(Updated April 4, 2011)
Special Presentations
Another Earth (Mike Cahill, USA)
Rhonda – an aspiring astrophysicist – learns out her car window to see a newly discovered planet and crashes into a family car, killing two. After serving four years in prison, she wants to meet the bereaved father to apologize. By this time, the new planet is much closer to – and an exact mirror of – Earth. An essay contest is being held, with the winner granted a spot on a civilian space shuttle to visit the new planet. Rhonda enters in hopes of finding out if her mirror self has made different choices. Mike Cahill’s slow burn sci-fi romance lit up Sundance and announced the presence of Brit Marling (also the co-writer of the script) as a young woman to watch.Starring: William Mapother, Brit Marling, Jordan Baker, Robin Lord Taylor and Flint Beverage TENNESSEE PREMIERE
Bloodworth (Shane Dax Taylor / USA) OPENING NIGHT SELECTION Trailer
E. F. Bloodworth, patriarch of the disgruntled Bloodworth family, has wandered the world for forty years, leaving behind a wife and three sons. When he returns to Tennessee, he finds his wife aged and his sons filled with anger. E. F.’s grandson, Fleming sees what his family has become and is determined not to let the emotion that has driven his family to bitterness and distance define him. “Bloodworth,” adapted by W. Earl Brown from the William Gay novel, "Provinces of Night," shows that no one has to be defined by limitations set by a family name and a heritage of resentment. Starring Kris Kristofferson, Val Kilmer, Dwight Yoakam, Frances Conroy, Hillary Duff, Reece Thompson and W. Earl Brown. SOUTHEAST US PREMIERE
The First Grader (Justin Chadwick / United Kingdom, Kenya) Trailer
Set in a mountain village in Kenya, “The First Grader” tells the remarkable true story of a proud 84-year-old veteran of the Kenyan independence movement who is determined to seize his last chance to learn to read and write - and so ends up joining a class alongside six year-olds. Together he and his young teacher face fierce resistance, but ultimately they find a new way of overcoming the burdens of the colonial past. Starring Naomie Harris, Tony Kgoroge, Sam Feuer, Nick Reding, Vusi Kunene and Israel Makoe. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Good Day For It (Nick Stagliano, USA)
Fifteen years ago, Luke was forced to leave town after crossing the leader of a criminal gang. Now, his daughter seeks to reunite. Risking his life to see her, he agrees to meet in a small diner on the outskirts of town. A fateful run-in leaves Luke with a decision, abandon his family one more time or face down his past. Starring: Robert Patrick, Hal Holbrook, Lance Henriksen and Kathy Baker. WORLD PREMIERE
Project Nim (James Marsh / United Kingdom)
From the Oscar-winning team behind “Man on Wire” comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim's extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature – and indeed our own – is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Road to Nowhere (Monte Hellman / USA) Trailer
Directed by Monte Hellman, who was the recipient of the Golden Lion at the 2010 Venic Film Festival, “Road to Nowhere” follows a passionate filmmaker creating a film based upon a true crime. He casts an unknown mysterious young woman bearing a striking resemblance to the femme fatale in the story and finds himself drawn into a complex web of intrigue and obsession. From the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina to Verona, Rome and London, new truths are revealed and clues to other crimes and passions, darker and even more complex are uncovered. Starring Tygh Runyan, Shannyn Sossamon, Cliff De Young and Waylon Payne. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Submarine (Richard Ayode / United Kingdom) Trailer
Oliver Tate is a precocious, self-absorbed 15-year-old with two missions: to get laid before his 16th birthday and to prevent his mother from leaving his father for her dance teacher. Adapted from Joe Dunthorne’s novel and directed by British comedian, Richard Ayode (“The Mighty Boosh”), “Submarine” is an evocative, often hilarious tale of a young lad learning that to know truly know others, you have to first admit the universe doesn’t revolve around you. Starring Sally Hawkins, Paddy Consadine, Craig Roberts, Noah Taylor and Yasmin Paige. SOUTHEAST US PREMIERE.
Terri (Azazel Jacobs / USA)
Following up the success he had with “Momma’s Man”, Azazel Jacobs’ has created “Terri,” the story of an orphaned, overweight 15-year-old boy in a small town who struggles to find a place of acceptance in a world full of bullying peers and indignant adults. When Vice-Principal Mr. Fitzgerald, sees a bit of himself in the boy, the two establish a friendship that encourages Terri to consider life something to be enjoyed – not just endured. Starring Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly, Creed Bratton, Olivia Crocicchia and Bridger Zadina. TENNESSEE PREMIERE
World Cinema
A vibrant, esoteric sampling of some of the finest cinema the world has to offer.
13 Assassins (Takashi Miike / Japan) Trailer
Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) has more than 80 films under his belt, but none quite like “13 Assassins.” The year is 1844, and a young lord reigns over his village with an iron fist. The era of the samurai is coming to a close, but one honest government official secretly enlists thirteen swordsmen to bring an end to the sadistic lord’s power before it spreads. While reverently paying homage to samurai classics of the past, this is not a tongue-in-cheek take on an old genre. This is good old-fashioned film-making, with a gloriously blood-soaked climactic battle scene that will be remembered for years to come. Starring Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya and Goro Inagaki.
The Arbor (Clio Barnard / United Kingdom) Trailer
Clio Barnard’s debut feature is, at its core, a documentary about the life of British playwright Andrea Dunbar, whose writings chronicled her grim years living in West Yorkshire. However, Barnard - by blending archival material about her subject’s life with the staging of the titular play - creates a beautiful blend of fact and fiction, earning her a British Academy Award nomination for Best New Director and six British Independent Film Award nominations.
Buck (Cindy Meehl / USA) Trailer
Audience Award-winner for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival, “Buck” follows living legend Buck Brannaman – the inspiration for “The Horse Whisperer.” To this true cowboy, horses are a mirror into the human soul. By teaching people to communicate with their animals through instinct, not punishment or violence, he frees the spirit of the horse and its human comrade. First-time director Cindy Meehl creates a strikingly cinematic portrait of a man who transforms his clients’ souls.
Bhutto (Duane Baughman, Johnny O’Hara / USA, Pakistan) Trailer
Pakistan’s first democratically-elected prime minister’s daughter, Benazir Bhutto, challenged Muslim views of women as authority figures when she returned to her homeland in 2007, hoping to run for office and reassert the power of free elections after decades of military dictatorship. Her assassination in December of that year brought that dream to an end. Bhutto is a film about the history of Pakistani politics, the role of her family in the nation’s independence, and the controversies that surrounded her. It is a complete portrait of a compelling woman leader. Free screening as part of ITVS Community Cinema Nashville.
Caterpillar (Kôji Wakamatsu / Japan) Trailer
During the second Sino-Japanese War, a village woman is given the grueling task of looking after (and fulfilling the sexual needs of) her quadruple-amputee husband- a decorated soldier tortured by memories of his war crimes. Based on a short story by Edogawa Rampo, Koji Wakamatsu's film is a fascinating, deeply affecting indictment of right-wing militarist-nationalism, which is a partner-piece to his previous work, the left-wing extremism portrayed in “United Red Army.” Starring Shinobu Terajima, Keigo Kasuya, Emi Masuda and Sabu Kawahara.
The Human Resources Manager (Eran Riklis / Israel) Trailer
When the well-meaning but selfish human resources manager at Israel’s largest bakery finds his career threatened upon the death of a young immigrant employee, he takes it upon himself to escort her corpse back to her small Russian village. Along the way, he meets characters – both helpful and not – who remind him of where humanity truly lies. This quirky tragicomedy from director Eran Riklis (“The Lemon Tree”) was the Israeli submission to the Academy Awards. Presented by the Nashville Jewish Film Festival. Starring Mark Ivanir and Gila Almagor.
Musica Campesina (Alberto Fuguet, Chile / USA) Trailer
Alejandro Tazo, a 30-something Chilean musician arrives in Nashville on a Greyhound bus. He has little to his name, seemingly no mission, seemingly no goals. What will he make of his new life in Music City? Director Alberto Fuguet shot “Musica Campesina” while serving as a visiting professor at Vanderbilt. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
My Joy (Sergei Loznitsa / Ukraine) Trailer
When a kind-hearted trucker turns onto a dirt road to bypass a highway auto accident, he encounters a motley crew of characters – an old hitchhiker, a young prostitute, and a pair of rowdy soldiers – who will darken his worldview. Disturbing, outlandish, occasionally hilarious, and always a little dangerous, Sergei Loznitsa’s harsh depiction of the Russian hinterland is the rare debut feature to be selected for competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Starring Viktor Memets, Olga Shuvalova and Vladimir Golovin.
The Nothing (Josh Childs, USA) Trailer
Ren Dubbin struggles to reconcile his spiritual convictions with his fear of the unknown. He awakens in an eerie, ramshackle barn with four strangers. The men have no idea where they are and no memory of how they got there. The mystery turns to desperation and reflections on life and death, faith and the afterlife. WORLD PREMIERE
Nénette (Nicolas Philibert / France)
Nénette is a 40-year-old orangutan born in Borneo and raised in the Paris Zoo that is her home to this day. She’s raised four children (one still lives with her in her habitat); outlived three mates; and bonds with very few of her keepers. Nénette is also the star of a beautifully-composed documentary from the director of 2003’s “To Be and to Have.”
Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times) (Michelangelo Frammartino / Italy) Trailer
Inspired by Pythagoras's belief in four-fold transmigration - by which the soul is passed from human to animal to vegetable to mineral -- Michelangelo Frammartino's wondrous docu-essay traces the four cycles through the daily rituals of the inhabitants of a small village in the Calabria region of Italy. Although it sounds overly-philosophical, “Le Quattro Volte” is a winner (literally taking home a prize in the Cannes Director’s Fortnight) because it approaches its subject with a sense of adventure and a surprising wit.
The Red Chapel (Mads Brügger / Denmark) Trailer
Winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Mads Brügger's documentary follows a trio of Danish comedians as they pretend to be regime of sympathizers and mount an absurd variety show in North Korea. Combining the muckraking spirit of Michael Moore with the confrontational comedy of “Borat,” “The Red Chapel” is an unconventional, hilarious and damning peek behind the curtain of a totalitarian regime.
The Robber (Benjamin Heisenberg / Austria ) Trailer
Based on the true story of Johann Rettenberger- a champion marathoner, “The Robber” is part action film and part fascinating character study. Rettenberger leads a double life by winning international medals by day, and serially robbing banks by night. Lean and visceral, “The Robber” is a riveting study of pathological compulsion featuring a sizzling lead performance by Andreas Lust (of the 2009 Academy Award-nominee, “Revanche”). Starring Andreas Lust.
The Sleeping Beauty (Catherine Breillat / France)
Following last year’s “Blue Beard,” Catherine Breillat returns with another fractured take on a classic fairy tale with “The Sleeping Beauty.” A young princess finds herself the subject of a tug-of-war among witches, but as the story ensues, Breillat uses fantasy (in every sense of the word – dark, sensual, sexual, and foreboding) to create a beguiling tale of girls in trouble who find their way, through imagination, and sheer force of will. Starring Carla Besnainou. Julia Artamonov, Kerian Mayan and David Chausse.
Sound of Noise (Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjärne Nilsson / Sweden) Trailer
Amadeus Warnebring is a member of a distinguished musical. He is also a tone-deaf police officer charged with tracking down a gang of guerilla percussionists who have composed and intend to play their latest anarchic work: Music for One City and Six Drummers. Warnebring has four movements – each progressively more avant-garde and more potentially dangerous to the livelihood of the city – to bring these musical terrorists to justice and earn the degree of respect he’s strived for his entire over-shadowed life. Starring Bengt Nilsson, Sanna Persson, Magnus Börjeson and Marcus Boij TENNESSEE PREMIERE
Tuesday, After Christmas (Radu Muntean / Romania) Trailer
Selected for Cannes and the New York Film Festival, “Tuesday, After Christmas” is yet another shining example of the Romanian new wave. Paul loves two women. Adriana his wife and mother of their daughter- who is the woman with whom he's shared the thrills of the past ten years; and Raluca the woman who has made him redefine himself. He has to leave one of them before Christmas. In some hands this would be the stuff of slapstick and mayhem. In the hands of Muntean and his pitch-perfect cast, it’s a moving portrayal of the directions modern life takes us. Starring Dragos Bucur, Maria Popistasu and Mimi Branescu.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul / Thailand) Trailer
Uncle Boonmee is dying of kidney failure and wants to spend his final days on his farm. He is joined not only by living relatives who will care for him, but also by his late wife, lost son, and other visitors from the spirit world. But this is no monster movie. Winner of the 2010 Palme d’Or at Cannes, “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives” is a natural, free-wheeling, pensive, and dryly funny film based on Buddhist belief, cinematic history, and the folk legends from the northern region of Thailand that was the boyhood home of director Weerasethakul. Shot entirely on film (a rarity these days), “Uncle Boonmee” is a visual masterpiece not to be missed. Starring Sakda Kaewbuadee, Matthieu Ly and Thanapat Saisaymar.
!Women Art Revolution (Directed by Lynn Hershman-Leeson / USA) Trailer
It was only a generation ago that it was rare to find works of art by women in a major gallery or museum. Director Lynn Hershman- Leeson was a proud participant in the revolution that changed that terrain, and thankfully, she spent the past forty years documenting and interviewing the vibrant women who changed our artistic culture and questioned art, politics, equality and freedom of expression. Starring Yoko Ono, B. Ruby Rich, Miriam Schapiro and Yvonne Rainer.
Narrative Competition presented by Bridgestone
Curling (Denis Côté / Canada)
Set on the fringe of society, in a remote part of the Canadian countryside, “Curling” takes a keen look at the unusual private life of a father and his very sheltered daughter. Between his unremarkable jobs, Jean-François devotes an awkward energy to Julyvonne, attempting to shelter her from the influence of the modern world. The fragile balance of their relationship will be jeopardized when the world inevitably makes its way to her. Starring Emmanuel Bilodeau, Philomène Bilodeau and Sophie Desmarais. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Dog Sweat (Hossein Keshavarz/ Iran)
Shot clandestinely in Tehran in the months leading up to the 2009 elections and the Green Wave that followed, “Dog Sweat” follows the lives of six young Iranians - a gay male, a female pop singer, a feminist, a grief-stricken son, and two young lovers. Filled with portraits of individuals both misunderstood by their families, and oppressed by the conservative Islamic regime, “Dog Sweat” provides a portrait of a new generation of Iranians. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Domaine (Patric Chiha / France) Trailer
Named by John Waters as his favorite film of 2010, Patric Chiha’s elliptical and teasing tale of an unusual family relationship. Pierre is a shy good-looking lad who has a decent relationship with his mother. But, as he becomes aware of his homosexuality, he grows close to his free-wheeling, heavy-drinking aunt Nadia (French legend Béatrice Dalle). SOUTHEAST PREMIERE.
Kinyarwanda (Alrick Brown / Rwanda, USA) Trailer
Winner of the World Cinema Audience Award for Dramatic Film at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, "Kinyarwanda" interweaves six different tales (of a Tutsi/Hutu couple, a small child, a soldier, a pair of teenage lovebirds, a priest, and an Imam) that together form one grand narrative providing the most complex and real depiction yet presented of human resilience and life during the Rwandan genocide. Kinyarwanda plumbs the shades of gray to find humanity in every perspective and offers a rich understanding of what it means to survive unimaginable terror, and the astounding resilience of the human spirit to find ways to heal and forgive. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
The Last Ride (Harry Thomason / USA) Trailer
Inspired by the mysterious final days of Hank Williams’ mercurial life, “The Last Ride” is a look into the final days of country music legend, Hank Williams, and his relationship with the young man hired to drive the troubled star and his Cadillac from Alabama to Ohio in the dead of winter, around New Year's Eve, 1952. Sparse and contemplative, the story takes us inside the heart of a man who knows he’s dying, and a dreamless boy whose fate seems already determined. And yet, the all too human connection of two souls needing just one friend leave us with an ending of hope, optimism, and ultimately, redemption on one man’s last ride into eternity. WORLD PREMIERE.
The Last Summer of La Boyita (Julia Solomonoff, Argentina) Trailer
Young Jorgelina feels estranged from her boy-crazy older sister, who has entered adolescence and doesn't want to hang around with little kids anymore. Finding refuge in their Boyita camper-van, Jorgelina travels with her father to the countryside, where her lifelong playmate Mario is undergoing some unexpected changes of his own. SOUTHEAST PREMIERE.
Pig (Henry Barrial / USA) Trailer
A man wakes up alone in the middle of the desert with a black hood on his head and his hands tied behind his back. At death's door, he is discovered by a woman living alone in the desert and is nursed back to health. Upon regaining consciousness, the man realizes he has amnesia, and has no idea who he is. His only clue, a piece of paper in his pocket with the name "Manny Elder" on it, sends him on a journey to Los Angeles to discover his past. But things and people are not what they seem and clues lead to something bigger and more unusual than the man could have ever imagined. Starring Rudolf Martin, Heather Ankeny, Keith Diamond and Ines Dali. WORLD PREMIERE.
Take Me Home (Sam Jaeger, USA) Trailer
Unlicensed NYC cab driver Thom Colvin (Sam Jaeger from NBC’s “Parenthood”) isn’t having a good day. Fortunately for him, neither is Claire. With her life in ruins, Claire hails Thom’s cab and asks him to take her to see her estranged father…in California. When the journey goes awry, the two are forced to choose between the past and the future. Starring Sam Jaeger, Amber Jaeger, Victor Garber and Bree Turner WORLD PREMIERE
Septien (Michael Tully, USA) Trailer
Eighteen years after disappearing without a trace, Cornelius Rawlings returns to his family's farm. While his parents are long deceased, Cornelius's brothers Ezra and Amos continue to live in isolation. Wilbur, their farmhand, sleeps in a tractor tire out back. One day, the toilet breaks. A plumber is called. That man, Red 'Rooster' Rippington, shares his bed with a pretty, vaguely underage girl named Savannah. He also turns out to be a figure from Cornelius and Amos's past. It will take the efforts of a mysterious drifter, Jackson, to smother the Rawlings Brothers' demons once and for all. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Summer of Goliath (Nicolás Pereda, Mexico, Canada) Trailer
Shocked by her husband’s sudden departure, Teresa embarks on a mission to find out what happened. Instead of finding answers, her mission becomes a journey through the streets and homes of the people she meets. Blending fiction and documentary, her wanderings portray the town and its inhabitants. Constructed through characters and the village’s corporeal landscape, we drift with Teresa through spaces and people suffering the effects of lost loved ones, broken promises, disconnection and eternal longing. SOUTHEAST PREMIERE.
Weekend (Andrew Haigh, United Kingdom) Trailer
On a Friday night after a drunken house party with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a gay club. Just before closing time he picks up Glen but what’s expected to be just a one-night stand becomes something else…something special. That weekend, in bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk, telling stories and having sex, the two men get to know each other. It is a brief encounter that will resonate throughout their lives. “Weekend” is both an honest and unapologetic love story between two guys and a film about the universal struggle for an authentic life in all its forms. SOUTHEAST PREMIERE.
Whirligig (Chaz Thorne, Canada)
A series of career disasters leads Nicolas to his retired parents’ home. There he meets Nina, their new next-door neighbor – a woman angry with her husband and ready for some excitement. When Nicholas realizes Nina thinks it’s just sex, his only hope of winning her love is through befriending her 12-year-old son. SOUTHEAST US PREMIERE
The Wolf Knife (Laurel Nakadate, USA) Trailer
Fleeing her mom’s creepy fiancé and the suffocating boredom of Florida in the summer, Chrissy enlists best friend, June, to help find her estranged father. The Wolf Knife follows the girls on a digressive road trip to Nashville - encountering dirty old men and kitschy tourist attractions along the way – a journey fraught with sexual mystery and danger. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.
Documentary Competition Presented by Documentary Channel
An African Election (Jarreth Merz / Ghana , USA) Trailer
The 2008 presidential elections in Ghana, serve as a backdrop for this behind-the-scenes look at the complex, political machinery of a third world democracy struggling to legitimize itself to its first world contemporaries. At stake in this race are the fates of two political parties that will do almost anything to win. Director Merz follows the key players for months to provide an unprecedented view of the political, economic and social forces at work in Ghana, and takes strides in answering the question – will democracy work in Africa?
Autumn Gold (Jan Tenhaven / Austria) Trailer
“Autumn Gold” tells the life-affirming stories of five senior athletes - all between the ages of 80 and 100 - from across Europe who all share one goal: to take part in the 2009 track and field World Masters Championships in Lahti, Finland. Each is in a race against time and the natural degradation of their bodies – but each possesses a drive beyond age to achieve their goals of reaching the medal podium.
The Big Uneasy (Harry Shearer / USA) Trailer
Actor, humorist and New Orleans resident, Harry Shearer, (“This Is Spinal Tap,” “A Mighty Wind”) gets the inside story of a disaster that could have been prevented from the people who were there. You meet the investigators who poked through the muck as the water receded, and a whistle-blower from the Army Corps of Engineers. They reveal that some of the same flawed methods responsible for the catastrophic levee failures during Katrina are being used to rebuild the system and are expected to protect New Orleans from future peril. Harry Shearer will attend.
Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death and Technology (Tiffany Shlain / USA) Trailer
Tiffany Shlain’s vibrant and insightful documentary, “Connected,” explores the visible and invisible connections linking major issues of our time such as—the environment, consumption, population growth, technology, human rights, and the global economy— all while searching for her place in the world during a transformative time in her life. Employing a splendidly imaginative combination of animation and archival footage, plus several surprises, Shlain constructs a chronological tour of Western modernization through the work of her late father, Leonard Shlain, a brain surgeon and best-selling author of Art and Physics and The Alphabet Versus the Goddess.
Fambul Tok (Sara Terry / USA, Sierra Leone) Trailer
Victims and perpetrators of Sierra Leone's brutal civil war come together for the first time in an unprecedented program of tradition-based truth-telling and forgiveness ceremonies. Through reviving their ancient practice of fambul tok (family talk), Sierra Leoneans are building sustainable peace at the grass-roots level -- succeeding where the international community's post-conflict efforts failed. Filled with lessons for the West, this film explores the depths of a culture that believes that true justice lies in redemption and healing for individuals -- and that forgiveness is the surest path to restoring dignity and building strong communities. TENNESSEE PREMIERE
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Marshall Curry / USA)
Focusing on Oregon-based activist Daniel McGowan, Curry presents the tale of a mild-mannered, middle-class citizen driven to extremes and brought to trial on charges of terrorism for his participation in ELF-related arson plots. Detailing activists’ past disillusionment with public protest, and the police brutality and inertia that often followed, `the film poses difficult questions about the possibility of effecting change from either within or without the system, and examines the changed stakes for revolutionaries today in a world fixated on branding all dissenters as terrorists.
The Interrupters (Steve James / USA) Trailer
Meet the Interrupters—former gang members who disrupt violence in their neighborhoods as it happens. Acclaimed director Steve James (“Hoop Dreams,” “Stevie”) recounts the gripping stories of men and women who, with bravado, humility, and humor, strive to protect their communities from the brutality they once employed. With his signature style, James follows these individuals over the course of a year as they attempt to intervene in disputes before they turn violent: two brothers who threaten to shoot each other, an angry teenage girl who just came home from prison, and a young man on a warpath of revenge. Both a voyage into the stubborn persistence of bloodshed in our cities today and a beacon of light, James’s unforgettable documentary captures each Interrupter’s inspired work, transporting us on a powerful journey from crime, to trust, to redemption.
Just Like Us (Ahmed Ahmed / USA) Trailer
Is there comedy in the Middle East? Despite there being no easy way to describe stand-up comedy in Arabic, a group of "comedy ambassadors" travel from Dubai to Beirut, Riyadh to Cairo with a double mission: to disrupt the pervasive image of Muslims as solemn, threatening, and inhuman, and deliver some much-needed relief and laughter to the intense reality of everyday life in the Middle East. As thoughtful as it is entertaining, the Egyptian-American comic’s directorial debut, “Just like Us,” shows us the Middle East like most Americans have never seen it before. Featuring the talented antics of Maz Jobrani, Tom Papa, Ted Alexandro, Tommy Davidson, Omid Djalili (“The Infidel”), Whitney Cummings, and Ahmed Ahmed himself, this documentary offers an incredibly timely glimpse into a world the West is only beginning to understand.
A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt (Sally Rowe / USA) Trailer
Paul Liebrandt is one of the most talented and controversial chefs in the food world and the youngest chef to have received 3 stars from the New York Times. He was 24. Times food critic, William Grimes, likened Paul to 'a pianist who seems to have found a couple of dozen extra keys.' Through Paul, the film reveals the creative process, the extreme hard work, long hours, and dedication it takes to be a culinary artist and have success in the cutthroat world of haute cuisine. Exploring the complicated relationships between food critics, chefs, and owners the film delves into the life of a dedicated young chef ahead of his time. TENNESSEE PREMIERE
Most Valuable Players (Matthew D. Kallis / USA) Trailer
As budget cuts eviscerate various art programs in America’s schools, theater departments struggle to put on the school musical hoping for some attention of their own. It's no different in Lehigh Valley, PA, except for the 'Freddy Awards'- a live television event that recognizes excellence in local high school musical theater. Illustrating that arts education encourages the same teamwork, camaraderie, and confidence as sports, “Most Valuable Players” follows three theater troupes on their creative journey to the elaborate award ceremony - the 'Super Bowl' of high school musical theater. The film reminds us why the performing arts remain vital in the lives of young people. In the face of shrinking budgets, schools, parents, and communities must band together to preserve and nurture arts education.
My Life with Carlos (Germán Berger-Hertz / Chile) Trailer
When director Germán Berger-Hertz was only one year old, his father Carlos was brutally murdered by the Pinochet regime’s death squads. The deeply personal “My Life With Carlos” breaks 30 years of silence as the director pieces together fragments of his father’s life. Through interviews with uncles, friends, neighbors and political colleagues, Berger-Hertz reconstructs one man’s history – and unveils the truth behind a nation still recovering from a brutal past. TENNESSEE PREMIERE
One Lucky Elephant (Lisa Leeman / USA) Trailer
Nine years in the making, “One Lucky Elephant” follows the poignant journey of circus producer David Balding as he tries to find a nurturing and permanent home for Flora, the 18-year-old African elephant that he rescued as an infant, raised as his "daughter" and made the star of his circus. David's love for Flora is put to the ultimate test when he realizes he made a terrible mistake keeping her as a solo elephant. Knowing Flora will outlive him, David sets off on a quest to find a home where Flora can live freely with other elephants. “One Lucky Elephant” raises vital questions regarding mans’ relationship to, and love for, wild animals.
The Sons of Tennessee Williams (Tim Wolff / USA) Trailer
“The Sons of Tennessee Williams” tells the story of the gay men of New Orleans who created a vast and fantastic culture of wildly popular 'drag balls' starting in the late 1950s. These men worked with the traditions of Mardi Gras to bring gay culture into public settings in the early 1960s. By the 1969 Stonewall Riots, there were four gay Mardi Gras clubs legally chartered by the state of Louisiana, throwing yearly extravaganzas at civic venues around the city and bringing down the laws that targeted gay people during this period. They staged a flamboyant, costumed revolution without politics, and won freedoms during a time, as now, when laws and people fought against them.
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