Swim Team (2016)

  • 170 Documentary Feature Films Submitted for 90th Academy Awards

    [caption id="attachment_25315" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Gaga: Five Foot Two Gaga: Five Foot Two[/caption] One hundred seventy features have been submitted for consideration in the Documentary Feature category for the 90th Academy Awards. A shortlist of 15 films will be announced in December. Films submitted in the Documentary Feature category may also qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories. Nominations for the 90th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The 90th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide. The submitted features, listed in alphabetical order, are: Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Aida’s Secrets Al Di Qua All the Rage All These Sleepless Nights AlphaGo The American Media and the Second Assassination of President John F. Kennedy And the Winner Isn’t Angels Within Architects of Denial Arthur Miller: Writer Atomic Homefront The B-Side: Elsa Dorfman’s Portrait Photography Bang! The Bert Berns Story Bending the Arc Big Sonia Bill Nye: Science Guy Birthright: A War Story Bobbi Jene Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story Born in China Born to Lead: The Sal Aunese Story Boston Brimstone & Glory Bronx Gothic Burden California Typewriter Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story Casting JonBenet Chasing Coral Chasing Trane Chavela Citizen Jane: Battle for the City City of Ghosts Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of Our Lives Cries from Syria Cruel & Unusual Cuba and the Cameraman Dawson City: Frozen Time Dealt The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson Destination Unknown Dina Dolores Dream Big: Engineering Our World A Dying King: The Shah of Iran Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends) Earth: One Amazing Day 11/8/16 Elian Embargo Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars Escapes Everybody Knows… Elizabeth Murray Ex Libris – The New York Public Library Extraordinary Ordinary People Faces Places The Farthest The Final Year Finding Oscar 500 Years Food Evolution For Ahkeem The Force The Freedom to Marry From the Ashes Gaga: Five Foot Two A German Life Get Me Roger Stone Gilbert God Knows Where I Am Good Fortune A Gray State Hare Krishna! The Mantra, the Movement and the Swami Who Started It All Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story Hearing Is Believing Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS Human Flow I Am Another You I Am Evidence I Am Jane Doe I Called Him Morgan Icarus If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast The Incomparable Rose Hartman An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power Intent to Destroy Jane Jeremiah Tower The Last Magnificent Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower Karl Marx City Kedi Keep Quiet Kiki LA 92 The Last Dalai Lama? The Last Laugh Last Men in Aleppo Legion of Brothers Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982 – 1992 Let’s Play Two Letters from Baghdad Long Strange Trip Look & See Machines Man in Red Bandana Mr. Gaga: A True Story of Love and Dance Motherland Mully My Scientology Movie Naples ’44 Neary’s – The Dream at the End of the Rainbow Night School No Greater Love No Stone Unturned Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press Nowhere to Hide Obit Oklahoma City One of Us The Paris Opera The Pathological Optimist Prosperity The Pulitzer at 100 Quest Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman The Rape of Recy Taylor The Reagan Show Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan Risk A River Below Rocky Ros Muc Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World Santoalla School Life Score: A Film Music Documentary Served Like a Girl The Settlers 78/52 Shadowman Shot! The Psycho Spiritual Mantra of Rock Sidemen: Long Road to Glory The Skyjacker’s Tale Sled Dogs Soufra Spettacolo Step Stopping Traffic: The Movement to End Sex-Trafficking Strong Island Surviving Peace Swim Team Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton Take My Nose… Please! They Call Us Monsters 32 Pills: My Sister’s Suicide This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous Tickling Giants Trophy Twenty Two Unrest Vince Giordano – There’s a Future in the Past Voyeur Wait for Your Laugh Wasted! The Story of Food Waste Water & Power: A California Heist Whitney. Can I Be Me Whose Streets? The Work

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  • Documentary SWIM TEAM on Competitive Swim Team of Teens on Autism Spectrum Sets Release Date | Trailer

    swim team documentary poster The award-winning feature documentary Swim Team, directed by Lara Stolman, chronicles the rise of a competitive swim team in New Jersey made up of diverse teenagers on the autism spectrum. The film will be released in theaters this July, opening in New York on July 7th, 2017 and in Los Angeless on July 21, 2017; and will have its national TV debut during PBS POV’s 30th season on Monday, October 2, 2017. Swim Team is a feature documentary chronicling the rise of a competitive swim team made up of teenagers on the autism spectrum. Based in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, the cast of Swim Team is largely Latino and Asian, minorities that are underrepresented in competitive swimming and underserved in autism intervention and education. The film follows three of the team’s star athletes, boys on the cusp of adulthood as they face a future of exclusion and dependence. But everything changes when they come together as a team with parent coaches who train them with high expectations and zero pity. As the team vies for state and national Special Olympics championships, Swim Team captures a moving quest for inclusion, independence and a life that feels winning. “When people ask me how I found the story of Swim Team, I say it found me. Children with developmental disabilities are routinely excluded from community activities, often as early as preschool. Being told “no,” – your child can’t be in the regular class, your child wont keep up in little league, your child isn’t going to college – is something families caring for children with disabilities hear often. Since children on the spectrum are particularly prone to drowning, swimming is a crucial skill but it’s not easy to find appropriate teachers and programs willing to take on a child on the autism spectrum. While exploring swim lessons for my own children, I stumbled upon the Jersey Hammerheads team in formation recruiting children on the autism spectrum and I was immediately struck by the energy and optimism of the families that were coming together to form the team. Some of the kids were teenagers and had never been on a sports team before. And some couldn’t yet swim. With the Hammerheads families, I had found a group of parents who refused to take no for an answer. They were saying YES and as a community, it was galvanizing for them. As a mother, I was so personally inspired by what they hoped to accomplish, I knew I had to share their story. I hope my film provides inspiration for families everywhere raising children with unanticipated challenges.”

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  • 2017 Lighthouse International Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens with KING OF PEKING

    [caption id="attachment_22330" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]KING OF PEKING KING OF PEKING[/caption] The 2017 Lighthouse International Film Festival (LIFF) will open with Sam Voutas’ acclaimed KING OF PEKING, a rousing Beijing-set love letter to cinema that brought cheering audiences to their feet at Tribeca 2017. “From the opening frames of KING OF PEKING, I knew that it was special and a film that the LIFF audience will love,” says Lighthouse International Film Festival’s Eric Johnson. “Sam Voutas has made a film that speaks to cinephiles in a unique way, filled with moments that show film’s ability to act as a universal bond, while also telling a terrific story with a ton of heart and laughs. It is punctuated by pitch-perfect turns from his actors and it all comes together to form a sublime way to kick off the 2017 festival. We are thrilled to champion the emergence of one of the most exciting young directors working today by opening with KING OF PEKING.” In addition, the festival announced the complete lineup for its ninth annual event, which will take place June 8 to 11, 2017 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. LIFF will again present both Documentary and Narrative Centerpiece Films, including Jonathan Olshefski’s QUEST as Documentary Centerpiece. A vérité portrait of a North Philadelphia family that was shot over the course of a decade, it tells the tale of Christopher “Quest” Rainey, along with his wife Christine (aka “Ma Quest”). They open the door to their home music studio, which serves as a creative sanctuary from the strife that grips their neighborhood. Over the years, the family evolves as everyday life brings a mix of joy and unexpected crisis. Set against the backdrop of a country now in turmoil, the film is a tender depiction of an American family whose journey is a profound testament to love, healing and hope. QUEST will screen at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences on June 10th. The Festival’s Narrative Centerpiece film is FITS AND STARTS, the feature directorial debut of Laura Terruso. The acclaimed comedy stars The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac as a struggling writer who has been toiling away at the same novel for years. His wife (Jennifer Greta Lee) is a hot young literary figure, who has just released a new masterpiece. When her publisher invites the couple to an artists’ salon at his home in Connecticut, the pair embark on a twisted journey, and David must face his demons and try to “not be weird” among the waspy salon guests and competitive art set in attendance. He encounters a dentist with publishing aspirations, a book critic full of condescending advice, a fellow writer who may know his wife a little too well, an old “friend” and a high powered bipolar literary agent who just might be able to help him… for a price. FITS AND STARTS will screen on June 9th at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, with Laura Terruso in attendance for a Q&A after the film. Closing the 2017 Festival will be MISSING IN EUROPE, director Tamar Halpern’s tense new thriller about a cyber security expert visiting Serbia under the guise of attending a conference for work, but is really there to check in on her daughter, Karissa, who has been studying abroad. Their happy reunion is cut short when Karissa and her classmate Lara go clubbing and seemingly disappear into thin air. Sara is certain that her daughter has been abducted. Utilizing a host of hacking skills and following the clues Karissa is leaving behind, she starts to uncover a major sex trafficking ring. Even worse, it seems the local police force is in on it. With nobody to trust but herself, Sara uses every tool at her disposal to locate her daughter before she’s sold to the highest bidder and disappears forever. MISSING IN EUROPE will screen at The Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences on June 11th, with director Tamar Halpern on hand for a Q&A afterward. OPENING NIGHT FILM King of Peking, Sam Voutas, China NARRATIVE CENTERPIECE FILM Fits and Starts, Laura Terruso, USA DOCUMENTARY CENTERPIECE FILM Quest, Jonathan Olshefski, USA CLOSING NIGHT FILM Missing in Europe, Tamar Halopern, USA SPOTLIGHT FILMS Bad Black, Nabwana I.G.G., Uganda Dina, Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, USA Gaza Surf Club, Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine, Germany Infinity Baby, Bob Byington, USA The Journey, Nick Hamm, UK Person to Person, Dustin Guy Defa, USA The Road Movie, Dimitrii Kalashnikov, Belarus/Russia/Serbia/Bosnia & Herzegovina/Croatia NARRATIVE COMPETITION FILMS A Bad Idea Gone Wrong, Jason Headley, USA Brave New Jersey, Jody Lambert, USA The Dunning Man, Michael Clayton, USA Gold Star, Victoria Negri, USA Man Underground, Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine, USA Memories of Summer, Adam Guzinski, Poland Our Father, Meni Yaish, Israel Woven, Nagwa Ibrahim and Salome Mulugeta. USA DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION FILMS The Crest, Mark Covino, USA One October, Rachel Shuman, USA The Oyster Farmers, Angela Anderson and Corinne Gray Ruff, USA Santoalla, Andrew Becker and Daniel Mehrer, USA/Spain Swim Team, Lara Stolman, USA That Way Madness Lies, Sandra Luckow, USA EPISODIC CONTENT Black Magic for White Boys, Onur Tukel, USA SHORT FILMS The Accord, R.C. Cone, USA/Iceland Another Girl, Austin Kase, USA The Bake Sale, Susan Skoog, USA The Best and the Loneliest Days, Qianzhu Luo, USA Break-In, Christopher Cox, USA Bruce Loves You, Darin Quan, USA C.I.T., Cara Consilvio, USA Candice and Peter’s Smokin’ Hot Date, Leanne Bishop and Michael Mason, Canada Catherine, Britt Raes, Belgium The Collection, Adam Roffman, USA Commercial Crabberman (A Livelyhood On The Barengat Bay), Andrew DiAngelis, USA Le Creuset, Don Downie, USA Deadbeat, Jesse R. Tendler, USA Demonoid (1971), Alaric Rocha, USA Do No Harm, Roseanne Liang, New Zealand Dogs and Tacos, Steven Bachrach, USA Don’t Think About It, Niv Klainer, USA Election Night, Ryan Scafuro, USA/England Epiphany V, Kevin Newbury, USA La Folia, Adam Grannick, USA For Marta, Isabel Ellison, USA Fresh Blood, Richa Rudola, USA Fry Day, Laura Moss, USA Good Luck (in Farsi), Jessica Cummings, USA Hilda, Kiira Benzing, USA The Hobbyist, George Vatistas, USA I’m Sticking With You, Eric Shahinian, USA Innocent or Otherwise, Alex Forstenhausler, USA Juliet Remembered, Tamzin Merchant, UK Life and Sand, Simon Mendes, USA Lone Signal, Jessi Erian Colon, USA Nanny, Kathy Meng, USA Night Shift, Marshall Tyler, USA The Other End, Sudeep Kanwal, USA/India The Other Side, Griselda San Martin, Spain The Poet and the Professor, Ariel Kavoussi, USA Prerequesite, Geoffrey Guerrero, USA Refugee, Joyce Chen, Emily Chen, and Emily Moore, USA Rikishi, Julien Menanteau, Germany Rose’s Children, Josh Adwar and Jamie Dolan, USA Says, David C. Lynch, Ireland The Scarecrow, Phillip Rhys, USA The Seven Men of Hanukkah, Daryl Lathon, USA Shapers, Graham Willoughby, USA Silver Lining, Joe Kolbow, USA Siren Song: Women Singers of Pakistan, Fawzia Afzal-Khan, India/Pakistan The Skull, Graceann Dorse, USA The Spectrum, Sean MacLaughlin and Quinn MacLaughlin, USA Spell Claire, Greg Emetaz, USA Static, Kevin Hoyer, USA Stitched, Heather Taylor, USA Sure-Fire, Michael Goldburg, USA Test of Courage, Rena Dumont, Germany Twin Days, Alex Markman, USA Wake, Kristen Kress Parness, USA

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  • SOME FREAKS, THE EREMITES, DOG YEARS Win Top Feature Film Prizes at 2017 Nashville Film Festival

    SOME FREAKS directed by Ian MacAllister McDonald
    SOME FREAKS directed by Ian MacAllister McDonald

    Some Freaks, The Eremites, Dog Years, Revengeance, The Nest, A Closer Walk With Thee are the winners of the top prizes in feature filmmaking at the 2017 Nashville Film Festival.  

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  • Ben Affleck & Pixar Filmmakers Honored at 1st Autfest Film Festival, PO Wins Best Film

    [caption id="attachment_22070" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Ed Asner and AutFest honoree Ben Affleck Ed Asner and AutFest honoree Ben Affleck (PRNewsfoto/The Autism Society)[/caption] Actor Ben Affleck, Pixar filmmakers Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera were among the awardees honored for their filmmaking contributions to autism awareness at the 1st AutFest International Film Festival in Orange, California. After a screening of his 2016 film The Accountant, in which he portrayed a forensic accountant on the autism spectrum, seven-time Emmy® winner and autism advocate Ed Asner presented Affleck with the AutFest Awareness Award. Oscar-winning Pixar filmmakers Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera were honored by Asner with the AutFest Vanguard Award after a screening of their film Inside Out. Over nine feature films and six short films were presented during the two-day festival that included this year’s Oscar-nominated documentary Life, Animated and international films from China (Destiny) and Malaysia (Redha). Two of the shorts, Even in Death and The Adventures of Pelican Pete: A Bird is Born, were written and directed by filmmakers on the autism spectrum. Panelists included Po’s director John Asher and actor Julian Feder, as well as an autism sibling panel following the Life, Animated screening. The 1st Annual AutFest International Film Festival winners include: Best Film: Po, directed by John Asher (U.S.A.) Best Documentary: Swim Team, directed by Lara Stolman (U.S.A.) Best Short: The Buddy System, directed by William Harris and Megan Smith-Harris (U.S.A.) Best Performance Julian Feder, Po (U.S.A.) Audience Award: The Accountant, directed by Gavin O’Connor (U.S.A.) Best Autistic Filmmaker: Zac Davis, Even in Death (U.S.A.)

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  • Nashville Film Festival Announces Competition Feature Films with Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Aisha Tyler

    [caption id="attachment_20624" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER tom hanks Doug Nichol Tom Hanks in CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER[/caption] Following the earlier announcement of the Music Films/Music City selection, Nashville Film Festival announced 48 additional feature films in the Narrative, Documentary, New Directors and Graveyard Shift competitions. The selections include familiar faces such as Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Jonathan Pryce, Maggie Grace, Aisha Tyler, Anthony Michael Hall, Katee Sackhoff, Jeremy Sisto and Heather Matarazzo. “The films present a wide view of the world from contemporary issues to historic dramas; from deeply intimate personal dramas to wide open epics,” said Artistic Director, Brian Owens. “Diversity is really on display in these films.” The 48th Annual Nashville Film Festival will open April 20 and conclude April 29.

    NARRATIVE COMPETITION

    Egon Schiele – Death and The Maiden / Austria | Luxembourg (Director: Dieter Berner) — At the beginning of the 20th Century, Egon Schiele is one of the most provocative artists in Vienna. His life and work are driven by beautiful women and an era that is coming to an end. Two women will have a lasting impact on him – his sister and first muse Gerti, and 17-year-old Wally, arguably Schiele’s one true love, immortalised in his famous painting ‘Death and the Maiden’. Cast: Noah Saavedra | Maresi Riegner | Valerie Pachner. Southeast US Premiere Flowers of Evil / Finland (Director: Antti J. Jokinen) — With unrest long simmering below the surface in a majority immigrant Helsinki suburb, half-brothers Sipe and Juno struggle for a better future, an end to their alienation and to find new opportunities in life. Cast: Viljami Nojonen | Juno | Eero Aho | Mikael Gabriel | Diana Tenkorang. North American Premiere Krotoa / South Africa (Director: Roberta Durrant) — Krotoa, a feisty, bright, young 11-year-old girl is removed from her close-knit Khoi tribe to serve her uncle’s trading partner with the Dutch East India Company in 1652. She grows into a visionary young woman and an influential translator who takes to the Dutch language and culture but is rejected by her own people as she tries to navigate two cultures about to collide. Cast: Crystal-Donna Roberts | Armand Aucamp | Jacques Bessenger | Brendon Daniels | Deon Lotz | Roeline Daneel. US Premiere The Lears / USA (Director: Carl Bessai) — Writer-director Carl Bessai’s modern day homage to Shakespeare’s KING LEAR is a black comedy about a dysfunctional family headed by patriarch Davenport Lear who tests the love and worthiness of his children at a family retreat as he contemplates his death and legacy. Cast: Anthony Michael Hall | Bruce Dern | Sean Astin | Victoria Smurfit | Aly Michalka | Nic Bishop. World Premiere The Migrumpies / Austria (Director: Arman T. Riahi) — For a TV documentary,  two unemployed friends, Benny and Marko, pretend to be petty criminals with immigrant background until the coin flips and reality turns against them. Cast: Faris Rahoma | Aleksandar Petrović | Doris Schretzmayer | Zijah A. Sokolović | Daniela Zacherl | Josef Hader. North American Premiere Play the Devil / Trinidad and Tobago (Director: Maria Govan) — Set against the backdrop of Trinidad and Tobago’s mystical Carnival, a gifted and struggling young man becomes the object of intrigue for an older, well-meaning businessman until their worlds collide. Cast: Petrice Jones | Gareth Jenkins | Akil Nicholas | Penelope Spencer. Tennessee Premiere The Relationtrip / USA (Director: Renée Felice Smith, C.A. Gabriel) — At an age when everyone around them is settling down and finding love, Beck and Liam are self proclaimed loners, emotionally hibernating through adulthood. After bonding over their mutual disinterest in relationships, they decide to go away together on a ‘friend’ trip. And that’s when things get weird. Really, really weird. Cast: | Matt Bush | Eric Christian Olsen | Linda Hunt | Nelson Franklin | Brandon Kyle Goodman.Southeast US Premiere The Scent of Rain and Lightning / USA (Director: Blake Robbins) — When Jody Linder learns her parents’ killer has been released from jail, she is forced to revisit old wounds while discovering the destructive power of hate and the true cost of family secrets. Based on the novel THE SCENT OF RAIN & LIGHTNING by Nancy Pickard. Cast: Maika Monroe | Maggie Grace | Mark Webber | Will Patton | Justin Chatwin | Logan Miller. Tennessee Premiere Signature Move / USA (Director: Jennifer Reeder) — A new romance with Alma forces Zaynab to confront her relationship with her recently widowed mother who escapes to TV dramas and finding her daughter a husband. As a result, Zaynab copes by taking up Lucha-style wrestling in this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama. Cast: Fawzia Mirza | Shabana Azmi | Sari Sanchez | Charin Alvarez | Audrey Francis. Southeast US Premiere Some Freaks / USA (Director: Ian MacAllister McDonald) — A charming romance develops between a boy with one eye and an overweight girl, though when she loses her weight after going to college, their relationship is tested in devastating ways they never dreamed would happen. Cast: Lachlan Buchanan | Lily Mae Harrington | Marin Ireland | Thomas Mann | John Thorsen. Tennessee Premiere The Student / Russia (Director: Kirill Serebrennikov) — A high school student becomes convinced that the world has been lost to evil, and begins to challenge the morals and beliefs of the adults around him. Cast: Yuliya Aug | Pyotr Skvortsov | Viktoriya Isakova | Aleksandra Revenko | Svetlana Vragarnik | Aleksandr Gorchilin. Southeast US Premiere Sundowners / Canada (Director: Pavan Moondi) — Filming weddings is a thankless job, so when Alex  and Justin get the chance to shoot a destination wedding in Mexico, they take the opportunity to escape their sheltered lives. But, with their boss playing fast and loose with the details, they’ll be lucky to even find it. Cast: Phil Hanley | Luke Lalonde | Tim Heidecker | Nick Thorbun | Nick Flanagan | Cara Gee. World Premiere Tatara Samurai / Japan (Director: Yoshinari Nishikori) — In 16th century Japan, a young man has to choose between becoming a master steel maker like his father and grandfather before him, or becoming a samurai so that he can help protect his village from attacks by the various clans which want the high-quality steel made there. Cast: Sho Aoyagi | Naoki Kobayahsi | Akira | Tomoko Tabata | Anna Ishii | Masahiko Tsugawa. Southeast US Premiere We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew / USA (Director: Thomas Woodrow) — In the aftermath of an unknown calamity, two survivors travel through a hostile wilderness, guided only by a distant memory of home. When they encounter the ruins of a vanished society, everything they know is called into question, threatening their relationship, their memories and their future. Cast: Louisa Krause | Aaron Stanford | Doug Jones. Tennessee Premiere The White King / UK (Director: Alex Helfrecht | Jorg Tittel) — Djata is a care-free 12-year-old growing up in a brutal dictatorship shut off from the outside world. When the government imprisons his father, Djata and his mother must survive a world of savage lies and abuse as they try to find out what exactly has happened to him. Cast: Lorenzo Allchurch | Jonathan Pryce | Agyness Deyn | Fiona Shaw | Greta Scacchi | Clare Hope Ashitey. Southeast US Premiere

    DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

    44 Pages / USA (Director: Tony Shaff) — Following the creation of HIGHLIGHTS MAGAZINE’S 70th Anniversary issue, from the first editorial meeting to its arrival in homes, this film introduces the people who passionately produce the monthly publication for “the world’s most important people,”…children. Tennessee Premiere Actors of Sound / USA (Director: Lalo Molina) — From footsteps to bone cracks, Foley artists bring films to life with their imaginative sound effects. As digital technology goes full speed ahead in 21st century moviemaking, can Hollywood’s low tech Foley artist survive in this high tech age? Cast: Gregg Barbanell | Marko A. Costanzo | Catherine Harper | John Roesch | Kitty Malone | Charles L. Campbell. Southeast US Premiere Augie / USA (Director: James Keach) — Armed with irreverent humor and the love of his life by his side, paralysis has done little to slow down the beast inside the genius entrepreneur and LifeFitness mogul, Augie Nieto, who continues to work everyday to find the cure for ALS. Backpack Full of Cash / USA (Director: Sarah Mondale) — Filmed in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Nashville and other cities, BACKPACK FULL OF CASH explores the privatization of public education and its devastating impact on the nation’s most vulnerable children. Cast: Matt Damon (Narrator). Southeast US Premiere California Typewriter / USA (Director: Doug Nichol) — CALIFORNIA TYPEWRITER shows a portrait of artists, writers, and collectors who remain steadfastly loyal to the typewriter as a tool and muse. The film also movingly documents the struggles of one of the last standing repair shops in America dedicated to keeping the aging machines clicking. Cast: Tom Hanks | John Mayer | Sam Shepard | David McCullough | Mason Williams. Southeast US Premiere Chasing Evel: The Robbie Knievel Story / Canada (Director: Jesse James Miller) — Robbie Knievel, 52 years old and the owner of 20 world records and 350 jumps worldwide, life is uncovered through his personal pursuit of sobriety and the need of continuing his father’s legacy by jumping once again. Tennessee Premiere Finding Kim / USA (Director: Aaron Bear) — 50 year-old Kim has made a decision a lifetime in the making: transitioning to a man. FINDING KIM bears witness to the entire process, both physical and emotional, as he experiences life the way he always felt he should: as a happy and confident human being. Cast: Kim B. | Dan Savage | Buck Angel | Carmen Carerra | Calpernia Addams | Jamison Green |. Southeast US Premiere The Gateway Bug / USA (Director: Johanna B Kelly) — Over 2 billion people on earth eat insects for protein. Following the rise and dramatic fall of edible insect start-ups in America, this inspiring film exposes America’s disconnect with food as climate catastrophe and explores how changing daily eating habits can feed humanity in an uncertain age, one meal at a time. Cast: Andrew Zimmern | Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy | Kevin Bachhuber | Pat Crowley | Tyler Isaac. Southeast US Premiere Quest / USA (Director: Jonathan Olshefski) — QUEST intimately captures ten years in the life of an African-American family living in North Philadelphia. Cast: Christopher Rainey | Christine’a Rainey | Patricia (PJ) Rainey | William Withers | PRICE.Southeast US Premiere The Road Movie / Belarus | Russia | Serbia | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia (Director: Dmitrii Kalashnikov) — Objective dashboard cam videos takes us on a raucous, occasionally hopeful tour of the Russian countryside and national character. Southeast US Premiere Small Talk / Taiwan (Director: Hui-Chen Huang) — A few simple questions spark a series of conversations revealing some things that neither the filmmaker nor her mother are ready to face. Southeast US Premiere Spettacolo / USA (Director: Jeff Malmberg | Chris Shellen) — Once upon a time there was a tiny hill town in Tuscany that found a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer for the past 50 years, their piazza becomes their stage and villagers from 6 to 90 play a part – the role of themselves. Cast: Andrea Cresti | Chiara Del Ciondolo | Alpo Mangiavacchi. Tennessee Premiere Swim Team / USA (Director: Lara Stolman) — SWIM TEAM chronicles the extraordinary rise of the Jersey Hammerheads, a competitive team of diverse teens on the autism spectrum, capturing a moving quest for inclusion, independence and a life that feels winning. Cast: Robert Justino | Michael McQuay, Jr. | Kelvin Truong. Tennessee Premiere Unrest / USA (Director: Jennifer Brea) — When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s “all in her head.” Determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and her community, a hidden world of millions confined to their homes and bedrooms by myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), commonly called chronic fatigue syndrome. Southeast US Premiere

    NEW DIRECTORS COMPETITION

    Apricot Groves / Armenia (Director: Pouria Heidary Oureh) — Aram, a young Iranian-Armenian man who immigrated to the US as a child, returns to Armenia for the first time to propose to his Armenian-American girlfriend. Cast: Pedram Ansari | Narbe Vartan | Samvel Sarkisyan | Hovhannes Azoyan | Allison Gangi | Araik Sargsyan. Tennessee Premiere AXIS / USA (Director: Aisha Tyler) — On the day he is set to star in a career-changing blockbuster film, an Irish actor with a rocky and self-destructive past confronts a series of devastating events that threaten to disrupt his newfound sobriety and potentially, his life. Cast: Emmett Hughes | Ciarán  Hinds | Thomas Gibson | Paula Malcomson | Adam Rodriguez | Bronagh Waugh. Tennessee Premiere Bomb City / USA (Director: Jameson Brooks) — Based on the 1997 true story of Brian Deneke, BOMB CITY is a crime-drama about a group of punk rockers in a conservative Texas town. Their ongoing battle with a rival, more-affluent group of jocks leads to a controversial hate crime that raises questions about the morality of American justice. Cast: Dave Davis | Glenn Morshower | Logan Huffman | Henry Knotts | Lorelei Linklater | Luke Shelton. Southeast US Premiere Boomtown / USA (Director: Sabyn Mayfield) — In an effort to make ends meet, John “JT” Turner leaves his family behind to pursue a grueling, yet highly coveted, job in a now booming oil industry.  Along the way, he encounters the trials and tribulations shared by thousands of Americans every year as they stake their claim on the American Dream. Cast: Tyler Riggs | Boyd Holbrook | Rachel Brosnahan | Jocelin Donahue | Dwight Yoakam. World Premiere Easy Living / USA (Director: Adam Keleman) — Sherry, a self-destructive makeup saleswoman, hopes a new man and business venture will provide her a fresh start. After her plans are foiled, she takes control of her life in a dramatic turn of events. Cast: Caroline Dhavernas | McCaleb Burnett | Elizabeth Marvel | Jen Richards | Charlie Hofheimer | C.J. Wilson |.Southeast US Premiere The Eremites / Germany (Director: Ronny Trocker) — Like an abandoned animal that keeps coming back to its territory, an introverted farmer’s son keeps returning to his childhood Alpine home despite his mother’s wishes. Cast: Ingrid Burkhard | Andreas Lust | Orsi Tóth | Hannes Perkmann | Peter Mitterrutzner | Georg Kaser. North American Premiere Girl Flu / USA (Director: Dorie Barton) — Bird, 12, has to become a woman whether she wants to or not when – in the worst week of her life – she gets her first period, is ditched by her impulsive, free spirited mom, and learns that you can never really go back to where you came from. Cast: Katee Sackhoff | Jade Pettyjohn | Jeremy Sisto | Heather Matarazzo | Judy Reyes | Diego Josef. Tennessee Premiere Park / Greece | Poland (Director: Sofia Exarchou) — Athens Olympic Village, ten years after the Games: wilding youths, injured retired athletes and stray dogs among ruins and decaying sports venues. Cast: Dimitris Kitsos |  Dimitra Vlagopoulou | Enuki Gvenatadze | Lena Kitsopoulou | Yorgos Pandeleakis | Thomas Bo Larsen. Southeast US Premiere La Soledad / Venezuela (Director: Jorge Thielen Armand) — José, a young father, discovers that the dilapidated mansion he inhabits will soon be demolished. Desperate to save his family from homelessness, he begins a search for a cursed treasure that is said to be buried in the house. Cast: José Dolores López | Jorge Roque Thielen | María Agámez Palomino | Adrializ López | Marley Alvillares. Tennessee Premiere

    GRAVEYARD SHIFT COMPETITION

    Birdboy: The Forgotten Children / Spain (Director: Pedro Rivero | Alberto Vázquez) — An ecological event has devastated an entire island. Birdboy hides himself away, his inner turmoil gnawing at him while avoiding the island’s scavenging inhabitants and local police, who suspect he is dealing drugs. Cast: Andrea Alzuri | Eva Ojanguren | Josu Cubero.Tennessee Premiere Bloodlands / Albania | Australia (Director: Steven Kastrissios) — A struggling family in Albania, wrestling with tradition, must unite against a mysterious clan’s aggressions, leading to a ‘blood feud’ that is all too familiar in the Balkans. Cast: Gëzim Rudi | Emiljano Palali | Suela Bako | Alesia Xhemalaj. US Premiere A Closer Walk With Thee / USA (Director: John C. Clark | Brie Williams) — An Evangelical boy with homosexual urges agrees to a gay-curing exorcism, performed by the object of his desire, in this queer erotic horror. Cast: Aj Knight | Gregory Shelby | Kelsey Boze | Megan Hensley. Southeast US Premiere Industrial Accident – The Story of Wax Trax! Records / USA (Director: Julia Nash) — The true story of a Chicago record store and label that united punks, queers and criminals and accidentally changed music history along the way. Cast: Al Jourgensen | Dave Grohl | Paul Barker | Groovie Mann | Richard 23 | Jello Biafra. World Premiere Insomnium / USA (Director: Scott Powers) — As George investigates his roommate’s increasingly disturbing nocturnal behavior, he suspects that his friend has become possessed by a dark entity. Cast: Brad Pennington | Clint Browning | Gena Shaw | Larena Reyna | Leon Shparaga | Brian Julian. Tennessee Premiere JackRabbit 29 / USA (Director: Kyle Klubal) — When a young couple goes missing in Texas, a large reward is issued for their return. The reward attracts an eccentric mix of characters to the town including bounty hunters, hit-men, and more. Cast: Jason Johnson | Izzy Pollak. Tennessee Premiere The Night Watchmen / USA (Director: Mitchell Altieri) — A mistaken warehouse delivery unleashes a horde of hungry vampires, and three inept night watchmen, aided by a young rookie and a fearless tabloid journalist, must not only save themselves but also stop the scourge that threatens to take over the city of Baltimore. Cast: Ken Arnold | Kevin Jiggetts | Dan DeLuca | Kara Luiz | Max Gray Wilbur | Matt Servitto. Nashville Premiere Show Yourself / USA (Director: Billy Ray Brewton) — When his friend Paul dies unexpectedly, Travis heads into the woods to say goodbye. As Travis deals with his grief, and the way it has affected the relationships in his life, he starts to realize that he actually might not be alone in the woods. Curiosity turns to horror as Travis comes face-to-face with something both inexplicable and frighteningly familiar. Cast: Ben Hethcoat | Corsica Wilson | Barak Hardley | David McElwee | Stephen Cone | Robert Longstreet. Southeast US Premiere The Void / Canada (Director: Jeremy Gillespie | Steven Kostanski) — A blood-soaked man limping down a deserted road is rushed by Officer Carter to a nearby hospital with a skeleton crew. Trapped inside by hooded figures, Carter discovers that the patients and staff are transforming into something inhuman. Cast: Aaron Poole | Ellen Wong | Kenneth Walsh | Kathleen Munroe. Nashville Premiere Without Name / Ireland (Director: Lorcan Finnegan) — You‘re not alone in the woods. Cast: Alan McKenna | Niamh Algar | James Browne. Tennessee Premiere

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