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10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.
Visually dark and sinister short film illustrating the devil’s twisted view of humanity, our hopes and dreams, life, love and struggle together with the sacrifices we make for success.
When a beautiful woman and her roommate cross the line from hot blooded passion to chilling seduction, they enter a realm where their dreams are forbidden and their appetites become insatiable for blood.
As a young child our protagonist is left by his mother and has to live with his violent father. He fights his way through adolescence and falls in love with the woman of his dreams and just as everything seems to be finally working out for him, a sudden event changes the course of his life forever. A story about how everything we love, everything we learn, everything we build, everything we fear, will one day be gone.
A struggling actress is cast in her last off (off) Broadway show – a modern take on “A Christmas Carol” – before giving up her dream and moving home. Instead, she finds romance with her director and a renewed passion for her craft and the city. But when the historic theater loses its lease and the show is set to fold, she and her cast mates are need of a Christmas miracle.
The NPF, a women’s professional softball league that few know exists, has spent decades struggling for survival in a male-dominated sports world. Its players are forced to choose between their livelihood and their dreams, and this year they’ve been given another chance.
Shattered is a story based on true events about family betrayal, love lost, and a dark destructive secret that swirls around a high powered political family in the Deep South. Kate Stenson dreams of an enviable life as the quintessential Southern Belle. She marries Ken Burnett, the son of the town’s powerful Mayor – a controlling father who will do anything to protect his position. Kate has two children with Ken – a biological daughter, and an adopted son, named Logan. But Kate’s seemingly perfect lifestyle begins to fray at the edges as she discovers that Logan suffers from severe mental health issues. Kate’s journey to uncover the true story of Logan’s past reveals a dark secret that can destroy the entire Burnett legacy. As Kate investigates – with the aid of a new friend – to unmask the history behind Logan’s illness, these unimaginable family secrets surface, putting her in unforeseen danger.
When Michael Briskett meets the perfect woman, his ideal Christmas dream comes true when she invites him to her family’s holiday celebration. Dreams shattered, Michael struggles to survive once he realizes HE will be Christmas dinner.
Deep in Louisiana’s swampland, a woman wakes from a fever dream where it has been August for 16 years.
Three young gay men arrive in Los Angeles to fulfill their dreams and aspirations, during a summer which will change their lives. In a world of You Tube celebrities, unemployment, downward mobility, and socializing through Facebook, they make a wish in a fountain to find love, fame, and transcendence. Will any of them do it?
Scott and his friend Nick use the occult to bring a doll to life as a joke, not realizing that the doll consumed an evil spirit and is inhabiting others and stealing souls. Scott s wife Stacey is soon put through the nightmarish test of trying to figure out what is real and what is not. Scott is soon possessed and the evil unleashes throughout a world of strange dreamlike atmosphere in a fight to revoke the evil spirit that is trying to take over their world.
The extraordinary life of Chickasaw Nation citizen Mary Thompson Fisher is given a heartfelt tribute in this moving look at a culture in transition, and the way one woman used her voice to keep Native traditions and stories alive. Raised in Indian Territory, Fisher left home to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, only to find that her true calling was at home all along. From Chautauquas to Broadway and even the White House, Fisher traveled the world performing Native American songs and stories for heads of state, American presidents, and European royalty. Featuring Chickasaw citizens both in front of and be-hind the camera, this touching portrait starring Q’orianka Kilcher (“The New World”) and Graham Greene honors a woman whose own story was the most inspiring one she never told. -TCFF database
Dominic Brunt’s impressive second feature after the beloved ‘Emmerdale’ actor took the genre by storm with BEFORE DAWN is a tense female revenge saga – a frightening true-life crime thriller graced by a scalpel-sharp screenplay and extraordinary performances. Two women who dream of opening their own café in a work-depressed northern town go to the wrong person for a loan in this chilling allegory of the economic brutality independent businesses face within the austerity-led banking system. Unable to meet the outrageous payment demands, the hardened duo must find it within themselves to take pitiless, bloody retribution on their malicious aggressor.
Shot in and around the central Otago communities of Omakau, Ophir and Alexandra, A coming-of-age film that centers on overweight 12-year old Billy who is not interested in being a farmer and doesn’t care for Rugby. His escape is the fantasy world of the TV show, Adventures in Space where he dreams about playing the heroine Lana. Of course all this doesn’t make him the most popular with his school mates, but his tomboy cousin Lou buffers those problems. Into his life comes two new boys, Roy and Jamie that are destined to provide the catalyses in changing Billy’s life.
The story of four characters whose lives intertwine amid the hustle and bustle of the Coney Island amusement park in the 1950s: Ginny, an emotionally volatile former actress now working as a waitress in a clam house; Humpty, Ginny’s rough-hewn carousel operator husband; Mickey, a handsome young lifeguard who dreams of becoming a playwright; and Carolina, Humpty’s long-estranged daughter, who is now hiding out from gangsters at her father’s apartment.
Against her father’s wishes, a young female cop in Chicago pursues her dream of becoming a detective when she’s brought on to investigate a major murder case.
In the third instalment of the franchise, Janne embarks on an epic hike, a journey of self-discovery. His dreams of a tranquil retreat into nature are quickly shattered however, when Räihänen and Kämäräinen both decide to come along for the trip. Meanwhile Janne’s spouse Inari gets the chance to go back to work, but only if she can prove she’s “management material” and a real leader. Inari enters the Swamp Soccer tournament, where to her horror she finds out her ex Little Mikko is also competing.
The New Wave of French horror cinema has arrived and at its vanguard is 14 year-old director Nathan Ambrosioni. Meredith Langston always longed to have children. She finally makes this happen when she adopts two young adolescent girls. However, her now idyllic world sours rapidly and dream veers to nightmare when she quickly finds that she is unable to cope with their increasingly strange behaviour. Desperate, she seeks the help of two journalists working for a local TV programme ‘SOS Adoption’. Unfortunately it is all for nothing, especially when the reporters discover that there is another presence in the house.
When the executives at Heartstrings Press wants to drop Michael Rothchild’s next romance book, junior editor, Dori Shephard, argues her way into working as the lead editor. But Dori’s dream job becomes her nightmare as she realizes Michael isn’t everything she imagined. Dori breaks the news to Michael that the executives think he’s an ill-mannered, washed up novelist and want to terminate his contract. Not wanting to be dropped from Heartstrings Press, Michael agrees to work with Dori for 30 days. While Dori wrestles with Michael’s languorous behavior she’s also in the midst of planning her wedding to her fiancé, Philip. However, things go awry for Dori when work becomes an obstacle in her relationship. Dori must learn what true love really means before it’s too late.
A 25 year old young man with dreams of becoming a dancer despite the fact that he’s paralyzed from the waist down. His dreams are shattered when his uncle falls seriously ill. To save him, he decides to go work for petrol traffickers.
A young rock band, half from England and half from the US, drop out of college and move to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams.
Jamilah has her whole life figured out. She’s the president of her black sorority, captain of their champion step dance crew, is student liaison to the college dean, and her next move is on to Harvard Law School. She’s got it all, right? But when the hard-partying white girls from Sigma Beta Beta embarrass the school, Jamilah is ordered to come to the rescue. Her mission is to not only teach the rhythmically-challenged girls how to step dance, but to win the Steptacular, the most competitive of dance competitions. With the SBBs reputations and charter on the line, and Jamilah’s dream of attending Harvard in jeopardy, these outcast screw-ups and their unlikely teacher stumble through one hilarious misstep after another. Cultures clash, romance blossoms, and sisterhood prevails as everyone steps out of their comfort zones.
Growing up in Las Vegas, Danny and Melissa meet at age eight and are destined to become life long friends. During their teen years they cling to each other for love and security but as they grow older their lives take different paths. Danny fills the void in his heart with his passion and love for America’s favorite pastime. While Melissa, filled with the insecurities of her youth, struggles to find the strength to pursue her childhood dreams. Although apart, their lives are forever connected. Like a glorious seven game world series, “The Road Home” is a story of imperishable hope, courage, faith, love and coming home.
Félicité, a strong and proud woman, sings in bars in Kinshasa. She drifts away from reality when her 14-year-old son gets into an accident. In electric Kinshasa, she wanders in a world of music & dreams… until love unexpectedly brings her back to life.
Hirune Hime is set in the Kojima region of Okayama Prefecture in the year 2020, two days after the scheduled Tokyo Olympics. Kokone lives together with her father, who is always working on modifying cars. As she begins to investigate a strange dream has been seeing over and over, Kokone learns a secret about her family.
Short – Audiences join two peculiar characters, an unusual dream therapist and his mysterious patient, as they dig up “live” spectacular reenacted classical myths with a variety of dragon species – Max von Sydow, Laurence Leboeuf, Serge Houde
Skatopia is an Appalachian farm where hardcore skating, punk rock and hillbilly culture collide in one anarchistic, unique community. Mad-Max style demolition derbies and spontaneous car burning accompany all-night skate sessions. Pain is a badge of honor. Tony Hawk calls Skatopia a “rite of passage” for hardcore skaters. Skatopia’s owner, Brewce Martin, dreamed of a place where he could live and breathe skating… a place where people forget their “outside” lives by plunging into high-energy craziness.
When an engaged couple can’t agree on anything, the mother of the groom (Linda Gray) hires a wedding planner (Danica McKellar) and an event planner (Paul Greene) to help put together the wedding of their dreams. The two planners are as different as night and day, but as they too learn to compromise, they discover opposites do indeed attract and can combine to produce incredible results!
B-movie Scream Queen Dana Lewis is tired of playing the helpless victim in straight-to-video movies and dreams of becoming a serious actress. After getting her “big break” as the lead in an independent film, the Scream Queen is forced to work on location in the Mojave Desert where she gets more than she bargained for – an obsessed fan as the director and a cast and crew of local weirdos.
Noah spends the perfect first night with the girl of his dreams Avery but gets relegated to the friend zone. He spends the next three years wondering what went wrong – until he gets the unexpected chance to travel back in time and alter that night, and his fate, over and over again.
As one-half of the Grammy award-winning duo “Deep Dish”, Iranian-American Ali Shirazinia (aka ‘Dubfire’) has established himself as one of the world’s most successful DJs and producers. But the road to success was not an easy one. With candid interviews from family, childhood friends, industry peers, and fellow artists, this film takes an intimate and honest look inside the nuanced world of dance music. This is an aspirational story about pursuing your passion, daring to dream big, and the challenges that come with success. It is an insider’s look at what its like to be an electronic music artist from Above Ground Level.
Elle Marja, 14, is a reindeer-breeding Sami girl. Exposed to the racism of the 1930s and phrenological examinations at her boarding school, she starts dreaming of another life. To achieve this other life she has to become someone else and break all ties with her family and culture.
Based on true events an epic story of one man’s struggle for survival. Jussi Ketola, returns to Finland from the great depression struck America only to face growing political unrest. One summer night of 1930, nationalist thugs violently abduct Ketola from his home. Beaten and forced to walk the Eternal Road towards a foreign Soviet Russia, where cruelty seems to know no end, his only dream is to return to his family cost it what it may. Hope dies last.
Camila, a young Argentine theater director, travels from Buenos Aires to New York to attend an artistic residency to develop a Spanish translation of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Upon her arrival, she begins to receive a series of mysterious postcards which set her down a winding path through her past and towards her future.
Polly’s dreams of making it as an actor are shattered when her identical twin sister Amy lands the lead role in a huge TV show. Mistaken for her famous sister at every turn, Polly decides to use Amy’s celebrity for her own advantage – free clothes, free booze, casual sex… with hilarious and disastrous consequences for them both.
