Running May 30-June 9, the 2013 Dances with Films announces its full programming lineup. From the official press release:
Here is the full slate of Dances With Films’ remarkable “Sweet 16”th year (May 30-June 9). DWF is LA’s biggest discovery fest of emerging talent and has grown exponentially to an 11 day festival now with more Powerhouse Industry Panels, intimate Cocktails and Conversations with industry legends and the new Grand Jury Prize that includes a Distribution Deal with Gravitas Ventures.
Most of our films are either World Premiers or West Coast Premieres. Some of this year’s DWF film’s talent include: Chris Rock, Danny Trejo, Melissa Etheridge, Kelly Lynch, Tom Arnold, Tara Reid, Ryan Hansen, John Heard, Cary Elwes, Joey Lauren Adams, Cheyenne Jackson, Lisa Edelstein, Karen Black, Carol Kane, Christopher Lloyd, Finola Hughes, Christine Ebersole and Chita Rivera to name a few, plus a myriad of young TV actors on hit shows making there feature debuts.
For tickets and more info about all our scheduled films and panels, go to www.danceswithfilms.com.
Opening Night Film
MISS YOU CAN DO IT / Ron Davis – Director/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
HBO Documentary Films’ MISS YOU CAN DO IT spotlights Abbey Curran, Miss Iowa USA 2008, the first woman with a disability to compete at the Miss USA Pageant, as well as eight girls and young women from around the country living with special needs, who participate in the Miss You Can Do It Pageant. Created in 2004 by Curran, the pageant offers them and their families a chance to bond and participate in a special event where inner beauty and abilities reign. Debuts exclusively on HBO MONDAY, JUNE 24 (9:00 – 10:15PM ET/PT).Preceded by Short Doc:
MR. TWISTER / Clay Westervelt – Director/Producer – LOS ANGLES PREMIERECompetition Features
AUTOMOTIVE / Tom Glynn – Director/Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
Automotive is a modern noir seen through the eyes of an old car, the hero’s 1964 Mercury. From its limited perspective (camera only inside the car) we piece together his criminal plot as it unravels. Is that a body Kansas is putting in the trunk? He buries it in the desert night under headlights while a beautiful woman watches from the backseat. She is Lonely, his lover and accomplice…or is she? When Lonely’s rich husband is murdered Kansas is left to blame. Is he guilty? Or being set up? More important, can he trust the woman he loves?CEMENT SUITCASE / Rick Castañeda – Director/Writer/Editor – WORLD PREMIERE
The best wine salesman in the Yakima Valley is headed for a breakdown and only two people can help him. One just broke into his house. The other is having an affair with his girlfriend.CHANNELING – Drew Thomas – Director/Writer/Producer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
In a world where people are broadcasting their own lives, Jonah discovers that his brother Wyatt’s death was no accident. With Wyatt’s beautiful partner helping him, Jonah assumes Wyatt’s identity in order to draw out those who killed him. What he doesn’t anticipate is the seductive nature of having the world see itself through his eyes.CITY BABY / David F. Morgan – Director/Writer/Editor, Cora Benesh – Writer / Producer – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
20somethings Cloey and her friends meander through their self-absorbed youth as CITY BABY marinates on themes of class, love, and friendship. Eventually Cloey’s cruise control lifestyle begins to collapse when a troubled relationship with a jealous boyfriend hits the skids, her ambitious best friend wants to move away and daddy’s checkbook threatens to be closed. This is what growing up looks like when you’re already a grown-up.COYOTE / Joe Eddy – Director/Writer/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
Brian lives at home. No friends. No life. While working on a house with his eccentric uncle, he soon finds himself in an unlikely friendship with an illegal Mexican laborer of the same age: Manuel. When Manuel finds himself out of options, the two embark on a dangerous adventure to retrieve his mother and sister who are being held captive in Tijuana. This improbable pairing will have to stay one step ahead of some colorful criminals, the locals and two hardened Border Patrol agents on a quest of their own, if they are going to return home alive.DOWN AND DANGEROUS / Zak Forsman – Director/Writer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
Always one step ahead of the Feds, Paul Boxer is the most inventive and principled smuggler in the trade, and has never needed to carry a gun. When violent mid-level traffickers coerce him into designing a foolproof plan to bring several kilos of cocaine across the México border, he maneuvers to rid himself of their hold over him once and for all. But when a sharp-witted woman from his past enlists his help to escape this rival outfit, Paul must confront the man that is hunting him down, and choose between his livelihood as a smuggler and his integrity as a man.EMOTICON 😉 / Livia De Paolis – Director/Writer/Producer, Sarah Nerboso – Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
Elena Gallenti (Livia De Paolis) is an anthropology grad student struggling to complete her thesis on ‘modern means of communication”. All that changes when she meets her new boyfriend (Michael Cristofer) teenage kids (Miles Chandler and Diane Guerrero), who are going through their own journeys of self-discovery. Through this relationship and the help of her PHD advisor (Carol Kane) Elena comes to a better understanding of how to navigate love and intimacy in the digital age. Ultimately they develop a bond that strikes a balance between the old wolrd and the new and everyone’s longing to find true emotional sense in both.FOREVER’S END / J.C. Schroder – Director/Writer/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
Six years after an apocalyptic event killed her family and seemingly everyone else on earth, a lone girl on the verge of insanity is forced to question everything she has ever known when a strange man suddenly appears at her door.HOME / Jono Oliver – Director/Writer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
Jack Hall (Gbenga Akinnagbe) has suffered from mental illness for over a dozen years. He’s had manyrough periods over that time; in the form of countless arrests and hospitalizations. He’s now at a point where he has a steady job, is doing relatively well, and is ready to move on – from the group home where he resides into an apartment of his own – with the dream of reconnecting with his estranged son. But what would be a simple goal for most is not so easy for Jack, with the stakes seemingly no less than life or death. By whatever means necessary, more than anything, Jack needs to find his home.HOW TO FOLLOW STRANGERS / Chioke Nassor – Director/Writer/Producer – US PREMIERE
There is a true story of a woman who died in her apartment and it took people a year to find her body decomposing in a crisp Chanel suit. A young man becomes obsessed with this urban tragedy and disappears, wondering if anyone will notice. A young woman who shares his commuting schedule DOES notice. So much so, she decides to find out what happened, setting off a chain of events that will bind them together.MURT RAMIREZ WANTS TO KICK MY A*S / Dan Lee – Director/Writer/Producer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
Set in the ‘80s like some lost John Hughes film, MURT RAMIREZ WANTS TO KICK MY A*S follows a single day in the life of twelve-year old Billy McConnell, a day which just may be his last. When his hyper-Hebrew cousin Zach leaves Billy on the hook for a dog poop prank involving the most psychotic bully in all of Brooklyn, Billy realizes his days are numbered as his Atari 2600 game system. Before long, it’s a race to the end day school bell as Billy and pals contrive a gauntlet of schemes to escape his after-school date with doom.MUTUAL FRIENDS / Matthew Watts – Director/Writer – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
Ten friends, four couples, a stripper and a ninja. Surprise parties rarely go well. A romantic comedy about intertwined New Yorkers trying to sort it all out. Each character written by a different writer.REACH / Daniel Bonjour – Director/Producer, Ryan James Russell – Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
Based on a true story, Reach is a provocative film centered on a struggling romance between a terminally ill man running out of time, and a woman desperate to breathe life into his final days. As his mother and best friend are faced with accepting the unacceptable, heartfelt issues are raised that will change their lives forever. Reach is a stunning moral parable that will touch your heart with its inspiring message.THIS THING WITH SARAH / Michael Doneger – Director/Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
This Thing With Sarah is a story about the person one chooses to help them through a difficult time in their life. When a listless writer is dumped by his long time girlfriend, he befriends a woman to help him get over his ex.US / Sam Hancock – Director/Writer, Dan Mayer – Writer, Matthew McKay – Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
Alanna Ubach (Meet the Fockers, Legally Blonde, Waiting) stars in this gritty exploration of a woman battling dangerous impulses while searching for the love that can bring her back to balance. Margaret lives with an intense mental disorder, and while she strives to lead a normal life, at night she surrenders to a cycle of compulsive sex and brutal self-punishment. When she meets Walker, a compassionate man with a deep desire to help, the romance she thought would save her threatens to push her over the edge. Can she reveal her dark secret and still believe in love?WAKING / Ben Shelton – Director – WORLD PREMIERE
Ben is turning 30 and on his way to what everyone else tells him is a great life. He’s about to propose to his girlfriend, Amy, of 6 years and looks to be in line as the successor to her father’s practice. However, a chance meeting with a mysterious and beautiful woman named Nadia changes everything. Ben and Nadia begin to connect when they fall asleep as they go on journeys within their memories together. As they begin to realize they’ve been meeting in their dreams since they were children, Ben must choose between the perfect life on paper or the girl of his dreams.Midnight Features
AMERICAN IDIOTS / Robert Taleghany – Director – WORLD PREMIERE
CHASTITY BITES / John V. Knowles – Director – WORLD PREMIERE
FEEDING MR. BALDWIN / Will Prescott – Director/Writer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
LAST CALL / Greg Garthe – Director/Producer – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
Documentary Features
APOCALYPSE LATER: HAROLD CAMPING VS THE END OF THE WORLD / Zeke Piestrup -Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor – WORLD PREMIERE
GROUNDED / Sean Patrick Crowell – Director – WORLD PREMIERE
KUMPANIA FLAMENCO LOS ANGELES / Katina Dunn – Director /Writer/Producer, – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
MILE… MILE & A HALF / Jason M. Fitzpatrick – Director/Writer/Producer/Cinematographer, Ric Serena – Director/Producer/Cinematographer – WORLD PREMIERE
OYLER HOUSE, Richard Neutra’s Desert Retreat / Mike Dorsey – Director/Producer
RIDE REPORT / Matt Kendall – Director, Tiernan Turner – Director – WEST COAST PREMIERE
TUMOR, IT’S IN THE SYSTEM / Valerie McCaffrey – Co-Director/Producer, Cindy Pruitt – Director/Producer – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
WITH NO REGRETS: A DANCIN MAN’S JOURNEY / George Fairfield – Director/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
US AND THE GAME INDUSTRY
Fusion Features
ADVOCATE, THE / Tamas Harangi – Director/Writer/Producer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
BET, THE / Finola Hughes – Director – LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
BROKEN GLASS / Daniel R. Chavez – Director/Writer/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
CALIFORNIA WINTER / Odin Ozdil – Director/Writer/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
FAVOR / Paul Osborne – Director/Writer – WEST COAST PREMIERE
HALFWAY TO HELL / Richard Friedman – Director/Producer/Editor
HAY DAYS / Lance Lindahl – Director/Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
HOUSE OF GOOD AND EVIL / David Mun – Director/Editor – WEST COAST PREMIERE
INSOMNIAC, THE / Monty Miranda – Director – WORLD PREMIERE
PHIN / Patrick Chapman – Director/Producer/Editor
SALVATION / Brett Donowho – Directo /Producer, Bernie Van De Yacht – Director/Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
SHE LOVES ME NOT / Brian Jun – Director/Writer/Producer/Editor, Jack Sanderson – Director/Writer – WORLD PREMIERE
STEVE CHONG FINDS OUT THAT SUICIDE IS A BAD IDEA / Charlie LaVoy – Director/Writer/Producer – WORLD PREMIERE
Competion Shorts
BARBIE BOY / Nick Corporon – Director / Writer / Producer
CHASSEUR / Christopher Soren Kelly – Director / Writer
CHECK OUT / Bobby Marinelli – Director / Writer
COOTIE CONTAGION / Josh Smooha – Director / Writer
CROSSING THE RIVER / Emilie McDonald – Director / Writer / Producer
DOUBLE AGENT / Jason Sotolongo – Director / Writer
FIRECRACKER / Adam Zielinski – Director / Co-Writer
FITTED / Auriel Rudnick – Director / Writer
GOLDEN / Kjell Kvanbeck – Director / Writer
INTERROGATION, THE / Drew Mylrea – Director
INNOVATOR, THE / Sean McCarthy – Director / Writer
INTELLIGENCE / Phil Kaufmann – Director
ISN’T / Alice Carter – Director / Writer / Producer
JUARITOS / .F. Crum – Director / Writer / Editor
KAREN RETURNS SOMETHING TO SCOTT / John Salcido – Director / Producer
KINGDOM OF DOUG, THE / Victoria Thaine – Director / Writer
LITTLE MAN OF STEEL / Larry Ziegelman – Director / Writer
OF WATCHING KILLER WHALES COMPASSION / Raphe Wolfgang – Director / Producer
ON-RAMP / Skye Kelly – Director / Writer
OPHILIA / Matteo Ribaudo – Director / Writer (writer) / Producer / Editor
PINK BALLOONS / Rebecca Rocheford Davies – Director / Writer
RECALCULATING / Peter J. Bean – Director / Writer / Editor
RWANDA BLEND, THE / Sam Zvibleman – Director / Co-Writer
SAFETY / Rory Uphold – Writer (writer) / Producer
SCHNIPPLES / Shane Connor – Director/Writer
SHADOWPLAY / Natasia de Wolf – Director/Cinematographer/Editor, Gabby Hernandez – Director, Kevin Langer – Director/Editor, Darren Russell – Director / Writer / Cinematographer / Editor, Joey Willis – Director
SPOSINI (NEWLYWEDS) / Nick van Devender – Director/Writer
TUMBLERS / Vince Duvall – Director/Writer
VARMINT / Joel Knoernschild – Director/Producer
WHOLEHEARTED / Christopher Leps – Director/Writer/Editor
Fusion Shorts
AIR
AMERICA 101
BARRY MILLER
BLUR
COMPANY, THE
CUPCAKE BANDITS
FADE
HOW TO BE A FEMALE DIRECTOR
JODY’S BRA
LIKE
MAN UP, LITTLE BOY
OBLIVION
P.D.A.
PARALLAX
SKINHEAD REQUIEM
SPLENDOR
STRINGS
TOO LATE NOW
UNORTHODOX
Music Videos
A LITTLE PUSH
BELONG TO YOU
HEAD TO TOE
FACTORY
MOVING OUT
THIS TIME I MEAN IT
