Orphans – SXSW Special Jury Prize for best narrative feature
Rosie (Lily Wheelwright) and Sonia (James Katharine Flynn) are two sisters in their twenties who haven't seen one another in five years, having been on bad terms since their parents died in an auto accident. Despite their differences, Sonia asks Rosie to come home for her birthday party, and Rosie agrees. Held in an old farmhouse in the midst of a blizzard, and as the siblings try to buffer their tensions with drugs and alcohol, they bond in an alternately loving and painful manner as they confront their pasts. A feature film from writer and director Ry Russo-Young.
China Dolls – is a gripping look into the world of human trafficking. Born into the underground world of human trafficking and prostitution, luck gave Jerri and Marie one chance to break free, and now the mob wants them back...with interest. Written and directed by award winning comedian Don Barnhart Jr.
Exploring Love – Sean Parker is in an emotional rut and finding true love is his goal. His good friend, Suzy, suggests he start to reach his goal by opening his heart to his estranged father. After allowing his father back into his life, Sean discovers that his father deserting him as a child is something he needs to learn to forgive.
Sean and his business partner, Bastian, who run a modeling agency, have their pick of many beautiful girls. However, Sean wants something serious while Bastian is content on having a good time. Sean begins dating Anne, a sexy girl he meets at a nightclub, but things turn sour when he realizes she's unable to commit to a relationship. Sean then starts dating Sandy, an intriguing girl who seems serious, but she turns out to be too self-absorbed to satisfy Sean's desire for a "real" relationship. In the meantime, Sean is taking time to try to build something real with Lori, a woman who steals his heart, but now it's Sean who has difficulty making a commitment.
Sean's journey to find true love leads him down a spiritual path, which opens his heart and mind. His journey also leads him to the discovery of feelings and issues that he never expected, and an understanding of himself that challenges him to confront his deepest fears.
Simply FOBulous – A Romantic Comedy about Thuy Nguyen, a rebellious daughter who succumbs to her mother's dying wish for her to marry a Vietnamese mail-order husband.
Unwilling to marry her mail-order husband Dung when he arrives from Vietnam, Thuy loans him to her sister Van, who uses him to hold her shopping bags and other important tasks. Both sisters look down on Dung's simple Third World ways.
However, Dung finds his own way to adapt to life in America by becoming friends with a trio of bubble tea loving Vietnamese guys from work. They show him the ropes, teach him some dirty words, and help him find his way around America.
Dung reveals his secret to them, that he speaks English fluently, and that he has heard and seen what his host family really thinks of him. They've only been looking out for their own best interests, with little regard for Dung's. After all, to them, Dung is a FOB, or Fresh Off the Boat. What does he know about anything?
To everyone's surprise, Dung's secret is revealed, along with his hidden romance with an unexpected member of the Nguyen family. A wedding happens after all, and in doing so, it brings a divided family back together. Dung shows them the error of their ways, and that there is no shame in being a FOB, or as his friends put it, 'Simply FOBulous'.
Beelzebub – Concerned about the future of her unborn child, a pregnant woman argues with her husband to end the association with a satanic sect they both have been involved. Their confrontation results in a murder-suicide.
When a new family moves into the house where the couple lived, their spirits take over the bodies of their teenagers, Dan and Tracy. Possessed by these demons, the children’s behavior becomes increasingly out of control. The parents, Janet and Allen, assume their children are going through a rebellious fragment of their adolescence. However, as things get worse, Janet learns that the problem is subhuman, but Allen refuses to believe that explanation.
Accepting that the children are losing their battle with the devil and that their lives are in jeopardy, Janet turns to the Church for help, against the wishes of her disbelieving husband. With the demons in control, the only way to save the children is to perform an exorcism, which has horrific consequences and a startling conclusion.
The film will be the temptation of the season, the forbidden film that adults “must see” and the every kid will dare to watch.
JARED'S
WAR – Dropping out of college to join
the Marines, Jared Johnson finds himself in a bloody
fire-fight on the way to Baghdad, where an Iraqi
boy named Tariq is forced to retrieve several discarded
rocket launchers (RPGs) for the Fedeyeen. His father,
Hussein, will be killed if he doesn’t retrieve
the weapons.
The Marines see the child, and their
commander must make the gruesome decision to kill
Tariq. Jared has no choice and shoots him. Hussein
escapes, but his son’s death at the hands of
the Marines is etched into his soul forever. When
the occupation sets in, Hussein must find work. Using
his English skills, he gets a job with the Iraqi
Police translating for a Marine unit, Jared’s
unit.
A relationship develops between Jared and Hussein,
and Hussein makes the connection that Jared killed
his son. His motives are now suspect. Will he help
the Marines build and secure a free Iraq? Or will he
exact his revenge?
Jared’s Marine unit is ambushed
shortly after the revelation, and Jared is seriously
wounded and sent home. Ali, an Iraqi-American serving
in Jared’s
unit, visits him later. He has startling news; that
Tariq was Hussein’s son, and Hussein is on trial
for working for the insurgency.
Asked to testify at
Hussein’s trial, Jared must
decide to confront his past or hide from it forever.
Will something good come out of Tariq’s death,
or will it continue to haunt and consume the lives
of those who forever fight Jared’s War?
1-900*- Based on reality TV is set in a phone call center for 900 entertainment lines. 1-900* has a hilarious script, ingenious ideas for unique camera angles, and precisely choreographed scenes, set up in episodes hosted by Kit from his janitorial closet. These episodes then carry the story to its ironic conclusion.
Deadlands; The Rising – Begins with a normal day in the U.S., when terrorists attack the city. The attack leaves many in the surrounding area stranded on freeways in the evacuations and, as night falls, the dead begin to rise. What's different about Deadlands: The Rising is that it's three small stories set against the same backdrop of the dead rising, one is the story of a mom who finds herself caught in town during the zombie crisis, the second is about a man who's desperately trying to convince the local authorities that the crisis is much worse than they're being told by higher ups and the third storyline is about two friends (one who's the husband of the woman in the first storyline) who are trying to get back to their families through the rising dead.
God & Gays: Bridging the Gap explores the religious struggle reconciling sexuality and spirituality. It gets into the head, heart and lives of the people who have found homosexuality and the Bible as their self-defining work.
Ever
Asking -
Christopher, David, and Stanford
Lacey have lived fortunate and uncomplicated lives. In
attendance at an elite East Coast boarding school, things
begin to unravel when their distant cousin, John Tripler,
enrolls mid-term into the school. A black sheep, John
offers a welcome breath of untainted, non-blue-blooded
flair. All this begins to change, however, when Mark
Winter, Christopher’s lifelong friend, teammate
and roommate, begins to display confusion around physical
impulses.
Set against the backdrop of privilege and prestige. “Ever
Asking” is a “Dead Poet’s Society” meets “The
Outsiders”., where the Outsiders are the Insiders
and class struggles are dwarfed by the university of
every individual’s journey to
be whole, accepted by their peers, and to love and be
loved in return.
Chocolate Buzz – Everything goes good with Chocolate. A series of shows with questions of people on the street, research, visit to artisan chocolatier’s who demonstrate what makes them unique, health benefits, and so much more…..
Intrusion- Some things in life are simple. Holly Jensen (Kate Stanley) has made her life one big drama. After best friend Kali (Teresa Lawrence) talks Holly into a night of fun and games, things turn deadly. Now the next, few days will not only depend on Holly's complex life, but the survival of everyone around her.
Intentions - When female drama student Eve (Deidre Kotch) falls for married-with-children professor Renee Higgins (Katherine Lee), the two awaken repressed creative and emotional passions in each other and soon become romantically involved. Their love forces them to examine their hidden feelings and discover whether they have the strength and courage to pursue their dreams.
The Rapture - Trust: Just a five-letter word, but one that carries more weight in this world than any could fathom. What happens when sabotage, deceit, and betrayal push trust to the breaking point? When Midael and Abaddon, two enhanced humans (Chimaeras: Midael with 15' long metal wings that shoots out like daggers, Abaddon/Job with a 15' long metal tail can manipulate energy), become part of a high-stakes and violent game of cat-and-mouse. Each Chimaera learns just how much trust can be lost when everyone they meet has an agenda. Soon, the two must change their own agendas as they are dragged further into a chaotic realm of hatred, illusion, and death. When the pieces finally fall into place, where will their allegiances lie? As trust becomes merely a myth, will they find themselves becoming part of the very organizations that sought to use them, or will they break free and seek out destinies of their own making?
