Interactive: March 12-16
Film: March 12-20
Music: March 17-21
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The complete film list for the 2010 SXSW Film Festival.
- Alphabetical List of Films
Click on one of the category names below to see the films screening in that program.
Cyrus
Directors and Screenwriters: Jay and Mark Duplass
With John’s social life at a standstill and his ex-wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcee finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life – her son. Written and directed by Jay & Mark Duplass, the iconoclastic filmmaking team behind The Puffy Chair, Cyrus takes an insightful, funny and sometimes heartbreaking look at love and family in contemporary Los Angeles.
Cast: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, Matt Walsh
Four Lions
Director: Chris Morris, Screenwriters: Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell and Chris Morris
Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point.
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Arsher Ali, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar
Get Low
Director: Aaron Schneider, Screenwriters: Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell
A film spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about a mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who plans his own rollicking funeral party... while still alive.
Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray
Kick-Ass
Director: Matthew Vaughn. Screenwriters: Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn
A twisted, funny, high-octane adventure, based on the comic written by Mark Millar and John S. Romita, Jr. The film tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski, a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero.
Cast: Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Mark Strong, Chloë Grace Moretz and Nicolas Cage. (World Premiere)
MacGruber
Director: Jorma Taccone. Screenwriters: Will Forte & John Solomon & Jorma Taccone
Will Forte brings his clueless soldier of fortune to the big screen in the action-comedy MacGruber.
Cast: Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, Powers Boothe, Maya Rudolph and Val Kilmer (World Premiere)
Micmacs / Micmacs à tire-larigot
(France)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant
Drawing on one of France's most popular screen stars, the incorrigible Dany Boon from the comedy megahit Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, as well as a cast of some of the country's best-known actors, Jeunet turns on the afterburners in this searing piece of romantic filmmaking set against the storm clouds of warring arms dealers.
Cast: Dany Boon (U.S. Premiere)
Mr. Nice
Director and Screenwriter: Bernard Rose
The true story of Howard Marks. He was Britain's most wanted man. He spent seven years in America's toughest penitentiary. You'll like him.
Cast: Rhys Ifans, Chloë Sevigny, David Thewlis, Luis Tosar, Crispin Glover, Omad Djalili. (World Premiere)
The Runaways
Director and Screenwriter: Floria Sigismondi
The Runaways follows two friends, Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning), as they rise from rebellious Southern California kids to rock stars of the now legendary group that paved the way for future generations of girl bands.
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Scout Taylor-Compton, Michael Shannon, Alia Shawkat, Tatum O'Neal.
American Grindhouse
Director: Elijah Drenner
The feature-length documentary "American Grindhouse" explores the hidden history of the American Exploitation Film. The movie digs deep into this often overlooked category of U.S. cinema and unearths the shameless and occasionally shocking origins of this popular entertainment. Exploitation Cinema has left an indelible mark on American culture, and this informative and amusing documentary proves that its principles--and popularity--endure to this day. (World Premiere)
BARRY MUNDAY
Director and Screenwriter: Chris D’Arienzo
A wannabe ladies man is attacked and losses one of his most prized possession... his testicles. Soon after, Barry is faced with a paternity suit from a woman he has no recollection of sleeping with.
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Judy Greer, Chloë Sevigny, Jean Smart, Malcolm McDowell, Cybill Shepherd, Billy Dee Williams (World Premiere)
Cargo
Directors: Ivan Engler & Ralph Etter. Screenwriters: Ivan Engler & Patrik Steinmann
The ecosystem of Earth has been destroyed. Mankind lives in orbit. Desperate. A run down old spaceship travelling for 8 years into an unknown future. One woman awake on board, while the rest of the crew lies in cryosleep. Until she finds out, that maybe she is not alone...
Cast: Anna Katharina Schwabroh, Martin Rapold, Regula Grauwiller, Yangzom Brauen, Michael Finger (U.S. Premiere)
Cold Weather
Director and Screenwriter: Aaron Katz
A former forensic science major and avid reader of detective fiction, who, after making a mess of his life in Chicago, returns to his hometown of Portland, Oregon. There, he, his sister Gail, and new friend Carlos become embroiled in something unexpected.
Cast: Cris Lankenau, Trieste Kelly Dunn (World Premiere)
Elektra Luxx
Director and Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez
A convoluted day in the life of recently retired porn superstar Elektra Luxx as she tries to make it in the straight world.
Cast: Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Timothy Olyphant, Malin Akerman, Adrianne Palicki
(World Premiere)
Greenlit
Director: Miranda Bailey
Greenlit chronicles the efforts of the indie film "The River Why" starring Zach Gilford as the filmmakers attempt to "go green." Film producer Miranda Bailey decides to follow the process and learn more about why that is necessary, how much it costs and what going "green" means as an environmental consultant, is brought on to the film. Both entertaining and humorous, the film is filled with compelling and important facts about film making and sustainability and shows that Kermit was right- it ain't easy bein' green. (World Premiere)
Haynesville: A Nation's Relentless Hunt for Energy
Director: Gregory Kallenberg
"Haynesville" follows the discovery of the United States' largest natural gas find, the ensuing boom's effect on three peoples' lives and the potential impact of the vast amount of energy on the nation's energy future. (North American Premiere)
Hood To Coast
Director: Christoph Baaden
Hood to Coast follows four unlikely teams on their epic journey to conquer the world's largest relay race. Winning isn't everything in a documentary that takes a celebratory look at personal motivation and attempting the extraordinary. (World Premiere)
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee
Director and Screenwriter: Shane Meadows
In this unpredictable, irrepressible ode to spontaneous filmmaking, Paddy Considine stars as rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk. Along the way he's lost a girlfriend but he has found a new sidekick in up-and-coming rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee. With Shane Meadows' fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee a star...with a little help from the Arctic Monkeys.
Cast: Paddy Considine, Dean Palinczuk, Olivia Colman
(North American Premiere)
Leaves of Grass
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson
Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass is a comic thriller that weaves together the diametrically opposed lives of identical twin brothers, both played by two-time Academy Award® nominee Edward Norton.
Cast: Edward Norton, Keri Russell, Tim Blake Nelson, Melanie Lynskey, Richard Dreyfuss (U.S. Premiere)
Lebanon, Pa.
Director and Screenwriter: Ben Hickernell
Philly ad man Will travels to Lebanon, Pa. to bury his father. He meets his teenage cousin CJ and they form an unexpected bond, as both try to find their place in a splintered American landscape.
Cast: Josh Hopkins, Samantha Mathis, Mary Beth Hurt, Rachel Kitson, Iain Merrill Peakes (World Premiere)
Lemmy
Director: Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski
This documentary delves into the personal and public lives of heavy metal icon and Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Nearly three years in the making, and featuring appearances by such friends/peers as Metallica, Dave Grohl, Billy Bob Thornton and pro wrestler Triple H, the film follows Kilmister from his Hollywood bedroom to the hockey arenas of Scandinavia and Russia. (World Premiere)
No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson
Director: Steve James
Steve James returns to his hometown of Hampton, Virginia to examine the 1993 bowling alley brawl that landed Allen Iverson, the nation’s top high-school basketball player, in jail and divided the community along racial lines. (World Premiere)
One Night in Vegas
Director: Reggie Rock Bythewood
On the evening of 9/7/96, Mike Tyson attempted to regain the WBA title in Vegas. Sitting ringside was his friend Tupac Shakur. This ESPN Films documentary tells not only the story of that infamous night but of their remarkable friendship. (World Premiere)
The People vs. George Lucas
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe
A no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades. (World Premiere)
Richard Garriott - Man on a Mission
Director: Mike Woolf
Last year Richard Garriott became the first son of an astronaut to go to space, but this is no millionaire’s joy ride, he pioneered private space travel to make his dream come true: from his training in Russia to his launch in Kazahkstan to the dramatic, never before seen footage inside the capsule during fiery re-entry, this is a historic moment in human space travel. (World Premiere)
The Ride
Director: Meredith Danluck
A journey into the heart of America through the rough and tumble, rock and roll world of bull riding Cowboys. (World Premiere)
SATURDAY NIGHT
Director: James Franco
With unprecedented access to the behind the scenes process of the writers, actors and producers, Franco and his crew document what it takes to create one full episode of Saturday Night Live. (World Premiere)
The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights
Director: Emmett Malloy
A visual and emotional feature length film documenting The White Stripes making their way through Canada and culminating with their 10th anniversary show in Nova Scotia. The film documents the band playing shows all over Canada; from local bowling alleys, to city buses, and onward to the legendary Savoy Theater for the 10th Anniversary show.
NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION Hide
Brotherhood
Director: Will Canon. Screenwriters: Will Canon and Doug Simon
When an initiation ritual spins dangerously out of control, one young man must stand up to save a friend's life.
Cast: Jon Foster, Trevor Morgan, Arlen Escarpeta, Lou Taylor Pucci (World Premiere)
Dance With The One
Director: Mike Dolan. Screenwriters: Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith
An emotionally explosive thriller set in the troubled heart of Texas. Tragic family history rises to the surface when a teenager races to protect his family from a lethal drug-runner.
Cast: Gabriel Luna, Xochitl Romero, Gary McCleery, Mike Davis, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (World Premiere)
Earthling
Director and Screenwriter: Clay Liford
Tragedy aboard the international space station triggers a discovery that some lives have been a lie.
Cast: Rebecca Spence, Peter Greene, Amelia Turner, William Katt, Matt Socia (World Premiere)
Helena from the Wedding
Director and Screenwriter: Joseph Infantolino
Newlyweds Alex and Alice Javal host a New Year’s Eve party at a cabin in the mountains for their closest friends and an unexpected guest in this nuanced and often funny portrait of marriage and anxiety in the late blooming professional class.
Cast: Lee Tergesen, Melanie Lynskey, Gillian Jacobs, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Fitzgerald, Dominic Fumusa, Jessica Hecht, Corey Stoll (World Premiere)
The Myth of the American Sleepover
Director and Screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell
Four young people cross paths as they navigate the suburban wonderland of Metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last night of summer.
Cast: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen (World Premiere)
Phillip The Fossil
Director and Screenwriter: Garth Donovan
Centering around an aging party animal chasing the endless summer, Phillip The Fossil is an uncompromising and raw, portrait of everyday people who struggle in all their blemished glory for a life of meaning.
Cast: Brian Hasenfus, Nick Dellarocca, Ann Palica, Angela Pagliarulo, J.R. Killigrew (World Premiere)
Some Days are Better than Others
Director and Screenwriter: Matt McCormick
Why do the good times go by so fast while the bad times always seem so sticky?
Cast: Carrie Brownstein, James Mercer, Renee Roman Nose, David Wodehouse (World Premiere)
Tiny Furniture
Director and Screenwriter: Lena Dunham
22-year-old Aura returns home after college to her artist mother’s loft with the following: a useless film theory degree, 357 hits on her YouTube page, and no shoulders to cry on. Starring Dunham and her real-life family, Tiny Furniture is tragicomedy about what does and does not happen when you graduate with no skills, no love life, and a lot of free time.
Cast: Lena Dunham, Laurie Simmons, Grace Dunham, David Call, Alex Karpovsky
(World Premiere)
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION Hide
Beijing Taxi
Director: Miao Wang
Through a humanistic lens, Beijing Taxi vividly portrays China undergoing a profound transformational arch in an era of Olympic transitions. The intimate lives of three cabbies connect a morphing cityscape and a lyrical journey through fragments of a society riding the bumpy roads to modernization. (World Premiere)
Camp Victory, Afghanistan
Director: Carol Dysinger
Using almost 300 hours of footage shot over the course of three years, Camp Victory, Afghanistan tells the story of the Afghan officers charged with building a new Afghan National Army and the U.S. National Guardsmen sent to mentor them. (World Premiere)
The Canal Street Madam
Director: Cameron Yates
An FBI raid on Jeanette Maier’s infamous family-run brothel in New Orleans destroyed her livelihood. Stigmatized by felony, fearing recrimination from powerful clients and determined to protect her children, Jeanette sets out to re-invent herself. (World Premiere)
Dirty Pictures
Director: Etienne Sauret
Dirty Pictures is an intimate portrait of the life and work of Dr. Alexander "Sasha" Shulgin, one of the world’s most renowned chemists who is considered by many to be the "Godfather of Psychedelics." (World Premiere)
For Once In My Life
Directors: Jim Bigham and Mark Moormann
The film takes an inspiring journey with a unique band of musicians with the common goal of making and performing music. Their story tells of the fine balancing act of taking on new challenges while living day-to-day with disabilities. This documentary shows what people can do when given a chance. (World Premiere)
Marwencol
Director: Jeff Malmberg
After a vicious attack leaves him brain damaged and broke, Mark Hogancamp seeks recovery in “Marwencol,” a 1/6th-scale World War II-era town he creates in his backyard. (World Premiere)
Pelada
Directors: Luke Boughen, Rebekah Fergusson, Gwendolyn Oxenham and Ryan White
Away from the bright lights and manicured fields, there's another side of soccer. From prisoners in Bolivia to moonshine brewers in Kenya, from freestylers in China to women who play in hijab in Iran, Pelada is the story of the people who play. (World Premiere)
War Don Don
Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
Prosecutors say Issa Sesay is a war criminal, guilty of crimes against humanity. His defenders say he is a reluctant fighter who protected civilians and played a crucial role in bringing peace. In Sierra Leone, the war is over, but a sensational trial begins. (World Premiere)
11/4/08
Director: Jeff Deutchman
Weaving together footage recorded throughout the world on the day Obama was elected President, this vérité documentary explores how people choose to live through “history.” (World Premiere)
A Different Path
Director: Monteith McCollum
In an automobile dominated society, a cast of characters uses ingenuity and wit to forge a new way to commute. One by foot, one by bike, two by boat. (World Premiere)
A NY Thing
Director & Screenwriter: Olivier Lecot
A French romantic follows his object of desire to New York where over the course of 3 crazed and ardent days he must convince her of the authenticity of his love in a comic and melancholy journey where love reveals its peculiar nature.
Cast: Jonathan Zaccai, Fanny Valette, Greta Gerwig, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Leo Fitzpatrick
American The Bill Hicks Story
Directors: Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas
At last the true life story of the outlaw comic who tried to save the world. Three years in the making, using a stunning new animation technique, American: The Bill Hicks Story finally brings the amazing tale of one of modern culture's most iconic heroes to the big screen. (North American Premiere)
Audrey the Trainwreck
Director and Screenwriter: Frank V. Ross
Audrey the Trainwreck is a comedy about attempting to keep life simple, and the beauty of such an absurd pursuit. Most men live lives of quiet desperation – Ron’s desperation is about to get loud.
Cast: Anthony Baker, Alexi Wasser, Danny Rhodes, Rebecca Spence, Joe Swanberg, Jess Weixler & Nick Offerman (World Premiere)
Barbershop Punk
Directors: Georgia Sugimura & Kristin Armfield (Co-Director). Screenwriter: Georgia Sugimura
Keeping the independent/punk spirit alive, barbershop quartet fan Robb Topolski takes on the nation’s largest cable company, only to find himself at the center of a federal investigation, inspiring a larger story of censorship, individual voice and access. Featuring interviews with Ian MacKaye, Damian Kulash of OK Go, Henry Rollins, Janeane Garofalo, John Perry Barlow among others. (World Premiere)
Bear Nation
Director: Malcolm Ingram
What if your biggest perceived flaw became you greatest asset? Bear Nation is a thorough and stylistic examination of the sub culture sweeping gay culture, the sexualization of fat and hair. From the director of small town gay bar and Exec Produced by honorary bear Kevin Smith. (World Premiere)
Cherry
Director and Screenwriter: Jeffrey Fine
When a virginal freshman is dropped off at college, he encounters an older woman and her underage daughter who give him an education he never expected.
Cast: Kyle Gallner, Laura Allen, Britt Robertson (World Premiere)
The Happy Poet
Director and Screenwriter: Paul Gordon
Bill, an out of work poet, puts his heart, soul, and last few dollars into starting an all-organic mostly-vegetarian food stand. Complications with the business jeopardize his dreams for a hot dog-free future.
Cast: Paul Gordon, Jonny Mars, Chris Doubek, Liz Fisher, Amy Meyers-Martin (World Premiere)
Les Signes Vitaux/Vital Signs
Director and Screenwriter: Sophie Deraspe
The Vital Signs: the amount of life beings have... or lack thereof.
Cast: Marie-Hélène Bellavance, Francis Ducharme, Marie Brassard, Danielle Ouimet, Suzanne St-Michel (U.S. Premiere)
Mars
Director and Screenwriter: Geoff Marslett
Mars is a uniquely animated romantic comedy about astronauts and robots falling in love on their way to the red planet. Told in the playful style of a graphic novel, Mars explores why we explore.
Cast: Mark Duplass, Zoe Simpson, Paul Gordon, Howe Gelb, Liza Weil, James Kochalka, Cynthia Watros, Michael Dolan, and Kinky Friedman (World Premiere)
NY Export: Opus Jazz
Director: Henry Joost and Jody Lee Lipes. Screenwriter: Jody Lee Lipes
This scripted adaptation of a 1958 jazz ballet by Jerome Robbins (West Side Story) takes the original choreography and returns it to the streets that inspired it in this tale of disaffected urban youth. Shot on 35mm on location all over New York City with dancers from the New York City Ballet.
Cast: Dancers with New York City Ballet, Jerome Robbins. (World Premiere)
The Parking Lot Movie
Director: Meghan Eckman and Christopher Hlad (Assistant Director)
“It’s not just a parking lot, it’s a battle with humanity.” The Parking Lot Movie is a documentary about a singular parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The film follows a select group of Parking Lot Attendants and their strange rite of passage. Something as simple as a parking lot becomes an emotional weigh station for the American Dream. (World Premiere)
Passenger Pigeons
Director and Screenwriter: Martha Stephens
Set among the Eastern Kentucky Coalfields, Passenger Pigeons quietly interweaves four separate story lines over the course of a weekend as the town copes with the death of a local miner.
Cast: Kentucker Audley, Brendan McFadden, Bryan Marshall, Caroline White, Martha Stephens (World Premiere)
Putty Hill
Director and Screenwriter: Matthew Porterfield
A young man's untimely death unites a fractured family and their community through shared memory and loss.
Cast: Sky Ferreira, Zoe Vance, Dustin Ray, Cody Ray (North American Premiere)
Red White & Blue
Director and Screenwriter: Simon Rumley
In Austin Texas, the lives of three young people “Erica, Franki and Nate” intertwine in a fateful, tragic way and head down a rocky and violent road to heart-rending oblivion.
Cast: Noah Taylor, Amanda Fuller, Marc Senter (North American Premiere)
Skeletons
Director and Screenwriter: Nick Whitfield
Skeletons is a surrealist comedy about two traveling salesmen in the business of cleaning skeletons out of people's closets.
Cast: Andrew Buckley, Ed Gaughan, Paprika Steen, Tuppence Middleton, Jason Isaacs (North American Premiere)
We don't care about music anyway...
Directors: Cedric Dupire and Gaspard Kuentz
"We don't care about music anyway"...In other words, "we make it and that's all". Beyond the music and beyond its performance, the future and mode of existence of a city, and society as a whole, are in motion.
(North American Premiere)
World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements
Director: Chris Farina
World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements portrays John Hunter, a remarkable public-school teacher who has dedicated his life to teaching children the "work of peace." (World Premiere)
World's Largest
Directors: Amy C. Elliott and Elizabeth Donius
Desperate for tourism, hundreds of small towns across the U.S.A. claim the "world's largest" something - from 15-foot fiberglass strawberries to 40-foot concrete pheasants. World's Largest visits 58 such sites and profiles Soap Lake, Washington’s five-year struggle to build the World’s Largest Lava Lamp. By documenting these roadside attractions, World’s Largest captures the changing, perhaps even vanishing, culture of small-town America. (World Premiere)
Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio
Director: Sam Wainwright Douglas
In Alabama, Samuel Mockbee’s radical design/build program brought architecture to the rural poor and a new set of ethics to architecture. His legacy has inspired a generation of architects dedicated to design for social good. (World Premiere)
For The Sake Of The Song: The Story of Anderson Fair
Director: Bruce Bryant
A devoted community of artists, volunteers and patrons transforms a politically subversive little coffee house and restaurant into a unique American music institution... a small place where big things happen.
Featuring Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. (World Premiere)
Lawrence Wright Presents a Surprise Screening
TBA
Skateland
Director: Anthony Burns
n the early 1980s, in small-town Texas, dramatic events force a 19-year-old skating rink manager to look at his life in a very new way.
Cast: Ashley Greene, Shiloh Fernandez, Heath Freeman.
Thunder Soul
Director: Mark Landsman
In the 1970's, Kashmere High School band director Conrad Johnson turned his band into an international funk sensation. Now thirty years later, his students return to pay tribute to the man who changed their lives.
(World Premiere)
Wake
Director and Screenwriter: Chad Feehan
Driving to a wedding in Los Angeles through the Mojave Desert, Paul and Adrienne pull off the highway and into Roy’s Motel and Café. This roadside artifact proves to be a strange and surreal place with an unsettling mix of travelers, who force our couple to discover the secret hidden between them and ultimately, the horrifying reality of their current situation.
Cast: Josh Stewart, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Chris Browning, Angela Featherstone, Afemo Omilami, Trevor Morgan (World Premiere)
When I Rise
Director: Mat Hames
When I Rise is a feature-length documentary about Barbara Smith Conrad, a gifted University of Texas music student who finds herself at the epicenter of racial controversy, struggling against the odds and ultimately ascending to the heights of international opera.
(World Premiere)
Ain't In It For My Health: A Film About Levon Helm
Director: Jacob Hatley
In Ain't In It For My Health Levon Helm finds himself thrust into the musical spotlight for the first time in a quarter century, but a Grammy nomination and ever-growing audiences force him to confront the dark times that have haunted him since The Band's demise: Throat cancer, bankruptcy, drug addiction and the tragic loss of bandmates Richard Manuel and Rick Danko. Win or lose, Levon is an artist who will not go quietly into the night.
(World Premiere)
Beyond Ipanema
Director: Guto Barra
From Carmen Miranda to Bebel Gilberto, from Tropicália to Favela Funk, Brazilian music has been influencing the world for 70 years. The global love affair with Brazil is revisited by the ones who lived it. Featuring David Byrne, Caetano Veloso, Os Mutantes, Gilberto Gil, Devendra Banhart, & MIA
No One Knows About Persian Cats
Director: Bahman Ghobadi. Screenwriter: Roxana Saberi
Two Persian teens jump through hoops doing what in many other countries is relatively simple: forming a rock band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players, forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran.
Cast: Negar Shaghaghi, Ashkan Koshanejad, Hamed Behdad
REJOICE AND SHOUT
Director: Don McGlynn
A documentary that explores the power and long lasting influence of gospel music. (World Premiere)
RIDE, RISE, ROAR
Director: David Hillman Curtis
A David Byrne concert film that combines riveting onstage performances with documentary footage that explores the creative collaborations that make the music happen. (World Premiere)
Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields
Directors: Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara
Ten years in the making, Strange Powers is an intimate documentary portrait of songwriter Stephin Merritt and his band The Magnetic Fields. (World Premiere)
Strummerville
Director: Don Letts
Joe Strummer's untimely death sent shockwaves around the music world and beyond. In this film, Grammy-winner Don Letts demonstrates how Joe's spirit lives on, manifesting itself through a charity which helps aspiring musicians - Strummerville. (World Premiere)
TAQWACORE
Director: Omar Majeed
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam follows a group of Muslim Punks as they travel across the U.S. and Pakistan, challenging Muslims and Non-Muslims with their punchy and provocative anthems. (U.S. Premiere)
The Weird World of Blowfly
Director: Jonathan Furmanski
The Weird World of Blowfly tells the provocative and revealing story of musician Clarence Reid and his alter ego Blowfly, the original dirty rapper. The film follows Blowfly as he tours the world, explores his 50-year career, and celebrates his influential and incendiary work as a music legend. (World Premiere)
This Movie Is Broken
Director: Bruce McDonald
On a hot summer’s night in Toronto, a Broken Social Scene show tops all expectations and resonates deep into the morning, into the lives of two close friends & closer than they knew.
(World Premiere)
When You’re Strange - a film about the Doors
Director: Tom DiCillo
The first feature documentary about The Doors provides a previously unseen view of the legendary quartet, comprised entirely of historic archival footage shot between 1965 and 1971. Narrated by Johnny Depp.
The DeVilles
Director: Nicole Nielsen Horanyi
The love between the American burlesque stripper Teri Lee Geary (aka Kitten DeVille) and her punk rock singer husband Shawn Geary is strong but rather complicated. They live in their own time bubble, hers from the 1950's and his from the 1980's. (U.S. Premiere)
Erasing David
Director: David Bond
Just how much of our personal information is floating around in government and corporate databases? Filmmaker David Bond decides to find out, by disappearing for a month and setting two of the world’s top private investigators the task of tracking him down, using only publicly available data. (North American Premiere)
The Erectionman (Netherlands)
Director: Michael Schaap
How one little pill changed the course of sexual evolution. (North American Premiere)
DOCLAB (Netherlands)
A curated program of new media and web documentary from the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam's DocLab, bridging the gap between filmmakers and interactive storytellers.
Iron Crows
(South Korea)
Director: Bong-Nam Park
Against a harsh environment of constant danger and toxic gases, workers here at the world's largest ship breaking yard in Bangladesh, risk their lives to feed their family on barely 2USD per day. (North American Premiere)
Like A Pascha / Som en Pascha (Sweden)
Director: Svante Tidholm
Welcome to the biggest brothel in Europe, a clear blue eleven story high house in the middle of Cologne, Germany. Around 200 women from all over the world work here. If you ask them why, they will tell you it’s the way it’s always been. Svante Tidholm filmed at Pascha for more than three years, looking for an answer to the eternal question: why are men so obsessed with sex? (North American Premiere)
The Living Room of the Nation (Finland)
Director: Jukka Kärkkäinen
The Living Room of the Nation opens a portrait-like view into six Finnish living rooms. A collage of everyday events the film is a story of changes, loneliness, responsibilities and the unavoidable passing of time.
(North American Premiere)
On the Other Side of Life (Germany)
Directors: Stefanie Brockhaus and Andy Wolff
Being arrested for murder, two brothers exist between modern township life, gangsterism and ancient African culture.
Phantom of Liberty II (Czech Republic, Germany)
Director: Karel Zalud
A documentary about time which explores its physical quantity as well as its crucial impact on our actions, behavior, perception, social rituals and our outlook on the world. (North American Premiere)
Presunto Culpable/Presumed Guilty (Mexico)
Director: Roberto Hernández and Geoffrey Smith
The heart-wrenching story of a man who happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Through his struggle to regain freedom, two lawyers document the system’s contradictions. (U.S. Premiere)
Reel Injun (Canada)
Director: Jeremy Simmons
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema. (North American Premiere)
The Sound of Insects – Record of a Mummy (Switzerland)
Director: Peter Liechti
A cinematic manifesto for life, challenged by the main character's radical renunciation of life itself.
And Everything Is Going Fine
Director: Steven Soderbergh
And Everything Is Going Fine is an intimate portrait of master monologist Spalding Gray, as described by his most critical, irreverent and insightful biographer: Spalding Gray. The film pulls from some 90 hours of material to fashion a new narrative exploring, among other things, art-making, mental illness and the sometimes thin line between the two.
Crying With Laughter (Scotland)
Director and Screenwriter: Justin Molotnikov
Comedian Joey's act is drawing interest from people in high places until he tells one little gag about an old school pal, who just happens to be in the audience and things begin to unravel...
Cast: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Jo Hartley, Andrew Neil, Laura Keenan, Michaiah Dring (U.S. Premiere)
Dogtooth
(Greece)
Director: Giorgos Lanthimos. Screenwriters: Efthymis Filippou and Giorgos Lanthimos
Winner of the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth is a darkly surreal look at three teenagers confined to an isolated country estate and kept under strict rule and regimen by their parents — an alternately hilarious and nightmarish experiment of manipulation and oppression.
Cast: Christos Stergioglou, Michelle Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Hristos Passalis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden)
Director: Niels Arden Oplev. Screenwriters: Rasmus Heisterberg and Nikolaj Arcel
Based on the International Best-Seller by Stieg Larsson: While investigating a 40-year old mystery, a disgraced journalist and tattooed computer hacker delve into the dark family secrets of the powerful Vanger family.
Cast: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber
The Good Heart
(Iceland)
Director and Screenwriter: Dagur Kári
A homeless boy (Lucas) meets a grouchy bar-owner (Jacques) whose unhealthy lifestyle has resulted in five heart attacks. Jacques takes Lucas under his wing with the intention of having him continuing his legacy. Everything is going according to plan until a drunken stewardess (April) enters the bar.
Cast: Brian Cox, Paul Dano, Isild Le Besco (U.S. Premiere)
Harry Brown (United Kingdom)
Director: Daniel Barber. Screenwriter: Gary Young
Set in modern day Britain, Harry Brown follows one man’s journey through a chaotic world where teenage violence runs rampant. As a modest, law abiding citizen, Brown lives alone. His only companion is his best friend Leonard. When Leonard is killed, Brown reaches his breaking point. Harry Brown is a powerful, character driven thriller starring two-time Academy Award® winner Michael Caine in a tour-de-force performance.
Cast: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles
His & Hers (Ireland)
Director: Ken Wardrop
Seventy Irish women offer moving insights into the relationships between women and men.
How to Fold a Flag
Directors: Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein
We were asked to believe that the war was over. We laughed, for we were the war.
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT: THE RADIANT CHILD
Director: Tamra Davis
An intimate portrait of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the downtown New York scene, as told by his friend filmmaker Tamra Davis.
LAST TRAIN HOME
Director: Lixin Fan
Getting a train ticket in China proves a towering ordeal as a migrant worker family embarks on a journey, along with 200 million other peasants, to reunite with their distant family.
Life 2.0
Director: Jason Spingarn-Koff
More than an examination of new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world called Second Life.
Lovers of Hate
Director and Screenwriter: Bryan Poyser
The shaky reunion of estranged brothers takes a turn for the worse when the woman they both love chooses one over the other.
Cast: Chris Doubek, Heather Kafka, Alex Karpovsky, Zach Green
The Oath
Director: Laura Poitras
Filmed in Yemen, The Oath tells the story of Abu Jandal, Osama bin Laden’s former bodyguard, and Salim Hamdan, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay Prison who is the first man to face the controversial military tribunals at Guantanamo.
The Red Chapel (Det Røde Kapel)
Director: Mads Brügger
A journalist with no scruples, a self-proclaimed spastic, and a comedian travel to North Korea under the guise of a cultural exchange visit to challenge one of the world’s most notorious regimes.
The Taqwacores
Director: Eyad Zahra. Screenwriters: Michael Muhammad Knight and Eyad Zahra
When a Pakistani-Muslim engineering student moves into a house with punk Muslims of all stripes in Buffalo, New York, his ideologies are challenged to the core.
Cast: Bobby Naderi, Noureen DeWulf, Dominic Rains, Rasika Mathur, Tony Yalda, Anne Marie Leighton
The Thorn in the Heart
Director: Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry’s newest film, further propels his groundbreaking filmography into the realm of the unvisited with a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, his aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean-Yves. Michel examines Suzette’s years as a schoolteacher and her life in rural France. During the course of filming the documentary, new family stories are unearthed and Michel uses his camera to explore them in a subtle and sensitive way.
TONY
Director and Screenwriter: Gerard Johnson
A week in the life of Tony, an alienated psychopath with severe social problems, an obsession for action films and a horrible moustache.
Cast: Peter Ferdinando, Ricky Grover, George Russo, Francis Pope, Neil Maskell, and Vicky Murdock
Trash Humpers
Director and Screenwriter: Harmony Korine
A film unearthed from the buried landscape of the American nightmare, Trash Humpers follows a small group of elderly “Peeping Toms” through the shadows and margins of an unfamiliar world.
Cast: Rachel Korine, Travis Nicholson, Brian Kotzur, Harmony Korine
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Director: Don Hahn
From 1984 to 1994, a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever.
Winter's Bone
Director: Debra Granik, Screenwriters: Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini
A 17-year-old must track down her father after he puts their house up for his bail and then disappears. If she fails, she and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods.
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Lauren Sweetser, Dale Dickey
Amer
Directors: Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani. Screenwriter: Bruno Forzani
Ana is confronted to Body and Desire at three key moments of her life. Cast: Bianca Maria D’Amato, Cassandra Forêt, Charlotte Eugène-Guibbaud, Marie Bos, Harry Cleven (U.S. Premiere)
Cannibal Girls
Director: Ivan Reitman. Screenwriter: Robert Sandler
They do EXACTLY what you think they do! Second City TV regulars Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin star in Ivan Reitman’s Canuxploitation classic as a couple on a romantic holiday who settle into a quaint little bed-and-breakfast run by a trio of flesh-eating ladies who fancy them for tomorrow's menu.
Cast: Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Ronald Ulrich, Randall Carpenter, Bonnie Neilson
Enter the Void
Director and Screenwriter: Gaspar Noé
Oscar and his sister Linda are recent arrivals in Tokyo. Oscar is caught in a police bust and shot and as he lies dying, his spirit, faithful to the promise he made his sister that he would never abandon her refuses to abandon the world of the living. It wanders through the city, his visions growing evermore distorted, evermore nightmarish. Past, present and future merge in a hallucinatory maelstrom.
Cast: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Emily Alyn Lind, Jesse Kuhn
Jimmy Tupper VS. The Goatman of Bowie
Director and Screenwriter: Andrew Bowser
Jimmy Tupper is no one, he's nothing, until one night he sees something in the woods that can't be real. It becomes his mission to prove its existence and find his purpose.
Cast: Andrew Bowser, Pedro Gonzalez, Chris Jones, Michael Eller, Tim Kuczka (World Premiere)
The Loved Ones
Director and Screenwriter: Sean Byrne
Brent, a 17-year-old student grieving after the recent loss of his father, politely declines an invitation to the school formal from Lola, the quietest girl in school. Devastated by the rejection, Lola and her overly protective father kidnap Brent and force him to endure a macabre Formal of their own creation…
Cast: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Richard Wilson
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Director: Eli Craig. Screenwriters: Eli Craig and Morgan Jurgenson
Two West Virginian hillbillies go on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin, but their peaceful trip goes horribly awry.
Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Higanjima
Director: Tae-Kyun Kim. Screenwriter: Tetsuya Ôishi
Two years after losing contact, Akira discovers that his long-lost brother may be found on Higanjima Island. He may also find on Higanjima an army of blood-sucking vampires.
Cast: Koji Yamamoto, Hideo Ishiguro, Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa (North American Premiere)
Monsters
Director and Screenwriter: Gareth Edwards
Six years after a NASA probe crashes, bringing alien life forms to Earth, a journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.
Cast: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able (World Premiere)
Outcast
Director Colm McCarthy. Screenwriters: Colm McCarthy and Tom McCarthy
Mary and Fergal live their lives on the run, using an ancient form of magic to hide from a terrifying hunter.
Cast: James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, Niall Bruton, Hannah Stanbridge (World Premiere)
Serbian Film (Srpski Film)
Director: Srdjan Spasojevic. Screenwriters: Aleksandar Radivojevic and Srdjan Spasojevic
Facing financial difficulties, a retired porn star is lured back for one final film by a wealthy, eccentric producer. This experience, however, will be vastly more taxing than his previous shoots.
Cast: Sergei Trifunovic, Srdjan Todorovic, Katarina Zutic, Ana Sakic (World Premiere)
Super Secret TBA (World Premiere)
All My Friends are Funeral Singers with Live Soundtrack by Califone
Director and Screenwriter: Tim Rutili
Zel, a fortune-teller, is aided in her prognostication by a band of ghosts, but when a mysterious light appears, she may have to give up the only family she knows.
Cast: Angela Bettis, Emily Candini, Reid Coker, Kevin Ford, Joe Adamik, Jim Becker, Ben Massarella, Tim Rutili
Hubble 3D
Director: Toni Myers
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and through the power of IMAX® 3D, Hubble 3D will enable movie-goers to journey through distant galaxies to explore the grandeur and mysteries of our celestial surroundings, and accompany space-walking astronauts as they attempt the most difficult and important tasks in NASA’s history. (First Public Showing)
The Lost World (1925) with Live Score by Golden Hornet Project
Director: Harry O. Hoyt. Screenwriters: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (novel) & Marion Fairfax (screenplay)
In Hoyt's sci-fi classic, claymation dinosaurs came to spectacular life 70 years before Michael Crichton's modern retelling. Wyatt Brand helps to present Austin's premier alt-classical Golden Hornet Project and their new chamber-rock score.
Cast: Bessie Love, Lewis Stone
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) with Live Score by In The Nursery
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer. Screenwriter: Joseph Delteil
One of the finest achievements of the silent film era, Dreyer's portrayal of Joan of Arc uses extraordinary, expressive close-ups to create a moving, intense and flawless work. With a new score by In The Nursery, who utilize state of the art music technology with a unique symphonic style, to produce a hauntingly evocative soundtrack.
Cast: Maria Falconetti
The Unknown (1927) with Live Score by The Invincible Czars
Director: Tod Browning. Screenwriter: Mary Roberts Rinehart
Wyatt Brand helps bring a film/music convergence event to SXSW Film with The Invincible Czars screening and live, original score for the 1927 silent classic The Unknown starring Lon Chaney as an armless sharp-shooter.
Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford
ANATINUS
Director: David Wanger
A glimpse of the dawn of a strange new era.
Bedford Park Boulevard
Director: Felix Thompson
A fifteen-year-old Latino boy at a high school in the Bronx makes a mistake that will define the rest of his life.
The Big Fiddle
Director: Willi Patton
A conceptual drama exploring the nature of music in cinema, and the possibilities of having a live score shape the ways in which the characters interact with each other.
Bikini Lighters
Directors: Andrew Goldman and Andrew Blackwell
After shoplifting lighters, three young friends venture into the woods behind their neighborhood to create an explosion.
Black Ops Arabesque
Director: Jared Drake
A Secret Service Agent has a secret of his own- it involves ballet shoes.
Brave Donkey
Director: Gaysorn Thavat
When Brian pays a visit to his old home he unexpectedly finds himself in the middle of a violent dispute in which he saves a woman’s life. Tragically, his courageous decision proves to be his ultimate undoing.
The Call to the Post
Director: Brian Higdon
David, an aging musician, returns to a horseracing track to rediscover the job that defined his identity.
Cigarette Candy
Director: Lauren Wolkstein
Forced to play the role of "the hero" at his homecoming party, a traumatized teenage
Marine forms an unlikely bond with a rebellious young girl.
Coney Island Baby
Director: André Aimaq
Betty found a thick wad of cash hidden in a porn DVD stashed in her new oven. And that wasn't even the strangest thing that happened to her that day.
Equestrian Sexual Response
Director: Zeke Hawkins
Alice is introduced to sexuality through the world of racehorse breeding
Girls Named Pinky
Director: Alex Lubliner
Morris Munsey is an average man searching in vain for a human connection. On a quiet night in a small town bar, he finds her...
Going Back
Director: Adam Keleman
A glimpse into the life of Lorna, a failed model, who returns to her home town after a sudden death in the family, confronting the past she left behind.
The Hardest Part
Director: Oliver Refson
An aging actor finally secures the audition of a lifetime. But just how badly does he want the role?
Have You Seen My Hair?
Directors: John M. Wilson and Chris Maggio
The story of a young girl whose salon appointment catapults her into a nightmarish romp through the depths of her imagination.
Jean-Paul Luc Sebastien Rene
Director: Milena Pastreich
Two fifty-year-old women tan on their living room floor when an unexpected message from their past flies through their window.
Kelp
Directors: Benjamin Dohrmann and Seth Cuddeback
A somber comedy about a married man who becomes infatuated with kelp.
The Mess Hall of an Online Warrior
Director: Dan P K Smyth
A short film about computer game addiction and the effects it has on family life.
Out of Nowhere
Director: Will Lamborn
On the run from a killer, a man tries to escape the desert.
Pancake Breakfast
Director: Adam Locke-Norton
A sarcastic guy realizes that his jokes about his girlfriend cheating may in fact be more truthful than he thought.
Savage
Director: Lisa Jackson
A residential school musical.
Snapshots
Directors: Kate Barker and Andres Rosende
New York City- Seven Stories- One Day
Storage
Director: Nadia Tabbara
Two Lebanese men with limited English search the streets of Brooklyn for a place of Storage.
Teleglobal Dreamin'
Director: Eric Flanagan
A Filipino call center agent takes her American corporate-trainer boss out on the town, setting off a chain of events with unexpected consequences.
Televisnu
Director: Prithi Gowda
Working at a call center somewhere in India, a young woman's computer breaks down. In an attempt to fix it, she finds herself in a magical, mythical web of electronic wires where memories, secrets, and hidden desires reveal themselves.
NARRATIVE SHORTS SCREENING BEFORE FEATURES
Always A Bride
Director: Danny Strauss
Cate can't control her jealousy when she finds out her best friend is getting divorced.
Annie Goes Boating
Director: Noel Paul
A picnic in a park, in 3D.
Diplomacy
Director: Jon Goldman
Relations between the United States and Iran take an unexpected turn when two senior diplomats and their interpreters meet for a closed-door session.
Loop Planes
Director: Robin Wilby
13-year-old Nick lives with his dad at an amusement park. But today, with the arrival of his mother and a pink-haired girl, Nick is in for the ride of his life.
Lunch watching TV
Director: Alfonso Nogueroles
A normal day: the eggs, the fries, the beer, the bread, the crisis, the politics, the football... A historical date. Just another day.
6
Director: Jeff Bednarz
A portrait of modern day small town America told through the story of two 6 Man Football teams vying for the Texas State Championship.
Big Birding Day
Director: David Wilson
A glimpse into the world of competitive birdwatching, as three friends attempt to see as many species as possible in 24 hours.
Mr. Hypnotism
Director: Bradley Beesley
Self proclaimed “Doctor” Dante had a colorful career as a grifter. Mr. Hypnotism chronicles Dante’s stint as Hollywood’s Hypnotist to the Stars and his descent to become one of the most notorious conmen of the 20th Century.
Quadrangle
Director: Amy Grappell
An unconventional documentary about two 'conventional' couples that swapped partners and lived in a group marriage in the early 70s, hoping to pioneer an alternative to divorce and the way people would live in the future.
Seltzer Works
Director: Jessica Edwards
The last seltzer filler in Brooklyn fends off the supermarket seltzer take-over and honors this simple drink's place in history
White Lines and The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug
Director: Travis Senger
The Bronx, 1983. The hottest club in the city. One of Hip-Hop's greatest DJ's ever and his tragic death.
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS SCREENING BEFORE FEATURES
5 variations on a long string
Director: Peter Esmonde
A short music documentary about the creative life of composer/performer Ellen Fullman, who has spent over 25 years developing, perfecting, and performing on an extraordinary 60-foot-long instrument.
Keep Dancing
Director: Greg Vander Veer
The story of two 90-year old dancers who still meet, twice a week, in a private studio in Manhattan to choreograph and rehearse.
Robin Hood Gardens (Or Every Brutalist Structure For Itself)
Director: Martin Ginestie
An investigation into the debate surrounding the fate of Robin Hood Gardens, controversial East London housing estate described as a dilapidated concrete eyesore by some and a masterpiece in Brutalist architecture by others.
Solitary/Release
Director: Holden Abigail Osborne
Part family portrait, part audacious vision of a future that never was, Solitary/Release is an intimate documentary-fiction hybrid exploring the life of a recovering drug addict on the verge of great change.
The Art of Drowning
Director: Diego Maclean
Based on a poem by Billy Collins, The Art of Drowning ponders what awaits us at the end of the line.
Bygone Behemoth
Director: Harry Chaskin
A washed-up movie monster relives his halcyon days.
The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Burger
Director: Bill Plympton
A tragic story of a bovine seduced by advertising down the path of butchers and carnivores.
Down To The Bone
Director: Peter Ahern
A boy. A babysitter. An explosive sneeze. Google it.
The Falcon
Director: Scot Hampton
Composed entirely of parts from disassembled antique/analog cameras, 'The Falcon' follows Howell the Owl (f/256) and Professor Weston (ISO 50) as they journey throughout the Focal Kingdom searching for dinner.
Junko's Shamisen
Director: Sol Friedman
A young Japanese orphan and her mystical friend exact poetic justice on a malevolent samurai lord.
La Nostalgia del Sr. Alambre
Director: Jonathan Ostos Yaber
A young man’s talent, miles of twisted wire and a spotlight mix together to produce a show as never seen before.
Off-Line
Director: Tom Gasek
Off-Line is a short animated film that tells about what can happen inside a microwave oven when it is abused. It features a rather curious orange capacitor named “IZ.”
The Orange
Director: Nick Fox-Gieg
Suddenly, a humble citrus fruit is granted absolute power over the universe.
One Square Mile of Earth
Director: Jeff Drew
A series of bar room conversations featuring Bill the Bunny, Gary the Frog, Lucy the Goat, Thad the Bear, Leon the Hippopotamus and Pedro the Squirrel. Fun times await!
Poppy
Director: James Cunningham
A New Zealand soldier finds redemption in the hell of WWI.
The Polish Language
Director: Alice Lyons & Orla Mc Hardy
Using hand-drawn, stop-motion, time-lapse and computer animation techniques, The Polish Language is at once a playful and solemn journey into the sensuality, beauty and subversive power of language.
The Bellows March
Director: Eric Dyer
Crowds of concertinas live out a cycle of destroy-create-destroy. Dyer's 3-D printed and hand-painted 'cinetropes' come to vibrant life when seen through the shutter of a video camera.
Eulogy
Director: Ben Claremont
An old man slowly chases a flock of pigeons. A whole life's story is told, in just a few seconds.
Feeder
Director: Joseph Ernst
A short film that will make you feel sick.
I close my eyes and walk away
Director: Michele Castagnetti
Memories turn into dreams as dreams turn into memories.
I Miss
Director: Annie Dorsen
In this mesmerizing short, a girl is prompted by her mother in the recitation of an intensely romantic poem.
Kids Might Fly
Director: Alex Taylor
A young homeless girl is taken into care. Set in an urban wilderness, this film is an offbeat and touching experimental drama about East London kids.
LoopLoop
Director: Patrick Bergeron
In a train going to Hanoi in Vietnam, the houses boarding the railroad are passing by. Using animation and time shifts this video runs forwards and backwards looking for forgotten details, mimicking the way memories are replayed in the mind.
Meatwaffle
Director: Leah Shore
An old man recalls his strange and bizarre memories
Mamori
Director: Karl Lemieux
Mamori takes its title from a place in the Amazon forest, and captures the textures of tropical vegetation and its various transformations according to the phenomena of light.
Night Mayor
Director: Guy Maddin
From acclaimed fabulist Guy Maddin comes a new quasi-documentary completely unburdened by fact.
ReRun
Director: Asif Mian
An urban odyssey of visual and audio following a young basketball player and his sneakers.
Vertigo
Director: Oscar Berrio
Poetry and video integrated to transmit a stunning aesthetical experience.
5-Second Films
Director: Brian Firenzi
A warped-speed, breathlessly bizarre collection of comedic shorts, all exactly 5 seconds long. From the people that brought you "Sophie's Choice."
The Alleyway
Director: Cosmo Jarvis
An experimental film about an alleyway and an old man's relationship to it.
The Babysitter
Director: Kristen Gray-Rockmaker
When a troubled married couple arrive home from a night out, they encounter a horrifying scene.
Can We Talk?
Director: Jim Owen
Vince gets way more than he bargains for when he dumps his girlfriend . . . again.
Cocoa Loco
Director: Shaka King
A short film about cocoa butter scented lotion, karmic retribution, and the strangers you call family.
Delmer Builds A Machine
Director: Landon Zakheim
An account of the most Important event in recorded history.
Dwight David Honeycutt for Conway School Board
Director: Roland Honeycutt Jr.
Re-edit of my uncle's old political video footage in order to better convey the man.
Eagles Are Turning People Into Horses
Director: Brian McElhaney
Lyle, too scared to break up with his girlfriend honestly, enacts a scheme to convince her they MUST break up because he is on the frontlines of a vicious battle between man, beast and fowl.
Expiration
Director: Mark Nickelsburg
A lonely man courts danger by drinking a glass of milk just seconds before the expiration date.
Fix My Dick
Director: PJ Raval
A music video for the artist CHRISTEENE featuring DJ Jaunty.
Not Interested
Director: D.W. Young
A spaced out knife salesman makes the house call of a lifetime.
TUB
Director: Bobby Miller
Paul can't commit. Paul jerks off in the shower. Paul just impregnated his bath tub.
Better Safe than Sorry
Director: Chris Demarais
Pigeon. Squirrel.
The Big Bends
Director: Jason William Marlow
The Big Bends captures the story of a dying man in the desert as he is confronted by a troubled Mexican couple crossing the border.
Depth of Phil
Director: Jack Daniel Stanley
Amidst delusions of saving failed U.S. banks and car companies, an aging homeless man reconnects with a long-lost sweetheart via Facebook in this quirky Austin-set tragicomedy.
El Abuelo
Director: Dino Dinco
El Abuelo is a lyrical portrait of Joe Jimenez, Texan poet and educator, whose words connect the power of a well-ironed crease with attracting the eye of another homeboy.
The GrownUps
Director: Jason Wehling
In The GrownUps, two couples try to regroup after a dinner argument gets out-of-hand.
Honorarium
Director: Steve Mims
The arrival of a controversial figure to speak at a university conference tests the boundaries of social decorum and social duties.
Mnemosyne Rising
Director: Miguel Alvarez
A deep-space transmitter pilot begins to experience unusual flashbacks on his ship when he learns he's being sent back to Earth.
Now or Never
Director: Aaron Burns
Henry has been in love with his best friend Alexa for years. Today he has decided to tell her not only how he feels, but exactly how deeply he feels it.
Petting Sharks
Director: Craig Elrod
The sea of love is short on sharks.
Rule No. 2
Director: Avram Dodson
Breaking Rule No. 2 leads to relationship trouble, which is bad. But relationship trouble leads to makeup sex, which is good!
Table 7
Director: Marko Slavnic
A couple has an intimate conversation in a restaurant, unaware that their every word is being closely monitored.
Trash Day
Director: Sam Lerma
When you love your trash man, tell him with your garbage.
The Mystery of Flying Kicks
Director: Matthew Bate
Murder, sex, drugs, art, politics...? A film exploring the global mystery of why shoes appear on telephone lines.
Peter in Radioland
Director: Johanna Wagner
A carefully observed study of the director's father Peter, who stubbornly remains in an analogue world.
Pollphail
Director: Matthew Lloyd
A deserted village in limbo on the west coast of Scotland where two men share an obsession with an imagined future.
Schlimazeltov!
Director: Christopher Thomas Allen
Maybe some people are just born unlucky? An exploration of luck - does it exist and if so how can you get more of it?
Summer of a Newspaper Kid
Director: Katri Rannastu
9-year old Marten has decided to sell newspapers during his summer holiday. The job, boring and routine at first glance, pushes the kid into the everyday reality of the grownup world, where he meets competition and cheating.
Sunrise Dacapo (12cm/Stehend)
Director: Nina Poppe
Nature from the assembly line. An observation on the growing of geraniums in mass production and the coherence of noise and silence. The beauty of nature, apparently perfectly reproduced in artificial surroundings.
Volta
Director: Ryan Mullins
Former projectionist Emmanual Agboyame and others tell the story of the Volta cinema and look back on the sense of community it brought out in everyone.
SX GLOBAL SHORTS SCREENING WITH FEATURES
Arsy-Versy
Director: Miro Remo
A Film about mom and her son Lubos, who conquered the world upside down.
Control
Director: Hanne Myren
Control is about the emotions we prefer to keep to ourselves.
Ivan and Ivan
Director: Philipp Abryutin
Ivan lives with his grandparents on the tundra, fishing and herding reindeer. He and his grandfather, Ivan senior, have strong bonds both to the land and to each other, but soon, young Ivan must leave.
Apes and Androids, 'Golden Prize'
Director: That Go
BRONTOSORUS, 'Amy'
Director: Pete Scalzitti
Chris Garneau, 'Fireflies'
Director: Daniel Stessen
Cinnamon Chasers, 'Luv Deluxe'
Director: Saman Keshavarz
The Diagonals, 'Clones'
Director: Nick Smith
Fatback Circus, 'Brain Damage'
Director: Rodney Brunet
Fires of Rome, 'Set in Stone (M83 Remix)'
Director: Matthew Lessner
Fires of Rome, 'Set in Stone (M83 Remix)'
Director: Matthew Lessner
Grizzly Bear, 'Forest'
Director: Allison Schulnik
Height, 'Mike Stone'
Director: Justin Barnes
Heypenny, 'Copcar'
Director: Joey Ciccoline
Hunter Cross and the Strays, 'Twisty Ties'
Director: Paul Ahern
Kevin Devine, 'I could be with Anyone'
Director: Sherng-Lee Huang
Man Branch, 'The Gym Is All She Has'
Director: Matt Leach
N.A.S.A., 'Spacious Thoughts'
Director: Mark Lomond
P.O.S, 'Drumroll'
Director: Todd Cobery
Passion Pit, 'To Kingdom Come'
Director: Mixtape Club
Socalled, '(Rock the) Belz'
Director: Kaveh Nabatian
These United States, 'Everything Touches Everything'
Director: Maxwell Sorensen
Truckers of Husk, 'Person for the Person'
Directors: Casey Raymond and Ewan Jones Morris
WHY?, 'These Hands/ January Twenty Something'
Director: Ben Barnes
Writer, 'Four Letters'
Director: Brad Kester
The 3rd law
Director: Westin Riley
The 3rd Law takes you on a suspenseful ride through a bad day in the life of Dan Ramirez and a daughter of a business manager. Their lives slowly intertwine in this reverse chronologically told story.
Bellis Simplex
Director: Lolita Larriva
Bellis Simplex follows the story of a flower and a young girl who fall in love and, against all odds, find a way to be together.
Bon Vivant
Director: Maria Quiroga
Bon Vivant is an animated short created on Etch-A-Sketch. It follows the story of two high school friends who encounter a Bon Vivant (master eater) and train.
The Cold Day in Hell
Director: Eric Ochoa
The only thing Cecil hates more than being a paramedic is his disgust of people.
Cut All Expenses
Day 752
Director: Chris Camarillo
Day 752 is a short film about the differences in the day and lives of a dog and cat.
Fire in the Dark
Director: John J. Gordon
When a burglar enters a girl’s home, she dives head first into the unknown. In the end she makes a decision that will change her life forever.
The Game of Ninja
Director: Peter Jiang
Another game to learn and enjoy playing
Give the Dog a Bone
Director: Edward Kelley
In the laboratory of an inexperienced mad scientist, a mischievous cat experiments on an unknowing dog, resulting in unexpected events.
I Ain't Missing You
Director: Marco Bottiglieri
Breaking up is hard. For country singer Kaley Caperton, it's even harder.
Life through the Lens
Director: Ryan Kline
As Cody begins to daydream in class, he falls into a cinematic world of wars, sports cars, and supermodels. Through his daydream, he realizes that filmmaking is his true calling in life.
Lost and Found
Directors: Marco Bottiglieri and Kara Duncan
A young girl visits a family in need of help.
Magneto's Revenge
Director: Andrew Vargas
After 47 some-odd years of failure, supervillian Magneto seeks to vanquish the X-Men once and for all.
The Paperbag Lover
Directors: Cat Hobbs and Ian Matthews
Love rips.
The Sleep Project
Directors: Whitney Bennett and Mathew Cunningham
The Sleep Project is an experimental documentary on sleep deprivation, its effects on the human mind and body, as well as society. `
Song About Me
Director: Lolita Larriva
Song About Me is a satirical short music video portraying a self-centered adolescent girl videotaping herself.
Together Forever
Director: Nicole Prian
Are Casey’s fears of her aggressive x-boyfriend returning out of the question, or will she realize he will do anything in his power to get her back, even if it puts her life in danger.
Unforgotten
Director: Grace Kim
It is only a dream…or is it?
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March 11
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