Profile (Opening)

West Coast Premiere

 

Cyprus, Russian Federation, UK, USA | 2018 | 103 Min | Dir. Timur Bekmambetov

 

Amy, a struggling journalist looking for her next big story, pitches her editor on investigating the recruitment of European women by ISIS. Pretending to be recently converted to Islam, she creates an incriminating Facebook profile where she likes and shares posts themed around islamic extremism. It doesn’t take long for Bilel, a Jihad fighter in Syria, to set his eyes on this seemingly vulnerable prey.

 

BUY TICKETS

Shirkers (Centerpiece)

Washington Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 96 Min | Dir. Sandi Tan

 

 

Cinema-loving teenager Sandi Tan had a big idea in 1992: Shoot her own low-budget thriller on her native streets of Singapore, along with help from American mentor Georges. Then, one day, Georges disappeared along with all of their work. Twenty-five years later, Tan has turned her investigation into Georges’ motives into an autobiography turned love letter to filmmaking dreams.

 

BUY TICKETS

Anna and the Apocalypse (Closing)

West Coast Premiere

 

United Kingdom | 2018 | 92 Min | Dir. John McPhail

 

For Anna and her friends, high school graduation can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately for them, they must face a horde of yuletide undead creatures before passing on to adulthood. A zombie apocalypse-Christmas-comedy-musical (yes, you read that right), “Anna” is a salute to a genre you didn’t think you needed, while keeping you on the edge of your seat with its hilarity and heart.

 

BUY TICKETS

Profile (Opening)

West Coast Premiere

 

Cyprus, Russian Federation, UK, USA | 2018 | 103 Min | Dir. Timur Bekmambetov

 

Amy, a struggling journalist looking for her next big story, pitches her editor on investigating the recruitment of European women by ISIS. Pretending to be recently converted to Islam, she creates an incriminating Facebook profile where she likes and shares posts themed around islamic extremism. It doesn’t take long for Bilel, a Jihad fighter in Syria, to set his eyes on this seemingly vulnerable prey.

 

BUY TICKETS

Shirkers (Centerpiece)

Washington Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 96 Min | Dir. Sandi Tan

 

 

Cinema-loving teenager Sandi Tan had a big idea in 1992: Shoot her own low-budget thriller on her native streets of Singapore, along with help from American mentor Georges. Then, one day, Georges disappeared along with all of their work. Twenty-five years later, Tan has turned her investigation into Georges’ motives into an autobiography turned love letter to filmmaking dreams.

 

BUY TICKETS

Anna and the Apocalypse (Closing)

West Coast Premiere

 

United Kingdom | 2018 | 107 Min | Dir. John McPhail

 

For Anna and her friends, high school graduation can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately for them, they must face a horde of yuletide undead creatures before passing on to adulthood. A zombie apocalypse-Christmas-comedy-musical (yes, you read that right), “Anna” is a salute to a genre you didn’t think you needed, while keeping you on the edge of your seat with its hilarity and heart.

 

BUY TICKETS

Billy

North American Premiere

 

Netherlands | 2018 | 90 Min | Dir. Theo Maassen 

 

Ventriloquist Gerard de Groot and his puppet Billy have been inseparable for the last ten years. Until the moment they fall in love with different women and Gerard decides to take a break from his wild dummy. Easier said than done. Theo Maassen’s promising debut is a sharp tragic comedy mixing raunchy humor and deep thoughts about a career as an artist.

 

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Black Mother

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 77 Min | Dir. Khalik Allah

 

 

Powerfully hypnotic and formally singular, filmmaker/photographer Khalik Allah’s second feature is documentary storytelling at its boldest. Fueled by reflective voiceovers and dreamlike visuals, presented in digital, Super 8mm and black-and-white Bolex, BLACK MOTHER transports the viewer into a Jamaica populated by clergymen and prostitutes. The result is an examination of religion, sex, and national identity that’s one truly unforgettable cinematic meditation.

 

BUY TICKETS

Braid

West Coast Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 82 Min | Dir. Mitzi Peirone

 

 

Two fugitive women elude capture and seek refuge at the estate of their rich and very much psychotic childhood friend where they enter a terror fueled game of make believe. A candy color, hallucinogen-fueled lunacy binge, writer-director Mitzi Peirone’s feature debut takes you on an entrancing journey of insanity through its gorgeously framed imagery, vibrant palette and cryptic narrative riddles.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Billy

North American Premiere

 

Netherlands | 2018 | 90 Min | Dir. Theo Maassen 

 

Ventriloquist Gerard de Groot and his puppet Billy have been inseparable for the last ten years. Until the moment they fall in love with different women and Gerard decides to take a break from his wild dummy. Easier said than done. Theo Maassen’s promising debut is a sharp tragic comedy mixing raunchy humor and deep thoughts about a career as an artist.

 

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Black Mother

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 77 Min | Dir. Khalik Allah

 

 

Powerfully hypnotic and formally singular, filmmaker/photographer Khalik Allah’s second feature is documentary storytelling at its boldest. Fueled by reflective voiceovers and dreamlike visuals, presented in digital, Super 8mm and black-and-white Bolex, BLACK MOTHER transports the viewer into a Jamaica populated by clergymen and prostitutes. The result is an examination of religion, sex, and national identity that’s one truly unforgettable cinematic meditation.

 

BUY TICKETS

Braid

West Coast Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 82 Min | Dir. Mitzi Peirone

 

 

Two fugitive women elude capture and seek refuge at the estate of their rich and very much psychotic childhood friend where they enter a terror fueled game of make believe. A candy color, hallucinogen-fueled lunacy binge, writer-director Mitzi Peirone’s feature debut takes you on an entrancing journey of insanity through its gorgeously framed imagery, vibrant palette and cryptic narrative riddles.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Don’t Leave Home

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 86 Min | Dir. Michael Tully

 

 

For her latest exhibition, American artist Melanie Thomas is focused on an old Irish myth surrounding Father Alistair Burke, whose portrait of an 8-year-old Siobhan led to the little girl’s unexplained disappearance. After receiving an invite from the enigmatic Burke to visit him in Ireland, Melanie finds that reality and myth aren’t mutually exclusive. Drenched in classical Euro-horror dread and other strange flourishes, writer-director Michael Tully’s genre hybrid is a delightfully unnerving head trip.

 

BUY TICKETS

Model Home

World Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 82 Minutes | Dir. Patrick Cunningham

 

For a Latina single mother and her imaginative young son, being allowed to live in a dream house rent free seems too good to be true. As the mother’s obsessive and unstable mental state emerges, so too does living the American Dream devolve into a waking nightmare. Director Patrick Cunningham’s fascinating debut is a horrifying singular vision that speaks to Hispanic American identity.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

My Name Is Myeisha

 

 

USA | 2018 | 84 Min | Dir. Gus Krieger

 

 

A bold and visionary musical unlike anything on screen today, Gus Krieger’s MY NAME IS MYEISHA blends hip-hop, beat-boxing, dance and spoken word lyricism to tell the heartbreaking story of a teenage girl killed by police while she sat unconscious in a locked car. It’s essential filmmaking in a dynamic and energetic combination of storytelling methods precisely executed from beginning to end.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Don’t Leave Home

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 86 Min | Dir. Michael Tully

 

 

For her latest exhibition, American artist Melanie Thomas is focused on an old Irish myth surrounding Father Alistair Burke, whose portrait of an 8-year-old Siobhan led to the little girl’s unexplained disappearance. After receiving an invite from the enigmatic Burke to visit him in Ireland, Melanie finds that reality and myth aren’t mutually exclusive. Drenched in classical Euro-horror dread and other strange flourishes, writer-director Michael Tully’s genre hybrid is a delightfully unnerving head trip.

 

BUY TICKETS

Model Home

World Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 82 Minutes | Dir. Patrick Cunningham

 

For a Latina single mother and her imaginative young son, being allowed to live in a dream house rent free seems too good to be true. As the mother’s obsessive and unstable mental state emerges, so too does living the American Dream devolve into a waking nightmare. Director Patrick Cunningham’s fascinating debut is a horrifying singular vision that speaks to Hispanic American identity.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

My Name Is Myeisha

 

 

USA | 2018 | 84 Min | Dir. Gus Krieger

 

 

A bold and visionary musical unlike anything on screen today, Gus Krieger’s MY NAME IS MYEISHA blends hip-hop, beat-boxing, dance and spoken word lyricism to tell the heartbreaking story of a teenage girl killed by police while she sat unconscious in a locked car. It’s essential filmmaking in a dynamic and energetic combination of storytelling methods precisely executed from beginning to end.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

My Own Private Idaho

 

 

USA | 1991 | 104 Min | Dir. Gus Van Sant

 

Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminal film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanue Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother.

 

 

BUY TICKETS

 Piercing

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 81 Min | Dir. Nicolas Pesce

 

After kissing his wife and baby goodbye for a seemingly normal business trip, Reed (Christopher Abbott) checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish something he’s always dreamed of: the perfect murder. As his sinister plans unfold, he soon realizes he might be in over his head with a mysteriously unhinged call girl named Jackie (Mia Wasikowska).

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Relaxer

Washington Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 91 Minutes | Dir. Joel Potrykus

 

Joel Potrykus’ latest follows an obsessive couch potato slacker taking on his most epic challenge yet–to beat the impossible final level of Pac-Man without ever leaving the couch–even during the Y2K apocalypse. His desperate quest is fraught with gross out humor and darkly comedic perils as all sense of time is lost and takes a turn towards downright mania in a satisfyingly exhilarating conclusion.

 

BUY TICKETS

My Own Private Idaho

 

 

USA | 1991 | 104 Min | Dir. Gus Van Sant

 

Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminal film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanue Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother.

 

 

BUY TICKETS

 Piercing

Pacific Northwest Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 81 Min | Dir. Nicolas Pesce

 

After kissing his wife and baby goodbye for a seemingly normal business trip, Reed (Christopher Abbott) checks himself into a hotel room to accomplish something he’s always dreamed of: the perfect murder. As his sinister plans unfold, he soon realizes he might be in over his head with a mysteriously unhinged call girl named Jackie (Mia Wasikowska).

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Relaxer

Washington Premiere

 

USA | 2018 | 91 Minutes | Dir. Joel Potrykus

 

Joel Potrykus’ latest follows an obsessive couch potato slacker taking on his most epic challenge yet–to beat the impossible final level of Pac-Man without ever leaving the couch–even during the Y2K apocalypse. His desperate quest is fraught with gross out humor and darkly comedic perils as all sense of time is lost and takes a turn towards downright mania in a satisfyingly exhilarating conclusion.

 

BUY TICKETS

Sarah Plays a Werewolf

West Coast Premiere

 

Switzerland/Germany | 2017 | 86 Min | Dir. Katharina Wyss

 

Off the stage, 17-year-old Sarah drifts through her community in anonymity. But on her high school’s theater’s stage? The shy girl unleashes torrents of fiery passion, stemming from personal secrets mostly involving her unpleasant home life. As Sarah falls deeper into her performances, though, her loneliness intensifies, causing the troubled teenager to lose herself in multiple ways. Drenched in an overriding sense of despair, Swiss filmmaker Katharina Wyss’ devastating feature-length debut is a coming-of-age stunner.

 

BUY TICKETS

Time Share

Washington Premiere

 

Mexico/Netherlands | 2018 | 96 Minutes | Dir. Sebastian Hoffman

 

A father’s holiday from Hell begins when a clerical mix-up forces his family to share their vacation home with another family. But lurking beneath the paradise resort is a shady organization with designs far worse than double bookings. Director Sebastian Hoffman’s psychological thriller expertly juxtaposes terror and surrealist comedy through weaving stories of the family man and a beaten down employee setting out for revenge from within.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS

Sarah Plays a Werewolf

West Coast Premiere

 

Switzerland/Germany | 2017 | 86 Min | Dir. Katharina Wyss

 

Off the stage, 17-year-old Sarah drifts through her community in anonymity. But on her high school’s theater’s stage? The shy girl unleashes torrents of fiery passion, stemming from personal secrets mostly involving her unpleasant home life. As Sarah falls deeper into her performances, though, her loneliness intensifies, causing the troubled teenager to lose herself in multiple ways. Drenched in an overriding sense of despair, Swiss filmmaker Katharina Wyss’ devastating feature-length debut is a coming-of-age stunner.

 

BUY TICKETS

Time Share

Washington Premiere

 

Mexico/Netherlands | 2018 | 96 Minutes | Dir. Sebastian Hoffman

 

A father’s holiday from Hell begins when a clerical mix-up forces his family to share their vacation home with another family. But lurking beneath the paradise resort is a shady organization with designs far worse than double bookings. Director Sebastian Hoffman’s psychological thriller expertly juxtaposes terror and surrealist comedy through weaving stories of the family man and a beaten down employee setting out for revenge from within.

 

 

 

BUY TICKETS