No Letting Go with Round Table Interview

Mental illness is a category of disorders that can completely distort the perception of life for someone. Our brains are our source of control of our body and this idea is presented in the rawest way possible in No Letting Go.

The story follows an affluent family who has a son who is diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. We are taken through this family’s desperate time of trying to attain peace for their child. Timothy, the affected boy, is played by Noah Silverman in an enrapturing way. The main supporter of Timothy is his mother, Catherine, who is played by Cheryl Allison.

From the beginning, we see Timothy stare out onto a stage from the side just waiting. We get that sense that he is stuck. We see Timothy at 10 years old feeling a complete sense of being overwhelmed where it is painful to him. This character can’t even get out of the car. When first reacting to Timothy’s behavior, the father is impatient and the usual “man” character. I saw that absence of understanding that came from the Dad as I have seen similar behavior in other male characters of stories. We see Timothy lying in his bed with covers all around him with an immense sense of fatigue and depression. I felt the gripping helplessness that the character feels. This film had a magnificent way of getting to your heart and making you realize what mental illness is. It instilled empathy in me beyond bounds. Timothy experiences events that should make a boy excited but instead he is penetrated by the dark mind. He can’t have the feeling of happiness at a birthday party and is instead trapped.

There is a scene that is so angering but true when the other soccer moms witness Timothy having an episode. They immediately judge him and his mother while having no education on mental health. They have no empathy with what Catherine is going through. I’m sure this scene has been occurring in real life many times for parents with children who have mental disorders. The film brought to a grey light the dire pain that Timothy was experiencing. It brilliantly captures Timothy trying to drown himself as the water drips down the bathtub side in some excellent cinematography. Even after Tim’s younger brother has headphones placed on him during the most breaking scene in the film, we feel some good with the white fade at the end. No Letting Go takes those with mental health issues and those without on a trying journey that puts facts in front of our eyes while trying to break the stigma of mental illness. It is a truly outstanding story.
(Review by Wyatt Head)

Randi Silverman: Co-writer and Co-producer for film No Letting Go
Cheryl Allison: role of Catherine Spencer in film
3/29/2016 at La Madeleine in Dallas.

Remember

Remember is one of those films that gets in your psyche and rewires some things to make you remember in the future. The film follows Zev Gutman, who is played by Christopher Plummer, as he is lead on a journey facilitated by a nursing home companion, Max, to kill a Nazi from their past. The film features an awe-inspiring performance by Christopher Plummer as we see his elderly character struggling with dementia in an outside world. After seeing a Nazi-era related film, I was hit at home by this thriller. The way that Max uses Zev to fulfill this mission is as risky as it is brilliant. Throughout the film, we see the environment of nursing homes and are reminded of Zev’s escape from the tiredness there. I noticed how the guide, Max, was in a wheelchair but had all of his mental capacity. It was a thoughtful connection to have Max be guiding Zev, who was able to walk but again had dementia. One sees Max by the phone which is his sole way to operate the mission and you feel a sense of need by his character. When I first saw Zev step out of the residency and take a taxi, I felt very concerned for him. Yes, this is a fictional movie of course and not a documentary. It is incredible where Plummer’s Zev goes throughout the film and the cinematography that is captured with that. He even crosses country lines in and out of Canada. With his multiple episodes of dementia, Zev is kept alive by a letter that Max has thoroughly written. As an audience, we feel a sense of care between the friends. There is a scene of misunderstanding that hurts and presses my heart. It is one where Zev pulls out a gun on someone that he thinks is the Nazi he’s looking for. It turns out that this frail person lying flat and who can barely talk is a homosexual from a camp. The man shows him his arm containing prisoner numbers and Zev cries in the bed in one of the most powerful scenes in the film. Plummer has a fantastic sense of emotion that is amplified only sometimes in the story. We are at another time reminded of just how frightening current hatred can get. Dean Norris brilliantly and terribly portrays this in a scene that turns from good to outright evil. Remember is certainly a thriller that has us visit needed areas of our minds.
(Review by Wyatt Head)

Movies Scheduled 3/27-4/2

Happy Easter everyone!! I hope y'all are having a great day!

Thank goodness the big movie is over and done. That was a whole lot of work!

Please remember we don't get paid to do this. Now me I have a job at night so I have to sleep during the day and Reesa has a life as well. We don't just sit on top of the computer to post things. As soon as we get to computer we post stuff, sure if all passes have been claimed then we don't post it. So complaining about we post stuff late won't help. We try our best! That is why we asked y'all if you see something post it to the facebook group page. We really do want y'all to get the passes!!

If you have any questions please email me at damitdaina@hotmail.com.


Sunday March 27th


Monday March 28th

I Saw The Light Angelika Dallas


Tuesday March 29th

Midnight Special Angelika Dallas


Wednesday March 30th

The Huntsman: Winter's War Cinemark West


Thursday March 31st


Friday April 1st


Saturday April 2nd

City of Gold

This amazing story of Pulitzer Prize-winner, food critic, Jonathan Gold who shared his flavor for Los Angeles food and culture. With his incredible talent in creating the right flow of words he helped countless of well deserve immigrant chefs to realize their dreams of success. He captured the audience with his unique talent of being a critic as he reviewed small restaurants and food establishments.

Jonathan Gold revealed his journey for being a good critic due his love for food and Los Angeles. During his early experience, he discovered his curiosity listing countless reasons for choosing these small vendors and small restaurants in some of the unusual areas of Los Angeles to write his reviews. He chose the under establishment cafes and places where he knew no one would ever rate their food. As an audience no would ever known these places existed without Jonathan Gold’s electrifying reviews. He let his readers know it was not about the fact that he had to love every single dish that he ate but he focused and wrote about the experiences in tasting food from their culture and respecting the culture in their natural form. When he wrote his reviews, it was as he was writing poetry. He knew many of these chefs and their establishments would never have a review considered in their neighbors. For the chefs and owners starting a food establishments during those times was not about getting a review but about surviving and keeping the family financially stable. Many of these small establishments had no renowned chefs. Many of them had never been to culinary school. Their only experience of being great cooks was passed down from parents and from generations of great cooks in their families. But the food was good. He took great pleasure in tasting simple dishes of food from Mexico, India and Vietnam and wrote about their food as if it was a work of art. Due to Gold’s review, many of those owner/chef were able to take advantage of the great reviews.

The directors did a thorough job of allowing not only Jonathan Gold to share his story but also allow some of the chefs to share their stories too. The storyline was not boring at it first appeared but it was very well written and kept the audience captivated. The editing and picture was distorted at time but it balanced out in the end. This was a good movie. The next time you see a food truck or small out of the way eatry, you may want to take a chance!
(Review by Dr. Dwanna Swan-Ary)

Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice

I went into Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice with a wide open mind. Hadn’t read any reviews. Didn’t know any spoilers.  I am not a fangirl and don’t know all the storylines by heart, nor what is right on screen of terribly off.  That said, I settled in for a night of entertainment.  Both of our superheroes are on the low end of the public popularity scale. Superman’s collateral damage losses fighting General Zod from the previous film that centered on him and his rise to superhero we all know and love, with the Kansas upbringing and backstory.   I had no expectations. Nothing to disappoint.

I liked Brit Henry Cavill’s portrayal of the Caped Crusader in Man of Steel. It was more than adequate for the time but it appears that there was no desire to develop his character at all in this installment and that was a disappointment.  Batman has been portrayed by many over the years and the masses were looking forward to seeing what Ben Affleck would do with the role.  He is moody, broody and on a vigilante bent. He feels the need to torture those he interrogates now.  With the world populace fearing that Superman’s good deeds aren’t worth the corresponding death and massive property destruction that follows his saves, Batman seems to think he needs to take seek him out and teach him a lesson. Silly stuff.  Amy Adams is our new Lois Lane.  A smart, driven and professional reporter as always, she is in the Middle East, doing some scoop terrorist interviews when things go south and Superman must rescue her, but at more great loss. But they are a couple and in love and living together now.  Gotta take care of business at home first.  A new, crazier, more neurotic Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg in a speed induced reincarnation of his Mark Zuckerberg role in The Social Network) is in the background, plotting and fretting about both of them and complicating and muddling the story line. Jesse is somewhat entertaining to watch, if you like watching insane people.  It is a different portrayal that may disappoint. A more adolescent and immature version of the Lexes we have seen before. He is going to change what is left of Zod into a newer, tougher, more indestructible foe for the duo to battle.  Imagine a foe that when energy is spent attacking it, it absorbs and grows even stronger.   There will be kryptonite.  Lex, Batman and lots of people want it. For good. For evil.  And yes, we get to see Bruce Wayne’s parents die all over again, and again. We get it. The kid is a little messed up now.   He mansion is a ruin and Robin is long gone. He has become a womanizing, brooding, dark dark man with few redeeming qualities.  Jeremy Irons give us our new Albert.  He doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose other than someone to brood to.

Ok, so we know the duo are going to fight.  But the motives are just not strong enough for the showdown to take place. And what happens to the two does not happen for a good enough reason.  It is really really ridiculous.  Batman appears to just need a year or two of therapy at the first climax. Poor guy.  Then there is the new giant metamorphosized bad guy. The is a formidable foe but a pretty annoying one.   Wonder Woman (Gil Gadot) makes an appearance (to cheers and claps)to help battle the big black monster that growls, and the stage is set for the next two Justice League films where all the superheroes need to get together to fight the forces of evil.   Gotham and Metropolis are across the water from each other.  That feels strange.  Superman reconnects with his parents, in his mind and in person and shows us that he needs a little short term therapy too, but he did let his father die in the last film so he could remain anonymous. Holly Hunter (Senator Finch), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), and Jeremy Irons  as Alfred are sadly underused. The Batmobile is a flat tank. I must admit the level of urban destruction during all of these battles is way over the top.  Billions lost as well as hundreds if not thousands of lives gone as a result.  That is not the old Superman and Batman I knew.  Bulls in china closets.
 
The music was cool, the effects over the top, the sound deafening, the brightness blinding,  the storyline disjointed and way too complicated to make total connected sense in the end. I think director Zack Snyder was really just trying too hard to fulfill what he perceived as the fan base’s expectations. The chase scenes and battle scenes are pretty cool…although there is a Batman fight scene that appears awkwardly fake and too disjointedly choreographed.  It just didn’t look real. The final battle is over 25 minutes long in a 2 ½ hour film.  Superman just doesn’t take off and land anymore.  He plummets to earth with an explosive bang and jets to the sky like a missile. Over dramatized for effect.  Dream sequences, flashbacks, nightmares.  They were all utilized.  There was clapping at the end.  Some will be happy and satisfied.  Most will be a little disappointed, I feel.  Is it worth the price of admission?  Probably.  Most critics are not impressed.  This one can be for the young people who aren’t so hard to please.
(Review by Cheryl Wurtz)
   

The Dallas International Film Festival 2016 Full Schedule

The Dallas Film Society announces the full schedule for the 10th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival (April 14-24)


Academy Award-nominated DP Ed Lachman will receive the Dallas Star Award, and legendary director Monte Hellman will receive the first L.M. “Kit” Carson Maverick Award


USA Network’s Queen of the South debuts first episode on the big screen as Centerpiece presentation


Nine world premieres include Shaun M. Colón’s A FAT WRECK, Alix Blair and Jeremy M. Lange’s FARMER/VETERAN, Ben Caird’s HALFWAY, Ciaran Creagh’s IN VIEW, Jeff Barry’s OCCUPY, TEXAS, Willie Baronet and Tim Chumley’s SIGNS OF HUMANITY, Jenna Jackson and Anthony Jackson’s UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, and the next episode in Randal Kleiser’s VR series, Defrost


Dallas,TX (March 21,2016) –The Dallas Film Society today announced the full schedule of film selections for the 10th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival. The list of titles and events are led by an Opening Weekend Celebration at the Dallas City Performance Hall (2520 Flora Street), Presented by One Arts Plaza on April 14-17. Centerpiece Gala presentations include the first episode for the USA Network’s locally shot new television series, Queen of the South, and the previously announced selection of Chris Kelly’s OTHER PEOPLE. The famed Dallas Star Award will be presented to Academy Award-nominated cinematographer, Ed Lachman, and the inaugural presentation of the L.M. Kit Carson Maverick Filmmaker Award to director Monte Hellman.


The Opening Weekend Celebration will serve as one of the anchor events for Dallas Arts Week (April 10-17) as DIFF continues to put film on the arts pedestal in the City of Dallas.


Among the 113 films (63 features, 50 shorts), representing 31 countries, are nine films making their world premieres, including Shaun M. Colón’s A FAT WRECK, Alix Blair and Jeremy M. Lange’s FARMER/VETERAN, Ben Caird’s HALFWAY, Ciaran Creagh’s IN VIEW, Jeff Barrry’s OCCUPY, TEXAS, Willie Baronet and Tim Chumley’s SIGNS OF HUMANITY, and Jenna Jackson and Anthony Jackson’s UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT joining the previously announced THREE DAYS IN AUGUST (directed by Johnathan Brownlee) and DAYLIGHT’S END (directed by William Kaufman), as well as the world premiere of the next episode in Randal Kleiser’s groundbreaking VR series, Defrost. U.S Premieres include Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang’s HOTEL DALLAS, and Emre Şahin’s TAKIM (THE TEAM), as well as the previously announced ORION (directed by Asiel Norton).


Films in the Narrative Competition are: Carlo Lavagna’s ARIANNA, Maris Curran’s FIVE NIGHTS IN MAINE, Ben Caird’s HALFWAY, Creagh’s IN VIEW, Diego Luna’s MR. PIG, Greg Kwedar’s TRANSPECOS, and Elizabeth Wood’s WHITE GIRL


Films in the Documentary Feature Competition are: Keith Fulton and Lou Pepe’s THE BADKIDS, Garrett Zevgetis’s BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS,Blair and Lange’s FARMER/VETERAN, Nanfu Wang’s HOOLIGAN SPARROW, Patrick Shen’s IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE, Jessica Dimmock and Christopher LaMarca’s THE PEARL, and Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s SONITA.


The recipients of the 2016 DIFF awards will receive MOVIE MAGIC Budgeting and Scheduling software bundles from Entertainment Partners.


Films in the Texas Competition(with the winner receiving a camera rental package valued at $30,000 courtesy of Panavision) are: Berndt Mader’s BOOGER RED, Kaufman’s DAYLIGHT’S END, Brenda Greene Mitchell and Sam Wainwright Douglas’s HONKY TONK HEAVEN: LEGEND OF THE BROKEN SPOKE, Jeff Barry’s OCCUPY, TEXAS, Clay Liford’s SLASH, Keith Maitland‘s TOWER, and Jenna Jackson and Anthony Jackson’s UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.


Films eligible for the Silver Heart Award (Presented by the Embrey Family Foundation and bestowed on an individual or film for their dedication to fighting injustices and/or creating social change for the improvement of humanity. The Silver Heart Award winner receives a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Embrey Family Foundation) include: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, and Jeremy Newberger’s THE ANTHROPOLOGIST, Fulton and Pepe’s THE BAD KIDS, Blair and Lange’s FARMER/VETERAN, Wang’s HOOLIGAN SPARROW, Dimmock and LaMarca’s THE PEARL, Maghami’s SONITA, and Jackson and Jackson’s UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.


The Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation Audience Awards will be presented to: Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Short Film.



“This year’s 10th anniversary edition of the Dallas International Film Festival appropriately does what we do best: present films from around the world, independently produced, and locally shot productions, that are entertaining, exciting, surprising, and challenging for Dallas audiences to see for the first and possibly the only time,” said James Faust, Artistic Director of the Dallas Film Society. “In our 10th year, we will once again bring to Dallas our favorite films from the festival circuit, as well as new discoveries, we’ll celebrate the work of film legends and amazing artists behind the camera, and we’ll add some brand new, fun wrinkles to our programming – like the debut of a locally shot television series. and the next episode of a new VR series, as well.”


As a nod to the vibrant film and television production hub that the city of Dallas has been over the past decade, DIFF will debut the first episode of the USA Network’s new series, Queen of the South as its Centerpiece presentation on Saturday, April 16 at the Dallas City Performance Hall. Based on the global best-selling novel “La Reina Del Sur,” by internationally-acclaimed author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Queen of the South is a thrilling drama following the journey and exploits of a woman (played by Alice Braga) who is forced to run and seek refuge in America after her boyfriend, a drug-dealer, is murdered in Mexico. As she faces new challenges and dangers, she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run.


On Friday, April 15, DIFF will also make a special presentation of the world premiere of Willie Baronet and Tim Chumley’s documentary, SIGNS OF HUMANITY at the Dallas City Performance Hall. The film documents artist and professor Willie Baronet’s cross-country trip from Seattle to New York City as part of his ongoing campaign to purchase more than 1,000 homeless signs over the past 22 years, then use them to create installations to raise awareness about homelessness. Since the film festival’s inception, the Dallas Film Society has made a dedicated effort toward working with and contributing to local Dallas-based charities and non-profits, and once again, putting their “film festival” where their heart is, DIFF and The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center will utilize the screening of the film as a fundraiser to aid Dallas’ homeless community and those in need.


Three world premieres promise to be major events in Dallas, with the likelihood of more than a few emotional moments on screen and in-person. Caird’s HALFWAY looks at the systemic failure of the American prison system via a drama starring THE BLIND SIDE’s Quinton Aaron, and a supporting cast including Jeffrey DeMunn (The Walking Dead), Amy Pietz (Caroline in the City), and Gillian Zinser (90210), with several expected to be in attendance. Barry’s OCCUPY, TEXAS is a locally produced drama that follows a washed up Occupier who returns home after the death of his parents to find himself responsible for his two teenage sisters and his Texas-sized past. The film’s cast includes Gene Gallerano, Lorelei Linklater, Catherine Elvir, Janine Turner, Nikki Moore, Reed Birney,Paul Benjamin, David Matrangaand, Peri Gilpin with some expected to be on hand at the screening. Jackson and Jackson’s UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT, about a 2006 case where a four-year-old died mysteriously of salt poisoning and his foster mother was charged with capital murder, and sent to prison for life is almost certain to inspire an emotional response from the Dallas audiences.


A heartfelt drama, Ciaran Creagh’s IN VIEW, and a stirring documentary, Alix Blair and Jeremy M. Lange’s FARMER/VETERAN will also make their world premieres at DIFF. IN VIEW follows a woman’s extreme attempt to right a wrong, make peace with a past drunken indiscretion and placate her soul, while FARMER/VETERAN deals with an Iraq war veteran’s struggles to acclimate himself to life on the farm, as he is haunted by, and actually missing somewhat, the experience of war. Another documentary making its world premiere is Shaun M. Colón’s A FAT WRECK, which tells the story of founders Fat Mike (of the legendary punk band NOFX) and his ex-wife Erin Kelly-Burkett, spanning the birth, growth, struggles, and survival of the Fat Wreck Chords label.


Randal Kleiser’s VR series, Defrost, stars Tanna Frederick (who also produces), Harry Hamlin, Bruce Davison, Christopher Atkins and Carl Weathers, in a virtual reality experience of a woman who has been awakened after being cryogenically frozen for 30 years. She immediately finds her family has aged while she has not, and in some cases have become strangers to her now. The debut episode made a splash at Sundance, and this would be the first opportunity for the public to experience the next episode in the series – which places the viewer in the newly revived woman’s shoes and allows them to see the world as she sees it and her family and friends, as they interact with her. Kleiser, Frederick and one of the other stars from the project will be in attendance and participate in a special panel on storytelling in the VR world.


A hallmark of the Dallas International Film Festival has been presentation of the Dallas Star Award. Joining the illustrious group of legends and notable film artists that have received the award, will be cinematographer Ed Lachman. Nominated for an Academy Award this year for his sublime work on Todd Haynes’ masterpiece CAROL, and known for his masterful and influential work on films like DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN, TRUE STORIES, LIGHT SLEEPER, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, ERIN BROCKOVICH, and LIFE DURING WARTIME, Lachman will receive his award during the DFS Honors Presented by the Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation event at The Highland Dallas (5300 E. Mockingbird Lane) on Friday, April 22, as well as participate in a special Q&A following the screening of another of his classic collaborations with Haynes, FAR FROM HEAVEN, for which he received his first Oscar nomination.


This year will also mark the first presentation of the L.M. Kit Carson Maverick Filmmaker Award. Named after the iconic and influential Texas film artist (PARIS, TEXAS) who was a true friend of the film festival and frequent attendee, and designed to honor filmmakers that exemplify the unique visionary work that Carson was known for, the Maverick Award will first go to director Monte Hellman. In a career spanning six decades, Hellman has personified cutting edge filmmaking across multiple genres, working within budgets from high-to-low, and cast from stars to unknowns. Two films in particular, THE SHOOTING (1966),and TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) are examples of Hellman’s rare ability to take two vastly different genres - the western and the road movie, and deconstruct, strip them down, and make them into singular entries in what is a remarkably diverse filmography. Hellman began working with legendary producer Roger Corman, debuting with BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959), and later delivered another of his more notable films, RIDE THE WHIRLWIND (1966) for Corman, further cementing his reputation among critics, fellow filmmakers, and cinephiles, as a director with a singular and influential style. After an unusually long hiatus (more than 20 years), Hellman came back to the big screen with a vengeance with the visionary neo noir, ROAD TO NOWHERE (2010).


The Maverick section will include Ungur and Huang’s HOTEL DALLAS, which mixes fiction and documentary in a story set in the 80s, in the twilight of communist Romania, where Dallas is the only American show allowed on TV. The show inspires a man to build the Hotel Dallas, a life-size copy of the “Dallas” mansion, while his daughter immigrates to America, becomes an artist, and directs a film starring Patrick Duffy, as a soap opera character who dies in Texas and wakes up in Romania, in a hotel that looks just like home. And to continue the meta-theme, Duffy is expected to attend the screening. Norton’s gritty ORION stars David Arquette and Lily Cole in a sci-fi film set in a future dark age, after civilization has collapsed, where rumors and prophecies of a savior has survivors onedge.Meanwhile,ahunter fights tosaveamaidenfrom acannibal shaman and searches for the world's last city. Arquette is also expected to attend the screening.


Previously announced, is a special concert and screening celebrating the career of award-winning composer John Williams at the Dallas City Performance Hall on Saturday, April 16. The Dallas Winds, also honoring a significant anniversary – their 30th, begin the afternoon with a performance of some of Williams’s signature works. A Q&A with Dallas Winds Artistic Director and Conductor, Jerry Junkin, will follow as the Hall is prepared for a special screening of Steven Spielberg’s family classic, E.T. – THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, which will also include a special Q&A with the film’s star, Henry Thomas.


Additional highlights among the feature film selections in this year’s edition of DIFF include Ben Wheatley’s highly anticipated HIGH-RISE, starring Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller, Elizabeth Moss, Luke Evans, and Jeremy Irons, ONCE’s John Carney’s musical romance SING STREET, Elizabeth Wood’s controversial semi-autobiographical WHITE GIRL., and another fascinating narrative/documentary hybrid, BOOGER RED. Directed by Berndt Mader, BOOGER RED delves into the American legal system, as it examines an investigation of purportedly the largest child sex ring in Texas history--inside of a swinger’s club in Mineola, TX.


Award winners from past festivals also dot the schedule, including recent SXSW winners, like Greg Kwedar’s TRANSPECOS (Narrative Film Audience Award), Keith Maitland’s TOWER (Documentary Grand Jury and Audience Award), and HONKY TONK HEAVEN: LEGEND OF THE BROKEN SPOKE (24 Beats Per Second Audience Award), joining the previously announced selection of Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami’s SONITA, which was the winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Awards. Finally, the celebration of films enjoying anniversaries themselves along with DIFF itself include the 20th Anniversary of Julia Dyer’s delightful lesbian comic romance, LATE BLOOMERS (1996), and Mike Nichols’ acidic relationship parlor game, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966), celebrating its 50th Anniversary.


Once again, the Dallas Film Society has teamed up with DART for their successful partnership called DART to DIFF. Many DIFF activities and events take place in the heart of Dallas and the partnership with DART will provide quick and convenient transportation for all festival attendees.

Online ticket sales will be available for Dallas Film Society members beginning Monday, March 21 at DallasFilm.org, and will open to the public on Thursday, March 24. The physical Prekindle Box Office at Mockingbird Station will open on Thursday, March 31.



THE 2016 DIFF OFFICIAL SELECTIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS


CENTERPIECE GALA SELECTION


OTHER PEOPLE
Director: Chris Kelly
Country: USA, Running Time: 97min
A struggling New York City comedy writer, fresh from breaking up with his boyfriend, moves to Sacramento to help his sick mother. Living with his conservative father and younger sisters, David feels like a stranger in his childhood home. As his mother worsens, he tries to convince everyone (including himself) he’s “doing okay.” The film stars Molly Shannon and Jesse Plemons.


CENTERPIECE GALA SELECTION


Queen of the South - Pilot Director: Charlotte Sieling
Country: USA, Running Time: 42min
Based on the global best-selling novel “La Reina Del Sur,” by internationally-acclaimed author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, QUEEN OF THE SOUTH tells the powerful story of Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga), a woman who is forced to run and seek refuge in America after her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico. In the process, she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run.



PREMIERE SERIES


COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Director: Joshua Marston
Country: USA, Running Time: 90min
As a man (Michael Shannon) contemplates moving to a new state with his wife for her graduate program, an old flame (Rachel Weisz) - a woman who often changes identities - reenters his life at a birthday dinner party.


HIGH-RISE
Director: Ben Wheatley
Country: UK, Running Time: 119min
HIGH-RISE stars Tom Hiddleston as Dr. Robert Laing, the newest resident of a luxurious apartment in a high-tech concrete skyscraper whose lofty location places him amongst the upper class. Laing quickly settles into high society life and meets the building’s eccentric tenants: Charlotte (Sienna Miller), his upstairs neighbor and bohemian single mother; Wilder (Luke Evans), a charismatic documentarian who lives with his pregnant wife Helen (Elisabeth Moss); and Mr. Royal (Jeremy Irons), the enigmatic architect who designed the building. Life seems like paradise to the solitude-seeking Laing. But as power outages become more frequent and building flaws emerge, particularly on the lower floors, the regimented social strata begins to crumble and the building becomes a battlefield in a literal class war.


MORRIS FROM AMERICA
Director: Chad Hartigan
Country: USA/Germany, Running Time: 89min
A heartwarming and crowd-pleasing coming-of-age comedy with a unique spin, Morris from America centers on Morris Gentry, a 13-year-old who has just relocated with his single father to Heidelberg, Germany. Morris, who fancies himself the next Notorious B.I.G., is a complete fish-out-of-water—a budding hip-hop star in an EDM world. To complicate matters further, Morris quickly falls hard for his cool, rebellious, 15-year-old classmate Katrin.


SING STREET
Director: John Carney
Country: Ireland/USA/UK, Running Time: 105min
SING STREET tales us back to 1980s Dublin seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old-boy named Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) who is looking for a break from a home strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles, while trying to adjust to his new inner-city public school where the kids are rough and the teachers are rougher. He finds a glimmer of hope in the mysterious, über-cool and beautiful Raphina (Lucy Boynton), and with the aim of winning her heart he invites her to star in the band’s music videos. There’s only one problem: he’s not part of a band…yet. She agrees and now Conor must deliver what he’s promised – calling himself “Cosmo” and immersing himself in the vibrant rock trends ofthedecade,heforms abandwithafewlads,andthegrouppours their heartintowriting lyrics and shooting videos.


A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS
Director: Natalie Portman
Country: Israel/USA, Running Time: 98min
Based on Amos Oz's international best-seller, A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS is the story of Oz's youth at the end of the British Mandate for Palestine and the early years of the State of Israel. The film details young Amos' relatinship with his mother and his birth as a writer, looking at what happens when the stories we tell, become the stories we live.


THREE DAYS IN AUGUST – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Johnathan Brownlee
Country: USA, Running Time: 96min
Starring Barry Bostwick, Meg Foster, and Mariette Hartley, the film is about an Irish American artist who is forced to confront her past when both sets of parents come together over a weekend for her to paint a family portrait.



NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION


ARIANNA
Director: Carlo Lavagna
Country: Italy, Running Time: 84min
At the age of nineteen, Arianna still hasn’t had her first period. The hormones that her gynaecologist has prescribed don't seem to have any effect on her development. In the heat of the silent summer afternoons she spends in the family’s hunting lodge in Tuscany, she starts inquiring about her body and her past, to finally face with the true nature of her sexuality and her true identity.


FIVE NIGHTS IN MAINE
Director: Maris Curran
Country: USA, Running Time: 82min
Sherwin is a good man, flawed like any other, but deeply invested in his family and in love with his wife, Fiona. When she returns from visiting her estranged and ill mother and acts distant, he shows concern. Their conversations lead to fights, the worst in their marriage. Fiona no longer sees herself as a mother; she does not want children. Sherwin is confused and angry. The life they have built begins to break down. And before there can be resolution, Fiona dies, in an auto accident after driving distractedly on the freeway. Sherwin is devastated. All that is dear to him — his wife, his sense of self and his future, vanish. In the middle of his grief, Sherwin receives a phone call from the person he least expects, Fiona’s mother. She invites him to visit her in rural Maine, saying: “it might do us both some good.” Sherwin decides to go to Maine, and embarks on an unlikely journey of healing, compassion and empathy.


HALFWAY
Director: Ben Caird
Country: USA, Running Time: 103min
Starring Quinton Aaron (The Blind Side) and Jeff DeMunn (The Walking Dead), HALFWAY tells the story of a recently released convict who faces the conflict of enduring ties with his old criminal world while struggling to adapt to life on probation as the only black man in a conservative white farm town. Among prisoners released in 30 states in 2005roughly 68%wererearrestedwithin3years withover 75%rearrestedwithin5years. Halfway wants to bring to light that there is a serious systematic failure within the American prison system, where a lack of opportunity for those who have transgressed in their past seems to guarantee a future behind bars.


IN VIEW – WORLD PREMIERE


Director: Ciaran Creagh
Country: Ireland, Running Time: 93min
Ruth’s life is one of burgeoning guilt dominated by rage, alcoholism, depression and self-loathing which has its origins in a once-off drunken indiscretion with a work colleague some years previous. Having lost all that was dear to her, Ruth is still trying to seek out help but is coming to realize that there is only one course of action that may placate her soul. To end her life so as her organs can be donated to help others which will, in her mind, be payback for her perceived sins.


MR. PIG
Director: Diego Luna
Country: Mexico, Running Time: 100min
Eubanks (Danny Glover), an old-school pig farmer from California, leaves his foreclosed family farm and sets off on a road trip to Mexico with Howard, his last beloved and very large pig. Ambrose must smuggle Howard across the border to find him a new home. As they embark across Mexico, Eubanks’ drinking and deteriorating health begin to take a toll, derailing their plans. His estranged daughter, Eunice (Maya Rudolph), shows up unexpectedly and joins them on their adventure. Driven by strong convictions and stubbornness in his old ways, Ambrose forges ahead to make sure he finds Howard the home he deserves and potentially mend many of the relationships that mean the most to him.


TRANSPECOS
Director: Greg Kwedar
Country: USA, Running Time: 85min
On a remote desert highway, a makeshift Border Patrol checkpoint is manned by three agents: Flores (Gabriel Luna): with an uncanny ability to track; Davis (Johnny Simmons): joined the Border Patrol with dreams of romancing señoritas and riding on horseback; Hobbs (Clifton Collins Jr): one of the old guard who believes a college degree can’t stop abullet.It's likemostboringdays,butsoonthecontents ofonecar willchangeeverything. What follows is a journey to uncover the surreal, frightening secrets hidden behind the facade of this lonely outpost. The end of the path may cost them their lives along a border where the line between right and wrong shifts like the desert itself.


WHITE GIRL
Director: Elizabeth Wood
Country: USA, Running Time: 88min
Summer, New York City. A college girl falls hard for a guy she just met. After a night of partying goes wrong, she goes to wild extremes to get him back.



DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION


THE BAD KIDS
Directors: Keith Fulton, Lou Pepe
Country: USA, Running Time: 101min
At a remote Mojave Desert high school, extraordinary educators believe that empathy and life skills, more than academics, give at-risk students command of their own futures. This coming-of-age drama watches education combat the crippling effects of poverty in the lives of these so-called "bad kids."


BEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS Director: Garrett Zevgetis
Country: USA, Running Time: 90min
Off a dirt road in rural Maine, a precocious 20-year-old woman named Michelle Smith lives with her mother Julie. Michelle is quirky and charming, legally blind and diagnosed on the autism spectrum, with big dreams and varied passions. Searching for connection, Michelle explores love and empowerment outside the limits of “normal” through a provocative fringe community. Will she take the leap to experience the wide world for herself? Michelle’s joyful story of self-discovery celebrates outcasts everywhere.


FARMER/VETERAN – WORLD PREMIERE
Directors: Alix Blair, Jeremy M. Lange
Country: USA, Running Time: 82min
After three combat tours in Iraq, Alex Sutton attempts a fresh start hatching chickens and raising goats on 43 acres in rural North Carolina. Alex embraces life on the farm with his new love Jessica, but cycles between a state of heightened alert and “feeling zombified” from a cocktail of prescriptions meant to stabilize his injured mind. When Jessica becomes pregnant, the dark past Alex has tried to escape -the loss of his first family, the war he was forced to leave- closes in on him. The farm becomes another battleground. Farmer/Veteran attempts to reconcile the identity of a perfect soldier with the reality of a haunted man determined to hold onto the best chance at peace he has ever known.


HOOLIGAN SPARROW
Director: Nanfu Wang
Country: China, Running time: 84min
Traversing southern China, a group of activists led by Ye Haiyan (AKA Sparrow) protest a scandalous incident where a school principal and a government official allegedly raped six school girls. Sparrow becomes an enemy of the state, but detentions, interrogations, and evictions can’t stop her protest from going viral.


IN PURSUIT OF SILENCE
Director: Patrick Shen
Country: USA, Running Time 81min
In our race towards modernity, amidst all the technological innovation and the rapid growth of our cities, silence is now quickly passing into legend. Beginning with an ode to John Cage’s seminal silent composition 4’33”, the sights and sounds of this film delicately interweave with silence to create a contemplative and cinematic experience that works its way through frantic minds and into the quiet spaces of hearts. As much a work of devotion as it is a documentary, In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound, and the impact of noise on our lives.


THE PEARL
Directors: Jessica Dimmock, Christopher LaMarca
Country: USA, Running Time: 97min
THE PEARL explores the raw emotional and physical experience of being a middle aged to senior transgender woman against the backdrop of post-industrial logging towns in the Pacific Northwest. The film leans into the struggle of those who were reared and successful as men and have reached middle age or later with a burdensome secret they can no longer keep to themselves.


SONITA
Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
Country: Germany/Iran/Switzerland, Running Time: 91min
Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, SONITA tells the inspiring story of Sonita Alizadeh, an 18-year-old Afghan refugee in Iran, who thinks of Michael Jackson and Rihanna as her spiritual parents and dreams of becoming a big-name rapper. For the time being, her only fans are the other teenage girls in a Tehran shelter. And her family has a very different future planned for her: as a bride she's worth $9,000. Iranian director Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami poignantly shifts from observer to participant altering expectations, as Sonita's story unfolds in an intimate and joyful portrait.



TEXAS COMPETITION – SPONSORED BY PANAVISION


BOOGER RED
Director: Berndt Mader
Country: USA, Running Time: 96min
Booger Red is a hybrid narrative/documentary film where fictional journalist, Onur Tukel, investigates the true case of the ‘Mineola Swingers Club’ trials. In 2006, seven people were sentenced to life for purportedly running the largest child sex ring in Texas history--inside of a swingers club in Mineola, Tx. Onur, portraying a veteran reporter, interviews the actual defendants and lawyers involved in the trials. On his journey through the seedy underbelly of east Texas, Onur is forced to confront his own history with abuse while he discovers that the allegations at the root of his investigation might have never happened.


DAYLIGHT’S END – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: William Kaufman
Country: USA, Running Time: 105min
Shot in Dallas and points ranging from East Texas to the West Texas town of Rio (pop. 3) alongthefamedRoute66,thefilm is aharddrivingaction-horror-thriller starringJohnny Strong, Lance Henriksen and Louis Mandylor. It focuses on a rogue drifter who's on a vengefulhunt,years after amysterious plaguehas devastatedtheplanetandturnedmost of humanity into blood-hungry creatures. When he stumbles across a desperate band of survivors inanabandonedpolicestation,thedrifter reluctantly puts his ownthirstfor blood on hold and agrees to help them defend themselves, only to realize that his mission of revenge and theirs may in fact coincide.



HONKY TONK HEAVEN: LEGEND OF THE BROKEN SPOKE
Directors: Brenda Greene Mitchell, Sam Wainwright Douglas C
ountry: USA, Running Time: 75min
George Strait, Willie Nelson, Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, George Jones and Roy Acuff have all been regulars on stage at the world famous honky tonk, The Broken Spoke. With fifty years under its belt buckle “the last of the true Texas dance halls” has endured rapid urban growth and skyrocketing rents due to the passion and hard work of its charismatic, tenacious owners. More than a history of who played and when at this landmark venue, the film reveals a universal story about what it takes to maintain a family business in our increasingly corporate-driven society. Interviews include Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Dale Watson, James Hand, Jesse Dayton, the Waco Brothers and Alvin Crow.


OCCUPY, TEXAS – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Jeff Barry
Country: USA, Running Time: 95min
OCCUPY, TEXAS follows a washed up Occupier (Gene Gallerano) who returns home after the death of his parents to find himself responsible for his two teenage sisters (Lorelei Linklater and Catherine Elvir) and his Texas-sized past. The cast also includes JanineTurner,NikkiMoore,ReedBirney,PaulBenjamin,DavidMatrangaandPeriGilpin.


SLASH
Director: Clay Liford
Country: USA, Running time 100min
Neil is an introverted, questioning high school freshman. His main social outlet is the steamy erotic fan fiction he writes about Vanguard, the brawny, galaxy-hopping hero of a popular sci-fi franchise. When his stories are exposed in class Neil is mortified, but the fearless, effortlessly cool Julia comes to his defense. An erotic fan fic writer herself, Julia pushes Neil to publish his stories to an online “adult” forum, where they quickly grab the attention of the site moderator, Denis. When Neil is invited to present his work at a comic con live-read event, he has to face the fact that Denis’ interest in him may be more than simply professional… perhaps like his own feelings for Julia.


TOWER
Director: Keith Maitland
Country: USA, Running Time: 96min
On August 1st, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. When the gunshots were finally silenced, the toll included 16 dead, three dozen wounded, and a shaken nation left trying to understand. Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way, TOWER reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others.


UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT
Directors: Jenna Jackson, Anthony Jackson
Country: USA, Running Time: 108min
In October 2006 a four-year-old from Corpus Christi named Andrew Burd died mysteriously of salt poisoning. His foster mother, Hannah Overton, was charged with capital murder, vilified from all quarters, and sent to prison for life. But was this churchgoing young woman a vicious child killer? Or had the tragedy claimed its second victim?



DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASE


THE ANTHROPOLOGIST
Directors: Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger
Country: USA, Running Time: 80min
THE ANTHROPOLOGIST considers the fate of the planet through the eyes of an American teenager, whose mother is studying the impact of climate change on indigenous communities. Environmental anthropologist Susie Crate drags her teenage daughter Katie along with her to the farthest reaches of the globe. Featuring commentary from Mary Catherine Bateson, daughter of famed anthropologist Margaret Mead, the film explores how human beings adapt to catastrophic change.


LIFE, ANIMATED
Director: Roger Ross Williams
Country: USA, Running Time: 89min
LIFE, ANIMATED tells the remarkable story of how Owen found in Disney animation a pathway to language and a framework for making sense of the world. By evocatively interweaving classic Disney sequences with verite scenes from Owen’s life, the film explores how identification and empathy with characters like Simba, Jafar, and Ariel forge a conduit for him to understand his feelings and interpret reality. Beautiful, original animations further give form to Owen’s fruitful dialogue with the Disney oeuvre as he imagines himself heroically facing adversity in a tribe of sidekicks. With an arsenal of narratives at his disposal, Owen rises to meet the challenges of adulthood in this moving coming-of-age tale.


LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD
Director: Werner Herzog
Country: USA, Running Time 98min
In LO AND BEHOLD: REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD, the Oscar-nominated Herzog chronicles the virtual world from its origins to its outermost reaches, exploring the digital landscape with the same curiosity and imagination he previously trained on earthly destinations as disparate as the Amazon, the Sahara, the South Pole and the Australian outback. Herzog leads viewers on aj ourney through a series of provocative conversations that reveal the ways in which the online world has transformed how virtually everything in the real world works - from business to education, space travel to healthcare, and the very heart of how we conduct our personal relationships.


TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU
Director: Joe Berlinger
Country: USA, Running Time: 115min
TONY ROBBINS: I AM NOT YOUR GURU, Joe Berlinger’s twelfth feature documentary, captures internationally renowned life and business strategist and best-selling author, Tony Robbins, in a revelatory cinéma vérité film that goes behind the scenes of his mega once-a-year seminar “Date With Destiny," attended by over 2,500 people, to give an insider look at how one man can affect millions. Granted never before seen access, this film is an emotional tour de force, pulling back the curtain on Tony Robbins and unveiling the inner-workings of this life-altering and controversial event, the zealous participants and the man himself.


WEINER
Directors: Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg
Country: USA, Running Time: 96min
With unrestricted access to Anthony Weiner's New York City mayoral campaign, this film reveals the human story behind the scenes of a high-profile political scandal as it unfolds, and offers an unfiltered look at how much today's politics is driven by an appetite for spectacle.



WORLD CINEMA


DEMIMONDE
Director: Attila Szász
Country: Hungary, Running Time: 88min
The story of three women - a famous prostitute, her housekeeper and their new maid -living in Budapest of 1910s, whose passionate, bizarre and complex relationship can only lead to one thing: murder.


DHEEPAN
Director: Jacques Audiard
Country: France, Running Time: 110min
Three Sri Lankan refugees pose as a family to flee their war-ravaged homeland for France, only to find themselves embroiled in violence in the Parisian suburbs. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Jacques Audiard's (A PROPHET) latest is a gripping, human, and timely tale of survival.


DISORDER
Director: Alice Winocour
Country: France, Running Time: 101min
Vincent, a French Special Forces soldier just back from Afghanistan, is suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder. He is hired to ensure the security of Jessie, the
wife of a rich businessman at their luxurious villa “Maryland.” As he starts experiencing a strange fascination for the woman he has to protect, Vincent increasingly seems to fall into paranoia. Unless he is right, and the danger is very real indeed…


JOHNNIE TO’S OFFICE Director: Johnnie To
Country: Hong Kong, Running Time: 120min
Adapted by actress Sylvia Chang from her hit stage play “Design For Living”, the film is a musical set in a corporate high-rise immediately before and after the 2008 financial collapse. The story centers around two assistants starting new jobs at a financial firm. One naively enters the world of high finance with noble intentions, while the other harbors a secret. Chow Yun-fat, Eason Chan and Tang Wei star alongside Chang.


KILL ZONE 2
Director: Cheang Pou-soi
Country: Hong Kong, Running Time: 120min
A undercover cop attempts to find the mastermind of a drug syndicate. When his cover is blown, he winds up in a Thai prison. Surprisingly, he is a bone marrow match for a guard's daughter.


LAST SUMMER
Director: Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli
Country: Italy, Running Time: 94min
A sailing boat is at anchor in a bay off of a Apulian island. Naomi, a young Japanese woman, after having lost custody of her six year-old son, Ken, will be spending her last four days with him on board the boat of her father-in-law. In a hostile environment, Naomi faces thedifficulty ofapproachingKenunder thecontrollingglareofthecrew.Alex notices Naomi’s attempts to connect with Ken and eases his control, entering into conflict with the rest of the crew. When Naomi’s hopes seem lost Ken starts to take an interest in her, thus reducing the distance between them. The crew, in conflict with the captain, informs the boat’s owner. Alex, disobeying his employer’s wishes, takes Naomi and Ken to a beach where they can be alone and bond for the first time. Back on the boat, a timeless day magnifies the weight of their last goodbye and when Ken falls asleep, Naomi must leave. Watching the boat sail away, Naomi sees Ken for one last time wearing the mask she has made for him as a parting gift – the Japanese god of the sea.


MA MA
Director: Julio Medem
Country: Spain/France, Running Time: 111min
Academy Award®-winning actress and producer Penélope Cruz delivers an extraordinarily emotional performance in ma ma, the newest film from acclaimed director Julio Medem (SEX AND LUCÍA). Honoring the high melodrama of Pedro Almodóvar and Douglas Sirk, ma ma follows Magda (Cruz) as she experiences tragedies and miracles alike. Just as Magda is diagnosed with breast cancer, she meets Arturo (Luis Tosar), a devoted husband and father in the midst of unspeakable loss. Their chance encounter leads both down a path of strength, grace, love, and rebirth.


RIVER
Director: Jamie M. Dagg
Country: Canada, Running Time: 88min
In the south of Laos, an American doctor (Rossif Sutherland) becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant's body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control.


TAKIM (THE TEAM) – U.S. PREMIERE
Director: Emre Şahin
Country: Turkey, Running Time: 102min
Takim tells the tale of street soccer players from all walks of life in Istanbul who come together to save their favorite soccer pitch from ruthless developers. The story is loosely based on the very real urban phenomenon happening in Turkey today as corrupt construction giants bully the poor to move out and build immense buildings in their wake. Turgay and Tufan are up against the wall when they are threatened by a construction company to sell their family land, which also happens to be an hourly rental soccer field. Facing eviction from the bank on a loan gone bad, and with no options left, the two turn to the only thing they know: Soccer. Now they must build a strong team and try to win a famous tournament for the prize money for the sake of both their family and their land, all in a matter of weeks.


VIVA
Director: Paddy Breathnach
Country: Ireland/Cuba, Running Time: 100min
Jesus is a hairdresser for a troupe of drag performers in Havana, but dreams of being a performer. When he finally gets his chance to be on stage, a stranger emerges from the crowd and punches him in the face. The stranger is his father Angel, a former boxer, who has been absent from his life for 15 years. As father and son clash over their opposing expectations of each other, Viva becomes a love story as the men struggle to understand one another and become a family again.



LATINO SHOWCASE


ALL THE COLORS OF THE NIGHT
Director: Pedro Severien
Country: Brazil, Running Time: 71min
Iris lives alone in a spacious apartment by the sea. The green horizon seems to distance it from the city in comfortable isolation. At nightfall, the place hosts known and unknown in a frantic party flow. Iris is the main attraction. But on a hung over morning, she finds a corpse in the living room. As in the distorted reflection of a crooked mirror, Iris feels repeating steps of her childhood friend, Tiara, a medical student involved in an accident that resulted in death in the past. Tiara plunges into a spiral of self-pity, sentimental emptying and violence. The case is well known in town and Iris does not want to become another ghost in this dark repertoire of stories. In ALL THE COLORS OF THE NIGHT, reality works as a dimension of imagination, memory and madness.


I PROMISE YOU ANARCHY
Director: Julio Hernández Cordón
Country: Mexico, Running Time: 88min
I PROMISE YOU ANARCHY follows two teenage lovers in Mexico City who become embroiled in the city’s illegal, narco-run blood trade. Newcomers Diego Calva and Eduardo Martínez Peña, non-actors the director found on Facebook, give outstandingly honestandcommittedperformances as younglovers MiguelandJohnny.They skatewith their friends through the chaotic neighborhoods of Mexico City, they revel in their blissful sexuality, and they make a bit of cash in the illegal blood trade. A contact hooks them up with some narcos—drug traffickers who need black-market blood, since they can’t go to hospitals—and it seems like a perfect way to make a lot of money. But the scheme goes off the rails, and Miguel and Johnny are in over their heads, their eyes opened too late to the truly disturbing underground network of clinics servicing those injured in the drug wars.


MAGALLANES
Director: Salvador del Solar
Country: Peru/Colombia/Argentina/Spain, Running Time: 109min
Taxi driver Magallanes (Damián Alcázar) supplements his meager earnings with a job taking an old man (Federico Luppi) out on daily excursions. This old man is now senile and frail, but he was once a much-feared colonel in the Peruvian military during its bloodiest years of conflict with the Shining Path insurgency. Magallanes was his subordinate. One day a woman enters Magallanes' cab. Celina (Magaly Solier) doesn't recognize Magallanes, but he remembers her very well. Many years ago, Celina was a sexual plaything for the Colonel, who kidnapped the young indigenous girl and held her captive in a hotel room for an entire year. Magallanes has a photograph to prove this — a photo he can use to blackmail the Colonel's affluent son (Christian Meier). But can this aging cabbie suddenly transform himself into an extortionist? Or is Magallanes, still in love with Celina after all these years, in over his head?



ROMANCING APRIL
Director: Joel Núñez
Country: Mexico, Running Time: 90min
A romantic comedy in which a male writer who writes under a female pseudonym falls for a femalejournalistwhowrites under amalepseudonym.Whenlovecomes almostalways takes us by surprise and nobody can object.



FAMILY FRIENDLY – SPONSORED BY WHOLE FOODS


LABYRINTH (1986)
Director: Jim Henson
Country: USA, Running Time: 101min
Teenage Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) journeys through a maze to recover her baby brother (Toby Froud) from a goblin king (David Bowie).


ODDBALL
Director: Stuart McDonald
Country: Australia, Running Time: 95min
The true story about an eccentric chicken farmer (Shane Jacobson) who, with the help of his granddaughter,trains his mischievous dogOddballtoprotectawildpenguinsanctuary from fox attacks and in the process tries to reunite his family and save their seaside town.



DEEP ELLUM SOUNDS


A FAT WRECK – WORLD PREMIERE
Director: Shaun M. Colón
Country: USA, Running Time: 85min
A FAT WRECK tells the story of founders Fat Mike (of the legendary punk band NOFX) and his ex-wife Erin Kelly-Burkett, spanning the birth, growth, struggles, and survival of the Fat Wreck Chords label. Half inspirational story of chosen family and community, half debauchery and occasionally involuntary drug use, the film blazes exciting new ground in the cinematic genre of puppet-driven punk rock music documentary filmmaking. Arguably the best film in the history of American cinema featuring a dominatrix spanking a puppet.


MISS SHARON JONES!
Director: Barbara Kopple
Country: USA, Running Time: 93min
Dreams never expire, but sometimes they are deferred. MISS SHARON JONES! tracks the talented and gregarious soul singer of the Grammy-nominated R&B band Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings during the most challenging year of her life. Confronting a cancer diagnosis and her own self doubts, she works to again find her voice and salvage the career that once eluded her for 50 years.



PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW Director: Ido Haar
Country: Israel, Running Time: 80min
The true story of the incredible Princess Shaw and the enigmatic composer Kutiman, who discovers her from the other side of the world. By day, Samantha Montgomery cares for the elderly in one of New Orleans’s toughest neighborhoods. By night, she writes and sings her own songs as Princess Shaw on her confessional YouTube channel. Raw and vulnerable, her voice is a diamond in the rough. Across the globe, Ophir Kutiel creates video mash ups of amateur Youtube performers. Known as Kutiman, he is a composer, a musician, and a pioneering video artist embraced by the world of fine art. Kutiman “transforms sampling into a multimedia art”, whether at his home on a kibbutz in Israel or at a live performance at the Guggenheim in New York. Two strangers, almost 7,000 miles apart, begin to build a song. The film unfolds as Kutiman pairs Princess Shaw’s emotional performances in a beautiful expression of generosity and compassion, revealing the bonafide star underneath and her fight to never give up on her dreams.


A SONG FOR YOU: THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS STORY
Director: Keith Maitland
Country: USA, Running Time: 97min
Packed wall to wall with the greatest music from Texas and beyond, with performances from Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ray Charles, Beck, Alabama Shakes, and Radiohead, A SONG FOR YOU: THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS STORY is music to the ears of fans everywhere. This film highlights the PBS series’ evolution, proving that after 40 years, ACL is more relevant now than ever before. Featuring interviews with dozens of artists andfans,anduntoldinsights from long-timeproducer Terry Lickona,A SONGFOR YOU transcends the TV show and gives audiences a front-row seat and backstage pass to the greatest performances of the longest running music show in television history.



MAVERICK


COLLECTIVE: UNCONSCIOUS
Directors: Lily Baldwin, Frances Bodomo, Daniel Patrick Carbone, Josephine Decker, Lauren Wolkstein
Concept by: Dan Schoenbrun
Country: USA, Running Time: 81min
Five of independent film’s most adventurous filmmakers adapt each other's dreams for the screen. A man and his grandmother hide out from an ominous broadcast. The Grim Reaper hosts aTV show.Theformerly incarceratedrecountandreinterprettheir firstdays of freedom. A suburban mom's life is upturned by the beast growing inside of her. And a high school gym teacher runs drills from inside a volcano.


HOTEL DALLAS – U.S. PREMIERE
Directors: Livia Ungur, Sherng-Lee Huang
Country: USA/Romania, Running Time: 74min
Playfully mixing fiction and documentary, HOTEL DALLAS is a surreal parable of capitalism, communism, and the power of art. In the 80s, in the twilight of communist Romania, “Dallas” is the only American show allowed on TV. Its vision of wealth and glamour captures the imagination of millions. Among them are Ilie and his daughter Livia. He is a small-time criminal and aspiring capitalist; she is in love with the show’s leading man, Patrick Duffy. After communism falls, Ilie builds the Hotel Dallas, a life-size copy of the “Dallas” mansion. Livia immigrates to America, becomes an artist, and directs a film starring Patrick Duffy, as a soap opera character who dies in Texas and wakes up in Romania, in a hotel that looks just like home.


ORION – U.S. PREMIERE
Director: Asiel Norton
Country: USA, Running Time: 110min
In a future dark age, after civilization has collapsed, there are rumors and prophecies of a savior to come. A hunter fights to save a maiden from a cannibal shaman and searches for the world's last city. The film stars David Arquette and Lily Cole



SPECIAL PRESENTATION


E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL (1982)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Country: USA, Running Time: 115min
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home-world.


Defrost – second episode
Director: Randal Kleiser
Country: USA, Running Time: 10min
After being cryogenically frozen for 30 years, Joan Garrison awakens to meet her aged family. The VR series stars Tanna Frederick, Bruce Davison, Harry Hamlin, Christopher Atkins, and Carl Weathers.


FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002)
Director: Todd Haynes
Country: USA, Running Time: 108min
The story - which crosses both sexual and racial lines - revolves around a privileged suburban family whose lives are filled with daily family etiquette, social events at the club, and an overall desire to keep up with the Joneses. The family is turned upside down when both husband and wife are faced with choices that not only create a gossip mill for the entire community but also change their entire lives forever.


LATE BLOOMERS (1996)
Director: Julia Dyer
Country: USA, Running Time: 107min
Who would’ve thought a little one-on-one could get a girl in so much trouble? When high school basketball coach Dinah Groshardt falls for school secretary Carly Lumpkin, the uproar reverberates from classroom to locker room, from the principal’s office to the PTA. A film about true love, tolerance, and naked basketball, LATE BLOOMERS redefines family values. A movie for everyone who believes it’s never too late to fall in love.


THE LIBERATORS
Director: Cassie Bryant
Country: USA, Running Time: 75min
Medieval art treasures seized by the Nazis go missing at the end of World War II. Were they destroyed in the chaos of the final battles? Or were these thousand-year-old masterpieces stolen by advancing American troops? For over forty years, the mystery remained unsolved. A true detective story, THE LIBERATORS follows a dogged German art detective through the New York art world and military archives to the unlikeliest of destinations: a small town on the Texas prairie. The film raises intriguing questions as to the motivations of the art thief and the whereabouts of the items that, to this day, remain waiting to be discovered.


SIGNS OF HUMANITY – WORLD PREMIERE
Directors: Willie Baronet, Tim Chumley
Country: USA, Running Time: 90min
Signs of Humanity is a documentary film that explores the inter-related themes of home, homelessness, compassion and humanity. Artist and professor Willie Baronet has purchased more than 1,000 homeless signs over the past 22 years, and he uses this collection to create installations to raise awareness about homelessness. During the month of July, 2014, Willie and three companions drove across the country, connecting with more than 100 people on the streets and purchasing more than 275 signs. Signs of Humanity is a film about that trip.


WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966)
Director: Mike Nichols
Country: USA, Running Time: 131min
History professor George (Richard Burton) and his boozy wife, Martha (Elizabeth Taylor), return late one Saturday night from a cocktail party at the home of the college president, Martha's father. Martha announces that she invited another couple, newly appointed instructor Nick (George Segal) and his timid wife, Honey (Sandy Dennis), over for a nightcap. When the younger couple arrive, the night erupts into a no-holds-barred torrent of marital angst and verbal tirades.


MIDNIGHT


ANTIBIRTH
Director: Danny Perez
Country: USA/Canada, Running Time: 94min
In a desolate community full of drug-addled marines and rumors of kidnapping, a wild-eyed stoner named Lou wakes up after a crazy night of partying with symptoms of a strange illness and recurring visions. Without being able to remember anything from the night before, she struggles to get a grip on the reality of her situation as unusual conspiracy theories begin to arise.




SHORTS COMPETITION


BACON & GOD’S WRATH
Director: Sol Friedman
Country: Canada, Running Time: 9min

BATTALION TO MY BEAT
Director: Eimi Imanishi
Country: Algeria/USA/Western Sahara, Running Time: 14min

BECOMING
Director: Katie Featherston, Dave Shotwell
Country: USA, Running Time: 15min

BISONHEAD
Director: Elizabeth Lo
Country: USA, Running Time: 9min

THE BLACK BELT
Director: Margaret Brown
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min

BOXING
Directors: Grayson Moore, Aidan Shipley
Country: Canada, Running Time: 13min

THE CHICKENING
Directors: Nick DenBoer, Davy Force
Country: Canada, Running Time: 5min

DIRT
Director: Darius Clark Monroe
Country: USA, Running Time: 7min

EAT PREY
Director: Hannah Pearl Utt
Country: USA, Running Time: 9min

FATA MORGANA
Director: Amelie Wen
Country: China/USA, Running Time: 21min

THE FIRST MEN
Director: Benjamin Kegan
Country: USA, Running Time: 14min

HER FRIEND ADAM
Director: Ben Petrie
Country: Canada, Running Time: 17min

HOMECOMING QUEEN
Director: Robert Machoian
Country: USA, Running Time: 4min

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT IN 4 EASY STEPS
Director: Ben Berman
Country: USA, Running Time: 8min

JOIN THE CLUB
Director: Eva Vives
Country: USA, Running Time: 5min

KHAWADJAT
Director: Bentley Brown
Country: Chad, Running Time: 3min

MAMAN(S)
Director: Maimouna Doucouré
Country: France, Running Time: 21min

MELODY
Director: Jean-Pierre Caner
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min

THE MINK CATCHER
Director: Samantha Buck
Country: USA, Running Time: 13min

MINOR SETBACK
Director: Augustine Frizzell
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min

MORE THAN FOUR HOURS
Director: Bryan Poyser
Country: USA, Running Time: 10min

MY LAST FILM
Director: Zia Anger
Country: USA, Running Time: 9min

NOTES FROM THE BORDER
Director: Iva Radivojevic
Country: Greece, Running Time: 10min

NOTHING HUMAN
Director: Tom Rosenberg
Country: USA, Running Time: 17min

OVER
Director: Jörn Threlfall
Country: UK, Running Time: 14min

PB
Director: Nickolas Grisham
Country: USA, Running Time: 10min

PICKLE
Director: Amy Nicholson
Country: USA, Running Time: 15min

PORTAL TO HELL!!!
Director: Vivieno Caldinelli
Country: Canada, Running Time: 13min

THE PROCEDURE
Director: Calvin Lee Reeder
Country: USA, Running Time: 4min

THE RAIN COLLECTOR
Director: Isabella Wing-Davey
Country: UK, Running Time: 12min

RATE ME
Director: Fyzal Boulifa
Country: UK, Running Time: 17min

THE SEND OFF
Directors: Ivete Lucas, Patrick Bresnan
Country: USA, Running Time: 13min

SISTERS
Director: Chris Osborn
Country: USA, Running Time: 21min

SO GOOD TO SEE YOU
Director: Duke Merriman
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min

TACO TERROR Director: Tyler Rice
Country: USA, Running Time: 4min

TEAPOT
Director: Anonymous
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min

THUNDER ROAD Director: Jim Cummings
Country: USA, Running Time: 13min

VERBATIM: THE FERGUSON CASE
Director: Brett Weiner
Country: USA, Running Time: 17min

VINCENT
Director: Tati Barrantes
Country: USA, Running Time: 13min



ANIMATED SHORTS COMPETITION – SPONSORED BY REEL FX


BOB DYLAN HATES ME
Director: Caveh Zahedi
Country: USA, Running Time: 6min

DEER FLOWER
Director: Kangmin Kim
Country: USA/South Korea, Running Time: 8min

EDMOND
Director: Nina Gantz
Country: UK, Running Time: 9min

GLOVE
Directors: Alexa Lim Haas, Bernardo Britto
Country: USA, Running Time: 5min

I’M GOOD WITH PLANTS
Director: Thomas Harnett O'Meara
Country: UK, Running Time: 8min

THE LONELIEST STOPLIGHT
Director: Bill Plympton
Country: USA, Running Time: 7min

POMBO LOVES YOU
Director: Steve Warne
Country: UK, Running Time: 12min

SNOWFALL
Director: Conor Whelan
Country: Ireland, Running Time: 5min

TRASH CAT
Director: Kelsey Goldych,
Country: USA, Running Time: 2min

WAVES ‘98
Director: Ely Dagher
Country: Lebanon/Qatar, Running Time: 15min


SHORTS BEFORE FEATURES


MIDNIGHT MOTEL
Director: Michael Tully
Country: USA, Running Time: 11min




ABOUT THE DALLAS FILM SOCIETY

The Dallas Film Society celebrates films and their impact on society. A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,

the Dallas Film Society recognizes and honors filmmakers for their achievements in enhancing the creative

community, provides educational programs to students to develop a better understanding of the role of film

in today’s world, and promotes the City of Dallas and its commitment to the art of filmmaking. The annual

Dallas International Film Festival is a presentation of the Dallas Film Society and has been named by Movie

Maker Magazine as one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World.” In addition to producing one of the

largest festivals in the Southwest, the Society produces numerous year round events, screening series and

programs in partnership with arts organizations around the city. The offices of the Dallas Film Society are

located at 3625 North Hall Street, Suite 740, Dallas, TX 75219. For more information about the Dallas Film

Society and its ongoing events, visit www.dallasfilm.org or call (214) 720-0555.


ABOUT DART TO DIFF

DART allows commuters to navigate around Dallas and 12 surrounding cities with modern public transit

services and customer facilities tailored to make transportation fast, comfortable and economical. The new

DART to DIFF partnership is making it even easier for 2016 Dallas International Film Festival-goers to

quickly and safely travel from the 2016 DIFF hub in Mockingbird Station to exciting events around the city.

As the main public transportation provider in Dallas, DART is the perfect partner for the 2016 festival and a

vital resource for movie-goers. In addition, DART pass and ticket holders will receive $2 discount off DIFF

regular ticket prices when purchasing tickets at the DIFF Box Office in Mockingbird Station.



2016 DIFF SPONSORS: ABCO; A&C Texas Magazine; AdChat; Advocate Magazine; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, LLP; Alamo DraftHouse Cinemas DFW; The Angelika Film Center; Austin Film Festival; Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation; Buy LEDs; Cinelease; Cinesend; City of Dallas – Office of Cultural Affairs; The Crow Collection of Asian Art; Commerce House; D Magazine; Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau; Dallas Film Commission; Dallas Morning News; Dallas Museum of Art; Dallas Producers Association; Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District (DTPID); DART; Deep Eddy Vodka; Downtown Dallas Inc.; Earth Day Texas; El Creative; Embrey Family Foundation; Film Freeway; Flagship Marketing; Fun Flicks; The Hall Group; Harwood International; The Highland Dallas, Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office; Hyatt House – Uptown; KD Conservatory; Klyde Warren Park; Levenson; Magnolia Hotel Dallas/Park Cities; Marcs Clips; Media 2-Way; Mockingbird Station; Movie Magic; Murray Media; My Sweet Charity; Nasher Sculpture Center; Nowadays Orange; Panavision; PaperCity; People’s Last Stand; Post Asylum; Prekindle; Pure Evil Sound & Music Design; Radar Creative Studio; ReelFX; Ruthies’s Rolling Café; SAGindie; Selig Polyscope Company; Sewell Motors; Southern Methodist University – Division of Film & Media Arts; Stella Artois; Studio Movie Grill; Texas Association of Film Commissions; Texas Commission of the Arts; Texas Film Commission; Univision; WFAA; Which Wich; Whole Foods Market; Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker; Women In Film

Movies Scheduled 3/20-3/26

Happy first day of Spring!!

It is finally here the week my movie comes out!! Batman vs Superman!! Yes I will be in line with my Batman shirt on. I hope Ben will be a good Batman. I will keep a open mind.

If you are going to ask for passes try not to wait until the last day. The requests don't always come to us as soon as you submit it and we may be in line so we will not be able to approve them. Thank you.

If you have any questions please email me at damitdaina@hotmail.com.

Sunday March 20th


Monday March 21st

City of Gold Magnolia
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 Angelika Dallas


Tuesday March 22nd

Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice AMC Northpark & Cinemark 17


Wednesday March 23rd


Thursday March 24th


Friday March 25th


Saturday March 26th

The Bronze

Opening:
I was in the Olympics once. I actually came in last place and my metal was an empty Coke with a piece of string, it was magical. That didn’t actually happen but I can assume if I came in last that would be my prize. Let’s get reel and break this down.


Plot:
A foul-mouthed former gymnastics bronze medalist must fight for her local celebrity status when a new young athlete's star rises in town.


Directing/Writing


Pros:
Towards the end of the movie, I felt more connected and sympathetic with main character and most the jokes hit.
 
Cons:
Here is where the main issues lie: First, some of the jokes fall flat and felt like desperation with the raunchy humor. Secondly, the main character is extremely unlikable for the first half of the movie. You know when you see a bratty child and think to yourself, “It’s okay; hopefully when they get older they won’t be that way.” Yeah, this movie isn’t like that. The main character is a grown woman and she is extremely bratty and unlikable. I get why she is that way but they should have toned it down. With that said, she did grow on me but not until later in the film. And lastly, most of the supporting characters are either unlikable or complete wusses and at some points it was like experiencing slow torture.


Acting


Pros:
Melissa Rauch is known for her role in the Big Bang Theory and this one really made us forget about her sweet and adorable role in that show and we were introduced to a foul-mouthed Rauch. So I appreciate her trying new things. The second half of the movie is where I really honed in on her character and got behind her actions and I saw glimpses of great acting. Despite on how some of characters are written, I enjoyed all of the actors including Sebastian Stan, which was nice to see him outside of the Marvel Cinematic universe.
 
Cons:
None.


Cinematography


Pros:
A well-shot independent film so no complaints here. There is one really effective dolly shot towards the end that really encapsulates Melissa Rauch’s character and the end of her arc and that was really nice to see.
 
Cons:
None.


Editing/Special Effects


Pros:
Once you get passed some of the unlikable characters, it’s a movie that’s filled with some soul and I found myself enjoying it. However…
 
Cons:
…it was rough at start and could turn some people off from either the characters or the humor itself.


Overall:
It was a humongous hurdle to get over with this movie, but once I did, I found a delightful story of someone who is having trouble moving on from the past. I do like Melissa Rauch and I hope she does more beyond the Big Bang Theory.
 

Grade: C+
(Review by Chase Lee)

My Name is Doris

Movies has always had stories about older men and younger women and no one really says squat about it. But an older woman with a younger man, the response is “tsk tsk...she should no better”. It's hard not to change that attitude when it comes to Sally Field in the title role. She brings such an amazing fresh innocence and vitality to a woman way past her prime who has been invisible most of her life. Written by Michael Showalter and Laura Terruso and directed by Michael Showalter, it sometimes borders on slapstick, but it also hits some of the truths of love and expectations.

Doris has just buried her mother who she has taken care of over the years, putting her own life on hold. Her brother Todd (Stephen Root) and his wife Cynthia (Wendi McLendon-Covey) wants her to see a therapist Dr. Edwards (Elizabeth Reaser) to clean her hoarder stuffed home on Staten Island so they can sell the house and she can move closer to her job. Doris works at a ad agency since forever and basically had been grandfathered in as an accountant. The company has changed hands and it's all young and creative staff. Doris cute meets the new guy, John Fremont (Max Greenfield) in the crowded elevator and he compliments her glasses while sitting them right on her nose. It's a new experience for Doris, who is somewhat taken by the kindness. Thus starts Doris's fantasy world where she is imagining all the possible romantic scenarios with John.

Doris feels suddenly alive with that giddy feeling of first crushes. Her best friend Roz (Tyne Daly) tries to speak reason to Doris, but her daughter Vivian (Isabella Acres) shows her how to look up John on Facebook They create a fake persona to friend him. She discovers John's favorite band Baby Goya and she runs out to buy the CD. The band is playing locally so she decides to go hoping to run into John. Doris is very quirky. She rummages through curbsides for treasures to bring home or decorate her desk. Even her fashion style defies convention for a woman her age. For the hipsters she is deemed “fierce” gaining acceptance by John and his friends. Even the band singles her out and ask her to be on their next album cover. It's a new world for Doris. She considers John's friendship as possibly something more. Until she discovers he has a girlfriend, Brooklyn (Beth Behrs).

The journey Doris takes to experience the world and her place in it is filled with uncomfortable moments. Mostly because you may have been there and done it too. Sally Fields is brilliant as the romance novel heroine of her own making. She is vulnerable, awkward, and totally charming. She holds the screen and your heart. Chick flick, absolutely. The best thing to share with besties.
(Review by reesa)

Miles Ahead

The music of the late great jazz giant trumpeter Miles Davis defies convention. It's free form improvisational style changed the course of modern jazz. Don Cheadle, who co-wrote with Steve Baigleman, co-produced, directed and stars attempts the wild retelling of a moment in the life of Miles Davis later in his career. The movie honors the music, giving little insight on his musical process and a lot of his self involved withdrawal from music world. This is not a straight telling of a story. It weaves in and out of his life and loves while mired in medical problems, drug use and creative block.

Miles calls his music social music because the word jazz boxes it in. In 1975 Miles went silent for 5 years. He's fighting the record label who wants the reel to reel tape he has been working on, but he wants his money first. Enter Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor) who knocks on his door claiming that he's from Rolling Stone and the record company set up the interview. Miles immediately punches him in the face. Apparently everyone knows about the elusive tape and Dave hopes to get a hold of it for his story which he played fast and hard with the truth of his affiliations. Even after meeting with the record company Dave manages to stick next to Miles who comes home to find a party at this house. Dave manages to steal Miles key and almost gets the tape, until one of shady A&R guy and his up and coming client (Lakeith Lee Stanfield) show up, and they end up stealing it. There's a lot of running around after the tape, guns drawn, coke snorted, punches thrown.

There are flashbacks of Fances (Emayatzy Corinealdi), a dancer, that becomes his muse and later his wife. But his erratic behavior, drug use, and insecurity lays to waste what was a beautiful relationship. There's no explanation of the whys and hows of his quirks that cause him to be so self destructive. His demanding and focused musical genius has him working with the talented and greats in his genre. The music weaves in and out of these quick cuts of the past and present offering a bit of insight. Cheadle does a good job embodying the swagger and raspy voice of Davis.

The crazy cartoon chase for the tapes keeps the movie going while the backstory flashes in and out in sort of a riff. The concept seems so disjointed at times. Fortunately the music keeps the movie from totally being frustrating. If nothing else, it makes one want to ITunes some Miles (if you don't already have it on your playlist) and listen once again to his pioneering genius.
(Review by reesa)