The lineups for this year’s South By Southwest have been trickling out the last few weeks, and with the latest announcement, the lineup is complete. After a few weeks of shouting BABYDRIVERBABYDRIVERBABYDRIVER over and over again, my inner Edgar Wright fanboy has calmed down and begun to reflect on the plethora of talent gracing this year’s festival.
SXSW 2017 opens with Terrence Malick’s latest Song to Song, closes with Daniel Espinosa’s Life, and in between showcases a cornucopia of cinematic treats. During the nine days of SXSW, the film portion will showcase 125 features. This includes 51 films from first-time filmmakers, 85 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres, and 5 U.S. Premieres.
We’ll have a rundown of the Cinapse team’s “most anticipated” titles coming up soon, and be sure to check in with us for coverage from the team both during and after the festival from March 10th-19th.
For more details and badges/tickets, checkout www.sxsw.com. For now, read on for the full lineup!
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Ten world premieres; ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,407 narrative feature submissions in 2017.
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong
Director/Screenwriter: Jason Headley. Two would-be thieves forge a surprising relationship with with an unexpected housesitter when they accidentally trap themselves in a house they just broke into. Cast: Matt Jones, Eleanore Pienta, Will Rogers, Jonny Mars, Sam Eidson, Jennymarie Jemison (World Premiere)
A Critically Endangered Species (Poland, United States)
Directors/Screenwriters: Zachary Cotler, Magdalena Zyzak. An internationally respected poet announces she is going to kill herself and needs an heir and executor. Young writers drive up the mountain to compete for the position and are challenged intellectually, emotionally, and erotically. Cast: Lena Olin, Rosanna Arquette, Jordan Gavaris, Alexander Koch, Nathan Keyes, Chris Voss (World Premiere)
Dara Ju
Director/Screenwriter: Anthony Onah. A young Nigerian-American financier struggles with love, family, and a prescription drug dependency as his ambitions steer him down a criminal path. Cast: Aml Ameen, Lucy Griffiths, Michael Hyatt, Peter Vack, Hope Olaidé Wilson, Souléymane Sy Savané, Craig muMs Grant, Bill Sage (World Premiere)
Fits and Starts
Director/Screenwriter: Laura Terruso. A struggling writer can’t seem to escape his wife’s literary success. When a road trip to a publisher’s salon takes an unexpected turn, he has to face his own creative shortcomings and find a way to regain control of his life and work. Cast: Wyatt Cenac, Greta Lee, Maria Dizzia, Alex Karpovsky, Ben Sinclair, Onur Turkel, John Rothman, Louis Cancelmi, Larry Murphy, Sam Seder (World Premiere)
La Barracuda
Directors: Julia Halperin, Jason Cortlund, Screenwriter: Jason Cortlund. A strange woman comes to Texas to meet her half-sister and stake a claim to the family music legacy — one way or another. Cast: Allison Tolman, Sophie Reid, JoBeth Williams, Luis Bordonada, Larry Jack Dotson, Butch Hancock, Bob Livingston, The Mastersons (World Premiere)
The Light of the Moon
Director/Screenwriter: Jessica M. Thompson. After her world is irrevocably changed, a successful New York City architect struggles to regain intimacy and control in her life. Cast: Stephanie Beatriz, Michael Stahl-David, Conrad Ricamora, Catherine Curtin, Olga Merediz, Cindy Cheung, Susan Hayward, Craig Walker, Cara Loften, Michael Cuomo (World Premiere)
Like Me
Director/Screenwriter: Rob Mockler. A reckless loner, desperate for human connection, sets out on a crime spree that she broadcasts on social media. Her reality quickly splinters into a surreal nightmare as her exploits spiral out of control. Cast: Addison Timlin, Ian Nelson, Larry Fessenden, Jeremy Gardner, Stuart Rudin, Nicolette Pierini (World Premiere)
MFA
Director: Natalia Leite, Screenwriter: Leah Mckendrick. The accidental death of her rapist sets an art student on a course for justice, fueling the inspiration for her thesis exhibition. Cast: Francesca Eastwood, Clifton Collins Jr, Peter Vack, Leah Mckendrick, Marlon Young, David Sullivan, Michael Welch (World Premiere)
Most Beautiful Island (Spain, United States)
Director/Screenwriter: Ana Asensio. An undocumented young woman struggling to begin a new life in New York City is offered an opportunity she can’t pass up. But as day turns to night she discovers she’s been lured to the center of a dangerous game. Cast: Ana Asensio, Natasha Romanova, David Little, Nicholas Tucci, Larry Fessenden, Caprice Benedetti (World Premiere)
The Strange Ones
Directors: Lauren Wolkstein, Christopher Radcliff, Screenwriter: Christopher Radcliff. Mysterious events surround the travels of two brothers as they make their way across a remote American landscape. On the surface all seems normal, but what appears to be a simple vacation soon gives way to dark and complex truths. Cast: Alex Pettyfer, James Freedson-Jackson, Emily Althaus, Gene Jones (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Ten world premieres: ten real world stories that demonstrate innovation, energy and bold voices. Selected from 973 feature documentary submissions in 2017.
Bill Frisell, A Portrait (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Emma Franz. An intimate, behind-the-music portrait of one of the most unassuming yet influential creative artists of our time, guitarist Bill Frisell. Frisell said of the film, “It’s like the inside of my brain!” (World Premiere)
The Blood is at the Doorstep
Director: Erik Ljung. After Dontre Hamilton, a black, unarmed man diagnosed with schizophrenia, was shot 14 times and killed by police in Milwaukee, his family embarks on a quest for answers, justice and reform as the investigation unfolds. (World Premiere)
Dealt
Director: Luke Korem, Screenwriters: Bradley Jackson, Luke Korem. Sixty-two year old Richard Turner is renowned as one of the world’s greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. This is an in-depth look at a complex character who is one of magic’s greatest hidden treasures. (World Premiere)
I Am Another You
Director/Screenwriter: Nanfu Wang. Through the eyes of a young drifter who rejects society’s rules and intentionally chooses to live on the streets, Chinese filmmaker Nanfu Wang explores the meaning of personal freedom — and its limits. (World Premiere)
Let There Be Light (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Mila Aung-Thwin. Let There Be Light follows the story of dedicated scientists working to build a small sun on Earth, which would unleash perpetual, cheap, clean energy for mankind. After decades of failed attempts, a massive push is now underway to crack the holy grail of energy. (World Premiere)
Maineland (China, United States)
Director: Miao Wang. Chinese teenagers from the wealthy elite, with big American dreams, settle into a boarding school in small-town Maine. As their fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, their relationship to home takes on a poignant new aspect. (World Premiere)
Mommy Dead and Dearest
Director: Erin Lee Carr. Child abuse, mental illness, and forbidden love converge in this mystery involving a mother and daughter who were thought to be living a fairy tale life that turned out to be a living nightmare. (World Premiere)
Served Like A Girl
Director: Lysa Heslov. Five women veterans who have endured unimaginable trauma in service create a shared sisterhood to help the rising number of stranded homeless women veterans by entering a competition that unexpectedly catalyzes moving events in their own lives. (World Premiere)
The Secret Life of Lance Letscher
Director: Sandra Adair. Witness the collision of memory, color, and chaos in this unprecedented journey through the visionary mind of collage artist Lance Letscher. (World Premiere)
The Work
Directors: Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous. Set entirely inside Folsom Prison, The Work follows three men during four days of intensive group therapy with convicts, revealing an intimate and powerful portrait of authentic human transformation that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation. (World Premiere)
HEADLINERS
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema.
Atomic Blonde
Director: David Leitch, Screenwriter: Kurt Johnstad, Based on the Oni Press graphic novel series by Antony Johnston. Oscar® winner Charlize Theron explodes into summer in Atomic Blonde, a breakneck action-thriller that follows MI6’s most lethal assassin through a ticking time bomb of a city simmering with revolution and double-crossing hives of traitors. Cast List: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia Boutella and Toby Jones (World Premiere)
Baby Driver
Director/Screenwriter: Edgar Wright. A talented, young getaway driver relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss, he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom. Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx (World Premiere)
The Disaster Artist
Director: James Franco, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, based on the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside the Room.
This is a true story about the making of The Room — the cult classic described as the “Citizen Kane of bad movies”. Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Ari Graynor, Jacki Weaver, Alison Brie (World Premiere)
Free Fire (UK)
Director: Ben Wheatley, Screenwriters: Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump. Bold, breathless and wickedly fun, Free Fire is an electrifying action comedy about an arms deal that goes spectacularly and explosively wrong. Directed by Ben Wheatley. Starring Brie Larson, Armie Hammer, Cillian Murphy, Sharlto Copley, Jack Reynor. Cast: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy, Jack Reynor, Babou Ceesay, Enzo Cilenti, Sam Riley, Michael Smiley, Noah Taylor (U.S. Premiere)
Life (UK)
Director: Daniel Espinosa, Screenwriters: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Life is a terrifying sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station whose mission of discovery turns to one of primal fear when they find a rapidly evolving life form that caused extinction on Mars, and now threatens the crew and all life on Earth. Cast List: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, Hiroyuki Sanada, Ariyon Bakare, Olga Dihovichnaya (World Premiere)
On The Road (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Michael Winterbottom. Michael Winterbottom follows acclaimed British rock band and Grammy nominees Wolf Alice on their tour, recording their gigs as well as the romance and routine of their daily life backstage. (North American Premiere)
Song to Song
Director: Terrence Malick. In this modern love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye and BV, and music mogul Cook and the waitress whom he ensnares — chase success through a rock ’n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal. Cast: Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett (World Premiere)
NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT
High profile narrative features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres at SXSW.
The Archer
Director: Valerie Weiss, Screenwriter: Casey Schroen. Archer champion Lauren Pierce escapes a corrupt juvenile correctional facility with Rebecca, a fierce but alluring inmate and together they must survive a desperate warden who is bow-hunting his prey to make sure his secret stays buried. Cast: Bailey Noble, Bill Sage, Jeanine Mason, Michael Grant Terry, Kurt Fuller, Dendrie Taylor, Grace Victoria Cox, Andrew Caldwell (World Premiere)
The Ballad of Lefty Brown
Director/Screenwriter: Jared Moshé. Aging sidekick Lefty Brown (Bill Pullman) has ridden with Eddie Johnson (Peter Fonda) his entire life. But when a rustler kills Eddie, Lefty is forced from his partner’s shadow and must confront the ugly realities of frontier justice. Cast: Bill Pullman, Kathy Baker, Jim Caviezel, Tommy Flanagan, Peter Fonda, Joe Anderson, Diego Josef, Michael Speers, Lewis Pullman, Joseph Anderson (World Premiere)
Daphne (UK)
Director: Peter Mackie Burns, Screenwriter: Nico Mensinga. Daphne is London. Daphne is the crowd of faceless strangers we brush past everyday. Daphne is being young and always searching for more. Daphne is life, an unpredictable mixture of comedy and tragedy. Cast: Emily Beecham, Geraldine James, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Nathaniel Martello-White (World Premiere)
Easy Living
Director/Screenwriter: Adam Keleman. Sherry Graham, a self-destructive makeup saleswoman, hopes a new man and business venture will provide her a fresh start. After her plans are foiled, she takes control of her life in a dramatic turn of events. Cast: Caroline Dhavernas, McCaleb Burnett, Elizabeth Marvel, Charlie Hofheimer, Jen Richards, Daniel Eric Gold, C.J. Wilson, Taylor Richardson, Mary Catherine Garrison (World Premiere)
Gemini
Director/Screenwriter: Aaron Katz. A heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her Hollywood starlet boss. As the assistant unravels the mystery, she must confront her own understanding of friendship, truth, and celebrity. Cast: Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz, John Cho, Greta Lee, Michelle Forbes, Nelson Franklin, Reeve Carney, Ricki Lake, Jessica Parker Kennedy, James Ransone (World Premiere)
Going to Brazil (France)
Director: Patrick Mille, Screenwriters: Julien Lambroschini, Sabrina Amara, Patrick Mille. Four childhood friends are reunited at a wedding in Rio. But when they accidentally kill a young man during a party that gets out of hand, they are forced to flee the city in a crazy adventure. Cast: Alison Wheeler, Vanessa Guide, Margot Bancilhon, Philippine Stindel, Patrick Mille (International Premiere)
Hot Summer Nights
Director: Elijah Bynum. Hot Summer Nights is a dark coming-of-age story set in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during the sweltering heat of summer 1991. Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Alex Roe, Maia Mitchell, William Fichtner, Thomas Jane, Emory Cohen (World Premiere)
Hounds of Love (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Ben Young. In the mid 1980’s seventeen-year-old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by a disturbed couple. As she observes the dynamic between her captors she quickly realizes she must drive a wedge between them if she is to survive. Cast: Ashleigh Cummings, Emma Booth, Stephen Curry, Susie Porter, Damian de Montemas, Harrison Gilbertson, Fletcher Humphrys (North American Premiere)
Lane 1974
Director: SJ Chiro, Screenwriters: SJ Chiro, Clane Hayward. At 13 years old and the eldest of three kids, Lane struggles to keep her family together as her iconoclast mother moves without warning through the communes and dusty back woods of Northern California. Cast: Sophia Mitri Schloss, Katherine Moennig, Sara Coats, Linas Phillips, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sarah-Eve Gazitt, Annette Toutonghi, Harry Curtis, Ronin West, Shayla Timbermoon (World Premiere)
Madre (Chile)
Director/Screenwriter: Aaron Burns. A pregnant woman, who is taking care of her son with development problems, is at her breaking point when a caregiver from the Philippines steps into her life. Diana suspects that she’s using voodoo against her after the quick improvements of her son. Cast: Daniela Ramirez, Cristobal Tapia Montt, Aida Jabolin, Matias Bassi, Ignacia Allamand, Nicolás Durán (North American Premiere)
Most Hated Woman In America
Director: Tommy O’Haver, Screenwriters: Tommy O’Haver, Irene Turner. Darkly funny, true story of the rise and untimely demise of Madeline Murray O’Hair — crank, swindler, iconoclast, and America’s most outspoken atheist. Cast: Melissa Leo, Adam Scott, Juno Temple, Vincent Kartheiser, Josh Lucas, Peter Fonda (World Premiere)
Mr. Roosevelt
Director/Screenwriter: Noël Wells. After a death in her family, struggling LA-based comedian Emily Martin returns to Austin. There she finds herself in the awkward position of staying with her ex and his new girlfriend until the funeral, while trying to close old doors from her past. Cast: Noël Wells, Nick Thune, Britt Lower, Daniella Pineda, Andre Hyland, Doug Benson, Armen Weitzman, Sergio Cilli (World Premiere)
Paris Can Wait
Director/Screenwriter: Eleanor Coppola. A devoted American wife (Diane Lane) with a workaholic inattentive husband (Alec Baldwin), takes an unexpected journey from Cannes to Paris with a charming Frenchman (Arnaud Viard) that reawakens her sense of self and joie de vivre. Cast: Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard, Alec Baldwin (U.S. Premiere)
Small Crimes
Director: Evan Katz, Screenwriters: Evan Katz, Macon Blair. Small Crimes is a delightfully suspenseful, blackly comic tale that follows a disgraced former cop, fresh off a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder, who returns home looking for redemption but winds up trapped in the mess he left behind. Cast: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jacki Weaver, Robert Forster, Gary Cole, Molly Parker, Macon Blair, Pat Healy (World Premiere)
Small Town Crime
Directors/Screenwriters: Ian Nelms, Eshom Nelms. Ex-cop, Mike Kendall, finds the body of a young woman and, in an act of self-redemption, becomes hellbent on finding the killer. While his uncouth, quirky detective style helps break the case, his dogged determination puts his family in danger. Cast: John Hawkes, Anthony Anderson, Octavia Spencer, Robert Forster, Clifton Collins, Jr., Michael Vartan, James Lafferty, Daniel Sunjata, Caity Lotz, Jeremy Ratchford (World Premiere)
This Is Your Death
Director: Giancarlo Esposito, Screenwriters: Kenny Yakkel, Noah Pink. This Is Your Death is an unsettling look at reality T.V. where a disturbing hit game show has its contestants ending their lives for the public’s enjoyment. It captures the sad truths about the world’s desire to be famous. Cast: Josh Duhamel, Famke Janssen, Giancarlo Esposito, Sarah Wayne Callies, Caitlin Fitzgerald, James Franco (World Premiere)
Us and Them (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Joe Martin. Working class Danny aims to kick start a revolution by turning the tables on the establishment with a deadly game of chance. Cast: Jack Roth, Tim Bentinck, Andrew Tiernan, Daniel Kendrick, Sophie Colquhoun, Paul Westwood, Carolyn Backhouse, Louis Dempsey (World Premiere)
Win It All
Director: Joe Swanberg, Screenwriters: Joe Swanberg, Jake Johnson. Small time Chicago gambler, Eddie Garrett, agrees to watch a duffel bag for an acquaintance who is heading to prison. When he discovers cash in the bag, he hatches a plan to win big, against the advice of his gambling sponsor and his brother. Cast: Jake Johnson, Aislinn Derbez, Joe Lo Truglio, Keegan-Michael Key (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT
Shining a light on new documentary features receiving their World, North American, or U.S. premieres at SXSW.
Barbecue (Australia)
Director: Matthew Salleh. Barbecue is about more than grilling a piece of meat. It’s a ritual performed religiously across the world. For some it’s a path to salvation. It is the pride of nations. And the stories told around the fires become a way to bring the world together. (World Premiere)
Bill Nye: Science Guy
Directors/Screenwriters: David Alvarado, Jason Sussberg. A famous television personality struggles to restore science to its rightful place in a world hostile to evidence and reason. (World Premiere)
Disgraced
Director: Pat Kondelis. The untold story of the summer of 2003 at Baylor University that exposes the attempted cover-up, and the corruption that became the most bizarre scandal in college sports history. (World Premiere)
Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web (New Zealand)
Director: Annie Goldson. Discover the story of the most wanted man online. (North American Premiere)
Meth Storm: Arkansas USA
Directors: Craig Renaud, Brent Renaud. With unparalleled access on both sides of the law, METH STORM: Arkansas USA is a thrilling non-fiction cops and robbers drama told from inside the American drug war. (World Premiere)
Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo (UK)
Director: David Fairhead, Screenwriters: David Fairhead, Keith Haviland
At the heart of the Apollo program was the special team in Mission Control who put a man on the moon and helped create the future. (World Premiere)
Muppet Guys Talking — Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched
Director: Frank Oz. Five of the original Muppet performers come together for the first time ever to share behind-the-scenes secrets of the Muppets. Includes rare performance footage, surprising stories and insights into how Jim led his team to produce legendary work. (World Premiere)
Pornocracy (France)
Director: Ovidie. Never before have we watched as much porn as today yet the traditional porn industry is dying. The arrival of web sites showing amateur clips has transformed the way porn is made and consumed. Behind this transformation lies one opaque multinational. (World Premiere)
Spettacolo
Directors: Jeff Malmberg, Chris Shellen, Screenwriter: Chris Shellen. Once upon a time there was a tiny hill town in Tuscany that found a remarkable way to confront their issues — they turned their lives into a play. (World Premiere)
Stranger Fruit
Director/Screenwriter: Jason Pollock. What happened on August 9th, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri? On that hot summer day, Officer Darren Wilson killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Stranger Fruit is the unraveling of what took place that day, told through the eyes of Mike Brown’s family. (World Premiere)
Todrick Hall Documentary
Director: Katherine Fairfax Wright. After building an empire on YouTube, Todrick Hall leaps beyond his comfort zone and deep within his own backstory to create his most dazzling and vital work yet, but with only a few weeks and a few coins, will he crush it or will it crush him? (World Premiere)
The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin
Director: Jennifer M. Kroot. The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin celebrates one of the world’s most beloved storytellers, following his evolution from a conservative son of the Old South into a gay rights pioneer whose novels inspired millions to reclaim their lives. (World Premiere)
Walk With Me (UK)
Directors: Max Pugh, Marc J. Francis. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Walk With Me is a cinematic journey into the world of a monastic community who practice the art of mindfulness with Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh. (World Premiere)
FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Acclaimed standouts & selected previous premieres from festivals around the world.
78/52
Director/Screenwriter: Alexandre O. Philippe. A feature-length documentary about the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO, 78/52 takes an unprecedented look at the ‘man behind the curtain’ and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema.
The Big Sick
Director: Michael Showalter, Screenwriters: Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani. A couple deals with their cultural differences as their relationship grows. Cast: Kumail Nanjani, Zoe Kazan, Holly Hunter, Ray Romano, Anupani Euler, Zienobia Sfiroff, Adeel Akfitar, Bo Burnhani, Mary Aidy Bryant, Kurt Braunohler
Chasing Coral
Director: Jeff Orlowski, Screenwriters: Davis Coombe, Vickie Curtis, Jeff Orlowski. Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
Colossal
Director/Screenwriter: Nacho Vigalondo. An unapologetic party girl (Anne Hathaway) dreams of a fresh start only to discover a mysterious and fantastical connection between herself and a city-wrecking monster on the other side of the globe. Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell, Tim Blake Nelson
David Lynch — The Art Life
Director: Jon Nguyen. A film that deeply explores the experiences that shaped one of cinema’s most distinctive voices: David Lynch. Presented by FilmStruck.
GORAN (Croatia)
Director: Nevio Marasović, Screenwriter: Gjermund Gisvold. Some good news lead to chaos. Cast: Franjo Dijak, Nataša Janjić, Janko Popović Volarić, Goran Bogdan, Milan Štrljić (U.S. Premiere)
The Hero
Director: Brett Haley, Screenwriters: Brett Haley, Marc Basch. The Hero tells the story of movie star Lee Hayden whose career high as Western film icon is now several decades in the past. Cast: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman, Katharine Ross
Lemon
Director: Janicza Bravo, Screenwriters: Janicza Bravo, Brett Gelman. A man watches his life unravel after he is left by his blind girlfriend. Cast: Brett Gelman, Judy Greer, Michael Cera, Nia Long, Shiri Appleby, Rhea Perlman, Fred Melamed, Gillian Jacobs, Martin Starr, David Paymer
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press
Director/Screenwriter: Brian Knappenberger. The trial between wrestler Hulk Hogan and Gawker Media pitted privacy rights against freedom of the press, but ended up as a case study in how big money can silence media through legal means. An examination of the free press in an age of inequality.
Person to Person
Director/Screenwriter: Dustin Guy Defa. A record collector hustles for a score while a lovelorn roommate regrets a dire mistake, a teenager bears witness to her friend’s new relationship, and a rookie reporter and her demanding boss chase clues to a homicide involving a jaded watchmaker.
Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Michael Cera, Tavi Gevinson, Philip Baker Hall, Bene Coopersmith, George Sample III, Isiah Whitlock, Ben Rosenfeld, Olivia Luccardi
Prevenge (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Alice Lowe. Alice Lowe (Sightseers) is a triple threat as the writer, director and star of this pitch-black comedy about a pregnant woman whose unborn child spurs her on to murder. Cast: Alice Lowe, Dan Renton Skinner, Jo Hartley, Tom Davis, Leila Hoffman, Kate Dickie, Kayvan Novak, Mike Wozniak, Tom Meeten, Gemma Whelan
The Transfiguration
Director/Screenwriter: Michael O’Shea. This atmospheric New York tale about love, loss, and vampires follows Milo, a 14-year-old boy with a dark secret. The surprise of the Cannes Film Festival 2016. Cast: Eric Ruffin, Chloe Levine, Aaron Moten, Carter Redwood, Danny Flaherty, Larry Fessenden, Lloyd Kaufman (North American Premiere)
Trophy (USA, South Africa)
Director: Shaul Schwarz, Screenwriter: Christina Clusiau. Endangered African species like elephants, rhinos, and lions march closer to extinction each year. Trophy investigates the powerhouse businesses of big game hunting, breeding, and wildlife conservation.
Through the Repellent Fence: A Land Art Film
Director: Sam Wainwright Douglas. Some fences don’t divide.
Unrest
Director: Jennifer Brea.When Harvard PhD student Jennifer is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s “all in her head.” Determined to live, she turns her camera on herself and a hidden world of millions confined to their homes.
Walking Out
Directors/Screenwriters: Andrew Smith, Alex Smith. Based on the masterpiece, American short story, Walking Out, follows David (Josh Wiggins), a typical teenage urbanite as he travels to rural Montana to go hunting with his estranged, ‘off the grid’ father, Cal (Matt Bomer). Cast: Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins, Bill Pullman, Alex Neustaedter, Lily Gladstone, Ken White, Scott McMillion
MIDNIGHTERS
Scary, funny, sexy, controversial — provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.
68 Kill
Director: Trent Haaga, Screenwriters: Trent Haaga based on the novel by Bryan Smith. Chip’s problem is that he can’t say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000. Cast: Matthew Gray Gubler, Annalynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand, Sam Eidson, Lucy Faust, Eric Podner, Peter James, Hallie Grace Bradley, James Moses Black (World Premiere)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: 10th Anniversary Screening
Director: Scott Glosserman, Screenwriters: David Stieve, Scott Glosserman. At SXSW in 2006 AICN’s Quint wrote: “…it just had its world premiere at the Alamo a few hours ago. I hope to see this one get picked up, but I guarantee this one will make it.” 10 years after its 2007 theatrical, the 35mm print returns to the fest! Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund, Scott Wilson, Zelda Rubinstein, Kate Lang Johnson, Britain Spellings, Bridgett Newton, Ben Pace
Game of Death (Canada, France)
Directors: Laurence “Baz” Morais, Sebastien Landry, Screenwriters: Laurence “Baz” Morais, Sebastien Landry, Edouard Bond and adapted by Philip Kalin-Hajdu. In the middle of small-town nowhere, seven friends are forced to kill or be killed when they play the Game of Death. When faced with their own mortality, will they turn on each other to survive? Cast: Sam Earle, Victoria Diamond, Emelia Hellman, Catherine Saindon, Nick Serino, Erniel Baez D., Thomas Vallieres, Jane Hackett (World Premiere)
The Honor Farm
Director/Screenwriter: Karen Skloss. After prom night falls apart, Lucy finds herself at very different kind of party… On a psychedelic trip that could be a dangerous trap. Cast: Olivia Applegate, Louis Hunter, Dora Madison, Liam Aiken, Katie Folger, Michael Eric Reid, Mackenzie Astin, Michelle Forbes, Josephine McAdam, Christina Parrish (World Premiere)
Lake Bodom (UK)
Director: Taneli Mustonen, Screenwriters: Taneli Mustonen, Aleksi Hyvärinen
Reconstructing a legendary campsite murder turns fatal when the girls decide to rewrite history. As night falls, turns out not all of them are there to play. Cast: Nelly Hirst-Gee, Mimosa William, Mikael Gabriel, Santeri Mäntylä
Mayhem
Director: Joe Lynch, Screenwriter: Matias Caruso. After being framed for corporate espionage on the same day that a mysterious virus is unleashed on his company, attorney Derek Cho is forced to savagely fight tooth and nail for not only his job but his life. Cast: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Dallas Mark Roberts, Caroline Chikezie, Mark Stewart Frost, Kerry Fox, Lucy Chappell, Steven Brand (World Premiere)
Meatball Machine Kodoku (Japan)
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Screenwriters: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Sakichi Sato. A long-awaited sequel to the internationally acclaimed full-throttle splatter sci-fi action horror Meatball Machine directed by Yoshihiko Nishimura, an acclaimed makeup artist and special effects designer (“Godzilla Resurgence”). Cast: Yoji Tanaka, Yurisa, Takumi Saito (World Premiere)
PIG: The Final Screenings
Director: Adam Mason. A savage satire of gender politics in America, Adam Mason is guaranteed to shock and offend with Pig. Created with actor and long time collaborator Andrew Howard, Pig is a virtuoso piece of pure cinema. Cast: Andrew Howard, Guy Burnet, Lorry Stone, Juliet Quintin-Archard, Molly Black (World Premiere)
Tragedy Girls (Canada, USA)
Director: Tyler MacIntyre, Screenwriters: Chris Lee Hill, Tyler MacIntyre, based on an original screenplay by Justin Olson. A twist on the slasher genre following two budding teenage sociopaths who use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small midwestern town into a frenzy, cementing their legacy as modern horror legends. Cast: Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp, Craig Robinson, Josh Hutcherson, Kevin Durand, Jack Quaid, Timothy V. Murphy, Nicky Whelan, Austin Abrams, Kerry Rhodes (World Premiere)
Two Pigeons (UK)
Director: Dominic Bridges, Screenwriter: Rae Brunton. A wide-boy estate agent unknowingly shares his home with a malicious tenant, one with a totally surprising agenda. Two Pigeons is a dark urban morality tale with an underlying streak of jet black comedy. Cast: Mim Shaikh, Javier Botet, Mandeep Dhillon, Kola Bokinni, Michael McKella (World Premiere)
VISIONS
Visions filmmakers are audacious, risk-taking artists in the new cinema landscape who demonstrate raw innovation and creativity in documentary and narrative filmmaking.
Assholes
Director/Screenwriter: Peter Vack. Adah and Aaron are recovering addicts who are struggling to stay sober. After meeting in their psychoanalyst’s waiting room, they fall in love, relapse on poppers, and become the biggest assholes in New York City. Cast: Betsey Brown, Jack Dunphy, Peter Vack, Patrick LaBella, Jane Brown, Ron Brown, Eileen Dietz (World Premiere)
Becoming Bond
Director/Screenwriter: Josh Greenbaum. The stranger-than-fiction true story of George Lazenby, a poor Australian car mechanic who, through an unbelievable set of circumstances, landed the role of James Bond despite having never acted a day in his life. (World Premiere)
California Dreams
Director: Mike Ott. A look at how the American Dream and Hollywood affect those they touch. Cast: Cory Zacharia, Patrick Llaguno, Neil Harley, Kevin Gilger aka K-Nine Dog the Impersonator, Carolan J. Pinto, Mark Borchardt (North American Premiere)
DRIB (Norway)
Director/Screenwriter: Kristoffer Borgli. The inside story of how Amir (29) scammed his way to viral fame, fooled an advertising agency, and almost became the international face of a well-known energy drink — before everything went wrong. Cast: Amir Asgharnejad, Brett Gelman, Adam Pearson, Annie Hamilton, Alexandra Marzella, Hugo Armstrong, Joe Hartzler, Andrew Lauer (World Premiere)
Flesh and Blood
Director/Screenwriter: Mark Webber. Mark Webber boldly explores family dynamics using his real family as the cast and real-life situations for the story. Combining reality with fiction he exposes a disturbing truth: his family tree is full of broken branches that may never be repaired. Cast: Mark Webber, Cheri Honkala, Guillermo Santos, Madeline Brewer (World Premiere)
Infinity Baby
Director: Bob Byington, Screenwriter: Onur Tukel. A comedy about babies that don’t age. Cast: Kieran Culkin, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Nick Offerman, Martin Starr, Kevin Corrigan, Megan Mullaly, Noel Wells, Stephen Root (World Premiere)
Inheritance
Directors/Screenwriters: Laura E. Davis, Jessica Kaye. A woman learns her estranged father has died and returns with her brother and new lover to her childhood home of Belize, where she must face her past while fighting for intimacy in the present. Cast: Jessica Kaye, Daniel Ahearn, Mark Webber, Shamira Gill-Card, Myrna Manzanares, Louis Oberlander (World Premiere)
Lucky
Director: John Carroll Lynch, Screenwriters: Logan Sparks, Drago Sumonja. Lucky follows the spiritual journey of a 90 year old atheist (Harry Dean Stanton), having outlived and out smoked his contemporaries, as he comes to terms with his own mortality, and searches for ever elusive enlightenment. Cast: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ron Livingston, Ed Begley Jr., Tom Skerritt, Beth Grant, James Darren (World Premiere)
Paa Joe & The Lion (Ghana, United Kingdom)
Director: Benjamin Wigley. A true story about the art of love and death. A thought provoking and cinematic documentary film rooted in the universal themes of love, death and legacy set against one of the most beautiful art-forms in the world — Ghana’s very own fantasy coffin. (North American Premiere)
Porto (Portugal)
Director: Gabe Klinger, Screenwriters: Larry Gross, Gabe Klinger. Jake and Mati are two outsiders in Porto who once experienced a brief connection. A mystery remains about the moments they shared, and in searching through memories, they relive the depths of a night uninhibited by the consequences of time. Cast: Anton Yelchin, Lucie Lucas, Françoise Lebrun, Paulo Calatré (North American Premiere)
Ramblin’ Freak
Director: Parker Smith. In the wake of a devastating personal tragedy, a struggling would-be filmmaker finds a revealing home video in an old camcorder purchased on eBay and takes off with his cat on a cross-country road trip to find its owner: “The Man Whose Arms Exploded” Cast: Parker Smith, Gregg Valentino (World Premiere)
Rat Film
Director/Screenwriter: Theo Anthony. Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. “Rat Film” is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat — as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them. (U.S. Premiere)
The Relationtrip
Directors: Renée Felice Smith, C.A. Gabriel, Screenwriters: C.A. Gabriel, Renée Felice Smith, Dana Scanlon. After bonding over their mutual disinterest in relationships, self-proclaimed loners, Beck and Liam, decide to go away together on a ‘friend’ trip where things get weird. Really, really weird. Cast: Renée Felice Smith, Matt Bush, Eric Christian Olsen, Linda Hunt, Nelson Franklin, Brandon Kyle Goodman, Sally Struthers, Georgia Mischak, Owain Rhys Davies (World Premiere)
Signature Move
Director: Jennifer Reeder, Screenwriters: Fawzia Mirza, Lisa Donato. A secret new romance with Alma forces Zaynab to confront her complicated relationship with her recently widowed mother. In this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama, Zaynab copes by taking up Lucha-style wrestling. Cast: Fawzia Mirza, Shabana Azmi, Sari Sanchez, Audrey Francis, Charin Alvarez, Mark Hood, Molly Brennan (World Premiere)
Sylvio
Directors: Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley, Screenwriters: Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley, Meghan Doherty. A small town gorilla joins a local TV program and a series of on-air mishaps threaten to shatter his identity, sending him on an adventure of self-discovery where reality and fantasy start to blend. Cast: Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley, Tallie Medel, Meghan Doherty (World Premiere)
EPISODIC
Featuring innovative new work aimed squarely at the small screen, Episodic tunes in to the explosion of exciting material on non-theatrical platforms, including serialized TV, webisodes, and beyond.
American Gods
Director: David Slade, Screenwriters: Bryan Fuller, Michael Green. Adapted from Neil Gaiman’s award-winning novel, American Gods follows Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) and Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) in a hidden world where a battle is brewing between Old Gods and New. Cast: Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, Pablo Schreiber, Bruce Langley, Yetide Badaki, Jonathan Tucker, Mousa Kraish, Betty Gilpin, Gillian Anderson (World Premiere)
Dear White People
Director/Screenwriter: Justin Simien. Based on the critically-acclaimed 2014 film by the same name, Dear White People is a send-up of the now post “post-racial” America that weaves together a universal story of finding one’s own identity, as told from a biting millennial point of view. Cast: Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, Antoinette Robertson, DeRon Horton, John Patrick Amedori
I Love Bekka & Lucy
Director/Screenwriter: Rachael Holder. Two inseparable and idiosyncratic best friends face the evolution of their friendship when one of them gets engaged. Cast: Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tanisha Long, Alexis Denisof, Christopher Nicholas Smith (World Premiere)
I’m Dying Up Here
Director: Jonathan Levine, Screenwriter: Dave Flebotte. Set in L.A.’s celebrated, infamous stand-up comedy scene of the 1970s, this new series delves into the inspired and damaged psyches that inhabit the hilarious, but complex business of making an audience laugh. Executive produced by Jim Carrey. Cast: Melissa Leo, Ari Graynor, Clark Duke, Michael Angarano, Andrew Santino, Stephen Guarino, Erik Griffin, RJ Cyler, Al Madrigal, Dylan Baker (World Premiere)
Nobodies
Showrunner, Director: Michael McDonald, Pilot Director: Ben Falcone, Screenwriters: Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf, Rachel Ramras. The series is inspired by the real lives of Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras, who watched as their friends from The Groundlings went on to star in blockbuster comedies and win Oscars, while they were waiting for their one big break. Cast: Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf, Rachel Ramras (World Premiere)
The Son
Director: Tom Harper. Based on the New York Times best-selling and Pulitzer Prize finalist novel, The Son is a sweeping family saga that spans 150 years and three generations of the McCullough family. Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Jacob Lofland, Henry Garrett, Paola Nunez, Carlos Bardem, Zahn McClarnon, Jess Weixler, David Wilson Barnes, Sydney Lucas (World Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Showcasing the sounds, culture and influence of music & musicians, with an emphasis on documentary.
As I Walk Through The Valley
Directors: Ronnie Garza, Charlie Vela. As I Walk Through The Valley is a journey into the underground music scene of Texas’ southernmost border-region. Follow four generations of Valley musicians as they struggle to find a voice of their own in the land of charro beans and Tejano legends. (World Premiere)
G-Funk
Director/Screenwriter: Karam Gill. G-Funk is the untold story of three childhood friends from East Long Beach who helped commercialize hip hop by developing a sophisticated and melodic new approach — merging Gangsta Rap with elements of Motown, Funk, and R&B. (World Premiere)
Give Me Future (aka Incoming Transmission) (United States, Cuba)
Director: Austin Peters. Cuba as you have never seen it before.
A Life in Waves
Director: Brett Whitcomb, Screenwriter: Bradford Thomason. A Life in Waves explores the life and innovations of composer and electronic music pioneer, Suzanne Ciani. (World Premiere)
Long Strange Trip
Director: Amir Bar-Lev. Emerging from the Bay Area’s vibrant 1960s counterculture, the Grateful Dead were a motley crew whose unique sound sprang from an eclectic blend of influences: bluegrass, folk ballads, R&B, free-form jazz, classical, and jug band.
May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers
Directors: Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio. An intimate portrait of the acclaimed North Carolina band the Avett Brothers, as they create their hit album “True Sadness.” (World Premiere)
Patti Cake$
Director: Geremy Jasper. Straight out of Jersey comes Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, an aspiring rapper fighting through a world of strip malls and strip clubs on an unlikely quest for glory. Cast: Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay, Mamoudou Athie, Cathy Moriarty
Residente (Armenia, Burkina Faso, China, Georgia, Mongolia, Niger, Russian Federation, USA)
Director: René Pérez Joglar. After taking a DNA test, Latin America’s most decorated artist — Rene Perez (AKA Residente), embarks on a global adventure, to trace the footsteps of his ancestors and record his latest album. (World Premiere)
Song of Granite (Canada, Ireland)
Director: Pat Collins, Screenwriters: Pat Collins, Eoghan McGiolla Bhríde, Sharon Whooley. Acclaimed filmmaker Pat Collins brings the dramatic life story of legendary seannós singer Joe Heaney to the screen in Song of Granite, an audacious exploration of the man and his music. Cast: Macdara Ó Fatharta, Mícheál Ó Chonfhaola, Jaren Cerf, Pól Ó Ceannabháín, Colm Seoighe (North American Premiere)
Thank You, Friends: Big Star’s Third Live… and More
Director: Benno Nelson. A celebration of the musical legacy of Memphis’ best-known secret — Big Star — performed by a collective featuring members of Big Star, the dB’s, Let’s Active, the Posies, R.E.M., Semisonic, Wilco and Yo La Tengo with the Kronos Quartet and more. (World Premiere)
GLOBAL
A diverse selection of international filmmaking talent, featuring innovative narratives, artful documentaries, premieres, festival favorites, and more.
Bad Lucky Goat (Colombia)
Director/Screenwriter: Samir Oliveros.After accidentally killing a bearded goat with their father’s pick-up truck, two incompatible siblings in their teenage years, embark on a journey of reconciliation. Cast: Honlenny Huffington, Kiara Howard, Elkin Robinson, Michel Robinson, Ambrosio Huffington, Jean Bush (World Premiere)
The Challenge (France, Italy)
Director/Screenwriter: Yuri Ancarani.In The Challenge, the director crosses the Persian Gulf to accompany a falconer to an important competition. Among SUVs, Lamborghini, private jets and Mad Max-like dune bashing contests, the film tells the story of an intense weekend in the desert. (North American Premiere)
The Cloud Forest (Mexico)
Director/Screenwriter: Mónica Álvarez Franco. A small community in Veracruz is the guardian of one of the ecosystems facing the most risk: the cloud forest. By redesigning their needs, education and relationship with other people and with nature, they search for a simpler and sustainable life. (World Premiere)
Divine Divas (Brazil)
Director: Leandra Leal, Screenwriters: Carol Benjamin, Leandra Leal, Lucas Paraizo, Natara Ney. Eight iconic performers of the first generation of Brazilian transvestite artists go on stage to celebrate their 50th career jubilee. The film depicts the human, personal dimension behind these icons, deconstructing gender stereotypes. (North American Premiere)
Inflame (Turkey)
Director/Screenwriter: Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik. Her nightmare is reality, and the reality is a nightmare. Cast: Algi Eke, Ozgur Cevik, Kadir Cermik, Asiye Dincsoy, Selen Ucer, Ipek Turktan Kaynak (North American Premiere)
Satan Said Dance (Poland)
Director/Screenwriter: Kasia Roslaniec. Satan Said Dance is an Instagram film in times of the selfie. A kaleidoscope of moments from life of Karolina — a scandalous writer obsessed with parties, drugs, sexuality and complex relationships, on her way to self-destruction. Cast: Magdalena Berus, Lukasz Simlat, Tygo Gernandt, Hanna Koczewska, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Danuta Stenka (North American Premiere)
Tormentero (Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico)
Director: Rubén Imaz, Screenwriters: Fernando del Razo, Rubén Imaz. Romero Kantún is a retired fisherman, who lives mired in nostalgia, but feels that it is time to reclaim what he lost decades ago, when he discovered the great oilfield that ended fishing on his island and won him the fishermen’s rejection. Cast: José Carlos Ruiz, Gabino Rodríguez, Mónica Jiménez, Waldo Facco (U.S. Premiere)
Win By Fall (Germany)
Director: Anna Koch, Screenwriters: Anna Koch, Julia Lemke. At the age of 12, Janny, Lisa, Debby and Michelle leave their home for a sports school in the East German province to become wrestlers. A documentary about coming-of-age between boarding school corridors, wrestling gyms and boy band posters. (North American Premiere)
SPECIAL EVENTS
Live soundtracks, cult re-issues & much more. Our Special Events section offers unusual, unexpected and unique one-off film events.
Alien
Director: Ridley Scott, Screenwriter: Dan O’Bannon. In space, no one can hear you scream. Cast: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto
Cartoon Network Screening
Join Cartoon Network for fun, games and NEW, NEW, NEW, NEW episodes of The Amazing World of Gumball, We Bare Bears, Ben 10 and Teen Titans Go! But don’t go anywhere before the big surprise!! (U.S. Premiere)
Doug Benson Master Pancake & Doug Loves Movies Podcast
Doug Benson returns in the continuing tradition of our annual St. Patrick’s Day screening of the Leprechaun series. On March 17 we present Leprechaun 5: In The Hood, directed by Rob Spera.
Earth (with live score by DakhaBrakha) (Ukraine)
Director: Alexander Dovzhenko, Earth. This 1930’s silent film tells the story of farmers resisting Stalin’s plan to collectivize their farms. This performance features DakhaBrakha playing their own live score for this classic of Soviet cinema.
Ghost in the Shell
Director: Mamoru Oshii. Ghost in the Shell questions human existence in the fast-paced world of the information age, this award-winning, cyber-tech thriller has established itself as one of the leading Japanese animation films of all time. Cast: Atsuku Tanaka, Akio Otuska, Koichi Yamadera, Yukaka Nakano, Tamio Oki, Tessho Genda, Namaki Masakazu, Iemasa Kayumi
Helvetica: 10th Anniversary Screening
Director: Gary Hustwit. The pioneering design documentary Helvetica premiered at SXSW in 2007, and kickstarted a wave of dozens of design films that have been released since. Join director Gary Hustwit for this special 10th Anniversary screening of Helvetica.
Hype!: 20th Anniversary Screening
Director: Doug Pray. Hype! rocks the definitive story of the birth and explosion of the Pacific NW music scene known globally as “grunge.” With humor and intense live performances, “Hype!” immerses you in the vibrant subculture and media madness of early ’90s Seattle.
Le Ride
Director: Phil Keoghan, Screenwriters: Phil Keoghan and Louise Keoghan. Television personality Phil Keoghan retraces the 1928 Tour de France riding an original vintage bicycle, with no gears, as he tells the forgotten ‘underdog’ story about the first English speaking team to take on the toughest sporting event on earth.
NARRATIVE SHORTS
A selection of original, well-crafted films that take advantage of the short form and exemplify distinctive and genuine storytelling.
Adult (Australia)
Director/Screenwriter: Jamieson Pearce
It is 1996. A middle-aged woman sits on a city bench on the wrong side of town. Waiting. Is anyone watching her? A pause in the traffic. The woman stands and shuffles across the road. The door to the Adult Store swings shut behind her. (North American Premiere)
American Paradise
Director/Screenwriter: Joe Talbot
Folk tale meets modern tragedy, American Paradise is the story of a man in Donald Trump’s America who attempts to shift his fate with the perfect crime: a bank heist in a ‘black-guy-mask.’
Cla’am (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Nathaniel Martello-White
A dark, surreal comedy about a local man who becomes convinced that a vast conspiracy is behind the impossibly rapid gentrification in his London area. But is it all in his head, or is the truth even darker than he imagines? (World Premiere)
Cubs (Iceland)
Director/Screenwriter: Nanna Kristín Magnúsdóttir
A single father wants to fulfil his young daughter’s wish to throw a slumber party for her friends, but it turns out to be more of a challenge than he thought due to the rules of modern society. (North American Premiere)
DeKalb Elementary
Director/Screenwriter: Reed Van Dyk
Inspired by a 911 call placed during a school shooting incident in Atlanta, Georgia. (North American Premiere)
Forever Now (Denmark)
Director: Kristian Håskjold, Screenwriters: Kristian Håskjold, Trille Cecilie Uldall-Spanner After several years together William and Cecilie break up. To treat the sorrow with love the same night they decide to do the drug, MDMA, together. This results in a emotional rollercoaster ride for better or worse over a whole weekend. (World Premiere)
Fry Day
Director: Laura Moss, Screenwriters: Laura Moss, Brendan O’Brien
An adolescent girl comes of age against the backdrop of serial killer Ted Bundy’s execution in 1989. (World Premiere)
Gamechanger (Netherlands)
Director: Christian van Duuren, Daan Gielis On his way to another tour of duty abroad, thirty-year-old Max gets caught up in a game with the young boys next door. Max gradually loses sight of reality, and the boys lose their innocence. (World Premiere)
I Know You From Somewhere
Director/Screenwriter: Andrew Fitzgerald
A young woman incurs the wrath of the internet after she inadvertently becomes a viral sensation.
Laps
Director/Screenwriter: Charlotte Wells
On a routine morning, a woman on a crowded New York City subway is sexually assaulted in plain sight.
Melon Rainbow (Denmark)
Director/Screenwriter: Laurits Flensted-Jensen Melon
Rainbow is a young girl who yearns to be seen. (North American Premiere)
The Mess He Made
Director: Matthew Puccini A man spends 15 minutes waiting for the results of a Rapid HIV test in a small-town strip mall. (World Premiere)
Mutt
Director/Screenwriter: Erin Sanger
A family’s plan to stage an intervention unravels. (World Premiere)
The Robbery
Director: Jim Cummings, Screenwriter: Dustin Hahn
Crystal robs a liquor store and it goes pretty ok.
Rubber Heart
Director: Lizzy Sanford, Screenwriters: Lizzy Sanford, Anna Cordell
A one night stand that just doesn’t click.
Spring
Director/Screenwriter: Laurel Parmet
Amanda struggles as she spends the day taking pictures of her best friend. (World Premiere)
Submarine (Lebanon)
Director: Mounia Akl, Screenwriters: Mounia Akl, Clara Roquet
Under the imminent threat of Lebanon’s garbage crisis, Hala, a wild child inside of a woman is the only one to refuse evacuation, clinging to whatever remains of home.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
Slices of life from across the documentary spectrum.
The Collection
Director/Screenwriter: Adam Roffman
Two friends stumble upon the mother lode of movie memorabilia in the most unexpected of places. (World Premiere)
Foam Sweet Foam
Directors: Kelly Loudenberg, Jillian Mayer
Simplistic catalogue-style photographs, sound design, and narration are used to create a moving portrait of the furniture made of solid foam in a vast stage where officers in training play out every disaster imaginable. (World Premiere)
Gut Hack
Directors/Screenwriters: Kate Mclean, Mario Furloni
A former NASA scientist turned bio-hacker attempts an experiment that makes him confront the multitudes inside. (World Premiere)
Little Potato
Directors: Wes Hurley, Nathan M. Miller, Screenwriter: Wes Hurley
An autobiographical doc that tells the story of Little Potato’s journey growing up gay in the Soviet Union before and after the fall of communism and their eventual escape to America. (World Premiere)
The Moderators (USA, Ireland)
Directors: Ciaran Cassidy, Adrian Chen
A group of new employees at a consultancy in India are trained in their responsibilities as the moderating backbone of the Internet. (World Premiere)
Nidal
Director: Tarek Turkey
Born female, Nidal has identified as a boy since he was 9, coinciding with his family’s escape from Syria. As he matures, he has to deal with the complexity in the confines of a refugee camp and a culture that cannot comprehend gender fluidity. (World Premiere)
No Harm No Foul
Director: Cheng Zhang
In the tendency to assume that science-based conclusions are objective and reliable, public health tragedies are allowed to occur repeatedly. (World Premiere)
Perfectly Normal
Director: Joris Debeij
A high-functioning autistic man balancing reality with his imaginary world, proves that one can make deliberate choices to find stability and to be more present in life. (North American Premiere)
Raised by Krump (Germany, Sweden, USA)
Director: Maceo Frost
Raised by Krump is a 22-minute documentary film that explores the Compton/South Central, Los Angeles-born dance movement called “Krumping”, and the lives and emotional issues of some of the area’s most influential and prolific dancers. (U.S. Premiere)
Refuge
Director: Matthew K. Firpo
Refuge is a multimedia project chronicling human stories from the European Refugee Crisis, focused on humanity and hope. Shot on location in Greece, January 2016. (U.S. Premiere)
Übermensch (Denmark)
Director/Screenwriter: Jesper Dalgaard
Two transient young men breaks into an empty church by the sea to form a blood pact: to get rid of their childhood demons and escape the cycle of anxiety and authorities. “It’s not really goth to be afraid of the darkness” they agree. (World Premiere)
Waiting for Hassana (Nigeria, USA)
Director/Screenwriter: Ifunanya “Funa” Maduka
In 2014, 276 teenage girls came together for exams in Chibok, Nigeria — by dawn, nearly all had disappeared and their school was burnt. Jessica, an escapee, shares her haunting account of a friendship violently interrupted by Boko Haram.
The Watchmaker (UK)
Director: Marie-Cécile Embleton
A poetic portrait of a Persian watchmaker, whose philosophical musings on his craft invite us to reflect on how we engage with time in a globalised, fast-paced world. (North American Premiere)
ANIMATED SHORTS
An assortment of stories told using traditional animation, computer-generated effects, stop-motion, and everything in-between.
Birdlime (Canada)
Director: Evan DeRushie
A birds-eye-view of the exotic bird trade industry. (World Premiere)
Bloop’s Birthday
Director: Julian Glander
Bloop’s Birthday is the story of an odd little pink creature bouncing around an acid-pastel landscape in search of fun. The looming presence of a mysterious shadow figure makes things a little more complicated for the B-day gal and her friends. (World Premiere)
Catherine (Belgium)
Director/Screenwriter: Britt Raes
The bittersweet life story of a young girl, who grows up to be a crazy old cat lady. (North American Premiere)
Glucose
Director/Screenwriter: Jeron Braxton
Glucose is sweet, marketable, and easy to consume, but its surface satisfaction is a thin coating on the pain of many disenfranchised people. (World Premiere)
Hot Dog Hands
Director: Matt Reynolds
This woman can’t stop growing fingers. (World Premiere)
It Should Be Easy (Canada)
Director: Ben Meinhardt
What happens when your mom calls for help with the computer. (World Premiere)
Lou
Director/Screenwriter: Dave Mullins
When a toy stealing bully ruins recess for a playground full of kids, only one thing stands in his way: the “Lost and Found” box. (World Premiere)
Pussy (Poland)
Director/Screenwriter: Renata Gasiorowska
A young girl spends the evening alone at home. She decides to have some sweet solo pleasure session, but not everything goes according to plan.
Summer Camp Island
Director/Screenwriter: Julia Pott
Oscar has to accept that his totally normal sleepover with Hedgehog isn’t going to be totally normal.
Tough (UK)
Director: Jennifer Zheng
Some things can only be understood with maturity. New light is shed on childhood cultural misunderstandings when a Chinese mother and her British born daughter speak as adults for the first time.
Wednesday with Goddard (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Nicolas Menard
A personal quest for spiritual enlightenment leads to romance and despair. (U.S. Premiere)
MIDNIGHT SHORTS
Bite-sized bits for all of your sex, gore, and hilarity cravings.
Boss Bitch
Director: Winona Regan
Find out the meaning of boss ass bitch in this animated music video.
Coyanuscocksee (Canada)
Director: Gary Ye
Koyaanisqatsi, but with dicks (pls don’t sue). (World Premiere)
Do No Harm (New Zealand)
Director/Screenwriter: Roseanne Liang
Save the patient. Nothing else.
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Director: Tony Grayson
We take a poor humans person, like you, and treat them like a pawn in our game. It will be candy for your tum tum. Watch as neuroscientist, Wallace L. Graybill, attempts to receive money coins from grants for his important research. (World Premiere)
Hi Stranger
Director/Screenwriter: Kirsten Lepore
Hi Stranger. It’s been a while… (World Premiere)
It Began Without Warning
Directors/Screenwriters: Santiago C. Tapia, Jessica Curtright
Change is coming. (World Premiere)
Kisses
Director/Screenwriter: Sean U’Ren
Walking home from school, two boys discuss their problems with girls. (World Premiere)
Kookie (Canada)
Director/Screenwriter: Justin Harding
Bree, a dishonest 9-year-old receives a terrifying visitor after a parenting lesson goes horribly wrong.
Mouse
Directors/Screenwriters: Celine Held, Logan George
Fueled by coke, Vanessa and Danny attempt to capitalize on an unlikely opportunity. (World Premiere)
Mr. Popular
Director/Screenwriter: Charlie Mayforth
A well-liked jock discovers the true dangers of his popularity when he encounters an obsessed classmate. (World Premiere)
The Saurus
Director/Screenwriter: Drew Maynard A man with a robust vocabulary must write a scornful letter to an old friend.
Summer’s Puke is Winter’s Delight (Japan)
Director/Screenwriter: Sawako Kabuki
Painful events become memories over time. Still, we vomit and eat again. Life is Eco.
The Suplex Duplex Complex
Director: Todd Rohal, Screenwriters: Todd Rohal, Zack Carlson, Bryan Connelly
A neighboring pair of tag team wrestlers learn the downsides of life without a landlord. (World Premiere)
Tickle Monster (UK)
Director/Screenwriter: Remi Weekes
You better not giggle. (U.S. Premiere)
Whiskey Fist
Director/Screenwriter: Gillian Wallace Horvat
A branding intern loses the life he once had after an encounter with a mysterious blonde and her whiskey bottle — magical realism ensues. (World Premiere)
TEXAS SHORTS
An offshoot of our regular narrative shorts program, composed of work shot in, about, or somehow relating to the Lone Star state.
Beach Day
Directors: Matt Stryker, Dalton Allen
On a slow day, Matt and Dalton decide to go to the beach. (World Premiere)
Chasing Grace
Director/Screenwriter: Julia Barnett
young woman reluctantly meets with her estranged father only to discover the truth about the events of the wild 70’s summer that drove them apart. (World Premiere)
Hold Me (Ca Caw Ca Caw)
Director/Screenwriter: Renee Zhan
Flap flap flap flap flap. A large bird and a small boy cohabit in an unhappy relationship, trapped by four walls and a mutual codependency.
Lucia, Before and After
Director/Screenwriter: Anu Valia
After traveling 200 miles, a young woman waits out Texas’s state-mandated 24-hour waiting period before her abortion can proceed.
Makeup
Director/Screenwriter: Hannah Whisenant
A young girl tries to get close to her absent mother by putting on her makeup, only to realize why she shouldn’t emulate her.
The Rabbit Hunt
Director: Patrick Bresnan, Screenwriter: Ivete Lucas
On the weekends during harvest season, 17-year-old Chris and his family hunt rabbits in the sugarcane fields of the Florida Everglades.
Robert Ellis — ‘California’
Directors: Erica Alexandria Silverman, Cullen Kelly, Screenwriter: Erica Alexandria Silverman The moment you fall in love and the moment it falls apart. Life is ephemeral, but we are lucky it happens at all.
The Wait (Mexico, USA)
Director/Screenwriter: Juan Pablo González
The Wait portrays at once the straits of immigrant life and the haunting soundscape of reprieve.
