The inspirational true story of real-life surfing phenom Jay Moriarty (played by newcomer Jonny Weston). When 15-year-old Jay discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, is not only real, but exists just miles from his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson (played by Gerard Butler) to train him to survive it. As Jay and Frosty embark on their quest to accomplish the impossible, they form a unique friendship that transforms both their lives, and their quest to tame Mavericks becomes about far more than surfing. Chasing Mavericks was made with the help of some of the biggest names in the surfing world, and features some of the most mind-blowing real wave footage ever captured on film.
Genre: Drama. Director: Curtis Hanson, Michael Apted. Starring: Gerard Butler, Jonny Weston, Elisabeth Shue, Abigail Spencer, Leven Rambin.
Raised as brothers, intense teammates and competitors on the soccer field, the gregarious, swaggering Julio (Eliu Armas) and the wiry, focused Daniel/"Gato" (Fernando Moreno) have remained virtually inseparable ever since the newborn Daniel was found abandoned in a trash heap in their La Ceniza slum. The opportunity of their lives arrives when a football scout invites them to try out for the city's top professional team, just as a tragic act of violence threatens to tear them apart and prevent them from achieving their dreams.
Genre: Foreign, Drama. Director: Marcel Rasquin. Starring: Eliu Armas, Fernando Moreno, Ali Rondon, Beto Benites, Gonzalo Cubero, Marcela Giron.
Martine, a 23-year-old artist from New York, arrives in Los Angeles to stay in the pool house of a family living in the hip and hilly community of Silver Lake. Peter, the father, has agreed to help Martine complete sound design on her art film as a favor to his wife. Martine innocently enters the seemingly idyllic life of this open-minded family with two kids and a relaxed Southern California vibe. Like a bolt of lightning, her arrival sparks a surge of energy that awakens suppressed impulses in everyone and forces them to confront their own fears and desires. Exquisitely orchestrated by Ry Russo-Young (You Won't Miss Mescreened at the 2009 Festival) and cowritten by Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture), this potent charting of inner urges and sufferings links characters in an intricate dance of lust, denial, and deception.
Genre: Drama. Director: Ry Russo-Young. Starring: John Krasinski, Olivia Thirlby, Rosemarie DeWitt, Justin Kirk, India Ennenga, Dylan McDermott.
Based on true events, BRAWLER is the gripping tale of two brothers caught in the web of a vicious, bone-breaking underground "fight club" set on mob-run New Orleans riverboats. After a devastating personal betrayal, the once-inseparable brothers go head-to-head in a fight to the death.
Genre: Drama. Director: Chris Sivertson. Starring: Nathan Grubbs, Marc Senter, Bryan Batt.
Abigail Brooks has spent her lifetime trying to win an Olympic rowing medal, sacrificing friendship, love, and a "normal life" along the way. When she is named an alternate on the Olympic team, she quits in haste. Defeated, Abi moves back home with her widowed, workaholic mother. Tension builds as Abi's mother urges her to "move on" from the rowing life that Abi's father, a coach, introduced her to. Unable to do so, but needing an immediate job, Abi seizes an open crew coach position at her alma mater, Union High. There, the head of athletics is her old boyfriend, Geoff. Abi trains her high school rowers in an obsessive fashion, taking two girls, Hannah and Susan, under her wing. After the girls lose an important regional race, Abi reinvents herself as a coach, and, in the process, learns to have fun again both on the water and off. "Backwards" is an intimate look at the personal sacrifices and complex choices facing competitive Olympic hopefuls. It is also a film about dreams--young adults pursuing their dreams--and finding that sometimes a missed opportunity can become an introduction to an entire new life.
Genre: Romance. Director: Ben Hickernell. Starring: Sarah Megan Thomas, James Van Der Beek, Margaret Colin, Glenn Morshower.
Beauty Is Embarrassing is a funny, irreverent, joyful and inspiring documentary featuring the life and current times of one of America's most important artists, Wayne White. During his thirty-year career as a painter, art director, puppeteer, illustrator and overall raconteur White has been responsible for some of the most iconic images in popular culture. The film chronicles his early days in NYC as one of the creators of the Pee-wee's Playhouse TV Show to his work as an art director on seminal music videos for The Smashing Pumpkins and Peter Gabriel to his current turn as a star in the fine art world. The film traces the vaulted highs and the crushing lows of an artist, father and husband trying to make it in the hectic world of commercial work while fulfilling his personal passion for creating great works of art. In the end Beauty Is Embarrassing is a deeply inspirational story about a man who lives by one rule: do you what you love, and it'll lead to where you want to go.
Genre: Documentary. Director: Neil Berkeley. Starring: Wayne White, Matt Groening, Paul Reubens, Gary Panter, Mark Mothersbaugh, Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, Ric Heitzman, Mimi Pond.
When Brian, a hopelessly uncoordinated young fan magically switches talents with his basketball hero (NBA Superstar Kevin Durant, playing himself), he becomes the star of his high school team...while Kevin Durant suddenly can't make a shot to save his life. But with the playoffs approaching, Brian learns that being a true winner involves working hard at your own game, and he tries to make things right in time to prevent a catastrophic end to his hero's season.
Genre: Comedy. Director: John Whitesell. Starring: Kevin Durant , Taylor Gray , Jim Belushi, Brandon T. Jackson.
Ellis (Graham Phillips) is the most adult member of his eccentric family at 15 years old. His mom (Vera Farmiga) is a New Age hippie that spends all of her time working on self-help rituals with her hustler boyfriend (Justin Kirk). His dad (Ty Burrell) left home years ago and is more focused on his new wife (Keri Russell) and family. And then there's Goat Man (David Duchovny), the goat-herding sage who has lived in their pool house since Ellis was a child, teaching him the meaning of stability, commitment, and expanding one's mind.
Genre: Comedy. Director: Christopher Neil. Starring: David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips, Justin Kirk, Ty Burrell, Keri Russell, Dakota Johnson.
When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naive Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors' support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family's political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about.
Genre: Comedy. Director: Jay Roach. Starring: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox.
With an all-star cast lead by Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried and Topher Grace, THE BIG WEDDING is an uproarious romantic comedy about a charmingly modern family trying to survive a weekend wedding celebration that has the potential to become a full blown family fiasco. To the amusement of their adult children and friends, long divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin (De Niro and Keaton) are once again forced to play the happy couple for the sake of their adopted son's wedding after his ultra conservative biological mother unexpectedly decides to fly halfway across the world to attend. With all of the wedding guests looking on, the Griffins are hilariously forced to confront their past, present and future - and hopefully avoid killing each other in the process.
Genre: Romance, Comedy. Director: Justin Zackham. Starring: Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace.
