
SYNOPSIS: Robert Longfellow (Martin Donovan, THE
OPPOSITE OF SEX, “Boss”, Weeds”) is a famous playwright who can’t seem to
catch a break. His recent Broadway play was met with horrible reviews and
an early cancellation, and his marriage is being tested as an old flame
(Olivia Williams, THE GHOST WRITER, RUSHMORE) has reentered his life during
a particular moment of weakness. Retreating back to his childhood home
to visit his mother (Katherine Helmond, BRAZIL), Robert crosses paths
with his childhood neighbor, Gus (David Morse, THE GREEN MILE, DANCER IN
THE DARK, “Treme”). A right-wing, ex-con who still lives at home with
his mother, Gus is Robert’s polar opposite in every possible way. When
Gus holds Robert hostage at gunpoint during a drunken reunion gone
terribly wrong, the drama unfolds as social status, celebrity and the
imminent threat of violence converge, building up to a climax that will
leave both men forever changed.
With an acclaimed acting career spanning over 20 years, including
starring roles in a number of iconic Hal Hartley films beginning with
TRUST in 1990, COLLABORATOR marks Martin Donovan’s first time behind the
camera as a writer and director, and he makes the most of it in this
riveting and insightful debut.
SYNOPSIS: Martine, a 23-year-old artist from
New York, arrives in Los Angeles to stay in the pool house of a
family living in the hip and hilly community of Silver Lake.
Peter, the father, has agreed to help Martine complete sound
design on her art film as a favor to his wife. Martine innocently
enters the seemingly idyllic life of this open-minded family with
two kids and a relaxed Southern California vibe. Like a bolt of
lightning, her arrival sparks a surge of energy that awakens
suppressed impulses in everyone and forces them to confront
their own fears and desires.
Exquisitely orchestrated by Ry Russo-Young (You Won’t Miss Me) and cowritten by Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture),
this potent charting of inner urges and sufferings links characters in
an intricate dance of lust, denial, and deception. Despite their issues,
each comes across as fundamentally human, urging viewers to appraise
the characters' morality by evaluating their own motives. Sexually
charged and rigorously composed, Nobody Walks boasts an impressive
cast who deliver incisive performances in this absorbing tale.
SYNOPSIS: War and poverty force Gulzar, a young tourist boatman, to run away from Kashmir with his best friend. But a military crackdown derails their escape, and they become trapped in Gulzar's lake village. Waiting for conditions to change, they discover a mysterious woman, braving the curfew to research the dying lake. As Gulzar falls for her, rivalry and jealousy threaten his boyhood friendship and their plans of escape. Gulzar must choose between a new life and a new love. The first film set in the endangered lake communities of Kashmir, Valley of Saints blends fiction and documentary to bring audiences inside this unique world.
SYNOPSIS: The motorway between Asunion del Paraguae and Buenos Aires. A truck driver must transport a woman he doesn't know. The woman is not alone. She's carrying a baby. There are 1500 kilometers ahead.
SYNOPSIS: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN tells the
intimate stories of four teenaged girls. They live
in different parts of the US, in different kinds of
families and are united by one thing: all four were
adopted from China, because all four had birth
parents who could not keep them, due to personal
circumstances colliding with China's "One Child
Policy." These strong young women allow us to
grasp what it is like to come-of-age in today's
America as trans-racial adoptees. At the same time,
we see them as typical American teenagers doing
what teenagers everywhere do...struggling to make
sense of their lives.
Through these young women, and their explorations
of who they are, we ourselves pause to consider
who we are–both as individuals and as a nation of
immigrants. Identity, racism, and gender...these far-
reaching issues are explored in the documentary.
And with great honesty and courage, these four girls
open their hearts to experience love, compassion,
and self-acceptance.
What's it like to grow up as a minority today –
and what is it like when your family is part of the
majority? How does the changing face of the
American family affect us all? How do we fulfill our
own destinies? Four determined teenaged girls help
us find those answers in SOMEWHERE BETWEEN.
SYNOPSIS: They wiggled, they jiggled, they wore
low cut gowns and short shorts, they kow-towed to
the club owners and smiled at the customers...and
they did it all, just to play the music they loved.
THE GIRLS IN THE BAND tells the poignant, untold
stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists
and their fascinating, groundbreaking journeys from
the late 30's to the present day.
These incredibly talented women endured sexism,
racism and diminished opportunities for decades,
yet continued to persevere, inspire and elevate their
talents in a field that seldom welcomed them. Today
a new breed of gifted young women are taking
their rightful place in the world of jazz which can no
longer deny their talents.
SYNOPSIS: RICHARD'S WEDDING is an irreverent, often politically incorrect and ultimately touching film that plumbs the depths of friendship and marriage. The film follows Tuna and long time friend, Alex, on their quest to go to Richard's wedding in Central Park. The duo meet up with their motley assortment of old friends only to revive old jealousies and debates on politics, religion, and the meaning of success, as the whole party runs the risk of going off the rails in a downpour of rain and emotions. This re-tooling of the wedding-movie genre recalls classic ensemble films from the 1970's with a slew of New York indie-film talent, including writer/director Onur Tukel (SEPTIEN), Jennifer Prediger (UNCLE KENT), Oona Mekas (THE FUTURE), Darrill Rosen, Josephine Decker (ART HISTORY), Lawrence Michael Levine (GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY) and Dustin Guy Defa (director of BAD FEVER).
A feature film based on the award winning short film that has screened at over 100 film festivals.
SYNOPSIS: Jenn and Matt are best friends from college who are now in their 30's. Single by choice, Jenn spends her days teaching hot yoga and running errands for her boss. Matt suffers from comic-book writer's block and can't get over his ex-boyfriend. They decide to fulfill a youthful promise to have a child together...the old-fashioned way. Can they navigate the serious and unexpected snags they hit as they attempt to get their careers and dating lives back on track in preparation for parenthood? "Gayby" is an irreverent comedy about friendship, growing older, sex, loneliness, and the family you chose.
SYNOPSIS: Detroit's story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century– the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now...the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, DETROPIA sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution. As houses are demolished by the thousands, automobile-company wages plummet, institutions crumble, and tourists gawk at the "charming decay," the film's vibrant, gutsy characters glow and erupt like flames from the ashes. These soulful pragmatists and stalwart philosophers strive to make ends meet and make sense of it all, refusing to abandon hope or resistance. Their grit and pluck embody the spirit of the Motor City as it struggles to survive postindustrial America and begins to envision a radically different future.
SYNOPSIS: In 2010, the United States announced the first new nuclear power plant construction in over 32 years. The 'Nuclear Renaissance' was born, and America's long-stalled expansion of nuclear energy was infused with new life. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit Japan and caused chaos at the Fukushima Power Plant. That accident sent ripples all the way to the US and suddenly the fierce debate over the safety and viability of nuclear power was back in the public consciousness. Our documentary takes the viewer on a journey to reactor communities around the country. This film exposes the truths and myths of nuclear power, and poses the question of whether or not man can responsibly split the atom.
SYNOPSIS: Young-Chan comes from the Planet of Snail. Dwellers of this tiny planet
are deaf and blind, and call themselves 'snails' because they rely
only on their tactile senses, and communicating by touch.
Young-Chan was not happy with the lethargic life on the planet.
When Young-Chan came to Earth, there was nothing Earth offered him.
Worse was that nobody understood his language. When he was desperate,
an angel walked into his life. Soon-Ho is a woman who knows what loneliness
is about and where Young-Chan's deeply rooted pain comes from. She soon
becomes an inseparable part of his life. She is a wife, a soul mate and
a window and a bridge to the world for him. Each mundane moment of every
routine day becomes tender shared experiences whether it be the hour-long
process of changing a simple light bulb, hugging trees and smelling pine
cones on the threshold of spring, or the feeling of raindrops landing on
the skin. Young-Chan also discovers an amazing world under his fingers.
Since he learned to read books with braille, hopes and dreams began to
grow in Young-Chan's heart. He dreams of writing a book. However, Soon-Ho
worries about Young-Chan's future because she cannot always be there for
him as she is suffering from her own problem of spine disability.
The couple now needs to learn how to survive alone. While Soon-Ho
uneasily spends her first day alone waiting for his return,
Young-Chan goes out for the biggest adventure of his life.
SYNOPSIS: LAST CALL AT THE OASIS presents a powerful
argument for why the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century.
Illuminating the vital role water plays in our lives, exposing
the defects in the current system and depicting communities already
struggling with its ill-effects, the film features activist Erin Brockovich
and such distinguished experts as Peter Gleick, Alex Prud’homme,
Jay Famiglietti and Robert Glennon.
SYNOPSIS: Present day Thailand is rife with corruption. Tul, a straight-laced cop, is blackmailed by a
powerful politician and framed for a crime he did not commit. Disillusioned and vengeful, he is
soon recruited to become a hitman for a shadowy group aimed at eliminating those who are
above the law.
But one day, Tul is shot in the head during an assignment. He wakes up after a three-month
coma to find that he sees everything upside-down, literally. Unaware of whether the condition
is medical or a result of karmic retribution, Tul begins to have second thoughts about his
profession.
But when he tries to quit, roles are reversed, and the hunter becomes the hunted. Then he
meets a girl who turns his world even more upside down. Can Tul find redemption from the
violence that continues to haunt him?
SYNOPSIS: Twenty-five years after rising to international acclaim in Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring, Daniel Auteuil returns to the world of Marcel Pagnol for his directorial debut, a celebrated remake of the 1940s classic. Auteuil stars as the eponymous well-digger Pascal, a widower living with his six daughters in the Provence countryside at the start of World War I. His eldest, Patricia (the luminous Astrid Bergès-Frisbey), has returned home from Paris to help raise her sisters, and Pascal dreams of marrying her off to his loyal friend Felipe (Kad Merad). But when she’s impregnated by a wealthy young pilot (Nicolas Duvauchelle) who promptly abandons her for the frontlines, Pascale is left to contend with the consequences. An exquisitely crafted, sun-drenched melodrama, set to a score by Academy Award-nominee Alexandre Desplat (The King’s Speech), the film captures all the warmth and humanist spirit of Pagnol’s original work.
SYNOPSIS: Not That Funny is a simple story of
how far a serious man will go for love. Stefan Lane claims he is "alone
but not lonely"—until the day Hayley Richmonde returns to the little town
of Sierra Madre, California. Weary of her self-absorbed boss-boyfriend,
Hayley says all she wants is someone who makes her laugh. Stefan, a man
who is not that funny, tries to learn to be the man Hayley says she wants.
In the process, they each find unexpected transformation.
Exploring a rare side of gifted comedic actor Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development, Chuck), this
audience award-winner has deeper themes of acceptance, friendship, and risk-taking beneath its
light-hearted surface.
SYNOPSIS: Haunted by broken dreams, a writer struggles with his final chapter.
SYNOPSIS: It is said that when left unhealed, the past can destroy our lives. When Billy Reid faces the aftermath a horrific accident, he is left with only memories. But memories are sometimes tricky things and have the power to conceal the truth.
SYNOPSIS: An aging folk musician clears out his apartment as he loses his senses, while a young woman fresh out of rehab tries to put the pieces of her life back together. Magnum Opus is a story about mortality, music, shared experience and quiet, tender moments.
SYNOPSIS: When A young woman with remarkable and hilarious coping skills finds the dead body of a teenage girl in the woods she is forced to reconcile her greatest fear--her fantastically failing life. This is a dark comedy about a mother, a daughter, a liar and her therapist.
SYNOPSIS: Two brothers face the challenges of growing up in a post-oil society. As we briefly look through this window we realize that even in a world with scarce resources, it’s not material things that people long for. They seek genuine human connection.
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Schedule is subject to change.
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