The Guatemalan Handshake

The Guatemalan Handshake

USA – 2005 – 96 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY TODD ROHAL

In the confusion following a massive power outage, an awkward demolition derby driver vanishes, setting in motion a series of events affecting his pregnant girlfriend, his helplessly car-less father, a pack of wild boy scouts, a lactose intolerant roller rink employee, an elderly woman in search of her lost dog, and his best friend — a ten year-old girl named Turkeylegs.

Pieces of the mystery begin to come together as Turkeylegs sets out to find her missing friend. Cars drive circles in the dirt, a woman attends her own funeral, the sun rises sideways and an orange vehicle trades hands again and again. Everything eventully culminates in a massive demolition derby that throws all of the characters into different directions.

Casting By

Casting By

USA – 2012 – 89 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY TOM DONAHUE

FEATURING: MARTIN SCORSESE, WOODY ALLEN, CLINT EASTWOOD, GLENN CLOSE, ROBERT DUVALL, JEFF BRIDGES, AL PACINO, ROBERT DE NIRO, DIANE LANE, JON VOIGHT, BETTE MIDLER AND JOHN TRAVOLTA

Putting the spotlight on filmmaking’s unsung heroes – the casting director – CASTING BY takes us on a fast-paced journey through the last half century of Hollywood history from an entirely new perspective. Pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster were iconoclasts whose exquisite taste and gut instincts helped to put the final nail in the coffin of the old studio system and usher in the New Hollywood.

Good Vibrations

Good Vibrations

UNITED KINGDOM / IRELAND – 2012 – 101 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
FILM BY LISA BARROS D’SA AND GLENN LEYBURN

Terri Hooley is a radical, rebel and music-lover in 1970s Belfast, when the bloody conflict known as the Troubles shuts down his city. As all his friends take sides and take up arms, Terri opens a record shop on the most bombed half-mile in Europe and calls it Good Vibrations. Through it he discovers a compelling voice of resistance in the city’s nascent underground punk scene. Galvanising the young musicians into action, he becomes the unlikely leader of a motley band of kids and punks who join him in his mission to create a new community, an alternative ulster, to bring his city back to life.

Gold

Gold

GERMANY – 2013 – 101 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN GERMAN & ENGLISH
A FILM BY THOMAS ARSLAN
FEATURING NINA HOSS, MARKO MANDIC, UWE BOHM, LARS RUDOLPH, PETER KURTH , ROSA ENSKAT, WOLFGANG PACKHÄUSER

Summer 1898. Canada during the Klondike Gold Rush. Emily Meyer joins a group of seven German American immigrants. Together they embark on the long journey to the newly discovered gold fields in Dawson. Brought together by shady businessman Wilhelm Laser's advertisement, the members of the group put it all on the line to change their miserable lives. Recommended by Laser, they decide to take the Ashcroft Trail, a route through the Canadian interior. With horses and a covered wagon, they take off without an exact idea of the dangers and strains that this journey has in store for them. Hardly any of them will have known that from their point of departure in Ashcroft, the distance to Dawson was more than 2,500 kilometres.

Get Out of the Car

Get Out of the Car

USA – 2010 – 34 MIN – COLOUR - SHORT - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY THOM ANDERSEN

From Thom Andersen comes a miniature city symphony exposing Los Angeles’ gentrification and neglect through a cheeky montage of static images set against the region’s musical history. The film takes its cue from Richard Berry’s song "Get Out of the Car", prompting an exploratory walk about Los Angeles.

Four Eyed Mosters

Four Eyed Mosters

USA – 2005 – 82 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY SUSAN BUICE & ARIN CRUMLEY

FOUR EYED MONSTERS tells the true story of how Susan and Arin met online, how Arin stalked her at her work, and then how they ended up dating but with a rule to never speak in person.

There lives and minds begin to meld and their fantasies and fears manifest as they become a living breathing Four Eyed Monster.

Fort Tilden

Fort Tilden

USA – 2014 – 95 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY SARAH-VIOLET BLISS AND CHARLES ROGERS

A comedy about Allie and Harper and their needlessly difficult journey to the beach.

Fort Tilden: New York City’s secluded seaside nirvana where, like flies to honey, Brooklyn’s hip millennial set flocks on sweltering weekend afternoons for unbridled summertime indulgence. Amidst the vexing stagnation of quarter-life crises, Allie (Clare McNulty) struggles to prepare for the Peace Corps, while Harper (Bridey Elliott) awaits checks from her father to fund her artistic dreams. But the two friends quickly shun responsibilities for the day when a pair of good-looking guys invites them along for a carefree Fort Tilden afternoon. As the two young women board their fixed-gear bicycles and embark on a lengthy journey to the beach, they quickly realize that, akin to their confusing, transitioning lives, they neither know where they’re going nor how they plan to get there.

The debut feature film of directors Sarah-Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers – and showcasing the comedic versatility of Clare McNulty and Bridey Elliott as Allie and Harper – FORT TILDEN is a hilariously insightful and recognizable look at the consequences of extended adolescence.

Force Majeure

Force Majeure

SWEDEN – 2014 – 118 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN SWEDISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY RUBEN ÖSTLUND

A Swedish family travels to the French Alps to enjoy a few days of skiing and spend some precious time with each other. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche turns everything upside down. With diners fleeing in all directions, mother Ebba calls for her husband Tomas as she tries to protect their children. Tomas, meanwhile, is running for his life...

Finding Vivian Maier

Finding Vivian Maier

USA – 2014 – 84 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY JOHN MALOOF & CHARLIE SISKEL

A mysterious nanny, who secretly took over 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and discovered decades later, is now considered among the 20th century’s greatest photographers. Maier’s strange and riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films, and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her.

Escape from Tomorrow

Escape from Tomorrow

USA – 2013 – 90 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY RANDY MOORE

An epic battle begins when a middle-aged American husband and father of two learns that he has lost his job. Keeping the news from his nagging wife and wound-up children, he packs up the family and embarks on a full day of park hopping amid enchanted castles and fairytale princesses. Soon, the manufactured mirth of the fantasy land around him begins to haunt his subconscious. An idyllic family vacation quickly unravels into a surrealist and darkly comic nightmare of paranoid visions, bizarre encounters, and an obsessive pursuit of a pair of sexy Parisian teenagers. Chillingly shot in black and white, ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW dissects the mythology of artificial perfection while subversively attacking our culture's obsession with mass entertainment.

Emptying the Skies

Emptying the Skies

USA – 2013 – 75 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY DOUGLAS KASS & ROGER KASS

Based on a magazine essay written by noted best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen for The New Yorker and widely republished around the world, EMPTYING THE SKIES chronicles the rampant poaching of migratory songbirds in southern Europe.

Empties

Empties

CZECH REPUBLIC / UK / DENMARK – 2007 – 100 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN CZECH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY JAN SVERAK

Czech literature teacher Josef unwillingly goes into retirement. Instead of a peaceful family life he chooses a part-time job in a supermarket at the bottle-return counter. The exciting new world that he creates there however leaves less and less room for his wife, Eliska, and she of course has no intention of getting used to it. 

Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer

USA – 2010 – 74 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY TRISTAN PATTERSON

DRAGONSLAYER documents the transgressions of a lost skate punk falling in love in the stagnant suburbs of Fullerton, California in the aftermath of Americaʼs economic collapse. Taking the viewer through a golden SoCal haze of broken homes, abandoned swimming pools and stray glimpses of unusual beauty, DRAGONSLAYER captures the life and times of Josh “Skreech” Sandoval, a local skate legend and new father, as his endless summer finally collides with the future. Set to the alternately roaring and dreamy soundtrack of bands from the indie labels Mexican Summer and Kemado Records — including Best Coast, Bipolar Bear, Children, Dungen, Eddy Current and the Suppression Ring, Golden Triangle, Jacuzzi Boys, Little Girls, Real Estate, The Soft Pack, Saviours, as well as DEATH and Thee Oh Sees —DRAGONSLAYER is a punk- rock manifesto to youth, love and learning to survive after the decline of western civilization.

DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL

DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL

CANADA – 2011 – 81 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY KRIS ELGSTRAND & DYLAN AKIO SMITH

Following a near-death experience, Karl comes to believe that Paul is his doppelganger. When Karl finally reveals himself to Paul, a unique and troubled relationship begins to form, a relationship that is severely tested when Karl grants Paul the privilege of reading his 20, 000 page manuscript, A Book About How Much I Hate Myself. 

Dogtooth

Dogtooth

GREECE – 2009 – 96 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN GREEK WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
A FILM BY YORGOS LANTHIMOS

The father, the mother and their three kids live at the outskirts of a city. There is a tall fence surrounding the house. The kids have never been outside that fence. They are being educated, entertained, bored and exercised in the manner that their parents deem appropriate, without any influence from the outside world. They believe that the airplanes flying over are toys and that zombies are small yellow flowers. The only person allowed to enter the house is Christina. She works as a security guard at the father’s business. The father arranges her visits to the house in order to appease the sexual urges of the son. The whole family is fond of her, especially the eldest daughter. One day Christina gives her as a present a headband that has stones that glow in the dark and asks for something in return.

Doc

Doc

USA – 2008 – 95 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY IMMY HUMES

FEATURING GEORGE PLIMPTON, NORMAN MAILER, WILLIAM STYRON, PETER MATTHIESSEN, PAUL AUSTER, TIMOTHY LEARY, ALAN CHEUSE, JONAS MEKAS, AND OTHER LUMINARIES, FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF H.L. "DOC" HUMES

The amazing adventures of H.L. "Doc" Humes, the man who put the culture in counterculture. With Lord Buckley, the Hip Messiah; paper houses for the poor; Don Peyote, a lost Beat take on Cervantes; the CIA, FBI, marijuana, massage, utopia — and paranoia.

In the 1950s and early '60s, Doc co-founded The Paris Review, wrote two acclaimed novels, and was a gregarious fixture of the cultural scene in Paris, London and New York. Doc was a 1950s NYC intellectual, a 60s free speech militant, and a 70s visionary crazy genius. His story is the story of decades of cultural history, a poignant personal long-strange-trip, and a fount of ever-relevant ideas.

Dig!

Dig!

USA – 2008 – 105 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY ONDI TIMONER

DIG! is the feature-length documentary shot over seven years about musicians Anton Newcombe, leader of the Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Courtney Taylor, head of The Dandy Warhols – star-crossed friends and bitter rivals.

The Death of Indie Rock

The Death of Indie Rock

CANADA – 2008 – 75 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY ROB FITL

Dillon (Joe Salvoni), Parker (Doug Brown), and Hot Dog (Allen Finn) are in a band, stuck playing low-paying shows and working dead-end jobs. When they get the chance to move to Montreal for a regular gig at a downtown club, they jump at it. But the road from no-name indie act to rock-star fame is a bumpy ride. Shot in Kingston and edited with a breezy staccato rhythm, director Rob Fitl's first feature is a rough-and-tumble look at a young local band chasing their dreams — and occasionally their nightmares. Indie rock may be dead, but indie filmmaking is alive and kicking.

The Death of Alice Blue

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The Death of Alice Blue

CANADA – 2009 – 87 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY PARK BENCH

Something strange is going on behind the doors of Raven Advertising...Ambitious new employee Alice Blue wants to impress roguishly handsome Creative Director Stephen. To do it, she has set her sights on signing an elusive client, Nether Wines. However, the agency has other plans for her. Reluctantly Alice befriends a group of co-workers who call themselves “The Resistance” led by paranoid conspiracy theorist Peter. He is convinced Alice is the key to unravelling the mystery of Raven. With the help of The Resistance, Alice discovers ancient secrets about her job and herself. But in the end, despite the powerful forces allied against her, Alice will abide by nobody’s rules but her own.

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Dance Party USA

Dance Party USA

USA – 2006 – 65 MIN – COLOUR - FEATURE - IN ENGLISH
A FILM BY AARON KATZ

An apathetic seventeen-year old shares a dark secret that causes his aimless new friend to immediately sever ties in director Aaron Katz’s talky teen drama.

Gus spends most of his time relating self-indulgent tales of sexual conquests and drug fueled frenzies to his best friend Bill. Jessica seems to be drifting away from most of her friends, and lately things have gotten so bad that she isn’t even speaking with her one time best-friend Christie.

Every Fourth of July all the kids gather at Brian’s house to drink free beer and watch the fireworks. This year, Gus meets Jessica at the party and tries to pick her up. When she blows off his obvious come-on, Gus tells Jessica a secret that he has never revealed to even his closest of friends. 

DIRECTOR
Aaron Katz was born in rainy Portland, OR. In high school he became interested in film and acting. When he realized that he wasn't a very good actor he decided to go to film school at North Carolina School of the Arts. Immediately after graduation he and two of his college roommates drove a 1963 Chevy Nova from North Carolina to Portland, OR in order to make DANCE PARTY, USA, his first feature. QUIETY CITY, his second feature, premiered at SXSW 2007. Subsequently, QUIETY CITY has had critically praised theatrical runs in several cites, was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at Film Independent's Spirit Awards, and was featured on several year end top ten lists. Currently Aaron lives in Brooklyn, NY where he is working on a new feature.