LOS ANGELES, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the program of 10 feature films, 10 short films and related programming for the first-ever NEXT WEEKEND film festival, Aug. 8-11, 2013 at Sundance Sunset Cinema and additional venues throughout Los Angeles. Tickets ($12–15) are on sale now for Sundance Institute members and will be available to the public Thursday at www.sundance.org/nexttickets.
NEXT WEEKEND – an extension of the popular NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – is a summer film festival presenting four days of screenings, parties and artist programs that celebrate the renegade spirit of independent filmmaking.
As announced last week, NEXT WEEKEND will kick off with an outdoor screening of Chris Smith’s iconic cult documentary American Movie and Mark Borchardt’s horror film Coven Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, co-presented with Acura. Chris Smith will introduce the films. Tickets to that event ($12) are on sale now at ticketfly.com.
The 10 feature films in the festival’s core program include two world premieres, by Madeleine Olnek and Chadd Harbold, respectively, as well as eight Los Angeles premieres, six of which first screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Eight feature films are narratives and two are documentaries. Ten short films, two panels and the ShortsLab: Los Angeles full-day short filmmaking workshop round out the program. Among the filmmakers, cast and crew expected to attend the festival and discuss their work are Gregg Araki, Allison Anders and Chris Smith.
John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, said, “In creating NEXT WEEKEND we were looking to shed our parkas and boldly celebrate this ‘other side’ of Hollywood — the far edge of independent filmmaking.”
Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “NEXT WEEKEND presents a new generation of adventurous independent filmmaking, in which boundaries are explored, pushed and often broken. The creative means employed in these films will take audiences on a wild ride towards the future of cinematic storytelling.”
NEXT WEEKEND will be headquartered at Sundance Sunset Cinema in West Hollywood. In addition to the kick-off event Aug. 8 at Cinespia at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, on the final evening, Aug. 11, the festival expands with its NEXT SUNDAY initiative by hosting screenings at venues across Los Angeles including the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre, Cinefamily, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), and the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum.
For more information about NEXT WEEKEND, including screening dates, times and locations, visit www.sundance.org/next.
Founding Sponsors of NEXT WEEKEND include: Principal Sponsors – Acura and YouTube; Media Sponsors – KCRW 89.9 and Los Angeles magazine; Supporting Sponsors – Beachside Films, CB2, Dolby, FilmL.A., Inc., Recycled Paper Greetings, Southwest Airlines and Stella Artois®. The support of these organizations has made this first-ever festival possible by providing critical funding and services that defray costs associated with the four-day festival and support the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s year-round programs for independent film and theatre artists. For sponsorship opportunities with Sundance Institute, email corporategiving@sundance.org.
FEATURE FILMS |
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12 O’Clock Boys / U.S.A. (Director: Lotfy Nathan) — Pug, a bright 13-year-old boy living on a dangerous, west-side block in Baltimore, dreams of joining the 12 O’Clock Boys – a notorious Urban dirt bike pack who invade the streets, popping wheelies and cruising at high speeds through traffic while clashing with police. (Documentary) LA PREMIERE Also screening Sunday, Aug. 11 at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA). Visit MOCA’s box office to purchase tickets. |
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Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R. F. I. Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real-life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick. LA PREMIERE Also screening Sunday, Aug. 11 at Cinefamily. Visit www.cinefamily.org/films/special-events-august-2013#blue-caprice to purchase tickets. |
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Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — Over the course of the chaotic 40-year marriage between New York-based Japanese artists Ushio and Noriko Shinohara, their headstrong, yet complementary personalities form a graceful rumination on companionship, sacrifice and the creative spirit. (Documentary) LA PREMIERE Also screening Sunday, Aug. 11 at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum. Visit http://www.tft.ucla.edu/sundance-next/ for more information. |
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The Foxy Merkins / U.S.A. (Director: Madeleine Olnek, Screenwriters: Madeleine Olnek, Jackie Monahan, Lisa Haas) — Two lesbian hookers work the streets of New York. One is a down-on-her-luck newbie; the other is a beautiful – and straight – grifter who is an expert on picking up women. Together they face bargain-hunting housewives and double-dealing conservative women in this subversive buddy comedy. Cast: Lisa Haas, Jackie Monahan, Alex Karpovsky, Susan Ziegler, Sally Sockwell, Deb Margolin. WORLD PREMIERE |
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How to be a Man / U.S.A. (Director: Chadd Harbold, Screenwriters: Bryan Gaynor, Chadd Harbold, Gavin McInnes) — When former comedian Mark is faced with a rare form of cancer, he hires an impressionable cameraman to document his crude and comical lessons on what it means to be a man for his unborn son. But when Mark nearly loses everything, he realizes he has the most to learn. Cast: Gavin McInnes, Liam Aiken, Paulo Costanzo, Megan Neuringer, Nigel DeFriez, Nicole Balsam. WORLD PREMIERE |
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It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime. LA PREMIERE Also screening Sunday, Aug. 11 at the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre. Visit http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/next-weekend-presented-by-sundance-institute to purchase tickets. |
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Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King) — A Brooklyn repo-man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark ballad of chemical dependency — part coming of age romance, part hallucinatory adventure. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez. LA PREMIERE |
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Stand Clear of the Closing Doors / U.S.A. (Director: Sam Fleischner, Screenwriters: Rose Lichter-Marck, Micah Bloomberg) — When a young, autistic Mexican boy runs away from his undocumented family on the outskirts of New York City, he embarks on an 11-day odyssey in the city’s subway system, forcing his splintered family to reconcile their differences in order to bring him home. Cast: Andrea Suarez Paz, Jesus Sanchez-Velez, Azul Zorrilla, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Marsha Stephanie Blake. LA PREMIERE |
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A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell) — A popular young high school teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Doubek. LA PREMIERE |
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This is Martin Bonner / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — In this 2013 Sundance Film Festival award-winning film we discover two men, each searching in their quiet solitude to begin a new life amidst an unspoken need for encouragement and support. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. LA PREMIERE |
SHORT FILMS |
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The Apocalypse / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Zuchero) — Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon. Cast: Martin Starr, Ella Rae Peck, Kate Lyn Shiel, Benjamin Pike, Chanel Michaels, Duke Dlouhy. |
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The Cub / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Riley Stearns) — Wolves make the best parents. Cast: Davey Johnson, Savannah Lathem, Mandy Olsen, Alexis McGraw. LA PREMIERE |
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The Event / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Julia Pott, Screenwriter: Tom Chivers) — Love and a severed foot at the end of the world. Cast: Alex Britton, Laura Free. |
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K.I.T. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michelle Morgan) — A guilt-ridden, but well-intentioned yuppie goes to great lengths to prove she is a decent person. Cast: Michelle Morgan, Stephanie Allynne, John F. Beach, Ryan Harrison, Jeff Grace. LA PREMIERE |
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#PostModem / U.S.A. (Directors: Jillian Mayer, Lucas Leyva, Screenwriters: Lucas Leyva, Jillian Mayer) — A comedic, satirical, sci-fi pop-musical based on the theories of Ray Kurzweil and other futurists, this is the story of two Miami girls and how they deal with technological singularity, as told through a series of cinematic tweets. Cast: Jillian Mayer, Kayla De La Cerda, Arly Montes, Zoom Zoom, Jesse Miller, Shivers Thedog. LA PREMIERE |
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Seraph / U.S.A. (Director: Dash Shaw, Screenwriters: John Cameron Mitchell, Dash Shaw) — Seraph is an animated short film about how a boy’s childhood scars his later life. LA PREMIERE |
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Social Butterfly / France, U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lauren Wolkstein) — When a 30-year-old American woman attends a teenage party in the South of France, guests wonder who she is and what she is doing there. Cast: Anna Margaret Hollyman, Camille Claris, Ulysse Grosjean. |
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A Story for the Modlins / Spain (Director: Sergio Oksman, Screenwriters: Carlos Muguiro, Emilio Tomé, Sergio Oksman) — The tale of Elmer Modlin who, after appearing in Rosemary’s Baby, fled with his family to a far-off country and shut himself away in a dark apartment for 30 years. LA PREMIERE |
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Until the Quiet Comes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes such as violence, camaraderie and spirituality, through the lens of magic-realism. Cast: Solomon Gibbs, Storyboard P. |
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What Do We Have in Our Pockets? / U.S.A., Israel (Director: Goran Dukic, Screenwriters: Goran Dukic, based on a short story by Etgar Keret) — A most unusual love story unravels when the objects in a young man’s pockets come to life. Cast: Azazel Jacobs, Diaz Jacobs. |
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING |
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NEXT <=>: Then, Now and Beyond — The NEXT <=> section at the Sundance Film Festival was created in response to a contemporary wave of filmmaking enlivened by recent technological advances; however it also shares DNA with past trailblazers in film who have always been a huge part of the Festival. In this discussion we explore the similarities and differences of being a NEXT <=> filmmaker today versus the early days of Sundance. Which barricades have been removed and which new ones have arisen? Through this process of exploration we try to determine what’s next for NEXT <=>. Panelists include Gregg Araki (Totally F***ed Up, The Living End, Mysterious Skin), Allison Anders (Gas, Food Lodging; Mi Vida Loca; Strutter), Hannah Fidell (A Teacher) and Shaka King (Newlyweeds). |
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The NEXT <=> Waves of Creative Distribution — Sundance Institute staffers Chris Horton and Joseph Beyer moderate this FREE Artist Services event with a surprise lineup of leading industry experts. Get smart on the latest tech and trends in creative financing, digi distribution, guerilla marketing and independent theatrical releases. (FREE) |
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ShortsLab: Los Angeles — An intensive, full-day seminar of screenings and discussions for filmmakers, providing firsthand insight and access into the world of story development, production and exhibition of narrative short-form films. Participants include Sundance Film Festival Short Film Programmers and filmmakers to be announced. ($150) |
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YouTube Shorts @ NEXT WEEKEND — A compilation of work from some of the most popular, compelling and innovative creators on YouTube, reflecting the wild diversity and imagination of content on the platform. Co-presented with YouTube and showcasing shorts featured on the platform. |
Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
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Editor’s note: For images, visit http://press.sundance.org/press/program/next-weekend. Press that wish to attend and cover NEXT WEEKEND should visit http://www.sundance.org/next/press-next/ for more information.
