Every year I go to South By Southwest and every year I somehow managed to avoid seeing any of the movies which actually end up winning the festival competition. So right now, with the full slate of films for this year’s festival’s announcement below, I’m making this vow: I will see every competition movie this year. That way I’m covered.
Of course I’m almost certain to break this vow the second a competition movie’s screening conflicts with Observe & Report… and holy shit there’s a special screening of Office Space hosted by Mike Judge! So maybe it’s not so much of a vow as an intention, and intention to actually see some of the stuff that wins. Mike Judge though! Man I love him.
Here’s the full list of movies which, should you head down to Austin with me on March 13th, you’ll be able to see at the SXSW film festival.
NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest goat cheese the world has ever known and reclaim the heart of his beloved Angie. Cast: Mark Scheibmeir, Sydney Andrews, Stephen Taylor Fry, Dan Braverman (World Premiere)
Bomber
Director/Writer: Paul Cotter
A bittersweet comedy about love, family and dropping bombs on Germany. Cast: Shane Taylor, Benjamin Whitrow, Eileen Nicholas (World Premiere)
Breaking Upwards
Director: Daryl Wein. Writer: Peter Duchan, Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones
A young New York couple who, desperate to escape their ennui, but fearful of life apart, decide to intricately strategize their own break up. Cast: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Julie White, Peter Friedman, Andrea Martin, Pablo Schreiber, La Chanze, Olivia Thirlby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (World Premiere)
It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home
Director: Kris Swanberg. Writer: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy, David Lowery, Ben Kasulke
A woman tries to get over her recent breakup by backpacking in Costa Rica with her best friend, and through traveling together, the two women realize they may be on separate trips. Cast: Kris Swanberg, Jade Healy (World Premiere)
Made in China
Director: Judi Krant. Writer: Judi Krant and Dan Sumpter
Lost in Shanghai, an inventor discovers that it takes more than a bright idea to succeed. Cast: Jackson Keuhn, Dan Sumpter (World Premiere)
The Overbrook Brothers
Director: John Bryant. Writer: John Bryant and Jason Foxworth
Jason brings his girlfriend home for Christmas… and bad things happen. Cast: Nathan Harlan, Mark Reeb, Laurel Whitsett, Steve Zissis, John Jones (World Premiere)
That Evening Sun
Director/Writer: Scott Teems
A ruthless grudge match between two old foes. Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Tennessee sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery. Cast: Hal Holbrook, Mia Wasikowska, Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, Carrie Preston (World Premiere)
True Adolescents
Director/Writer: Craig Johnson
Aging indie rocker Sam Bryant takes two teen boys on an ill-fated hiking trip that forces everyone to grow up, and fast. Cast: Mark Duplass, Melissa Leo, Bret Loehr, Carr Thompson (World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
45356
Director: Bill Ross
An inquiring look at everyday life in middle America, the film explores the congruities of daily life in an American town Sidney, Ohio. (World Premiere)
Garbage Dreams
Director: Mai Iskander
Filmed over four years, the film follows three teenage boys born into the trash trade and growing up in the world's largest garbage village. Each boy chooses a different path when their community is suddenly faced with the globalization of their trade. (World Premiere)
MINE: Taken By Katrina
Director: Geralyn Pezanoski
After Hurricane Katrina, thousands of pets were rescued and adopted by families around the country, leading to many custody battles. Through these stories, the film examines issues of race, class and animal welfare in the U.S. (World Premiere)
Say My Name
Director: Nirit Peled
A story is built around the lives of entrepreneurs, mothers and artists fighting to be themselves in a society that offers few opportunities for women. (World Premiere)
Severe Clear
Director: Kristian Fraga
Armed with the world's most lethal ordnance and his home video camera, First Lieutenant Michael T. Scotti captures the chaos and complexity of war. (World Premiere)
Sons of a Gun
Director: Rivkah Beth Medow
A family of 3 schizophrenic men and their alcoholic caregiver/Dad get evicted, move into one motel room, argue, joke around, and find a new home. (World Premiere)
The Way We Get By
Director: Aron Gaudet
On call 24/7 for the past 6 years, a group of senior citizens transform their lives by greeting nearly one million U.S. troops at a tiny airport in Maine. (World Premiere)
Trimpin: The Sound of Invention
Director: Peter Esmonde
A wild ride through the sonic world of an eccentric creative genius of Artist inventor/engineer/composer Trimpin. (World Premiere)
SPOTLIGHT PREMIERES
Adventureland
Director/Writer: Greg Mottola
In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Martin Starr
Alexander the Last
Director/Writer: Joe Swanberg
A sensual and intimate portrait of a young marriage. Focusing on an artistic young couple, the film illuminates the challenges of monogamy amidst myriad sexual and creative temptations. Cast: Jess Weixler, Justin Rice, Barlow Jacobs, Josh Hamilton, Jane Adams (World Premiere)
Beeswax
Director/Writer: Andrew Bujalski
Something like a legal thriller for anyone who considers "legal thriller" an oxymoron, the film revolves around a pair of twin sisters, Jeannie and Lauren – “same face, different bodies" – and Jeannie's brewing conflict with business partner Amanda. Cast: Maggie Hatcher, Tilly Hatcher, Alex Karpovsky (US Premiere)
Best Worst Movie
Director: Michael Paul Stephenson
When an Italian filmmaker, an Alabama dentist and fledgling Utah actors filmed the low-budget horror movie, Troll 2, they'd no idea that twenty years later they would be celebrated for making the worst movie ever made. (World Premiere)
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
Director: Gerald Peary
The first documentary to dramatize the rich, fascinating history of American film criticism. (World Premiere)
Goodbye Solo
Director: Ramin Bahrani. Writer: Ramin Bahrani and Bahareh Azimi
On the lonely roads of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, two men from very different worlds forge an improbable friendship that will change both of their lives forever. Cast: Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo, Carmen Leyva, Lane ‘Roc’ Williams
Humpday
Director/Writer: Lynn Shelton
A farcical comedy about straight male bonding gone a little too far. Cast: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton, Trina Willard.
Hurt Locker
Director: Kathryn Bigelow. Writer: Mark Boal
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce (US Premiere)
I Love You, Man
Director/Writer: John Hamburg
The film centers on a man who, upon getting engaged, realizes he has no close male friends and must find someone to be the Best Man at his wedding. Cast: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, J.K. Simmons, Jane Curtin, Jon Favreau and Jaime Pressly (World Premiere, Opening Night Film)
The Last Beekeeper
Director: Jeremy Simmons
This documentary follows the lives of three commercial beekeepers over the course of one year as they struggle with Colony Collapse Disorder. As they all take their bees to California's enormous annual almond pollination, they are forced to ask the question "If all the bees die, what do you have to live for?" (World Premiere)
Monsters from the ID
Director: David Gargani
The untold story of 1950’s American Sci-Fi Cinema and the role of the Modern Scientist. (World Premiere)
Moon
Director: Duncan Jones. Writer: Nathan Parker
Before returning to Earth after three years on the moon, things go horribly wrong for astronaut Sam Bell. Cast: Sam Rockwell
New World Order
Director Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer
Impassioned conspiracy theorists travel the globe trying to expose the group that they claim rules the world. (World Premiere)
Objectified
Director: Gary Hustwit
A glimpse into our relationship to manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. (World Premiere)
Observe and Report
Director/Writer: Jody Hill
This dark comedy follows the story of Ronnie Barnhardt, a deluded, self-important head of mall security who squares off in a turf war against the local cops. Cast: Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Michael Peña and Ray Liotta (World Premiere, Centerpiece Slot)
Passing Strange
Director: Spike Lee. Lyrics: Stew. Music & Lyrics: Stew and Heidi Rodewald
A musical documentary about the international exploits of a young man from Los Angeles who leaves home to find himself and 'the real'. A theatrical stage production of the original Tony-Award winning book by Stew. Cast: De’Adre Aziza, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo, Stew.
Sin Nombre
Director/Writer: Cary Fukunaga
Writer/director Cary Fukunaga’s firsthand experiences with Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the U.S. form the basis of this epic dramatic thriller. Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mej’a, Luis Fernando Pe–a, Diana Garc’a.
The Square
Director: Nash Edgerton. Writer: Joel Edgerton and Matthew Dabner
Nash Edgerton's debut feature is a film-noir in a bleak Australian town where a simple crime goes horribly wrong and escalates into a nightmare of unforeseen events. Cast: David Roberts, Claire Van Der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps and Bill Hunter (North American Premiere)
Three Blind Mice
Director/Writer: Matthew Newton
Three young Navy officers hit Sydney for one last night on land before being shipped over to the Gulf to fight. Throughout the night the boys lose each other, find themselves, and along the way discover courage, friendship and redemption. Cast: Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, Matthew Newton, Tina Bursill
The Two Bobs
Director/Writer: Tim McCanlies
Just as they finish their groundbreaking violent video-game masterpiece, the two gaming legends known as “The Two Bobs” discover that their precious game-software has been stolen... and with it, their livelihoods, genius reputations, everything they own. Cast: Tyler Francavilla, Devin Ratray, Mika Boorem, Cody Kasch, Leonardo Nam (World Premiere)
Winnebago Man
Director: Ben Steinbauer
Jack Rebney's outrageously funny outtakes from a Winnebago sales video became an underground phenomenon and made him an internet superstar. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer sets out to find him. (World Premiere)
Women in Trouble
Director/Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
One day in the lives of ten desperate women with one thing in common: trouble. Cast: Carla Gugino, Josh Brolin, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Simon Baker (World Premiere)
EMERGING VISIONS
Awaydays
Director: Pat Holden. Writer: Kevin Sampson
A blade-sharp rites-of-passage that buzzes with the post-punk energy of its late-70s Liverpool setting. Based on the classic novel by Kevin Sampson. Cast: Nicky Bell, Liam Boyle, Stephen Graham, Oliver Lee (North American Premiere)
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Director: Jessica Oreck
Untangling the web of cultural and historical ties underlying Japan’s deep fascination with insects… and what it says about the rest of us. (World Premiere)
Brock Enright: Good Times Will Never Be The Same
Director: Jody Lee Lipes
Artist Brock Enright's unbridled creative force clashes with the confines of love, family, and industry, as he crafts the most significant show of his career. (World Premiere)
Creative Nonfiction
Director/Writer: Lena Dunham
Reality and fiction are indistinguishable as a college student tries and fails to differentiate her creative writing screenplay from her increasingly awkward social life. Cast: Eleonore Endricks, David Unger, Audrey Gelman, Sam Lisenco, Lena Dunham (World Premiere)
Crude Independence
Director: Noah Hutton
A rumination on the future of small town America through the lens of a humanistic tale of change at the hands of the global energy market and its unyielding thirst for oil. (World Premiere)
Four Boxes
Director/Writer: Wyatt McDill
A snarky social thriller about three suburban nobodies watching a creep named Havoc on a website called fourboxes.tv – Rear Window on the internet. Cast: Justin Kirk, Terryn Westbrook, Sam Rosen (World Premiere)
The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
Director: David Russo
When Dory’s life seems like it’s going down the drain, a strange “new life” takes shape inside him and he learns that sometimes you don’t have to find meaning, it grows in you. Cast: Marshall Allman, Vince Vieluf, Natasha Lyonne, Tania Raymonde, Tygh Runyan.
Luckey
Director: Laura Longsworth
After sculptor Tom Luckey’s devastating fall through a window, his family must cross delicate lines drawn long ago by divorce and remarriage while Tom, fully paralyzed and wacky personality intact, pursues building his biggest, most complicated sculpture ever. (World Premiere)
Make-Out with Violence
Director: The Deagol Brothers. Writer: The Deagol Brothers, Cody DeVos and Eric Lehning
A rock musical wherein the living love the dead and break into silence instead of song. Cast: Eric Lehning, Cody DeVos, Leah High, Brett Miller, Shellie Marie Shartzer
Modern Love is Automatic
Director/Writer: Zach Clark
A story about an apathetic nurse who moonlights as a dominatrix, her aspiring model roommate and the sad, strange world they live in. Cast: Melodie Sisk, Maggie Ross (World Premiere)
Motherland
Director: Jennifer Steinman
Six grieving mothers journey to Africa in order to test the theory that “giving is healing.” (World Premiere)
My Suicide
Director: David Lee Miller. Writer: David Lee Miller, Eric Adams, Gabriel Sunday, Jordan Miller
An isolated, media obsessed teenager announces he's going to kill himself for his high school, video production class final project. Cast: Gabriel Sunday, David Carradine, Joe Mantegna, Nora Dunn, Mariel Hemingway (North American Premiere)
Pulling John
Director: Vassiliki Khonsari
The universal story of a champion arm wrestler’s glory in an unsung sport, who after 25 years of success is now burdened with the inevitable transformation of aging. (World Premiere)
RATS and CATS
Director: Tony Ayres. Writer: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar
Ex-soap star Darren McWarren destroyed his career with a series of indiscretions. Now he's living the live away from the spotlight when a "Where are they now" journalist comes to call. Cast: Jason Gann, Adam Zwar, Anya Beyersdorf, Tony Rogers (North American Premiere)
Sissyboy
Director: Kate Turinski
A juncture in the lives of performance art revolutionaries, the film explores a Portland-based gender-bending drag troupe that has served up their audacity, ambivalence and social commentary throughout the Rose City for over 3 years before hundreds of devoted fans.
Sorry, Thanks
Director: Dia Sokol, Writer: Dia Sokol and Lauren Veloski
Disaster looms when Kira (reeling from a brutal break-up) sleeps with Max (who already has a girlfriend) and Max takes up two new pursuits: an obsessive-tending interest in Kira, and the mystery of whether he may in fact be an ass. Cast: Wiley Wiggins, Kenya Miles, Andrew Bujalski, Ia Hernandez (World Premiere)
Splinterheads
Director/Writer: Brant Sersen
For Justin Frost, a typical day is rolling out of bed at one, practicing improvised karate, and mowing grass for his best friend's landscaping business. But when a traveling carnival lands in his small town, Justin falls for a sexy con artist and wakes up to the life he has yet to begin living. Cast: Thomas Middleditch, Rachael Taylor, Christopher McDonald, Lea Thompson, Dean Winters (World Premiere)
St. Nick
Director/Writer: David Lowery
A stark, haunting portrait of childhood following the adventures of a runaway brother and sister as they try to survive, all on their own, out on the wintry plains of the great southwest. Cast: Tucker Sears, Savanna Sears, Barlow Jacobs, Mara Lee Miller (World Premiere)
The Time of Their Lives
Director: Jocelyn Cammack
With a combined age of almost 300, Hetty, Rose and Alison are still powerfully engaged in their individual forms of activism - from journalism, to public speaking to anti-war demonstrations - while quietly negotiating the final moments of their lives. (North American Premiere)
Trust Us, This Is All Made Up
Director: Alex Karpovsky
Immortalized in the world of improv comedy, Second City veterans TJ Jagodowksi and David Pasquesi explore the unique partnership and transcendental forces that govern their legendary performances. (World Premiere)
Wake Up
Director: Jonas Elrod
An average 36-year old guy suddenly wakes up with the ability to see and hear angels, demons, auras and ghosts. With his girlfriend by his side, he goes on a journey to figure it all out, and his search becomes a guide to revealing larger truths about the world and everyone in it. (World Premiere)
SX GLOBAL
Calling E.T. (Netherlands)
Director: Prosper de Roos.
A close-up look at a small group of people listening, watching, waiting and preparing for their perceived inevitable earthly encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence. (U.S. Premiere)
Favela on Blast (Brazil)
Director: Leandro HBL
Globe trotting taste-maker DJ Diplo presents a look at Brazil's Baile Funk music scene from directly inside the mountain ghettos where it spawned and thrives.
The Forgotten Tree (Mexico)
Director: Luis Rincon
A documentary that revisits the slums featured over fifty years ago in Los Olvidados, (Luis Buñuel), and reveals the current and similar conditions for the people in this area of Mexico City.
Journey to the End of Coal (France)
Director: Samuel Bollendorff
Millions of Chinese coal miners are making sacrifices everyday, risking their lives and spoiling their land to satisfy their country’s appetite for economic growth. Meet them and learn more about how they live in this valley of death and pollution in the frozen winter of Northern China. (U.S. Premiere)
Love on Delivery (Denmark)
Director: Janus Metz.
In a remote fishing village in Denmark, 575 Thai women are married to Danish men. An intimate look at the unique relationships between these Danish men and their Thai wives. (U.S. Premiere)
Roadsworth: Crossing the Line (Canada)
Director: Alan Kohl
Stencil artist Peter Gibson’s personal and professional struggle to defend his work, define himself as an artist and address difficult questions about art and freedom of expression. (U.S. Premiere)
Snowblind (England)
Director: Vikram Jayanti
Rachael Scdoris, 23, and legally blind since birth, is racing in her third Iditarod, the grueling 1,100 mile dog sled race in Alaska that's the toughest race in the world. (World Premiere)
Sounds Like Teen Spirit...a popumentary (England)
Director: Jamie Johnson.
Behind the scenes look at of the world’s premiere youth music spectacle: The Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
Ticket to Paradise (Denmark)
Director: Janus Metz.
The sequel to Janus Metz' Love on Delivery’ follows the story of a young Thai-girl's journey from peasant to sex worker. (U.S. Premiere)
24 BEATS PER SECOND Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Director: Sacha Gervasi
At 14, Toronto school friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it. Cast: Steve “Lips Kudlow,” Robb Reiner.
All Tomorrow’s Parties
Director: All Tomorrow’s People
A kaleidoscopic journey into the parallel musical universe of cult music festival All Tomorrow’s Parties. (World Premiere)
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
Director: Chai Vasarhelyi
Youssou Ndour, one of Africa's most prominent musicians, returns home for the release of his highly controversial album, Egypt. (U.S. Premiere)
Intangible Assets Number 82
Director: Emma Franz
An Australian drummer searches for an enigmatic Korean shaman and is transformed by the journey. (North American Premiere)
Number One with A Bullet
Director: Jim Dziura
A feature-length documentary that pulls back the curtain on gun violence in Hip Hop.
The Promised Land – A Swamp Pop Journey
Director: Matthew Wilkinson
The story of South Louisiana super group Lil' Band o'Gold. 8 members, 25 egos, 6 livers - coming together to just play music. (World Premiere)
RiP: A Remix Manifesto
Director: Brett Gaylor
A documentary feature exploring issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. (North American Premiere)
Soul Power
Director: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte takes us on an epic trip back to 1974 when the most famous R & B acts in the world, including James Brown, B.B. King, and Bill Withers, put on 12 hour long concert to help promote Muhammad Ali and George Foreman's historic "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire. (U.S. Premiere)
When You’re Strange
Director: Tom DiCillo
Using only original footage shot between 1966 and 1971, When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors, attempts to disentangle truth from myth, depict Jim Morrison, artist and alcoholic/addict, and showcase the other members of the band: Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore, who together channeled the group's magic.
LONE STAR STATES
American Violet
Director: Tim Disney. Writer: Bill Haney
The astonishing story of Dee Roberts, a young African American single mother, whose courageous fight against her unwarranted drug arrest forever changes her life and the Texas justice system. Cast: Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton, Michael O’Keefe, Xzibit, with Charles Dutton and Alfre Woodard.
Blaze Foley Inside
Director: Kevin Triplett
A documentary on the everyday man behind the legend, Blaze Foley. Born in a tree house, killed in a friend's living room and 86'ed from his own funeral, is now a bona fide country music legend whose songs are covered by Merle Haggard, John Prine, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett. (World Premiere)
Exterminators
Director: John Inwood. Writer: Suzanne Weinert
A dark comedy about a group of women who meet in court mandated rage therapy and decide to form a traditional business with very untraditional methods. Cast: Heather Graham, Jennifer Coolidge, Amber Heard, Joey Lauren Adams, Matthew Settle (World Premiere)
The Least of These
Director: Clark Lyda
Detention of immigrant children in a former medium-security prison leads to controversy when three activist attorneys discover troubling conditions at the facility. (World Premiere)
Over the Hills and Far Away
Director: Michel Orion Scott
This documentary chronicles the journey of the Isaacson family as they travel through Mongolia in search of a mysterious shaman they believe can heal their autistic son.
Sunshine
Director: Karen Skloss
In 1975 rural Texas, the local mayor’s daughter grapples with an unplanned pregnancy finally deciding to have her baby in secret before giving her away in a hidden adoption. Twenty-three years later, the adopted child also has an unplanned baby out of wedlock. The film tells the intimate story of these two single mothers, while exploring the times and circumstances that afforded them very different options. (World Premiere)
MIDNIGHTERS A Film With Me In It
Director: Ian Fitzgibbon
An actor hard on his luck ends up with a large number of dead bodies on his hands. Cast: Mark Doherty, Dylan Moran (U.S. Premiere)
The Ceremony
Director/Writer: James Palmer
After finding a bizarre book, a young man is plagued by unexplainable occurrences inside his home. Cast: Scott Seegmiller (World Premiere)
Grace
Director/Writer: Paul Solet
After losing her unborn child, Madeline Matheson insists on carrying the baby to term. Following the delivery, the child miraculously returns to life, but when the baby develops a desperate appetite for human blood, Madeline is faced with a mother's ultimate decision. Cast: Jordan Ladd, Samantha Ferris, Gabrielle Rose, Malcom Stewart
Lake Mungo
Director/Writer: Joel Anderson
A supernatural drama about grief. Cast: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger (North American Premiere)
Trailers from Hell.com with Joe Dante – LIVE PRESENTATION
Joe Dante presents The Best of Trailers from Hell which showcases classic-era Previews of Coming Attractions - punctuated with humorous, passionate and insightful commentaries by contemporary filmmakers like John Landis, Eli Roth and Edgar Wright - with particular emphasis on the lurid, the extreme and the outrageous.
Zift
Director: Javor Gardev. Writer: Vladislav Todorov
A man freed after a wrongful murder conviction enters a diabolical city full of decaying neighborhoods, gloomy streets and bizarre characters. Cast: Zachary Baharov, Tanya Ilieva, Vladmir Penev, Mihail Mutafov
SPECIAL SCREENINGS American Prince
Director: Tommy Palotta
After being forgotten for 30 years, filmmaker Tommy Pallotta revisits Scorcese's lost documentary "American Boy" and its raconteur subject, Steven Prince. (World Premiere)
Berlin Calling
Director/Writer: Hannes Stoehr
Berlin Calling is an extraordinary story that starts in pre-war Berlin, spans three generations, and concludes in the dark and sweaty rock n' roll clubs that line the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Cast: Paul Kalkbrenner, Rita Lengyel, Corinna Harfouch, Araba Walton, Peter Schneider (U.S. Premiere)
Blood Trail
Director: Richard Parry
War photographer Robert King let a camera crew follow him for over 15 years. From his first assignment in Bosnia to his breakthrough work in Chechnya, and on to his recent coverage in Iraq, Blood Trail is an extraordinary look at this difficult and dangerous profession. (U.S. Premiere)
Burma VJ
Director: Anders Ostergaard
Armed with small handy cams, undercover Video Journalists in Burma risk their lives to keep up the flow of news from their closed country as in September 2007 thousands of monks take to the streets of Rangoon in a peaceful protest against the country’s military rulers.
Daytime Drinking
Director/Writer: NOH Young-seok
A drinking road trip fable of a guy who just got dumped... Cast: SONG Sam-dong, YUK Sang-yeop, KIM Kang-hee (U.S. Premiere)
For All Mankind
Director: Al Reinart
A trip to another world disguised as a documentary.
De Ofrivilliga (Involuntary)
Director: Ruben Östlund. Writer: Erik Hemmendorff and Ruben Östlund
A tragic comedy or comic tragedy about group pressure on the individual. Five separate episodes on everyday disasters. Cast: Maria Lundqvist, Leif Edlund, Olle Lijas, Vera Vitali, Cecilia Milocco (North American Premiere)
It Came From Kuchar
Director: Jennifer M. Kroot
The hilarious and touching story of the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, George and Mike Kuchar, and how their outrageous, no-budget movies inspired generations of filmmakers (World Premiere)
Know Your Mushrooms
Director: Ron Mann
Filmmaker Ron Mann puts the fun in fungus with his newest documentary. (U.S. Premiere)
Letters to the President
Director: Petr Lom
Exclusive access film about President Ahmadinejad of Iran, and what life is like under his regime. The film takes as its narrative thread the letters that supposedly ten million Iranians have written to the President. (North American Premiere)
Office Space – 10th Anniversary – LIVE PRESENTATION
Director Mike Judge will present a special screening of the cult phenomenon film on the occasion of its 10th Anniversary.
The Paranoids
Director: Gabriel Medina. Writer: Gabriel Medina and Nicolas Gueilburt
An aspiring screenwriter who lives in constant state of paranoia, faces the return of his successful friend Manuel and his girlfriend in this off-beat romantic comedy. (U.S. Premiere)
Saint Misbehavin: The Life and Time of Wavy Gravy
Director: Michelle Esrick
The true story of cultural phenomenon Wavy Gravy – a man whose life proves that you can change the world and have fun doing it. (World Premiere)
The Snake
Director/Writer: Adam Goldstein and Eric Kutner
The funniest movie about dating a bulimic... possibly ever. Cast: Adam Goldstein, Nina Braddock (World Premiere)
Strongman
Director: Zachary Levy
Stainless Steel bills himself as the world's strongest man (at bending steel) and hopes to make it big despite his advancing age.
Sweethearts of the Rodeo
Director: Bradley Beesley
Amidst stories of murder, hardship, heartache and redemption, the film follows the convict cowgirls of the Eddie Warriors Correctional Center in their preparation for the only rodeo where female prisoners compete rough-stock and as equals against male prison teams. (World Premiere)
We Live in Public
Director: Ondi Timor
The story of the Internet’s revolutionary impact on human interaction as told through the eyes of Internet pioneer and visionary, Josh Harris.
The Yes Men Fix the World
Director: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno and Kurt Engfehr
A pair of notorious troublemakers sneaks into corporate events disguised as captains of industry, then use their momentary authority to expose the biggest criminals on the planet. Cast: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno
You Won’t Miss Me
Director: Ry Russo-Young. Writer: Ry Russo-Young and Stella Schnabel
A portrait of a modern day rebel, Shelly Brown, a twenty-three year-old alienated urban misfit recently released from a psychiatric hospital. Cast: Stella Schnabel, Rene Ricard
