Tribeca Film Festival 2014

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Ryan Piers Williams
Screenwriter: Ryan Piers Williams

Cast: America Ferrera, Ryan Piers Williams, Melonie Diaz, Jon Paul Phillips, Amber Tamblyn, Common, Dree Hemingway, David Harbour, Adam Rapp, Maria Dizzia, Danny Deferrari, Sue Jean Kim

In his sophomore feature, Ryan Piers Williams stars alongside America Ferrara, Melanie Diaz and Jon Paul Phillips in the character-driven drama centered around four friends living in New York and their interactions with one another as they search for a sense of balance. Mark, Jen, Sylvia and Jake are each caught in an emotionally arrested state of being and their individual attempts to escape it explores the murky web of communication and the stark detours we take to avoid confronting our own vulnerabilities. With raw energy, Williams puts a microscope on the wanton desire we all have to connect with someone, the desperate lengths we'll go to keep that connection, and what happens to us when that connection no longer holds meaning. Sharp and honest performances from the ensemble round out this taut relationship drama.

Language: Arabic, English
Country: Morocco
North American Premiere

Director: Sean Gullette
Screenwriter: Sean Gullette

Cast: Chaimae Ben Acha, Soufia Issami, Nadia Niazi, Driss Roukhe, Mourade Zeguendi

For Malika, her hometown Tangier can only offer a dull life, one that she hopes to escape with her music. She sees her opportunity when a producer expresses interest in her band—all Malika has to do is pay for the recording studio. With no job and her family facing financial crisis, Malika sees her ticket slipping away until she meets a wealthy hashish distributor that can help, and a drug run across the Moroccan border becomes her only chance. Energetic with fiery confidence, Sean Gullette’s debut feature shows the desperate measures we take to follow our dreams and break free from the confines of our environment.

Language: English
Country: USA
US Premiere

Director: Gia Coppola
Screenwriter: Gia Coppola

Cast: Emma Roberts, James Franco, Jack Kilmer, Nat Wolff, Zoe Levin, Val Kilmer

Gia Coppola's debut feature establishes her as a stunning new talent, deftly capturing the complicated ties, heightened emotions, and romantic highs and lows of adolescence. Based on James Franco's Palo Alto: Stories, several stories intertwine as the film unfolds. Emma Roberts plays April, a levelheaded, intelligent, and spirited young woman who finds herself attracted to introspective artist Teddy (Jack Kilmer), whose buddy Fred's (Nat Wolff) destructive nihilism brings Teddy down with him. When her soccer coach (James Franco) comes onto her, April's world begins to spiral out of her control. One party bleeds into another as April and Teddy finally acknowledge their mutual affection, and Fred's escalating recklessness spirals into chaos.

Language: English
Country: USA
New York Premiere

Director: Martha Stephens, Aaron Katz
Screenwriter: Martha Stephens, Aaron Katz

Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson, Alice Olivia Clarke, Karrie Krouse, Elizabeth McKee, Emmsjé Gauti

Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens, two of the most exciting voices in American independent filmmaking, blend their respective talents amidst the awe-inspiring landscapes of Iceland, where ex-brothers-in-law Colin and Mitch are vacationing in an effort to stave off the blues. Forced retirement and primal doubts are just a few of their worries, but these two old pals find solace in the simple ease of each other’s company. Part buddy-comedy and part travelogue, Land Ho! paints a lively picture that somehow crosses between a holiday with a zany uncle and a night out with your best buds. Watching the two colorful characters skip from lighthouses to lighting spliffs, anyone who’s ever had reservations about how exciting traveling with septuagenarians could be will now think twice.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Angus MacLachlan
Screenwriter: Angus MacLachlan

Cast: Paul Schneider, Anna Camp, Michael Chernus, Heather Graham, Ashley Hinshaw, Heather Lawless, Melanie Lynskey, Audrey Scott, Amy Sedaris, Celia Weston

Otto Wall is just a little unlucky, in life and, unbeknownst to him, in love. When his wife suddenly asks for a divorce, he bounces between a Facebook-fueled search for answers, desperate attempts to reconnect with his daughter, and his fateful reentry into the dating pool. Let’s just say, you won’t forget Debbie Spangler’s name anytime soon.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Chris Messina
Screenwriters: Jessica Goldberg, Katie Nehra & Justin Shilton

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Don Johnson, Derek Luke, Katie Nehra, Chris Messina, Skylar Gaertner

In the directorial debut from Chris Messina, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gives a heartwarming performance as an environmental attorney who finds her workaholic regimen thrown into flux when her husband, George (Messina), asks for a break. For Alex, George has always been the one to take the reins at home. When his unexpected departure dawns as something more permanent, Alex finds herself caught balancing her family's demands, her aging father, played memorably by Don Johnson, and her ambitious career, which she now struggles to maintain. Soon, Alex is forced to reevaluate her life and discover what she was always too preoccupied to notice. Messina’s assured direction, as accomplished as his own performance, creates an honest portrait of a woman facing unexpected vulnerability in order to find her own strength.

Language: English
Country: USA
New York Premiere

Director: Leigh Janiak
Screenwriters: Phil Graziadei & Leigh Janiak

Cast: Rose Leslie, Harry Treadaway, Ben Huber, Hanna Brown

What begins as a peaceful retreat honeymoon for newlyweds Bea (Rose Leslie) and Paul (Harry Treadaway) takes a sinister turn when Bea disappears one night, only to be found the next morning naked and alone in the woods. What follows is a brooding domestic drama punctuated by supernatural forces. Bea’s shift from a carefree young woman to cold, distant, and calculating echo some of the anxieties that come with a new marriage —issues such as secrecy, mistrust, and loss of identity—made all the more visceral through Bea’s unexplainable physical transformation and the possibility of a force beyond human control.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Amy Berg
Screenwriter: Nicole Holofcener

Cast: Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald, Nate Parker, Common

One clear summer day in a New York suburb, a baby goes missing from her own front porch. Two young girls serve seven years for the crime and are released into a town that hasn't fully forgiven or forgotten. Alice (Danielle Macdonald) lives a sheltered life under her mother's (Diane Lane) watchful eye, while Ronnie (Dakota Fanning) keeps her head down working at a local bagel store. When another child goes missing, Detectives Nancy Porter (Elizabeth Banks) and Kevin Jones (Nate Parker) are called in to investigate the mystery in a community where everyone seems to have a secret. Academy Award-winning documentarian Amy Berg makes her fiction film debut with a haunting, emotional adaptation of Laura Lippman's acclaimed novel of secrets, loss, and murder.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Tristan Patterson
Screenwriter: Tristan Patterson

Cast: Jim Sturgess, Isabel Lucas, Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Arquette, Christopher Lambert

A heightened homage to the City of Angels, Electric Slide riffs on the real-life story of Eddie Dodson, the notorious "Gentleman Bank Robber." With a fondness for velvet, Stetsons, and blow, Dodson managed to lure money from mesmerized female tellers at over 60 banks during an epic spree in the 1980s. Jim Sturgess gives a uniquely affected performance as the urbane antique dealer and hobbyist in this dark, hyper-stylized crime tale. Gathering a stellar supporting cast including Chloe Sevigny, Patricia Arquette, and Vinessa Shaw, director Tristan Patterson crafts a singular vision of ‘80s Los Angeles. With dazzling outfits and cinematography that drips with sensuality, it's hard not to get taken just like those bank tellers.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Susanna Fogel
Screenwriters: Susanna Fogel & Joni Lefkowitz

Cast: Leighton Meester, Gillian Jacobs, Adam Brody, Mark Feuerstein, Gabourey Sidibe, Abby Elliott

At 29, the most long-term relationship Sasha (Leighton Meester) and Paige (Gillian Jacobs) have ever been in is with each other, using their co-dependent friendship as an excuse not to venture out into the dating world alone. But when Paige meets nerdy Tim (Adam Brody) and starts to get serious for the first time, the nature of their friendship begins to shift. Fearing she’s being cast aside, Sasha tries to keep their relationship the same, but does growing up also mean growing apart?

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Andrew Disney
Screenwriter: Bradley Jackson

Cast: Jake Lacy, Nikki Reed, Kate McKinnon, Beck Bennett, Nick Kocher, Brian McElhaney

There comes a time in every fifth-year senior’s life when they must either accept the impending real world of jobs, marriage, and payment plans or to shirk that responsibility in favor of playing the most glorious intramural football game your school probably doesn’t really care to see. Once a freshman intramural champion, Caleb Fuller threw in the towel after his best friend and teammate Grant Rosenfalis paralyzed his (hint: see pun) on the game-winning play. Now back for redemption and exercise, the team reunites to face off against their archrivals, the insufferable reigning champion, the Titans.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Adam Rapp
Screenwriters: Michael Godere & Ivan Martin

Cast: Michael Godere, Ivan Martin, Marisa Tomei, Sam Rockwell, Brian Geraghty, Isabelle McNally

After a chance run-in with a film producer eager to invest in a new project, aspiring writers Dominic (Michael Godere) and Raphael (Ivan Martin) need to come up with a script fast, so the pair head to the seclusion of upstate New York to churn out their masterpiece. But when Dominic’s siren of a sister (Marisa Tomei) turns up desperate for reprieve from her boyfriend (Sam Rockwell), they soon realize they’re in for more than they bargained for as their creative retreat is increasingly waylaid by uninvited guests, romantic entanglements, and unexpected distractions. Isabelle McNally and a hilarious Brian Geraghty round out the ensemble cast of New York art world characters in this romantic comedy from director Adam Rapp.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly
Screenwriter: Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly

Cast: Emory Cohen, Callan McAuliffe, Aidan Gillen, Sarah Sutherland, Zoe Levin

A Stand By Me for the next generation of boys becoming men, writer-directors Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly’s Beneath the Harvest Sky shares the intimate journey—both metaphorical and literal—of two Maine teenagers. Frustrated and restless, best friends Dominic and Casper are making plans to escape their small town to start new lives in Boston. In order to get the money, Dominic spends the summer harvesting potatoes while Casper becomes involved in the family business—smuggling drugs over the Canadian border. The divergent paths of the two boys, both trapped in different ways, will change their friendship forever. An authentic portrayal of adolescent frustration, with stellar performances from Emory Cohen and Callan McAuliffe, culminates in a heartbreaking coming-of-age drama not to be missed.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director & Screenwriter: Victor Levin

Cast: Anton Yelchin, Bérénice Marlohe, Olivia Thirlby, Lambert Wilson, Frank Langella and Glenn Close

Outside the Manhattan St. Regis Hotel, aspiring young writer Brian (Anton Yelchin) first meets Arielle (Bérénice Marlohe), the sophisticated wife of a French Diplomat. Though she’s older, married, and the mother of two, Brian can’t help but be drawn to her and the two begin a cinq-a-sept affair. It’s a clash with his traditional values and his parents (Frank Langella and Glenn Close) can barely handle the news, but Brian couldn’t be more smitten. As the two fall deeper in love, Brian begins to wish for more than just the hours of five to seven and soon the two must face the most significant decision of their lives. An emotionally powerful debut from writer and director Victor Levin, who shows how hard you will fight for love when the odds are stacked against you.

Language: English
Country: USA
US Premiere

Director: Kelly Reichardt
Screenwriter: Jon Raymond, Kelly Reichardt

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, Peter Sarsgaard

Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning, and Peter Sarsgaard star as environmentalists eager to send a message to the developers and technology-addicted residents of “the latest outpost of the Portland Empire.” When their plot to blow up Oregon’s Green Peter Dam goes slightly, but significantly awry, they discover that even small steps can have enormous consequences, especially when the most steely-eyed devotees of a political cause abandon their morality. Night Moves is an extraordinary new entry from one of indie cinema’s most lyrical directors.

Language: English
Country: USA
US Premiere

Director & Screenwriter: John Carney

Cast: Keira Knightley, Mark Ruffalo, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, James Corden, Yasiin Bey, Cee Lo Green, Catherine Keener

The latest film from writer-director John Carney (Once), Begin Again is a soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City. Begin Again is produced and financed by Exclusive Media and produced by Anthony Bregman, Tobin Armbrust and Judd Apatow. The film will be released by The Weinstein Company in July.

Language: English
Country: Canada
World Premiere

Director: Colin Minihan
Screenwriter: The Vicious Brothers

Cast: Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Jesse Moss, Anja Savcic, Melanie Papalia, Gill Bellows

In the Vicious Brothers’ gripping sci-fi horror film, a group’s getaway into the woods dissolves into a full- throttle fight for their lives when unwelcome aliens invade. Five college friends escape to a cabin for the weekend, unaware that the town has experienced as rash of seemingly random disappearances and animal attacks. Blinded by their revelry, they accidentally trespass on a neighbor’s property, only to find themelves face to face with a conspiracy-spouting Vietnam vet and a flickering object that seems to crash-land in the woods nearby. Curious, they set out to investigate. But as they reach the crash, they spot mysterious footprints heading away from the scene and straight towards them.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Keith Miller
Screenwriter: Keith Miller

Cast: James 'Primo' Grant, John Diaz

After John’s absent father is struck by a stray bullet, Primo takes it upon himself to verse the young boy in the code of the streets—one founded on respect and upheld by fear. A member of the Bloods since the age of twelve—both in the film and in reality—the streets of Brooklyn are all Primo has ever known. While John questions whether or not to enter into this life, Primo must decide whether to leave it all behind as he vows to become a better husband and father. Set during those New York summer weeks where the stifling heat seems to encase everything, Five Star plunges into gang culture with searing intensity. Director Keith Miller observes the lives of these two men with a quiet yet pointed distance, carefully eschewing worn clichés through its unflinching focus. Distinctions between fiction and real life remain intentionally ambiguous, allowing the story of these two men to resonate beyond the streets, as they face the question of what it means to be a man.

Language: French
Country: France
US Premiere

Director: Marion Vernoux
Screenwriters: Fanny Chesnel & Marion Vernoux

Cast: Fanny Ardant, Laurent Lafitte, Patrick Chesnais

In this sophisticated French drama, a woman in her 60s (film icon Fanny Ardant, 8 Women, Confidentially Yours) falls for a much younger man (Laurent Lafitte, Little White Lies), her computer teacher at the local seniors’ club. As she finds herself courting danger—taking her young lover to places they could easily be discovered by her husband (Patrick Chesnais, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)—she must decide if her retirement will mark the end for her marriage, or a new beginning. Director Marion Vernoux constructs a subtle and sultry vision of a woman struggling to evaluate the role she has played for others versus the life she wants for herself.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Brin Hill
Screenwriter: Joss Whedon

Cast: Zoe Kazan, Michael Stahl-David, Nikki Reed, Mark Feuerstein, Steve Harris, Jennifer Grey

East Coast housewife Rebecca (Zoe Kazan) lives a comfortable, sheltered life of cocktail parties and lonely nights as the soft-spoken, neglected wife of a doctor, but she always knew there was something special about herself. Across the country in arid New Mexico, charismatic ex-con Dylan (Michael Stahl-David) has paid his debt to society and is ready for a fresh start, including a new job and a burgeoning flirtation with local good-time-gal Donna (Nikki Reed). When the two polar opposites realize they are strangely connected in ways they can’t understand, an utterly unique metaphysical romance begins in TFF alum Brin Hill’s sweet and smart film, which star Zoe Kazan aptly described as “Joss Whedon does Nicholas Sparks.”

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director & Screenwriter: Garrett Bradley

Cast: Elliott Ehlers, Jamain Johnson, Leann Miller

A reverie of images and sound, Below Dreams loosely follows the narratives of three very different people—Elliott, newly arrived from New York, single mother Leann, and unemployed father Jamaine—as they negotiate New Orleans’ streets, neighborhoods, and residents in search of an upward path to fulfill their dreams. But as each character experiences the city’s (and life’s) realities, it becomes clear these hopes and dreams are no longer possible, and that with change must also come sacrifice. Garrett Bradley’s impressive debut feature is shot verité documentary style to provide an unpolished, affecting realness as we become immersed in the characters’ individual challenges and quests amid the relaxed, yet demanding urban backdrop of the Crescent City.

Language: Mandarin
Country: China, Hong Kong
North American Premiere

Director: Diao Yinan
Screenwriter: Diao Yinan

Cast: Liao Fan, Gwei Lun Mei, Wang Xuebing, Wang Jingchun, Yu Ailei, Ni Jingyang

After a botched arrest in a grisly serial murder case, small-town detective Zhang Zili is suspended from the force, taking a job as a security guard at a coal factory. Five years later, another series of mysteriously similar murders takes place, and Zhang recruits his former partner to finish their investigation. His sleuthing soon leads to a local laundromat proprietor named Wu Zhizhen, whose soft-spoken demeanor and enigmatic aura are compelling to Zhang despite her mysterious connection to the deaths.

Part film noir, part social realist portrait of industrial city life in Northern China, Diao Yinan’s atmospheric Black Coal, Thin Ice is a moody, quietly powerful thriller staged against the quotidian lives of a wintry industrial landscape, and winner of the top prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.

Language: English
Country: USA
New York Premiere

Director: Ira Sachs
Screenwriter: Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias

Cast: John Lithgow, Alfred Molina, Marisa Tomei, Cheyenne Jackson, Manny Perez, Darren Burrows

Ira Sachs follows up last year’s acclaimed, Keep the Lights On, with another take on modern love. Acting veterans John Lithgow and Alfred Molina star as Ben and George, a Manhattan couple who are finally given the opportunity to make their union official. But when Ben loses his teaching job as a result, the relationship is tested in unconventional ways—leaving them to more strongly rely on their love to hold things together. Lithgow and Molina deliver inspired performances, while Sachs expertly guides his cast in the delicate dance of difficult emotions and scenarios presented among friends, family, and loved ones.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Noah Buschel
Screenwriter: Noah Buschel

Cast: Corey Stoll, Billy Crudup, Marin Ireland, Yul Vazquez, Kelly Lynch, John Douglas Thompson

Bud 'The Saint' Gordon (Corey Stoll) once had it all—a nice apartment, fame, public love and admiration—but a quick jab to the chin wiped that slate. Now living in a dingy studio with no business, no fans and no purpose except to help train an up-and-coming boxer, Bud longs for his former Manhattan glory. With promises of restoring his shattered image and ego, he makes a deal with JJ (Billy Crudup), a crooked restaurateur. But as Bud further entangles himself in JJ's affairs, he finds himself framed for murder and faces a choice between his integrity and his aspirations. Capturing the moral dilemmas that emerge from the compromises we make for success, Noah Buschel writes and directs Glass Chin with a distinctive, vibrant style.

Language: Swedish
Country: Sweden
North American Premiere

Director: Sofia Norlin
Screenwriter: Sofia Norlin

Cast: Sebastian Hiort af Ornäs, Lina Leandersson, Alfred Juntti, Ella Nordin, Pär Andersson, Alexandra Dahlström

A group of adolescents wrestle with their uncertain futures in a remote mining town that’s literally cracking underneath their feet. Kiruna, the northernmost town in Sweden, sits above an iron ore mine that has been slowly eroding the land around it for decades. Soon, Kiruna and everyone in it will have to move, but to where they do not know. As the displaced teenagers linger on the cusp of adulthood, they echo the town’s own fragility in this beautiful and understated film. Marking the arrival of a truly original voice, first-time director Sofia Norlin’s vivid and timely portrait starring Lina Leandersson (Let the Right One In), is yet another shining example in the rising wave in Swedish cinema.

Language: Russian
Country: Finland, Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Kazakhstan
World Premiere

Director: Ilmar Raag
Screenwriter: Yaroslava Pulinovich

Cast: Polina Pushkaruk, Victoria Lobacheva, Andrey Astrahantsev, Sergej Jacenjuk, Galina Mochalova

Anya, an aloof and love-spurned graduate student, is on the run from the police when she encounters young Kristina, a precocious orphan determined to find the only family she has left. When Kristina offers Anya a solution to her desperate situation, Anya reluctantly agrees. The unlikely pair embark on a harrowing and unpredictable odyssey hitchhiking across the intimidating terrain of Russia. Director Ilmar Raag gorgeously showcases the vast landscapes of the region while capturing the raw emotional dynamic between the characters. Newcomer Vika Lobacheva delivers an unforgettable performance as the loyal, sprite-like Kristina. I Won't Come Back is a visceral look at survival and a heartfelt exploration into the depths of friendship and the meaning of acceptance.

Language: English
Country: Ireland
World Premiere

Director: Ivan Kavanagh
Screenwriter: Ivan Kavanagh

Cast: Rupert Evans, Antonia Campbell Hughes, Hannah Hoekstra, Steve Oram, Kelly Byrne.

Sitting in an empty theater, a film archivist watches the grainy footage that will be his undoing. David and his wife are perfectly happy—or so he believes. When he finds out the home he shares with his wife and son was the scene of a ghastly turn-of-the-century murder, David dismisses it as ancient history. That is, until the sinister history ripples into the present and casts a shadow over life as he knows it. And when a looming secret shatters his marriage, David can't help but suspect the dark spirits of the house are somehow involved. In his drive to unveil the shadows hidden in the walls, David begins to descend into insanity, threatening the lives of everyone around him.

Through ghastly imagery and a chilling score, Ivan Kavanagh’s The Canal is an Irish ghost story that will leave you with a fear of the dark and a dripping chill down your spine long after the film's conclusion.

Language: English, Spanish
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Alastair Orr
Screenwriter: Max Roberts

Cast: Zachary Soetenga, Lindsey McKeon, Sofia Pernas, Pierson Fode, Jamie Anderson, Juanxo Villaverde

A group of five American friends on the cusp of adulthood travel to Panama to relax and party amid the exotic paradise. Befriending a local woman in their hotel bar, they learn of a pristine waterfall nearby, but also of the ominous legend of a monster inhabiting the expanse of unexplored jungle just outside their resort. Ignoring the warnings, they convince the woman to guide them to the picturesque falls. What begins as an innocent outing quickly turns frightening when she suddenly goes missing. As night closes in, the friends realize too late the truth behind the rumors—the legendary, blood-sucking Chupacabra is now stalking them. Director Alistair Orr brings to horrifying life the legendary goat sucker in this spine-tingling and bloody fight for survival.

Language: Spanish
Country: Mexico
North American Premiere

Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios
Screenwriters: Alonso Ruizpalacios & Gibrán Portela

Cast: Tenoch Huerta, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris, Sebastian Aguirre

A months-long student strike at the National University throws roommates Sombra and Santos into a droll sort of limbo in their shabby apartment in Mexico City, whiling away the hours pining for the girl from the pirate radio show and tricking their neighbor’s daughter into helping them steal electricity. Their idiosyncratic routine is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Sombra’s teenage brother, Tomás, who has been exiled from his home by their mother following an incident involving a baby and a water balloon. The trio sets out on a road trip in search of Tomás’s hero, fabled folk-rock star Epigmenio Cruz, traversing across the city through perilous slums and the rebellious halls of the university to the ritzy nightlife downtown.

English, Ireland
US Premiere

Director: John Butler
Screenwriters: John Butler & Peter McDonald

Cast: Andrew Scott, Hugh O'Conor, Peter McDonald, Brian Gleeson, Amy Huberman

A bachelor weekend among cordial friends goes haywire when the groom’s soon-to-be brother-in-law crashes the party and challenges their masculinity. Foppish groom-to-be Fionnan would much rather spend his last stag days obsessing over wedding plans than embark on a guys’ night out. Weary of his enthusiasm, Fionnan’s fiancé Ruth convinces his best man, Davin, to take him out for a weekend camping trip. But when Ruth’s alpha-male brother, aptly nicknamed ‘The Machine,’ arrives unannounced, the tame gathering quickly spirals out of control. Fionnan and his well-mannered friends find themselves at the mercy of The Machine’s crass antics as the trip turns into Fionnan’s worst nightmare. An R-rated slapstick-style comedy, The Bachelor Weekend pokes fun at ritualistic male bonding and embracing the great outdoors.

Language: English, Norwegian, Swedish
Country: Norway
North American Premiere

Director: Hans Petter Moland
Screenwriter: Kim Fupz Aakeson

Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Bruno Ganz, Pål Sverre Hagen, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Jakob Oftebro, Birgitte Hjort Sørenson

Upstanding community leader Nils (Stellan Skarsgaard) has just won an award for "Citizen of the Year" when he learns the news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate, uncovering connections between the death and an ongoing turf dispute between Serbian drug dealers and a sociopathic criminal mastermind known only as "The Count." Soon Nils’ relatively modest quest for vengeance puts him at the center of an escalating underworld gang war.

Language: Mandarin
Country: France, Taiwan R.O.C.
North American Premiere

Director: Tsai Ming Liang
Screenwriter: Tsai Ming Liang

Cast: Lee Kang Sheng, Denis Lavant

A meditation loosely based on the classical Chinese story by Wu Cheng’en, this groundbreaking new interpretation brings the legendary pilgrimage of a Buddhist monk into the present tense. Tsai Ming Liang bids us to look and listen, providing a timeless take on the spiritual journey of an individual in constant negotiation with the self and the substrate in which he finds himself. Journey to the West proposes that true enlightenment awaits those who endure.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director & Screenwriter: Jesse Zwick

Cast: Maggie Grace, Max Greenfield, Jane Levy, Max Minghella, Nate Parker, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Ritter

Seven college friends, once close, find that they've drifted apart in their post-college years. But after hearing news that one of their cadre has suffered an emotional breakdown, the group reunite for a weekend away to cheer him up and relive the fun and simplicity of their college glory days. Yet, despite their best efforts to enjoy themselves, a tinderbox of old jealousies, unrequited love, and widening political differences leads to an explosion of drama that, coupled with the flammable combination of drugs, wine, and risotto, cannot be contained.

A Big Chill for our current social media moment, About Alex is a thoughtful, emotionally raw, and honest look at the changing nature of adult friendships, brought to life by a strong ensemble cast including Aubrey Plaza, Max Greenfield, Max Minghella, Jason Ritter, Nate Parker, Jane Levy, and Maggie Grace.

Language: English
Country: U.K.
US Premiere

Director: David Mackenzie
Screenwriter: Jonathan Asser

Cast: Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend

Eric (Jack O’Connell) is a teenaged offender who is so vicious that he is ‘starred up’—moved to a high security prison for adults. With rage that seems to know no boundaries, he fights everyone in his path until he meets his match, Neville (Ben Mendelsohn), a fellow prisoner who also happens to be his father.

Set in a muted institutional palette, director David Mackenzie and writer Jonathan Asser brilliantly lock viewers in a suffocating world that strips its inhabitants of all humanity. A riveting drama unfolds as father and son seek to find forgiveness and solace, fully aware that they both are locked in an unbreakable cycle.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Lou Howe
Screenwriter: Lou Howe

Cast: Rory Culkin, David Call, Deirdre O'Connell, Emily Meade, Louisa Krause, Lynn Cohen, Alexia Rasmussen

Rory Culkin delivers an electrifying performance as Gabriel, a vulnerable and confused teenager longing for stability and happiness amidst an ongoing struggle with mental illness. Convinced that reuniting with his old girlfriend holds the answer to all his troubles, Gabriel risks it all in a desperate and increasingly obsessive pursuit, testing the limits of his compassionate family as his inner demons begin to close in around him.

Language: Italian
Country: Italy, France
International Premiere

Director: Paolo Virzì
Screenwriter: Francesco Bruni, Francesco Piccolo, Paolo Virzì

Cast: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Golino, Fabrizio Gifuni, Luigi Lo Cascio

We open on a dark, snowy night in northern Italy—and begin at the end. Approaching a stranger’s tragic death from three vastly different perspectives, the lives of two families, at first only loosely linked by their teenagers’ relationship, overlap in multitudinous ways to devastating effect. Valeria Golina and Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, two of Italy’s leading actresses, star in a story based on Stephen Amidon’s best-selling book of the same name that twists love, class, and ambition into a singular, true-life story. As the players tumble toward an ill-fated event of which they are inextricably linked, Paolo Virzi’s refined three-chapter tale reveals a cultural and systemic disparity in the value of human life.

Language: Georgian
Country: France, Georgia
North American Premiere

Director: Tinatin Kajrishvili
Screenwriters: Tinatin Kajrishvili & David Chubinishvili

Cast: Mari Kitia, Giorgi Maskharashvili, Giorgi Makharadze, Darejan Khachidze, Tamar Mamulashvili, Ana Grigolia, Beka Samadbegishvili

In the suburbs of Tbilisi, Georgia, seamstress Nutsa shares an apartment with her two young children and awaits the return of her lover, Goga, who has six years left on his prison sentence. Following a surreal wedding ceremony in the confines of the prison, the couple is only afforded rare visits and phone calls to keep their relationship alive. Confronted with the prospect of raising her children alone, Nutsa faces difficult decisions about her life and livelihood. Should she keep her family together or maintain her own freedom?

First-time director, Tinatin Kajrishvili, creates an authentic portrait of what life is like for many Georgian women, based on her personal experiences as the wife of a prisoner. Featuring a stunning turn by lead actress Mari Kitia, Brides is an intimate look at love and absence, and a subtle indictment of Georgia's harsh penal system.

Language: French
Country: France
North American Premiere

Director: Guillaume Nicloux
Screenwriter: Guillaume Nicloux

Cast: Michel Houellebecq, Maria Bourjala, Luc Schwarz, Mathieu Nicourt, Maxime Lefrançois

When best-selling and famously reclusive novelist Michel Houllebecq disappeared during his book tour in 2011, the rumors that spread regarding his whereabouts ran the gamut from suicide to, as the title suggests, a kidnapping. So endless was the speculation that we now have a perfectly perplexing film about it. Partly based on real-life events and starring Houellebecq himself, this fascinating and, despite its ominous-sounding title, wildly funny film blurs the line between fiction and documentary. Whatever the real truth may be, what we do know is that director Guillaume Nicloux has created a highly entertaining and farcical piece of cinema that echoes the dry tone and tongue-in-cheek presentation of its unique and ever-unconventional subject.

Language: Burmese, Chinese
Country: Taiwan R.O.C., Myanmar
North American Premiere

Director: Midi Z
Screenwriter: Midi Z

Cast: Wu Ke-Xi, Wang Shin-Hong, Zhou Cai Chang, Yang Shu Lan, Li Shang Da


Faced with diminishing returns on his harvest, a poor young farmer in Myanmar pawns his cow for a moped and seeks alternative income as a taxi driver. Among his first fares is a woman who has returned home for her grandfather’s funeral and is making a new start after escaping an arranged marriage in China. Together, they are lured into one of the few lucrative business opportunities available in the area: selling “ice poison” (crystal meth) around town.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Courteney Cox
Screenwriter: David Flebotte

Cast: Seann Willian Scott, Olivia Thirlby, Garrett Dillahunt, Kyle Gallner,Rob Riggle, Kate Walsh

Courteney Cox proves her comedic timing extends beyond her acting chops in her directorial debut. Seann William Scott is Ted Morgan, a down-on-his-luck everyman who has decided that what life has to offer isn't much. He gets motivated for the first (and the last) time to do himself in, but not before tying up a few loose ends back in his hometown. Enter a zany cast of characters, including Rob Riggle, Olivia Thirlby, and Garret Dillahunt, who quickly and inadvertently helps Ted discover that he's not the only one who lives in a world that is not all sunshine and lollipops. Cox treats the story with care, providing a great platform for her cast to bring both humor and heart to every scene.

Language: English
Country: USA
US Premiere

Director: Megan Griffiths
Screenwriter: Huck Botko & Emily Wachtel

Cast: Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church, Oliver Platt, Nina Arianda, Ryan Eggold, Ahna O'Reilly

Ellie Klug has one last chance to prove her value to her aging music magazine, Stax. As luck would have it, her editor has just the assignment: a no-stone-unturned search to discover what really happened to long lost local rock god, Matt Smith. And wouldn’t you know it? Ellie and Matt have a history. Joined on the road by well-meaning but music-hating documentarian Charlie, Ellie delves into her past and quickly discovers that hype and mythology have not soothed the pain of her own experiences.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Stephen Belber
Screenwriter: Stephen Belber

Cast: Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, Matthew Lillard

A Seattle couple (Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard) travel to New York to interview former dancer Tobi (played with remarkable dexterity by Patrick Stewart) for research on a dissertation about the dance landscape of 1960s New York City. Now a beloved but somewhat hermitic ballet instructor, Tobi eventually warms to the strangers sitting in his Inwood apartment, regaling them with wild anecdotes from his colorful past. But when the line of questioning veers away from his career and becomes uncomfortably personal, the true motive behind the couple’s visit begins to emerge. Based on the Tony-nominated play of the same name, Director Stephen Belber weaves effortlessly between riotous wit and delicate poignancy, unraveling the story of three people forced to confront ideas of responsibility, artistic commitment, and love.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Karen Leigh Hopkins
Screenwriter: Karen Leigh Hopkins

Miss Meadows is prim. Miss Meadows wears tap shoes every day. Miss Meadows carries a lovely little handgun in her tiny, pretty purse. Miss Meadows (Katie Holmes) is not everything she seems in this satirical comedy about manners and mores and what happens when moral compasses go helter skelter against the messy magnets of real life. Holmes dons the role of a dainty vigilante, taking it upon herself to right the wrongs in this cruel world by whatever means necessary. Things become complicated, however, when she gets romantically entangled with the town sheriff. As she contemplates sharing her life with another person, the question arises: who is she really, and what is she capable of, for better or worse?

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Gillian Greene
Screenwriter: Christian Magalhaes & Robert Snow

Cast: Greg Kinnear, JK Simmons, Blythe Danner, Nikki Reed, and Fran Kranz

Nikki Reed, Greg Kinnear, and Fran Kranz star in this offbeat detective comedy. When someone murders his beloved cat, Clinton (Kranz), an adult child, demands justice. Taking it upon himself to solve the case, he teams up with an unlikely ally, Greta (Reed), and the two set out to find the culprit lurking in their small suburban town. But as Clinton searches for the truth, he begins to uncover a conspiracy that goes far deeper than he anticipated.

Language: English
Country: USA
New York Premiere

Director: Charlie McDowell
Screenwriter: Justin Lader

Cast: Mark Duplass, Elisabeth Moss, Ted Danson

In Charlie McDowell’s refreshing and inventive twist on the love story, Ethan and Sophie escape to an idyllic country retreat in a last ditch attempt to save their ailing marriage. Sophie is attempting to forgive Ethan for an act of infidelity, straining to revive her affection for the man with whom she first fell in love. But what begins as a quiet opportunity to reconnect soon morphs into an unexplainable head-trip as their romantic retreat turns into an entirely different thing altogether. Starring Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss (in subtle, heartfelt performances) as a couple forced to confront both their relationship and their individual self-perception in an impossibly unique way, The One I Love turns the romantic comedy on its ear.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Christopher Denham
Screenwriter: Christopher Denham

Cast: Wrenn Schmidt, Aaron Staton, Pablo Schreiber

Actor Christopher Denham takes his second turn in the director’s chair with this finely crafted horror-thriller starring Pablo Schreiber (The Wire, Orange is the New Black), Aaron Staton (Mad Men), and Wrenn Schmidt (Boardwalk Empire). Brothers Sean and Mike Neary, along with Mike’s wife Wit, head out on a hunting trip that doubles as a distraction from their troubles at home. But ignoring the “closed” sign and heading deep into an overgrown nature preserve, they soon find their troubles are only beginning. When all of their gear is stolen, they immediately turn on each other. But the hunted can only survive so long standing alone. Just when you think you have heard the story before, Preservation twists into a sharp and startling take on why we fight and, in our tech-obsessed age, what we have been missing out on in the great outdoors.

Language: German
Country: Germany
International Premiere

Director: Till Kleinert
Screenwriter: Till Kleinert

Cast: Michel Diercks, Pit Bukowski, Uwe Preuss, Ulrike Hanke-Hänsch, Kaja Blachnik, Christopher Guy Kane, Janin Halisch, Ulrike Bliefert, Michael Fritz Schumacher

In the dense forest on the outskirts of a small village, a samurai-wielding figure wearing a pristine white dress lurks menacingly among the birch trees, waiting to descend upon the unsuspecting villagers. As the Samurai makes his way through the streets, heads roll with each stroke of his sword. Desperately wishing to protect his hometown from the blood-splattering onslaught, Jakob, a dutiful, straight-laced cop, becomes increasingly powerless to resist the draw of the Samurai’s feral otherness. The two enter into a bizarre folie à deux as Jakob is forced to confront his own carnal impulses.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: David Lascher
Screenwriter: Todd Camhe & David Lascher

Cast: Reid Scott, Barbara Hershey, Grace Kaufman, Serinda Swan, Nadine Velazquez, Alexis Dziena, Dan Lauria, Illeana Douglas, John Heard, Lee Garlington, Patricia Belcher, Isabella Acres, Skyler Stone, Adam Shapiro

When unstable Susan (Barbara Hershey) is tragically widowed she finds it impossible to care for her delinquent adolescent daughter Niki, forcing Billy (Reid Scott), her son, to care for his difficult younger sister. As the two begin to forge a healthy bond, well-intentioned Billy implements his own methods of treatment for Niki’s mental troubles. But when turmoil persists, Billy must grapple with his ideals and what may actually be best for his sister.

Language: Swedish
Country: Sweden
North American Premiere

Director: Ester Martin Bergsmark
Screenwriter: Eli Levén, Ester Martin Bergsmark

Cast: Saga Becker, Iggy Malmborg, Shima Niavarani, Mattias Åhlén

When Sebastian meets Andreas for the first time, he knows they belong together. As they weave through Stockholm’s back streets and forgotten parks, shoplifting beer from a 7-Eleven, and dancing the tango on an abandoned rooftop, their intoxicating connection takes hold. While Sebastian defies gender norms—flouting convention in his androgynous fluidity—straight-identifying Andreas becomes unable to accept his attraction to another man, as their relationship progresses. Struggling with his identity, Sebastian becomes increasingly determined to become “Ellie,” even if it means walking away from Andreas. Brimming with raw electricity, director Ester Martin Bergsmark’s mesmerizing film captures the intimacy of its subjects with an intensity and charge that is simultaneously transgressive and deeply romantic.

Language: English
Country: USA
World Premiere

Director: Onur Tukel
Screenwriter: Onur Tukel

Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Dakota Goldhor, Onur Tukel, Dustin Guy, Melodie Sisk, Jason Selvig

Brooklyn writer-director Onur Tukel stars in this black comedy about relationships, attraction, commitment, and the true meaning of ‘eternity.’ Eric, a misanthropic, emotionally-stunted New Yorker, finds himself on the brink of a premature mid-life crisis when he rejects his career-woman girlfriend's marriage proposal. Stuck at a dead-end job with no allure in the dating pool and even less in bed, Eric has all reason to lose hope. But that all changes one fateful night when he runs into a vampire in an alleyway. The next day, Eric finds his confidence invigorated and his stomach in an excruciating pain that can only be subdued by one thing: blood.