NewFilmmakers LA Film Festival to Present 2013 Screening, 2/16

The NewFilmmakers LA Film Festival offers a carefully curated evening of films created by a talented group of documentarians, filmmakers, and screenwriters. In the wake of Notre Dame and Steubenville football scandals, a documentary investigates a murder in a quiet, working-class football community. A short film program includes films by internationally acclaimed cinematographers, USC and Columbia film school graduates, and award-winning female directors. In the feature program, a Sundance Film fest Jury Prize winning director brings forth his latest effort.

The February program includes:

Shenandoah (Dir. David Turnley / USA) - Los Angeles Premiere. An epic feature documentary film about a coal mining town with a proud immigrant heritage, once pivotal in fueling America's industrial revolution and today in decline and struggling to survive and retain its identity, soul and values - all of which were dramatically challenged when four of the town's white, star football players were charged in the beating death of an undocumented Mexican immigrant named Luis Ramirez. Shenandoah creates a deeply felt portrait of a working class community, and the American Dream on trial.

Over twenty years, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Turnley documented events including the life of Nelson Mandela and the Apartheid rule of South Africa, the Persian Gulf War, the disintegration of the Soviet Union, revolutions in Eastern Europe, and student uprisings in China. Upon leaving the Detroit Free Press in 1998, he studied filmmaking at Harvard under a Nieman Foundation Fellowship. Turnley's documentaries include Emmy-nominated 'The Dalai Lama: At Home in Exile' for CNN, and the Corbis-produced 'La Tropical'.

An all-star team muscles up behind the Los Angeles premiere of Shenandoah. Executive producers include writer and PGA-nominated producer Joslyn Barnes (Eugene Jarecki's The House I Live In), acclaimed actor Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), Epic Match Media CEO Billy Peterson, and Netflix executive Ted Sarandos. Award-winning lead editor Chris Seward (Sundance 2013's Fire in the Blood, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko), ACE-nominated editor Greg Finton (Waiting for 'Superman'), and Emmy-nominated composer David Majzlin (Sins of my Father, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel) round out the accomplished team.

My Little Hollywood (Dir. Matt Harrison / USA) - 'A man, a camera, a delusion'. Wandering vagabond Cost drifts into Hollywood where he teams up with Reverend to fulfill his dreams of film stardom and make a Hollywood movie.

Director Matt Harrison's film, Rhythm Thief, won the Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995. Kicked in the Head, his comedy feature starring Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, and James Woods, was Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese and released by CBS/Fox. Television directing credits include Sex and the City, and Popular.

My Little Hollywood stars Harrison, Shawn Andrews (Dazed and Confused, The Last Beat), Jason Oliver (Stand By Me), Gabrielle Conforti (Gabe the Cupid Dog), and Tiprin Mandalay (Roberta).

Space Zeros (Dir. Potsy Ponciroli / USA) - Ty and his brother Cody own a Port-A-Potty business in a
small country town. Besides working and hanging out with their imbecile friend Teet, life is pretty boring UNTIL... a meteor hits their house and Ty starts gaining a crazy set of super powers, including the ability to turn water into beer. That's when things start to GET AWESOME in this Redneck Comedy!

Potsy Ponciroli's directorial debut was filmed locally in Nashville, Tennessee. Space Zeros stars Reece Thompson (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), Blaise Miller (The Scenesters), Travis Nicholson (Nashville), and Madison Riley (Prom, Grown Ups).

In the Night (Dir. Ivana Bobic / UK) - US Premiere. After being betrayed by her boyfriend, the sleepless DANIJELA (a striking Serbian girl) wanders through Belgrade on a hot Summer night.

Director Ivana Bobic's have screened at the London Short film fest, Siberia Film Night, and the East End Film Festival. Bobic has created content for fashion clients Stella McCartney, adidas, and Phillip Lim, along with London indie band S.C.U.M. (Mute Records). Rain Li, voted as one of the '10 Best Cinematographers' of The Year by Variety, serves as Cinematographer for In the Night and also executive produces. Li's resume includes the collaborative Paris, je t'aime, and Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park.

In the Night stars international supermodel Danijela Dimitrovska, and Ben Aldridge (BBC's Lark Rise to Candleford, Vera).

Soul Winner (Dir. Jennifer Gerber / USA) - Set in the rural Bible belt of Arkansas, Jesse, a young door-to-door minister, wants to win his first soul for Jesus, but his lack of experience and volatile enthusiasm is getting in his way. Before heading home from another failed mission, Jesse decides to try to convert one last soul before giving up for good.

Columbia University School of the Arts MFA candidate Jennifer Gerber filmed Soul Winner on location in her native Arkansas. An award-winning film director, Gerber's films have screened at The Director's Guild of America, The Big Screen Film Festival, and Women in the Directors Chair International Film Festival. She's also served as an adjunct film instructor at Columbia College Chicago. Her documentary, "Pretty Near Perfect", received grants from the Princess Grace Foundation, Albert P Weisman Memorial Scholarship Fund, and the Columbia College Production Fund.

Soul Winner stars Sayra Player, Judy Pryor Trice (Sling Blade, Elizabethtown), Jeff Bailey (Walk The Line), and Michael Dawn as Jesse.

Cupid (Dir. John Dion / USA) - LA Premiere. Through helping his one friend on earth, a 10 year old boy next door, burned out and alcoholic Cupid rediscovers what love is.

John Dion is a graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Cupid won the "Best Screenwriting" Faculty Award through USC's First LA Film Festival (First Look) program, was an official selection of the BAFTA LA Student Film Awards, and placed second in Comedy at the College Television Awards.

The cast of Cupid includes Brie Bernstein (Hannah Montana), Brendan Connor (Shameless, ER), Libby West (Two Weeks Notice), K. Harrison Sweeney (Rizzoli & Isles), Hugh Mun (Fully Loaded), Scott Deguzis (H-e-n-r-y), and Silvio Fama (They Live Among Us).

Best of Both Worlds (Dir. Michael Dunker / USA) - One man struggles to find a normal woman, when he meets Michelle. He has to accept the best of both worlds when she turns into a guy named Michael in the morning.

US Air Force veteran Michael Dunker won the 2011 Scriptwriters Network High Concept Screenplay Competition with his script, "Girl Code".

A Kickstarter backed project, Best of Both Worlds stars Heidi Heaslet (New Girl), Steven Sims (Destroying Jonah Hill), Hollis Sherman-Pepe (NCIS), and Kevin Brooks (Fallout: Nuka Break) as Charlie.

For more information and to purchase tickets for the NewFilmmakers February 16th 2013 screening, please visit http://www.newfilmmakersla.com. Submissions are also currently being accepted for consideration of future screenings.

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