The Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival is back for another hot summertime festival. From August 15th – 30th, 453 artists from over 50 countries will screen their captivating films at our stunning venues in both San Jose and Mountain View, California. This exciting lineup features 82 highly anticipated World and US premieres—many of which were directed and produced by women and/or members of the Asian, Black, Indian, LatinX, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Known as the festival where art meets technology, Cinequest’s 2023 films and live events embody the best of Silicon Valley innovation and creativity.
FEATURE FILMS: WORLD PREMIERES
11.11.18 | Drama, Fantasy | On November 11, 1918, somewhere on the Western Front, a German pilot barely survives a crash near a trench. He will need to hide his identity in order to find his way back to his camp, but his enemies are starting to suspect something. | Country: Belgium | Director(s): Antoine Sauwen, Django Schrevens Da Silva | Producer(s): Django Schrevens, Antoine Sauwen, Yvain De Ryck, Sé bastien Plazaneix, Martin De Waziers | Principal Cast: Fabian Schoog, Oumar Diolo, Samuel Van Der Swalmen, Arthur Marbaix, Alexandre Hérault | World Premiere
Bibi | Thriller | A taut and haunting thriller in which a mother and daughter live in a secluded mansion that is hiding a terrible secret. Can they escape their past? | Country: United States | Director(s): Christopher Beatty | Producer(s): Glen Trotiner, Christopher Beatty, Logan Hunter, Eddie Micallef | Principal Cast: Elizabeth Paige, Judith Ann Diminni, Tammy Blanchard, Rick Zahn, Juliana Davies, Rowan Castro, Nathan Faudre, Logan Hunter, Neddy Rossi, Brentton Reynolds | World Premiere
B-Side: For Taylor | Drama | Taylor, a 14-year-old adoptee, has secretly grown obsessed with finding her birth family in Korea and embarks on a journey of discovery and unforeseen truths. | Country: United States | Director(s): Christina YR Lim | Producer(s): Xin Li, David Liu | Principal Cast: Jeannine Vargas, Esther Moon, Dave Huber, Jacky Jung, Teddy Lee, James Kang | World Premiere
Breakwater | Thriller | A young ex-con risks his freedom to track down the estranged daughter of a fellow inmate, and unknowingly brings a devil from her past straight to her doorstep. | Country: United States | Director(s): James Rowe | Producer(s): Matt Paul, Larry Hummel, Dana Lustig, Edward Winters | Principal Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Darren Mann, Alyssa Goss, Sonja Sohn, Mena Suvari | World Premiere
Daddy | Comedy, Sci-Fi | A wonderful and heartfelt comedy that takes place in a dystopian society where the state has the power to determine who can and cannot father children. | Country: United States | Director(s): Neal Kelley, Jono Sherman | Producer(s): Sophia Kalin, Neal Kelley, Jono Sherman, Albee Zhang | Principal Cast: Neal Kelley, Pomme Koch, Yuriy Sardarov, Jono Sherman, Jacqueline Toboni | World Premiere
Egghead & Twinkie | Comedy | 17-year-old Twinkie takes off on a roadtrip to meet her online crush with the help of her nerdy best friend, Egghead. As they make their way across the country, Egghead wrestles with his unrequited feelings for Twinkie, while Twinkie learns to embrace her identity as a gay mixed-Asian woman. | Country: United States | Director(s): Sarah Kambe Holland | Producer(s): Danielle Fountaine, Sarah Kambe Holland, Valerie Starks | Principal Cast: Sabrina Jie-A-Fa, Louis Tomeo, Asahi Hirano, Ayden Lee | World Premiere
Every Man For Himself | Crime Drama | A reformed ex-convict with a debt to repay picks up his former cellmate from prison and drives him wherever he wants to go. As they travel the desolate landscape, both men seek redemption and a second chance. | Country: United States | Director(s): Gary Gardner | Producer(s): Gary Gardner, Suzanne Lenz, Mónica-Tezla Solís Vega-Görsün, Hillary Cutter, Jason Shahinfar, Anuj Gupta | Principal Cast: Daniel Sharman, Nicholas Logan, Suzanne Lenz | World Premiere
Fallen Drive | Thriller | In a small town, a group of former classmates gather at an Airbnb on the night of their 10-year high school reunion, and things take a dark and violent turn. | Country: United States | Director(s): Nick Cassidy, David Rice | Producer(s): Nick Cassidy | Principal Cast: Jakki Jandrell, Phillip Andre Botello, Donald Clark Jr., Nick Cassidy, Josh Thrower, Maryana Dvorska | World Premiere
Garden City, Kansas | Documentary | On the High Plains of Southwest Kansas, a thriving community sustained for decades by waves of immigrants becomes the target of white nationalists intent on killing the latest arrivals: Muslims. | Country: United States | Director(s): Bob Hurst | Producer(s): Tess Banion | Principal Cast: Hector Martinez, Amy Longa, Dan Day, Peter Ramirez | World Premiere
Going Places | Thriller, Comedy, Drama | After covering up a hit-and-run on the way to their valedictory desert trip, three high school graduates face the true test of their friendship when they become entangled in a deadly crime ring imbroglio. | Country: United States | Director(s): Max Chernov | Producer(s): Greg Silverman, Charles Rapp, Giuliano Musacchio, Max Chernov | Principal Cast: Ethan Cutkosky, Chloe East, Spence Moore II, Alysia Reiner, Miranda Rae Mayo, Mimi Kennedy | World Premiere
How to Ruin the Holidays | Comedy | A hilarious comedy following the craziness that ensues when families gather for the holidays. | Country: United States | Director(s): Arlen Konopaki | Producer(s): Kevin Gillese | Principal Cast: Amber Nash ( “Archer”), Colin Mochrie (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”), Luke Davis (“ That Was Awesome!”), Kate Lambert, Aisha Tyler, Ronny Chieng, Henry Zebrowski | World Premiere
Last Weekend | Drama | An electric one-night-stand between Sylvia and Ethan is quickly derailed by a psychotic and possessive ex-lover who provokes the young couple to pursue a regrettable act of vengeance. | Country: United States | Director(s): Curtis Anthony Williams-Foshee | Producer(s): Kyle Vannoy | Principal Cast: Virginia Rand, Charlie Barnett, Hunter Morton, Cheryl Burns, Szoone Bonero, Ashley Smith | World Premiere
No Right Way | Drama, Comedy | A young woman’s attempts to spare her 13-year-old half-sister from toxic parenting propels her into an absurd custody battle, forcing her to confront her own past traumas. | Country: United States | Director(s): Chelsea Bo | Producer(s): Sean Drummond, Vivian Miranda | Principal Cast: Ava Acres, Chelsea Bo, Eliza Coupe, Sufe Bradshaw | World Premiere
O Pioneer | Documentary | O Pioneer poetically reckons with and redefines the American pioneer. As a blacksmith forges connections, a seamstress hems raw edges, and a hospital chaplain ministers the spirit, three Appalachians endure without repeating the follies of the past. | Country: United States | Director(s): Clara Lehmann, Jonathan Lacocque | Producer(s): Clara Lehmann, Jonathan Lacocque, Grace Lawson | Principal Cast: | Kaï a Kater, Nellie Rose Gundersen Davis, Tim Hibbs, James Morley | World Premiere
Paul & Trisha : The Art of Fluidity | Documentary | A documentary examining the colorful life of well-known 77-year-old trans British artists Paul Whitehead and his alter ego Trisha van Cleef as they navigate gender and artistic fluidity as two artists in one body. | Country: United States | Director(s): Fia Perera | Producer(s): Fia Perera, Adam Fisk | Principal Cast: Paul Whitehead, Trisha van Cleef | World Premiere
Privacy | Thriller, Mystery | A social thriller set in and out of Mumbai slums that follows the story of Roopali, an operator at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center. Things get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and investigates a robbery-murder that takes place on her watch. | Country: India | Director(s): Sudeep Kanwal | Producer(s): Shlok Sharma, Navin Shetty, Lalit Prem Sharma | Principal Cast: Rajshri Deshpande, Nishank Verma, Sandesh Kulkarni, Saurabh Goyal, Chhaya Kadam | World Premiere
Share? | Sci-Fi | A man struggles to survive after awakening alone in a society connected only by a primitive computer network, where the ability to entertain is the only currency. | Country: United States | Director(s): Ira Rosensweig | Producer(s): Carissa Buffel, Kevin Matusow, Ira Rosensweig | Principal Cast: Melvin Gregg, ( “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Bradley Whitford (“Get Out,” “The West Wing”), Alice Braga (“ Suicide Squad”), Danielle Campbell (“Tell Me a Story”) | World Premiere
Swarm | Drama, Thriller | A spellbinding thriller of family conflict and longing for freedom on a remote island. | Country: Poland | Director(s): Bartek Bala | Producer(s): Łukasz Sió dmok, Bartek Bala, Tomasz Langner | Principal Cast: Roma Gąsiorowska, Eryk Lubos, Adam Wojciechowski, Tosia Litwiniak | World Premiere
There’s No Rain in Hell | Drama | A city stands after the apocalypse, no location, no time. When the war starts, all hell breaks loose and only eight people survive—each protecting something which represents a strand of life in a place where there is no sight of existence. | Country: Iran | Director(s): Zahra Shahhatami | Producer(s): Ali Shahhatami | Principal Cast: Nader Fallah, Alireza Kamali, Pantea Cyrus, Erfan Ebrahimi, Aram Khadem, Alireza Mehran, Iliya Dehghan, Fatemeh Mortazi, Esmaeel Khalaj | World Premiere
Tomorrow | Fantasy, Drama | A bright young girl struggles to find her way home when she starts inexplicably waking up in a different body every day. | Country: United States | Director(s): Kellen Gibbs | Producer(s): Donald Nguyen, Kellen Gibbs, Kurtis Anton | Principal Cast: Charity Rose, Julia Parker, Richard Neil, Zachary Ray Sherman, Arthur Roberts, Tessa Espinola, Diego Medellin, Jane Edwina Seymour, Jordan Knapp, Kally Khourshid, Anna Telfer, Brandon Knabe | World Premiere
Valley of Exile | Drama | Two sisters arrive in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley at the onset of the Syrian war, embarking on a journey into exile that tests their loyalty to their country, family, and each other. | Country: Canada, Lebanon | Director(s): Anna Fahr | Producer(s): Anna Fahr, Lara Abou Saifan | Principal Cast: Maria Hassan, Hala Hosni, Michel Hourany, Najwa Kondakji, Joy Hallak, Sajed Amer | World Premiere
Wintertide | Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama | Beth, a volunteer watch-person of an isolated northern city, battles a plague that transforms the city’s few remaining residents into zombie-like automatons. She discovers that by entering an alternate dimension through her own dreams, she’s able to stave off the illness during the possibly endless winter. But will her power be enough to sustain her? | Country: Canada | Director(s): John Barnard | Producer(s): Tony Wosk, John Barnard | Principal Cast: Niamh Carolan, Solange Sookram, Jeremy Walmsley | World Premiere
FEATURE FILMS: US PREMIERES
Brothers Broken | Documentary | The story of two baby boomer musical brothers who grew up in San Jose, California, had a hit record, and joined Scientology. It destroyed their band and separated the brothers for 28 years. This is a tale about second chances and awakening. | Country: United States | Director(s): Geoff Levin, Lily Richards | Producer(s): Leslie Bates, Geoff Levin | Principal Cast: Robbie Levin, Geoff Levin, Mike Rinder, Tony Ortega, Rick Springfield, John Tristao, Dennis Fridkin, Gene Mason | United States Premiere
Carnifex | Thriller, Horror | As Australia recovers from unprecedented bushfires, Bailey, an aspiring documentarian joins conservationists Grace and Ben as they travel deep into the Australian outback to track and record animals in the aftermath of the fires. As night falls, the well-equipped trio discover a new terrifying species, which begins hunting them. | Country: Australia | Director(s): Sean Lahiff | Producer(s): Helen Leake, Gena Helen Ashwell | Principal Cast: Alexandra Park, Sisi Stringer, Harry Greenwood | United States Premiere
Catching The Pirate King | Documentary | A deep dive into the most incredible yet true story of modern day pirates. This story looks into the fate of the Belgian ship, The Pompei, and the dedicated team who did everything they could to free the 10-man crew. | Country: Belgium | Director(s): Lennart Stuyck, Maarten Stuyck | Producer(s): Maarten Bernaerts, Bram Conjaerts, Barbara Dyck | Principal Cast: Documentary subjects | United States Premiere
A Cautionary Tale | Documentary | A man fights a lone, harrowing battle against a Kafkaesque system that refuses to recognize he’s alive—and the story behind the story is much more than anyone could have imagined. | Country: United Kingdom | Director(s): Ilinca Calugareanu | Producer(s): Mara Adina, Anamaria Antoci | Principal Cast: Constantin Reliu, Ilinca Calugareanu, Jonathan Stanners, Aurica Constantin, Cristian Calinita, Ermina Teodorescu, Cornel Teodorescu | United States Premiere
Deadlock | Drama | Two married couples from opposite social classes who seem to have nothing in common are brought together by momentous events that will bind them for the rest of their lives. | Country: Slovenia | Director(s): Vinko Mö derndorfer | Producer(s): Eva Rohrman | Principal Cast: Mirjam Korbar, Peter Musevski, Uroš Fürst, Barbara Cerar | United States Premiere
Hope, Soledad | Drama | In Oaxaca, Mexico, Hope, a college student seeking a sense of self in her mother’s land after being displaced from the US, meets Soledad, a woman struggling to free herself from the ghost of her deceased lover and end her marriage. Together, they walk in communion with local pilgrims to ease their suffering. | Country: Mexico | Director(s): Yolanda Cruz | Producer(s): Luis Fernando Guizar, Yolan- da Cruz | Principal Cast: Frida Cruz, Karen Daneida | United States Premiere
The Gigantes | Drama | Drowning in debt, JJ, a young woman from the US, escapes from Los Angeles to Baja in search of an old lover. She never planned to have a 14-year-old Mexican teenager change the direction of her trip, as well as her path in life. | Country: Mexico | Director(s): Beatriz Sanchis | Producer(s): Inna Payan, Luis Salinas, Nicole Maynard, Rogelio Coyotl | Principal Cast: Samantha Smith, Andrea Sutton, Regina Orozco, Pedro de Tavira, Krystian Ferrer | United States Premiere
Kaymak | Drama, Comedy | A rich young couple are on top of the world when a distant relative comes to live with them. Meanwhile, the neighbors below are feeling left behind when the husband starts an affair. Director(s): Milcho Manchevski | Producer(s): Jane Kortoshev | Principal Cast: Sara Klimoska, Kamka Tocinovski, Aleksandar Mikic, Simona Spirovska, Ana Stojanovska, Filip Trajkovikj | United States Premiere
Midnight At the Paradise | Drama, Romance | In one evening, three couples at various stages of their relationships come to appreciate that all marriages require equal doses of delusion, forgiveness, laughter, hope, and sexual chemistry in this magical romantic drama. | Country: Canada | Director(s): Vanessa Matsui | Producer(s): Bill Robertson | Principal Cast: Liane Balaban, Allan Hawco, Kenneth Welsh, Ryan Allen, Emma Ferreira, Kate Trotter | United States Premiere
Mother | Drama | Facing a choice between conceiving via in-vitro with her husband and adapting her life-transforming theater program for orphans in Africa, Elena will reinvent the word “ mother.” Inspired by a true story. | Country: Bulgaria | Director(s): Zornitsa Sophia | Producer(s): Zornitsa Sophia Popgantcheva | Principal Cast: Daria Simeonova, Leon Lucev, Peris Wambui, Steve Matias, Daria Dimitrova, Lamar Munene | United States Premiere
New Normal | Comedy, Thriller | Seoul 2022: Six people’s lives intersect in unexpected and ominous ways over the course of four days, as they each face danger, chaos, love, and…something else. | Country: Republic of Korea | Director(s): JUNG Bum-shik | Producer(s): PARK Min-woo, CHOI Jin | Principal Cast: CHOI Ji-woo, LEE Yu-mi, CHOI Min-ho, PYO Ji-hoon, JEONG Dong-won, HA Da-in | United States Premiere
On The Line | Thriller | Alderney, 1964. Agnes, a 24-year-old who works alone as a switchboard operator, uses her powers of deduction and local knowledge to help the police track an abduction. But things take a turn for the worse when she realizes everything is not as it seems. | Country: United Kingdom | Director(s): Oliver Pearn | Producer(s): Oliver Pearn | Principal Cast: Victoria Lucie, Royce Pierreson, Harriet Walter, Joanne Rogers | United States Premiere
Red Shoes | Drama | An old peasant’s life passes slowly in a lost town in the Mexican mountains until he receives news from the capital, prompting him to face a brutal and unknown world in search of redemption. | Country: Mexico | Director(s): Carlos Eichelmann Kaiser | Producer(s): Gabriela Maldonado, Paolo Ansaldi, Alejandro De Icaza, Maria Pia Billi | Principal Cast: Eustacio Arcaico, Natalia Solián, Panie Molina | United States Premiere
Scent of Linden | Comedy | Stefan moves into the Bulgarian enclave in suburban Tennessee where comical rivalries, suspicions, and hijinks conspire to come between him and his American Dream. | Country: United States | Director(s): Sissy Denkova | Producer(s): Sissy Denkova, Megan Kay Jordan | Principal Cast: Ivan Barnev, Albena Koleva, Toncho Tokmakchiev, Yoana Bukovska-Davidova, Maria Bobeva, Albena Mihova | United States Premiere
Scrap | Drama | The engrossing story of a young single-mom who, after getting laid off, finds herself living in her car and struggling to hide her homelessness from her estranged brother and his wife. | Country: United States | Director(s): Vivian Kerr | Producer(s): Vivian Kerr, Rachel Stander | Principal Cast: Vivian Kerr (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds”), Anthony Rapp, ( “Rent,” “Star Trek: Discovery”), Lana Parrilla (“Once Upon a Time”), Beth Dover, Khleo Thomas | United States Premiere
Tabula Rasa | Drama | In India, a juvenile home warden and an actor struggling to create art meet a 14-year-old girl with a dark past. Together, these three lost souls create a home away from home. | Country: India | Director(s): Nawneet Ranjan | Producer(s): Malti Lal, Radha Raman Lal, Nawneet Ranjan, Anil Somaia, Zarna Somaia, Donna Laemmlen | Principal Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Swastika Mukherjee, Aishani Yadav | United States Premiere
Till Love Do Us Part | Drama | During a work trip to Prague, 30-year-old college lecturer Shu falls madly in love with a theater director, despite the fact that she has a fiancé to marry and a decent middle-class life in China. | Director(s): Ran Li | Producer(s): Ran Li, Michal Sikora | Principal Cast: Liang Cuishan, Zhang Ninghao, Ren Bin | United States Premiere
Welcome to the Family | Comedy, Romance | Leonid Ivanovich is a criminal mastermind who only loves two things in the world: his daughter Mira and being the “ Godfather.” Sasha falls in love at first sight with Mia, knowing nothing about her family. Now, Sasha has to try not to lose his hand and heart before the wedding. | Country: Belarus | Director(s): Vladimir Zinkevich | Producer(s): Vladimir Zinkevich, Olga Kornilova, Pavel Dyatko, Hanna Lebedeva | Principal Cast: Vladimir Sychev, Svetlana Kamynina, Peter Buslov, Kristina Stroiteleva, Vyacheslav Morozov, Rostislav Bershauer, Alexei Maslodudov, Yulia Topolnitskaya, Tornike Kvitatiani, Sergey Ivanyuk, Dmitriy Krasilov | United States Premiere
FEATURE FILMS: HIGH PROFILE NOTABLES
7000 Miles | Drama | A passionate pilot is challenged by her grandmother to live life on her own terms, but finds herself at a crossroads when that could mean revealing her grandmother’s long-buried secrets. | Country: Belarus | Director(s): Amy Glazer | Producer(s): Deborah Glazier, Alixzandra Rothschild, Amy Glazer, Wendie Malick, Sterling Watson, Owen Seidel, Raymond Wood, Linda Rothschild, Jen Prince, Jhennifer Webberley | Principal Cast: Wendie Malick, ( “Just Shoot Me,” “Hot in Cleveland”), Alixzandra Dove, Juliet Mills, Maxwell Caulfield, Ray Abruzzo, Laird Akeo
Abruptio | Sci-Fi, Horror | The story of Les Hackel, a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. He must carry out heinous crimes in order to stay alive while trying to identify the mastermind manipulating the now twisted and strange world around him. | Country: United States | Director(s): Evan Marlowe | Producer(s): Kerry Marlowe | Principal Cast: James Marsters ( “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”), Hana Mae Lee, Robert Englund (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”), Sid Haig (“House of 1000 Corpses”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out” ), Christopher McDonald (“Thelma and Louise”), Darren Darnborough, Rich Fulcher
The Adults | Drama, Comedy | Eric returns home for a short visit but finds himself caught between reuniting with his sisters and chasing a victory with his old poker group. As the trip extends, the carefully constructed façade of his adulthood gives way to old childhood conflicts. | Director(s): Dustin Guy Defa | Producer(s): Allison Rose Carter, Jon Read, Michael Cera, Julia Thompson, Hannah Dweck, Theodore Schaefer | Principal Cast: Michael Cera (“Juno, ” “Superbad”), Hannah Gross (“Joker,” “Mindhunter”), Sophia Lillis ( “It,” “Dungeons and Dragons”)
Amerikatsi | Drama | Charlie has lived in America most of his life, but when he tries to repatriate back to Armenia, he’s greeted with the harsh reality of 1947 Soviet Communism and is thrown in prison. He eventually discovers a hole in a prison wall through which he can see into a nearby apartment building, and that’s when his world begins to open again…and change. | Country: Armenia | Director(s): Michael Goorjian | Producer(s): Patrick Malkassian, Sol Tryon, Arman Nshanian | Principal Cast: Michael Goorjian, Hovik Keuchkerian, Nelli Uvarova, Mikhail Trukhin, Narine Gigoryan
Beyond | Documentary | Tamara Mark, a once rising Broadway and Hollywood star, is a full-time single mother of two nonverbal autistic adults. She fights for her dream of building a safe and supportive community for all those like her children. | Country: United States | Director(s): Thiago Dadalt | Producer(s): Dru Miller, Bruna Nogueira, Damaris Pinheiro | Principal Cast: Tamara Mark, Ian and Harry, Marc Olsen
Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids | Documentary | The unbelievable but true story of the toy craze that started it all, and its legacy of chaos that put the wheels of modern-day Black Friday shopping riots into motion. | Country: United States | Director(s): Andrew Jenks (“ Dream/Killer,” “World of Jenks”) | Producer(s): Dan Goodman, Brian Hunt | Narrated by Neil Patrick Harris (“A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Gone Girl”)
Bobcat Moretti | Drama | A powerful psychological “Rocky” meets “My Left Foot” drama about an obese Multiple Sclerosis patient who takes up his late father’s sport of boxing to overcome immense personal tragedy and find inner peace. | Country: United States | Director(s): Rob Margolies | Producer(s): Rob Margolies, Vivica A. Fox, Taryn Manning | Principal Cast: Tim Realbuto (“Yes,” “The Sopranos” ), Vivica A. Fox (“Kill Bill,” “Soul Food”), Taryn Manning (“Orange is the New Black,” “Hustle and Flow”), Sally Kirkland (“Anna”), Matt Peters (“ Weeds”), Louis Mustillo, Matt McCoy, Mindy Sterling, Sheria Irving, Carl McDowell, Jayden Rey, Jay Hieron, Coolio
Bolan’s Shoes | Drama | A tumultuous journey from the height of T. Rex mania in 1970s Liverpool to the present-day poignancy of what would have been Marc Bolan’s 75th birthday. It captures the heady exhilaration of glam rock mania through the experiences of a group of over-excited kids from a local children’s home before a devastating road accident changes their lives forever. | Country: United Kingdom | Director(s): Ian Puleston-Davies | Producer(s): Terri Dwyer, Dean Fisher | Principal Cast: Timothy Spall ( “Harry Potter”), Leanne Best (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), Mark Lewis Jones (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”)
Call Me Mule | A nomadic man embarks on an arduous 500-mile journey with three mules to deliver a message to the Governor of California. A powerful observational documentary on the nomadic lifestyle of the American West. | Country: United States | Director(s): John McDonald, Nina Schwanse | Producer(s): John McDonald | Principal Cast: John Sears
Danny Goes Aum | Drama, Romance | The spiritual and emotional journey of burned-out British video editor Danny, as he travels to the same beach town in Goa, India where his parents met during the 70s heydays of hippiedom. There, he finds inspiration…and perhaps love. | Country: India | Director(s): Sandeep Mohan | Producer(s): Sandeep Mohan | Principal Cast: Andrew Sloman, Anjali Patil, Marianne Borgo, Avinash Kuri, Eunice Wlcek
Destiny on the Main Stage | Documentary | An intimate portrait of four women trying to make ends meet while searching for themselves. Mothers, daughters, sisters, and servants of God, they navigate the complex facets of being a woman. | Country: United States | Director(s): Poppy de Villeneuve | Producer(s): Chloe Hall, Madeleine Sandersin | Principal Cast: Shelsea Milton, Tatum Dryer, Polly Wright, Monica Jackson
Double Down South | Thriller | In the dangerous high-stakes world of illegal pool gambling, Diana, a smart and tough newcomer, charms veteran Nick into taking her under his wing. They prepare to risk it all to defeat the world champion, but soon find themselves in much more danger than they ever imagined. | Country: United States | Director(s): Tom Schulman | Producer(s): Rick Wallace, Sara Sometti Michaels, Seth Michaels | Principal Cast: Lili Simmons (“Banshee,” “True Detective,” “ Ray Dono- van”), Kim Coates (“Sons of Anarchy”), Igby Rigney, Tom Bower, Justin Marcel McManus, Rebecca Lines, Cameron Cowperthwaite (“American Horror Story, “Shameless”)
East Bay | Comedy, Drama, Romance | Jack is a Korean-American man, who at age thirty-nine, decides he’s done trying to be happy and successful. Suspicious that we’re all in a simulation anyway, he lazily explores spirituality. In the process, his psyche unravels and he blows up the lives of those around him. | Director(s): Daniel Yoon | Producer(s): Daniel Yoon | Principal Cast: Constance Wu (“ Crazy Rich Asians,” “Fresh Off the Boat”), Kavi Ramachandran Ladnier, Daniel Yoon, Edmund Sim, Destry Miller, Melissa Pond, Chung-Bin Yoon, Taek-Soon Yoon, Jennifer Chang, Dougald Park
The Effects of Lying | Comedy | Dutiful husband and loving father, Naveen’s life falls apart when decades of festering secrets are exposed and he’s forced to face up to who he really is. A comedy with real heart that offers a new, urgent representation of contemporary South Asian families. | Country: United Kingdom | Director(s): Isher Sahota | Producer(s): Jon Tarcy | Principal Cast: Ace Bhatti, Laila Rouass, Lauren Patel, Navin Chowdhry, Mark Williams (“ Arthur Weasley” from The Harry Potter franchise), Shaheen Khan, Bhasker Patel, Adam Bregman
Everybody Wants To Be Loved | Comedy, Drama | Psychotherapist Ina wants to please all the self-centered people in her life, including her patients, daughter, boyfriend, and mother. But then everything changes. | Country: Germany | Director(s): Katharina Woll | Principal Cast: Anne Ratte-Polle, Lea Drinda, Ulrike Willenbacher, Urs Jucker, Jonas Hien, Hassan Akkouch
Fresh Kills | Drama | Jennifer Esposito’s filmmaking debut shines a light on the never-before-seen women of the beloved mob movie genre. | Country: United States | Director(s): Jennifer Esposito | Producer(s): Leslie Owen, Jennifer Esposito, Samantha Sprecher, Christine Crokos | Principal Cast: Emily Bader (“Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin”), Odessa A’zion (“Hellraiser ”), Jennifer Esposito (“Crash,” “Blue Bloods”), Domenick Lombardozzi (“The Irishman”), Annabella Sciorra (“The Sopranos, ” “Truth Be Told”), Nicholas Cirillo (“She-Hulk”)
Good Egg | Comedy | Jessica is a lot of things–a New York City high school drama teacher, a loving wife to her nerdy husband Gordon, and two weeks shy of turning forty. But, she’s not a mother…yet. | Country: United States | Director(s): Nicole Gomez Fisher | Producer(s): Dorottya Mathe, Yara Martinez, Nicole Gomez Fisher | Principal Cast: Yara Martinez, Joel Johnstone, Andrea Londo, Nick Cirillo, Nick Creegan, Shary Allan, Haas Manning, Priscilla Lopez
Greener Pastures | Documentary | An urgent and intimate look at America, told through the stories of farmers living at the intersection of climate change, globalization, and a mental health crisis. | Country: United States | Director(s): Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian | Producer(s): Ian Kibbe, Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian | Principal Cast: Jeff Ditzenberger, Chris Petersen, Becky Higgins, Jay Simeral, Juliette Albrecht
Gringa | Comedy, Drama | The beautiful story of a young girl, Large Marge Bickford, who after a great loss, flees to Mexico in search of the father she barely knows. | Country: United States | Director(s): EJ Foerster, Marny Eng | Producer(s): EJ Foerster, Marny Eng, Eric Hedayat, Eric Reid | Principal Cast: Steve Zahn ( “The White Lotus”), Jess Gabor (“Shameless”), Roselyn Sanchez (“Fantasy Island”), Judy Green (“Jurassic World”), Jorge A Jimenez
The Grotto | Drama, Romance | The tale of Alice, who just inherited half ownership of a desert nightclub and must take a leap of faith while forces (both seen and unseen) beckon her toward her future. | Country: United States | Director(s): Joanna Gleason (“ Into the Woods”) | Producer(s): Sean Akers, Tim Kirkman, Todd Shotz, Kelly Woyan, Laure Sudreau | Principal Cast: Betsy Brandt (“Breaking Bad”), Jonathan Del Arco, Dan Bucatinsky, Steve Kazee, Susan Sullivan, Miguel Sandoval, Caroline Aaron, Michael Nouri, Amy Aquino, Lindsay Mendez, Kevin Chamberliln
Hundreds of Beavers | Comedy | Ever wondered what it would be like if a Looney Tunes cartoon came to life? This supernatural winter epic set in the 19th century follows a drunken applejack salesman who must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers. | Country: United States | Director(s): Mike Cheslik | Producer(s): Matt Sabljak, Kurt Ravenwood | Principal Cast: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski, Wes Tank, Lu Rico
I’m Okay, We’re Okay | Drama | On a road trip with her unfaithful boyfriend, Ellie discovers she has DID (once called “ multiple personality disorder”) and that her fractured identities reveal clues about her mysterious past. | Country: United States | Director(s): Adrienne Acevedo Lovette | Producer(s): Adrienne Acevedo Lovette, John A. Rice, Elod Zoltan Filyo, Ella Jane New | Principal Cast: Adrienne Acevedo Lovette, John A. Rice, Ella Jane New, David Rey, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Gisela Chipe
The Island In Me | Documentary | Three women travel to the remote atoll of Pukapuka in the Cook Islands to reconnect with their identity in this poetic and reflective story on memory, loss, and the universal search for wholeness. | Country: United States | Director(s): Gemma Cubero del Barrio | Producer(s): Gemma Cubero del Barrio | Principal Cast: Florence Ngatokorua “ Johnny” Tiane Frisbie, Amelia Rachel Hokuleʻa Borofsky, Charles Mataa Frisbie, Nancy Schildt, Dr. Rob Borofsky, The People of Pukapuka
Know Your Place | Drama | Fifteen-year-olds Robel Haile (Eritrean-American) and Fahmi Tadesse (Ethiopian-American) set out to drop off a suitcase filled with medicine and cash to a friend traveling back to Eritrea due to a family member’s sudden illness. However, an unexpected turn transforms this simple errand into an odyssey across a rapidly gentrifying city. | Country: United States | Director(s): Zia Mohajerjasbi | Producer(s): Ty Walker, Zia Mohajerjasbi | Principal Cast: Joseph Smith, Natnael Mebrahtu, Selamawit Gebresus
Land of Gold | Drama | When truck driver Kiran hears pounding on a shipping container and finds a young Mexican-American girl inside, his already tumultuous life takes a drastic turn as he seeks to reunite her with her family. | Country: United States | Director(s): Nardeep Khurmi | Producer(s): Keertana Sastry, Pallavi Sastry, Simon Taufique, Nardeep Khurmi | Principal Cast: Nardeep Khurmi, Caroline Valencia (“Only Murders in the Building”), Pallavi Sastry, Riti Sachdeva, Iqbal Theba, Karen David ( “Barry,” “Fear the Walking Dead,”), Tina Parker (“Better Call Saul,” “Breaking Bad”)
Minnesota Mean | Documentary | A story about the pounding heart of roller derby: powerful, self-sufficient women, as they experience triumph, loss, strength, determination, and a search for balance between individuality and community. | Country: United States | Director(s): Dawn Mikkelson | Producer(s): Dawn Mikkelson | Principal Cast: Shiver Me Kimbers, Smoka Hontas, Hurtrude Stein, Brickyard, Diamond Rough, Switch Please.
Miranda’s Victim | Thriller, Drama | The riveting story behind one of the most famous civil rights cases of the past century shines powerfully with an all-star cast. | Country: United States | Director(s): Michelle Danner | Producer(s): George Kolber, Brian Drillinger, Michelle Danner, Valerie Debler, Alexandra Guarnieri | Principal Cast: Abigail Breslin ( “Little Miss Sunshine”), Ryan Phillippe (“Crash”), Luke Wilson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”), Emily VanCamp (“Revenge ”), Mireille Enos (“Lucky Hank”), Enrique Murciano (“Without a Trace”), Josh Bowman (“Revenge”), Sebastian Quinn, Brent Sexton, Taryn Manning (“ Orange Is The New Black”), Nolan Gould (“Modern Family”), Andy Garcia (“Ocean’s Eleven”), Donald Sutherland (“ The Hunger Games”)
Oliver & the Pool | Drama, Comedy, Romance | In the heart of Mexico City, a 13-year-old only child sets the urn that contains his father’s ashes next to a poolside chaise lounge, and decides he will stay right there while he mourns, learns to forgive, and falls in love. | Country: Mexico | Director(s): Arcadi Palerm-Artis | Producer(s): Milko Luis Coronel, Arcadi Palerm-Artis | Principal Cast: Monica Huarte, Alejandro Arena, Jorge Karate, Jacobo Lieberman, Cesar Troncoso, Camila Calonico
Passenger C | Drama | A quasi documentary-docudrama reconstruction of actual events as recollected by the film’s director of a mid-flight incident, the aftermath, and a surprising redemption. | Country: United States | Director(s): Cassian Elwes | Producer(s): Michael Kastenbaum, Veronica Ferres | Principal Cast: Jon Jacobs, Eric Brunei, Mary-Bonner Baker, Cheri Moon
RADIOACTIVE: The Women of Three Mile Island | Documentary | An award-winning documentary about the 1979 Three Mile Island meltdown—the worst commercial nuclear accident in US history. These are the never-before-told stories of four intrepid homemakers, the two lawyers who took the local community’s case all the way to the Supreme Court, and a young female journalist who was caught in the radioactive crossfire. | Country: United States | Director(s): Heidi Hutner | Producer(s): Heidi Hutner, Simeon Hutner, Judith Helfand | Principal Cast: Beth Drazba, Paula Kinney, Linda Braasch, Joyce Corradi, Heidi Hutner, Jane Fonda (Grace and Frankie), Aaron Datesman, Joanne Dorooshow, Lynne Bernabei
The Secret Song | Documentary | “The Secret Song” chronicles the final months of Doug Goodkin’s fabled 45-year career teaching music to children in San Francisco. Goodkin’s time-tested methods are thrown into disarray as the pandemic forces schools to implement “ distance learning,” and a music program that always prioritized singing and learning “through the ear, not through the eye” has to adapt to an online format. | Country: United States | Director(s): Samantha Campbell | Producer(s): Rachel Benson, Todd Dayton | Principal Cast: Doug Goodkin
Scrapper | Comedy, Drama | Georgie, a dreamy 12-year-old girl, happily lives alone in her London flat, filling it with magic. Suddenly, her estranged father turns up and forces her to confront reality. | Country: United Kingdom | Director(s): Charlotte Regan | Producer(s): Theo Barrowclough | Principal Cast: Harris Dickinson ( “Triangle of Sadness”), Lola Campbell, Alin Uzun, Ambreen Razia, Olivia Brady, Aylin Tezel
Shadow of the Night | Drama, Thriller | Nandhu, a wealthy film financier wanted in connection with a death for which he may be responsible, is absconding from the media and the police. Trying to get away from everything and everyone, he struggles with guilt while searching for the man responsible for it all. | Country: India | Director(s): Radhakrishnan Parthiban | Producer(s): Radhakrishnan Parthiban, Keerthana Parthiepan | Principal Cast: Radhakrishnan Parthiban, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Robo Shankar, Brigida Saga | Scored by legendary composer A.R. Rahman
Sloane, A Jazz Singer | Documentary | Legendary singer Carol Sloane prepares for one final live recording in New York City while reflecting on her storied but largely unknown career involving some of the greatest names in music, from Ella Fitzgerald to The Rolling Stones. | Country: United States | Director(s): Michael Lippert | Producer(s): Donna Campbell, Georgann Eubanks | Principal Cast: Carol Sloane (self), Mike Renzi (self), Catherine Russell (self), Stephen Barefoot (self)
Sometimes I Think About Dying | Comedy, Romance | A funny and romantic story about drawing one’s own roadmap in life. | Country: United States | Director(s): Rachel Lambert | Producer(s): Alex Saks, Daisy Ridley, Dori Rath, Lauren Beveridge, Brett Beveridge | Principal Cast: Daisy Ridley ( “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”), Dave Merheje (“Ramy”), Parvesh Cheena (“Shining Vale”), Marcia Debonis (“Orange Is The New Black”), Meg Stalter ( “Hacks”), Brittany O’Grady (“The White Lotus”)
Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows | Documentary | In this Mathieu Fournier documentary on the first viral phenomenon of the digital age, Ghyslain Raza breaks his silence and reflects on his story for the first time. In doing so, he also explores our collective experience living in an online world in which we have to make peace with our digital shadows. | Country: Canada | Director(s): Mathieu Fournier | Producer(s): Annie Bourdeau (URBANIA), Pierre-Mathieu Fortin (NFB) | Principal Cast: Ghyslain Raza (the “Star Wars Kid”)
Story Ave | Drama | A teenage graffiti artist from the South Bronx who ran away from home holds up an unwary Puerto Rican MTA conductor in a robbery gone right that will change both their lives forever. | Country: United States | Director(s): Aristotle Torres | Producer(s): Jamie Foxx ( “Django Unchained”), Lizzie Shapiro, Aristotle Torres | Principal Cast: Luis Guzmán (“Traffic,” “Boogie Nights”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”), Melvin Gregg (“Snowfall,” “Share? ”)
This is a Film About My Mother | Drama | Two siblings in upstate New York reconnect a year after their mother’s passing and find their differences are what makes them stronger together. | Country: United States | Director(s): Tess Harrison | Producer(s): Frankie Wagner, Marisol Sacramento | Principal Cast: Tess Harrison, Will Harrison
Two Lives in Pittsburgh | Drama | Confronted by his mother’s illness and his child’ s exploration of gender, a traditional blue-collar guy is torn between who he has always been and who his child needs him to be. | Country: United States | Director(s): Brian Silverman | Producer(s): Lola Noh, Brian Silverman, Tiffany Murray | Principal Cast: Brian Silverman, Annie O’Donnell, Emma Basques, Mark McClain Wilson, Casey Braxton, Sky Elobar, Delissa Reynolds, Trevi Williams, Robert John Brewer
Under The Influencer | Comedy, Drama, Romance | A successful Youtuber is aging out of the social media platform of her mid-20s and struggling to redefine herself in the world beyond her social media bubble. Country: United States | Director(s): Alex Haughey | Producer(s): Masha Ko, Kelton White, Marlaina Smith, Alex Haughey, Anna Grigorian | Principal Cast: Taylor Joree Scorse, Spencer Vaughn Kelly, Sara Young Chandler
Under Water | Comedy | In this offbeat comedy-drama, a woman and her soon-to-be ex-husband returns to her childhood home to confront her mother, an avid doomsday prepper. | Country: Netherlands | Director(s): Edgar Kapp, Kuba Szutkowski | Producer(s): Julia van de Graaff | Principal Cast: Elisa Beuger, Julia van de Graaff, Stijn Westenend, Jack Wouterse
Unpacking | Comedy | Six women, sold on the promise of radical transformation, travel to Bali into the hands of an influencer guru and get slapped with reality: change is messy AF. | Country: United States | Director(s): Alexandra Clayton, Michal Sinnott | Producer(s): Alexandra Clayton, Michal Sinnott | Principal Cast: Dania Arancha, Sam Bianchini, Katie Braden, Alexandra Clayton, Gandhi Fernando, Natalie Mitchell, Jessica Rotondi, Michal Sinnott, Stephanie Ann Whited
When We Were Shuttle | Documentary | An inspirational exploration of the Space Shuttle Program through the eyes of some of the exceptional men and women who worked behind-the-scenes to make it fly. Through their recollections and personal archives, we get to the core of the humanity behind the program, gaining a grassroots look at Shuttle’s legacy. | Country: United States | Director(s): Zachary Weil | Producer(s): Giovanna Aguilar, Eynar Pineda, Zachary Weil
The Young Arsonists | Drama | A multi-award-winning film—set in the 80s amongst the sparse landscape of an isolated farming community—that follows four restless adolescent girls as they band together to escape their troubled lives by reclaiming an abandoned farmhouse as their own. | Country: Canada | Director(s): Sheila Pye | Producer(s): Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo, Sonya Di Rienzo, Aeschylus Poulos | Principal Cast: Maddy Martin, Jenna Warren, Sadie Rose, Madison Baines
A Zebra-Riding Boy | Drama, Romance, Fantasy | Poor bowlegged teenager Zuo Lin has a small dream to ride a horse in the most prosperous place of the city, and the sad wooden horse cavalry, the happy zebra cavalry, the bleak and sad iron cavalry, the brilliant paper cavalry all melt into one. | Country: China | Director(s): Fan Xiaotian, Chen Juzhi | Producer(s): Jiang Cheng | Principal Cast: Guo Junchen, Eleanor Lee, Xie Chengze, Hou Changrong
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