Highlights abound in every section, including the Cannes Gran Prix winner The Tribe, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio follow-up The Duke Of Burgundy (which has not a man in sight by the way), the Carpenter-esque It Follows, Mia Hansen-Løve's house music epic Eden, Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan, Tomm Moore's latest animated wonder Song Of The Sea, and so many other titles that my head is just spinning. This year's fest takes place across Hollywood from November 6-13. Get the full lineup below.
WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS (29 titles)'71 - A rookie British soldier (rising star Jack O'Connell) must survive one night in war-torn Belfast at the height of the Troubles in this taut thriller. DIR Yann Demange. SCR Gregory Burke. CAST Jack O'Connell, Paul Anderson, Richard Dormer, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan, Martin McCann, Charlie Murphy, Sam Reid. UK.
THE ABSENT (LOS AUSENTES) - When an elderly man loses his isolated cabin deep in the Mexican woods, he also loses his grip on reality. DIR Nicolás Pereda. SCR Alejandro Mendoza. CAST Guadalupe Cárdenas, Eduard Fernández, Gabino Rodríguez. Mexico. U.S. Premiere.
AUGUST WINDS (VENTOS DE AGOSTO) - When a young Brazilian couple makes a discovery in the ocean waters off their small village, they must confront the realities of life and death. DIR Gabriel Mascaro. SCR Gabriel Mascaro & Rachel Ellis. CAST Dandara de Morais, Geová Manoel dos Santos, Maria Salvino dos Santos, Gabriel Mascaro. Brazil.
BLACK COAL, THIN ICE (BAI RI YAN HUO) - In this Berlin Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, a down- and-out former detective is lured back to an old murder case when the brutal killer re-emerges. DIR Diao Yinan. SCR Diao Yinan. CAST Liao Fan, Gwei Lun Mei, Wang Xuebing, Wang Jingchun, Yu Ailei, Ni Jingyang. China, Hong Kong. This screening is co-presented by the China Onscreen Biennial 2014 and is the closing night screening of their Los Angeles series.
BREATHE (RESPIRE) - High school student Charlie is sent reeling after her intense friendship with Sarah falls apart in Mélanie Laurent's sophomore feature. DIR Mélanie Laurent. SCR Mélanie Laurent & Julien Lambroschini. CAST Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré, Claire Keim. France.
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY - An amateur butterfly collector and her housekeeper can't get enough of their sadomasochistic games in this phantasmic tale. DIR Peter Strickland. SCR Peter Strickland. CAST Sidse Babett Knudsen, Chiara D'anna. UK.
EDEN - Mia Hansen-Løve's 20-year journey through the electronic dance music scene follows DJ Paul, whose love for the turntables stays strong even after the craze has ended. DIR Mia Hansen-Løve. SCR Mia Hansen-Løve & Sven Hansen-Løve. CAST Felix De Givry, Pauline Etienne, Vincent Macaigne, Greta Gerwig, Golshifteh Farahani, Laura Smet, Vincent Lacoste. France.
THE FOOL (DURAK) - A small-town plumber must evacuate a building before its occupants are put in a deadly situation, but citywide corruption makes it nearly impossible to find help. DIR Yury Bykov. SCR Yury Bykov. CAST Artem Bystrov, Natalia Surkova, Dmitry Kulichkov, Ilya Isaev, Maxim Pinsker, Lyubov Rudenko. Russia.
FROM WHAT IS BEFORE (MULA SA KUNG ANO ANG NOON) - Filipino arthouse sensation Lav Diaz's latest epic centers on a coastal village haunted by strange and supernatural occurrences. DIR Lav Diaz. SCR Lav Diaz. CAST Perry Dizon, Roeder Camañag, Hazel Orencio, Karenina Haniel, Joel Saracho, Reynan Abcede, Ching Valdes-Aran, Mailes Kanapi, Ian Lomongo, Noel Sto. Domingo, Evelyn Vargas, Bambi Beltran, Teng Mangansakan. Philippines. U.S. Premiere.
GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM - Unfolding entirely in a small courtroom, this edge-of-your-seat film follows Viviane Amsalem's tense battle for a divorce in Israel's strict rabbinical court. DIR Ronit Elkabetz & Shlomi Elkabetz. SCR Ronit Elkabetz & Shlomi Elkabetz. CAST Ronit Elkabetz, Menashe Noy, Simon Abkarian, Sasson Gabay , Eli Gorstein, Rami Danon, Roberto Pollack. Israel.
GIRLHOOD (BANDE DE FILLES) - Teenager Marieme drops out of school and finds acceptance with a gang of free-spirited girls, while taking on a new feminine identity. DIR Céline Sciamma. SCR Céline Sciamma. CAST Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh, Mariétou Touré. France.
GOODNIGHT MOMMY (ICH SEH, ICH SEH) - Twin boys fear that their mother, whose face is masked with bandages after plastic surgery, has been subsumed by an evil being. DIR Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala. SCR Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala. CAST Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz. Austria.
HAEMOO - Amid a shroud of sea fog, the voyage of a South Korean boat smuggling a group of illegal immigrants turns into a catastrophe. DIR Shim Sung-bo. SCR Shim Sung-bo & Bong Joon-ho. CAST Kim Yoon-seok, Park Yu-chun, Han Ye-ri. South Korea.
HUMAN CAPITAL (IL CAPITALE UMANO) - The fates of two seemingly unrelated families become increasingly intertwined in this stylish Italian murder mystery. DIR Paolo Virzì. SCR Paolo Virzì, Francesco Bruni and Francesco Piccolo. CAST Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Valeria Golino, Fabrizio Gifuni, Luigi Lo Cascio. Italy.
THE IRON MINISTRY - Three years spent on China's vast train system are distilled into a one-of-a-kind sensory experience in this immersive, formally daring documentary. DIR J.P. Sniadecki. China, USA.
JAUJA - Viggo Mortensen stars as a 19th-century Danish general who must search the unforgiving Patagonian wilderness for his runaway daughter. DIR Lisandro Alonso. SCR Lisandro Alonso & Fabián Casas. CAST Viggo Mortensen, Viilbjork Malling Agger, Ghita Nørby. Argentina, USA, Netherlands, France, Mexico.
LEVIATHAN - In the latest work from Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, a small-town auto mechanic becomes embroiled in a property dispute with devastating consequences. DIR Andrey Zvyagintsev. SCR Oleg Negin & Andrey Zvyagintsev. CAST Alexey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Vladimir Vdovitchenkov, Roman Madyanov, Anna Ukolova, Alexey Rozin, Sergey Pokhodaev. Russia.
MANOS SUCIAS - Brothers Jacobo and Delio agree to transport millions of dollars of cocaine into Panama in this suspenseful portrait of lives forever altered by the drug trade. DIR Josef Kubota Wladyka. SCR Alan Blanco & Josef Kubota Wladyka. CAST Cristian Advincula, Jarlin Martinez, Manuel David Riascos, Hadder Blandon. Colombia, USA.
OVER YOUR DEAD BODY (KUIME) - Actors rehearsing a classic play find their violent, double-crossing stage roles seeping into real life in a ghost story from Takashi Miike. DIR Takashi Miike. SCR Kikumi Yamagishi. CAST Ebizo Ichikawa, Ko Shibasaki, Hideaki Ito, Miho Nakanishi, Maiko, Toshie Negishi, Hiroshi Katsuno, Ikko Furuya. Japan.
REALITY (RÉALITÉ) - A cameraman for a TV show is offered a chance to direct in this tapestry of dream logic that slides from one brilliantly bizarre situation to the next. DIR Quentin Dupieux. SCR Quentin Dupieux. CAST Alain Chabat, Jonathan Lambert, Elodie Bouchez, Kyla Kenedy, John Glover, Eric Wareheim, Jon Heder. Belgium, France. North American Premiere.
RED ARMY - The Cold War plays out with vivid intensity - on the ice - in this vibrant documentary on the history of the Soviet Union's Red Army hockey team. DIR Gabe Polsky. FEATURING Slava Fetisov, Vladislav Tretiak, Scotty Bowman, Vladimir Pozner. USA, Russia.
THE SALT OF THE EARTH - This documentary on Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, often referred to as the master of black-and-white photojournalism, is co-directed by filmmaker Wim Wenders and Salgado's son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado. DIR Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado. SCR Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders and David Rosier. France.
SONG OF THE SEA - In this Irish animated film, a brother and sister embark on a magical journey to discover their connection to the mythical selkies. DIR Tomm Moore. SCR Will Collins. CAST Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Pat Shortt, Jon Kenny, Liam Hourican, Colm Ó'Snodaigh, Lucy O'Connell, Kevin Swierszcz, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan. Ireland. U.S. Premiere.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS (KREUZWEG) - Fourteen masterfully composed single-shot scenes tell the story of adolescent Maria, a girl caught between a secular world and the strict religious teachings of her church. DIR Dietrich Brüggemann. SCR Anna Brüggemann & Dietrich Brüggemann. CAST Lea van Acken, Franziska Weisz, Florian Stetter. Germany.
TIMBUKTU - Mauritania's official entry for the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar® centers on the 2012 Islamic jihadist takeover of northern Mali, and its toll on the region's civilians. DIR Abderrahmane Sissako. SCR Abderrahmane Sissako & Kessen Tall. CAST Ibrahim Ahmed, Toulou Kiki, Abel Jafri, Fatoumata Diawara. France, Mauritania.
TITLI - Young Titli must risk everything to escape his life of abject poverty and intergenerational crime in this assured debut feature. DIR Kanu Behl. SCR Sharat Katariya & Kanu Behl. CAST Ranvir Shorey, Amit Sial, Lalit Behl, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Shashank Arora. India.
TU DORS NICOLE - Nicole trips aimlessly through her post-college summer in this delightfully light and sublime film. DIR Stéphane Lafleur. SCR Stéphane Lafleur. CAST Julianne Côté, Catherine St-Laurent, Francis La Haye, Simon Larouche, Godefroy Reding, Marc-André Grondin. Canada.
VILLA TOUMA - A teenage Palestinian orphan's life is turned upside down when she goes to live in the secluded home of her three aristocrat aunts. DIR Suha Arraf. SCR Suha Arraf. CAST Nisreen Faour, Ula Tabri , Cherien Dabis , Maria Zriek.
WILD TALES (RELATOS SALVAJES) - Characters are pushed to delightfully deranged savagery in this anthology of six sublimely absurd short films. DIR Damián Szifrón. SCR Damián Szifrón. CAST Ricardo Darin, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, Dario Grandinetti. Argentina, Spain.
MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS (4 titles)
ALLELUIA - A hustler has the tables turned on him when a besotted con victim becomes his partner in crime in this genre-bending tale of sex and obsession. DIR Fabrice Du Welz. SCR Fabrice Du Welz & Vincent Tavier. CAST Laurent Lucas, Lola Dueñas, Stéphane Bissot, Edith Le Merdy, Anne-Marie Loop, Helena Noguerra, Pili Groyne, David Murgia. France, Belgium.
A HARD DAY (KKEUT-KKA-JI GAN-DA) - When corrupt Detective Ko is involved in a hit-and-run, a chain of events is unleashed that pits him against a diabolical nemesis. DIR Kim Seong-hun. SCR Kim Seong- hun. CAST Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Jin-woong. South Korea.
IT FOLLOWS - A group of friends is plagued by a nightmarish supernatural threat in this coming-of-age horror film from AFI FEST alum David Robert Mitchell. DIR David Robert Mitchell. SCR David Robert Mitchell. CAST Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe. USA.
WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS - In this hilarious mockumentary, the undead lives of five flat-mates are thrown into pandemonium when a recently turned hipster tries to join the party. DIR Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement. SCR Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement. CAST Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, Stu Rutherford, Jackie Van Beek, Ben Fransham. New Zealand.
BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS (4 titles)
THE BLUE WAVE (MAVI DALGA) - Deniz and her friends are restless Turkish teenagers, distracted by love interests and ever-changing friendship dynamics, as they await the end of high school. DIR Zeynep Dadak & Merve Kayan. SCR Zeynep Dadak & Merve Kayan. CAST Ayris Alptekin, Onur Saylak, Baris Hacihan. Turkey, Germany, Netherlands, Greece.
FISH & CAT - Achieved in one stunning long take, this Iranian arthouse slasher follows a group of students in the woods and the sinister crooks they encounter there. DIR Shahram Mokri. SCR Shahram Mokri. CAST Babak Karimi, Saeed Ebrahimifar, Abed Abest, Ainaz Azarhoush, Mona Ahmadi, Neda Jebraieli, Parinaz Tayeb, Samaneh Vafaiee. Iran.
MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE! (QU'ALLAH BENISSE LA FRANCE!) - French rapper Abd Al Malik adapts his raw memoir chronicling the way religion and hip-hop saved him from the streets. DIR Abd Al Malik. SCR Abd Al Malik. CAST Marc Zinga, Sabrina Ouazani, Larouci Didi, Mickaël Nagenraft, Matteo Falkone, Stéphane Fayette-Mikano. France. U.S. Premiere.
THE MIDNIGHT SWIM - Three half-sisters try to unlock the mystery of their mother's deep-water disappearance in this unsettling tale, part ghost story and part family drama. DIR Sarah Adina Smith. SCR Sarah Adina Smith. CAST Lindsay Burdge, Aleksa Palladino, Jennifer Lafleur, Ross Partridge, Beth Grant, Michelle Hutchison, Shirley Venard. USA. U.S. Premiere.
CINEMA'S LEGACY SELECTIONS (4 titles)
CINEMA PARADISO (1989) - A famous Italian film director reflects on his childhood friendship with a local theater projectionist in this must-see classic. DIR Giuseppe Tornatore. SCR Giuseppe Tornatore. CAST Philippe Noiret, Jacques Perrin, Antonella Attili, Enzo Cannavale, Isa Danieli, Leo Gullotta, Marco Leonardi, Pupella Maggio, Agnese Nano, Leopoldo Trieste, Salvatore Cascio. Italy.
LOVE STREAMS (1984) - Centering on a boozy, hedonistic writer and his beleaguered sister, this latter-era film by the great John Cassavetes celebrates its 30th anniversary. DIR John Cassavetes. SCR John Cassavetes. CAST Gena Rowlands, John Cassavetes, Diahnne Abbott, Seymour Cassel, Eddy Donno, Tom Badal, Joan Foley, Jakob Shaw, Al Ruban, Margaret Abbott. USA.
MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES (2014) - Combining extensive filmmaker interviews and rare archival footage, Chuck Workman's documentary takes us through the life of one of cinema's greatest masters: Orson Welles. DIR Chuck Workman. USA.
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW (IERI, OGGI, DOMANI) (1963) - Vittorio De Sica's unique, three- part omnibus film features the mega-watt star coupling of international icons Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. DIR Vittorio De Sica. SCR Eduardo De Filippo, Isabella Quarantotti, Cesare Zavattini, Bella Billa and Lorenza Zanuso. CAST Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Aldo Giuffrè, Agostino Salvietti, Lino Mattera, Tecla Scarano, Silvia Monelli, Carlo Croccolo, Pasquale Cennamo, Armando Trovajoli. Italy, France.
NEW AUTEURS SELECTIONS (10 titles)
ALIVE (SANDA) - A poor mountain laborer finds himself caught between harrowing dramas playing out at work and at home. DIR Park Jungbum. SCR Park Jungbum. CAST Park Jungbum, Lee Seungyeon, Park Myunghoon, Shin Heatbit. South Korea. US Premiere
BLIND - A recently blinded woman handles the loss of her sight by writing stories about the world she's beginning to forget. DIR Eskil Vogt. SCR Eskil Vogt. CAST Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vera Vitali, Marius Kolbenstvedt. Norway, Netherlands.
FLAPPING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (ÐAP CÁNH GIUA KHÔNG TRUNG) - When Huyen dabbles in prostitution to earn money for an abortion, she meets a mysterious client who takes a tender yet obsessive interest in her pregnancy. DIR Nguyen Hoang Diep. SCR Nguyen Hoang Diep. CAST Nguyen Thuy Anh, Tran Bao Son, Hoang Ha, Pham Tran Thanh Duy. Vietnam, France, Norway, Germany. US Premiere.
GÜEROS - In this playfully energetic debut, three young pranksters embark on a road trip adventure to pay their last respects to their musical hero. DIR Alonso Ruizpalacios. SCR Alonso Ruizpalacios & Gibrán Portela. CAST Tenoch Huerta, Sebastián Aguirre, Ilse Salas, Leonardo Ortizgris. Mexico.
RUN - This West African mystic fable follows a young man's trajectory from rainmaker-in-training to fugitive political assassin. DIR Philippe Lacôte. SCR Philippe Lacôte. CAST Abdoul Karim Konaté, Isaach de Bankolé, Reine Sali Coulibaly. Ivory Coast, France.
SELF MADE (BOREG) - When two young women - one Palestinian and one Israeli - cross paths at a border checkpoint, they experience a magical identity exchange. DIR Shira Geffen. SCR Shira Geffen. CAST Sarah Adler, Samira Saraya. Israel.
THE TRIBE (PLEMYA) - This daring film, acted entirely in sign language without the aid of subtitles or voiceover, follows a new student at a corrupt Ukrainian school for the deaf. DIR Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. SCR Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. CAST Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova. Ukraine.
VIKTORIA - Young Viktoria, born without an umbilical cord, is exalted as Bulgaria's "Child of the Future." But when the Communist Party falls, she faces a crisis. DIR Maya Vitkova. SCR Maya Vitkova. CAST Irmena Chichikova, Daria Vitkova, Kalina Vitkova, Mariana Krumova, Dimo Dimov, Georgi Spasov. Bulgaria.
VIOLET - In this visually stunning debut, teen Jesse must readjust to the world and cope with grief after witnessing his friend's murder at a local shopping mall. DIR Bas Devos. SCR Bas Devos. CAST César De Sutter, Raf Walschaerts, Mira Helmer, Brent Minne. Netherlands, Belgium. North American Premiere.
THE WONDERS (LE MERAVIGLIE) - When a television competition comes to the Italian countryside, farmer's daughter Gelsomina sees a way to assert her independence in this mesmerizing tale. DIR Alice Rohrwacher. SCR Alice Rohrwacher. CAST Alexandra Lungu, Sam Louwyck, Alba Rohrwacher, Sabine Timoteo, Monica Bellucci. Italy, Switzerland, Germany.
SHORTS SELECTIONS (45 titles)
8 BULLETS (8 BALLES) - A grief-stricken expat hunts the man he believes is responsible for killing his family in this mixed-media fever dream. DIR Frank Ternier. SCR Frank Ternier. France.
130919 • A PORTRAIT OF MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ - This one-take 3D film majestically documents legendary performance artist Marina Abramović in a manner befitting her art. DIR Matthu Placek. SCR Matthu Placek. CAST Marina Abramović. USA.
AFRONAUTS - Inspired by true events, It's July 16, 1969: America is preparing to launch Apollo 11. Thousands of miles away, the Zambia Space Academy hopes to beat them to the moon. DIR Frances Bodomo. SCR Frances Bodomo. CAST Diandra Forrest, Yolonda Ross, Hoji Fortuna. USA.
BATH HOUSE (SIMHALL) - The mice are going after the bath house safe in this droll stop-motion puppet short. DIR Niki Lindroth von Bahr. SCR Niki Lindroth von Bahr & Jerker Virdborg. Sweden.
BUFFALO JUGGALOS - There is a secret land in upstate New York, where the Juggalos roam free... DIR Scott Cummings. SCR Scott Cummings. USA.
THE CHAPERONE 3D - More than 10,000 drawings intersect with a series of animation techniques to tell the true story of a lone teacher's stand against a motorcycle gang in the 1970s. DIR Fraser Munden. SCR Fraser Munden & Neil Rathbone. CAST Ralph Whims, Stefan Czernatowicz. Canada.
CHILDREN'S SONG - Children sing a song. DIR David O'Reilly. USA.
THE CUT (LA COUPE) - A father and daughter fluctuate between proximity and detachment during the course a haircut. DIR Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. SCR Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. CAST Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau, Alain Houle. Canada.
DAY 40 - Sinister forces take hold in the untold sordid story of what really happened on Noah's Ark. DIR Sol Friedman. SCR Evan Morgan. CAST John Boylan, Rowie Spodek. Canada.
THE DIGGERS - These are the grave diggers. This is their day. DIR Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck. USA.
THE DRAGON IS THE FRAME - This experimental detective film explores the enigma of depression and its subtle interplay between presence and absence. DIR Mary Helena Clark. USA.
EXCHANGE AND MART - An unorthodox self-defense class at a remote Scottish boarding school yields unusual results. DIR Cara Connolly & Martin Clark. SCR Cara Connolly. CAST Ewen Bremner, Grace Chilton. United Kingdom.
FUNNEL - A man's car breaks down and sends him on a quest across town that slowly turns into the most fantastically mundane adventure. DIR Andre Hyland. SCR Andre Hyland.
CAST Andre Hyland. USA.
GARY HAS AN AIDS SCARE - Gary might have a bit of a problem... DIR Joe Callander. USA.
HACKED CIRCUIT - This circular study of the Foley process portrays sound artists at work constructing complex layers of fabrication and imposition. DIR Deborah Stratman. USA.
THE HAIRCUT - In 1976, Amy defies expectations and joins the first class of female cadets accepted for military service. She'll have to prove to all that she has what it takes. DIR Alexis O. Korycinski. SCR Julia Cox. CAST Bailey Noble, Molly Quinn, David Starzyk, Walter Fauntleroy, Chad Michael Collins. USA.
HAZE - A well-intentioned young man struggles to explain last night. DIR Chloe Domont. SCR Chloe Domont. CAST Casey Drogin, Hannah Gross. USA.
HERE I AM...THERE YOU ARE... - When a married couple's foreplay veers into domination, reality is stronger than the imagination. DIR Dikla Jika Elkaslassy. SCR Dikla Jika Elkaslassy. CAST Ohad Knoller. Israel.
HOLE - A fearless portrait of a disabled man in search of intimacy. DIR Martin Edralin. SCR Martin Edralin. CAST Ken Harrower, Sebastian Deery, April Lee. Canada.
HUMAN VOICE (VOCE UMANA) - Sophia Loren stars in this spirited adaptation of Jean Cocteau's one-woman play. DIR Edoardo Ponti. SCR Erri De Luca & Edoardo Ponti. CAST Sophia Loren, Virginia Da Brescia, Enrico LoVerso. Italy.
LIGHT - After suffering a devastating loss, a Lebanese man is challenged by a mother's request. DIR Yassmina Karajah. SCR Yassmina Karajah. CAST Ahmed Muslimani, Soad Karim, Timothy J O'Leary. Canada, Lebanon.
MAN ON THE CHAIR (L'HOMME SUR SA CHAISE) - Does the man on the chair exist? DIR Dahee Jeong. SCR Dahee Jeong. France, South Korea.
MASTER MUSCLES - Veronica and Efren take an explosive road trip through a strange America. DIR Efrén Hernández. SCR Efrén Hernández. CAST Jehina Malik, Efrén Hernández. USA.
MI NINA MI VIDA - The bustling crowds and noisy rides of the amusement park won't be enough to make Jack smile today. DIR Yan Giroux. SCR Yan Giroux. CAST Joël Henriques. Canada.
MIGRATION - Observe the migration patterns of a most unusual herd. DIR Fluorescent Hill. SCR Mark Lomond. Canada.
NDA - Man enacts legal fantasy. DIR David O'Reilly. USA.
THE OBVIOUS CHILD - Somebody broke the girl's parents. The rabbit was there when it happened. It was an awful mess. DIR Stephen Irwin. SCR Stephen Irwin. CAST Ron Masa. United Kingdom.
ONE YEAR LEASE - Brian and Thomas document one year's worth of their communication from their landlady, who has an itchy speed-dial finger and much to say. DIR Brian Bolster.
CAST Brian Bolster, Thomas Harrington. USA.
PERSON TO PERSON - A stranger passed out on his floor after last night's party. Now she won't leave. At least it will make a good story. DIR Dustin Guy Defa. SCR Dustin Guy Defa. CAST Bene Coopersmith, Deragh Campbell. USA.
THE PRESENT - An Eastern ghost story with haunting implications. DIR Joe Hsieh. SCR Joe Hsieh & Ching-Chwang Ho. CAST Yu-Jane Liu, Pi-Li Yeh, Ming-Shiou Tsai. Taiwan.
RABBITLAND - Those brainless rabbits are completely fulfilled. Why should their votes matter? DIR Ana Nedeljkovic & Nikola Majdak Jr. SCR Ana Nedeljkovic. CAST Masa Mileusnic. Serbia.
RAT PACK RAT - Even Sammy Davis Jr. impersonators have it tough. DIR Todd Rohal. SCR Todd Rohal. CAST Steve Little, Eddie Rouse, Margie Beegle. USA.
SEND - The Internet can be a dangerous place for teenage girls. DIR Peter Vack. SCR Peter Vack. CAST Julia Garner, Jake Cannavale. USA.
SHIPWRECK - A tour de force rumination on the terrible tragedy that befell a boat carrying 500 Ethiopian refugees on October 3, 2013. DIR Morgan Knibbe. SCR Morgan Knibbe. Netherlands.
SILENT - A magical contraption brings the history of the movies to life! DIR Brandon Oldenburg & Limbert Fabian. SCR Limbert Fabian & Brandon Oldenburg. USA.
SLAP - A teenage boxer comes to terms with his true self. DIR Nick Rowland. CAST Joe Cole, Elliott Tittensor, Skye Lourie, Stephen Bent. United Kingdom.
SLEEPING GIANT - The chaotic nature of boys is captured in this lyrical coming-of-age journey. DIR Andrew Cividino. SCR Andrew Cividino. CAST Isaac Wiebe, Nick Serino, Reece Moffett, Zoey Sawdo. Canada.
SLUT - A young girl with love in her heart unwittingly attracts the attention of a murderous sociopath. DIR Chloe Okuno. SCR Chloe Okuno. CAST Molly McIntyre, James Gallo, Sally Kirkland, Kasia Pilewicz, Cody Beverstock. USA.
SOUND THAT - A few minutes spent looking for leaks in the infrastructure with the employees of the Cleveland Water Department. DIR Kevin Jerome Everson. SCR Kevin Jerome Everson. CAST Kaulee Miller, Mark Pottinger, Terrance Martin. USA.
WASHINGTONIA - The Washingtonia is the only palm tree whose heart is not devoured by the red beetle, because its heart is small and dry and no one likes small, dry hearts. DIR Konstantina Kotzamani. SCR Konstantina Kotzamani. CAST Mamadu Dialo. Greece.
WHITE MORNING - The violent little boys become violent little men. DIR Paul Barritt. SCR Paul Barritt. United Kingdom
WRONG NUMBER - Girl can't throw up. DIR David O'Reilly. USA.
YEARBOOK - A man is hired to compile the definitive history of human existence before Earth blows up. DIR Bernardo Britto. SCR Bernardo Britto. USA.
YES WE LOVE (JA VI ELSKER) - Four generations, each in crisis on Norwegian Independence Day. DIR Hallvar Witzø. SCR Hallvar Witzø. CAST Edvard Hægstad, Terje Ranes, Hanne Skille Reitan, Johan Fredrik Bergflødt-Johannessen. Norway.
YOUNG LIONS OF GYPSY (A CIAMBRA) - Over the course of one long night, a young Romani boy grows up. DIR Jonas Carpignano. SCR Jonas Carpignano. Italy, France.
AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS (8 titles)
10,000 KM - Alexandra and Sergi's deeply passionate relationship is tested when it becomes long distance, with computer technology their only medium for communication. DIR Carlos Marques-Marcet. SCR Clara Roquet & Carlos Marques-Marcet. CAST Natalia Tena, David Verdaguer. Spain, USA.
BUZZARD - Slacker temp-worker Marty goes into hiding following a slew of self-designed scams in this acidic dark comedy from AFI FEST alum Joel Potrykus. DIR Joel Potrykus. SCR Joel Potrykus. CAST Joshua Burge, Joel Potrykus. USA.
FAULTS - A washed-up expert on mind control accepts an offer to kidnap a young woman from a cult in this assured indie thriller. DIR Riley Stearns. SCR Riley Stearns. CAST Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis, Lance Reddick, John Gries. USA.
FELT - Amy, haunted by a recent trauma, plunges into the world of her art to create an alter ego as a coping mechanism. DIR Jason Banker. SCR Jason Banker & Amy Everson. CAST Amy Everson, Kentucker Audley, Roxanne Knouse, Alanna Reynolds. USA.
HAPPY VALLEY - The Penn State child sex-abuse scandal, and subsequent downfall of local heroes Joe Paterno and Jerry Sandusky, is examined in this insightful documentary. DIR Amir Bar-Lev. USA.
HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT - The Safdie brothers' third narrative feature explores the lives of three heroin junkies living on the streets of New York City. DIR Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie. SCR Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie. CAST Arielle Holmes, Caleb Landry Jones, Buddy Duress, Necro. USA.
THOU WAST MILD & LOVELY - In this psychosexual drama, a young farm worker's attraction to his boss's daughter unearths dark secrets. DIR Josephine Decker. SCR Josephine Decker & David Barker. CAST Joe Swanberg, Sophie Traub, Robert Longstreet, Kristin Slaysman, Geoff Marslett. USA.
THE VANQUISHING OF THE WITCH BABA YAGA - This essay film finds a fertile metaphor for Eastern Europe's changing relationship with the natural world in the Slavic folktale of witch Baba Yaga. DIR Jessica Oreck. SCR Jessica Oreck. USA, Ukraine, Russia, Poland.