The Journey (2016)

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

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