This year, 12 narrative and 12 documentary features will compete for combined unrestricted cash prizes amounting to $100,000, including prizes totalling $50,000 from American Express for the Best New Narrative and Documentary Filmmakers.
This year’s World Narrative Competition presenting works from eight countries, seven of which are world premieres.
Gainsbourg and Paju
Buried Land
(Country: USA, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Year: 2010; Director: Geoffrey Alan Rhodes; Writer: Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, Steven Eastwood, and Dzenan Medanovic)
The small town of Visoko heralds to the world a remarkable discovery: A valley of ancient pyramids predating Egypt exists under the hills of central Bosnia. Tourists flood the war-scarred region, and locals are caught between the real and the imagined (mirroring the film’s vacillation between documentary and fiction). With the help of a young man returning to his homeland, an American film crew determines the role of faith in capturing what cannot yet be proven. In English, Bosnian with English subtitles.
World and TFF Virtual Premiere
Dog Pound
(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Kim Chapiron; Writer: Kim Chapiron, Jeremie Delon; Stars: Adam Butcher, Shane Kippel, Mateo Morales, Lawrence Bayne, Alexander Conti, Tim Turnell, Dewshane Williams, Greg Butcher, Jason Daley, Shawn Doucette, William Christopher Ellis, Jason Foote, Trent McMullen, Robbie O'Neill, Slim Twig),
Official Site,
Trailer
Three teenagers find life is tough on the inside in this remake of Alan Clarke's Scum.
World Premiere
Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)
(Country: France; Year: 2010; Director: Joann Sfar; Writer: Joann Sfar; Stars: Eric Elmosnino)
Biopic of the French singer/songwriter.
International Premiere
Loose Cannons (Mine vaganti)
(Country: Italy; Year: 2010; Director: Ferzan Ozpetek; Writer: Ferzan Ozpetek, Ivan Cotroneo; Stars: Riccardo Scamarcio, Nicole Grimaudo, Alessandro Preziosi, Lunetta Savino, Ennio Fantastichini, Elena Sofia Ricci, Ilaria Occhini, Bianca Nappi, Daniele Pecci, Carolina Crescentini, Massimiliano Gallo, Paola Minaccioni, Giorgio Marchesi, Matteo Taranto, Carmine Recano)
Tomasso, a reluctant soon-to-be-partner in his wealthy family’s pasta business, has plans to come out—and hopefully get out of his familial obligation. But when his plans are thwarted by his brother, Tomasso gets stuck on the path that he was desperately trying to avoid. In Italian with English subtitles.
North American Premiere
Lucky Life
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Lee Isaac Chung; Writer: Samuel Gray Anderson, Lee Isaac Chung, Gerald Stern; Stars: Samuel Gray Anderson, Yohei Kawamata, Susan Springer Anderson, Daniel O'Keefe, Megan McKenna, Kenyon Adams, Nancia Patterson, Nancy Huse, Kyoko Shakagori, Stephanie Skaff, Richard Harvell)
When one of them falls ill, a group of friends takes one last trip to the beach, desiring a meaningful farewell. Years later, as one of the couples plans to have a child, the trip lingers as a haunting memory.
World Premiere
Dog Pound and My Brothers
My Brothers
(Country: Ireland; Year: 2010; Director: Paul Fraser; Writer: William Collins; Stars: Timmy Creed, Paul Courtney, TJ Griffin, Kate Ashfield, Don Wycherley, Sarah Greene, Terry McMahon, Eamonn Hunt, Siobhan Palmer)
Three brothers go on an unpredictable road trip to replace their dying dad's watch.
World Premiere
Open House
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Andrew Paquin; Writer: Andrew Paquin; Stars: Brian Geraghty)
The prim and taciturn David is forced for years to watch over his sexually predatory partner Lila and her violent urges. David longs for human connection and a less violent existence, and when a would-be victim becomes a chance at redemption, he is torn between his humanity and the only life he’s ever known.
World Premiere
Paju
(Country: South Korea; Year: 2009; Director: Park Chan-ok; Writer: Park Chan-ok; Stars: Seo Woo, Lee Seon-gyun, Shim Yi-young),
Trailer
A study of one man's fraught relationships.
North American Premiere
Snap
(Country: Ireland; Year: 2010; Director: Carmel Winters; Writer: Carmel Winters; Stars: Eileen Walsh, Aisling O'Sullivan)
Psychological drama about three generations of a family poised to repeat the mistakes of the past.
World Premiere
When We Leave (Die Fremde)
(Country: Germany; Year: 2010; Director: Feo Aladag; Writer: Feo Aladag; Stars: Sibel Kekilli, Nizam Schiller, Derya Alabora, Settar Tanriogen, Serhad Can, Almila Bagriacik, Tamer Yigit, Alwara Höfels, Florian Lukas, Blanca Apilanez Fernandez, Mustafa Jouni, Aram Arami, Ufuk Bayraktar, Edin Hasanovic, Nursel Köse)
hen young Turkish-German woman Umay can no longer stand her husband’s ill-treatment, she flees from Istanbul with her five-year-old son into the arms of her family in Berlin. But love, affection, and loyalty soon become irrelevant as they struggle to reconcile Umay’s willful self-determination with the social system that governs their lives.
North American Premiere
Snap and When We Leave
The White Meadows (Keshtzarhaye Sepid)
(Year: 2009; Director: Mohammad Rasoulof; Stars: Hasan Pourshirazi, Younes Ghazali, Mohammad Rabbani, Mohammad Shirvani)
A man travels round a series of islands, collecting tears.
North American Premiere
William Vincent
(Country: US; Year: 2010; Director: Jay Anania; Writer: Jay Anania; Stars: James Franco, Josh Lucas, Julianne Nicholson)
the story of William Vincent, a quiet and peculiar criminal uninterested in the fruits of crime. When he falls for a gangster’s favorite call girl, William is forced to flee New York. But after four years in exile, William secretly returns, intent on rescuing the woman he loves from her dangerous fate.
World Premiere