The 15th annual South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival is thrilled to announce the complete lineup of feature films slated to screen at the event, March 7-15, in Austin, TX. Over the course of nine days, 113 features will screen at the festival, with 64 of those having their world premieres at SXSW 2008. Among the high-profile films added to the festival’s “Spotlight Premieres” category are: Kimberly Peirce’s “Stop-Loss,” Nicholas Stoller’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Martin Scorsese’s “Shine A Light,” Michael Almereyda’s “New Orleans Mon Amour,” Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig’s “Nights and Weekends,” Jay & Mark Duplass’ “Baghead,” Liz Mermin’s “Shot In Bombay,” Nanette Burstein’s “American Teen,” Aaron Rose & Joshua Leonard’s Beautiful Losers, Morgan Spurlock’s “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?,” and the festival’s Closing Night Film, Stephen Walker’s documentary “Young@Heart.” They join previously announced titles such as Opening Night Film “21,” as well as “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay,” “Dreams With Sharp Teeth,” “Then She Found Me” and “Run, Fat Boy, Run.”
“I think this year’s lineup represents our current world of extremes,” said SXSW Film Festival Producer Matt Dentler. “The films we found are both funny and emotional, both indie and Hollywood, both entertaining and political, both real and magical. It’s a well-rounded slate of films, from both veteran masters and promising newcomers.”
The festival’s main competition categories will once again find eight Narrative Features and eight Documentary Features, vying for their respective Grand Jury Prizes. The Narrative Feature Competition includes: “Explicit Ills,” directed by Mark Webber; “The Lost Coast,” directed by Gabriel Fleming; “My Effortless Brilliance,” directed by Lynn Shelton; “Older Than America,” directed by Georgina Lightning; “Paper Covers Rock,” directed by Joe Maggio; “Up With Me,” directed by Greg Takoudes; “Wellness,” directed by Jake Mahaffy; and “Yeast,” directed by Mary Bronstein. The Documentary Feature Competition includes: “Bulletproof Salesman,” directed by Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein; “FrontRunners,” directed by Caroline Suh; Full Battle Rattle, directed by Jesse Moss & Tony Gerber; “The Matador,” directed by Stephen Higgins & Nina Gilden Seavey; “Sex Positive,” directed by Daryl Wein; “Some Assembly Required,” directed by Dori Berinstein; “They Killed Sister Dorothy,” directed by Daniel Junge; and “We Are Wizards,” directed by Josh Koury.
The complete lineup, by section and with synopsis descriptions, follows below. The lineup of short films, as well as panels and guest speakers, will be announced next week. Visit http://sxsw.com/film for more information and updates.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
Bulletproof Salesman
Director: Michael Tucker & Petra Epperlein
Fidelis Cloer is a self-confessed war profiteer who found The Perfect War when the US invaded Iraq. It wasn’t about selling a dozen cars, or even a hundred, it was a thousand-car war where security would become the ultimate product. (World Premiere)
FrontRunners
Director: Caroline Suh
The campaign for student body president at Stuyvesant, perhaps the most prestigious public high school in the country, is almost as sophisticated as any presidential election. But unlike presidential candidates, they also have to do their homework, take their SATs and write their college applications. (World Premiere)
Full Battle Rattle
Directors: Jesse Moss & Tony Gerber
A feature documentary about life inside the US Army’s Iraq Simulation in California’s Mojave Desert. The film follows one Army Battalion’s efforts to pacify the town of Medina Wasl, one of thirteen villages in the simulation, as it tips precariously on the brink of civil war. (North American Premiere)
The Matador
Directors: Stephen Higgins & Nina Gilden Seavey
The epic tale of David Fandila’s quest to become the world’s top-ranked bullfighter. Heart-wrenching setbacks and thrilling successes dramatize his three-year journey across Spain and Latin America and into the pages of bullfighting history. (World Premiere)
Sex Positive
Director: Daryl Wein
A look at the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M hustler turned AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has long since been forgotten. (World Premiere)
Some Assembly Required
Director: Dori Berinstein
Over 2000 kids. 400 teams nationwide. Eight months of brainstorming, designing and building. One goal: to create the next great toy. (World Premiere)
They Killed Sister Dorothy
Director: Daniel Junge
On February 12th, 2005, a 73 year-old Catholic nun from Ohio, was shot six times at point blank range and left to die on a muddy Amazon road. Who was this woman, and why was she killed? What will become of her murderers, and who else was involved? What are the implications of her murder and these trials on the future? (World Premiere)
We Are Wizards
Director: Josh Koury
An entertaining and comprehensive portrait of the passionate culture of Harry Potter fans. (World Premiere)
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Explicit Ills
Director/writer: Mark Webber. Starring: Lou Taylor Pucci, Frankie Shaw, Tariq Trotter, Rosario Dawson, Noamie Harris, Paul Dano.
Young love, drugs and poverty collide in the city of Philadelphia creating a beautiful tale of hope and the power of coming together. (World Premiere)
The Lost Coast
Director/writer: Gabriel Fleming. Starring: Ian Scott McGregor, Lucas Alifano, Lindsay Benner, Chris Yule.
As a group of old high school friends wander through San Francisco on Halloween night, two of them are forced to confront their unspoken sexual history. (World Premiere)
My Effortless Brilliance
Director: Lynn Shelton. Writers: Lynn Shelton, Sean Nelson, Basil Harris. Starring: Sean Nelson, Basil Harris, Calvin Reeder, Jeanette Maus.
Successful and self-involved novelist Eric Lambert Jones has been unceremoniously dumped by his life long buddy, Dylan. In an attempt to piece together the fractured friendship, Eric takes a side trip from his latest book tour to drop in on Dylan, newly settled in the picturesque backwoods of Washington state. (World Premiere)
Older Than America
Director: Georgina Lightning. Writers: Georgina Lightning, Christine Kunewa. Starring: Adam Beach, Tantoo Cardinal, Bradley Cooper, Georgina Lightning, Wes Studi.
A woman’s haunting visions reveal a Catholic priest’s sinister plot to silence her mother from speaking the truth about atrocities that occurred at a Native Indian boarding school. (World Premiere)
Paper Covers Rock
Director/writer: Joe Maggio. Starring: Jeannine Kaspar, Sayra Player, Clint Jordan, Tom Brangle.
The story of Sam, a troubled young woman who loses custody of her six year-old daughter in the wake of an unsuccessful suicide attempt. (World Premiere)
Up With Me
Director: Greg Takoudes. Writers: Maeve McQuillan, Greg Takoudes. Starring: Francisco Vicioso, Erika Rivera, Brandon Thorpe, Justin Coltrain.
When Francisco, a teenager from Harlem, is admitted to an upstate boarding school on scholarship, he is torn between his life at home (his loyal girlfriend and his jealous best friend) and the new environment. (World Premiere)
Wellness
Director/writer: Jake Mahaffy. Starring: Jeff Clark, Paul Mahaffy.
The chaotic journey of one man trying to succeed in a business that doesn’t exist. (North American Premiere)
Yeast
Director/writer: Mary Bronstein. Starring: Mary Bronstein, Amy Judd, Greta Gerwig, Sean Williams.
A maddeningly oblivious, tyrannical and emotionally stunted young woman tries her best to negotiate two toxic friendships. (World Premiere)
EMERGING VISIONS
A Necessary Death
Director: Daniel Stamm. Starring: GJ Echternkamp, Matt Tilley, Valerie Hurt, Michael Traynor.
“Documentary Filmmaker looking for suicidal individual to follow from first preparation to final act.” Cut from 142 video tapes, this project sheds light on the tragedy following the infamous internet ad. (World Premiere)
The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela
Director/writer: Olaf de Fleur. Starring: Raquela Rios, Stefan Schaefer, Olivia Galudo.
Raquela is looking for a way out of her tireless job as a “ladyboy” prostitute, which brings her to Iceland with some unexpected outcomes. (North American Premiere)
Año Una
Director/writer: Jonas Cuaron. Starring: Eireann Harper, Diego Catano.
An impossible romance between Molly, a 21 year-old American, and Diego, a Mexican in the throes of puberty. (Regional Premiere)
‘Bama Girl
Director: Rachel Goslins.
A charismatic black woman at the University of Alabama runs for Homecoming Queen, going up against a century of ingrained racial segregation, internal black politics, and a secret association of all-white fraternities. (World Premiere)
Bootleg Wisconsin
Director: Brandon Linden. Writers: Brandon Linden, Tim Donovan. Starring: Lepolion Henderson, Angela Harris, Alissa Bailey, Joyce Porter.
A married Chicago Public School Teacher spends part of her summer vacation visiting outlet malls across the Midwest. At her penultimate stop, in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin, she meets a young man who works at the mall. A relationship develops that makes them both question their lives and their futures. (World Premiere)
Flying On One Engine
Director: Joshua Z Weinstein.
The documentary story of an Indian-American surgeon who, despite being critically ill himself and living in a one-room Brooklyn apartment, travels back to India every year to perform marathon surgery “camps” where he repairs the cleft lips of 700 children in a week. (World Premiere)
Half-Life
Director/writer: Jennifer Phang. Starring: Sanoe Lake, Alexander Agate, Julia Nickson, Ben Redgrave.
As troubling signs of global cataclysms accelerate, a brother and sister react to their father’s desertion and the powerful presence of their mother’s new boyfriend. (Regional Premiere)
Humboldt County
Director/writer: Danny Jacobs & Darren Grodsky. Starring: Fairuza Balk, Peter Bogdanovich, Frances Conroy, Madison Davenport.
When Peter Hadley, a promising yet disillusioned medical student, stumbles upon an eccentric community of marijuana farmers, his life will never be the same. (World Premiere)
I’ll Come Running
Director: Spencer Parsons. Writers: Spencer Parsons, Line Langebek Knudsen. Starring: Melonie Diaz, Jon Lange, Christian Tafdrup.
A young American woman finds herself drawn to a last-minute trip to Denmark, so that she can learn more about the man she loves. (World Premiere)
IBID
Director/writer: Russell Friedenberg. Starring: Christian Campbell, Russell Friedenberg, Chris Kriesa, Heather Rae.
Recently escaped from Trinity Psychiatric Center, a pair of patients hit the road on a mission to inscribe an addendum to the Ten Commandments in order to save the world. (World Premiere)
In A Dream
Director: Jeremiah Zagar.
The chaotic story of Julia Zagar and her husband Isaiah Zagar, a renowned mosaic artist, who for the past 30 years has covered more than 40,000 square feet of Philadelphia top to bottom with tile, mirror, paint, and concrete.
(World Premiere)
The Marconi Bros.
Director/writers: Marco Ricci, Michael Canzoniero. Starring: Brendan Sexton III, Dan Fogler, Jon Polito, Zoe Lister Jones.
Anthony and Carmine Marconi have been dutifully serving out life sentences in the family carpet business. Their opportunity to escape occurs when they meet the undisputed king of the Long Island wedding video business. (World Premiere)
Medicine For Melancholy
Director/writer: Barry Jenkins. Starring: Wyatt Cenac, Tracey Heggins.
A love story of bikes and one-night stands told through two African-American twenty-somethings dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority living in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. (World Premiere)
Natural Causes
Director: Alex Cannon, Michael Lerman. Writers: Alex Cannon, Michael Lerman, Paul Cannon. Starring: Jerzy Gwiazdowski, Leah Goldstein, Shonda Leigh Robbins, Peter Davenport Swan III.
In the wake of a brief, but intense relationship with Shaina, David struggles to find the same connection with Cara, his new flame and Shaina’s former best friend. (World Premiere)
The New Year Parade
Director/writer: Tom Quinn. Starring: Greg Lyons, Jennifer Welsh, Andrew Conway, MaryAnn McDonald.
When Mike and Lisa separate, their children suffer quietly in the middle of the annual Mummer’s Parade. (Regional Premiere)
One Minute to Nine
Director: Tommy Davis.
A haunting and touching documentary look at one family, thrown into the disturbing reality that follows a history of domestic abuse, as one member prepares to serve a jail sentence. (North American Premiere)
The Ostrich Testimonies
Director: Jonathan VanBallenberghe.
The dramatic story of the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch near Tucson, Arizona, where in 2002, two hot-air balloons triggered a stampede of 1,600 ostriches. (World Premiere)
The Pleasure of Being Robbed
Director: Josh Safdie. Writers: Josh Safdie & Eléonore Hendricks. Starring: Eléonore Hendricks, Josh Safdie, Wayne Chin, Francesca & Miranda LaPrelle.
A curious and lost Eléonore looks for something everywhere, even in the bags of strangers who find themselves sadly smiling only well after she’s left their lives. They owe her their thanks. (World Premiere)
Present Company
Director/writer: Frank V. Ross. Starring: Anthony Baker, Tamara Fana Sasha Gioppo, Allison Latta.
Leading very separate lives, Christy and her boyfriend Buddy live together in her parent’s basement with their baby Mikey. As they struggle with the realities of their lives, questions are formed about obligations, consequences, and all the identities we employ to get through the day. (World Premiere)
Woodpecker
Director: Alex Karpovsky. Writers: Alex Karpovsky, Jon E. Hyrns. Starring: Jon E. Hyrns, Wesley Yang, Ken Parham.
Fanatical birdwatchers have descended upon a small town in the Arkansas bayou in hopes of finding the celebrated Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Declared extinct in the 1940s, the bird has apparently been spotted by numerous experts over the past few months. The news is miraculous, yet concrete proof remains elusive. (World Premiere)
SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
21
Director: Robert Luketic. Writers: Peter Steinfeld, Allan Loeb. Starring: Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne.
Based on the true story of a group of MIT students who, under the guidance of a cryptic professor, take Vegas casinos for millions through the mathematical art of counting cards. (Opening Night Film)
American Teen
Director: Nanette Burstein.
A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town, and their various cliques. (Regional Premiere)
Assassination of a High School President
Director: Brett Simon. Writers: Tim Calpin, Kevin Jakubowski. Starring: Reece Thompson, Mischa Barton, Melonie Diaz, Bruce Willis.
A rookie journalist for the school paper unravels a mysterious plot involving the class president, drugs, and a ring of stolen test scores in this noir caper set at a quirky Catholic High School. (Regional Premiere)
At the Death House Door
Director: Steve James & Peter Gilbert.
An investigation of the wrongful death of Carlos DeLuna, who was executed in Texas on December 7, 1989, after prosecutors ignored evidence inculpating a man, who bragged to friends about committing the crimes of which DeLuna was convicted. (World Premiere)
Baghead
Director/writers: Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass. Starring: Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, Greta Gerwig, Elise Muller.
An in-depth study of the relationship dynamics for a group of desperate actor friends. And a bag. And a head. (Regional Premiere)
Bananaz
Director: Ceri Levy.
An in-depth and revealing glimpse at the cryptic cartoon band, Gorillaz. (North American Premiere)
Battle in Seattle
Director/writer: Stuart Townsend. Starring: Martin Henderson, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta.
An all-star, edge-of-your-seat glimpse at the 1999 WTO demonstrations in Seattle, told from the perspective of protesters, police, and city officials. (U.S. Premiere)
Beautiful Losers
Directors: Aaron Rose & Joshua Leonard.
A feature documentary film celebrating the independent and D.I.Y. spirit that unified a loose-knit group of American artists who emerged from the underground youth subcultures of skateboarding, graffiti, punk rock and hip-hop. (World Premiere)
Choke
Director/writer: Clark Gregg. Starring: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald.
An adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, this is the sardonic story about mother and son relationship, fear of aging, sexual addiction, and the dark side of historical theme parks. (Regional Premiere)
Crawford
Director: David Modigliani
Just a short time before George W. Bush announced his intentions to run for the Presidency, the New Haven-born hopeful bought a ranch in tiny Crawford, Texas. This is what happened next. (World Premiere)
Dreams With Sharp Teeth
Director: Erik Nelson.
A documentary portrait of acclaimed author Harlan Ellison, as he looks back on his fabled and influential career as one of the world’s top genre writers for television and print. (World Premiere)
Flawless
Director: Michael Radford. Writer: Edward Anderson. Starring: Demi Moore, Michael Caine.
In 1960s London, a talented but overlooked diamond executive is convinced to participate in a jewelry heist when a veteran janitor hatches a plan. (Regional Premiere)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Director: Nicholas Stoller. Writer: Jason Segel. Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Jonah Hill, Russell Brand.
A comic look at one guy’s arduous quest to grow up and get over the heartbreak of getting dumped. If only his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend weren’t staying at the same hotel.
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Director/writers: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg. Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Rob Corddry, Neil Patrick Harris.
The triumphant return of the two hilarious, slacker anti-heroes. This time, the boys get themselves in trouble trying to sneak a bong onboard a flight to Amsterdam. Now, being suspected of terrorism, they are forced to run from the law and try to find a way to prove their innocence. What follows is an irreverent and epic journey of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling and a wild trip around the world that is as “un-PC” as it gets.
Living with the Tudors
Directors: Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope.
After four years of participation as costumed historical re-enactors, Karen Guthrie & Nina Pope were given unprecedented access with their cameras to the UK’s oldest and largest historical re-enactment at Kentwell Hall in rural Suffolk. (North American Premiere)
Lou Reed’s Berlin
Director: Julian Schnabel.
An artful document of musical legend Lou Reed, performing his influential record, “Berlin,” to audiences in New York City. (U.S. Premiere)
Love Songs
Director/writer: Christophe Honore. Starring: Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni, Clotilde Hesme.
Ismaël and Julie are the ideal young Parisian couple. They both have good jobs, a great apartment and are considered part of each other’s families. After several years together, they decide to add a spark to their relationship and take on a third lover, Alice. (Regional Premiere)
Mister Foe
Director: David Mackenzie. Writers: David Mackenzie, Ed Whitmore. Starring: Jamie Bell, Sophia Myles, Ciaran Hinds, Claire Forlani.
Driven to expose the true cause of his mother’s death, young Hallam Foe instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city of Edinburgh for love. (U.S. Premiere)
Mister Lonely
Director: Harmony Korine. Writers: Avi Korine & Harmony Korine. Starring: Werner Herzog, Diego Luna, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant.
A Michael Jackson impersonator lives alone in Paris and performs on the streets to make ends meet. At a performance in a retirement home, Michael falls for a beautiful Marilyn Monroe look-alike who suggests he move to a commune of impersonators in the Scottish Highlands. (U.S. Premiere)
New Orleans Mon Amour
Director: Michael Almereyda. Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Elisabeth Moss, Isabel Gillies.
A year after Hurricane Katrina, an affluent surgeon in New Orleans is attempting to get his life back on track. He is remarrying his ex-wife, renovating her house and restarting his medical practice. His plan begins to unravel when he runs into an old flame. (World Premiere)
Nights and Weekends
Director/writers: Joe Swanberg & Greta Gerwig. Starring: Joe Swanberg, Greta Gerwig, Elizabeth Donius, Jay Duplass, Lynn Shelton, Kent Osborne.
A man and woman must face the tension that builds between them during a long-distance relationship. (World Premiere)
Obscene
Directors: Daniel O’Connor, Neil Ortenberg.
Under Barney Rosset, Grove Press and Evergreen Review fought decisive battles to defeat legal censorship, and opened American life to new and dangerous currents of freedom. This is Rosset’s story. (U.S. Premiere)
The Order of Myths
Director: Margaret Brown.
A probing and artful portrait of the divided Mardi Gras communities that still exist today in Alabama. (Regional Premiere)
The Promotion
Director/writer: Steven Conrad. Starring: Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor.
The story of two mid-level supermarket employees who compete ruthlessly for a coveted post at a new store location. (World Premiere)
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Director: David Schwimmer. Writers: Michael Ian Black, Simon Pegg. Starring: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria.
An out-of-shape divorced father makes one last attempt to win back the respect of his son, his ex-wife, and the community around him. All he has to do is finish his first marathon. (Regional Premiere)
Second Skin
Director: Juan Carlos Pineiro.
An intimate look at people whose lives have become transformed by the virtual worlds in online games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest and Second Life. (World Premiere)
Shine A Light
Director: Martin Scorsese.
A career-spanning documentary on the Rolling Stones, with concert footage from their “A Bigger Bang” tour. (North American Premiere)
Shot In Bombay
Director: Liz Mermin.
Yes, Bollywood makes gangster films. This fast paced documentary, populated by a charismatic and often surreal cast of characters, goes beyond the tinselly glamour of “Bollywood” to explore some of the industry’s darker sides.
(North American Premiere)
Stop-Loss
Director: Kimberly Peirce. Writers: Kimberly Peirce, Mark Richard. Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Back home in Texas after fighting in Iraq, a soldier refuses to return to battle despite the government mandate requiring him to do so.
Super High Me
Director: Michael Blieden
Comedian Doug Benson, a famous marijuana advocate, decides to test the limits of his body during two, 30-day stretches. (Regional Premiere)
Then She Found Me
Director: Helen Hunt. Writers: Alice Arlen, Victor Levin, Helen Hunt. Starring: Helen Hunt, Colin Firth, Bette Midler, Matthew Broderick.
Adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes her feature directing debut with this touching story of schoolteacher April Epner and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. (Regional Premiere)
The Toe Tactic
Director/writer: Emily Hubley. Starring: Lily Rabe, Daniel London, Kevin Corrigan, Sakina Jaffrey.
In this hybrid of live-action and animation, a young woman grieves for her father while unaware of the magical world around her. (World Premiere)
Where In The World is Osama Bin Laden?
Director: Morgan Spurlock.
Acclaimed filmmaker Morgan Spurlock heads to the Middle East for two reasons: to understand cultures overseas and to find Osama Bin Laden. (Regional Premiere)
Wild Blue Yonder
Director: Celia Maysles.
Celia Maysles had no idea her father and his brother Albert were pioneers of verite documentary filmmaking. Determined to uncover the secrets surrounding her background, Celia sets out on a quest to rediscover her father by using his own artistic process. (North American Premiere)
Young@Heart
Director: Stephen Walker.
The touching and heartfelt portrait of a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay. (Closing Night Film)
24 BEATS PER SECOND
Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet
Director: Paul Owens.
A documentary look at the movement known as ChipTunes, a vibrant underground scene based around creating new, original music using old video game hardware. (World Premiere)
Heavy Load
Director: Jerry Rothwell.
Heavy Load are a punk outfit subject to the combustible flux of ego, ambition, fantasy, expectation and desire that fuels any emerging band. But they’re also, uniquely, made up of musicians with and without learning disabilities. (World Premiere)
Heavy Metal in Baghdad
Director: Suroosh Alvi.
Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult proposition, but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. (U.S. Premiere)
Nerdcore Rising
Director: Negin Farsad.
“Nerdcore” is the newest, dorkiest wave of hip-hop, born out of the internet and made possible by computer-obsessed geeks. (World Premiere)
Of All The Things
Director: Jody Lambert.
A Filipino concert promoter has been begging Dennis Lambert (one of the most successful and gifted songwriter/producers of the ‘70s and ‘80s) to come tour for decades. Thirty-five years after the release of his solo album, he finally agreed. (World Premiere)
Rainbow Around the Sun
Director/writer: Kevin Ely. Starring: Matthew Alvin Brown, Jamie Buxton, Doug Van Liew, Brian Stockton.
A rock musical about the healing power of creativity. Matthew Alvin Brown stars as Zachary Blasto, a hard-drinking, talented songwriter and performer who envisions madcap musical fantasies in order to avoid dealing with the downward spiral of his personal life. (World Premiere)
Throw Down Your Heart
Director: Sascha Paladino.
Cameras follow American banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck on his journey to Africa to explore the little known African roots of the banjo, and record an album. (World Premiere)
The Upsetter: The Life & Music of Lee “Scratch” Perry
Directors: Ethan Higbee and Adam Bhala Lough.
The fascinating story of Lee “Scratch” Perry, a visionary musician and artist from poor rural Jamaica who soon became of the most influential artists in reggae and dub. (World Premiere)
Wesley Willis’s Joyrides
Director: Chris Bagley.
A portrait of the self-proclaimed rock ‘n’ roll star and Chicago city artist, Wesley Willis. (Regional Premiere)
The Wrecking Crew
Director: Denny Tedesco.
You heard them playing on the Beach Boys hits, on the Mamas and the Papas’ recordings, on Frank Sinatra records, on Monkees’ singles, and they were Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. Most likely, you never heard their name. If you knew who they were, you called them “the Wrecking Crew.” (World Premiere)
LONE STAR STATES
Cook County
Director/writer: David Pomes. Starring: Anson Mount, Xander Berkeley, Ryan Donowho, Polly Cole.
Set in the deep woods of East Texas, an abused and alienated teenage boy and his absentee father struggle to reconnect and beat their respective addictions to crystal meth amidst a family of meth addicts and a community crumbling under the meth epidemic. (World Premiere)
Intimidad
Directors: David Redmon & Ashley Sabin.
Cecy and Camilo recently migrated to Reynosa, Mexico with a dream to buy land and build a home. A year later they return to their rural hometown to reunite with their daughter. What seems like a satisfying reunion turns into a confusing dilemma that transforms the course of their marriage.
(World Premiere)
The King of Texas
Director: René Pinnell.
Although Eagle Pinnell was quickly becoming a regional film legend, his acute alcoholism and legendary ego alienated many of his friends and collaborators. Eagle remained a forgotten and mostly unsung talent throughout his life, which ended in 2002. Friends, family, and fellow filmmakers recall Eagle’s life, the excitement of working alongside him, and the burden of his addictions. (World Premiere)
Tulia, Texas
Director: Cassandra Herrman & Kelly Whalen.
At the end of one of the biggest drug stings in Texas history, dozens of residents of the small farming town of Tulia had been rounded up and thrown behind bars. Of 46 people indicted for cocaine dealing, 39 were African American. In the years to follow, troubling evidence about Coleman’s investigation and his past began to surface. (World Premiere)
‘ROUND MIDNIGHT
Dance of the Dead
Director: Gregg Bishop. Writer: Joe Ballarini. Starring: Jared Kusnitz, Greyson Chadwick, Justin Welborn, Chandler Darby.
A horror/adventure that takes place on the night of the big High School Prom: the dead rise to eat the living, and the only people who can stop them are the losers who couldn’t get dates to the dance. (World Premiere)
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie
Director: Jay Delaney.
Through the experiences of two amateur bigfoot researchers in southern Ohio, we see how the power of a dream can bring two men together and provide a source of hope and meaning. (World Premiere)
Otis
Director: Tony Krantz. Writer: Thomas Schnauz & Erik Jendresen. Starring: Daniel Stern, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Pollak, Jere Burns.
In the midst of a serial abductor/killer’s rampage, a beautiful young teen goes missing but soon turns the tables on her tormentor. (World Premiere)
Registered Sex Offender
Director/writer: Robert Byington. Starring: Gabriel McIver, Kristen Tucker, Andrew Bujalski, Kevin Corrigan.
There may be one thing worse than being a sex offender sent to prison: Being a sex offender released from prison. (World Premiere)
Shuttle
Director/writer: Edward Anderson. Starring: Peyton List, Cameron Goodman, Cullen Douglas, Dave Power.
A late-night shuttle ride home from airport descends into darkness. (World Premiere)
Southern Gothic
Director/writer: Mark Young. Starring: Yul Vazquez, Nicole DuPort, William Forsythe.
A man must atone for a tragic mistake by saving a little girl from a ruthless, undead preacher. (World Premiere)
SPECIAL SCREENINGS
Agile, Mobile, Hostile: A Year With Andre Williams
Director: Tricia Todd.
A year in the life of Andre Williams, one of the unsung heroes of the American R&B community, who walks us through the hard life he’s led over five decades of making music. (World Premiere)
Bi The Way
Director: Brittany Blockman.
This documentary looks at recent statistics, real-life stories, and more to paint a picture of the growing acceptance of bisexuality in America. (World Premiere)
The Black List
Director: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders. Writer: Elvis Mitchell.
In a film that works as series of living portraits, twenty prominent African Americans of various professions, disciplines and backgrounds offer their own stories and insights on the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in this country and manage to re-define “blacklist” for a new century in the process. (Regional Premiere)
Body of War
Directors: Ellen Spiro & Phil Donahue.
“Support our troops” has long been a rallying cry for war proponents. But that phrase will never sound the same after you meet Tomas Young, an eloquent former soldier and current war protester. (Regional Premiere)
Dancing Alfonso
Director: Barak Heymann.
Alfonso is the lead dancer in a flamenco troupe, which rehearses in a Tel Aviv suburb After the death of his wife, he begins to obsessively court Sima, a dancer with the troupe, to the displeasure of his children, who are unwilling to accept the fact that their father might be interested in another woman. (U.S. Premiere)
Dear Zachary: a letter to a son about his father
Director: Kurt Kuenne.
After Dr. Andrew Bagby was brutally murdered, the prime suspect (his former girlfriend) announced that she was pregnant with Andrew’s baby. Andrew’s childhood friend began this film as a way for the baby to learn about his father, until things started to take an even more unpredictable turn. (Regional Premiere)
Do You Sleep In the Nude?
Director: Marshall Fine.
Forty years after he blazed across the scene, Rex Reed is still going strong – a brand-name movie critic whose name and face remain easily recognizable, even if his influence has waned. (Regional Premiere)
Don’t Get Me Wrong
Director: Adina Pintilie
Within a stark Romanian psychiatric hospital, patients move stones, help each other perform daily tasks and discuss the existence of God and how to stop the rain. (U.S. Premiere)
Goliath
Director: David Zellner. Writers: David and Nathan Zellner. Starring: David Zellner, Caroline O’Connor, Nathan Zellner.
A recently divorced man tries to find the one aspect of his marriage that still matters to him: his missing cat, Goliath. (Regional Premiere)
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Director: Alex Gibney.
With access to never-before-seen archives, this is a fascinating documentary look at the legendary and undeniable Hunter S. Thompson. (Regional Premiere)
Here Is What Is
Director: Adam Vollick & Adam Samuels.
An invitation to experience a year of creation, looking over Daniel Lanois’ shoulder. His psychedelic past emerges throughout the film as the hyperrealism of the in-studio documentation is contrasted by moments of wild fantasia. (U.S. Premiere)
Here’s Johnny
Director: Kat Mansoor.
Previously renowned for his work in the comics Judge Dredd and 2000AD, Johnny now lives in an increasing state of immobility and frustration. He escapes the confines of his front room by drawing, and through the expression of his brilliant, and sometimes troubled, imagination we learn about the disease that he is forced to co-exist with. (World Premiere)
Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry
Director: Erich Weiss
A feature-length documentary exploring the roots of American tattooing through the life of its most iconoclastic figure Norman “Sailor Jerry” Collins. (World Premiere)
Joy Division
Director: Grant Gee.
The filmmakers investigate why Joy Division’s collective musical genius and singular vision enjoys a larger audience and influence thirty years on.
(U.S. Premiere)
Mongol
Director: Sergei Bodrov. Writers: Arif Aliyev, Sergei Bodrov. Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun.
The first part in a planned trilogy about the epic, violent, and romantic life of Genghis Khan. (Regional Premiere)
The Night James Brown Saved Boston
Director: David Leaf.
A documentary look at the historic James Brown concert, held just days after Martin Luther King’s assassination, when the city of Boston was ready to boil. (Work-In-Progress)
Secrecy
Director: Peter Galison & Robb Moss.
The film is about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. By filming people from the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, reporters, information seekers, and individuals whose lives have been marked by their encounters with the classification bureaucracy, the film probes secrecy’s relationship to fear, executive power and national security. (Regional Premiere)
The Sweet Lady with the Nasty Voice
Director: Vincent Kralyevich.
This documentary is the culmination of a two-year journey with Wanda Jackson, now 70, in performances across the United States and Europe. (World Premiere)
The Visitor
Director/writer: Thomas McCarthy. Starring: Richard Jenkins.
A college professor becomes embroiled in the lives of a young immigrant couple he discovers squatting in his Manhattan apartment. Confronted with adversity, these strangers become inextricably bound together. (Regional Premiere)
Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma
Director: Patrick Reed.
The former head of Doctors Without Borders returns to Africa, to confront its harsh realities. (Regional Premiere)
We Dreamed America
Director: Alex Walker.
A documentary that delves deep into the dark and hilarious recesses of the British Americana music scene, exploring the gritty underworld of the New British Country movement. (U.S. Premiere)
The Wild Horse Redemption
Director: John Zaritsky.
At a prison in the high desert foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, hard-core criminals are given 90 days to tame wild mustang horses. Most of the inmates who volunteer for the program have never trained a horse before, or even ridden one. (U.S. Premiere)
