SXSW Film Festival Announces 2018 Features And Opening Night Film A QUIET PLACE

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals announced the features lineup and opening night film for the 25th edition of the Film Festival, running March 9-18, 2018 in Austin, Texas. The acclaimed program draws thousands of fans, filmmakers, press, and industry leaders every year to immerse themselves in the most innovative, smart and entertaining new films of the year.

During the nine days of SXSW 132 features will be shown, with additional titles yet to be announced. The full lineup will include 44 films from first-time filmmakers, 86 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres and 5 U.S. Premieres. These films were selected from 2,458 feature-length film submissions, with a total of 8,160 films submitted this year.

"2018 marks the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival and my tenth year at the helm. As we look back on the body of work of talent discovered, careers launched and wonderful films we've enjoyed, we couldn't be more excited about the future," said Janet Pierson, Director of Film. "This year's slate, while peppered with works from many of our alumni, remains focused on new voices, new directors and a range of films that entertain and enlighten."

"We are particularly pleased to present John Krasinski's A Quiet Place as our Opening Night Film," Pierson added."Not only do we love its originality, suspense and amazing cast, we love seeing artists stretch and explore. While this is not Krasinki's first feature as writer and director, it's an exciting evolution for this multi-talented artist."

New this year, the SXSW Film Festival is launching a new Independent Episodic section, an expansion on its Episodic section launched in 2014. Returning for 2018, Interactive, Film, and Music badges will now include expanded access to more of the SXSW Conference and Festivals experience. With one unified conference that spans 24 tracks of programming plus the Cities Summit, we'll be offering more opportunities for networking, learning, and discovery than ever before. SXSW's next registration deadline is February 9, 2018 at 11:59pm PT. Early registrants benefit from discounted rates.

Feature films in the SXSW lineup screen in 12 sections: Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Headliners, Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, Visions, Midnighters, Episodic, 24 Beats Per Second, Global, Festival Favorites, and Special Events.

Midnighters, Shorts, Virtual Cinema, Independent Episodics, Title Sequences, Music Videos and late-breaking Features will be announced on February 7. All feature categories, with the exception of Special Events, will be eligible for category-specific Audience Awards.

The Narrative Feature Competition includes: Family directed by Laura Steinel; First Match directed by Olivia Newman; Jinn directed by Nijla Mu'min; The New Romantic directed by Carly Stone; SADIE directed by Megan Griffiths; Shotgun directed by Hannah Marks and Joey Power; Summer '03 directed by Becca Gleason; Thunder Road directed by Jim Cummings; The Unicorn directed by Robert Schwartzman; Write When You Get Work directed by Stacy Cochran.

The Documentary Feature Competition includes: Chi-Town directed by Nick Budabin; Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable directed by Sasha Waters; The Gospel of Eureka directed by Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher; ¡Las Sandinistas! directed by Jenny Murray; People's Republic of Desire directed by Hao Wu; Social Animals directed by Jonathan Green; This One's For The Ladies directed by Gene Graham; TransMilitary directed by Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson; Weed The People directed by Abby Epstein; and The World Before Your Feet directed by Jeremy Workman.

A selection of other highlights include: The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man directed by Tommy Avallone; Blockers directed by Kay Cannon; Boundaries directed by Shana Feste; The Dawn Wall directed by Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer; Fast Color directed by Julia Hart; A Little Wisdom directed by Yuqi Kang; Nossa Chape directed by Jeff and Michael Zimbalist; Paradox directed by Daryl Hannah; Profile directed by Timur Bekmambetov; A Quiet Place directed by John Krasinski; A Vigilante directed by Sarah Daggar Nickson; Wild Nights With Emily directed by Madeleine Olnek. In Episodics: Barry directed by Bill Hader; The Last O.G. directed by Jordan Peele, Warriors of Liberty City directed by Evan Rosenfeld and Andrew Cohn; Vida directed by Alonso Ruizpalacios and So Yong Kim.

The 2018 SXSW Film Festival will include:

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION

Ten world premieres; ten unique ways to celebrate the art of storytelling. Selected from 1,408 narrative feature submissions in 2018.

Family

Director/Screenwriter: Laura Steinel

When an emotionally stunted 30 year-old woman is tasked with watching her awkward and bullied 12 year old niece for the week, she finds her life unfurling when the girl runs away to be a juggalo. Cast: Taylor Schilling, Bryn Vale, Brian Tyree Henry, Jessie Ennis, Blair Beeken, Matt Walsh, Allison Tolman, Eric Edelstein, Kate McKinnon, Fabrizio Guido (World Premiere)

First Match

Director/Screenwriter: Olivia Newman

Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father. Cast: Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome, Jared Kemp (World Premiere)

Jinn

Director/Screenwriter: Nijla Mu'min

A shape-shifting, pepperoni-loving, black teenage Instagram celebrity explores her identity and sexuality in the midst of her mother's conversion to Islam. Cast: Zoe Renee, Simone Missick, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Hisham Tawfiq, Kelly Jenrette, Dorian Missick, Ashlei Foushee, Maya Morales, Damien D. Smith (World Premiere)

The New Romantic (Canada)

Director/Screenwriter: Carly Stone

Frustrated with the lack of chivalrous guys her own age, a college senior gives up on dating for love to date an older man in exchange for gifts instead. Cast: Jessica Barden, Hayley Law, Brett Dier, Timm Sharp, Avan Jogia, Camila Mendes (World Premiere)

SADIE

Director/Screenwriter: Megan Griffiths

While her father is away serving in the military, Sadie battles to preserve his place on the home front when her mother takes an interest in a new man. Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Sophia Mitri Schloss, John Gallagher Jr., Danielle Brooks, Tony Hale, Keith Williams, Tee Dennard (World Premiere)

Shotgun

Directors/Screenwriters: Hannah Marks, Joey Power

A young couple's relationship develops quickly when one of them is diagnosed with a life-changing illness. Cast: Maika Monroe, Jeremy Allen White, DeRon Horton, Marisa Tomei, Sasha Lane, Joe Keery, Gina Gershon, Dean Winters, Olivia Luccardi (World Premiere)

Summer '03

Director/Screenwriter: Becca Gleason

On her deathbed, Jamie's grandmother leaves her with two pieces of information: one involves a baptism, the other a blowjob. This sets Jamie and her family on an emotional roller coaster ride while she falls for the wrong guy at the wrong time. Cast: Joey King, Andrea Savage, Paul Scheer, Jack Kilmer, Erin Darke, Stephen Ruffin, Kelly Lamor Wilson, Logan Medina, June Squibb (World Premiere)

Thunder Road

Director/Screenwriter: Jim Cummings

Officer Arnaud loved his Mom. Cast: Kendal Farr, Jim Cummings, Nican Robinson, Jocelyn DeBoer, Macon Blair, Bill Wise, Jordan Fox, Chelsea Edmondson (World Premiere)

The Unicorn

Director: Robert Schwartzman, Screenwriters: Nick Rutherford, Kirk C. Johnson, Will Elliott

Facing the fourth year of their engagement, an indecisive couple is thrust into the most uncomfortable night of their lives by intentionally and unintentionally involving a third party in their relationship. Cast: Lauren Lapkus, Nick Rutherford, Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett, Dree Hemingway, Beverly D'Angelo, John Kapelos, Maya Kazan, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Kyle Mooney (World Premiere)

Write When You Get Work

Director/Screenwriter: Stacy Cochran

Write When You Get Work is a comedy of money and access, a NY love story set in the Bronx and at a pricey school for girls on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Years after they've parted ways, Jonny Collins pursues Ruth Duffy for love -- and profit. Cast: Emily Mortimer, Finn Wittrock, Rachel Keller, Scott Cohen, Jessica Hecht, James Ransone, Andrew Schulz, Tess Frazer, Afton Williamson, Zarif Kabier (World Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

Ten world premieres: ten real world stories that demonstrate innovation, energy and bold voices. Selected from 1,050 feature documentary submissions in 2018.

Chi-Town

Director: Nick Budabin

An underdog basketball player from Chicago goes on a meteoric rise to become one of the best college point guards in the nation. But while he pursues dreams of the NBA, his success contrasts with the effects of gun violence on his friends back home. (World Premiere)

Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable
Director: Sasha Waters
Freyer Artist. Iconoclast. Man of his time. All Things are Photographable is a revealing documentary portrait of the life and work of acclaimed photographer Garry Winogrand - the epic storyteller in pictures of America across three turbulent decades. (World Premiere)

The Gospel of Eureka
Directors: Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, Screenwriter: Donal Mosher
Faith, love and civil rights collide on voting day in a small Southern town that hosts a famous performance of the last days of Christ and an infamous gospel drag show. The new documentary by the award winning directors of October Country. (World Premiere)

¡Las Sandinistas! (Nicaragua, United States)
Director: Jenny Murray
¡Las Sandinistas! uncovers the disappearing stories of women who SHATTERED barriers to lead combat and social reform during Nicaragua's 1979 Sandinista Revolution, and who continue to lead Nicaragua's current struggle for democracy and equality. (World Premiere)

People's Republic of Desire (China)
Director: Hao Wu
In China's popular live-streaming showrooms, three millennials - a karaoke singer, a migrant worker and a rags-to-riches comedian - seek fame, fortune and human connection, ultimately finding the same promises and perils online as in their real lives. (World Premiere)

Social Animals
Director: Jonathan Green, Screenwriters: Carol Martori, Jonathan Green, Peter Garriott
A DAREDEVIL photographer, an aspiring swimsuit model, and a midwest girl next door are all looking for the same things from their Instagram accounts--a little love, acceptance and, of course, fame--and they'll do just about anything to get it. (World Premiere)

This One's For The Ladies
Director: Gene Graham
This One's For The Ladies explores the sexual and social identity of contemporary black America through intimate, eye opening and often hilarious accounts from women and men who find love and community in the UNDERGROUND world of exotic dancing. (World Premiere)

TransMilitary
Directors: Gabriel Silverman, Fiona Dawson, Screenwriters: Jamie Coughlin, Gabriel Silverman
At a time when transgender people are banned from serving in the U.S. military, four of the thousands of transgender troops risking discharge fight to attain the freedom they so fiercely protect. (World Premiere)

Weed The People
Director: Abby Epstein
Weed the People captures the uplifting and heart-wrenching struggles of families who treat their cancer-stricken children with marijuana, some with astonishing results. (World Premiere)

The World Before Your Feet
Director: Jeremy Workman
For over 6 years, Matt Green, 37, has been walking every street in New York City - a total of more than 8000 miles. The World Before Your Feet tells the story of one man's unusual quest and THE JOURNEY of discovery, humanity, and wonder that ensues. (World Premiere)

HEADLINERS

Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film events with major and rising names in cinema.

A Quiet Place

Director: John Krasinski, Screenwriters: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski, Producers: Platinum Dunes

If they can't hear you, they can't hunt you. Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe, Millicent Simmonds (World Premiere)

Blockers

Director: Kay Cannon, Screenwriters: Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe, Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg, Eben Russell

When three parents discover their daughters' pact to lose their virginity at prom, they launch a covert one-night operation to stop the teens from sealing the deal. Cast: Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, John Cena, Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Indira Viswanathan, Gideon Adlon (World Premiere)

Boundaries

Director/Screenwriter: Shana Feste

Laura and her troubled son Henry are forced to drive her estranged, pot-dealing, carefree father Jack across country after being kicked out of a nursing home. Cast: Vera Farmiga, Christopher Plummer, Lewis MacDougall, Bobby Cannavale, Kristen Schaal, Dolly Wells, Yahya Abdul-Mateen, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Fonda (World Premiere)

PARADOX
Director/Screenwriter: Daryl Hannah
A loud Poem. A whimsical western tale of music and love. Cast: Neil Young, Lukas Nelson, Micah Nelson, Corey McCormick, Anthony LoGerfo, Tato Melgar, Willie Nelson, Charris Ford, Dulcie Clarkson Ford (World Premiere)

Final Portrait (United Kingdom, United States)

Director/Screenwriter: Stanley Tucci

Final Portrait is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between world renowned artist Alberto Giacometti and American writer and art-lover James Lord, based on Lord's memoir. Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Clémence Poésy, Tony Shalhoub, Sylvie Testud (North American Premiere)

NARRATIVE SPOTLIGHT

High profile narrative features receiving their World, North American or U.S. premieres at SXSW.

6 Balloons

Director/Screenwriter: Marja Lewis Ryan

Over the course of one night, a woman drives across LA with her heroin addict brother in search of a detox center, with his two year old daughter in tow. Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Dave Franco, Charlotte Carel, Madison Carel, Jane Kaczmarek, Dewan Owens, Tim Matheson, Jen Tullock, Maya Erskine, Heidi Sulzman (World Premiere)

All Square

Director: John Hyams, Screenwriter: Timothy Brady

A down-on-his-luck bookie befriends an ex-girlfriend's son and gets the bright idea to take bets on his youth league baseball games; only to realize he's killed what's pure about the sport as the games turn ugly when money is on the line. Cast: Michael Kelly, Josh Lucas, Pamela Adlon, Tom Everett Scott, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Harris Yulin, Yeardley Smith, Jesse Ray Sheps, Jay Larson, Craig Walker (World Premiere)

Anchor and Hope (Spain)

Director/Screenwriter: Carlos Marques-Marcet

When the best friend of a bohemian lesbian couple agrees to be their surrogate, the three friends set out on an unconventional journey to start a family. Cast: Natalia Tena, Oona Chaplin, David Verdaguer, Geraldine Chaplin (North American Premiere)

A Bluebird in My Heart (Belgium, France)

Director/Screenwriter: Jérémie Guez

Attempting to lead a quiet reformed life, an ex-con finds refuge in a motel run by a single mother and her daughter Clara. The peace and freedom he has found in this safe HAVEN disappears when Clara is assaulted, forcing him to face his old demons. Cast: Roland Moller, Veerle Baetens, Lola Le Lann, Lubna Azabal (World Premiere)

The Breaker Upperers (New Zealand)

Directors/Screenwriters: Jackie van Beek, Madeleine Sami

Two women run a business breaking up couples for cash but when one develops a conscience their friendship unravels. Cast: Jackie van Beek, Madeleine Sami, Celia Pacquola, James Rolleston, Ana Scotney

(World Premiere)

Fast Color

Director: Julia Hart, Screenwriters: Julia Hart, Jordan Horowitz

In this genre-bending supernatural drama, a woman is forced to go on the run when her extraordinary abilities are discovered. Years after having abandoned her family, the only place she has left to hide is home. Cast: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lorraine Toussaint, Saniyya Sidney, Christopher Denham, David Strathairn (World Premiere)

First Light (Canada)

Director/Screenwriter: Jason Stone

A close encounter with mysterious lights sends two teens on the run after one discovers she has extraordinary but dangerous powers. Cast: Stefanie Scott, Theodore Pelerine, Said Taghmaoui

(World Premiere)

The Legacy of the Whitetail Deer Hunter

Director: Jody Hill

The great hunter Buck Ferguson (Josh Brolin) and his trusted cameraman Don (Danny McBride) set out for an epic weekend adventure to reconnect with Buck's young son (Montana Jordan). (World Premiere)

Neurotic Quest for Serenity (Brazil)

Directors/Screenwriters: Paulinho Caruso, Teodoro Poppovic

Kika is going through a lot. She's a famous actress. She has millions of fans. She's about to star in a post apocalyptic soap opera. And she has obsessive compulsive disorder. Cast: Tatá Werneck, Vera Holtz, Bruno Gagliasso, Daniel Furlan (North American Premiere)

Outside In

Director: Lynn Shelton, Screenwriters: Lynn Shelton, Jay Duplass

An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher. Cast: Jay Duplass, Edie Falco, KAITLYN DEVER, Ben Schwartz

(U.S. Premiere)

Support The Girls

Director/Screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski

The general manager at a highway-side 'breastaurant' has her incurable optimism and faith--in her girls, her customers, and herself--tested over the course of a long, strange day. Cast: Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, Shayna McHale, James LeGros, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Lea DeLaria, Jana Kramer, John Elvis (World Premiere)

Unlovable

Director: Suzi Yoonessi, Screenwriters: Mark Duplass, Sarah Adina Smith, Charlene Deguzman

A sex- and love-addicted woman learns what real intimacy is when she starts making music with a reclusive man. Cast: Charlene Deguzman, John Hawkes, Melissa Leo, Paul James, Ellen Geer, Gigette Reyes (World Premiere)

A Vigilante

Director/Screenwriter: Sarah Daggar Nickson

A once abused woman, Sadie (Olivia Wilde), devotes herself to ridding victims of their domestic abusers while hunting down the husband she must kill to truly be free. Cast: Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett, CJ Wilson, Tonye Patano, Chuck Cooper, Betsy Aidem, Jusy Marte (World Premiere)

Who We Are Now

Director/Screenwriter: Matthew Newton

Beth, recently released from prison, tries to get custody of her son again and find her way back into the outside world, along the way realizing who she is isn't about where she's been, it's about where she's going. Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Emma Roberts, Zachary Quinto, Jess Weixler, Jimmy Smits, Jason Biggs, Lea Thompson, Scott Cohen, Octavia Chavez-Richmond, J. Mallory McCree (U.S. Premiere)

Wild Nights With Emily

Director/Screenwriter: Madeleine Olnek

Molly Shannon plays Emily Dickinson in Wild Nights With Emily, a humorous drama. This independent film explores her vivacious, irreverent side that was covered up for years - most notably Emily's lifelong romantic relationship with another woman. Cast: Molly Shannon, Amy Seimetz, Susan Ziegler, Brett Gelman, Jackie Monahan, Kevin Seal, Dana Melanie, Sasha Frolova, Lisa Haas, Al Sutton (World Premiere)

WILDLING

Director: Fritz Bohm, Screenwriters: Fritz Bohm, Florian Eder

A blossoming teenager uncovers the dark secret behind her traumatic childhood. Cast: Bel Powley, Brad Dourif, Liv Tyler, Collin Kelly-Sordelet, James Le Gros, Troy Ruptash, Arlo Mertz, Aviva Winick (World Premiere)

You Can Choose Your Family

Director: Miranda Bailey, Screenwriter: Glen Lakin

A seventeen-year-old boy blackmails his father after discovering his secret second family. Cast: Jim Gaffigan, Logan Miller, Anna Gunn, Samantha Mathis, Alex Karpovsky, Hayes MacArthur, Michelle Hurd (World Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHT

Shining a light on new documentary features receiving their World, North American or U.S. premieres at SXSW.

Agave: The Spirit of a Nation (Mexico, United States)
Directors: Nicholas Kovacic, Matthew Riggieri, Screenwriter: Chantal Martineau
In Mexico, families have passed down the tradition of distilling agave for generations and now, this once obscure Mexican drink is everywhere. Discover, how one delicate plant has carried the weight of a nation and the people trying to protect it. (World Premiere)

Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes
Director: Robert Bader, Screenwriters: Robert S. Bader, Dick Cavett
The life and times of Muhammed Ali shown through the lens of his numerous appearances on The Dick Cavett Show. The film features new interviews with Dick Cavett, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Larry Merchant, as well as archival material from the Cavett Show. (World Premiere)

Alt-Right: Age of Rage
Director/Screenwriter: Adam Bhala Lough
In the first year of Trump's Presidency, Daryle Lamont Jenkins, an Antifa activist, combats the rise of the Alt-Right movement, while Richard Spencer, an Alt-Right leader, fights to gain ground, culminating in a tragic showdown in Charlottesville. (World Premiere)

The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned From A Mythical Man
Director: Tommy Avallone, Screenwriters: Tommy Avallone, Max Paolucci
One man's journey to find meaning in Bill Murray's many UNEXPECTED adventures with everyday people, rare and never-before seen footage of the comedic icon participating in stories previously presumed to be urban legend. (World Premiere)

Brewmaster
Director/Screenwriter: Douglas Tirola
Brewmaster follows a young ambitious New York lawyer who struggles to chase his American dream of becoming a brewmaster and a Milwaukee-based professional beer educator, as he attempts to become a Master Cicerone. (World Premiere)

Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

Director: Dana Adam Shapiro

Daughters of the Sexual Revolution is the never-before-told story of Suzanne Mitchell, the fiercely-loyal den mother of the original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (World Premiere)

The Dawn Wall (Austria, United States)

Directors: Josh Lowell, Peter Mortimer

Legendary free climber Tommy Caldwell tries to get over heartbreak by scaling 3000ft of an impossible rock face: the Dawn Wall of El Capitan. (North American Premiere)

From All Corners (Japan)

Director: Ryusuke Okajima

Fuyuki Shimazu, the cardboard picker and artist, creates wallets made from used cardboard which he picks up from 25 countries. His wallets travel around the world to advocate the concept of "upcycling" which is the mind BEYOND recycling or re-use. (World Premiere)

Getting Over

Director/Screenwriter: Jason Charnick

A man discovers a box of interviews with his father, a lifelong heroin addict who died of AIDS in 1997. What he finds will uncover generations of family secrets, forcing him to redefine his own past, DOUBT his present, and question his future. (World Premiere)

Nossa Chape (Brazil, Colombia, United States)

Directors/Screenwriters: Jeff Zimbalist, Michael Zimbalist

Nossa Chape tracks the rebuilding of the Chapecoense football club in Brazil after an airplane carrying the team crashed on November 28th, 2016, and left all but three of the players dead. (World Premiere)

Operation Odessa

Director: Tiller Russell

The stranger-than-fiction true story of a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy, and a Cuban spy who teamed up in the early 90's to sell a Soviet submarine to the Cali Carte. (World Premiere)

Take Your Pills

Director: Alison Klayman

Every era gets the drug it deserves. In America today, where competition is ceaseless from school to the workforce and everyone wants a performance edge, Adderall and other prescription stimulants are the defining drugs of this generation. (World Premiere)

Time Trial (United Kingdom)

Director: Finlay Pretsell

Time Trial takes us into the final races of cyclist David Millar's career, leading to his last encounter with the Tour de France. The film reveals how the human spirit is driven by forces deeper than success and glory. (North American Premiere)

VISIONS

Visions filmmakers are audacious, risk-taking artists in the new cinema landscape who demonstrate raw innovation and creativity in documentary and narrative filmmaking.

1985

Director/Screenwriter: Yen Tan

A young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal a distressing secret to his loved ones. Cast: Cory Michael Smith, Virginia Madsen, Michael Chiklis, JAMIE CHUNG, Aidan Langford, Ryan Piers Williams (World Premiere)

Don't Leave Home

Director/Screenwriter: Michael Tully

An American artist's obsession with a disturbing urban legend leads her to an investigation of the story's origins at the crumbling estate of a reclusive painter in Ireland. Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Lalor Roddy, Helena Bereen, David McSavage, Karrie Cox (World Premiere)

Elizabeth Harvest (United Kingdom)

Director/Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez

Elizabeth Harvest is a Science fiction reimagining of the French folktale of Bluebeard, in which a violent nobleman in THE HABIT of murdering his wives is confronted by a new wife trying to avoid the fate of her predecessors. Cast: Abbey Lee, Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino, Matthew Beard, Dylan Baker (World Premiere)

Friday's Child

Director/Screenwriter: A.J. Edwards

Fresh out of foster care at age 18, a young drifter turns to petty crime to survive, and discovers an impossible love in an unlikely friend. Cast: Tye Sheridan, Imogen Poots, Jeffrey Wright, Caleb Landry Jones (World Premiere)

Meow Wolf: Origin Story

Directors: Morgan Capps, Jilann Spitzmiller, Screenwriters: Jilann Spitzmiller, Morgan Capps, Christina Procter

A group of artists, punks, and weirdos create a subversive DIY collective to disrupt the art establishment in Santa Fe, NM, which in the face of internal turmoil evolves into a cultural phenomenon on the path to becoming a global creative empire. (World Premiere)

More Human Than Human (Netherlands, United States)

Directors: Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting

More Human Than Human explores what it means to live in the age of intelligent machines. During this quest, the filmmaker finds out how much of his creativity and human values are at stake as he builds his own robot to replace himself as a filmmaker. (World Premiere)

Perfect

Director: Eddie Alcazar, Screenwriter: Ted Kupper

A young man with a violent past enters a mysterious clinic where the patients wildly transform their bodies and minds using genetic engineering. Cast: Garrett Wareing, Courtney Eaton, Tao Okamoto, Maurice Compte, Abbie Cornish, Martin Sensmeier, Sarah McDaniel, Chris Santos, Leonardo Nam, Regan 'Busdriver' Farquhar (World Premiere)

Pet Names

Director: Carol Brandt, Screenwriter: Meredith Johnston

When her ill mother urges her to take a vacation from her caretaking, grad-school-dropout Leigh invites her ex along on the camping trip. The two soon find that confronting old wounds during a weekend in the woods is anything but restful. Cast: Meredith Johnston, Rene Cruz, Stacy Parish, Chelsea Norment, Jake Bradley, Lilliana Winkworth, Christina Seo (World Premiere)

Profile

Director: Timur Bekmambetov, Screenwriters: Britt Poulton, Timur Bekmambetov, Olga Kharina

Looking to investigate recruitment techniques of ISIS to lure women into Syria, Amy Whitaker, a journalist, creates a Facebook profile of a Muslim convert. When an ISIS recruiter contacts her online character, she experiences the process first hand. Cast: Valene Kane, Shazad Latif, Christine Adams, Morgan Watkins, Amir Rahimzadeh (North American Premiere)

Prospect (Canada, United States)

Directors/Screenwriters: Zeek Earl, Chris Caldwell

A teenage girl and her father travel to a remote moon on THE HUNT for elusive riches. But there are others roving the moon's toxic forest and the job quickly devolves into a desperate fight to escape. Cast: Sophie Thatcher, Pedro Pascal, Jay Duplass, Andre Royo, Sheila Vand, Anwan Glover (World Premiere)

Relaxer (Netherlands, United States)

Director/Screenwriter: Joel Potrykus

Y2K is approaching fast, but Abbie can't get off the couch until he beats an unbeatable level on Pac-Man. Cast: Joshua Burge, David Dastmalchian, Andre Hyland, Adina Howard, Amari Cheatom (World Premiere)

Rukus

Director: Brett Hanover, Screenwriters: Brett Hanover, Alanna Stewart, Rukus

A hybrid of documentary and fiction, Rukus is a queer coming-of-age story set in the liminal spaces of furry conventions, southern punk houses, and virtual worlds.

Thy Kingdom Come

Director: Eugene Richards

A cancer patient mad at God; a Klansman seeking redemption; a mother blamed for her baby's death; an elderly woman never not in love; a priest who doesn't pass judgment, who listens: Interwoven, unscripted stories of life in a small mid-America town. Cast: Javier Bardem, Callie Eldred, Tasia Moore, Joshua Collins, Adam Watters, Samantha Jo Chism Watters, Melvin Kemp, Melvin Cook, Kathryn Von Glahn, Eric Eudy (World Premiere)

Wild Honey Pie! (United Kingdom)

Director/Screenwriter: Jamie Adams

Gillian and Oliver have reached the Seven Year Itch moment in their Marriage, being of the melodramatic persuasion they itch till their relationship bleeds! Cast: Jemima Kirke, Alice Lowe, Sarah Solemani, Brett Goldstein, Joanna Scanlon, Richard Elis, Dan Clark, William Thomas (World Premiere)

Wobble Palace

Director: Eugene Kotlyarenko, Screenwriters: Story by Dasha Nekrasova, Eugene Kotlyarenko

A week before the 2016 election, a couple on the verge of a nervous break-up decide to split their home over the weekend and test the waters of independence. Cast: Dasha Nekrasova, Eugene Kotlyarenko, Jack Kilmer, Paige Elkington, Caroline Hebert, Casey Jane Ellison, Vishwam Velandy, Janiva Ellis, Kim Ye, Elisha Drons (World Premiere)

EPISODIC

Featuring innovative new work aimed squarely at the small screen, Episodic tunes in to the explosion of exciting material on non-theatrical platforms, including serialized TV, webisodes and beyond.

Barry

Director: Bill Hader, Screenwriters: Alec Berg, Bill Hader

Barry features Bill Hader as a low-rent hitman from the Midwest. Lonely and dissatisfied in his life he begrudgingly travels to Los Angeles to kill someone and ends up finding an accepting community in a group of eager hopefuls within the LA theater scene. Cast: Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg, Glenn Fleshler, Anthony Carrigan (World Premiere)

Condor

Directors: Lawrence Trilling, Andrew McCarthy, Screenwriters: Jason Smilovic, Todd Katzberg

Inspired by Paramount's Sydney Pollack 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor. Condor follows Joe Turner (Max Irons), a young CIA analyst whose idealism is tested when he stumbles onto a terrible plan that threatens millions of lives. Cast: Max Irons, William Hurt, Leem Lubany, Mira Sorvino, Brendan Fraser, Bob Balaban, Angel Bonnani, Katherine Cunningham, Christina Moses, Kristen Hager

(World

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