July Advisory Meeting Candidates

Alexandra – drama - Aleksandr Sokurov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lb9yAwrxmE&feature=related
Though Russian director Alexander Sokurov's feature Alexandra unfolds against the backdrop of military life, it constitutes a stark and deliberate chamber drama in lieu of a war picture. Alexandra Nikolaevna (Galina Vishnevskaya) is an elderly woman with a grandson, Denis (Vasily Shevtsov), conscripted into the army of the Chechen Republic. When she makes the arduous journey to visit him, the startling nature of military life as it unfolds before her eyes -- the absence of women, the blind acceptance of amenities that so many take for granted, the emotional inexpressiveness -- completely bewilders her and introduces her to a world infinitely more alien than any she has ever experienced.

American Teen – documentary - Nanette Burstein
http://www.americanteenthemovie.com/
In this biting cinéma vérité, director Nanette Burstein follows a group of four Indiana high-school seniors as they navigate the social mazes of adolescence, prepare for graduation, and generally deal with the often surprising and strange situations that arise simply from being 17. Incorporating intimate footage, interviews, and animation, Burstein reveals all the gritty details about life as a teenager in Midwestern America, from drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure to cliques, first love, and heartbreak.

Baghead – comedy - Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass
http://www.sonyclassics.com/baghead/
Two screenwriting couples head to a remote cabin in the woods, hoping that the change of scenery will get the creative juices flowing. Amid the solitude, the dynamics of their relationships are revealed as they strive to write their masterworks. Complicating matters though, is the lurking presence of a strange man who wears a bag over his head. Brothers Jay and Mark Duplass wrote and directed this offbeat follow-up to 2005's The Puffy Chair.

Berlin – documentary - Julian Schnabel
http://www.berlinthefilm.com/
Lou Reed recorded the album Berlin in 1973. It was a commercial failure. Over the next 33 years, he never performed the album live. For five nights in December 2006 at St. Ann's Warehouse Brooklyn, Lou Reed performed his masterwork about love's dark sisters; jealousy, rage and loss. Staging Berlin has been discussed for over 30 years and in December of 2006 it became a reality. Berlin was said to be one of the most depressing albums ever made and as it was brought to life it was far from dismal. Using the divided city of Berlin as its backdrop the story of Caroline and her lovers is told through the emotive and provocative words of Lou Reed. With performers like Fernando Saunders, Antony, Steve Hunter, Rob Wassermann, Rupert Christie and Sharon Jones, a seven piece orchestra and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus all working to create a captivating and enveloping world, Lou Reed is able to take the audience with him as he bares witness to Caroline’s self-destruction. Julian’s set design create the backdrop of a hotel with greenish walls and with Lola Schnabel’s films displaying the beauty and tragedy of the narrator’s leading lady (played by Emmanuelle Seigner) the experience is devastating and beautiful.
Bigger Stronger Faster* - documentary - Chris Bell
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3KzGfuFFSxA
In the hopes of exploring American culture's increased obsession with winning, documentary filmmaker Christopher Bell examines the anabolic steroid use of his two brothers. After setting the stage with a look at the cultural backdrop of the 1980s -- in which hulky stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the ideal -- Bell illustrates how he and his brothers became involved in the bodybuilding subculture, eventually discovering the brutal truth that success in the lifestyle of pumping iron demanded the use of steroids.

Boy A – drama - John Crowley
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1Ii_v14DNCU
A man looking to shed his former identity in order to move beyond his traumatic past discovers that the past and the future are inexorably linked in director John Crowley's feature adaptation of a novel by author Jonathan Trigell. Terry (Peter Mullan) is a caseworker whose job it is to help people create new lives. His latest charge is a young man with a troubled past who eventually decides on the new name Jack (Andrew Garfield). Jack has decided to start a new life in Manchester, where no one is aware of his sordid history. As Jack begins his new job in a new town, he quickly catches the attention of beautiful co-worker Michelle (Katie Lyons). While Michelle's advances are unmistakable, Jack remains somewhat awkward in his new skin and the initially encounters between the pair are somewhat awkward. Later, as the two new lovers begin experiencing the thrill of connecting with a kindred soul, Jack performs a heroic feat that finds him celebrated as a local hero and it begins to look like he has successfully made the transition into his new life.

Brideshead Revisited – drama - Jullian Jarold
http://bridesheadrevisited-themovie.com/
Matthew Goode, alongside Michael Gambon and Oscar winner Emma Thompson, stars as Capt. Charles Ryder, an officer stationed at England's Brideshead Castle during World War II, in this big-screen adaptation of the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. The suspenseful drama builds as Captain Ryder becomes infatuated with the castle's owners, the aristocratic Marchmain family -- particularly their grown son, Sebastian Flyte, and his elegant sister, Julia.

Children of Huang Shi - drama/history - Roger Spottiswoode
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thechildrenofhuangshi/trailer.html
As China is ravaged by war in the late '30s, a young Englishman named George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) leads 60 orphans over the Liu Pan Shan mountains and into the safety of the Mongolian desert in this drama scripted by Jane Hawksley and directed by Roger Spotiswoode. Based on actual events, this Chinese/Australian/German co-production also stars Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Radha Mitchell.

Constantine's Sword – documentary - Oren Jacoby
http://constantinessword.com/?page_id=7
Constantine's Sword, the latest film by Oscar-nominated documentarian Oren Jacoby, is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, following acclaimed author and former priest James Carroll on a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Carroll, a National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe, is a practicing Catholic whose search for the truth leads him to confront persecution and violence in the name of God - today and in the Church's past. He discovers a terrible legacy that reverberates across the centuries- from the Emperor Constantine's vision of the cross as a sword and symbol of power, to the rise of genocidal antisemitism, to modern-day wars and conflicts sparked by religious extremism. At its heart, Constantine's Sword is a detective story, as Carroll journeys both into his own past - where he comes to terms with his father's role as a three-star General in the U.S. Air Force preparing for nuclear war - and into the wider world, where he uncovers evidence of church-sanctioned violence against Jews, Muslims, and others. Visiting the Air Force Academy, he and Jacoby expose how some evangelical Christians are proselytizing inside our country's armed forces and reveal the dangerous consequences of religious influence on American foreign policy. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, Constantine's Sword asks the timely question: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs?

CSNY/Déjà vu - documentary/music - Bernard Shakey (Neil Young)
http://csny-dejavu.com/
Directed by Bernard Shakey, a long time alias for Neil Young, CSNY Déjà vu documents how the beloved quartet maintains a deeply avid fanbase thanks to their political topicality and their emotional honesty. The film utilizes clips from throughout their decades-long career together.

Diminished Capacity – comedy - Terry Kinney
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=776
Director Terry Kinney's delightfully poignant and bittersweet comedy poses the question: How much is a good memory worth? That's the question that faces newspaper editor Cooper (Matthew Broderick) after a debilitating concussion takes him from the political pages to comic strip detail. Looking for answers, he travels home to Missouri where his now senile Uncle Rollie (Alan Alda) is on the verge of losing his home. When a valuable baseball card is thrown into the mix, these two men along with a motley group of hometown friends, including Cooper's high school sweetheart, Charlotte (Virginia Madsen) , head to a memorabilia expo to make the deal of a century, diving headfirst into a snakepit of slick salesmen, crooked dealers, and rabid fans revealing that there are some things in life that you can't put a price on. Diminished Capacity also stars Dylan Baker, Louis C.K. and Bobby Cannavale in hilarious supporting roles

Edge of Heaven – drama - Faith Akin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8rhDyhIloM
Nejat initially disapproves of his widower father Ali`s choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But the young professor warms to her when he learns that most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies. After Yeter`s accidental death, Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter`s daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, much to the displeasure of her conservative mother, Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Passionate Lotte abandons everything to help Ayten. A tragic event brings Susanne to Istanbul to help fulfill her daughter`s mission.

Elegy – drama - Isabel Coixet
http://youtube.com/watch?v=M0CFAC2k0LA
Driven by Isabel Coixet's visually assured and deeply observant direction "Elegy" charts the passionate relationship between a celebrated college professor and a young woman whose beauty both ravishes and destabilizes him. As their intimate connection transforms them - more than either could imagine - a charged sexual contest evolves into an indelible love story. With humanistic warmth, wry wit and erotic intensity, Elegy explores the power of beauty to blind, to reveal and to transform. Starring Oscar-nominee Penelope Cruz and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley, with extraordinary supporting performances form Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson and Peter Sarsgaard, Elegy is based on Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Roth's short novel The Dying Animal

Encounters at the End of the World – documentary - Werner Herzog
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MImYM87jOtU
Werner Herzog, director of such acclaimed documentaries as Grizzly Man and Little Dieter Needs to Fly, offers his unique perspective on the South Pole in this film profiling the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station. Located on Ross Island, McMurto Station is the headquarters of the National Science Foundation. Whether offering a detailed study of the unique survival training regiment that newcomers to McMurdo are obligated to endure or pondering the majestic beauty of a landscape where the discovery of three new species in a single day is nothing to get excited about, Herzog boldly offers viewers the opportunity to visit a one of the most inaccessible and awe-inspiring landscapes on the planet.

Finding Amanda – comedy - Peter Tolan
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mNMTP0SS_zA
From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series Rescue Me, comes Finding Amanda, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can’t shake, and the unlikely lengths we’ll go to while trying. Taylor Mendon (Matthew Broderick) is a television writer and producer working on a low-rated, little-respected half-hour sitcom. Once destined for bigger and better things, Taylor's compulsive gambling, recreational drug use and drinking all conspired to throw his career off the rails. After kicking the alcohol and drugs, he only has one more hurdle...the horses. His beautiful twenty - year old niece Amanda (Brittany Snow) has her own habit to kick. Living in Las Vegas, working as a "dancer," her family has just discovered she is actually a prostitute, and they suspect hooking for drug money. On their way home from an emergency family meeting, Taylor's wife Lorraine (Maura Tierney) finds recent racing stubs in Taylor's glove compartment. After years of standing by him, she leaves. Taylor comes up with a plan: he'll win back his wife by doing the right thing. He'll go to Las Vegas, find Amanda, and deliver her to a rehabilitation center in Malibu. While he’s at it, he might even catch up with some old friends (like slimy casino host Steve Coogan). But besides that, it’s strictly the business at hand—while he's there, he vows, he won't gamble a single cent, but things don’t turn out quite as he’d planned.

Foot Fist Way – comedy - Jody Hill
http://www.thefootfistway.com/
A new hero of martial arts rises from a North Carolina strip mall in this independent comedy. Fred Simmons is one of the world's most gifted practitioners of the Korean fighting style known as Tae Kwan Do -- or at least that's what he likes to tell people. Despite his supposed skills, Fred teaches students out of a shabby dojo, where for the most part, he browbeats kids into learning the aggressive points of the martial arts without having much understanding of the philosophy or reasoning behind it. Not that most folks care -- in the small town where he teaches, Fred is considered to be the real deal, and his talent as a fighter earns him plenty of respect. But Fred's reputation (and ego) takes a serious blow when he learns his wife, Suzie (Mary Jane Bostwick), has been fooling around with another man, and Fred challenges him to a fight that doesn't go well. Falling into an emotional tailspin, Fred goes on a pilgrimage to meet his hero and role model, martial arts celebrity Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Ben Best). The Foot Fist Way was the first feature film from writer and director Jody Hill.

Fugitive Pieces – drama - Jeremy Podeswa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slRbiet9jR4
Author Anne Michaels's poetic novel comes to the screen courtesy of director Jeremy Podeswa in this period drama concerning a Holocaust survivor who remains eternally haunted by the uncertain fate of his beloved sister. Athos (Rade Sherbedgia) is an archeologist conducting a dig in Nazi-occupied Poland. When Athos discovers a seven-year-old boy named Jakob (Robbie Kay) hiding near the work site, he smuggles the frightened boy back to Greece and promises to shelter him when the Nazis come knocking there as well. Having previously witnessed the brutal massacre of his family at the hands of Hitler's henchmen, Jakob longs to find out what fate befell his sister, Bella (Nina Dobrev) -- who wasn't executed with the majority of his other relatives but subsequently disappeared without a trace. After the war, Athos and Jakob emigrate to Toronto in hopes of starting a new life. But even after all these years, Jakob (Stephen Dillane) can't seem to shake the grief of losing his family and not knowing what ever became of Bella. Later, when Jakob marries the radiant Alex (Rosamund Pike), the bright-eyed beauty does her best to illuminate the dark corners within her husband's soul. To maintain one's connection to ghosts requires a certain shunning of the living, however, and only when Jakob discovers the strength to let go of his painful past will he finally be able to move forward into the future.

Full Grown Men - comedy/drama - David Munro
http://www.fullgrownmenthemovie.com/klickable/klickable.html
The youthful delusions of a wistful husband and father prompt him to seek out a childhood friend and embark on a soul-searching journey of self discovery to the one place where no adult demands will be made of him in director David Munro's surreal second coming-of-age comedy. Alby (Matt McGrath) is having an early mid-life crisis. Convinced that the only way to overcome his current malaise is to seek out his childhood pal Elias (Judah Friedlander) and set out on the open road, Alby leaves behind his wife and son in hopes of recapturing the glory of his youth. Unfortunately for Alby, Elias is all grown up now, and isn't exactly overjoyed to see the "best friend" whose rosy vision of childhood largely came from the fact that he made Elias the unwitting butt of his every joke. When Alby learns that Elias is taking a group of disabled drama students on a trip to the local amusement park, Elias has no choice but to let his pushy pal come along for the ride. What follows is a pensively hilarious look life as seen through the eyes of a man who can't seem to move past his youth, and the effect that a student clown bartender (Amy Sedaris), a disgruntled former amusement park employee (Alan Cumming), a retired water park mermaid (Debbie Harry), and a whole host of colorful characters have in helping Alby to bridge the gap between the glory days of his past, and an uncertain future.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson – documentary - Alex Gibney
http://www.huntersthompsonmovie.com/
From Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and producer Graydon Carter comes a probing look into the uncanny life of national treasure and gonzo journalism inventor Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A fast moving, wildly entertaining documentary with an iconic soundtrack, the film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson’s life—his intense and ill fated relationship with the Hell’s Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, and much more. Narrated by Johnny Depp.

Gunnin' For That #1 Spot - documentary - Adam Yauch
http://www.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_TITLE/GALLERY/video/imdb/vi384303385/
On the corner of 155th Street and Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem, New York, lies Rucker Park. By appearances, the green concrete pavement, anchored on either end by its run down slab bleachers, is no different than any other basketball court in the city. But this is the place where nicknames are earned and basketball legends are made.

On September 1, 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation stepped out on this same court that once saw the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dr. J, to compete in the first annual "Boost Mobile Elite 24 Hoops Classic." GUNNIN FOR THAT #1 SPOT documents these athletes' skills on the most legendary court in the world, showing never- before-seen footage of that "Elite 24" game.

Directed by Adam Yauch (founding member of the Hip Hop trio the Beastie Boys and director of "Awesome: I Shot That"), the film follows eight of the country's premiere high school basketball players on the fast track to the NBA, as they are adored by fans, wooed by colleges and sneaker companies, and groomed to be in the spotlight of the multi-million dollar game. Blending this next generation of b-ball players with a mix of raw hip-hop, jazz and break beats, and Yauchs unique kinetic filmmaking, GUNNIN is an explosively entertaining look at soon-to-be NBA All Stars.

Hamlet 2 – comedy - Andrew Fleming
http://filminfocus.com/focus-movies/hamlet-2/movie-splash.php
With his department in danger of being cut, high school drama teacher Dana Marschz (Steve Coogan) encourages his students to write and produce a sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet in this satirical comedy that riffs on the "inspirational teacher" genre of films. Meanwhile, Marschz must deal with his unhappy wife (Catherine Keener). Elisabeth Shue portrays a version of herself who has given up acting to become a nurse, and Amy Poehler co-stars.

Hell Ride – action - Larry Bishop
http://youtube.com/watch?v=a-W2vCQvX9w
Veteran AIP genre star Larry Bishop (son of famed Rat Packer Joey Bishop) directs and stars in this gritty revenge tale concerning a biker gang that rallies to avenge the violent murder of a fellow gang member. An homage to such classic biker films as Chrome and Hot Leather and Angel Unchained, Hell Ride was conceived when director Bishop was invited to Quentin Tarantino's home to view a print of The Savage Seven. Upon realizing that there hadn't been a true biker film in years, the pair quickly contacted Bob Weinstein and conspired to produce a lean and mean two-wheeled revenge flick that would more than make up for lost time.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss – comedy - Alex Holdridge
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=518
Alex Holdridge's comedy In Search of a Midnight Kiss follows the plight of Wilson (Scoot McNairy), a 29-year-old man who has just suffered through the most miserable year of his life. A new arrival to the City of Angels, Wilson ends up alone and penniless as New Year's Eve rapidly approaches, and vows to lock his doors, pull his blinds, and climb into bed -- until best friend Jacob (Brian Matthew McGuire) talks him into posting a Craig's List personal ad. In seemingly no time at all, the message leads Wilson to Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a freewheeling young woman utterly determined to be with the "right" man at the stroke of midnight. She soon leads Wilson on an eventful and colorful trip through the nighttime streets of L.A. that he will never forget -- and that leads to a heartfelt emotional connection between the two. Anne Walker-McBay (Before Sunrise and Dazed and Confused) executive produced; Holdridge authored the original script.

Jellyfish - comedy/drama - Shira Geffen, Etgar Keret
http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/displaytrailer.php?directoryname=jellyfish&size=high&extension=mov
Israeli co-directors Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen's ensemble comedy drama Meduzot (aka Jellyfish, 2007) weaves together multiple seriocomic tales of intersecting lives, set against the deep azure backdrop of Middle Eastern seascapes. Affording equal emphasis to each tale, Keret and Geffen first hone in on Batya (Sarah Adler), a young woman employed as a caterer, whose firm places strongest emphasis on weddings. As the film opens, Batya breaks up with her boyfriend, and struggles with her supremely dysfunctional, argumentative parents, who correspond with her only by leaving periodic messages on her answering machine. Her life takes a most unpredictable turn when she happens upon a tearstained little girl (Nikol Leidman) who wanders out of the ocean, wearing only a pair of panties and toting an inner tube -- origin unknown. The foundling gravitates magnetically to Batya and refuses to separate from her.

A Jihad for Love – documentary - Parvez Sharma
http://youtube.com/watch?v=78jUBRio3So
This is the first feature-length film to explore the complex global intersections of Islam and homosexuality. Filmed in 12 countries and 9 languages, this daring documentary by Muslim gay filmmaker Paarvez Sharma brings to life the hidden and joften dangerous paths many gay and lesbian Muslims must follow in countried hwere laws based on Quranic interpretations are enforced by authorities to monitor, entrap, imprison, torture and even execute homosexuals.

Last Mistress – drama - Catherine Breillat
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=616
Catherine Breillat's adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu'ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini, two lovers in 19th century Paris. The two have been passionately involved for nearly a decade, but de Marigny attempts to end their relationship now that he is engaged to Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), a respectable young woman. As the bride-to-be's grandmother forces de Marigny to confront his past as a notorious womanizer, the film flashes back to reveal the intense decade the lovers shared. Although de Marigny appears to want to shut Vellini out forever, her passions may be far too much for him to deny.

Mad Detective – action - Johnny To, Wai Ka-fai
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=636
A missing police gun is connected to a series of recent heists and murders. Its owner, WONG (LeeKwok Lun), vanished earlier while pursuing a suspect in the mountains. His partner, CHI-WAI (Lam Ka Tung), miraculously returned unharmed and the hot shot Regional Crime Unit Inspector, HO (Andy On), is in charge of the investigation. HO knows the only chance he has in cracking the case is to ask for help from his mentor/former boss BUN (Lau Ching Wan), a gifted criminal profiler now living in seclusion with his wife MAY (Kelly Lin). BUN puts himself in the victim's place, literally, and his unorthodox approach has put doubt in HO's mind who feels betrayed when BUN's investigation goes beyond his imagination. What begins as a quest for answers has now taken a schizophrenic turn where truth and lies, reality and delusions intertwine...

Man on Wire – documentary - James Marsh
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YW1b3G2MN3Q
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released. Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC’s security; smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers; pass the wire between the two rooftops; anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. The rigging was done by night in complete secrecy. At 7:15 AM, Philippe took his first step on the high wire 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan… James Marsh’s documentary brings Petit’s extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as “the artistic crime of the century.”

Mongol - drama/history - Sergei Bodrov
http://www.mongolmovie.com/trailer.html
Based on the controversial writings of Russian historian Lev Gumilyov, director Sergei Bodrov's look at the early years in the life of the Mongol conqueror stars Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as Temudgin (as he was then known), Honglei Sun as Mongol chieftain Jamukha, who was both Temudgin's close friend and mortal enemy, and newcomer Khulan Chuluun as his wife, Borte. Born in the year 1162, Temudgen's childhood was marred by tragedy and peril. But a great battle would seal Temudgen's fate forever, and though history often paints him as a brute, the truth is much more complex. Few historians make mention of the role Temudgen's wife, Borte, played in advising her husband and elevating him to greatness. With Borte by his side, Temudgen would rise to become a fearless visionary whose legacy would still prove potent enough to stir controversy centuries after his death.

My Winnipeg – drama - Guy Maddin
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=617
Visionary Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin pays tribute to his beloved hometown with this goodbye letter and self-described "docu-fantasia" that is equal parts transcendental rumination, historical chronicle, and personal portrait. In the first segment, Maddin's camera drifts dreamlike through crowded trains as a floating kielbasa hangs from the ceiling and the director/narrator ponders just why the city boasts the most sleepwalkers per capita of any major international city. Later, the viewer is treated to images of numerous historical monuments in the city as they learn about such key historical events as the Winnipeg General Strike, the defeat of the Winnipeg Jets, and even the Golden Boy pageant scandal and a racetrack tragedy that found numerous horses sent to an icy death. As the third and final segment gets underway, the director draws inspiration from filmmaker William Castle to present pivotal -- and often traumatic -- events from his childhood that left an indelible mark while simultaneously serving to mold his unique vision of his beloved Winnipeg.

Noise - comedy/drama - Henry Bean
http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=983&item=0
Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, and William Hurt star in The Believer writer/director Harry Bean's topical urban comedy following one man's quest for a little peace and quiet in the big city. The noise was bothersome when David Owen (Robbins) first moved to New York City, but back in those early days it was almost endearing in an odd sort of way; a forgivable manifestation of urban vitality, or so he had led himself to believe. These days the incessant barking of car alarms, traffic, and frustrated commuters seems to be driving David insane, never allowing him the opportunity to concentrate or focus on the task at hand. While this distraction is at first only bothersome on a superficial level, however, the thing that really riles David is that he is completely powerless to remedy the problem. As the days go on and the noise on the street seems to amplify in David's ears, he makes the decision to take up arms against the unseen intruder. Initially, David is satisfied simply letting the air out of tires or leaving notes on windshields when the owners of cars fail to turn off the alarms. When this approach fails to yield acceptable results, David's subversive urban sabotage techniques quickly evolve into full-blown acts of vandalism. Eventually, David is caught in the act and arrested by the police. After spending a night in jail, David confesses to his wife that he is in fact the urban folk hero who has come to be known by the public as "The Rectifier" for his repeated attempts to hold those responsible for urban noise pollution accountable for their auditory transgressions. When his wife voices concern about such extreme and irrational behavior, David dutifully agrees to give up his career as a noise-fighting vigilante. But try as he might, David simply cannot repress his lingering urge to strike back against such a formidable enemy.

Praying with Lior – documentary - Ilana Trachtman
http://firstrunfeatures.com/trailers_lior.html
Ilana Trachtman's coming-of-age documentary is an engaging and deeply human portrait of young Lior Liebling, a child with Down syndrome who is as loving and playful as any boy you are likely to meet. His devotion to davening (prayer) and singing saturates his world with a love that is his manna--it multiplies and nourishes everyone. Lior cajoles his way into the hearts of his family, while we, too, are drawn closer to him as he navigates his daily life towards the bar mitzvah he has long anticipated and get to witness firsthand how the family and spiritual community he loves so much affirms the essence of the man Lior is becoming.

The Promotion – comedy – Steve Conrad
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nystUAi43yM
A war of wills takes place between two men who want to run the same grocery store in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Steven Conrad. Doug (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago. When the owners of the market announce they're opening a new branch near Doug's neighborhood, he applies to become manager of the new store, and both he and his wife (Jenna Fischer) assume he's a shoo-in to get the job. But Richard (John C. Reilly), a gregarious recent hire at the store who has relocated to Illinois from Canada, announces he's also applying for the management position, and a keen rivalry develops between Doug and Richard even as they strive to act like friends on the surface. As the competition grows between the two, their personality flaws become increasingly evident -- Doug's short temper, Richard's history of drug abuse -- and when Richard's wife (Lili Taylor) leaves him, the contest starts taking an uncomfortable turn. The Promotion also stars Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, and Bobby Cannavale.

Redbelt - action/drama - David Mamet
http://www.sonyclassics.com/redbelt/
Tim Allen and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in writer/director David Mamet's martial arts drama concerning a jujitsu master who becomes corrupted by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. When a respected jujitsu master (Ejiofor) eschews a lucrative prizefighting career in favor of opening a self-defense dojo, it appears that he has chosen a peaceful path in life. The dedicated martial artist's fate takes an unanticipated turn, however, when he is manipulated into participating in ultimate fighting championships by a group of unscrupulous actors and fight promoters. Later, as the master is being relentlessly beaten in a dirty street fight, he connects with a high-profile action star (Allen) with serious marital problems. Realizing that the only way to regain his honor is to step into the ring, the jujitsu master reluctantly prepares for the fight of his life

Reprise – drama - Joachim Trier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xhnSp5Gdw
Two buddies are taken down different paths in life when one becomes a success and the other fails to grab the brass ring in this comedy-drama. Erik (Espen Klouman-Hoiner) and Phillip (Anders Danielsen Lie) are close friends who have known each other since they were children. Erik and Phillip grew up sharing a passion for literature, particularly the work of novelist Sten Egil Dahl (Sigmund Saeverud) and they each dreamed of becoming writers themselves someday. Both Erik and Phillip completed their first novels in their early 20's, but while Phillip's book was accepted by a major publisher and became a best seller, Erik's book instead earned a sheaf of rejection slips. The harsh glare of the celebrity lifestyle and his obsessive relationship with his girlfriend Kari (Viktoria Winge) cause Phillip to suffer a nervous breakdown, and after a stay in a treatment facility he tries to resume his relationship with Kari and his friendship with Erik. Erik, meanwhile, is still struggling to join the ranks of the published, and his romance with Lillian (Silje Hagen) begins to fray as the frustrated would-be author spends more time with Phillip and his pretentious compatriots. Reprise received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.

Roman De Gare – drama - Claude Lelouch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzq_53tvhEw
Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare (aka Crossed Tracks) features a number of characters and a timeline that skips back and forth, keeping the audience guessing as to how these characters all relate to each other. Fanny Ardant plays a novelist named Judith whose famous works might have been ghost-written by a serial killer dubbed "The Magician" for his habit of performing acts of prestidigitation in front of his victims. Early in the film, the police quiz her about her relationship with the criminal. Other characters include a hairdresser (Audrey Dana) who offers to give a ride to a stranger who may be the killer.

Roman Polanski:Wanted and Desired – documentary - Marina Zenovich
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hMieQzq1snc
The events of 1977 and 1978 permanently marred director Roman Polanski's life. Accused of unlawful sexual assault on minor Samantha Geimer during his stay at actor Jack Nicholson's house in March of 1977, Polanski wound up in the midst of controversial judicial proceedings that many read as supremely unfair. After being temporarily sprung on 2,500 dollars bail, Polanski then fled the United States for Europe in 1978, with the threat of incarceration hanging over him should he ever return. With her documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, filmmaker Marina Zenovich revisits this difficult case via extensive interviews with Geimer, defense attorney Douglas Dalton, Assistant DA Roger Gunson, and others. In the process, she raises pivotal questions about the U.S. legal system and the fairness of the judge, Laurence J. Rittenband (who was reportedly extremely vocal about his desire to topple Polanski) and encounters many recollections of judicial malfeasance from those who were involved.

Savage Grace – drama - Tom Kalin
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=559
Adapted from the nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson, Tom Kalin's Savage Grace recounts the true crime tale of the death of Barbara Baekeland. Stephen Dillane stars as Brooks Baekeland, the son of the man who invented Bakelite, one of the early forms of plastic. As the family fortune begins to decrease after years of wealth, Brooks marries Barbara (Julianne Moore), who desires to mingle in the highest social circles. They have a child, Antony, who is homosexual. Antony grows up to kill Barbara, in part because Barbara takes a personal interest in "curing" her son of his orientation. This was Kalin's first film since 1991's Swoon, a film about the infamous Leopold and Loeb murders.

Standard Operating Procedure – documentary - Errol Morris
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-v65R9WIUq4
Filmmaker Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line) takes an unflinching look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal while meditating on the frightening side effects of the War on Terror in a thought-provoking documentary from Participant Productions (An Inconvenient Truth).

Stuck – horror - Stuart Gordon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeqPvj8ozqM
Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon takes the helm for this disturbing tale of a compassionate retirement-home caregiver whose life is turned upside down after a gruesome hit-and-run accident leaves a severely injured homeless man lodged helplessly in her shattered windshield. Despite her promise to take her ailing victim to the hospital, the realization that the accident could destroy both her career and her future finds her uncharacteristically deciding to let the man die a slow death in her garage before conspiring with her boyfriend to dispose of the body. A fictionalized account of actual events, Stuck was co-scripted by director Gordon and frequent Tales from the Darkside contributor John Strysik.

Then She Found Me – drama - Helen Hunt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipjBhR7WEA
Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes fer feature directing debut with THEN SHE FOUND ME, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.

To The Limit – documentary - Pepe Danquart
http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/trailers_tothelimit.html
Speed Rock Climbing is the latest wrinkle in the growing pantheon of extreme sports; high-speed climbers take the basic rudiments of mountain climbing and shift them into overdrive, climbing sheer cliffs in a matter of hours rather than days. Filmmaker Pepe Danquart offers a look at this exciting new sport and two of its best-known proponents in the documentary To The Limit. Alexander Huber and his brother Thomas Huber are profiled as they demonstrate their skills in the mountains of Patagonia and set out to climb El Capitan, a mountain in Yosemite National Park over three thousand feet high, in a furious 150 minutes, a notion Alexander jokingly describes as "an assault against common sense." While featuring dazzling footage of the Huber brothers in action, To The Limit also offers an insight on the rivalry between the siblings and their passionate need to confront fellow climbers as well as nature itself.

Trumbo – documentary - Peter Askin
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KP8lqj-lZ4s
A documentary adaptation of the popular regional theatrical monologue -- in which such heavyweights as Paul Newman, Nathan Lane, and Joe Mantegna essayed the lead on various occasions -- Trumbo recounts the life and times of legendary Hollywood scribe-turned-HUAC scapegoat Dalton Trumbo. As with its source production, the film takes as its base material highly personal, detailed, and emotive letters written by Dalton Trumbo to his son, Christopher; the latter, in turn, molded the missives into a screenplay for this production. Here, however, in lieu of one actor portraying Dalton, a number of celebrities take turns narrating from the script, including Lane, Paul Giamatti, Brian Dennehy, Donald Sutherland, and others. As a visual accompaniment, the film intercuts home-movie footage from the Trumbos' lives; incisive interview material with Trumbo, his family, friends, and collaborators; and haunting glimpses of the HUAC trial hearings with the Hollywood Ten, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; as well as extracts from The Sandpiper, Johnny Got His Gun, Spartacus, and other productions authored by Trumbo. Peter Askin, who helmed the stage play, directs.
Up the Yangtze – documentary - Yung Chang
http://www.uptheyangtze.com/trailer.php
Director Yung Chang uses the construction of China's massive Three Gorges Dam as a springboard to better understanding the social hierarchies and changing times in his homeland in this documentary focusing on the luxury cruise ship that carries predominately Western tourists down the Yangtze River. Constructed as a symbol of modern progress in China, the Three Gorges Dam has forced millions of common people out of their ancestral homes, and will soon swallow up numerous nearby towns and villages. Despite the fact that the government has funded alterative housing for the dislocated families, however, many citizens make their way to higher ground feeling as if they have been duped by the powers that be. In order to truly understand how this affects the people, Chang focuses on telling the stories of middle-class scion Chen Bo Yu (renamed "Jerry" by the cruise line) and Yu Shui (who answers to the call of "Cindy" while on duty). As the ship sets sail, this hard-working pair do their best to familiarize themselves with Western social cues, striving to perform to the best of their abilities, and ponder the prospects of a brighter future.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona – drama - Woody Allen
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S2cOYupX6A4&feature=related
Just as New York City was the backdrop in Woody Allen's "Manhattan," the stunning city of Barcelona is the setting for the romantic adventures of Vicky and Cristina. These two young Americans spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz). Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When they all become amorously entangled, the results can only be described as chaotic.

The Wackness – comedy - Jonathan Levine
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thewackness/trailer.html
A psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley) is put into a moral quandary when a young drug dealer who's been supplying him with pot in exchange for clinical treatment ends up dating his daughter in this comedy from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane's writer/director Jonathan Levine. Josh Peck, Famke Janssen, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Method Man co-star in the Occupant Films production.

War Inc. – comedy - Joshua Seftel
http://www.firstlookstudios.com/films/warinc/
An assassin posing as a trade-show producer fixes his crosshairs on a Middle Eastern oil minister while maintaining his cover by organizing a high-profile wedding in this satirical action comedy starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, and Marisa Tomei. A private American corporation run by a former U.S. vice president (Dan Aykroyd) is occupying the war-torn nation of Turaqistan, but a powerful Middle Eastern oil minister is preventing them from taking total advantage of the situation. In order to gain a monopoly on the lucrative opportunities that Turaqistan has to offer, the CEO of the corporation hires an evenhanded hitman named Hauser (Cusack) to take the oil minister out of the picture. Now, in order to carry out the contract without a hitch, Hauser will pose as the corporation's trade-show producer. The stakes are high and the potential for disaster is evident, though if Hauser can successfully organize the wedding of Central Asian pop-star Yonica Babyyeah (Duff), he's got a good chance of pulling it off. But sexy and resourceful left-wing reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Tomei) is determined to uncover the truth about what's happening in Turaqistan, and the moment she does, this carefully constructed scheme will crumble like a house of cards. Joshua Seftel directs a screenplay co-written by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser, and producer/star John Cusack.

When Did You Last See Your Father? - biography/drama - Anand Tucker
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whendidyoulastseeyourfather/trailer.html
Adapted from poet Blake Morrison's bestselling memoir by screenwriter David Nicholls and directed for the screen by Anand Tucker, And When Did You Last See Your Father explores - like its source material - the complex, manifold emotional layers of a father-and-son relationship as it shifts and evolves over the passing decades. At the film's center is Blake Morrison himself, who for as long as he can remember has lived in the overarching shadow of his physician father Arthur (Jim Broadbent) - falling prey to feelings of embarrassment from the old man, as well as occasional awe. In the 1950s, when Blake (Bradley Johnson) was a child, the boy watched as Arthur partook in socially uncouth behavior such as wheedling his way into clubs to which he didn't belong, and carrying on an extramarital affair with the full knowledge of his wife, Kim (Juliet Stevenson). As the years passed, teenage Blake's (Matthew Beard) discomfort around his father hardened into resentment - particularly when the adolescent boy expressed interest in a girl, Rachel (Carey Mulligan) who clearly preferred his father; compounding the situation, Blake then had to suffer through Arthur's decision to publicly humiliate his son in front of everyone. The central dynamic has changed for the two, however, by the late 1980s, when Blake - now married to Kathy (Gina McKee) and freshly established as a successful novelist and poet - learns that Arthur has contracted terminal cancer. Now, the junior Morrison takes a headfirst plunge into the memories and recollections of his youth - and grapples with the dynamic of his relationship with Arthur for the first time in his life as he comes face-to-face with the need to provide loving care for the old man.

May Advisory Meeting Candidates

Alexandra
drama
Aleksandr Sokurov
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lb9yAwrxmE&feature=related
Though Russian director Alexander Sokurov's feature Alexandra unfolds against the backdrop of military life, it constitutes a stark and deliberate chamber drama in lieu of a war picture. Alexandra Nikolaevna (Galina Vishnevskaya) is an elderly woman with a grandson, Denis (Vasily Shevtsov), conscripted into the army of the Chechen Republic. When she makes the arduous journey to visit him, the startling nature of military life as it unfolds before her eyes -- the absence of women, the blind acceptance of amenities that so many take for granted, the emotional inexpressiveness -- completely bewilders her and introduces her to a world infinitely more alien than any she has ever experienced.

Bigger Stronger Faster*
documentary
Chris Bell
In the hopes of exploring American culture's increased obsession with winning, documentary filmmaker Christopher Bell examines the anabolic steroid use of his two brothers. After setting the stage with a look at the cultural backdrop of the 1980s -- in which hulky stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger were the ideal -- Bell illustrates how he and his brothers became involved in the bodybuilding subculture, eventually discovering the brutal truth that success in the lifestyle of pumping iron demanded the use of steroids.

Brick Lane
drama
Sarah Gavron
http://www.sonyclassics.com/bricklane/
“Brick Lane” is the story of a beautiful young Bangladeshi woman, Nazneen (Chatterjee), who arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved sister and home, for an arranged marriage and a new life. Trapped within the four walls of her flat in East London, and in a loveless marriage with the middle aged Chanu (Kaushik), she fears her soul is quietly dying. Her sister Hasina (Zafreen), meanwhile, continues to live a carefree life back in Bangladesh, stumbling from one adventure to the next. Nazneen struggles to accept her lifestyle, and keeps her head down in spite of life's blows, but she soon discovers that life cannot be avoided - and is forced to confront it the day that the hotheaded young Karim (Simpson) comes knocking at her door.

Children of Huang Shi
drama/history
Roger Spottiswoode
http://www.sonyclassics.com/thechildrenofhuangshi/trailer.html
As China is ravaged by war in the late '30s, a young Englishman named George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) leads 60 orphans over the Liu Pan Shan mountains and into the safety of the Mongolian desert in this drama scripted by Jane Hawksley and directed by Roger Spotiswoode. Based on actual events, this Chinese/Australian/German co-production also stars Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Radha Mitchell.

CJ7
comedy/scifi
Stephen Chow
http://www.sonyclassics.com/cj7/
Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow returns to the helm for this sci-fi comedy about a single father who thinks he has bought his son the perfect toy, and soon discovers that the truth about this "toy" is out of this world. Chinese newcomer Kitty Zhang Yuqi co-stars in a comedy produced by China Film Group and Stars Overseas, and released stateside by Sony Pictures Classics.

Constantine's Sword
documentary
Oren Jacoby
http://constantinessword.com/?page_id=7
Constantine's Sword, the latest film by Oscar-nominated documentarian Oren Jacoby, is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, following acclaimed author and former priest James Carroll on a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Carroll, a National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe, is a practicing Catholic whose search for the truth leads him to confront persecution and violence in the name of God - today and in the Church's past. He discovers a terrible legacy that reverberates across the centuries- from the Emperor Constantine's vision of the cross as a sword and symbol of power, to the rise of genocidal antisemitism, to modern-day wars and conflicts sparked by religious extremism. At its heart, Constantine's Sword is a detective story, as Carroll journeys both into his own past - where he comes to terms with his father's role as a three-star General in the U.S. Air Force preparing for nuclear war - and into the wider world, where he uncovers evidence of church-sanctioned violence against Jews, Muslims, and others. Visiting the Air Force Academy, he and Jacoby expose how some evangelical Christians are proselytizing inside our country's armed forces and reveal the dangerous consequences of religious influence on American foreign policy. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, Constantine's Sword asks the timely question: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs?

Encounters at the End of the World
documentary
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog, director of such acclaimed documentaries as Grizzly Man and Little Dieter Needs to Fly, offers his unique perspective on the South Pole in this film profiling the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station. Located on Ross Island, McMurto Station is the headquarters of the National Science Foundation. Whether offering a detailed study of the unique survival training regiment that newcomers to McMurdo are obligated to endure or pondering the majestic beauty of a landscape where the discovery of three new species in a single day is nothing to get excited about, Herzog boldly offers viewers the opportunity to visit a one of the most inaccessible and awe-inspiring landscapes on the planet.

The Fall
adventure/fantasy
Tarsem Singh
http://www.roadsideattractions.com/Catalog/Trailer.asp?BusinessUnitID={3134273E-EA18-4451-AC2B-40C0CC73ED2D}&ProjectID={03422108-6027-4F09-B74A-4EFA02F1C2EF}
Visually minded filmmaker Tarsem Singh returns to the director's chair for the first time since 2000's The Cell with this psychologically complex tale of a hospitalized paraplegic with a curious knack for storytelling. Unable to free himself from his sterile confines, the immobile patient's deepest fears form the basis of a dark story that he shares with his young companion. As the eerie story unfolds, reality and fantasy gradually merge to form a strange world in which anything is possible.

Flight of the Red Balloon
drama
Hsiao-hsien Hou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXcL4L6Nubo
A mysterious red balloon affectionately follows seven-year-old Simon around Paris. His mother Suzanne is a puppeteer who uses her vocal talents to bring life to the shows she writes. Completely absorbed in her new show, Suzanne becomes overwhelmed by the complications of modern daily life. She decides to hire Song Fang, a Taiwanese film student, to help her care for Simon.

Fugitive Pieces
drama
Jeremy Podeswa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slRbiet9jR4
Author Anne Michaels's poetic novel comes to the screen courtesy of director Jeremy Podeswa in this period drama concerning a Holocaust survivor who remains eternally haunted by the uncertain fate of his beloved sister. Athos (Rade Sherbedgia) is an archeologist conducting a dig in Nazi-occupied Poland. When Athos discovers a seven-year-old boy named Jakob (Robbie Kay) hiding near the work site, he smuggles the frightened boy back to Greece and promises to shelter him when the Nazis come knocking there as well. Having previously witnessed the brutal massacre of his family at the hands of Hitler's henchmen, Jakob longs to find out what fate befell his sister, Bella (Nina Dobrev) -- who wasn't executed with the majority of his other relatives but subsequently disappeared without a trace. After the war, Athos and Jakob emigrate to Toronto in hopes of starting a new life. But even after all these years, Jakob (Stephen Dillane) can't seem to shake the grief of losing his family and not knowing what ever became of Bella. Later, when Jakob marries the radiant Alex (Rosamund Pike), the bright-eyed beauty does her best to illuminate the dark corners within her husband's soul. To maintain one's connection to ghosts requires a certain shunning of the living, however, and only when Jakob discovers the strength to let go of his painful past will he finally be able to move forward into the future.

A Jihad for Love
documentary
Parvez Sharma
This is the first feature-length film to explore the complex global intersections of Islam and homosexuality. Filmed in 12 countries and 9 languages, this daring documentary by Muslim gay filmmaker Paarvez Sharma brings to life the hidden and joften dangerous paths many gay and lesbian Muslims must follow in countried hwere laws based on Quranic interpretations are enforced by authorities to monitor, entrap, imprison, torture and even execute homosexuals.

Last Mistress
drama
Catherine Breillat
Catherine Breillat's adaptation of An Old Mistress stars Fu'ad Ait Aatou as Ryno de Marigny, and Asia Argento as Vellini, two lovers in 19th century Paris. The two have been passionately involved for nearly a decade, but de Marigny attempts to end their relationship now that he is engaged to Hermangarde (Roxane Mesquida), a respectable young woman. As the bride-to-be's grandmother forces de Marigny to confront his past as a notorious womanizer, the film flashes back to reveal the intense decade the lovers shared. Although de Marigny appears to want to shut Vellini out forever, her passions may be far too much for him to deny.

Mister Foe
drama/comedy
David MacKenzie
http://misterfoemovie.com/
With Hallam Foe, British director Peter MacKenzie and scripter Ed Whitmore adapt the 2002 roman of the same name, a quirky, bittersweet, coming-of-age psychodrama by Peter Jinks. The character of the title is the 17-year-old son (Jamie Bell) of a wealthy Scotch businessman father (Ciaran Hinds). Still rattled by the death of his mom (who drowned in a nearby loch), Hallam retreats into a deep-seated fantasy world. He harbors amorous feelings for his new stepmother Verity (Claire Forlani) until he gradually concludes that she murdered his biological mother. Hallam nonetheless lets himself be seduced into an affair with Verity, and is so repulsed by this transpiration that he flees to Edinburgh. His life turns a corner, however, when he spots - and instantly becomes infatuated with - Kate (Sophia Myles), a local girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother. After he talks her into giving him a routine job in the kitchen of the hotel that she manages, they become romantically involved, ever so gradually, which spells trouble for Hallam's emotional state by thoroughly overwhelming and confusing him -- and deeper trouble still still when Kate's married lover (Jamie Sives) discovers that Hallam has been spying diligently on Kate from his perch in a nearby belltower. Ewen Bremner co-stars as the bellhop supervisor at the hotel.

Mister Lonely
comedy/drama
Harmony Korine
When a Michael Jackson impersonator (Diego Luna) living in Paris falls for a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton) during a performance at a retirement home, the lovestruck pair retreats to a seaside castle in the Scottish highlands populated by a commune of reclusive impersonators. Earning a living can be a difficult endeavor in the City of Lights, and in order to make ends meet one man has turned to mimicking the King of Pop. One day, while doing the moonwalk in an old folks home, Michael meets a beautiful Marilyn Monroe look-alike. When Marilyn suggests that Michael joins her in traveling to the Scottish Highlands and moving into a castle populated entirely by celebrity doppelgangers, the would-be gloved one readily accepts her invitation. Shortly after arriving at the castle, Michael and Marilyn find the commune preparing for their first-ever gala - a lavish affair featuring appearances by Abe Lincoln, The Three Stooges, Buckwheat, Shirley Temple, Madonna, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Charlie Chaplin.

Mongol
drama/history
Sergei Bodrov
http://www.mongolmovie.com/trailer.html
Based on the controversial writings of Russian historian Lev Gumilyov, director Sergei Bodrov's look at the early years in the life of the Mongol conqueror stars Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as Temudgin (as he was then known), Honglei Sun as Mongol chieftain Jamukha, who was both Temudgin's close friend and mortal enemy, and newcomer Khulan Chuluun as his wife, Borte. Born in the year 1162, Temudgen's childhood was marred by tragedy and peril. But a great battle would seal Temudgen's fate forever, and though history often paints him as a brute, the truth is much more complex. Few historians make mention of the role Temudgen's wife, Borte, played in advising her husband and elevating him to greatness. With Borte by his side, Temudgen would rise to become a fearless visionary whose legacy would still prove potent enough to stir controversy centuries after his death.

My Brother is an only Child
comedy
Daniele Luchetti
Growing up in small-town Italy during the '60s and '70s, brothers Accio (Elio Germano) and Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio) embody and celebrate opposing political stances, but share an impassioned love of the same woman that threatens to drive them to blows. Director Daniele Luchetti's political comedyMio fratello è figlio unico (AKA My Brother is an Only Child, 2007) observes the brothers over the course of fifteen years, against the ever-shifting backdrop of tumultuous Italian sociopolitical history. During that time span, the siblings' loyalties will fluctuate; they will endure arguments and quarrels, and find themselves separated by the ravages of time and circumstance and reunited magnetically by the wisdom of age. And in time, they will come to a firmer and clearer understanding of not only the differences but the similarities that they harbor.

My Winnipeg
drama
Guy Maddin
Visionary Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin pays tribute to his beloved hometown with this goodbye letter and self-described "docu-fantasia" that is equal parts transcendental rumination, historical chronicle, and personal portrait. In the first segment, Maddin's camera drifts dreamlike through crowded trains as a floating kielbasa hangs from the ceiling and the director/narrator ponders just why the city boasts the most sleepwalkers per capita of any major international city. Later, the viewer is treated to images of numerous historical monuments in the city as they learn about such key historical events as the Winnipeg General Strike, the defeat of the Winnipeg Jets, and even the Golden Boy pageant scandal and a racetrack tragedy that found numerous horses sent to an icy death. As the third and final segment gets underway, the director draws inspiration from filmmaker William Castle to present pivotal -- and often traumatic -- events from his childhood that left an indelible mark while simultaneously serving to mold his unique vision of his beloved Winnipeg.

Noise
comedy/drama
Henry Bean
http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=983&item=0
Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, and William Hurt star in The Believer writer/director Harry Bean's topical urban comedy following one man's quest for a little peace and quiet in the big city. The noise was bothersome when David Owen (Robbins) first moved to New York City, but back in those early days it was almost endearing in an odd sort of way; a forgivable manifestation of urban vitality, or so he had led himself to believe. These days the incessant barking of car alarms, traffic, and frustrated commuters seems to be driving David insane, never allowing him the opportunity to concentrate or focus on the task at hand. While this distraction is at first only bothersome on a superficial level, however, the thing that really riles David is that he is completely powerless to remedy the problem. As the days go on and the noise on the street seems to amplify in David's ears, he makes the decision to take up arms against the unseen intruder. Initially, David is satisfied simply letting the air out of tires or leaving notes on windshields when the owners of cars fail to turn off the alarms. When this approach fails to yield acceptable results, David's subversive urban sabotage techniques quickly evolve into full-blown acts of vandalism. Eventually, David is caught in the act and arrested by the police. After spending a night in jail, David confesses to his wife that he is in fact the urban folk hero who has come to be known by the public as "The Rectifier" for his repeated attempts to hold those responsible for urban noise pollution accountable for their auditory transgressions. When his wife voices concern about such extreme and irrational behavior, David dutifully agrees to give up his career as a noise-fighting vigilante. But try as he might, David simply cannot repress his lingering urge to strike back against such a formidable enemy.

padre nuestro
drama
Christopher Zalla
Writer/director Christopher Zalla authored and helmed the drama Padre Nuestro. The film concerns Juan, a former career criminal who tries to escape his past by hopping a truck transporting illegal immigrants from Mexico to the Big Apple. Over the course of his journey, Juan meets and befriends Pedro, a young man estranged from his father -- with whom he longs to reconcile. Pedro and Juan then gradually forge the bonds of friendship.

Penelope
drama/comedy/fantasy
Mark Palansky
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/trailers
A magical story of a young woman, Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) born to wealthy socialites but afflicted by a secret family curse in which the first-born girl will have a pig face. Believing that the only way to break the curse is to marry one of her own kind, she meets a number of suitors, but all reject her. Two devious men, one with a grudge against the family, hire a man to pose as a suitor, but complications arise when he begins to fall in love with Penelope, and she makes a bid for her freedom.

Poisoned By Polonium: The Litvinenko File
documentary
Andrei Nekrasov
http://www.hautetcourt.com/ba.php?pkfilms=136
The dark secret of the Kremlin unravel in this story of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko poisoned lat November in London told in his own words and in never seen before footage and interviews with his widow, his friends and his alleged killers.

Praying with Lior
documentary
Ilana Trachtman
http://firstrunfeatures.com/trailers_lior.html
Ilana Trachtman's coming-of-age documentary is an engaging and deeply human portrait of young Lior Liebling, a child with Down syndrome who is as loving and playful as any boy you are likely to meet. His devotion to davening (prayer) and singing saturates his world with a love that is his manna--it multiplies and nourishes everyone. Lior cajoles his way into the hearts of his family, while we, too, are drawn closer to him as he navigates his daily life towards the bar mitzvah he has long anticipated and get to witness firsthand how the family and spiritual community he loves so much affirms the essence of the man Lior is becoming.

Redbelt
action/drama
David Mamer
http://www.sonyclassics.com/redbelt/
Tim Allen and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in writer/director David Mamet's martial arts drama concerning a jujitsu master who becomes corrupted by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. When a respected jujitsu master (Ejiofor) eschews a lucrative prizefighting career in favor of opening a self-defense dojo, it appears that he has chosen a peaceful path in life. The dedicated martial artist's fate takes an unanticipated turn, however, when he is manipulated into participating in ultimate fighting championships by a group of unscrupulous actors and fight promoters. Later, as the master is being relentlessly beaten in a dirty street fight, he connects with a high-profile action star (Allen) with serious marital problems. Realizing that the only way to regain his honor is to step into the ring, the jujitsu master reluctantly prepares for the fight of his life

Reprise
drama
Joachim Trier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6xhnSp5Gdw
Two buddies are taken down different paths in life when one becomes a success and the other fails to grab the brass ring in this comedy-drama. Erik (Espen Klouman-Hoiner) and Phillip (Anders Danielsen Lie) are close friends who have known each other since they were children. Erik and Phillip grew up sharing a passion for literature, particularly the work of novelist Sten Egil Dahl (Sigmund Saeverud) and they each dreamed of becoming writers themselves someday. Both Erik and Phillip completed their first novels in their early 20's, but while Phillip's book was accepted by a major publisher and became a best seller, Erik's book instead earned a sheaf of rejection slips. The harsh glare of the celebrity lifestyle and his obsessive relationship with his girlfriend Kari (Viktoria Winge) cause Phillip to suffer a nervous breakdown, and after a stay in a treatment facility he tries to resume his relationship with Kari and his friendship with Erik. Erik, meanwhile, is still struggling to join the ranks of the published, and his romance with Lillian (Silje Hagen) begins to fray as the frustrated would-be author spends more time with Phillip and his pretentious compatriots. Reprise received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.

Roman De Gare
drama
Claude Lelouch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzq_53tvhEw
Claude Lelouch's Roman de Gare (aka Crossed Tracks) features a number of characters and a timeline that skips back and forth, keeping the audience guessing as to how these characters all relate to each other. Fanny Ardant plays a novelist named Judith whose famous works might have been ghost-written by a serial killer dubbed "The Magician" for his habit of performing acts of prestidigitation in front of his victims. Early in the film, the police quiz her about her relationship with the criminal. Other characters include a hairdresser (Audrey Dana) who offers to give a ride to a stranger who may be the killer.

Savage Grace
drama
Tom Kalin
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=559
Adapted from the nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson, Tom Kalin's Savage Grace recounts the true crime tale of the death of Barbara Baekeland. Stephen Dillane stars as Brooks Baekeland, the son of the man who invented Bakelite, one of the early forms of plastic. As the family fortune begins to decrease after years of wealth, Brooks marries Barbara (Julianne Moore), who desires to mingle in the highest social circles. They have a child, Antony, who is homosexual. Antony grows up to kill Barbara, in part because Barbara takes a personal interest in "curing" her son of his orientation. This was Kalin's first film since 1991's Swoon, a film about the infamous Leopold and Loeb murders.

Son of Rambow
comedy
Garth Jennings
http://www.sonoframbow.com/
Forbidden to watch TV or go to the movies by his ultrareligious parents, young Will (Bill Milner) gets a hold of a camera, and his mind blossoms in this nostalgic comedy from the team behind The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Set in 1980s Britain, the film tells the tale of the friendship that blossoms between Will and class bully Lee (Will Poulter) when the latter recruits Will to help him make a home movie inspired by Rambo: First Blood.

Standard Operating Procedure
documentary
Errol Morris
Filmmaker Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line) takes an unflinching look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal while meditating on the frightening side effects of the War on Terror in a thought-provoking documentary from Participant Productions (An Inconvenient Truth).

Stuck
horror
Stuart Gordon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeqPvj8ozqM
Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon takes the helm for this disturbing tale of a compassionate retirement-home caregiver whose life is turned upside down after a gruesome hit-and-run accident leaves a severely injured homeless man lodged helplessly in her shattered windshield. Despite her promise to take her ailing victim to the hospital, the realization that the accident could destroy both her career and her future finds her uncharacteristically deciding to let the man die a slow death in her garage before conspiring with her boyfriend to dispose of the body. A fictionalized account of actual events, Stuck was co-scripted by director Gordon and frequent Tales from the Darkside contributor John Strysik.

Surfwise
documentary
Doug Pray
http://www.surfwisefilm.com/
As far as raw eccentricity is concerned, few American families could top the Paskowitzes. The patriarch, Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz, began life on a commendable, even enviable course, with an M.D. under his arm, rippling sandy-haired good looks and experience almost singlehandedly teaching the country of Israel how to surf. But in the years to follow, bitterness and inveterate disappointment ensued as Dr. Paskowitz tried to settle into a conventional existence; two broken marriages and a medical career that Dorian would later describe as "miserable" left him clawing his way out, desperate for an "alternative" lifestyle. He soon met, courted, and married his third wife, a ravishing, sexy young woman named Juliette; these two free spirits jointly decided that they would live life, budding family in-tow, on the open road, in a series of low-budget trailers. As one child after another cropped up over the course of a decade, the family toured the country winning one surfing competition after another, and Dr. Paskowitz accepted low-rent medical jobs for the poor that reeled in little to no income. In theory, this all seemed idealistic, even utopian; in reality, Dorian Paskowitz was reportedly a severe disciplinarian who denied his children the benefits of school and financial security, forced everyone to stick to an almost unbearable diet of a gruel-like substance, and - even more alarmingly - felt comfortable having open and noisy sex with his wife, with the children only a few feet away. In time, as one child after another grew up, left the clan and attempted to survive, they found it difficult, if not impossible to function in the day-to-day world without the education, social skills and monetary know-how that so many young adults take for granted. With his documentary Surfwise, filmmaker Doug Pray tells the Paskowitzes' strange, bewildering and ultimately heartbreaking story via incisive interviews with family members, still photographs and telling archival footage.

Then She Found Me
drama
Helen Hunt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipjBhR7WEA
Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes fer feature directing debut with THEN SHE FOUND ME, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.

The Tracey Fragments
drama
Bruce McDonald
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0jEN2_REy4
A 15-year-old girl navigates a dangerous urban landscape in search of the brother whom she has hypnotized into believing he is a dog in director Bruce McDonald's pop-infused, 21st century variation on The Catcher in the Rye. When the viewer first meets Tracey (Juno's Ellen Page), she is sitting naked in the back of a bus with only a flimsy shower curtain to guard her from the elements. Tracey is the broken product of an unstable home; her father (Ari Cohen) regards his children as "accidents," and her catatonic mother (Erin McMurtry) only pauses from watching television long enough to light up another cigarette. Upon discovering that a botched hypnosis experiment between Tracey and her younger brother, Sonny, has left the young boy emotionally transformed into a canine, the decision is made to send Tracey to a psychiatrist. Tormented by her classmates and lost in fantasies about her boyfriend and rock & roll savior Billy Zero (Slim Twig), the emotionally complex young woman has become enamored with a new student at school who doesn't even realize she exists. Later, when Sonny disappears, Tracey takes it upon herself to locate her missing sibling and make sure that he finds his way back home. While at first it appears that benevolent rent boy Lance (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) may be her guiding light through the darkened city streets, Tracey quickly learns that to trust is to place your life in the hands of someone who may sell you out at a moment's notice. Now naked and desperate in the middle of a labyrinthine metropolitan nightmare, Tracey makes it her mission to find Sonny no matter how harrowing her quest may become.

Up the Yangtze
documentary
Yung Chang
http://www.uptheyangtze.com/trailer.php
Director Yung Chang uses the construction of China's massive Three Gorges Dam as a springboard to better understanding the social hierarchies and changing times in his homeland in this documentary focusing on the luxury cruise ship that carries predominately Western tourists down the Yangtze River. Constructed as a symbol of modern progress in China, the Three Gorges Dam has forced millions of common people out of their ancestral homes, and will soon swallow up numerous nearby towns and villages. Despite the fact that the government has funded alterative housing for the dislocated families, however, many citizens make their way to higher ground feeling as if they have been duped by the powers that be. In order to truly understand how this affects the people, Chang focuses on telling the stories of middle-class scion Chen Bo Yu (renamed "Jerry" by the cruise line) and Yu Shui (who answers to the call of "Cindy" while on duty). As the ship sets sail, this hard-working pair do their best to familiarize themselves with Western social cues, striving to perform to the best of their abilities, and ponder the prospects of a brighter future.

The Visitor
comedy/drama
Thomas McCarthy
http://www.thevisitorfilm.com/
A lonesome widower and college economics professor finds his mundane existence suddenly shaken up when he befriends a pair of illegal immigrants, one of whom has recently been threatened with deportation by U.S. immigration authorities, in the sophomore feature from The Station Agent director Tom McCarthy. Years after losing his wife, sixty-two year old Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) has also lost his passion for writing and teaching. In an effort to fill the empty void that his life has become, Walter makes a half-hearted attempt to learn to play classical piano. Later, when Walter's college sends him to a conference in Manhattan, he is surprised to discover that a young couple has moved into his seldom-used apartment in the city. Tarek (Haaz Sleiman and his Senegalese girlfriend Zainab (Danai Gurira) have fallen victims to an elaborate real estate scam, and as a result they have no longer have a place to call home. When Walter reluctantly allows the couple to remain in his apartment, talented musician Tarek insists on repaying his host's kindness by teaching him to play the African drum. Over the course of Walter's lessons, the ageing academic finds his spirits revitalized while gaining a newfound appreciation for New York jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. Later, Tarek is arrested in the subway and threatened with deportation after police learn that he is an undocumented citizen. Suddenly, in his attempt to help his newfound friend, Walter's passion for life is unexpectedly awakened. When Tarek's radiant mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) arrives in the city in search of her son, that passion turns to romance - something that Walter had previously thought he would never experience again.

When Did You Last See Your Father?
biography/drama
Anand Tucker
http://www.sonyclassics.com/whendidyoulastseeyourfather/trailer.html
Adapted from poet Blake Morrison's bestselling memoir by screenwriter David Nicholls and directed for the screen by Anand Tucker, And When Did You Last See Your Father explores - like its source material - the complex, manifold emotional layers of a father-and-son relationship as it shifts and evolves over the passing decades. At the film's center is Blake Morrison himself, who for as long as he can remember has lived in the overarching shadow of his physician father Arthur (Jim Broadbent) - falling prey to feelings of embarrassment from the old man, as well as occasional awe. In the 1950s, when Blake (Bradley Johnson) was a child, the boy watched as Arthur partook in socially uncouth behavior such as wheedling his way into clubs to which he didn't belong, and carrying on an extramarital affair with the full knowledge of his wife, Kim (Juliet Stevenson). As the years passed, teenage Blake's (Matthew Beard) discomfort around his father hardened into resentment - particularly when the adolescent boy expressed interest in a girl, Rachel (Carey Mulligan) who clearly preferred his father; compounding the situation, Blake then had to suffer through Arthur's decision to publicly humiliate his son in front of everyone. The central dynamic has changed for the two, however, by the late 1980s, when Blake - now married to Kathy (Gina McKee) and freshly established as a successful novelist and poet - learns that Arthur has contracted terminal cancer. Now, the junior Morrison takes a headfirst plunge into the memories and recollections of his youth - and grapples with the dynamic of his relationship with Arthur for the first time in his life as he comes face-to-face with the need to provide loving care for the old man.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden
documentary
Morgan Spurlock
http://whereisobl.com/
In his directorial follow-up to the breakthrough hit Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock gamely tries to one-up the U.S. government by finding Osama Bin Laden. The wry documentarian reportedly shot more than 800 hours of footage while scouring every nook and cranny of Afghanistan and the Middle East in pursuit of the infamous leader. The film had its much-anticipated world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Young@Heart
documentary
Stephen Walker
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/index.php
The Young@Heart Chorus is a vocal group from Northampton, Massachusetts who have earned an international reputation for their unique interpretations of songs by Sonic Youth, the Ramones and the Clash. However, this isn't a teenage garage band attacking the classic punk rock songbook -- the Young@Heart Chorus is comprised of twenty-two senior citizens whose average age is eighty, and under director Bob Cilian they've gained a degree of fame for their enthusiastic a capella renditions of well-known rock and roll tunes. Filmmaker Stephen Walker spent several weeks with the members of the Young@Heart Chorus as they rehearsed for their annual concert in Northampton, and Young@Heart is a documentary which offers a look at their rigorous rehearsal process, the background of several members, and their efforts to stay active and think positive, even as their friends succumb to old age. Produced for British television, Young@Heart was screened in competition at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival.

March Advisory Meeting Candidates

2007 Academy Award Nominated Shorts - Package of nominated live action and animated shorts

Air I Breathe, The - crime/drama - Jieho Le
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJoGY20nNhI
Four stories, representing the emotional principles of Love, Pleasure, Sorrow and Happiness, come together in this episodic drama from first-time director Jieho Lee. A powerful crime boss, Fingers (Andy Garcia), subtly controls the destinies of four people whose circumstances have brought them to a crossroads in their lives. A quiet business executive (Forest Whitaker) is told an upcoming horse race has been rigged and bets everything he has on his belief the story is true. A noted pop singer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) discovers her career is hanging in the balance when she's forced to sever ties with her manager. A doctor (Kevin Bacon) must set aside a physician's traditional guidelines when circumstances demand he treat the woman he loves after a serious accident. And a criminal (Brendan Fraser) has a powerful vision of the future, but can't decide if his premonitions are to be trusted. The Air I Breathe received its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

Beaufort – Action - joseph cedar
http://www.bavaria-filminternational.de/htmls/bfi/index.php?site=program_trailer&id=224
The title of Joseph Cedar's war drama Beaufort refers to the name of a fortress held by Israeli troops, during that country's contentious occupation of Lebanon from 1982-2000 - an effort that Israel roundly lost. The film itself opens at the tail end of that occupation. It follows Liraz Liberti, the then 22-year old leader of troops occupying Beaufort, as he and his subordinates come face to face with the necessity of withdrawal. As enemy fire bombards the fortress, Liraz recognizes that it will be necessary to evacuate, obliterating the structure that his men have spent two decades defending. Oshri Cohen, Itay Tiran, Eli Eltonyo and Ohad Knoller co-star.

Bonneville - comedy/drama - Christopher Rowley
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_BVjyPmSfwY
A woman looking to fulfill her late husband's final wish sets out on a transformative cross-country road trip in director Christopher N. Rowley's warmhearted tale of friendship, self-discovery, and the memories that make life worth living even after the ones we love have gone. Arvilla (Jessica Lange)'s husband Joe has recently died during a trip to Borneo, and his ashes have just arrived at her home in Pocatello, ID. Though Joe had previously specified in his will that he would like his ashes scattered by his beloved wife, the well-intending Arvilla soon becomes locked in a heated battle of wills with Francine (Christine Baranski) -- Joe's well-to-do daughter from a previous marriage. Francine is determined to see her father laid to rest next to her mother in Santa Barbara, and she's threatened to sell the house that her father and Arvilla have lived in since marrying to ensure that she gets her way. Now Arvilla has lost Joe's will, leaving no way to confirm either what he wanted done with his remains or what Arvilla is to receive upon her husband's death. Defeated, Arvilla sets her sights on Santa Barbara to surrender the ashes to Francine and attempt to come to terms with the loss of her husband. When Arvilla's sassy best-friend Margene (Kathy Bates) and uptight pal Carol (Joan Allen) agree to join their recently-widowed friend on her journey and offer some much-needed moral support, the trio soon sets out in Arvilla's vintage '66 Pontiac Bonneville for a journey of a lifetime.

Caramel – comedy - Nadine Labaki
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aPg_rNV_nVo
A Beirut beauty salon serves as a microcosm of modern society in director Labaki Nadine's look at liberated conversation in a conflicted society. Over the course of their day it becomes readily apparent that women are truly the same all over, regardless of the society they live in. While single Layale struggles with her growing attraction to a married man, Muslim bride-to-be Nisrine fears that her husband will find out that she has already lost her virginity, and Rima wages a futile war against her lesbian instructs. As with many women who frequent the salon, Jamale does everything within her power to reverse the visible effects of ageing. As Rose laments the fact that she had sacrificed her own happiness in order to care for her older sister, the intimate conversations shared over the course of a typical day reveals just how universal how the lives, loves, and concerns of contemporary women truly are.

Chicago 10 – documentary - Brett Morgan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqdM87_Lmv4
The Kid Stays in the Picture director Brett Morgen turns his unique eye toward the infamous 1968 Democratic National Convention in this 2006 documentary. Using a star-studded voice cast along with a blend of archival footage and animation, Morgen tells the story of the eight demonstrators who were arrested and tried for conspiracy in the wake of the violent anti-war protests. Featuring the voices of Nick Nolte and Mark Ruffalo among others, Chicago 10 premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Chop Shop – drama - Ramin Bahrani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fUjusA87QI
CHOP SHOP is the story of Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco), a twelve-year-old Latino street orphan in Willet’s Point, also known as the "Iron Triangle," a vibrant, sprawling, industrial neighborhood teeming with auto-body repair shops, scrap yards, and garbage dumps on the outskirts of Queens, New York. Alejandro, like many young boys in the area, works at one of the many auto body repair shops that line the street. Alejandro spends his days in an adult world, running errands, convincing customers to come to his boss's garage instead of a competitor's, and learning how to paint and repair cars. Although conditions are harsh, his life is sprinkled with moments of happiness as he carves out a life for himself in the wasteland of the Iron Triangle. The brightest of these moments is the arrival of his sister Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), who moves in with him in the tiny room that he has found for them perched in the back of the shop where he works. Knowing that creating a better life for the two of them is their best bet at staying together, Alejandro finds her a job in a food van cooking and selling meals to the workers in the Iron Triangle. With a mixture of childlike naiveté and adult ambition, Alejandro begins obsessively saving his money to buy a mobile-food van as the two dream about owning and running a small business of their own. But when their dream, and their loving relationship, is threatened by the hard truths of life, work, and one another, the children find themselves forced to make the kinds of difficult decisions that most adults never have to face.

City of Men - drama - Paulo Morelli
http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/cityofmen/
In CITY OF MEN, producer Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardner) returns to the Brazilian favelas of his Academy Award-nominated film, City of God. Growing up in a culture dictated by violence and run by street gangs, teenagers Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) have become close as brothers. With their eighteenth birthdays fast approaching, Laranjinha sets out to find the father he never met, while Acerola struggles to raise his own young son. But when they suddenly find themselves on opposite sides of a gang war, the lifelong friends are forced to confront a shocking secret from their shared past.

CJ7 - comedy/scifi - Stephen Chow
http://www.sonyclassics.com/cj7/
Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow returns to the helm for this sci-fi comedy about a single father who thinks he has bought his son the perfect toy, and soon discovers that the truth about this "toy" is out of this world. Chinese newcomer Kitty Zhang Yuqi co-stars in a comedy produced by China Film Group and Stars Overseas, and released stateside by Sony Pictures Classics.

Constantine's Sword – documentary - Oren Jacoby
http://constantinessword.com/?page_id=7
Constantine's Sword, the latest film by Oscar-nominated documentarian Oren Jacoby, is an astonishing exploration of the dark side of Christianity, following acclaimed author and former priest James Carroll on a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Carroll, a National Book Award winner and columnist for the Boston Globe, is a practicing Catholic whose search for the truth leads him to confront persecution and violence in the name of God - today and in the Church's past. He discovers a terrible legacy that reverberates across the centuries- from the Emperor Constantine's vision of the cross as a sword and symbol of power, to the rise of genocidal antisemitism, to modern-day wars and conflicts sparked by religious extremism. At its heart, Constantine's Sword is a detective story, as Carroll journeys both into his own past - where he comes to terms with his father's role as a three-star General in the U.S. Air Force preparing for nuclear war - and into the wider world, where he uncovers evidence of church-sanctioned violence against Jews, Muslims, and others. Visiting the Air Force Academy, he and Jacoby expose how some evangelical Christians are proselytizing inside our country's armed forces and reveal the dangerous consequences of religious influence on American foreign policy. Warning of what happens when military power and religious fervor are joined, Constantine's Sword asks the timely question: Is the fanaticism that threatens the world today fueled by our own deeply held beliefs?

Counterfeiters, the - crime/drama - Stefan Ruzowitzky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch49HBf_aM8
Writer/director Stefan Ruzowitzky explores the moral corrosion of Nazi complicity with this tightly wound adaptation of Adolf Burger's fact-based book The Devil's Workshop. Salomon Sorowitsch (Karl Markovics) may be a talented artist at heart, but his desire for wealth has driven him to use his creativity for more nefarious means. Arrested by the police inspector Herzog (Devid Striesow) at the onset of World War II, Sorowitsch is sent to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp. It's not long before Salomon's thinly veiled opportunism earns him a relatively comfortable position as the camp's resident sketch artist, and five years later he is mysteriously swept away to Sachsenhausen. Upon arriving at the camp, Sorowitsch discovers that Herzog, now a commandant, is attempting to destabilize the economies of the Allies while simultaneously funding the Nazi war machine by assembling a special team of counterfeit artists to create millions in fraudulent pounds and dollars. As the operation gets under way, Sorowitsch finds the efforts of the team continually undermined by unyieldingly idealistic collotype specialist Adolf Burger (August Diehl). In the months that follow, the team wrestles with their consciences as Axis forces are gradually overwhelmed by Allied might. The Counterfeiters won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Duchess of Langeais – drama - Jacques Rivette
http://ifcfilms.com/viewFilm.htm?filmId=516
Antoinette is the Duchess of Langeais, a married coquette who frequents the most extravagant balls in 1820's Paris during The Restoration, where hypocrisy and vanity reign. Upon the handsome general, Armand de Montriveau's first meeting with her, he realized it was true love from that moment on. Flattered by his attentions, the alluring Antoinette orchestrates a calculating game of seduction, but she repeatedly refuses Montriveau. Despite his sincere romantic declarations, Montriveau's passion remains unfulfilled. When the humiliated Montriveau eventually seeks his revenge, Antoinette's love awakens. But it may well be too late for the star-crossed lovers.

Flawless – crime - Michael Radford
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0kMPJvjars
From director Michael Radford (THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, IL POSTINO) comes FLAWLESS, a clever diamond-heist thriller set in swinging 1960s London. Demi Moore plays Laura Quinn, a bright, driven and beautiful executive at the London Diamond Corporation who finds herself frustrated by a glass ceiling after years of faithful employment, as man after man is promoted ahead of her despite her greater experience. Michael Caine is Hobbs, the nighttime janitor at London Diamond who is virtually invisible to the executives that work there, but over the years has amassed a startling amount of knowledge about how the company runs. Hobbs has his own bone to pick with London Diamond. Observing Laura’s frustration, he convinces her to help him execute an ingenious plan to steal a hefty sum in diamonds. But unbeknownst to Laura, Hobbs plans go even farther than he’s let on, and together they set in motion a thrilling heist of dizzying proportions, the likes of which London has never seen.

Flight of the Red Balloon – drama - Hsiao-hsien Hou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXcL4L6Nubo
A mysterious red balloon affectionately follows seven-year-old Simon around Paris. His mother Suzanne is a puppeteer who uses her vocal talents to bring life to the shows she writes. Completely absorbed in her new show, Suzanne becomes overwhelmed by the complications of modern daily life. She decides to hire Song Fang, a Taiwanese film student, to help her care for Simon.

Funny Games – horror - Michael Haneke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWOrMTKHLo0
Notoriously nihilistic filmmaker Michael Haneke revisits one of his most controversial works in this remake of 1997's Funny Games starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. When a family of three arrives at their remote summer cabin for a quiet getaway, the sudden arrival of two psychotic men sets the stage for a harrowing life-or-death struggle that offers savage commentary on the use of violence in entertainment.

Honeydripper - drama/musical - John Sayles
http://honeydripper-movie.com//trailer/
Iconoclastic filmmaker John Sayles, in his 16th feature film, continues his extraordinary examination of the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures in the new film “Honeydripper.” With his usual understated intelligence, Sayles uses the rhythms of the citizens of Harmony, Alabama to immerse the audience into the world of the Jim Crow south. It’s a fable about the birth of rock n’ roll-a quintessentially American subject, but with a fidelity to time and temperament that is unusual in an American director.

How to Rob a Bank - comedy/crime - Andrews Jenkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8dEmX9CuP4
Half of the fun of writer-director Andrew Jenkins' feature debut "a heist film that gets everything right about a crime that goes all too wrong" is keeping track of who is doing what to whom and why. Who is robbing the bank? What are they after? These are the simple elements that keep rearranging themselves as Jinx (Nick Stahl) and Jessica (Erika Christensen) find themselves trapped inside a vault, with bank-robber Simon (Gavin Rossdale), stuck on the other side of the vault door, and the police stuck outside the bank. A fresh, freewheeling take on a genre perennial, Jenkins' film playfully hits the reset button every time things seem to settle into place.

In Bruges – comedy - Martin McDonagh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G6W5CTaULw
Having just carried out a particularly difficult hit in London, two hit men seek shelter in Bruges, Belgium only find their views on life and death permanently altered by their interactions with the locals, the tourists, and a film crew. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Finnes star in a action comedy from director Martin McDonagh.

Irina Palm – drama - Sam Garbarski
http://www.videodetective.com/titledetails.aspx?publishedid=109230
Legendary rocker Marianne Faithfull (of "As Tears Go By" and Broken English fame) stars in director Sam Garbarski's gently observed comedy-drama Irina Palm (2007). She portrays Maggie, a working-class quinquagenarian increasingly desperate to cover the cost of her ailing grandson's (Corey Burke) operation. When denied one loan and prospective job after another, a hopeless Maggie plunges headfirst into the underground skin trade of Soho London and prostitutes herself, under the aegis of new boss Mikky (Miki Manojlovic). Equipped with a new name, Irina Palm, Maggie begins working customers with a stimulatory technique so popular that patrons are soon lining up around the corner to be "serviced" by her.

Love For Sale – drama - Karim Ainouz
http://movies.go.com/trailer?cid=902761&vid=902762
After two years of living in São Paulo, Hermila returns to her village in northeastern Brazil with her newborn son, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband. Time passes slowly and the wait becomes an even heavier burden as she begins to realize that she`s been abandoned. Her distress increases as she renews a relationship with an old boyfriend before deciding that she doesn`t want to relive the past. Determined to raise enough money to escape her stifling hometown, she comes up with an unlikely prize to raffle off - one conceived during her chats with newfound friend and local prostitute, Georgina. Hermila adopts the name Suely, an act that distances her from her family and her past and signals the beginning of her journey toward new, open horizons.

Love Songs – musical - Christophe Honore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s54vpKAFmS0
Christophe Honore further makes a case as one of the most exciting filmmakers of our generation with the exuberant and tender LOVE SONGS (LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR). A modern day musical told through unforgettable songs sung entirely by the cast and scored by Alex Beaupain, the film has overjoyed audiences at the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals while earning recognition in its native Country with four French Cesar nominations. In the hope of sparking their stalled relationship, Ismael (Louis Garrel of DANS PARIS, THE DREAMERS) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier of SWIMMING POOL) enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme of REGULAR LOVERS). When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love. For Ismael, this means negotiating through the advances of Julie's sister (Chara Mastroianni of PERSEPOLIS) and a young college student (Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet of STRAYED); one of which may offer him redemption.

Married Life - crime/drama - Ira Sachs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z3CUH3826qA
After entering into a passionate affair with a much younger woman, an unhappily married man resorts to murder as a means of sparing his frigid wife the humiliation of divorce in director Ira Sachs' suspenseful film noir. Set in the 1940s, Marriage tells the tale of Harry (Chris Cooper) -- a man whose faithful but emotionally distant wife (Patricia Clarkson) has become all but impossible to love. Smitten by the beautiful Kay (Rachel McAdams) but ultra-sensitive to the shame associated with divorce, Harry opts to poison his wife as a means of allowing the marriage to end with her pride still intact. Harry's scheme soon goes horribly awry, however, when after revealing the plan to his best friend, Richard (Pierce Brosnan), Richard too falls in love with the ethereal young beauty and sets into motion a cunning plan all his own. A serpentine tale of murderous deception, Marriage was co-scripted by director Sachs and screenwriter Oren Moverman.

Miss Prettigrew Lives For a Day – comedy - Bharat Nalluri
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UsfT_NJdiA
A late-1930s era London governess hired to work in the home of a high-profile nightclub chanteuse gets a taste of the good life when she is assigned the task of sorting out the singer's many unseemly affairs in a period comedy starring Frances McDormand and adapted from the novel by Winifred Watson. Simon Beaufoy and David Magee co-author a screenplay directed by Bahrat Nalluri.

My Brother is an only Child – comedy - Daniele Luchetti
http://youtube.com/watch?v=DTERZXDwzOw
Growing up in small-town Italy during the '60s and '70s, brothers Accio (Elio Germano) and Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio) embody and celebrate opposing political stances, but share an impassioned love of the same woman that threatens to drive them to blows. Director Daniele Luchetti's political comedyMio fratello è figlio unico (AKA My Brother is an Only Child, 2007) observes the brothers over the course of fifteen years, against the ever-shifting backdrop of tumultuous Italian sociopolitical history. During that time span, the siblings' loyalties will fluctuate; they will endure arguments and quarrels, and find themselves separated by the ravages of time and circumstance and reunited magnetically by the wisdom of age. And in time, they will come to a firmer and clearer understanding of not only the differences but the similarities that they harbor.

Penelope - drama/comedy/fantasy - Mark Palansky
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/trailers
A magical story of a young woman, Penelope Wilhern (Christina Ricci) born to wealthy socialites but afflicted by a secret family curse in which the first-born girl will have a pig face. Believing that the only way to break the curse is to marry one of her own kind, she meets a number of suitors, but all reject her. Two devious men, one with a grudge against the family, hire a man to pose as a suitor, but complications arise when he begins to fall in love with Penelope, and she makes a bid for her freedom.

Praying with Lior – documentary - Ilana Trachtman
http://firstrunfeatures.com/trailers_lior.html
Ilana Trachtman's coming-of-age documentary is an engaging and deeply human portrait of young Lior Liebling, a child with Down syndrome who is as loving and playful as any boy you are likely to meet. His devotion to davening (prayer) and singing saturates his world with a love that is his manna--it multiplies and nourishes everyone. Lior cajoles his way into the hearts of his family, while we, too, are drawn closer to him as he navigates his daily life towards the bar mitzvah he has long anticipated and get to witness firsthand how the family and spiritual community he loves so much affirms the essence of the man Lior is becoming.

Romulus, My Father – drama - Richard Roxburgh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a7MoQVy41I
Longtime Australian actor Richard Roxburgh makes his directorial debut with this adaptation of Raimond Gaita's acclaimed memoir, adapted for the screen by poet Nick Drake and starring Eric Bana, Franka Potente, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Despite their hardships in life, Romulus (Bana) and his beautiful wife Christina (Potente) struggle to raise their son Raimond (Smit-McPhee) to the best of their abilities as father and son build an unbreakable bond that is only strengthened with the passing of time.

Run, Fat Boy, Run – comedy - David Schwimmer
http://www.runfatboyrunmovie.com/
A chunky, clueless guy leaves his fiancée on their wedding day only to discover -- some 10 years later -- that she is his one true love. But in order to win back her heart, he looks to finish his first marathon while making her realize her new man is the wrong guy for her.

Smart People – comedy - Noam Murro
http://www.smartpeople-themovie.com/
An unexpected romance with a charming former student (Sarah Jessica Parker) and a surprise visit from his wild adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) conspire to turn the life of surly widowed professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) upside down. But after nursing his bitterness for so many years, is the self-absorbed academic ready for change? Ellen Page and Ashton Holmes co-star in this witty dramedy from director Noam Murro.

Snow Angels – drama - David Gordon Green
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luOsqLX5feY Director/screenwriter David Gordon Green adapts Stewart O'Nan's popular novel to the screen in this feature that tells the parallel tales of a teenager named Arthur, and his one-time babysitter Annie (Kate Beckinsale) - whose turbulent relationship with her estranged husband (Sam Rockwell) leads the small-town waitress down a troubled path.

Standard Operating Procedure – documentary - Errol Morris
Filmmaker Errol Morris (Gates of Heaven, The Thin Blue Line) takes an unflinching look at the Abu Ghraib prison scandal while meditating on the frightening side effects of the War on Terror in a thought-provoking documentary from Participant Productions (An Inconvenient Truth).

Sunflower – drama - Yang Zhang
The tumultuous relationship between a father returning home after years in a labor camp and the nine-year-old son who doesn't quite know what to make of this new man in his life lies at the heart of director Zhang Yang's heartfelt drama addressing the nature of change and the importance of family in Chinese culture. Chairman Mao has died and the Gang of Four have fallen, leaving former painter Gengnian (Sun Haiying) to return home to his wife, Xiuqing (Joan Chen), and the pair's nine-year-old son Xiangyang (Zhang Fan). His hands permanently damaged by the ravages of hard labor, Gengnian cannot return to painting, though his young son has shown an abundance of artistic promise. Troubled by the sudden presence of a father he has never known and rebelling against the path laid before him, Xiangyang ignites a firecracker in his hand in hopes that it may derail his artistic career. In the years that follow, Xiangyang's reputation as a talented artist grows while his relationship with his father remains forever troubled.

Taxidermia – drama - György Pálfi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV646KK9UVU&feature=related
A strange young man takes his family's long tradition of bizarre behavior to new heights (or depths) in this wildly perverse and explicit horror comedy from director Gyorgi Palfi. Kalman Balatony (Gergo Trocsanyi) is a grotesquely fat gentleman who was fathered by an angry hospital orderly getting revenge on his boss by having sex with his wife. While the embittered husband killed the orderly when he was caught in the act, Kalman was born as a result of the wife's indiscretion, and when he grows to adulthood he earns a modest fame as a competitive eating champion. At an eating contest, Kalman meets a female competitor, the freakish Gizi (Adel Stanczel), and the two fall in love. Kalman and Gizi marry, and she gives birth to a son, Lajos (Marc Bischoff), who grows up to be just as skinny as his parents are fat. Lajos studies taxidermy and takes up preserving animals as a career when he isn't busy taking care of his elderly and increasingly massive father. Lajos also raises a handful of unusually large house cats, and when they begin to turn on their master, Lajos uses his talents to keep them around the house without the danger of their bothering anyone. Taxidermia received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival.

Teeth – comedy - Mitchell Lichtenstein
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH8yuld4DUE
A high school student struggling to suppress her budding sexuality makes a startling discovery about her womanhood after becoming the victim of sexual violence in director Michael Lichtentenstein's semi-surreal exploration of the vagina dentate myth. Dawn (Jess Weixler) is a proud virgin and the most active member of her local chastity group. Though she struggles with every ounce of her willpower to resist the pleasures of the flesh, Dawn finds her noble efforts to remain chaste repeatedly challenged by her disturbed step-brother Brad - whose provocative advances are becoming increasingly difficult to resist. When Dawn is sexually assaulted and discovers that her vagina actually has teeth, she struggles to comprehend her anatomical anomaly while experiencing both the benefits and drawbacks of this strange new revelation.

Then She Found Me – drama - Helen Hunt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipjBhR7WEA
Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes fer feature directing debut with THEN SHE FOUND ME, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.

Under the Same Moon – Drama - Patricia Riggen
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/underthesamemoon/
In her feature debut, Patricia Riggen offers a touching tale of the way the love between a mother and child can thrive and endure despite physical separation. In La Misma Luna (The Same Moon), Riggen gives us the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico

Unforeseen, The – documentary - Laura Dunn
http://theunforeseenfilm.com/blog/trailer/
An ambitious west Texas farm boy with grandiose plans tires of living at the mercy of nature and sets out to find a life with more control. He heads to Austin where he becomes a real estate developer and skillfully capitalizes on the growth of this 1970s boomtown. At the peak of his powers, he transforms 4,000 acres of pristine Hill Country into one of the state’s largest and fastest selling subdivisions. When the development threatens a local treasure, a fragile limestone aquifer and a naturally spring-fed swimming hole, the community fights back. In the conflict that ensues, we see in miniature a struggle that today plays out in communities across the country.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden – documentary - Morgan Spurlock
http://whereisobl.com/
In his directorial follow-up to the breakthrough hit Super Size Me, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock gamely tries to one-up the U.S. government by finding Osama Bin Laden. The wry documentarian reportedly shot more than 800 hours of footage while scouring every nook and cranny of Afghanistan and the Middle East in pursuit of the infamous leader. The film had its much-anticipated world premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

year my parents went on vacation, the – drama - Cao Hamburger
http://www.oano.com.br/english/index.php
A twelve-year old Brazilian boy who longs to see his team win out over Italy in the 1970 World Cup match finds his entire world turned upside down as his left-wing parents are forced into hiding and he is sent to live with his grandfather in Sao Paulo's Bom Retiro district. Though his country is being held in the grip of a military dictatorship and the war in Vietnam is raging abroad, young Mauro can't seem to think about anything else but the upcoming World Cup match between Brazil and Italy. If Jairzinho, Pele, and company can just win their third World Cup title, team Brazil will earn their third star on the strip - a feat that no other team in the history of the sport has ever managed to accomplish. When his Catholic mother and Jewish father are suddenly forced to go "on holiday," young Mauro is swept out of his middle class existence in Minas Gerais and taken to stay with his paternal grandfather in bustling Bom Retiro. A multi-ethnic district in which Jews, Arabs, and Greeks all live side-by-side, Bom Retiro begins to heat up with World Cup fever as things both at home and abroad all seem to be spiraling towards disaster.

Young@Heart - documentary - Stephen Walker
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/index.php
The Young@Heart Chorus is a vocal group from Northampton, Massachusetts who have earned an international reputation for their unique interpretations of songs by Sonic Youth, the Ramones and the Clash. However, this isn't a teenage garage band attacking the classic punk rock songbook -- the Young@Heart Chorus is comprised of twenty-two senior citizens whose average age is eighty, and under director Bob Cilian they've gained a degree of fame for their enthusiastic a capella renditions of well-known rock and roll tunes. Filmmaker Stephen Walker spent several weeks with the members of the Young@Heart Chorus as they rehearsed for their annual concert in Northampton, and Young@Heart is a documentary which offers a look at their rigorous rehearsal process, the background of several members, and their efforts to stay active and think positive, even as their friends succumb to old age. Produced for British television, Young@Heart was screened in competition at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival.