"A WOMAN, A PART"
North American premiere
World Premiere Screening: June 19 at 6:45 p.m.
Anna Baskin (Maggie Siff, "Mad Men, "Billions") is at a crossroads. She's a successful television actress on a hit network show in Los Angeles and has played the same limiting “career woman” part for years.
Following an insulting on-set confrontation, Anna reveals to her manager Leslie (Khandi Alexander, "Treme," "Scandal") that she wants to quit acting - even though leaving her show would result in a huge lawsuit and ruin her career.
She impulsively flies to New York in an attempt to return to the past life she left behind, reconnecting with lapsed friends from her '90s experimental theater troupe: Kate (Cara Seymour, “An Education”), a now-sober, queer ex-actress, and Isaac (John Ortiz, “Silver Linings Playbook”), a married, struggling playwright.
Isaac welcomes Anna with open arms — an acceptance possibly fueled by his hope that Anna’s celebrity can help his career — while Kate is more skeptical, wondering why Anna has suddenly crashed back into their lives.
But when Anna learns that her old life has been used by her friends as inspiration for their own work about the ‘90s theater scene, she exper iences a complex betrayal — a betrayal, that, paradoxically, leads her back to the intoxicating security of losing herself in a part.
"A WOMAN, A PART" marks the feature-length debut of celebrated filmmaker and artist Elisabeth Subrin ("Shulie," "The Caretakers”).
It’s an astute critique of how women are portrayed in media, the ways in which personal relationships intertwine with and shape the creative process, and the difficulty of change — all set against a gentrifying New York City.
Siff is a revelation as Anna, movingly portraying a woman at a crossroads who exists in different versions to different people.
The role of Kate offers a major showcase to Cara Seymour, who shines as her conflicted, wary friend, struggling to stay sober and create a life for herself outside the spotlight.
And Ortiz is sensitive and sexy as an artist hoping to regain past glories while navigating a marriage in crisis.
"GOAT"
New York premiere
Public Screening: June 18 at 6:45 p.m.
Reeling from a terrifying assault over the summer, 19-year-old Brad Land (Ben Schnetzer) starts college determined to get his life back to normal. His brother, Brett (Nick Jonas), is already established on campus and with a fraternity that allures Brad with its promise of protection, popularity, and life-long friendships.
Brad is desperate to belong but as he sets out to join the fraternity his brother exhibits reservations, a sentiment that threatens to divide them.
As the pledging ritual moves into hell week, a rite that promises to usher these unproven boys into manhood, the stakes violently increase with a series of torturous and humiliating events.
What occurs in the name of ‘brotherhood’ tests both boys and their relationship in brutal ways.
Directed by Andrew Neel (King Kelly, Darkon), co-written by Neel, David Gordon Green and Mike Roberts, based on the acclaimed memoir by Brad Land, GOAT provides a searing portrayal of masculinity, violence and brotherhood.
The film is produced by Great Point Media, Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and David Hinojosa and Rabbit Bandini’s James Franco and Vince Jolivette.
"IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE"
Public Screening: June 18 at 7:30 p.m.
A mysterious drifter named Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west.
In an attempt to shorten their journey, they cut through the center of a large valley - landing themselves in the forgotten town of Denton, a place now dubbed by locals as a "valley of violence."
The once-popular mining town is nearly abandoned and controlled by a brash group of misfits -- chief among them Gilly (James Ransone), the troublemaking son of the town’s Marshal (John Travolta).
As tensions rise between Paul and Gilly, Denton’s remaining residents bear witness to an inevitable act of violence that starts a disastrous chain reaction, infecting the petty lives of all involved and quickly drags the whole town into the bloody crosshairs of revenge. Mary-Anne (Taissa Farmiga) and Ellen (Karen Gillan), two bickering sisters who run the town’s only hotel, try to find the good in both men, while desperately searching for their own salvation.
Only the world-weary Marshal struggles to stop the violent hysteria, but after a gruesome discovery about Paul’s past… there is no stopping the escalation.
From writer/director Ti West (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE INNKEEPERS, and THE SACRAMENT) and Blumhouse Productions (INSIDIOUS, THE VISIT, WHIPLASH and THE GIFT), IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE brings absurdist humor, unique dialogue and West’s shocking scenes of violence to the Western genre.
The film also boasts a stellar supporting cast that includes Toby Huss ("Halt and Catch Fire”), Burn Gorman (THE DARK NIGHT RISES, PACIFIC RIM) and genre darling Larry Fessenden (YOU’RE NEXT, I SELL THE DEAD).
"LITTLE MEN"
New York Premiere
Public Screening: June 15, 7:30 p.m.
When 13-year-old Jake's (Theo Taplitz) grandfather dies, his family moves from Manhattan back into his father's old Brooklyn home. There, Jake befriends the charismatic Tony (Michael Barbieri), whose single mother Leonor (Paulina Garcia), a dressmaker from Chile, runs the shop downstairs.
Soon, Jake's parents Brian (Greg Kinnear) and Kathy (Jennifer Ehle) -- one, a struggling actor, the other, a psychotherapist -- ask Leonor to sign a new, steeper lease on her store. For Leonor, the proposed new rent is untenable, and a feud ignites between the adults.
At first, Jake and Tony don't seem to notice; the two boys, so different on the surface, begin to develop a formative kinship as they discover the pleasures of being young in Brooklyn.
Jake aspires to be an artist, while Tony wants to be an actor, and they have dreams of going to the same prestigious arts high school together.
But the children can't avoid the problems of their parents forever, and soon enough, the adult conflict intrudes upon the borders of their friendship.
Directed by Ira Sachs (LOVE IS STRANGE, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, FORTY SHADES OF BLUE) with his trademark humanism and insight, LITTLE MEN highlights the New York City landscape with a story of life-defining friendships in the midst of familial turmoil.
"LITTLE SISTER"
New York premiere
Public Screening: June 17 at 9:45 p.m.
October, 2008. Young nun Colleen is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother announces, “Your brother is home.”
On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters.
Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds.
Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war.
During Colleen’s visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR.
From the director of White Reindeer , Little Sister is a sad comedy about family – a schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel good movie for the little goth girl inside us all.
"MORRIS FROM AMERICA"
New York Premiere
Public Screening: June 24 on 6:45 p.m.
Morris Gentry (Markees Christmas) is a 13-year-old, overweight, African-American boy who fancies himself the next Notorious B.I.G. He’s entering puberty, self-conscious, and new to living in Heidelberg, Germany, where nobody else looks or acts like him. His single father Curtis (Craig Robertson) is better at relating to Morris as a friend than a father, bonding with his son over their shared love of music.
Initially, Morris only interacts with Curtis and Inka (Carla Juri), his kind - if naïve - German language tutor, but when forced to attend summer classes at a youth center, he instantly falls in love.
15-year-old Katrin (Lina Keller) is just the girl for Morris: rebellious, cool as ice, and not as indifferent toward him as the other kids.
As the two begin to develop a slow friendship (albeit one that Morris hopes will be the start of something deeper), Morris drifts further from Curtis, who is having a hard time of his own adjusting to his son’s burgeoning adolescence.
In the wake of these changing relationships, Morris risks everything in a journey far outside of his comfort zone toward self-confidence and acceptance in this new, foreign environment.
Directed by Chad Hartigan (Sundance's 2013 Best of Next Winner THIS IS MARTIN BONNER) with perceptive humor and sensitivity, MORRIS FROM AMERICA captures the unique challenges and - ultimately - freedom that can only be found while being a stranger in a strange land.
"SLASH"
New York premiere
Public Screening: June 19 at 9:30 p.m.
Neil (Michael Johnston, Teen Wolf) is an introverted, questioning high school freshman.
Lacking any friends IRL (in real life), his main social outlet is the steamy fan fiction he writes about Vanguard, the brawny, galaxy-hopping hero of a popular sci-fi franchise.
When his stories are exposed in class Neil is mortified, but the slightly older, effortlessly cool Julia (Hannah Marks, Awkward.) comes to his defense.
An erotic fan fic writer herself, Julia pushes Neil to publish his stories to an online “adult” forum, where they quickly grab the attention of the site moderator, Denis (Michael Ian Black).
When Neil is invited to present his work at a comic con live-read event, he has to face the fact that Denis’ interest in him may be more than simply professional… perhaps like his own feelings for Julia.
