Opening: January 31
Venue: Camp Hill, PA (opening of national tour)
Film: Takedowns and Falls
Dir./Prod: Todd Hickey
Distributor: Self-distributed
http://www.takedownsandfalls.com/
Every autumn thousands of wrestlers throughout Pennsylvania begin their seasons with the dream of making it to the PIAA State Championships. Few ever make it and even fewer win. But, for all who try, the journey to obtain the most elusive titles in high school wrestling is one of dedication, pain, sacrifice, failure and triumph.
Takedowns and Falls tells the story of a group of Pennsylvania teens and their relationships within a high school wrestling team on a journey to attain a state championship. It chronicles a season of the Central Dauphin Rams in Harrisburg, PA, and highlights the sacrifice of its athletes, the commitment of their families and the dedication of its coaches. Inspired by their love of the sport and their coaches, this group of teens grows up before our eyes, in an attempt to over-achieve and do the impossible.
Opening: February 11
Venue: Anthology Film Archives/NYC
Film: American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
Directors: David Ridgen and Nicolas Rossier
Distributor: Typecast Releasing
http://www.americanradicalthefilm.com/
American Radical is the probing, definitive documentary about American academic Norman Finkelstein. A devoted son of holocaust survivors, ardent critic of Israel and US Middle East policy, and author of five provocative books including The Holocaust Industry, Norman Finkelstein has been steadfast at the center of many intractable controversies, including his recent denial of tenure at DePaul University. Called a lunatic and disgusting, self-hating Jew by some and an inspirational street-fighting revolutionary by others, Finkelstein is a deeply polarizing figure whose struggles arise from core questions about freedom, identity and nationhood.
From Beirut to Kyoto, the filmmakers follow Finkelstein around the world as he attempts to negotiate a voice among both supporters and critics, providing an intimate portrait of the man behind the controversy while giving equal time to both his critics and supporters.
Opening: February 12
Venue: Quad Cinema/NYC
Film: Barefoot to Timbuktu
Director/Writer: Martina Egi
Producer: Mesch & Ugge AG
Distributor: Self-distributed
http://www.barefoot2timbuktu.com/
A film about tolerance, conflict and friendship between cultures.
Araouane, a settlement in the middle of the Sahara, seven days by camel from Timbuktu.... In 1989, the once prosperous oasis was disappearing under encroaching dunes, when the noted Swiss-American artist Ernst Aebi passed through on a caravan. The population's destitution leaves a deep impression on him. Trying to help them becomes an obsession for Aebi because attempting the impossible satisfies his quest for adventure.
Aebi, one of the pioneers in the transformation of New York's SoHo factory spaces to lofts, stays for three years in the desert and becomes so engrossed in the project that he is willing to bury his capital there. Under his guidance, the village awakens to a new life: a productive vegetable garden, a school and even
a small hotel rise from the barren sands.
A civil war in Mali forces Aebi in the early '90s to escape "his" village. He leaves behind a blooming oasis and a family of friends who await his return.
Except for a few earlier unsuccessful attempts, almost 20 years pass until Aebi is finally able to get back, on a journey between hope and doubt.
Barefoot to Timbuktu cleverly weaves archival and new material into a fascinating portrait of an out-of-the-ordinary
Opening: February 12
Venue: Gene Siskel Center/Chicago
Film: Life as Lincoln
Director: Caitlin Grogan
Distributor: Self-distributed
http://splitpillow.com/lincoln/index.html
More than 300 men across the country live and work as Abraham Lincoln impersonators, or presenters. From a former White House staffer to a truck driver, these men vary in appearance, age, background, and creed. Despite their differences, Lincoln presenters share the common goal of introducing their audiences to the principles Lincoln cherished.
Life as Lincoln explores the lives and ambitions of three of these presenters who live in the states that Lincoln called home: Larry Elliott in Kentucky, Murray Cox in Indiana, and Lonn Pressnall in Illinois. Each man shares the common responsibility of presenting Lincoln admiringly, yet honestly. But for each presenter, Lincoln has come to represent something different-a sensitive thinker who was simultaneously buffeted by emotion and rooted in reason, a judicious diplomat whose political and personal ethics intersected, and a deeply noble man who was guided by spiritual and familial devotion. The meaning each presenter has found in Lincoln defines both his presentations and the principles he carries throughout his own life.
Opening: February 12
Venue: IFC Center/New York
Film: Videocracy
Director: Erik Gandini
Distributor: Lorber Films
http://www.lorberfilms.com/videocracy/videocracy/
How can you explain what has happened to Italy in the age of its current prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi? Videocracy is director Erik Gandini's critically-acclaimed inquiry into the mercenary underbelly of the high-glitz, low-politics, skin-baring media culture promulgated by Berlusconi's ownership of the majority of the country's television stations - a powerful tool in shaping public opinion to his financial and political benefit. Approaching the material as both insider and outsider, Gandini (Gitmo: The New Rules Of War) gains remarkable access to the opulent world of Berlusconi's associates and the armies of willing wannabes that swarm around them, examining the key players (and their conflicted interests) and unveiling a modern Italy as both comedy and tragedy.
Opening: February 19
Venue: W Scottsdale/Scottsdale, AZ
Film: Blood into Wine
Directors: Ryan Page, Christopher Pomerenke
Distributor: Self-distributed
http://www.bloodintowine.com/
Blood into Wine is the widely anticipated documentary that shares the story of Tool/A Perfect Circle/Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan and his mentor, Eric Glomski, as they pioneer winemaking in the hostile deserts of Arizona.
Maynard's various musical entities have sold over 30 million records worldwide. His band's have headlined the world's most prominent music festivals including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and Roskilde while the man himself has reveled in revealing little of his personal life.
On stage Maynard dresses in costume and stands in the shadows as an affront to typical rock star theatrics. He even bolted from Los Angeles just as his band began to pay off, leaving behind a potentially lavish lifestyle for the craggy rocks of Northern Arizona, settling into an area of 300 residents and a rumored ghost town.
Blood into Wine gives unprecedented insight into Maynard's world and his motivations for taking on the arduous task of bringing winemaking to the region's unforgiving landscape and how winemaking fits into his creative trajectory.
Opening: February 12
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: October Country
Directors: Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher
Distributor: International Film Circuit
http://www.octobercountryfilm.com/
October Country is a beautifully rendered portrait of an American family struggling for stability while haunted by the ghosts of war, teen pregnancy, foster care and child abuse. A collaboration between filmmaker Michael Palmieri and photographer and family member Donal Mosher, this vibrant and penetrating documentary examines the forces that unsettle the working poor and the violence that lurks beneath the surface of American life.
Every family has its ghosts. The Mosher family has more than most. Shot over a year from one Halloween to the next, the film creates a stunning cinematic portrait of a family who are unique but also sadly representative of the struggles of America's working class. The film was created to be both a universal story of family struggle and a socially conscious portrait of compelling, articulate individuals grappling with the forces that tear at their homes and relationships.
Combining the access only available to a family member with an intimate visual style of a filmmaker encountering the family's dynamics for the first time, the film gives a deeply personal voice to the national issues of economic instability, domestic abuse, war trauma, and sexual molestation. As the Moshers do their best to confront their ghosts, we confront the broader issues that haunt us all in the continued struggle for the American Dream.
Opening: February 19
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Phyllis and Harold
Director: Cyndi Kleine
Distributor: Rainbow Releasing
http://www.phyllisandharold.com/
Phyllis and Harold is an astoundingly frank journey through a disastrous 59-year-old marriage. Drawing on a lifetime of her family's home movies and interviews made over 12 years, filmmaker Cindy Kleine mixes reportage, cinema verité and animation to uncover family secrets and tell a story that could not be shown publicly as long as her father was alive. Phyllis and Harold delves into the mystery of time passing, the nature of living a life, and the challenges of losing those we love. But it is also a loving, funny expose on the sins of suburbia. Imagine Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage seen through the prism of I Love Lucy.
Opening: February 26
Venue: IFC Center/New York City
Film: The Art of the Steal
Director: Don Argott
Distributor: Sundance Selects
http://www.sundanceselects.com/films/the-art-of-the-steal
In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes created The Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion Pennsylvania,
five miles outside of Philadelphia. He formed this remarkable collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art to serve as an educational institution.
Dr. Barnes built his foundation away from the city and cultural elite who scorned his collection as "horrible, debased art," and set it on the grounds of his own home, an arboretum in the leafy suburbs. Tastes changed, and soon the very people who belittled Barnes wanted access to his collection.
When Dr. Barnes died in a car accident in 1951, he left control of his collection to Lincoln
University, a small African-American college. His will contained strict instructions, stating the foundation
shall always be an educational institution, and the paintings may never be removed. Such strict limitations made the collection safe from commercial exploitation. But was it really safe?
More than 50 years later, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court to take the art--recently valued at more than $25 billion--and bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of former students who are trying to block the move. Will the students succeed, or will a man's will be broken and one of America's greatest cultural monuments be destroyed?
Opening: February 26
Venue: Cinema Village/New York City
Film: Prodigal Sons
Director: Kimberly Reed
Distributor: First Run Features
http://www.prodigalsonsfilm.com/
Returning home to a small town in Montana for her high school reunion, filmmaker Kimberly Reed hopes for reconciliation with her long-estranged adopted brother, Marc. But along the way she uncovers stunning revelations, including his blood relationship with Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, intense
sibling rivalries and unforeseeable twists of plot and gender that forces them to face challenges no one could imagine.
Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, Best Documentary Jury Prize at NewFest, and Special Jury Prizes for Fearless Filmmaking at the Florida Film Festival and Bravery in Storytelling at the Nashville Film Festival, Prodigal Sons is a raw and provocative examination of one family's struggle to come to terms with its past and present.