The Guilty

  • International Film Festival Rotterdam Audience Award Winner THE GUILTY to Kick Off 7th Edition Curaçao IFFR

    [caption id="attachment_27745" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Guilty The Guilty[/caption] For the seventh time, Willemstad will host Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam (CIFFR), from Wednesday April 11 through Sunday April 15, 2018. CIFFR presents the highlights of the most recent edition of IFFR, gripping new titles from other film festivals, and promising new work by filmmakers from the region, most importantly in its Yellow Robin Award Competition and the Caribbean Shorts Competition. This year’s edition opens with Gustav Möller’s thrilling debut The Guilty, which won the Audience Award at IFFR 2018, and closes with Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool by Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) with a wonderful role played by Annette Bening.

    Yellow Robin Award Competition

    For the sixth time, CIFFR presents the Yellow Robin Award Competition, in which five films by emerging filmmakers from the Caribbean and Latin America compete for the Yellow Robin Award. This year’s selections are Khalik Allah’s Black Mother (Jamaica, USA), Gustavo Ramos Perales’s El chata (Puerto Rico), Luis and Andrés Rodríguez’s Hijos de la sal (Venezuela), Vashti Anderson’s Moko Jumbie (Trinidad and Tobago, USA) and Álvaro Aponte-Centeno’s El silencio del viento (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, France). An international jury picks the winning film, which is guaranteed a spot in IFFR 2019’s Bright Future program and will also screen at Morelia International Film Festival in Mexico later in the year. The winning filmmaker receives a cash prize of $2,500 as well as $7,500 worth of training in the context of talent development in programs such as BoostNL or CineMart. The five nominees for the 6th Yellow Robin Award are: [caption id="attachment_27747" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]BLACK MOTHER BLACK MOTHER[/caption] BLACK MOTHER Khalik ALLAH | Jamaica, USA | 2018 | English | n.s. In his artistic documentary, filmmaker/photographer Khalik Allah (1985, US) gives Jamaicans the opportunity to share their dreams and wisdom, but also to talk about the harsh everyday reality. The self-taught photographer and filmmaker portrays contemporary Jamaicans in a particularly honest fashion. From young streetwalkers and streetwise rappers to Rastafarians, mothers, agricultural laborers and devout church girls. EL CHATA (The Sparring Partner) Gustavo RAMOS PERALES | Puerto Rico | 2018 | Spanish | e.s. Director Ramos Perales (1980, Puerto Rico) took the scintillating boxing scene of Puerto Rico as the point of departure for his debut drama The Sparring Partner about second chances and perseverance. Convincing acting and action-packed fight scenes reveal that boxing seems to promise a better life for many Puerto Ricans, but even with great ambition and talent, there’s a constant pull to abandon the straight and narrow. HIJOS DE LA SAL (Children of the Salt) Luis and Andrés RODRÍGUEZ | Venezuela | 2018 | Spanish | e.s. Hijos de la sal is the second feature film by brothers Luis and Andrés Rodríquez (1974, Venezuela). This luxuriant, absorbing family drama is set in the salt pans of Cumaragues, Venezuela where, after the death of their father, Evaristo, the lives of Enrique (13) and Maria (16) get a lot harder. Sound plays a major role in the film; the almost tangible presence of the wind, waves and music lend it a magic-realist edge. MOKO JUMBIE Vashti ANDERSON | 2017 | Trinidad & Tobago, USA | English | n.s. A romantic drama about roots and tolerance by Trinidadian-American filmmaker Vashti Anderson. While visiting her aunt in Trinidad, young Englishwoman Asha meets mysterious neighbour Roger. This starts a romantic, magical search for identity and love. Intense debut film that delicately navigates taboos, superstition and spirituality. EL SILENCIO DEL VIENTO (Silence of the Wind) Álvaro APONTE-CENTENO | Puerto Rico, Dom. Republic, France | 2017 | Spanish | e.s. In his debut film, Silence of the Wind, Álvaro Aponte-Centeno (1979, Puerto Rico) depicts a humane, yet no less dramatic side of the global immigration crisis. Together with his sister Carmen, Rafael is part of a human trafficking network that helps move fortune seekers to Puerto Rico. The country’s beautiful landscapes contrast markedly with the tragedies of human trafficking victims.

    CIFFR

    CIFFR launched in 2012 as a collaboration between the Curaçao-based Fundashon Bon Intenshon and International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Since then, the festival has served as a platform for young local film talent and has brought feature films, documentaries and short films from all over the world together in Curaçao. Festival Director Bero Beyer: “CIFFR offers a wonderful treat: five days of celebrating independent cinema on a beautiful island which has always been a meeting point for many different cultures. The voices represented at the festival range from those of internationally renowned filmmakers to those of emerging local artists, which results in a unique mix of different perspectives and tones. The selection for this seventh edition is as lively and diverse as ever and is sure to open up a world of daring and beautiful film to a wide audience.”

    Caribbean Shorts Competition

    Last year CIFFR introduced the Caribbean Shorts Competition, which returns for its second installment this year. The program is the result of a region-wide collaboration. Six film festivals – in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Martinique, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and CIFFR itself – submitted a short film to enter the Caribbean Shorts Competition. The winning film will later screen at all these festivals.

    Program

    Besides the competitions, the seventh edition of CIFFR presents a special program entitled Scenes of Senses that investigates the way film stimulates not just the eye, but our other senses too. There is also an extensive educational program as well as the recurring Music Call program featuring music documentaries. Among the twenty or so highlights from IFFR 2018 shown in Curaçao are The Insult by Ziad Doueiri, The Florida Project by Sean Baker and three films that competed in the Hivos Tiger Competition, including the Special Jury Award and HBF Audience Award winner The Reports on Sarah and Saleem by Muayad Alayan.

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  • 2018 Florida Film Festival Announces Lineup, Opens with “American Animals”

    Jared Abrahamson, Evan Peters, Blake Jenner and Barry Keoghan appear in American Animals by Bart Layton, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute. Today the Florida Film Festival announced the program lineup of 183 films representing 38 countries, for the 27th Annual Festival, taking place April 6 to 15, 2018, in Maitland and Winter Park, Florida. The festival will open with American Animals directed by Bart Layton, and close with the 75th Anniversary Screening of  Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt. “This is going to be a banner year in every aspect,” commented Matthew Curtis, Florida Film Festival Programming Director. “With a greater number of films making their Florida debut than ever before, we could not be more excited about introducing these talented filmmakers and presenting such an extraordinary and diverse group of films to our audience. We are proud that this year’s lineup includes 82 women filmmakers–the most ever and more than 45% of our total programming! Their voices will be represented everywhere in the Festival, including our first-ever experimental shorts program (“Sunspots: New Visions of the Avant Garde”), and our first-ever “X Real” Doc shorts program completely directed by women. Let the story-gazing begin!” The 21 features and 59 short films in the American Independent Competition will be eligible for up to three awards each: a Grand Jury Award for best film in that category, a Special Jury Award given at the jury’s discretion for exceptional achievements, and an Audience Award determined by audience votes for Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, and Best Short Film. International films are also eligible for Audience Awards for Best International Feature and Best International Short, and an Audience Award will be given for the Best Midnight Short as well.

    2018 Florida Film Festival OFFICIAL SELECTION:

    OPENING NIGHT FILM:

    American Animals – Directed by Bart Layton, USA, 2018, 116 MIN, East Coast Premiere Star Blake Jenner will be in attendance for the Opening Night Film and Party, and will participate in a post-film Q&A with the audience

    SPOTLIGHT FILMS:

    Borg McEnroe – Directed by Janus Metz, Sweden/Denmark/Finland, 2017, 107 MIN, Rated R, In English and Swedish with English subtitles The Guilty – Directed by Gustav Möller, Denmark, 2018, 85 MIN, In English and Danish with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere Hearts Beat Loud – Directed by Brett Haley, USA, 2018, 97 MIN, East Coast Premiere A Kid Like Jake – Directed by Silas Howard, USA, 2018, 92 MIN, Florida Premiere Lean on Pete – Directed by Andrew Haigh, UK, 2017, 121 MIN, Southeast Premiere RBG – Directed by Julie Cohen and Betsy West, USA, 2018, 97 MIN Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood – Directed by Matt Tyrnauer, USA, 2017, 98 MIN, Southeast Premiere Three Identical Strangers – Directed by Tim Wardle, UK, 2018, 96 MIN Tully – Directed by Jason Reitman, USA, 2018, 94 MIN, Rated R We the Animals – Directed by Jeremiah Zagar, USA, 2018, 94 MIN, East Coast Premiere Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Directed by Morgan Neville, USA, 2018, 94 MIN

    NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION:

    Call Me Brother – Directed by David Howe, USA, 2018, 77 MIN, World Premiere Cold November – Directed by Karl Jacob, USA, 2017, 92 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Feels – Directed by Jenée LaMarque, USA, 2017, 90 MIN Locating Silver Lake – Directed by Eric Bilitch, USA, 2018, 110 MINS, East Coast Premiere Prison Logic – Directed by Romany Malco Jr., USA, 2018, 95 MINS, Florida Premiere Quality Problems – Directed by Brooke & Doug Purdy, USA, 2017, 107 MIN, Southeast Premiere Savage Youth – Directed by Michael Curtis Johnson, USA, 2018, 97 MIN, Southeast Premiere Say You Will – Directed by Nick Naveda, USA, 2017, 98 MIN, Southeast Premiere Tatterdemalion – Directed by Ramaa Mosley, USA, 2017, 101 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing White Rabbit –  Directed by Daryl Wein, USA, 2018, 71 MIN, East Coast Premiere

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION:

    Ask the Sexpert – Directed by Vaishali Sinha, USA/India, 2017, 83 MIN, Southeast Premiere Dark Money – Directed by Kimberly Reed, USA, 2018, 98 MIN, Florida Premiere Getting Naked: A Burlesque Story – Directed by James Lester, USA, 2017, 86 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Last Race – Directed by Michael Dweck, USA, 2018, 74 MIN, Florida Premiere Mole Man – Directed by Guy Fiorita, USA, 2017, 87 MIN, Southeast Premiere Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End – Directed by Pablo Bryant, USA, 2017, 70 MIN, Southeast Premiere My Indiana Muse – Directed by Ric & Jen Serena, USA, 2018, 44 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Power of Glove – Directed by Andrew Austin and Adam Ward, USA, 2017, 65 MIN, Southeast Premiere Samantha’s Amazing Acro-Cats – Directed by Jacob Feiring, USA, 2017, 58 MIN, Southeast Premiere This is Home – Directed by Alexandra Shiva, USA/Jordan, 2018, 91 MIN, Southeast Premiere TransMilitary – Directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson, USA, 2018, 92 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing

    DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION:

    Alaska DGAF – Directed by David Freid, USA, 2018, 11 MIN, World Premiere Curious Kaleo – Directed by Judie Muhrez, Shana Kheradyar, Dylan McGale, and Tara Salveson, USA, 2018, 11 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing A Few Things About Robert Irwin. – Directed by Lisanne Skyler, USA, 2017, 7 MIN, Southeast Premiere Footprint – Directed by Sara Newens, USA, 2018, 17 MIN, World Premiere The Forger – Directed by Alexandra Garcia, Samantha Stark, and Pamela Druckerman, USA, 2017, 16 MIN, In French with English subtitles, Florida Premiere JessZilla – Directed by Emily Sheskin, USA, 2017, 7 MIN, Florida Premiere Let My People Vote – Directed by Gilda Ann Brasch, USA, 2018, 17 MIN, World Premiere Little Fiel – Directed by Irina Patkanian, USA/Mozambique, 2017, 16 MIN, Southeast Premiere Lotte That Silhouette Girl – Directed by Elizabeth Beecherl and Carla Patullo, USA, 2018, 10 MIN, East Coast Premiere Nueva Vida – Directed by Jonathan Seligson, USA, 2017, 7 MIN, Southeast Premiere Please – Directed by Erica Rose, USA, 2018, 7 MIN, World Premiere The Shift – Directed by Elivia Shaw and Paloma Martinez, USA, 2017, 8 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Tables – Directed by Jon Bunning, USA, 2017, 15 MIN, Florida Premiere Taobao – Directed by Noah Sheldon, USA/China, 2018, 4 MIN, In Mandarin with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere Used: A Documentary – Directed by Rolando Nieves, USA, 2017, 15 MIN, Southeast Premiere Winter’s Watch – Directed by Brian Bolster, USA, 2017, 14 MIN, Florida Premiere

    NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION:

    The Accomplice – Directed by Jonathan Hoeg and John F. Beach, USA, 2017, 8 MIN, Florida Premiere After Her – Directed by Aly Migliori, USA, 2018, 15 MIN, World Premiere An Alien Walks Into A Bar – Directed by Eli Bildner, USA, 2017, 5 MIN, Florida Premiere/2nd US Showing Anna & the Asteroid – Directed by Scott Sherman, USA, 2017, 25 MIN, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Artifice – Directed by Kevin Byrnes, USA, 2018, 4 MIN, World Premiere Caroline – Directed by Celine Held and Logan George, USA, 2018, 12 MIN, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Control – Directed by Kimmy Gatewood, USA, 2017, 15 MIN, Florida Premiere El Afilador (The Sharpener) – Directed by James Casey, USA/MEXICO, 2018, 9 MIN, North American Premiere, In Spanish with English subtitles Emergency – Directed by Carey Williams, USA, 2017, 12 MIN, Southeast Premiere End Times – Directed by Bobby Miller, USA, 2018, 9 MIN, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing everything’s gonna be okay – Directed by Matt Soson, USA, 2018, 15 MIN, World Premiere Falling – Directed by Ewen Wright, USA, 2018, 19 MIN, East Coast Premiere Five Minutes – Directed by Justine Bateman, USA, 2017, 10 MIN, Southeast Premiere Flatbush Misdemeanors – Directed by Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso, USA, 2017, 15 MIN, Southeast Premiere Fran This Summer – Directed by Mary Evangelista, USA, 2018, 9 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Haircut – Directed by David Brundige, USA, 2018, 7 MIN, World Premiere Home Shopper – Directed by Dev Patel, USA/Singapore, 2018, 16 MIN, East Coast Premiere I Got This – Directed by Erik Bork, USA, 2018, 22 MIN, World Premiere Iron Hands – Directed by Johnson Cheng, USA/China, 2017, 11 MIN, In Mandarin with English Subtitles, Florida Premiere Life After – Directed by Ria Tobaccowala, USA, 2018, 12 MIN, Florida Premiere Life Boat – Directed by Lorraine Nicholson, USA, 2017, 18 MIN, Southeast Premiere Magic Bullet – Directed by Amanda Lovejoy Street, USA, 2018, 19 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Mama Jane – Directed by Lisa Maria Hall, USA, 2018, 12 MIN, World Premiere Men Don’t Whisper – Directed by Jordan Firstman, USA, 2017, 22 MIN, Florida Premiere My Loyal Audience – Directed by Megan Seely, USA, 2017, 12 MIN Painting with Joan – Directed by Jack Henry Robbins, USA, 2018, 4 MIN, East Coast Premiere Sweet & Lo – Directed by Clay Liford, USA, 2018, 14 MIN, World Premiere Valentina – Directed by Mary Angélica Molina, USA, 2017, 8 MIN, Florida Premiere , In English and Spanish with English subtitles Wyrm – Directed by Christopher Winterbauer, USA, 2017, 20 MIN, East Coast Premiere

    ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION:

    Abnie Oberfork: A Tale of Self-Preservation – Directed by Shannon Fleming, USA, 2017, 5 MIN, Florida Premiere Aquacade – Directed by Caroline Voagen Nelson, USA, 2017, 3 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Driver is Red – Directed by Randall Christopher, USA, 2017, 15 MIN Fired Up – Directed by Elyse Kelly and Dan Fipphen, USA/Colombia/Israel, 2017, 3 MIN, Florida Premiere For Educational Purposes Only – Directed by David Nessl, USA, 2018, 3 MIN, US Premiere Fundamental – Directed by Shih-Chieh Chiu, USA/Taiwan, 2017, 7 MIN, Southeast Premiere Jeom – Directed by Kangmin Kim, USA/South Korea, 2018, 4 MIN, In Korean with English subtitles, Florida Premiere Nevada – Directed by Emily Ann Hoffman, USA, 2017, 12 MIN, Southeast Premiere Phototaxis – Directed by Melissa Ferrari, USA, 2017, 7 MIN, Southeast Premiere Seahorse Man – Directed by Diana Carter, USA, 2018, 3 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Shahkboy – Directed by Jake Peckar, USA, 2017, 5 MIN, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Undiscovered – Directed by Sara Litzenberger, USA, 2017, 3 MIN The Velvet Underground Played At My High School – Directed by Robert Pietri and Tony Jannelli, USA, 2018, 7 MIN, Southeast Premiere Weekends – Directed by Trevor Jimenez, USA, 2017, 15 MIN, Florida Premiere

    INTERNATIONAL SHOWCASE:

    The Cakemaker – Directed by Ofir Raul Graizer, Israel/Germany, 2017, 104 MIN, In English, Hebrew and German with English subtitles Euthanizer – Directed by Teemu Nikki, Finland, 2017, 85 MIN, In Finnish with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere Mama – Directed by Nicholas Brennan, USA/Uganda, 2017, 7 MIN, In Luganda with English subtitles, Florida Premiere Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts – Directed by Mouly Surya, Indonesia/France/Malaysia/Thailand, 2017, 93 MIN, In Indonesian with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Soufra – Directed by Thomas Morgan, USA/Lebanon, 2017, 73 MIN, In Arabic with English subtitles, Florida Premiere

    INTERNATIONAL SHORTS:

    The App – Directed by Julián Merino, Spain, 2017, 15 MIN, In Spanish with English subtitles, Florida Premiere Beatrice – Directed by Lorena Alvarado, Italy, 2017, 9 MIN, In Italian with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Daughter – Directed by Mara Tamkovich, Poland, 2018, 29 MIN, In Polish with English subtitles, World Premiere Do I Have Boobs Now? – Directed by Milena Salazar and Joella Cabalu, Canada, 2017, 7 MIN, East Coast Premiere Fern – Directed by Johnny Kelly, UK, 2017, 6 MIN, East Coast Premiere Gaze – Directed by Farnoosh Samadi, Iran/Italy, 2017, 14 MIN, In Persian with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere Iris – Directed by Gabrielle Demers, Canada, 2017, 10 MIN, In French with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Limit – Directed by Javad Daraei, Iran, 2017, 8 MIN, In Persian with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere The Log (Halko) – Directed by Teemu Nikki, Finland, 2016, 7 MIN, In Finnish with English subtitles, Florida Premiere Merry-Go-Round – Directed by Ruslan Bratov, Russian Federation, 2017, 13 MIN, In Russian with English subtitles, North American Premiere My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes – Directed by Charlie Tyrell, Canada, 2018, 14 MIN, East Coast Premiere The Old Woman Who Hid Her Fear Under the Stairs – Directed by Faye Jackson, UK, 2018, 16 MIN, World Premiere Shadow Animals – Directed by Jerry Carlsson, Sweden, 2017, 22 MIN, In Swedish with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere Slap Happy – Directed by Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli, Canada, 2017, 11 MIN, East Coast Premiere State of Emergency Motherfucker – Directed by Sébastien Petretti, Belgium, 2017, 6 MIN, In French with English subtitles Thursday Night – Directed by Gonçalo Almeida, Portugal, 2017, 8 MIN, Southeast Premiere True Love in Pueblo Textil – Directed by Horatio Baltz, Cuba/USA, 2017, 5 MIN, In Spanish with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Wren Boys – Directed by Harry Lighton, UK, 2017, 11 MIN, East Coast Premiere

    INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SHORTS:

    The Burden – Directed by Niki Lindroth von Bahr, Sweden, 2017, 14 MIN, In Swedish with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Catherine – Directed by Britt Raes, Belgium, 2017, 12 MIN Dead Horses – Directed by Marc Riba and Anna Solanas, Spain, 2016, 6 MIN, In Catalan with English subtitles, Florida Premiere The Death, Dad & Son – Directed by Denis Walgenwitz and Winshluss, France, 2017, 14 MIN, East Coast Premiere Intimity – Directed by Elodie Dermange, Switzerland, 2017, 5 MIN, East Coast Premiere The Laughing Spider – Directed by Keiichi Tanaami, Japan, 2016, 7 MIN, Florida Premiere Life Before Life – Directed by Rao Heidmets, Estonia, 2017, 7 MIN, In English and Estonian with English subtitles, Florida Premiere Negative Space – Directed by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, France, 2017, 6 MIN The Noise of Licking – Directed by Nadja Andrasev, Hungary, 2016, 9 MIN, Southeast Premiere Perfect Town – Directed by Anaïs Voirol, Switzerland, 2017, 4 MIN, Florida Premiere Wicked Girl – Directed by Ayce Kartal. France/Turkey, 2017, 8 MIN, In Turkish with English subtitles

    SUNSPOTS: NEW VISIONS OF THE AVANT GARDE:

    Animal Cinema – Directed by Emilio Vavarella, USA, 2017, 12 MIN, East Coast Premiere Blot – Directed by Benjamin Rouse, USA, 2017, 2 MIN, Florida Premiere A Diptych to Educate Birds – Directed by Noah Engel, USA, 2017, 1 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Dot Matrix – Directed by Lauren Cook, USA, 2017, 4 MIN, Southeast Premiere Edge of Alchemy – Directed by Stacey Steers, USA, 2017, 19 MIN, Florida Premiere The Garden of Delight – Directed by Michael Fleming, Netherlands/USA, 2017, 12 MIN, East Coast Premiere Growing Girl – Directed by Marnie Ellen Hertzler, USA, 2017, 12 MIN Holy Pink: Fragrant – Directed by Clementine Leger and Benjamin Whatley, USA, 2018, 2 MIN, World Premiere The Knits – Directed by Lisa Birke, Canada, 2017, 10 MIN, Florida Premiere Mountain Castle Mountain Flower Plastic – Directed by Annapurna Kumar, USA, 2017, 3 MIN, Southeast Premiere OK, Call Me Back – Directed by Emily Ann Hoffman, USA, 2017, 5 MIN, Southeast Premiere

    MIDNIGHT FEATURES:

    Ghost Stories – Directed by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, UK, 2017, 98 MIN, Florida Premiere King Cohen – Directed by Steve Mitchell, USA/Canada, 2017, 109 MIN Revenge – Directed by Coralie Fargeat, France, 2017, 108 MIN, In English and French with English Subtitles, East Coast Premiere Summer of 84 – Directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell, USA/Canada, 2018, 105 MIN, East Coast Premiere

    MIDNIGHT SHORTS:

    BFF Girls – Directed by Brian Lonano, USA, 2018, 13 MIN, In English and Japanese with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing Bigfoot’s Love Slave – Directed by Heather Tom, USA, 2017, 5 MIN, Southeast Premiere Cee Cee’s Bedtime Stories #3 Cee Cee and the Ex-Calibahhh – Directed by Joy Buran and Noelle Melody, USA, 2017, 1 MIN, Southeast Premiere/2nd US Showing DaemonRunner – Directed by Kiah Roache-Turner, Australia, 2017, 5 MIN, East Coast Premiere Empire of Dirt – Directed by Adam Mason, USA, 2018, 8 MIN, US Premiere Hair Wolf – Directed by Mariama Diallo, USA, 2018, 12 MIN, East Coast Premiere The Jerry Show – Directed by Stephen Stull, USA, 2017, 9 MIN Little Donnie (The Ten Inch Terror) – Directed by Chel White, USA, 2018, 4 MIN, North American Premiere Little Wonder – Directed by Jordan Carlman, USA, 2018, 3 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Master Blaster – Directed by Sawako Kabuki, Japan, 2016, 4 MIN, In Japanese with English subtitles, East Coast Premiere The Order of the Orchid – Directed by Alex Italics, USA, 2018, 7 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing Peen Zine – Directed by Simeon Kondev, USA, 2017, 3 MIN, East Coast Premiere/2nd US Showing We Love You, Stephanie! – Directed by Sara Ambra, USA, 2018, 6 MIN, World Premiere We Summoned a Demon – Directed by Chris McInroy, USA, 2017, 6 MIN, Florida Premiere Zablah – Directed by Rachel Nakawatase and Ryan Betschart, USA, 2018, 4 MIN, World Premiere

    SPECIAL SCREENINGS:

    FAMILY FILMS:

    The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales… – Directed by Benjamin Renner and Patrick Imbert, France/Belgium, 2017, 83 MIN, Rated G, In French with English subtitles, Southeast Premiere Lu Over the Wall – Directed by Masaaki Yuasa, Japan, 2017, 112 MIN, Southeast Premiere

    FOOD FILMS:

    Back to Burgundy – Directed by Cédric Klapisch, France, 2017, 113 MIN, In English, French, and Spanish with English subtitles Ramen Heads – Directed by Koki Shigeno, Japan, 2017, 93 MIN, In Japanese with English subtitles, Florida Premiere

    MUSIC FILMS:

    40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie – Directed by Lee Aronsohn, USA, 2017, 99 MIN, Southeast Premiere The Godfathers of Hardcore – Directed by Ian McFarland, USA/Belgium/Cuba/France/Germany/Italy/Netherlands/Switzerland, 2017, 95 MIN, Florida Premiere Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami – Directed by Sophie Fiennes, Ireland/UK, 2017, 115 MIN, East Coast Premiere

    FLORIDA FILMS:

    FLORIDA SHORTS: THE BEST OF BROUHAHA:

    Barely There – Directed by Hannah Lee, USA, 2017, 2 MIN Blood for Blood – Directed by Jared Bolhuis, USA, 2017, 8 MIN The Day Comedy Died – Directed by Nick Pletcher and Angelo Guevara-Malavé, USA, 2017, 6 MIN Extinguished – Directed by Ashley Anderson and Jacob Mann, USA, 2017, 4 MIN Flicker – Directed by Amanda Belawski, USA, 2018, 3 MIN, World Premiere A Grave Matter – Directed by Dylan Thompson, USA, 2017, 6 MIN, World Premiere If – Directed by Gabriel Valbuena, USA, 2017, 7 MIN, Florida Premiere In a Heartbeat – Directed by Esteban Bravo and Beth David, USA, 2017, 4 MIN Mama I Wanna March – Directed by Malcolm Baity, USA, 2017, 15 MIN Peacekeeper – Directed by Tyler Knutt and Nicholas Markart, USA, 2017, 13 MIN The Stranger – Directed by Katherine Oostman, USA, 2018, 13 MIN, World Premiere Thump – Directed by Ben Roth, USA, 2017, 2 MIN Tom in Couchland – Directed by James Just, USA, 2017, 2 MIN

    FLORIDA FILMS:

    A Greater Society – Directed by Craig A. Colton and Stacy Goldate, USA, 2018, 87 MIN, World Premiere Long Time Coming – Directed by Jon Strong, USA, 2018, 90 MIN, World Premiere A Mediocre Documentary with Tom and Dan – Directed by Kirk Murray, USA, 2018, 77 MIN, World Premiere

    CLOSING NIGHT RETRO FILM:

    Shadow of a Doubt – Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1943, 108 minutes, 75th Anniversary Screening!

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  • 2018 New Directors/New Films Unveils Lineup, Opens with “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”

    [caption id="attachment_27197" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.[/caption] The 47th annual New Directors/New Films festival presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art, will introduce 25 features and 10 short films to New York audiences from March 28 to April 8, 2018. The opening and closing night selections are the New York premieres of two Sundance award-winning documentaries: Stephen Loveridge’s Matangi/Maya/M.I.A., an intimate portrait of the global rap sensation via the artist’s own video diaries, which won the festival’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award; and RaMell Ross’s Hale County This Morning, This Evening, a visionary and poetic look at resilient African American families in the titular Alabama region, winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision. This year’s lineup boasts features and shorts from 29 countries across five continents, with 10 North American premieres, 13 films directed or co-directed by women, and 14 works by first-time feature filmmakers. Highlights include Pedro Pinho’s surprising three-hour epic The Nothing Factory, which was voted #1 on Film Comment magazine’s Best Undistributed Films of 2017 list; the late Hu Bo’s epic feature debut An Elephant Sitting Still, a masterpiece sure to be remembered as a landmark of modern Chinese cinema; New York-based filmmaker Ricky D’Ambrose’s dark, minimalist pseudo-detective tale Notes on an Appearance; Gustav Möller’s emergency call center thriller The Guilty, which won prizes at Rotterdam and Sundance; Our House, an evocative examination of female friendship by first-time Japanese filmmaker Yui Kiyohara; acclaimed documentarian Emmanuel Gras’s Cannes prizewinner Makala, which follows the monumental efforts of a young Congolese charcoal-maker at work; Khalik Allah’s stylistically rich Black Mother, a close look at Jamaica via its holy men and prostitutes; Locarno prizewinner Milla, Valérie Massadian’s moving, visually striking meditation on young motherhood; and many more exciting discoveries. “The purpose of New Directors/New Films is to seek out emerging filmmakers who are working at the vanguard of cinema,” said Film Society Director of Programming Dennis Lim. “This is as diverse and wide-ranging a lineup as we’ve assembled in years: full of pleasures and provocations and, above all, surprises—proof that film remains a medium ripe for reinvention in ways big and small.” Josh Siegel, Curator of the Department of Film at The Museum of Modern Art said: “The filmmakers in this year’s New Directors are as imaginative, daring and restless as any we’ve seen, whether observing a world-famous rapper fighting injustices in Sri Lanka or prostitutes and holy men in Jamaica, a coal peddler in the Congo or a credit-card scammer in Switzerland.”

    FILMS & DESCRIPTIONS

    OPENING NIGHT Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. Stephen Loveridge, Sri Lanka/United Kingdom/USA In English and Tamil with English subtitles New York Premiere Before rapper M.I.A. became a global sensation, known for her musical daring and tireless political activism for the Tamil people in her native Sri Lanka, she was an aspiring filmmaker, having made countless video diaries chronicling her youth and private life. First-time documentarian Stephen Loveridge, who attended art school in London with M.I.A. in the nineties, uses this first-hand material to craft a nuanced and intimate portrait of a woman finding her roots, voice, and stardom, and a deeply personal statement from a pop star yearning to express herself. [caption id="attachment_27199" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Hale County This Morning, This Evening Hale County This Morning, This Evening[/caption] CLOSING NIGHT Hale County This Morning, This Evening RaMell Ross, USA New York Premiere “The American stranger knows Blackness as a fact—even though it is fiction,” says writer-director RaMell Ross. For his visionary and political debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at Sundance in 2018, Ross spent five years intimately observing African American families living in Hale County, Alabama. It’s a region made unforgettable by Walker Evans and James Agee’s landmark 1941 photographic essay Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, which documented the impoverished lives of white sharecropper families in Alabama’s Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Ross’s poetic return to this place shows changed demographics, and depicts people resilient in the face of adversity and invisibility. Hale County This Morning, This Evening introduces a distinct and powerful new voice in American filmmaking. 3/4 Ilian Metev, Bulgaria Bulgarian with English subtitles New York Premiere 3/4 evokes the intimacies, joys, and tensions of a contemporary Bulgarian family facing an uncertain future; the father is an astrophysicist with his head in the clouds, his son a waywardly antic teenager, his daughter a gifted but anxious pianist. Illian Metev (whose previous film was the gripping documentary Sofia’s Last Ambulance) won the Filmmakers of the Present prize at the 2017 Locarno Festival for this fiction feature debut, a gracefully shot, uncommonly tender character study that plays like an exquisite piece of chamber music. Ava Sadaf Foroughi, Iran/Canada/Qatar Farsi with English subtitles New York Premiere Adolescence creates intense pressure for any girl, but it’s particularly strong for 17-year-old Ava, buffeted by the harsh strictures of home and school in contemporary Tehran. Iranian writer-director Sadaf Foroughi won the jury prize at the Toronto International Film Festival for her intimate and intensely dramatic portrait of a young woman whose private longings drive her to rebellion and lead to public shaming. A Grasshopper Film release. Azougue Nazaré Tiago Melo, Brazil, Portuguese with English subtitles North American Premiere No measure of hellfire preaching can quell the boisterous and bawdy passions of Maracatu, an Afro-Brazilian burlesque carnival tradition with roots in slavery that takes place in the northeast state of Pernambuco. As the Falstaffian character Tiao, Valmir do Coco leads a nonprofessional cast of authentic Maracatu practitioners in a tale told through dance, music, and the supernatural, set in the sugarcane fields outside Recife. The fabulous—and fabulist—Azougue Nazaré is the first film by Tiago Melo, who worked on such recent celebrated Brazilian films as Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius (NYFF 2016) and Gabriel Mascaro’s Neon Bull (ND/NF 2016), and who was awarded the Bright Future prize at this year’s Rotterdam International Film Festival. Black Mother Khalik Allah, USA New York Premiere The second feature by filmmaker and photographer Khalik Allah is a kind of documentary tone poem, a polyphonic work rich in atmosphere and intimate portraiture. Allah immerses us in Jamaica’s neighboring worlds of charismatic holy men and equally charismatic prostitutes, the sacred and the profane alike. Allah captures them and their environments with a haunting visual style and absorbing sense of rhythm entirely his own, their testimonies flooding the soundtrack with reflections on everyday survival and hopes for the future. Seamlessly switching from Super-8mm to HD video, Black Mother affirms its maker as one of the great stylists in documentary cinema today. Closeness / Tesnota Kantemir Balagov, Russia Russian with English subtitles New York Premiere A young woman is trapped in a tight-knit Jewish community in the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, located in Russia’s North Caucasus, that demands her total dedication but provides her with little protection from the perpetual violence encompassing all aspects of life. Shot mostly in interior spaces, Closeness conjures a world of darkness and claustrophobia as the heroine quietly revolts yet succumbs to her bleak existence. This debut feature by Kantemir Balagov feels more beholden to the social realism of the Dardenne brothers than to the transcendental flair of his mentor, Russian auteur Alexander Sokurov (a producer on this film). Warning: this film contains a scene featuring images of documented violence that viewers may find upsetting. Cocote Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, Dominican Republic/Brazil/Argentina Spanish with English subtitles New York Premiere This format-mixing, formally eclectic opus is at once a profound film about religion and a unique tale of revenge. Upon learning that his father has been murdered by a powerful local figure, Dominican private gardener Alberto travels from Santo Domingo back to his hometown to participate in his funeral rites—a mixture of Catholicism and West African mysticism that flies in the face of Alberto’s own evangelicalism. But Alberto’s family has vengeance in mind, and he finds himself at a spiritual and existential crossroads. Boldly synthesizing ethnographic documentary and scripted drama, Cocote is a visually resplendent and stylistically audacious work that evokes the films of Glauber Rocha and the fiction of Roberto Bolaño. A Grasshopper Film release. Djon África João Miller Guerra and Filipa Reis, Portugal/Brazil/Cape Verde, 2018, 95m In Portuguese with English subtitles North American Premiere Documentarians João Miller Guerra and Filipa Reis turn the subject of their previous film into the central character of their debut fiction work. A Cape Verdean in Portugal, Miguel Moreira, also known as Djon África, travels back home to look for his birth father. This hopefully soul-searching journey quickly gets derailed as he comes across beautiful women, colorful parties, and the local liquor known as grogue. Written by Pedro Pinho, director of The Nothing Factory, also playing in this festival, this woozily intoxicating road movie is as youthful, charming, and adventurous as its title character. Drift Helena Wittmann, Germany German with English subtitles U.S. Premiere Filmmaker-artist Helena Wittmann’s subtly audacious first feature follows friends Theresa, a German, and Josefina, an Argentinian, as they spend a weekend together on the North Sea, taking long walks on the beach and stopping at snack stands. Eventually they separate—  Josefina eventually returns to her family in Argentina and Theresa crosses the Atlantic for the Caribbean—and the film gives way to a transfixing and delicate meditation on the poetics of space. Self-consciously evoking the work of Michael Snow and masterfully lensed by Wittmann herself, Drift is by turns cosmic and intimate. An Elephant Sitting Still Hu Bo, China Mandarin with English subtitles North American Premiere Sure to be remembered as a landmark in Chinese cinema, this intensely felt epic marks a career cut tragically short: its debut director Hu Bo took his own life last October, at the age of 29. The protagonist of this modern reworking of the tale of Jason and the Argonauts is teenage Wei Bu, who critically injures a school bully by accident. Over a single, eventful day, he crosses paths with a classmate, an elderly neighbor, and the bully’s older brother, all of them bearing their own individual burdens, and all drawn as if by gravity to the city of Manzhouli, where a mythical elephant is said to sit, indifferent to a cruel world. Full of moody close-ups and virtuosic tracking shots, An Elephant Sitting Still is nothing short of a masterpiece. Good Manners / As Boas Maneiras Marco Dutra & Juliana Rojas, Brazil/France Portuguese with English subtitles New York Premiere An immaculately stylized twist on the monster movie, Dutra and Rojas’s second collaboration (following the acclaimed Hard Labor) inventively engages matters of race, class, and desire. Set in São Paulo, the narrative initially concerns the curious relationship between rich, white, pregnant socialite Ana (Marjorie Estiano) and her new housemaid Clara (Isabél Zuaa). As the two women grow closer, their rapport turns first sexual then shockingly macabre. Good Manners evolves into a werewolf movie unlike any other, a delirious and compulsively watchable cross between Disney and Jacques Tourneur. The Great Buddha + Huang Hsin-yao, Taiwan Taiwanese and Mandarin with English subtitles New York Premiere Provincial friends Pickle and Belly Button idle away their nights in the security booth of a Buddha statue factory, where Pickle works as a guard. One evening, when the TV is on the fritz, they put on video from the boss’s dashcam—only to discover illicit trysts and a mysterious act of violence. Expanded from a short, Huang Hsin-yao’s fiction feature debut The Great Buddha + (the plus sign cheekily nodding to the smartphone model) is a stylish, rip-roaring satire on class and corruption in contemporary Taiwanese society. The Guilty Gustav Möller, Denmark Danish with English subtitles New York Premiere In this pulsating crime thriller set entirely inside a claustrophobic emergency call center, police officer Asger is assigned to dispatcher duty following a fatal incident. An initially slow evening takes a sharp turn when he receives a mysterious call for help, and Asger must spring into action, embarking on a hair-raising journey—on the phone—to bring the caller to safety. Debut feature filmmaker Gustav Möller keeps the tension and the viewer’s imagination alive in this chamber piece that won audience awards at the Rotterdam and Sundance film festivals. Makala Emmanuel Gras, France French and Swahili with English subtitles New York Premiere Gras’s transfixing road movie and Cannes Film Festival prizewinner follows a young Congolese man named Kabwita through the making, transporting, and selling of charcoal—from the felling of a tree to pushing a teetering bicycle weighed down with bulging sacks along treacherous dirt roads to contending with motorists, extortionists, and potential customers. As Gras observes Kabwita’s perilous trade, he derives beauty from the monumental efforts that go into his day-to-day existence. Makala is a documentary that resembles a neorealist parable, locating an epic dimension in the humblest of existences. A Kino Lorber release. Milla Valérie Massadian, France/Portugal French with English subtitles New York Premiere Following up her acclaimed 2011 debut Nana, Valérie Massadian has made a moving, visually striking meditation on young motherhood and the vagaries of growing up. Severine Jonckeere turns in a remarkably subtle performance as the titular 17-year-old; just as her youthful romance with Leo (Luc Chessel) seems ready to cross the threshold into teenage parenthood, Massadian performs a radical formal gesture that both complicates Milla’s predicament and evokes the beauty and cruelty of time’s passage. A prizewinner at the 2017 Locarno Film Festival, Milla audaciously eschews conventional melodrama, searching instead for a complex, truthful reflection of life itself. A Grasshopper Film release. Nervous Translation Shireen Seno, Philippines Filipino with English subtitles North American Premiere Informed by filmmaker Shireen Seno’s childhood in the Filipino diaspora and her dual training in film and architecture, this sophomore work is a stylized evocation of a child’s fanciful interpretation of the world around her. Eight-year-old Yael, left to her own devices after school, secretly plays and replays audio cassettes her father sends home to her mother while working overseas; pursues happiness as communicated to her via a TV advertisement; and, in fanciful scenes that evoke the work of American artist Laurie Simmons, enters the meditative, immersive world of her dollhouse’s kitchen. Seno offers fleeting clues from the late-eighties outside world, hinting at societal turmoil following Ferdinand Marcos’s ouster and complicated adult relations, but these never overshadow her film‘s touching depiction of childhood imagination. Notes on an Appearance Ricky D’Ambrose, USA North American Premiere Ricky D’Ambrose’s debut feature follows a quiet young man (Bingham Bryant) who mysteriously disappears soon after starting a new life in Brooklyn’s artistic circles. Distraught friends (including Keith Poulson and Tallie Medel) search for him with the help of notebooks, letters, postcards, and other tiny clues; meanwhile, a parallel story about an elusive and controversial philosopher provides a rather sinister backdrop to their pursuit. This dark, minimalist pseudo-detective tale offers plenty of humor and displays a distinctive aesthetic. Following a series of remarkable shorts, D’Ambrose has clearly defined himself as a talent to watch. Preceded by: Young Girls Vanish / Des jeunes filles disparaissent Clément Pinteaux, France French with English subtitles North American premiere Clément Pinteaux explores the echoes of violence in Essonne, France, where dozens of girls were killed by wolves in the 1600s. Centuries later, young women begin disappearing again. The Nothing Factory / A Fábrica de Nada Director: Pedro Pinho, Portugal Portuguese and French with English subtitles New York Premiere A rich and formally surprising film of ideas, beautifully shot on 16mm, and featuring one of recent cinema’s most memorable musical numbers, Portuguese director Pedro Pinho’s nearly three-hour epic concerns the occupation of an elevator plant by its workers. They are stirred to action when the factory’s machinery is removed in the middle of the night by the owners; they rapidly organize, kick out the brass who have arrived offering buyouts, and discuss the feasibility of managing the facility themselves—all the while a Marxist theorist exerts ideological influence from the sidelines. The Nothing Factory is a serious and singular look at the meaning of work today, further developing Pinho’s interest in the status of labor amid his country’s financial crisis. Our House / Watashitachi no ie Filmmaker: Yui Kiyohara, Japan Japanese with English subtitles North American Premiere This feature debut is an evocative and surprising exploration of female friendship, parallel realities, and the mysteries of everyday life. An adolescent girl named Seri lives with her mother in an old house in a coastal town. Seemingly in the very same house, amnesiac Sana is taken in by Toko, a young woman who harbors secrets of her own. As the parallel stories unfold, the boundaries between these two worlds grow increasingly porous… Inspired by the fugues of Bach and recalling the films of Jacques Rivette, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and David Lynch, Our House announces Yui Kiyohara as an exciting new voice in Japanese cinema. Scary Mother / Sashishi Deda Filmmaker: Ana Urushadze, Georgia/Estonia Georgian with English subtitles New York Premiere In Georgian filmmaker Ana Urushadze’s gripping and bleakly comic feature debut, Manana, a 50-year-old Tbilisi mother abandons her duties as a wife and mother to pursue an obsessive and hermetic life of writing poetry. In a performance of coiled fear and rage that recalls the best of Isabelle Huppert, Nato Murvanidze plunges into Manana‘s feverish imagination. Scary Mother, which won awards at film festivals around the world, is a haunting, singular new vision. Those Who Are Fine / Dene wos guet geit Filmmaker: Cyril Schäublin, Switzerland German with English subtitles North American Premiere This dark comic study of an alienated contemporary Zurich begins by following an impassive twenty-something, a call center worker by day who initiates phone scams targeting elderly workers after hours. The film then spirals out to incorporate into its narrative city residents—police, bank tellers, reporters—obliquely linked to this swindle. Swiss filmmaker Cyril Schäublin’s feature debut (following a half-dozen short films to his name, including Stampede, ND/NF 2013) is a razor-sharp, formalist satire, using the city’s grey concrete architecture; clipped, digit-dominated exchanges between urbanites (phone numbers, Wi-Fi passwords, credit cards); and even a dash of sci-fi-esque atmospherics to portray a fractured, contemporary dystopia. Until the Birds Return / En attendant les hirondelles Filmmaker: Karim Moussaoui, Algeria/France/Germany Arabic and French with English subtitles New York Premiere A property developer is witness to random street violence. A pair of secret lovers make their way across the desert. A doctor is accused of having a criminal past. In these three interconnected tales, exciting newcomer Karim Moussaoui—whom critics at Cannes compared to Abbas Kiarostami and Leos Carax—takes the pulse of modern-day Algiers, a country once riven by colonial occupation and sectarian warfare yet still abundant in beauty and promise. A Violent Life / Une Vie Violente Filmmaker: Thierry de Peretti, France French with English subtitles New York Premiere Stéphane returns to Corsica for the funeral of a childhood friend and gang member, despite having a target on his back. Through flashbacks, this sophomore feature by Corsican filmmaker Thierry de Peretti tensely unspools as a coming-of-age tale dashed with crime, political radicalism, and youthful idealism born of the island’s separatist movement. Loosely based on actual events and cast with local actors, A Violent Life resonates with regional folklore and crafts a poignant portrait of a marginalized generation. A Distrib Films release. Winter Brothers / Vinterbrødre Filmmaker: Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark/Iceland English and Danish with English subtitles New York Premiere This debut feature from Hlynur Pálmason, an Icelandic visual artist/filmmaker based in Denmark, is an immersive sensory experience set in a desolate Danish limestone mining community. A landscape covered in indistinguishable white ash and snow masks the darkness enveloping Emil, a lonely and eccentric young man who works in the mine with his much more sociable brother. Few notice Emil until he is suspected of causing a co-worker’s grave illness, which leads to his ostracization. A relentless industrial soundscape accompanies this portrait of a man trapped in unforgiving isolation. A KimStim release.

    Shorts Program 1

    From an atmospheric thriller set in Iran, uncanny and moving sketches of displaced people, to a musical documentary and an atypical dance film, these five bold shorts evoke the struggles and joys of communities from around the world. City of Tales Arash Nassiri, France/USA Farsi with English subtitles North American Premiere Los Angeles plays Tehran in Arash Nassiri’s uncanny, nocturnal meditation on memory and place, which follows a group of people during Nowruz, the 13-night celebration of the Iranian New Year. Rupture Yassmina Karajah, Jordan/Canada Arabic with English subtitles New York premiere Unable to communicate with the world around them, young Arab teenagers attempt to navigate their new town on a sticky summer day, in search of comfort and a public swimming pool. Palenque Sebastián Pinzón Silva, Colombia/USA Spanish/Palenquero with English subtitles New York Premiere Sebastián Pinzón Silva’s ambulant, melodic documentary is set in San Basilio de Palenque, evoking the rich musical history and collective memory of the first freed slave settlement in the Americas. Gaze / Negah Farnoosh Samadi, Iran/Italy Persian with English subtitles New York Premiere A woman witnesses a crime and must decide whether to speak up in Farnoosh Samadi’s taut and tense film. Home Exercises Sarah Friedland, USA New York Premiere Sarah Friedland’s nonfiction dance portrait of the gestural habits of elderly people in their homes is a sweet, droll, and precisely observed study of the subtle movements and choreographies of domesticity. Friday, March 30, 9:00pm [FSLC] Sunday, April 1, 1:00pm [MoMA]

    Shorts Program 2

    The irreverent, melancholic, and transgressive impulses of youth collide in this program of four films, each set within their own fully realized hermetic world. Copa-Loca Christos Massalas, Greece Greek with English subtitles New York Premiere Teeming with sensational images and absurd dialogue, Christos Massalas’s irreverent coming-of-age story follows a young woman eluding adulthood at an abandoned Greek resort. After School Knife Fight Caroline Poggi & Jonathan Vinel, France French with English subtitles New York Premiere Four bandmates prepare for the departure of their lead singer in this melancholy 16mm snapshot of youthful longing. Möbius Sam Kuhn, USA New York Premiere Following the death of her boyfriend, a teenage girl drifts through her days in a haze of memory in this eerie and atmospheric high school tale. Bad Bunny / Coelho Mau Carlos Conceição, Portugal/France Portuguese with English subtitles North American Premiere This impeccably crafted, fabulist work—a beguiling cross between bestiary and family drama—concerns a voyeuristic young man’s plot to punish his mother’s lover and satisfy a forbidden urge.

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  • 2018 Sun Valley Film Festival Announces Lineup, Opens with SCIENCE FAIR

    [caption id="attachment_26784" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Science Fair directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster Science Fair directed by Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster[/caption] The 7th edition of the Sun Valley Film Festival taking place over the weekend of March 14 to 18, 2018, announced the lineup, which includes five days of films, including three World Premieres, one U.S. premiere, and two episodic premiere screenings. The festival will open on March 14 with the documentary Science Fair, which recently won Sundance’s inaugural Festival Favorite Award, and close out with the Finding Your Feet on March 18. Film highlights include Beirut, starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike, Leave No Trace directed by Debra Granik, Lynn Shelton’s Outside In with Jay Duplass and Edie Falco, On Her Shoulders, winner of the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at Sundance, and the U.S. premiere of Nona produced by and featuring Pioneer Award recipient Kate Bosworth. Headlining the 2018 Festival is acclaimed actress and lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow, who will receive the Vision Award and participate in the Festival’s Coffee Talks series. Award-winning writer/director Lynn Shelton will host the Screenwriters Lab, sponsored by Variety, and screen her film Outside In.  Also attending are actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman, The Greatest Showman) who will receive the Rising Star Award, actress and producer Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush, Nona), who will receive the Pioneer Award, actor/filmmaker Jay Duplass (Transparent, Jeff Who Lives at Home),) producer Kevin Walsh (Manchester By The Sea, The Way Way Back) and wildlife filmmakers and photographers Anand Varma and Jason Jaacks.

    NARRATIVE FICTION

    AMERICAN ANIMALS Director/Writer: Bart Layton Producers: Derrin Schlesinger, Katherine Butler, Dimitri Doganis, Mary Jane Skalski Cast: Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, Ann Dowd, Udo Kier Haunted by the fear that they may never escape their suburban existence, Spencer and Warren resolve to attempt one of the most audacious art thefts in recent history in the special collections section of their University library. BEIRUT Director: Brad Anderson Writer: Tony Gilroy Producers: Mike Weber, Tony Gilroy, Shivani Rawat, Monica Levinson Cast: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, Mark Pellegrino, Larry Pine A U.S. diplomat (Jon Hamm) flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident at his home. Ten years later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut by a CIA operative (Rosamund Pike) to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. FINDING YOUR FEET Director: Richard Loncraine Writers: Meg Leonard, Nick Moorcroft Producers: Andrew Berg, John Sachs Cast: Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, David Haymen, John Sessions, Joanna Lumley On the eve of retirement, a middle class, judgmental snob discovers her husband has been having an affair with her best friend and is forced into exile with her bohemian sister who lives on an impoverished inner-city council estate. THE GUILTY [Den Skyldige] Director/Writer: Gustave Möller Producer: Lina Flint Cast: Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen When the emergency call from a kidnapped woman is disconnected, dispatcher and former officer Asger Holm enters a race to save her. He soon realizes that he is dealing with a crime that is far bigger than he first thought. LEAVE NO TRACE Director: Debra Granik Writers: Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini Based on the book My Abandonment by Peter Rock Producers: Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Anne Rosellini Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey For years Will and his teenage daughter, Tom, have lived off the grid, blissfully undetected by authorities in a vast nature reserve on the edge of Portland, Oregon. When a chance encounter blows their cover, they’re removed from their camp and put into the charge of social services. Struggling to adapt to their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a perilous journey back to the wilderness, where they are finally forced to confront conflicting desires—a longing for community versus a fierce need to live apart. MADELINE’S MADELINE Director/Writer: Josephine Decker Co-Writer: Donna Di Novelli Producers: Krista Parris, Elizabeth Rao Cast: Helena Howard, Molly Parker, Miranda July, Okwui Okpokwasili Madeline is dedicated to her theatre workshop. Much to the worry of her protective mother (Miranda July), she has become an integral part of a prestigious, progressive, and experimental theatre troupe in the city, one that emphasizes movement, commitment, and an intense focus on authenticity. When the workshop’s ambitious theater director (Molly Parker) pushes teenage Madeline to weave her troubled history and rich interior world into their collective art, the lines between performance and reality begin to blur in surprising and potentially destructive ways, spiraling out of the safe rehearsal space and into her everyday interactions. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Director/Writer: Casey Wilder Mott Producers: Casey Wilder Mott, Joshua Skurla, Fran Kranz Cast: Lily Rabe, Rachael Leigh Cook, Hamish Linklater, Finn Wittrock A brassy, sexy retelling of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy that reimagines the story as a modern Hollywood fairy tale. Four young lovers are stranded on a mystical night in the woods outside Los Angeles. They encounter a group of woodland hippies as well as a band of bumbling wannabe filmmakers. Magic, mischief and madness combine on this fantastical moonlit journey. NONA U.S. Premiere Director/Writer: Michael Polish Executive Producers: Kate Bosworth, Michael Polish, Jennifer Sulkess Cinematographer: Michael Polish Cast: Sulem Calderon, Jesy McKinney, Kate Bosworth NONA is the story of a girl from Honduras who meets a charming boy, Hecho. Hecho promises to get her safely to America to reunite with her mother, but instead, Nona faces a perilous journey when he doesn’t deliver on that promise. NONA — short for No Name — will deliver a message to change the way the world is dealing with sex trafficking. OUTSIDE IN Director: Lynn Shelton Writers: Jay Duplass, Lynn Shelton Producers: Mel Eslyn, Lacey Leavitt Executive Producers: Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass Original Score: Andrew Bird Cast: Jay Duplass, Edie Falco, Kaitlyn Denver, Ben Schwartz After serving 20 years for a crime that spun far out of his control, 38-year-old Chris (Duplass) is granted an early release thanks in large part to the tireless advocacy of Carol (Falco), his former high-school teacher. As he struggles to adapt to the outside world, the digital age, and the challenges of finding employment as an ex-con, Chris confesses his romantic love for Carol — a love that, given her marital status, Carol cannot reciprocate. Or can she? THE UNICORN Director: Robert Schwartzman Writers: Nick Rutherford, Kirk C. Johnson, Will Elliott Producers: Russell Wayne Groves, Robert Schwartzman Cast: Lauren Lapkus, Nick Rutherford, Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett, Dree Hemingway, Beverly D’Angelo, John Kapelos, Maya Kazan, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Kyle Mooney Facing the fourth year of their engagement, an indecisive couple is thrust into the most uncomfortable night of their lives by intentionally and unintentionally involving a third party in their relationship.

    DOCUMENTARY

    ALL THE WILD HORSES Director/Producer: Ivo Marloh Music: Tengger Cavalry, Chris Barnett International riders forge unexpected bonds as they compete in the Mongol Derby, at 1000 kilometers of Mongolian steppe the longest and toughest horse race in the world. The harsh Mongolian wilderness soon takes its bone-crunching toll as the competitors are whittled down mercilessly. This is their epic story. GIANT CARNIVOROUS BATS World Premiere Director and Cinematographer: Jason Jaacks Writer: Katie Bauer Producer: Katie Bauer Editor: Penny Trams Executive Producers: Christine Weber and Pamela Caragol Deep in the Mexican jungle, National Geographic photographer Anand Varma is on a mission to find two of the continent’s rarest creatures: carnivorous bats. For centuries, their lives have remained a mystery, but now Varma and a world-renowned biologist are teaming up to uncover their secrets. HAYMAKER World Premiere Director: Robert Moncrief Producers: Autumn Moncrief, Reed Simonsen A kid from a small town in Idaho strives for self-respect as he prepares for the rematch of a boxing match he lost the previous year while battling the legal system for his freedom at the same time. MINDING THE GAP Director: Bing Liu Producers: Bing Liu, Diane Quon Original Music: Nathan Halpern, Chris Ruggiero Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown.  As they grow up, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. OF FATHERS AND SONS Director: Talal Derki Producers: Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme, Tobias N. Siebert, Hans Robert Eisenhauer Editor: Anne Fabini In this remote village in northern Syria, a landscape of bombed-out homes, abandoned tanks, and minefields becomes a playground for young boys taught to stone any girls who dare to show their faces in public. Schools have been decimated. Education consists of reciting the Koran and attending military training camp. Bedtime stories regale the glory of martyrdom. With unparalleled intimacy, Of Fathers and Sons captures that chilling moment when childhood dies and jihadism is born. ON HER SHOULDERS Director: Alexandria Bombach Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams Composer: Patrick Jonsson Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame and people’s good intentions. PARTY ANIMALS World Premiere Executive Producer – Sara Keller Executive Producer/Writer – Aneka Hylton-Donelson Narrator: Brandon Williams Calling all kids! Bring your parents for a journey with Nat Geo WILD to meet some Party Animals. You’ll meet a cute nocturnal primate, head to an animal hospital in Florida with some loveable baby sea turtle, go on a road trip with a family of silly ducks, and spark your creativity by putting your imagination to the test on Brain Games! Nat Geo Kids inspires young adventurers to explore the world, and is the only kids brand with a world-class scientific organization at its core. Watch Saturday mornings on Nat Geo WILD! SCIENCE FAIR Directors: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster Producers: Cristina Costantini, Darren Foster, Jeffrey Plunkett Writers: Jeffrey Plunkett, Darren Foster, Cristina Costantini Science Fair follows one mentor and nine students from around the world as they prepare their projects and team for the 2017 ISEF event in Los Angeles. Though all are participating for the love of science, we also learn that there are other underlying influences motivating them to pursue their dreams of participating in the competition. Featuring interviews with the charming young scientists, their parents and mentors, as well as past ISEF winners, this absorbing film illuminates a group of amazing young men and women who are on a path to change the world through science.

    EPISODIC

    LAST CHANCE U Season Three Exclusive Sneak Peek A Netflix Documentary Series Director: Greg Whiteley Producers: Adam Ridley, Adam Leibowitz “Last Chance U” follows a group of young men training to become the future stars of the NFL. The third season of the award winning Netflix series opens at a new school: Independence Community College, in rural Kansas. Once the doormat of the Kansas league, Independence has a chance to turn their program around with a charismatic new coach and a change in recruiting rules which infuses the team with top shelf talent for the first time in school history.  Watch a team of players and coaches with difficult pasts try to overcome challenges on and off the field to reach their dreams. ONE STRANGE ROCK Series Premiere National Geographic presents a Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment Production Host: Will Smith There really is no place like home. National Geographic, acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (“mother!” “Black Swan,” “Requiem for a Dream”) and award-winning producer Jane Root (“America The Story of Us,” “The 80s: The Decade That Made Us”) join forces on an epic, cinematic event series that will redefine science and natural history filmmaking. Hosted by Will Smith (“Ali,” “Pursuit of Happyness,” “Men in Black I, II, III”), ONE STRANGE ROCK promises to be a mind-bending, thrilling journey exploring the fragility and wonder of our planet, one of the most peculiar, unique places in the universe. It’s the extraordinary story of why life as we know it exists on Earth, brought into perspective by the only people to have left it behind: astronauts. This 10-part series from Nutopia and Protozoa Pictures brings cameras where they’ve never been before, having filmed in 45 countries, on six continents and from outer space on the ISS. ONE STRANGE ROCK guides viewers through our vulnerable, speck of a planet among the vast, harsh cosmic arena, revealing the magical twists of fate that have allowed life to emerge, survive and thrive on Earth.  

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  • 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam Winners – “The Widowed Witch” Wins Hivos Tiger Award

    [caption id="attachment_26823" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]th International Film Festival Rotterdam Winners The Netherlands, Rotterdam, 02 February 2018. The 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam – IFFR 2018. IFFR 2018 Award Ceremony. All winners on stage after ceremony. Photo: 31pictures.nl / (c) 2018, www.31pictures.nl[/caption] The Widowed Witch by Cai Chengjie won the prestigious prize – the winner of the Hivos Tiger Competition 2018 at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Rami Alayan was awarded the Special Jury Award for exceptional artistic achievement for his screenplay of The Reports on Sarah and Saleem.  Gustav Möller’s The Guilty was the audience favorite, and therefore winner of the IFFR Audience Award. The Bright Future Award was picked up by Tiago Melo for his film Azougue Nazaré. This year’s VPRO Big Screen Award went to Nina by Olga Chajdas; the film therefore will be broadcast on Dutch TV and released in Dutch theaters. All Hubert Bals Fund-supported films screening at IFFR 2018 were eligible for the Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award. This year, the award was won by The Reports on Sarah and Saleem by Muayad Alayan. In congratulating all winners, Festival Director Bero Beyer said: “We’re very happy that the strong winners represent the bold spirit of the festival’s entire programming. They are filmmakers, both emerging and established, who use their talent to deliver a new view on our world. As diverse as they are, there seems to be a common thread: the beautiful and human thread of cinema!” Two new awards were presented in 2018. Newsreel 63 – The Train of Shadows by Nika Autor won the Found Footage Award and Joy in People by Oscar Hudson won the Voices Short Audience Award. Two awards from critics’ organisations were presented. The FIPRESCI Award went to Balekempa by Ere Gowda. The KNF Award, given by the Circle of Dutch Film Journalists, was won by Zama by Lucrecia Martel. Nervous Translation by Shireen Seno won the NETPAC Award for best Asian film and the winner of the IFFR Youth Jury Award is The Guilty by Gustav Möller. Complete list of award winners and jury reports

    Hivos Tiger Competition

    Winner Hivos Tiger Award: The Widowed Witch by Cai Chengjie Jury report: “This year’s Hivos Tiger Award winner is a film of epic dimensions with a narrative that is greater than one person or moment. It takes a feminist viewpoint with a strong central character, who refuses to be a victim. The struggle of her journey is framed in an emotional way that depicts her complexity, while never becoming sentimental, and the film even contains a laconic sense of humour. Its bold vision, created by a lyrical layering of cinematographic elements, makes this film stand out.” Winner Special Jury Award: the screenplay of The Reports on Sarah and Saleem written by Rami Alayan (dir. Muayad Alayan) Jury report: “This well-crafted screenplay shows us four humans, each with their own flaws and desires, who have to face the consequences of their actions in a complicated, divided world. The screenplay intertwines the personal and the political and manages to balance a complex plot with convincing characters. This proves to be the basis for a strong film by a talented director and an excellent cast.”

    Bright Future Award

    Filmmakers presenting the world or international premiere of their first feature-length film in the Bright Future Main Programme are eligible for the Bright Future Award worth €10,000. Winner: Azougue Nazaré by Tiago Melo Jury report: “For its singular vision, electrifying cinematic language, depiction of the explosive coexistence between good and evil, and for its ability to incorporate supernatural elements in an almost anthropological portrait of a small community, we proudly present the Bright Future Award to Tiago Melo for his film Azougue Nazaré.” Special mention: “What begins as a personal quest gradually transforms into a reflection on loneliness, belonging, and existential homecoming. For this reason, the jury felt compelled to give a special mention to Malene Choi Jensen’s The Return.”

    VPRO Big Screen Award

    Winner: Nina by Olga Chajdas Jury report: “It was a close call and we’d like to give a special mention to the runner-up, The Guilty by Gustav Möller. But another film ultimately connected with us in a more instinctive way. The winning film is a universal story about love, identity and hope. It’s about internalising society’s expectations and struggling to break free and be true to yourself. The story avoids easy solutions and gives us a somewhat idealised version of the world, thereby avoiding the stereotypical struggles and making it a more personal experience. It’s also visually beautiful with lingering and intimate shots and gives us wonderful performances by the main actors.”

    IFFR Audience Award

    Winner: The Guilty by Gustav Möller

    Hubert Bals Fund Audience Award

    Winner: The Reports on Sarah and Saleem by Muayad Alayan

    Voices Short Audience Award

    Winner: Joy in People by Oscar Hudson

    FIPRESCI Award

    Winner: Balekempa by Ere Gowda Jury report: “For its subtle and delightful portrayal of a universal theme against the background of a rich local culture.”

    KNF Award

    The KNF Award is given to the best Dutch, or Dutch co-produced, feature film that is selected for IFFR 2018, as awarded by a jury from the Circle of Dutch Film Journalists. Winner: Zama by Lucrecia Martel Jury report: “This bold project illustrates how co-producing can allow an immensely gifted filmmaker to enter different territory, just as the film itself transports the audience to an alien world. Without signposts or hand-holding, viewers are challenged to use all their senses in order to navigate this foreign land. The filmmaker’s sensory approach to cinema also poses a challenge to us critics; we’ve been struggling to find words that do justice to a film that ultimately can only be experienced.”

    NETPAC Award

    The NETPAC Award is presented to the best Asian feature film world premiering at IFFR by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. Winner: Nervous Translation by Shireen Seno Jury report: “For its singularly original representation of childhood that beautifully captures a unique view of the world – one that is full of contradictory interactions, introspection, social and political dissonance, and disquietude. With this film, the director has succeeded in creating an unforgettable cinematic universe.”

    IFFR Youth Jury Award

    The film that makes the biggest impression on this jury of young people is awarded the IFFR Youth Jury Award. Winner: The Guilty by Gustav Möller Jury report: “This film captivated us from beginning to end and was able to make the audience aware of its own preconceived notions of reality. The director deliberately withholds information from the audience, thereby creating uncertainty which leaves room for imagination. The film is a masterclass in suspense; it managed to keep our eyes glued to the screen throughout the entire film. Furthermore, we believe that this film will be attractive to a younger audience, as it is a good introduction into arthouse cinema.”

    Found Footage Award

    The new Found Footage Award is granted to a filmmaker who has made outstanding use of archive material. The award, worth €2,500, is supported by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. Winner: Newsreel 63 – The Train of Shadows by Nika Autor Jury report: “This film convincingly introduces a new critical paradigm in which every new image questions the entire history of film as a medium and its role within society. It does so through brilliant use of the train as a rich metaphor for human aspiration and technological advancement, connecting the first Lumière film all the way through to the current practice of shooting smartphone footage to document refugees on their quest for a better life.”

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  • 2018 Sundance Film Festival Awards – “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” “Kailash” Win Top Awards

    [caption id="attachment_26747" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desiree Akhavan, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2018 Sundance FIlm Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeong Park. Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desiree Akhavan.
    Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeong Park.[/caption] The 2018 Sundance Film Festival’s Awards Ceremony took place last night and presented 28 prizes for feature filmmaking. The Grand Jury Prizes was awarded to The Miseducation of Cameron Post (U.S. Dramatic), Kailash (U.S. Documentary), Of Fathers and Sons (World Cinema Documentary) and Butterflies (World Cinema Dramatic). “From the beginning, the purpose of the Sundance Film Festival has been to support artists and their stories,” said Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford, “and this year, our mission seemed especially relevant. Supporting independent voices, and listening to the stories they tell, has never been more necessary.” Feature film award winners in previous years include: I don’t feel at home in this world anymore., Weiner, Whiplash, Fruitvale Station, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Twenty Feet from Stardom, Searching for Sugarman, The Square, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Cartel Land, The Wolf Pack, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Dope, Dear White People, The Cove and Man on Wire.

    2018 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL FEATURE FILM AWARDS

    U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary 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. U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic 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 Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary Of Fathers and Sons / Germany, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar (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. World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic 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. Audience Award: U.S. Documentary 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. Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic 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. Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary This Is Home / U.S.A., Jordan (Director: Alexandra Shiva, Producers: Lindsey Megrue, Alexandra Shiva) — 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. Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic 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. Audience Award: NEXT 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. Directing Award: U.S. Documentary Alexandria Bombach for her film On Her Shoulders / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandria Bombach, Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams) — Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame and people’s good intentions. Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic Sara Colangelo, for her film The Kindergarten Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Sara Colangelo, Producers: Talia Kleinhendler, Osnat Handelsman-Keren, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Celine Rattray, Trudie Styler) — When a Staten Island kindergarten teacher discovers what may be a gifted five year-old student in her class, she becomes fascinated and obsessed with the child– spiraling downward on a dangerous and desperate path in order to nurture his talent. Cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Parker Sevak, Rosa Salazar, Anna Barynishikov, Michael Chernus, Gael Garcia Bernal. Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary Sandi Tan, for her film 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. Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic Ísold Uggadóttir, for her film 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. Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic Christina Choe, for her film 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. U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Vision Hale County This Morning, This Evening / U.S.A. (Director: RaMell Ross, Screenwriter: Maya Krinsky, Producers: Joslyn Barnes, RaMell Ross, Su Kim) — Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, this film is constructed in a form that allows the viewer an emotive impression of the Historic South – trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously a testament to dreaming. U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact 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. U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Storytelling 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. U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking 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. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature 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. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking 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. U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Achievement in Acting Benjamin Dickey, for 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 Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award Stephen Loveridge and M.I.A., for 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 Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing Editors Maxim Pozdorovkin and Matvey Kulakov, for Our New President / Russia, U.S.A. (Director: Maxim Pozdorovkin, Producers: Maxim Pozdorovkin, Joe Bender, Charlotte Cook) — 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 Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography Cinematographers Maxim Arbugaev and Peter Indergand, for 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 Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting Screenwriters Julio Chavezmontes and Sebastián Hofmann, for 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. World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting Valeria Bertuccelli, for 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 Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting 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. NEXT Innovator Prize (tie) 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. 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 Gabriel. SHORT FILM AWARDS: Short Film Grand Jury Prize Matria / Spain (Director and screenwriter: Director and screenwriter: Álvaro Gago). Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction Hair Wolf / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Director and screenwriter: Mariama Diallo). Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction Would You Look at Her / Macedonia (Director and screenwriter: Goran Stolevski). Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction The Trader (Sovdagari) / Georgia (Director: Tamta Gabrichidze). The Short Film Jury Award: Animation GLUCOSE / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jeron Braxton). Special Jury Awards without designation Emergency / U.S.A. (Director: Carey Williams, Screenwriter: K.D. Dávila), Fauve / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Jérémy Comte) For Nonna Anna / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Luis De Filippis). SUNDANCE INSTITUTE OPEN BORDERS FELLOWSHIP PRESENTED BY NETFLIX Of Fathers and Sons (Syria) / Talal Derki Untitled (India) / Chaitanya Tamhane Night On Fire (Mexico) / Tatiana Huezo Sundance Institute / NHK Award His House (United Kingdom) / Remi Weekes. SUNDANCE INSTITUTE | ALFRED P. SLOAN FEATURE FILM PRIZE The 2018 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, presented to an outstanding feature film about science or technology, was presented to Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian’s Search. The filmmakers received a $20,000 cash award from Sundance Institute with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. SUNDANCE INSTITUTE | AMAZON STUDIOS PRODUCERS AWARDS Sev Ohanian received the 2018 Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producers Awards. The award recognizes bold vision and a commitment to continuing work as a creative producer in the independent space, and grants money (via the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and Documentary Film Program) to emerging producers of films at the Sundance Film Festival. Image: Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz appear in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Desiree Akhavan, an official selection of the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2018 Sundance FIlm Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jeong Park.

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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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