The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF), founded by Walmart and Presented by Coca-Cola, announced today the lineup of official feature film selections for the festival’s fourth edition, May 1-6, 2018. The inclusive lineup includes an impressive slate of films – more than half from underrepresented creators – including 42 Competition Films, 13 episodic content presentations, notable showcase screenings of top festival films, critical favorites, anniversary screenings of classics, a presentation of family focused and animated greats on their Sony/Orville Redenbacher’s Outdoor Theater at Lawrence Park, and every film to date from the Marvel Cinema Universe in a special free-to-the-public presentation for BFF’s film fans.
BFF, already noted for it’s innovative approach to joining filmmakers with business leaders under a film festival umbrella to foster more diversity and inclusiveness in the film industry and elsewhere, announced the new Legacy Award, celebrating filmmakers and entertainers that have represented inclusion in the film and entertainment industries in exemplary fashion and have been leaders in pushing the industry toward better practices regarding diversity. Actor and Filmmaker Meg Ryan will be BFF’s first Legacy Award honoree.
Meg Ryan
BFF co-founder Geena Davis, said, “This year’s edition of the Bentonville Film Festival truly exemplifies our mission. We are thrilled to honor industry pioneers, while at the same time recognizing current trendsetters and changemakers, and showcasing a new class of inclusive storytellers. To be able to bring them all together in one place to enact change – that is what BFF is all about.”
BENJI THE DOVE
Films in the dramatic feature competition this year include: Marisol Gomez-Mouakad’s ANJELICA; Sanghoon Lee’s BANANA SEASON; Kevin Arbouet’s BENJI THE DOVE; Marinanna Palka’s EGG; Tom Huang’s FIND ME; Sean Olson’s F.R.E.D.I.; Anne-Marie Hess’s GOOD AFTER BAD; Jenna Laurenzo’s LEZ BOMB; Molly McGlynn’s MARY GOES ROUND; Autumn McAlpin’s MISS ARIZONA; Vashhti Anderson’s MOKO JUMBIE; Santiago Rizzo’s QUEST; Alex Ranarivelo’s RIDE; Jenn McGowan’s RUST CREEK; Megan Griffith’s SADIE; Anthony Nardolillo’s SHINE; Ramaa Mosley’s TATTERDEMALION; Mark Dennis and Ben Foster’s TIME TRAP; Teddy Smith’s URBAN COUNTRY; Suzi Yoonessi’s UNLOVABLE; and Kendall Goldberg’s WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD.
SKID ROW MARATHON
Documentary features in competition include: Marvin Blunte’s 6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY; Joanna James’s A FINE LINE; Robin Hauser’s BIAS; Stacey Reiss’s DAUGHTERS OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION; Luis Prieto’s THE DISUNITED STATES OF AMERICA; Brian Ivie’s EMANUEL; Skye Borgman’s FOREVER ‘B’; Dan Habib’s INTELLIGENT LIVES; Susan Kucera’s LIVING IN FUTURE’S PAST; Trish Russo and Craig E. Shapiro’s LOVE ALWAYS, MOM; Sebastien Paquet’s MIND OVER MATTER; Rob Herring and Ryan Wirick’s THE NEED TO GROW; Kulap Vilaysack’s ORIGIN STORY; Kate Hickey’s ROLLER DREAMS; Mark Hayes’s SKID ROW MARATHON; Robin Berghaus’s STUMPED; Jillian Moul and Matthew Moul’s SURVIVING HOME; Maya Washington’s THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDARS; P.J. Marcellino, and Hermon Farahi’s WHEN THEY AWAKE and Sally Colón-Petree’s WOMEN LIKE US.
“Brooklynification”
The Episodic Projects vying for prizes are: Ben Strang’s Beast; Morgan Beck’s Brooke; Keith Miller’s Brooklynification; Jennifer Morrison’s Fabled; Raj Trivedi’s From Jappan; Corrie Chen and Tori Garrett’s Mustangs FC; Kholi Hicks’s Reaver Vs. Specter; Max Rissman’s Root for the Villain; Will Seefried’s Sink Sank Sunk; Andrew Olsen’s SusaneLand; Jeremy Redleaf’s Threads; Milena Govich’s Unspeakable; and Allison Vanore’s Whatta Lark (Ep 1).
BFF previously announced that Elissa Downs’s THE HONOR LIST would make its world premiere as the Opening Night selection, with Lea Thompson’s THE YEAR OF SPECTACULAR MEN screening as this year’s Centerpiece selection.
The Bentonville Film Festival has chosen Meg Ryan as the first recipient of the festival’s Legacy Award. Her appearance will mark Ryan’s third time at BFF, which will include anniversary screenings of her two classic collaborations with Nora Ephron and Tom Hanks – SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993) and YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998). Ryan will be honored and also take part in a special conversation about her career in front of and behind the camera, on Friday, May 4 at the AMC Theatre at 21c Museum Hotel (200 NE A St), hosted by Busy Phillips (Vice Principals). She will also join Geena Davis for the panel discussion, “Geena and Friends Talk About Reversing Gender Roles On Screen” Presented by by L’Oréal Paris and Maybelline New York on Saturday, May 5th at 12:00 PM at Record North (104 SW A St).
An actor and filmmaker, Meg Ryan’s film career took a major leap with her appearance in Tony Scott’s TOP GUN (1986), with starring roles in Joe Dante’s Innerspace (1987) and Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton’s D.O.A. (1988) quickly following. However, the romantic comedy trio of Rob Reiner’s WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989), and Ephron’s SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993) and YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998) that cemented her place in the hearts of film goers around the world. Not limiting herself to the lighter fare, Ryan also tackled dramatic roles in film like Taylor Hackford’s PROOF OF LIFE (2000), Jane Campion’s IN THE CUT (2003), and Charles Dutton’s AGAINST THE ROPES (2004). After a hiatus, Ryan returned with Jon Kasdan’s IN THE LAND OF WOMEN (2007), Diane English’s remake of THE WOMEN (2008), and Cheryl Hines’s SERIOUS MOONLIGHT (2009). Having worked with some of the top directors in Hollywood, Ryan then took her turn behind the camera, directing the period drama, ITHACA (2015).
BLINDSPOTTING
Special Spotlight selections include; Carlos Lopez Estrada’s drama BLINDSPOTTING, about the intersection of race and class, set against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Oakland; Sara Driver’s documentary BOOM FOR REAL, about legendary New York City-centric artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; Brett Haley’s crowd-pleaser HEARTS BEAT LOUD, starring Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons as a father and daughter, who form an unlikely songwriting duo; Julie Cohen and Betsy West documentary RBG, about the inestimable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Andrew Bujalski’s latest, SUPPORT THE GIRLS, about a restaurant manager attempting to outmaneuver the owner as she tries to help one of her employees; and Jennifer Fox’s Sundance hit, THE TALE, which stars Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, and Common, in a devastating film which dramatizes Fox’s reconciling her memories of her first sexual relationship with the reality of what actually transpired.
ENTER THE DRAGON
In addition to the Meg Ryan films, highlights among the Anniversary/Legacy screenings include; the 45th Anniversary of Robert Clouse’s ENTER THE DRAGON, with Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee, in attendance, the 25th anniversary of the film that made dinosaurs on screen look real, Steven Spielberg’s JURASSIC PARK; and the 10th anniversary of Phylilda Lloyd’s ABBA-fest, MAMMA MIA!
The Sony/Orville Redenbacher’s Outdoor Theatre @ Lawrence Plaza will offer a number of family-friendly and animated hits including; the recent Academy Award winner, Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina’s COCO, Ang Lee’s classic, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000); Otto Bell’s adventure film, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (2016); both Joe Johnston’s JUMANJI (1995) and Jake Kasdan’s recent blockbuster hit, JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, and Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook’s animated classic, MULAN (1998), celebrating its 20th Anniversary.
Additional highlights and events within the film festival are; the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge Finalists screening on Wednesday, May 3, followed by a Q&A with founder Nic Novicki; the special Project Zero screening and event on, Sunday, May 5, to raise awareness for the Arkansas-based organization’s mission to diligently and passionately promote adoption through the foster care system; the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center, Ready Nation, Moms in Film and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families presentation of Raising America on Friday, May 4, followed by a panel discussion with Kyle Peterson, Alysia Reiner and others; the Samsung Create Event, on Thursday, May 23, presenting student filmmakers challenged to make a short film based on the mission of BFF by utilizing a Samsung Galaxy phone and tablet; and Marvel Experience, Wednesday May 2 – Friday May 4, at Skylight Cinema which will offer the ultimate Marvel Experience for film fans, with free film screenings, themed concessions and galactic experiences.
For the 4th consecutive year, BFF will remain the only film festival in the world to offer guaranteed distribution to its narrative feature film winner. BFF’ s distribution partners include AMC Theatres, Lifetime, Starz, ACI-Inspires and others.
In 2018, BFF will add new prizes for its other juried categories. Through a partnership with MarVista Entertainment, the winner of the Short Film Competition will be awarded a directing role on one of MarVista’s future feature films, providing an opportunity for diverse ideas, opinions and stories to be heard.
The winner of the Documentary Film Competition will receive a mentorship prize package sponsored by ITVS, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that has, for over 25 years, funded and partnered with a diverse range of documentary filmmakers to produce and distribute untold stories. The Episodic Competition winner will receive a prize package sponsored by SeriesFest, an award winning festival dedicated to showcasing the best and boldest in episodic storytelling from around the world, that includes a screening at the SeriesFest Season 4 in Denver, a consultation with an industry professional, and a VIP Badge.
Co-founded by Oscar® winner Geena Davis and Inclusion Companies CEO Trevor Drinkwater, with support from founding sponsor Walmart and presenting sponsor Coca-Cola, BFF and its partners champion inclusion across all forms of media. Major sponsors include Mars, P&G, Unilever, Nickelodeon, Synchrony and AMC Theatres.
For information to purchase passes and tickets, or for additional information about the Bentonville Film festival, please go to http://bentonvillefilmfestival.com.
The 2018 Bentonville Film Festival official selections:
OPENING NIGHT SELECTION
THE HONOR LIST
Director: Elissa Down
Country: USA, Running Time: 103 min
Four girls sink a time capsule in a lake with a list of things they want to do before graduation, but they all go separate ways before graduating. When a tragedy strikes, they reunite to find the capsule and complete the bucket list.
CENTERPIECE SCREENING SELECTION
THE YEAR OF SPECTACULAR MEN
Director: Lea Thompson
Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min
Izzy Klein (Madelyn Deutch) has (barely) graduated from college, broken up (sorta) with her boyfriend, and is stranded in New York City with a bad case of pre-real-world millennial-itis. Unsure of what the future holds, her movie star little sister, Sabrina (Zoey Deutch), convinces her to move back home to Los Angeles and into her shared apartment with actor boyfriend, Sebastian (Avan Jogia), where they can keep an eye on rudderless Izzy. Emotionally unable to deal with the loss of her father, and slightly distracted by her mother Deb’s (Lea Thompson) newfound love affair with loopy yogi Amethyst (Melissa Bologna), Izzy funnels her energy into dating a colorful bouquet of five complicated and spectacular men over the course of the next year.
DRAMATIC FEATURE COMPETITION
ANJELICA
Director: Marisol Gomez-Mouakad
Country: Puerto Rico, Running Time: 100 min
Angelica has spent her whole life escaping from her mixed racial identity, but a family crisis forces her to look inside and rethink her life.
BANANA SEASON
BANANA SEASON
Director: Sanghoon Lee
Country: USA, Running time: 104 min
BANANA SEASON is a high-concept dramedy centered on an unusually beautiful relationship developed at a pivotal time in the lives between a Peter, Little Person and Sun, an Asian MMA fighter.
BENJI THE DOVE
Director: Kevin Arbouet
Countries: USA/Iceland, Running time: 85 min
A tender tale of four boys who are rapidly coming to terms with school, bullies, friendship, and loyalty.
EGG
Director: Marinanna Palka
Country: USA, Running time: 90 min
EGG is an unflinching comedy about why we choose motherhood, why we revere it or fear it or delegate it, and why some women choose to forgo it.
FIND ME
Director: Tom Huang
Country: USA, Running time: 103 min
Joe is an accountant who on a downward spiral after a recent painful divorce. His only solace is his co-worker and ‘office wife,’ Amelia, whom he spends most of his free time with at work. Amelia loves to travel and see the outdoors, trying to get Joe to get out again and live life, which he can’t yet bring himself to do. It’s only when Amelia mysteriously disappears for weeks that he finally gets himself out of his shell to try to find her through clues she leaves for him in National Parks across the West
F.R.E.D.I.
Director: Sean Olson
Country: USA, Running time: 90 min
An intelligent, lovable robot known as ”FREDI” is stolen from a secret research facility by the project’s lead scientist. The robot is found by a 15-year-old teenager, James. Soon the two begin to communicate and form a bond in which Fredi learns about teenage life and James learns about some new values.
GOOD AFTER BAD
Director: Anne-Marie Hess
Country: USA, Running time: 98 min
When a troubled young girl crosses paths with an eccentric bachelor, her life is changed forever.
LEZ BOMB
LEZ BOMB
Director: Jenna Laurenzo
Country: USA, Running time: 90 min
A still closeted young woman brings her girlfriend home for Thanksgiving only to have her coming out efforts thwarted by the unexpected arrival of her male roommate.
MARY GOES ROUND
Director: Molly McGlynn
Country: Canada, Running time: 84 min
An alcoholic substance abuse counsellor, Mary, gets a DUI and returns home to Niagara Falls where she ends up taking care of her dying, estranged father and her teenaged half sister whom she’s never met.
MISS ARIZONA
Director: Autumn McAlpin
Country: USA, Running time: 92 min
A former pageant queen embarks on an all night adventure with four unlikely friends she meets while volunteering at a women’s shelter.
MOKO JUMBIE
MOKO JUMBIE
Director: Vashhti Anderson
Country: USA, Trinidad, Tobago, Running time: 94 min
A Gothic Caribbean love story set in Trinidad
QUEST
Director: Santiago Rizzo
Country: USA, Running time: 85 min
QUEST is a non-romantic story of love, about a friendship between a 12-year-old graffiti addict who faces constant abuse from his step-father, and a teacher named Tim Moellering who believes there is no such thing as a bad kid – only a bad situation. Based on the stories of their lives, the first draft of Quest was written by director Santiago Rizzo and his teacher Tim Moellering. This is their story.
RIDE
Director: Alex Ranarivelo
Country: USA, Running Time:
RIDE is about the life story of John Buultjens, who has dedicated his life to the sport of BMX.
RUST CREEK
RUST CREEK
Director: Jenn McGowan
Country: USA, Running time: 104 min
When overachieving college senior Sawyer Scott makes a wrong turn, her road trip becomes a life-changing fight for survival in the wilds of eastern Kentucky.
SADIE
Director: Megan Griffiths
Country: USA, Running time: 96 min
While her father is away serving in the military, Sadie battles to preserve his place on the home front when her mother takes an interest in a new man.
SHINE
Director: Anthony Nardolillo
Countries: USA/UK, Running Time: 95 min
Two brothers who were once East Harlem’s best Salsa dancers are separated after the death of their father only to be reunited years later on opposing ends of gentrification.
TATTERDEMALION
TATTERDEMALION
Director: Ramaa Mosley
Country: USA, Running time: 96 min
A young woman returns home to the Ozarks to find her brother and instead discovers a young boy in the woods who may or may not be the demon of local folklore.
TIME TRAP
TIME TRAP
Directors: Mark Dennis, Ben Foster
Country: USA, Running time: 87 min
A group of students become trapped inside a mysterious cave where they discover time passes differently underground than on the surface.
URBAN COUNTRY
Director: Teddy Smith
Country: USA, Running time: 88 min
Faith, a troubled 18-year-old girl from the city, moves to a horse ranch in the country to help her dying mother.
UNLOVABLE
Director: Suzi Yoonessi
Country: USA, Running Time: 85 min
A sex and love addicted woman learns what real intimacy is when she starts making music with a reclusive man.
WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD
WHEN JEFF TRIED TO SAVE THE WORLD
Director: Kendall Goldberg
Country: USA, Running time: 92 min
When Jeff, the manager of Winky’s World, an old-school bowling alley, discovers the owner’s plans to sell, saving the place means pulling himself out of the gutter, too.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY
Director: Marvin Blunte
Country: USA, Running time: 92 min
Tucked away in the Thai jungle lies a small democratic school called Children’s Village. Children’s village teaches freedom of speech and human rights to some of Thailand’s most underprivileged children. 6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY documents the everyday lives of the students as they prepare a special celebration to honor Rajani Dhongchai, the founder and person they refer to as Mother, on the school’s 35th Mother’s Day anniversary.
A FINE LINE
A FINE LINE
Director: Joanna James
Countries: USA/Spain/Italy, Running time: 72 min
The feature-length documentary, A FINE LINE, explores why only 6% of head chefs/restaurant owners are women, when traditionally women have always held the central role in the kitchen. Experiences from world-renowned chefs are woven into a central narrative of a single mother, small-town restaurateur who beat the odds stacked against her. This personal story opens up a national discussion on gender inequality, motherhood and career balance, and how this inequity in the kitchen is representative of industries across the board.
BIAS
Director: Robin Hauser
Country: USA, Running time: 85 Min
If you’re human, you’re biased. Now what? ‘Bias’ is a provocative documentary that explores how our unconscious assumptions influence our choices, how we perceive others, and how we see ourselves. Groundbreaking research, driven by advances in technology, reveals the surprising ways in which unconscious bias perpetuates inequities in our social groups, workplaces, and communities. Can we save ourselves from the harmful effects of bias?
DAUGHTERS OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
Director: Stacey Reiss
Country: USA, Running time: 85 Min
Spanning three decades (1960-1989), DAUGHTERS OF THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION is the never-before-told story of the late Suzanne Mitchell, the fiercely loyal den mother of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Seen by many as regressive, this diverse sisterhood of small-town “girls next door” became unlikely, controversial icons of womanhood at the height of the Sexual Revolution and Second Wave Feminism, changing the game of football — and America – forever.
THE DISUINTED STAES OF AMERICA
Director: Luis Prieto
Country: USA, Running time: 88 min
THE DISUNITED STATES OF AMERICA documents the divisive 2016 Presidential election from six drastically different perspectives of Americans spread across America.
EMANUEL
Director: Brian Ivie
Country: USA, Running time: 80 min
The untold story of the victims and survivors of ‘The Emanuel Church Shooting’ in Charleston, South Carolina, and the radical forgiveness that followed.
FOREVER ‘B’
FOREVER ‘B’
Director: Skye Borgman
Country: USA, Running time: 91 min
On October 17th, 1974, in the quiet town of Pocatello Idaho, 12-year-old Jan Broberg was kidnapped by her family’s best friend and neighbor. 18 months later, out on bail and awaiting trial for kidnapping, Robert Berchtold (Brother ‘B’ to Jan and her family) abducted Jan a second time, triggering a nationwide FBI manhunt. Through threats and brainwashing, Brother ‘B’ successfully turns Jan against her own family, while simultaneously manipulating her parents who paved the way for Jan’s abduction, in plain sight.
INTELLLIGENT LIVES
INTELLIGENT LIVES
Director: Dan Habib
Country: USA, Running time: 70 min
Three pioneering young adults with intellectual disabilities — Micah, Naieer, and Naomie — challenge perceptions of intelligence as they navigate high school, college, and the workforce. Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper, the narrator of the documentary, contextualizes the lives of these central characters and shares a personal perspective as he unpacks the sordid track record of intelligence testing in the U.S.
LIVING IN FUTURE’S PAST
Director: Susan Kucera
Country: USA, Running time: 84 min
Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges presents this beautifully photographed tour de force of original thinking on who we are and the environmental challenges we face. Bridges, alongside prominent scientists and authors, weaves evolution, emergence, entropy, dark ecology, and what some are calling the end of nature, into a story that helps us understand our place among the species of Earth’s household. The film upends our way of thinking and provides original insights into our subconscious motivations, their unintended consequences, what to do about our fossil slaves, and how our fundamental animal nature influences our future as Humankind.
LOVE ALWAYS, MOM
Directors: Trish Russo, Craig E. Shapiro
Country: USA, Running time: 94 min
A stage 4 cancer survivor and her husband make the controversial decision to have a child using an egg donor and a surrogate. With laughter and tears, we witness a mother’s love letter to her unborn child and a never before seen look into cancer and infertility.
MAN MADE
Director: T Cooper
Country: USA
MAN MADE takes us into the heart of transgender male (FTM) culture, revealing unexpected truths about gender, masculinity, humanity, and love. Four trans men, take a variety of life paths toward stepping on the stage at Trans FitCon, the only all-transgender bodybuilding competition in the world.
MIND OVER MATTER
MIND OVER MATTER
Director: Sebastien Paquet
Country: USA, Running time: 87 min
A young man with cerebral palsy overcomes a paralyzed left hand, bullies, and stereotypes, dreaming of becoming a rock guitarist even while told he will never succeed. His dreams become reality as he leads his own band, inspired by the band Korn to express himself through music.
THE NEED TO GROW
Directors: Rob Herring, Ryan Wirick
Country: USA, Running time: 92 min
With an estimated 60 years of farmable soil left on Earth, THE NEED TO GROW is a character driven story of innovators behind decentralized solutions and cutting edge technologies. Underdog leaders face unpredictable challenges as they fight to heal our broken food system and regenerate the planet’s dying soils.
ORIGIN STORY
ORIGIN STORY
Director: Kulap Vilaysack
Country: USA, Running time: 106 min
When Kulap Vilaysack was 14, she took her father’s side in an argument and her mother replied, ‘Why are you defending him? He’s not your real dad.’ Twenty years later, she’s finally ready to explore what that means. ORIGIN STORY is a feature-length, international quest – with stops in Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Laos – to meet the biological father she never knew. On the road, unforeseen revelations strike as hilarious or heartbreaking, rarely in between. ORIGIN STORY is a deeply personal but universally relevant tale of immigration, conflict, and personal responsibility.
ROLLER DREAMS
Director: Kate Hickey
Countries: USA/Australia, Running time: 82 min
It’s 1984 and Venice Beach, CA, is at the epicenter of a pop culture explosion. Young people of color seeking refuge from the turmoil of inner city life flock to the eclectic ocean community to create a brand new phenomenon: roller dancing! The talent and vibrant personality of this multicultural roller ‘family’ draws massive crowds and influence Hollywood. But just as roller dancing flourishes, politics, money and gentrification conspire to take their dreams away.
SKID ROW MARATHON
Director: Mark Hayes
Country: USA, Running time: 85 min
A criminal court judge starts a running club on L.A.’s skid row, where he trains a motley group of homeless people to run international marathons.
STUMPED
STUMPED
Director: Robin Berghaus
Country: USA, Running time: 72 min
When a filmmaker loses his limbs, he turns to stand-up comedy as therapy and undergoes a double-arm transplant in the hope of reclaiming his independence.
SURVIVING HOME
Directors: Jillian Moul, Matthew Moul
Country: USA, Running time: 85 min
They survived war, yet over the years, five veterans from different generations must find their own unique bridge of connection to survive and thrive back home.
THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDARS
THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDARS
Director: Maya Washington
In 1963, Michigan State Head Coach Duffy Daugherty gave 23 African American young men the opportunity of a lifetime. The daughter of football legend Gene Washington uncovers how the first fully integrated college football team in America changed the face of the game forever.
WHEN THEY AWAKE
Directors: P.J. Marcellino, Hermon Farahi
Country: Canada, Running Time: 92 min
In WHEN THEY AWAKE, we follow the footsteps of trailblazers like Buffy Sainte-Marie and Robbie Robertson to modern Indigenous musicians in Canada and elsewhere, who are getting noticed on the mainstream scene, reclaiming their place as key players in contemporary society.
WOMEN LIKE US
Director: Sally Colón-Petree
Countries: Kenya/USA, Running time: 90 min
WOMEN LIKE US features 14 astounding women creating change in the areas of sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, teen suicide, education, and more. Featuring commentary from Catt Sadler, Sherri Shepherd, Dianne Hudson, Ida Odinga and more, with music by Moby.
EPISODIC COMPETITION
Beast
Director: Ben Strang
Country: USA, Running time: 18 min
After the mysterious disappearance of his father, a young boy riles the help of his small fishing-town to find the sea-monster he believes his father was hunting.
Brooke
Director: Morgan Beck
Country: USA, Running time: 22 min
A pregnant woman and her husband find out they are going to have their baby early. Even though it messes up their timeline, they (along with her family and their friends) are excited to start this new adventure. It just came a little faster than they thought it would.
Brooklynification
Director: Keith Miller
Country: USA, Running time: 11
This diverse cast of characters take on the good, the bad and the awkward as transforming neighborhoods face the unexpected encounters of Brooklyn’s rapidly changing streets.
“Fabled”
Fabled
Director: Jennifer Morrison
Country: USA, Running time: 15 min
The imaginative realities of two young women living in a bureaucratic behavioral therapy ward are empowered and affirmed through the friendship that grows between them.
From Jappan
Director: Raj Trivedi
Country: USA, Running time: 8 min
When Jappan’s mother is scandalized by his live-in relationship, he flashes back to his twelve-year-old self-living under the thumb of his family’s culture.
“Mustangs FC”
Mustangs FC
Directors: Corrie Chen, Tori Garrett
Country: Australia, Running time: 25 min
A goal-kicking comedy drama about girls who are abandoning the sidelines and starting their local football club’s first all female team.
Reaver Vs. Specter
Director: Kholi Hicks
Country: USA, Running time: 13 min
Roan is a young black woman making ends meet as a nurse in Inglewood, California–a rundown and struggling community where specters are as common as insects.
“Root for the Villain”
Root for the Villain
Director: Max Rissman
Country: USA, Running time: 7 min
In a superhero universe, Lana is a parole officer who works with low-level super-villains, helping them reintegrate into society after they are released from prison.
Sink Sank Sunk
Director: Will Seefried
Country: USA, Running time: 16 min
A reclusive photographer (Will Seefried) investigates his antagonistic relationship with his late mother (Laura Linney) by completing her passion project: a documentary film about her synchronized swimming team.
“Susaneland”
SusaneLand
Director: Andrew Olsen
Country: USA, Running time: 4 min
Vignettes from a young woman’s bizarre life. Episode one: Susane kills someone in the elevator.
Threads
Director: Jeremy Redleaf
Country: USA Running time: 11 min
Episode one tracks the hat of an iconic cartoon as it passes hands between the voice of the character and an immigrant mother trying to find her voice in America.
Unspeakable
Director: Milena Govich
Country: USA, Running time: 15 min
A young woman in a desperate situation whose only option to avert authorities is to claim to be a girl who disappeared years ago as a child. But when the missing girl’s family welcomes the impostor home, she’s forced to keep the deception alive or face the consequences.
Whatta Lark (Ep 1)
Director: Allison Vanore
Country: USA, Running time: 5 min
Megan, children’s book author, and her husband are suddenly thrust into the life-altering discussion of whether to have kids. Uncharacteristically indecisive, the type-A writer turns to the internet for answers and among the noise discovers a voice of reason and joy, Whatta Lark, a fabulous drag queen.
SHOWCASE FILMS
BLINDSPOTTING
Director: Carlos Lopez Estrada
Country: USA, Running Time: 95 min
Lifelong friends Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal co-wrote and star in this timely and wildly entertaining story about the intersection of race and class, set against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying Oakland.
BOOM FOR REAL
Director: Sara Driver
Country: USA, Running Time: 78 min
Exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and ’80s shaped his vision.
CHANGE IN THE AIR
Director: Dianne Dreyer
Country: USA, Running Time: 94 min
When a beguiling young woman moves in next door, a quiet neighborhood is awakened, bringing people face to face with their secrets, and ultimately, themselves.
GOD BLESS THE BROKEN ROAD
Director: Harold Cronk
Country: USA, Running Time: 113 min
God Bless the Broken Road tells the story of a young mother who loses her husband in Afghanistan and struggles to raise their young daughter in his absence. The film combines elements of faith, country music, and stock car racing while paying tribute to those who serve in the United States Military.
GOOD FORTUNE
Directors: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell
Country: USA, Running Time: 86 min
GOOD FORTUNE is the rags to riches tale of conscious capitalism pioneer John Paul DeJoria. Born with nothing, at times homeless on the streets of LA, “JP” spent his early adulthood in and out of motorcycle gangs only to wheel and deal his way to the top of a vast hair and tequila empire. A modern day Robin Hood, JP’s motto is “Success unshared is failure.” The son of immigrants, JP defies the stereotype of ‘the 1%’ and is the poster boy of the triple bottom line – people, planet and profit.
HEARTS BEAT LOUD
HEARTS BEAT LOUD
Director: Brett Haley
Country: USA, Running Time: 97 min
A father and daughter form an unlikely songwriting duo in the summer before she leaves for college.
LOST IN AMERICA
Director: Rotimi Rainwater
Country: USA, Running Time: 105 min
Documentary follows director Rotimi Rainwater, a former homeless youth, as he travels the country to shine a light on the epidemic of youth homelessness in America.
ORPHAN HORSE
Director: Sean McNamara
Country: USA, Running Time:
A young runaway girl hides out in the barn of a retired horse trainer and forms a bond with his troubled filly.
PUZZLE
Director: Marc Turtletaub
Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min
Agnes, taken for granted as a suburban mother, discovers a passion for solving jigsaw puzzles which unexpectedly draws her into a new world – where her life unfolds in ways she could never have imagined.
RBG
Directors: Julie Cohen, Betsy West
Country: USA, Running Time: 97 min
A look at the life and work of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO PRISON
Director: Matthew Cook
Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min
Today, you’re more likely to go to prison in the United States than anywhere else in the world. So in the unfortunate case it should happen to you – this is the SURVIVOR’S GUIDE TO PRISON.
THE TALE
THE TALE
Director: Jennifer Fox
Country: USA, Running Time: 114 min
An investigation into one woman’s memory as she is forced to re-examine her first sexual relationship and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.
LEGACY SCREENINGS
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM (2002)
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Country: UK, Running Time: 112 min
The daughter of orthodox Sikh rebels against her parents’ traditionalism and joins a football team.
ENTER THE DRAGON (1973)
Director: Robert Clouse
Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min
A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.
JURASSIC PARK (1993)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Country: USA, Running Time: 127 min
During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.
LA BAMBA (1987)
Director: Luis Valdez
Country: USA, Running Time: 108 min
Biographical story of the rise from nowhere of early rock and roll singer Ritchie Valens who died at age 17 in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper.
MAMMA MIA! (2008)
Director: Phylilda Lloyd
Country: USA, Running Time: 108 min
The story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE (1993)
Director: Nora Ephron
Country: USA, Running Time: 105 min
A recently widowed man’s son calls a radio talk show in an attempt to find his father a partner.
STAR WARS: EPISODE IV “A NEW HOPE” (1977)
Director: George Lucas
Country: USA, Running Time: 121 min
Nineteen years after the formation of the Empire, Luke Skywalker is thrust into the struggle of the Rebel Alliance when he meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, who has lived for years in seclusion on the desert planet of Tatooine. Obi-Wan begins Luke’s Jedi training as Luke joins him on a daring mission to rescue the beautiful Rebel leader Princess Leia from the clutches of the evil Empire. Although Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, his former apprentice, Luke proves that the Force is with him by destroying the Empire’s dreaded Death Star.
YOU’VE GOT MAIL (1998)
Director: Nora Ephron
Country: USA, Running Time: 119 min
Two business rivals who despise each other in real life unwittingly fall in love over the Internet.
OUTDOOR SCREENINGS – SONY/ORVILLE REDENBACHER’S OUTDOOR THEATER AT LAWRENCE PARK
COCO
Directors: Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Country: USA, Running Time: 105 min
Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family’s ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000)
Director: Ang Lee
Countries: China/Taiwan/Hong Kong/USA, Running Time: 120 min
A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
THE EAGLE HUNTRESS (2016)
Director: Otto Bell
Countries: UK/Mongolia, Running Time: 87 min
Thirteen-year-old Aisholpan trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her nomad family to become an eagle huntress.
THE EMOJI MOVIE (2017)
Director: Tony Leondis
Country: USA, Running Time: 86 min
Gene, a multi-expressional emoji, sets out on a journey to become a normal emoji.
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA (2012)
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Country: USA, Running Time: 91 min
Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count’s teenaged daughter.
JUMANJI (1995)
Director: Joe Johnston
Country: USA, Running Time: 104 min
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
Director: Jake Kasdan
Country: USA, Running Time: 119 min
Four teenagers are sucked into a magical video game, and the only way they can escape is to work together to finish the game.
MULAN (1998)
Directors: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook
Country: USA, Running Time: 88 min
To save her father from death in the army, a young maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China’s greatest heroines in the process.
PETER RABBIT (2017)
Director: Will Gluck
Country: USA, Running Time: 95 min
Feature adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale of a rebellious rabbit trying to sneak into a farmer’s vegetable garden.
SMURF’S LOST VILLAGE (2017)
Director: Kelly Asbury
Country: USA, Running Time: 90 min
In this fully animated, all-new take on the Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her friends Brainy, Clumsy, and Hefty on an exciting race through the Forbidden Forest, leading to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history.
MARVEL EXPERIENCE AT SKYLIGHT SCREENINGS
ANT-MAN (2015)
Director: Peyton Reed
Country: USA, Running Time: 117 min
Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.
AVENGERS: THE AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
Director: Joss Whedon
Country: USA, Running Time: 141 min
When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it’s up to Earth’s mightiest heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plan.
THE AVENGERS (2012)
Director: Joss Whedon
Country: USA, Running Time: 143 min
Earth’s mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
BLACK PANTHER
Director: Ryan Coogler
Country: USA, Running Time: 134 min
T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T’Challa’s father’s mistake.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Country: USA, Running Time: 147 min
Political involvement in the Avengers’ activities causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
Director: Joe Johnston
Country: USA, Running Time: 124 min
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a “Super-Soldier serum”. But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a warmonger and a terrorist organization.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Country: USA, Running Time: 136 min
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)
Director: Scott Derrickson
Country: USA, Running Time: 115 min
While on a journey of physical and spiritual healing, a brilliant neurosurgeon is drawn into the world of the mystic arts.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
Director: James Gunn
Country: USA, Running Time: 121 min
A group of intergalactic criminals are forced to work together to stop a fanatical warrior from taking control of the universe.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: VOL. 2 (2017)
Director: James Gunn
Country: USA, Running Time: 136 min
The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.
IRON MAN (2008)
Director: Jon Favreau
Country: USA, Running Time: 126 min
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
IRON MAN 2 (2010)
Director: Jon Favreau
Country: USA, Running Time: 124 min
With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father’s legacy.
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
Director: Shane Black
Country: USA, Running Time: 130 min
When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
Director: Jon Watts
Country: USA, Running Time: 133 min
Peter Parker balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.
THOR (2011)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Country: USA, Running Time: 115 min
The powerful, but arrogant god Thor, is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)
Director: Alan Taylor
Country: USA, Running Time: 112 min
When Dr. Jane Foster gets cursed with a powerful entity known as the Aether, Thor is heralded of the cosmic event known as the Convergence and the genocidal Dark Elves.
THOR: RAGNAROK (2017)
Director: Taika Waititi
Country: USA, Running Time: 130 min
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok, the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization, at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela.
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