Madeline’s. And is holding a steaming hot iron next to her mother’s face – like Madeline is. Cast: Helena Howard, Molly Parker, Miranda July, Okwui Okpokwasili, Felipe Bonilla, Lisa Tharps. World Premiere Night Comes On / U.S.A. (Director: Jordana Spiro, Screenwriters: Jordana Spiro, Angelica Nwandu, Producers: Jonathan Montepare, Alvaro R. Valente, Danielle Renfrew Behrens) — Angel LaMere is released from juvenile detention on the eve of her 18th birthday. Haunted by her past, she embarks on a journey with her 10 year-old sister that could destroy their future. Cast: Dominique Fishback, Tatum Hall, John Earl Jelks, Max Casella, James McDaniel. World Premiere Search / U.S.A. (Director: Aneesh Chaganty, Screenwriters: Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian, Producers: Timur Bekmambetov, Sev Ohanian, Adam Sidman, Natalie Qasabian) — After his 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a desperate father breaks into her laptop to look for clues to find her. A thriller that unfolds entirely on computer screens. Cast: John Cho, Debra Messing. World Premiere. WINNER: 2018 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize.  Skate Kitchen / U.S.A. (Director: Crystal Moselle, Screenwriters: Crystal Moselle, Ashlihan Unaldi, Producers: Lizzie Nastro, Izabella Tzenkova, Julia Nottingham, Matthew Perniciaro, Michael Sherman, Rodrigo Teixeira) — Camille’s life as a lonely suburban teenager changes dramatically when she befriends a group of girl skateboarders. As she journeys deeper into this raw New York City subculture, she begins to understand the true meaning of friendship as well as her inner self. Cast: Rachelle Vinberg, Dede Lovelace, Jaden Smith, Nina Moran, Ajani Russell, Kabrina Adams. World Premiere We The Animals / U.S.A. (Director: Jeremiah Zagar, Screenwriters: Daniel Kitrosser, Jeremiah Zagar, Producers: Jeremy Yaches, Christina D. King, Andrew Goldman, Paul Mezey) — Us three, us brothers, us kings. Manny, Joel and Jonah tear their way through childhood and push against the volatile love of their parents. As Manny and Joel grow into versions of their father and Ma dreams of escape, Jonah, the youngest, embraces an imagined world all his own. Cast: Raul Castillo, Sheila Vand, Evan Rosado, Isaiah Kristian, Josiah Santiago. World Premiere White Rabbit / U.S.A. (Director: Daryl Wein, Screenwriters: Daryl Wein, Vivian Bang, Producers: Daryl Wein, Vivian Bang) —A dramatic comedy following a Korean American performance artist who struggles to be authentically heard and seen through her multiple identities in modern Los Angeles. Cast: Vivian Bang, Nana Ghana, Nico Evers-Swindel, Tracy Hazas, Elizabeth Sung, Michelle Sui. World Premiere

    PREMIERES

    A Kid Like Jake / U.S.A. (Director: Silas Howard, Screenwriter: Daniel Pearle, Producers: Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak, Eric Norsoph, Paul Bernon, Rachel Song) — As married couple Alex and Greg navigate their roles as parents to a young son who prefers Cinderella to G.I. Joe, a rift grows between them, one that forces them to confront their own concerns about what’s best for their child, and each other. Cast: Claire Danes, Jim Parsons, Octavia Spencer, Priyanka  Chopra, Ann Dowd, Amy Landecker. World Premiere Beirut / U.S.A. (Director: Brad Anderson, Screenwriter: Tony Gilroy) — A U.S. diplomat flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by CIA operatives to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. Cast: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Shea Whigham, Dean Norris. World Premiere The Catcher Was a Spy / U.S.A. (Director: Ben Lewin, Screenwriter: Robert Rodat, Producers: Kevin Frakes, Tatiana Kelly, Buddy Patrick, Jim Young) — The true story of Moe Berg – professional baseball player, Ivy League graduate, attorney who spoke nine languages – and a top-secret spy for the OSS who helped the U.S. win the race against Germany to build the atomic bomb. Cast: Paul Rudd, Mark Strong, Sienna Miller, Jeff Daniels, Guy Pearce, Paul Giamatti. World Premiere Colette / United Kingdom (Director: Wash Westmoreland, Screenwriters: Wash Westmoreland, Richard Glatzer, Producers: Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley) — A young country woman marries a famous literary entrepreneur in turn-of-the-century Paris: At her husband’s request, Colette pens a series of bestselling novels published under his name. But as her confidence grows, she transforms not only herself and her marriage, but the world around her. Cast: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Elinor Tomlinson, Aiysha Hart. World Premiere Come Sunday / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Marston, Screenwriter: Marcus Hinchey, Producers: Ira Glass, Alissa Shipp, Julie Goldstein, James Stern, Lucas Smith, Cindy Kirven) — Internationally-renowned pastor Carlton Pearson — experiencing a crisis of faith — risks his church, family and future when he questions church doctrine and finds himself branded a modern-day heretic. Based on actual events. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Condola Rashad, Jason Segel, Lakeith Stanfield, Martin Sheen. World Premiere Damsel / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Producers: Nathan Zellner, Chris Ohlson, David Zellner) — Samuel Alabaster, an affluent pioneer, ventures across the American Frontier to marry the love of his life, Penelope. As Samuel, a drunkard named Parson Henry and a miniature horse called Butterscotch traverse the Wild West, their once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel. Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David Zellner, Robert Forster, Nathan Zellner, Joe Billingiere. World Premiere Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot / U.S.A. (Director: Gus Van Sant, Screenwriters: Gus Van Sant (screenplay), John Callahan (biography), Producers: Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Mourad Belkeddar, Steve Golin, Nicolas Lhermitte) — John Callahan has a talent for off-color jokes…and a drinking problem. When a bender ends in a car accident, Callahan wakes permanently confined to a wheelchair. In his journey back from rock bottom, Callahan finds beauty and comedy in the absurdity of human experience. Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black. World Premiere Futile and Stupid Gesture / U.S.A. (Director: David Wain, Screenwriters: John Aboud, Michael Colton, Producers: Peter Principato, Jonathan Stern) — The story of comedy wunderkind Doug Kenney, who co-created the National Lampoon, Caddyshack, and Animal House. Kenney was at the center of the 70’s comedy counter-culture which gave birth to Saturday Night Live and a whole generation’s way of looking at the world. Cast: Will Forte, Martin Mull, Domhnall Gleeson, Matt Walsh, Joel McHale, Emmy Rossum. World Premiere The Happy Prince / Germany, Belgium, Italy (Director and screenwriter: Rupert Everett) — The last days of Oscar Wilde—and the ghosts haunting them—are brought to vivid life. His body ailing, Wilde lives in exile, surviving on the flamboyant irony and brilliant wit that defined him as the transience of lust is laid bare and the true riches of love are revealed. Cast: Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan, Edwin Thomas, Rupert Everett. World Premiere Hearts Beat Loud / U.S.A. (Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch, Producers: Houston King, Sam Bisbee, Sam Slater) — In Red Hook, Brooklyn, a father and daughter become an unlikely songwriting duo in the last summer before she leaves for college. Cast: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Ted Danson, Sasha Lane, Blythe Danner, Toni Collette. World Premiere Juliet, Naked / United Kingdom (Director: Jesse Peretz, Screenwriters: Tamara Jenkins, Jim Taylor, Phil Alden Robinson, Evgenia Peretz, Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa) — Annie is the long-suffering girlfriend of Duncan, an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe. When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s celebrated record from 25 years ago surfaces, its release leads to an encounter with the elusive rocker himself. Based on the novel by Nick Hornby. Cast: Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke, Chris O’Dowd. World Premiere Ophelia / United Kingdom (Director: Claire McCarthy, Screenwriter: Semi Chellas, Producers: Daniel Bobker, Sarah Curtis, Ehren Kruger, Paul Hanson) — A mythic spin on Hamlet through a lens of female empowerment: Ophelia comes of age as lady-in-waiting for Queen Gertrude, and her singular spirit captures Hamlet’s affections. As lust and betrayal threaten the kingdom, Ophelia finds herself trapped between true love and controlling her own destiny. Cast: Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts, Clive Owen, George MacKay, Tom Felton, Devon Terrell. World Premiere Puzzle / U.S.A. (Director: Marc Turtletaub, Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, Producers: Peter Saraf, Wren Arthur, Guy Stodel) — Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world – where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined. Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, Liv Hewson. World Premiere Untitled Debra Granik Project / U.S.A. (Director: Debra Granik, Screenwriters: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini) — A father and daughter live a perfect but mysterious existence in Forest Park, a beautiful nature reserve near Portland, Oregon, rarely making contact with the world. A small mistake tips them off to authorities sending them on an increasingly erratic journey in search of a place to call their own. Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Korber, Dale Dickey. World Premiere What They Had / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Elizabeth Chomko) — Bridget returns home to Chicago at her brother’s urging to deal with her mother’s Alzheimer’s and her father’s reluctance to let go of their life together. Cast: Hilary Swank, Michael Shannon, Blythe Danner, Robert Forster. World Premiere

    DOCUMENTARY PREMIERES

    Bad Reputation / U.S.A. (Director: Kevin Kerslake, Screenwriter: Joel Marcus, Producers: Peter Afterman, Carianne Brinkman) — A look at the life of Joan Jett, from her early years as the founder of The Runaways and first meeting collaborator Kenny Laguna in 1980 to her enduring presence in pop culture as a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer . World Premiere Believer / U.S.A. (Director: Don Argott, Producers: Heather Parry, Sheena M. Joyce, Robert Reynolds) — Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the church’s policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change. World Premiere Chef Flynn / U.S.A. (Director: Cameron Yates, Producer: Laura Coxson) — Ten-year-old Flynn transforms his living room into a supper club, using his classmates as line cooks and serving a tasting menu foraged from his neighbors’ backyards. With sudden fame, Flynn outgrows his bedroom kitchen and mother’s camera, and sets out to challenge the hierarchy of the culinary world. World Premiere The Game Changers / U.S.A. (Director: Louie Psihoyos, Screenwriters: Mark Monroe, Joseph Pace, Producers: Joseph Pace, James Wilks) — James Wilks, an elite special forces trainer and winner of The Ultimate Fighter, embarks on a quest for the truth in nutrition and uncovers the world’s most dangerous myth. World Premiere Generation Wealth / U.S.A. (Director: Lauren Greenfield, Producers: Lauren Greenfield, Frank Evers) — Lauren Greenfield’s postcard from the edge of the American Empire captures a portrait of a materialistic, image-obsessed culture. Simultaneously personal journey and historical essay, the film bears witness to the global boom–bust economy, the corrupted American Dream and the human costs of late stage capitalism, narcissism and greed. World Premiere. DAY ONE Half The Picture / U.S.A. (Director: Amy Adrion, Producers: Amy Adrion, David Harris) — At a pivotal moment for gender equality in Hollywood, successful women directors tell the stories of their art, lives and careers. Having endured a long history of systemic discrimination, women filmmakers may be getting the first glimpse of a future that values their voices equally. World Premiere Jane Fonda in Five Acts / U.S.A. (Director: Susan Lacy, Producers: Susan Lacy, Jessica Levin, Emma Pildes) — Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she’s done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman’s singular journey. World Premiere King In The Wilderness / U.S.A. (Director: Peter Kunhardt, Producers: George Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt) From the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. remained a man with an unshakeable commitment to nonviolence in the face of an increasingly unstable country. A portrait of the last years of his life. World Premiere Quiet Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Jenny Mackenzie, Co-Directors: Jared Ruga, Amanda Stoddard, Producers: Jenny Mackenzie, Jared Ruga, Amanda Stoddard) — In Salt Lake City, Utah, the socially conservative religious monoculture complicated the AIDS crisis, where patients in the entire state and intermountain region relied on only one doctor. This is the story of her fight to save a maligned population everyone else seemed willing to just let die. World Premiere RBG / U.S.A. (Directors and producers: Betsy West, Julie Cohen) — An intimate portrait of an unlikely rock star: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. With unprecedented access, the filmmakers show how her early legal battles changed the world for women. Now this 84-year-old does push-ups as easily as she writes blistering dissents that have earned her the title “Notorious RBG.” World Premiere Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind / U.S.A. (Director: Marina Zenovich, Producers: Alex Gibney, Shirel Kozak) — This intimate portrait examines one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians. Told largely through Robin’s own voice and using a wealth of never-before-seen archive, the film takes us through his extraordinary life and career and reveals the spark of madness that drove him. World Premiere STUDIO 54 / U.S.A. (Director: Matt Tyrnauer, Producers: Matt Tyrnauer, John Battsek, Corey Reeser) — Studio 54 was the pulsating epicenter of 1970s hedonism: a disco hothouse of beautiful people, drugs, and sex. The journeys of Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell — two best friends from Brooklyn who conquered New York City — frame this history of the “greatest club of all time.” World Premiere Won’t You Be My Neighbor? / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville, Producers: Caryn Capotosto, Nicholas Ma) — Fred Rogers used puppets and play to explore complex social issues: race, disability, equality and tragedy, helping form the American concept of childhood. He spoke directly to children and they responded enthusiastically. Yet today, his impact is unclear. Have we lived up to Fred’s ideal of good neighbors? World Premiere. SALT LAKE CITY OPENING NIGHT FILM

    MIDNIGHT

    Arizona / U.S.A. (Director: Jonathan Watson, Screenwriter: Luke Del Tredici, Producers: Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Ryan Friedkin, Danny McBride, Brandon James) — Set in the midst of the 2009 housing crisis, this darkly comedic story follows Cassie Fowler, a single mom and struggling realtor whose life goes off the rails when she witnesses a murder. Cast: Danny McBride, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Wilson, Lolli Sorenson, Elizabeth Gillies, Kaitlin Olson. World Premiere Assassination Nation / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sam Levinson, Producers: David Goyer, Anita Gou, Kevin Turen, Aaron L. Gilbert, Matthew J. Malek) — This is a one-thousand-percent true story about how the quiet, all-American town of Salem, Massachusetts, absolutely lost its mind. Cast: Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Bill Skarsgard, Bella Thorne. World Premiere Mandy / Belgium, U.S.A. (Director: Panos Cosmatos, Screenwriters: Panos Cosmatos, Aaron Stewart-Ahn, Producers: Daniel Noah, Josh Waller, Elijah Wood, Nate Bolotin, Adrian Politowski) — Pacific Northwest. 1983 AD. Outsiders Red Miller and Mandy Bloom lead a loving and peaceful existence. When their pine-scented haven is savagely destroyed by a cult led by the sadistic Jeremiah Sand, Red is catapulted into a phantasmagoric journey filled with bloody vengeance and laced with fire. Cast: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, Bill Duke. World Premiere Never Goin’ Back / U.S.A.  (Director and screenwriter: Augustine Frizzell, Producers: Toby Halbrooks, Liz Cardenas , James Johnston, David Lowery) — Jessie and Angela, high school dropout BFFs, are taking a week off to chill at the beach. Too bad their house got robbed, rent’s due, they’re about to get fired and they’re broke. Now they’ve gotta avoid eviction, stay out of jail and get to the beach, no matter what!!! Cast: Maia Mitchell, Cami Morrone, Kyle Mooney, Joel Allen, Kendal Smith, Matthew Holcomb. World Premiere Piercing / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nicolas Pesce, Producers: Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Schuyler Weiss, Jake Wasserman) — In this twisted love story, a man seeks out an unsuspecting stranger to help him purge the dark torments of his past. His plan goes awry when he encounters a woman with plans of her own. A playful psycho-thriller game of cat-and-mouse based on Ryu Murakami’s novel. Cast: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa, Marin Ireland, Maria Dizzia, Wendell Pierce. World Premiere Revenge / France (Director and screenwriter: Coralie Fargeat, Producers: Marc-Etienne Schwartz, Jean-Yves Robin, Marc Stanimirovic) — Three wealthy married men get together for their annual hunting game in a desert canyon. This time, one of them has brought along his young mistress, who quickly arouses the interest of the other two. Things get dramatically out of hand as a hunting game turns into a ruthless manhunt. Cast: Matilda Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchede, Jean-Louis Tribes. Utah Premiere Summer of ’84 / Canada, U.S.A. (Directors: Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann Whissell, Screenwriters: Matt Leslie, Stephen J. Smith, Producers: Shawn Williamson, Jameson Parker, Matt Leslie, Van Toffler, Cody Zwieg) — Summer, 1984: a perfect time to be a carefree 15-year-old. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous. Cast: Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Grüter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye, Rich Sommer. World Premiere

    SPOTLIGHT

    BEAST / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Michael Pearce, Producers: Ivana MacKinnon, Lauren Dark, Kristian Brodie) — In a small island community, a troubled young woman falls for a mysterious outsider who empowers her to escape from her oppressive family. When he comes under suspicion for a series of brutal murders, she learns what she’s capable of as she defends him at all costs. Cast: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Trystan Gravelle, Geraldine James, Charley Palmer Rothwell. U.S. Premiere The Death of Stalin / France, United Kingdom, Belgium (Director: Armando Iannucci, Screenwriters: Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin, Producers: Yann Zenou, Laurent Zeitoun, Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Kevin Loader) — The internal political landscape of 1950’s Soviet Russia through a darkly comic lens. In the days following Stalin’s collapse, his core ministers tussle for control; some want positive change, others have more sinister motives. Their one common trait? They’re all just desperately trying to remain alive. Cast: Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor, Andrea Riseborough, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Jason Isaacs. U.S. Premiere Foxtrot / Israel (Director and screenwriter: Samuel Maoz, Producers: Michael Weber, Viola Fügen, Eitan Mansuri, Cedomir Kolar, Marc Baschet, Michel Merkt) — Michael and Dafna are devastated when army officials show up at their home, announcing the death of their son Jonathan. While his sedated wife rests, Michael spirals into a whirlwind of anger only to experience one of life’s unfathomable twists, which rivals his son’s surreal military experiences. Cast: Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonatan Shiray. I Am Not a Witch / United Kingdom (Director and screenwriter: Rungano Nyoni, Producers: Juliette Grandmont, Emily Morgan) — After a minor incident, nine-year old Shula is exiled to a witch camp where she is told that if she escapes, she’ll be transformed into a goat. As she navigates through her new life, she must decide whether to accept her fate or risk the consequences of seeking freedom. Cast: Margaret Mulubwa, Henry B.J. Phiri, Nancy Mulilo, Margaret Sipaneia. U.S. Premiere The Rider / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chloé Zhao, Producers: Chloé Zhao, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Mollye Asher) — After a tragic riding accident, young cowboy and rising rodeo circuit star Brady Jandreau is told that his competition days are over. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and tries to redefine his idea of manhood in America’s heartland. Cast: Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lily Jandreau, Lane Scott, Cat Clifford. Utah Premiere Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Spurlock, Screenwriters: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock, Producers: Keith Calder, Jessica Calder, Spencer Silna, Nicole Barton, Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin) — Muckraking filmmaker Morgan Spurlock reignites his battle with the food industry – this time from behind the register – as he opens his own fast food restaurant. U.S. Premiere

    KIDS

    Lu Over the Wall / Japan (Director: Masaaki Yuasa, Screenwriters: Reiko Yoshida, Masaaki Yuasa, Producer: Eunyoung Choi) — Kai is a lonely teenage boy who lives in a small fishing village. One day, he meets and befriends Lu, a fun-loving mermaid whose singing is hypnotic to all who hear it. But the townspeople have always thought that mermaids bring disaster… World Premiere Science Fair / U.S.A. (Directors: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster, Producers: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster, Jeffrey Plunkett) — Nine high school students from around the globe navigate rivalries, setbacks, and of course, hormones, on their journey to compete at the international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest, quirkiest teens from 78 different countries, only one will be named Best in Fair. World Premiere White Fang / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Espigares, Screenwriters: Dominique Monfery, Philippe Lioret, Serge Frydman, Producers: Jeremie Fajner, Clement Calvet, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub) — An updated reimagining of Jack London’s classic novel, this thrilling tale of kindness, survival and the twin majesties of the animal kingdom and mankind traces the loving and magnificent hero White Fang, whose intense curiosity leads him on the adventure of a lifetime. Cast: Rashida Jones, Nick Offerman, Eddie Spears, Paul Giamatti. World Premiere

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