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Competing bakery owners, Faye McKenzie and Lydia Harper have been feuding for years with the Lake Shore County Harvest Festival’s annual pumpkin pie bake-off at the center of it all. The winner not only gets bragging rights and a trophy, but a substantial boost to her business, as well. This year, however, the women are passing the torch to their respective children, Casey and Sam, and when romantic sparks fly between them, this bake-off promises to be one to remember.
A Mexican master leads a Christ figure and other disciples to a mountain of immortal wise men. The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism in The Holy Mountain is a spiritual quest for enlightenment pitting illusion against truth. The Alchemist (Jodorowsky) assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept’s intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.
Renowned documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captures Otis Redding in his ascendancy, singing at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Comedian Tom Smothers introduces Redding to a crowd that is leaving — until Redding grabs them with his charged rendition of “Shake.” Redding’s performance also includes “Respect” (which he wrote), “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Satisfaction,” and “Try a Little Tenderness.” Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash six months later. An innovative filmmaker who started in the 1950s making experimental films, Pennebaker garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 1993 for The War Room, his behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. His other subjects have included Norman Mailer, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie.
Winner of twelve awards, including Best UK Feature at the 2015 London Independent Film Festival, this compelling British drama is a provocative exploration of a family torn apart by secrets. Party-girl Nora drinks too much, can’t hold down a job and pushes away everyone she loves. After her long-suffering boyfriend throws her out, Nora is forced to return home to live with her aging father. Once inside her childhood home, the ghosts of her past begin to haunt her until the secret she has buried for so long is finally revealed. Centered around a terrible mistake and a shocking confession, Solitary takes an unflinching look at the price one family pays when they sacrifice the truth for an illusion.
A group of friends trying to repair their strained relationships decide to spend the weekend camping at a music festival. En route they stop off at a small town in the middle of rural Ireland. However, this seemingly idyllic country town is darkened by a history of strange events. Can a town that is inherently evil literally tear them apart? Can they survive…. The Devil’s Woods.
The story of the descent into madness of Mussolini’s secret first wife, Ida Dasler, who was seduced by his passion and vigour but blind to the fascist dictator’s many flaws. A historical drama with the passion, lyricism and tragedy of a classical Italian opera. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Here and There (Serbian: Tamo i ovde) is a Serbian film which was premiered at the Belgrade Film Festival FEST 2009. Here and There follows two interconnected stories on two different continents. Robert (Thornton), a depressed New Yorker, tries to make quick cash and ends up in Serbia, where instead of money he finds his soul. At the same time, a young Serbian immigrant, Branko (Trifunović), struggles in an unforgiving New York, desperately trying to bring his girlfriend from Serbia to the United States. Mirijana Karanović plays Branko’s mother.
American: The Bill Hicks Story is a biographical documentary film on the life of comedian Bill Hicks. The film was produced by Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, and features archival footage and interviews with family and friends, including Kevin Booth. The filmmakers used a cut-and-paste animation technique to add movement to a large collection of still pictures used to document events in Hicks’ life. The film made its North American premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. The film was nominated for a 2010 Grierson British Documentary Award for the “Most Entertaining Documentary” category. It was also nominated for Best Graphics and Animation category in the 2011 Cinema Eye Awards. Awards won include The Dallas Film Festivals Texas Filmmaker Award, at Little Rock The Oxford American’s Best Southern Film Award, and Best Documentary at the Downtown LA Film Festival. On Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of the first 47 reviews counted were rated positive.
This first feature film from Indian playwright Anand Gandhi, tells three stories about persons forced to think about the ethics and moral issues raised by medical advances: a visually impaired Egyptian photographer, who after a cornea transplant has trouble adjusting to her newfound sense of sight; a devout Indian monk fighting against animal testing, who has to confront his beliefs when he is diagnosed with liver cirrhosis; and an Indian stockbroker, who after having a kidney transplant learns about the illegal trade in stolen organs and decides to help a poor victim of such theft – even though it means travelling all the way from India to Sweden.
The film was first shown at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, where it received great critical acclaim and was touted as “the hidden gem of the year”. It was released in India in July 2013, and was awarded Best Feature Film of 2013 at the Indian National Film Awards in 2014.
Scooby and the gang have their first musical mystery in “Scooby Doo: Music of the Vampire.” It begins when they take a sing-a-long road trip into bayou country to attend the “Vampire-Palooza Festival” – an outdoor fair dedicated to all things Draculian. At first it looks as if they’re in for some fun and lots of Southern snacks, but events soon turn scary when a real live vampire comes to life, bursts from his coffin and threatens all the townsfolk. On top of that, this baritone blood sucker seems intent on taking Daphne as his vampire bride! Could the vampire be a descendant of a famous vampire hunter who is trying to sell his book? Or perhaps he’s the local politician, who has been trying to make his name in the press by attacking the vampires as downright unwholesome. The answers are to be found in a final song-filled showdown in the swamp in which our heroes unmask one of their most macabre monsters yet.
As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.
On their way home from the Isle of Wight Pop Festival, Jeff, Trev and Mick along with girlfriends Marty and Cathy decide to pitch a tent on private land. In the morning the land’s owner Rafe turns up and orders them to get off his lawn but changes his mind when one of the girls emerges naked from the tent. Rafe explains he only comes down to the house at weekends and lets them stay providing they redecorate his house. The squatters agree but once Rafe leaves they plot to organize a pop festival at the house. Attempting to raise cash for the venture, the men coerce their girlfriends into making a blue movie. When this proves disastrous Jeff goes to London and poses as a pop journalist in order to book the groups “Crazy Mabel” and “The Juicy Lucy” for the festival.
A classic comedy of mistaken identity and romance set during the holiday season at a ski resort that is owned and operated by a Native American Nation. Shot on location at The Sundance Resort in Utah, this is the first contemporary romantic comedy to feature an almost entirely American Indian cast. The film was featured at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
A horror film festival, held in a theater which was once the scene of a tragic fire, turns into a real life horror show.
From the biggest festival to the smallest church social, Kenny Smyth delivers porta-loos to them all. Ignored and unappreciated, he is one of the cogs in society’s machinery; a knight in shining overalls taking care of business with his faithful ‘Splashdown’ crew.
The passion of the riders and the soul of their machines. WINNER – Best Documentary -Motorcycle Film Festival 2013 — An inspiring adventure into the world of motorcycling, told by the famous racers, passionate riders and everyday families who live each day to the fullest on their two-wheeled machines.
Trapped in a damaged cryogenic pod, a man is forced to watch a series of horrific science-fiction tales while his life support systems run out. Featuring eight intense stories of the unknown and other-worldly, equally wonderful and terrifying. Visit the GALAXY OF HORRORS, if you dare! Curated from Rue Morgue & Unstable Ground’s Little Terrors Festival.
Camp Beaverton is the Home for Wayward Girls, the only queer, all women, trans-inclusive, sex positive theme camp set within Burning Man, an 8-day experimental art festival that encourages radical self expression found deep within the Nevada desert. The Beavers create a safe space to explore their boundaries while they build a community of friendship, trust, and lifelong relationships.
Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a Poetry Festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather be in Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians, all who tell her stories that force her to confront her past; the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of Poetry itself. It’s about building bridges between cultural and generational divides. It’s about being curious. Staying open. And finding your own voice through the magic of poetry. Rosie goes on an unwitting journey of forgiveness, reconciliation, and perhaps above all, understanding, through learning about her father’s past, her own cultural identity, and her responsibility to it.
The second film from Aarón Fernández is a Spain-Mexico-France co-production already screened as part of Films in Progress at the 60th edition of the Festival. On the desolate coast of Veracruz, young Sebastián, 17, has to run his uncle’s motel single-handed, renting rooms by the hour. That’s how he meets Miranda, a regular customer who goes there to wait for a lover who often arrives late, sparking a fleeting game of seduction between the two.
A young musician travels to Burning Man, a psychedelic festival in the middle of the Nevada desert, in an attempt to get the impetuous girl he has fallen in love with.
Four girlfriends take a trip to New Orleans for an annual festival and, along the way, rediscover their wild sides and strengthen the bonds of sisterhood.
Winner of the Grand Jury Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Syrian filmmaker Feras Fayyad’s breathtaking work — a searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage — follows the efforts of the internationally recognized White Helmets, an organization consisting of ordinary citizens who are the first to rush towards military strikes and attacks in the hope of saving lives. Incorporating moments of both heart-pounding suspense and improbable beauty, the documentary draws us into the lives of three of its founders — Khaled, Subhi, and Mahmoud — as they grapple with the chaos around them and struggle with an ever-present dilemma: do they flee or stay and fight for their country?
Game 6 is a 2005 American film directed by Michael Hoffman, first presented at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005 and released in the United States in 2006. Michael Keaton stars.
The film depicts the events of October 25, 1986 in the life of Nicky Rogan, specifically the opening of his latest play juxtaposed with Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, with a screenplay that Don DeLillo wrote in 1991. The soundtrack was written and performed by Yo La Tengo.
(from Wikipedia)
Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland. Scenes from the film were shot in Copenhagen and western Greenland. The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where director Bille August was nominated for the Golden Bear.
Whether you’re a fan of Sydney’s iconic genre film festival A Night of Horror, or just a fan of the best and bloodiest in new horror cinema, you can’t afford to miss this fright-filled anthology. Zombies, demonic entities, self-surgery, cannibalism and more await in the dark corners of this terrifying offering from some of the most talented filmmakers working in the genre today.
Photographer Holly Logan returns to her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi for Christmas. The town is resurrecting their traditional holiday light show for the first time since a terrible hurricane struck five years earlier. Holly volunteers to pitch in, but soon has second thoughts when she discovers the festival is run by her high school sweetheart, Mike.
When event planner Chloe is hired to plan the local Christmas Festival, she is beyond thrilled to embrace the challenge. Professionally, everything is going great, but much to the dismay of her mother, Chloe confesses she has given up on ever finding Mr. Right. That all changes the night of the opening of the festival when she meets Evan. The two begin a whirlwind romance, but as Christmas Day nears, Chloe learns that Evan is being transferred overseas for work. What follows is three more Christmases where Chloe and Evan cross paths at the annual festival, but each year something – or someone – stands in the way of true love. Will a touch of Santa’s magic on their fourth Christmas Eve finally bring them together?
Macabre, international title for Rumah Dara (Indonesian title), and in Singapore titled Darah) is an Indonesian horror/slasher film in 2010. The movie tells about a group who attempt to escape from a house that owned by mysterious lady named Dara and her family. We later discover the family are killers and cannibals attempting to gain immortality. The film is based on the short film Dara. Before the film was screened in Indonesia, it was screened at several festivals in 2009. Rumah Dara was released in Singapore where it gained an M18 rating (for Gore and Violence)
NYC-based copy editor, Alex, is sent to Ridgeline Resort, an extreme sports outpost, to write a story for a travel writing competition. At first, she fails at everything – much to the chagrin of Cole, an extreme sports enthusiast who thinks this city girl should head back to New York. But when Alex offers to assist Cole with his local arts festival, he reluctantly obliges to be her guide as she faces her fears doing one extreme sport after the next.
Filmmaker and art theorist Dr. Francisco J. Ricardo delves into the creative mind of the multi-faceted James Franco in this innovative documentary or film essay. As the two converse on Franco’s thoughts and process in executing some of his early experimental art and film work, the viewer is privy to these art pieces, some of which were rarely seen outside of a film festival or art show.
August 25, 1991, AC/DC at England’s famous Mosters of Rock festival at Castle Donington. This was the band’s first major live release with lead singer Brian Johnson. Special bonus features include audio commentary by band members, iso-cam versions of select songs for each band member, Stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound, newly mixed and mastered, more.
Raised suckling poison arrows among the sparring Iga ninja factions, Mumon (Satoshi Ohno, of idol group Arashi) is a carefree 16th-century mercenary. When the ninja council makes a power play to defeat the young Nobukatsu Oda struggling to step into his father’s warlord shoes as they expand rule across the country, Mumon jumps into the fray to satisfy his new bride Okuni’s (Satomi Ishihara of Shin Godzilla, Attack on Titan) demand that he make good on his promises of wealth. Yet Mumon soon finds what is worth fighting for beyond money or nation. A longtime JAPAN CUTS favorite known for his offbeat dramas, Yoshihiro Nakamura (Fish Story, Golden Slumber) takes on the jidaigeki epic with his signature sense of play featuring a jazzy soundtrack and fantastical ninja tricks. -JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film
A woman’s hopes of reviving a 10 year love affair are shattered a piece at a time. The new Mark Savage film is always a special event at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival. It features a cameo from Ron Jeremy and is an erotic adventure that will pervert and entice.
On a business trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Manhee is accused of being dishonest, and fired. A teacher named Claire goes around taking photos with a Polaroid camera. She gets to know Manhee and sympathizes with her. Claire is like a person who can see Manhee’s possible future or past selves, through the mysterious power of the beach tunnel. Through taking photos, Claire has acquired the ability to look slowly at things, and to transform objects. Now, Claire goes with Manhee to the café where she was fired. We look forward to seeing Claire’s power at work.
Rod Steiger is ferocious as a scheming land developer in Francesco Rosi’s Hands over the City, a blistering work of social realism and the winner of the 1963 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion. This expose of the politically driven real-estate speculation that has devastated Naples’s civilian landscape moves breathlessly from a cataclysmic building collapse to the backroom negotiations of civic leaders vying for power in a city council election, laying bare the inner workings of corruption with passion and outrage.
Vic Edwards was one of the biggest movie stars in the world, known for his mustachioed good looks and cocky swagger. With his Hollywood glory a distant memory, the now-octogenarian Vic is prompted to reassess his life with the passing of his beloved dog and the arrival of an invitation to receive a lifetime achievement award from the (fictional) International Nashville Film Festival.
It’s a music documentary that tells the story of Roy Gurvitz, who created Lost Vagueness, at Glastonbury and who, as legendary founder, Michael Eavis says, reinvigorated the festival. With the decadence of 1920’s Berlin, but all in a muddy field. A film of the dark, self-destructive side of creativity and the personal trauma behind it.
