Searching
Aneesh Chaganty's feature debut was a big hit at Sundance and won the NEXT Audience Award. This "desktop thriller" stars John Cho as a father trying to locate his daughter through her laptop. Interestingly enough, the film is produced by Timur Bekmambetov. Searching serves as the festival's opening night film.
Minding the Gap
Another Sundance premiere making its LA bow at LAAPFF is Bing Liu's super personal documentary about his Middle American skateboarding pals and what happens as adulthood looms on the horizon and childhood starts to fade in the rearview. It's a touching and extra special film.
White Rabbit
Daryl Wein's (Breaking Upwards, Lola Versus) latest indie charmer is this story of an LA performance artist played by Vivian Bang. We follow her character as she meanders through life looking for inspiration and conflict. This one is all kinds of fun.
People's Republic of Desire
Hao Wu's fascinating documentary comes to LAAPFF hot off the heels of winning the documentary competition at SXSW. The film peels back the curtain on the incredible phenomenon of YY, a Chinese social media site that finds millionaires and penniless workers alike donating huge sums of money to online idols. It's a wild story that you might not believe you didn't know existed.
The Third Murder
Kore-eda's latest stars Masaharu Fukuyama and Koji Yakusho in this crime thriller about a lawyer taking on the case of a seemingly hopeless client. In his review, Pierce Conran called The Third Murder a "powerfully philosophical and meticulously designed work that fuses high art and grand entertainment."
Becoming Who I Was
This naturalistic documentary about a young Buddhist Rinpoche and his teacher going on an incredible adventure is simply a beautiful and moving film. Directors Moon Chang-Yong and Jeon Jin took the top doc prize at Seattle last year.
