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TYLER PERRY’S A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL
Directed By: Tyler Perry
Studio: Lionsgate
Official Synopsis: A joyous family reunion turns into a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia and unexpectedly plan a funeral, which threatens to reveal sordid family secrets.
Starring: Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely, Tyler Perry, Jen Harper, Derek Morgan, and KJ Smith
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GRETA
Directed By: Neil Jordan
Studio: Focus Features
Official Synopsis: A sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn’t think twice about returning the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends – but Greta’s maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta’s life is what it seems in this suspense thriller from Academy Award (R) winning director Neil Jordan.
53Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Colm Feore, and Stephen Rea
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CLIMAX
Directed By: Gaspar Noé
Studio: A24
Official Synopsis: From director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible; Enter the Void; Love) comes a hypnotic, hallucinatory, and ultimately hair-raising depiction of a party that descends into delirium over the course of one wintry night. In Climax, a troupe of young dancers gathers in a remote and empty school building to rehearse. Following an unforgettable opening performance lit by virtuoso cinematographer Benoît Debie (Spring Breakers; Enter the Void) and shot by Noé himself, the troupe begins an all-night celebration that turns nightmarish as the dancers discover they’ve been pounding cups of sangria laced with potent LSD. Tracking their journey from jubilation to chaos and full-fledged anarchy, Noé observes crushes, rivalries, and violence amid a collective psychedelic meltdown. Starring Sofia Boutella (Atomic Blonde) and a cast of professional dancers, Climax is Noé’s most brazen and visionary statement yet.
Starring: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Claude Gajan Maull, and Giselle Palmer
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TRANSIT (2019)
Directed By: Christian Petzold
Studio: Music Box Films
Official Synopsis: As fascism spreads, German refugee Georg (Franz Rogowski) flees to Marseille and assumes the identity of the dead writer whose transit papers he is carrying. Living among refugees from around the world, Georg falls for Marie (Paula Beer), a mysterious woman searching for her husband–the man whose identity he has stolen. Adapted from Anna Segher’s 1942 novel, TRANSIT transposes the original story to the present, blurring periods to create a timeless exploration of the plight of displaced people.
Starring: Franz Rogowski, Paula Beer, Godehard Giese, Lilien Batman, and Maryam Zaree
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GIANT LITTLE ONES
Directed By: Keith Behrman
Studio: Vertical Entertainment
Official Synopsis: Franky Winter (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas Kohl (Darren Mann) have been best friends since childhood. They are high school royalty: handsome, stars of the swim team and popular with girls. They live a perfect teenage life – until the night of Franky’s epic 17th birthday party, when Franky and Ballas are involved in an unexpected incident that changes their lives forever. Giant Little Ones is a heartfelt and intimate coming-of-age story about friendship, self-discovery, and the power of love without labels.
Starring: Maria Bello, Kyle MacLachlan, Taylor Hickson, Peter Outerbridge, Josh Wiggins, and Darren Mann
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STYX
Directed By: Wolfgang Fischer
Studio: Beta Cinema
Official Synopsis: Rike–40, a doctor from Europe–embodies a typical Western model of happiness and success. She is educated, confident, determined and committed. We see Rike’s everyday life, as an emergency doctor, before she fulfills a long-held dream and sails out to sea alone in her sailing boat. Her goal: Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean. But her dream holiday is quickly broken off on the high seas, when, after a storm, she finds herself near a stricken fishing boat. Around a hundred people are about to drown. Rike follows maritime law and radios for help. As her request is going nowhere, she is forced to make a momentous decision.
Starring: Susanne Wolff, Gedion Wekesa Oduor, Alexander Beyer, and Inga Birkenfeld
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MAPPLETHORPE
Directed By: Ondi Timoner
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Official Synopsis: Robert Mapplethorpe’s portraits, images of calla lilies, and chronicles of New York City’s underground BDSM scene remain touchstones of 20th-century photography even now, nearly three decades after his death from complications of HIV/AIDS in 1989. Mapplethorpe revisits the titular photographer’s legacy, beginning at the moment just before he takes up residence in the Chelsea Hotel. There, Mapplethorpe begins to amass a portfolio of images-and, at the same time, to explore his formerly suppressed attraction to men. But Mapplethorpe’s relentless ambition-as he says in one early scene, “I can’t just be Mapplethorpe the photographer,” fancying himself a “modern Michelangelo”-threatens to tear apart the relationships he cherishes the most. From the early ’70s until his untimely death at age 42, the film explores the intersection of his art and his sexuality, his struggle for mainstream recognition, and, looming above it all, the specter of the emerging AIDS crisis. Featuring Matt Smith (Doctor Who, The Crown) and Marianne Rendón, the biopic offers a nuanced portrait of an artist at the height of his craft and of the self-destructive impulses that threaten to undermine it all.
Starring: Matt Smith, Marianne Rendón, John Benjamin Hickey, Brandon Sklenar, McKinley Belcher III, and Mark Moses
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WOMAN AT WAR
(Kona fer í stríð)
Directed By: Benedikt Erlingsson
Studio: Magnolia Pictures & Magnet Releasing
Official Synopsis: Halla is a fifty-year-old independent woman. But behind the scenes of a quiet routine, she leads a double life as a passionate environmental activist. Known to others only by her alias “The Woman of the Mountain,” Halla secretly wages a one-woman-war on the local aluminum industry. As Halla’s actions grow bolder, from petty vandalism to outright industrial sabotage, she succeeds in pausing the negotiations between the Icelandic government and the corporation building a new aluminum smelter. But right as she begins planning her biggest and boldest operation yet, she receives an unexpected letter that changes everything. Her application to adopt a child has finally been accepted and there is a little girl waiting for her in Ukraine. As Halla prepares to abandon her role as saboteur and savior of the Highlands to fulfill her dream of becoming a mother, she decides to plot one final attack to deal the aluminum industry a crippling blow.
Starring: Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir, Jóhann Sigurðarson, David Thor Jonsson, and Magnus Trygvason Eliasen
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WE DIE YOUNG
Directed By: Lior Geller
Studio: Lionsgate
Official Synopsis: Jean-Claude Van Damme shines in this gritty action thriller set in a crime-ridden barrio of Washington, D.C. When ruthless drug lord Rincon and his MS-13 gang recruit 10-year-old Miguel to work as a runner, big brother Lucas is desperate to keep Miguel safe. Fleeing for their lives, the boys are rescued by a veteran with PTSD named Daniel (Van Damme), who helps them find their revenge.
Starring: David Castaneda, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Elijah Rodriguez, Joana Metrass, and Joseph Long
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SAINT JUDY
Directed By: Sean Hanish
Studio: Blue Fox Entertainment
Official Synopsis: SAINT JUDY tells the inspirational true story of immigration attorney Judy Wood and her fight that changed American asylum law forever. In her first case, Judy represents a woman forced to flee her home country after being persecuted by the Taliban for opening a school for girls. While juggling her life as a single mother, Judy fights tenacious battles in and out of court, not only saving her client’s life, but changing the Law of Asylum in the United States. This case has saved the lives of thousands of other persecuted women around the world. Like ERIN BROCKOVICH, SAINT JUDY tells the story of a remarkable woman who overcame tremendous odds, and reminds us how one person can change the world.
Starring: Michelle Monaghan, Leem Lubany, Common, Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Peter Krause, and Aimee Gracia
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VIRGINIA MINNESOTA
Directed By: Daniel Stine
Studio: Indican Pictures
Official Synopsis: Two young women, torn apart by a childhood tragedy, unexpectedly reunite and embark on an illuminating 24-hour journey, where they unlock memories of long-forgotten innocence and what it means to truly believe.
Starring: Aurora Perrineau, Rachel Hendrix, Susan Walters, Jessica Miesel, Harold Perrineau, and Julia Keefe
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BEERS OF JOY
Directed By: David Swift & Scott Owen
Studio: One-Eleven Entertainment
Official Synopsis: Beers of Joy is a fascinating, entertaining, and savory journey into our world’s favorite magical elixir. Feast upon stunning visuals of medieval monasteries,historic German villages, and breweries from across the world that serve as the backdrop for four people immersing themselves in their passion for beer. An internationally acclaimed brewer and a celebrated chef take separate journeys of discovery through Europe and early America, while two Advanced Cicerones attempt to pass the prestigious Master Cicerone exam (beer’s equivalent to wine’s Master Sommelier), one of the most difficult tests in the world.Historians, scientists, clergy, brewers, and-most importantly-the every man and woman add flavor to this love letter to beer and prove once and for all… life is best celebrated over a beer!
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THE WEDDING GUEST
Directed By: Michael Winterbottom
Studio: IFC Films
Official Synopsis: This propulsive, globetrotting thriller from acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom is a breathless tour through the shadowy underworlds and hidden realms of Pakistan and India. Jay is a man with a secret who travels from Britain to Pakistan to attend a wedding – armed with duct tape, a shotgun, and a plan to kidnap the bride-to-be. Despite his cool efficiency, the plot quickly spirals out of control, sending Jay and his hostage on the run across the border and through the railway stations, back alleys, and black markets of New Delhi – as all the while attractions simmer, loyalties shift, and explosive secrets are revealed. Pulsating with the sights and sounds of the Indian subcontinent, The Wedding Guest conjures a colorful world where danger lurks at every turn and nothing is as it seems.
Starring: Dev Patel, Radhika Apte, and Jim Sarbh
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APOLLO 11
Directed By: Todd Douglas Miller
Studio: NEON
Official Synopsis: Apollo 11 is a cinematic space event film fifty years in the making. Featuring never-before-seen large-format film footage of one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.
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THE HOLE IN THE GROUND
Directed By: Lee Cronin
Studio: A24
Official Synopsis: Sarah and her young son Chris move to a new home in the Irish countryside, next to a forest that hides an enormous sinkhole. One night, Chris vanishes, and when he reappears, he seems unharmed and unchanged. But, as his behavior grows increasingly disturbing, Sarah begins to fear that the boy who has returned may not be her son at all.
Starring: Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, James Quinn Markey, and Kati Outinen
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THE HOURS AND TIMES
Directed By: Christopher Münch
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Official Synopsis: Christopher Munch’s boldly original debut, THE HOURS AND TIMES (1992), is a fictional account of what might have happened in April 1963, when John Lennon and Beatles manager Brian Epstein traveled to Barcelona for an extended weekend getaway. In the four days they spend together, the suave Epstein (played by David Angus) and the provocative Lennon (Ian Hart in his first starring role) reflect on their lives, both private and professional, as they explore the unique bond they share. Munch’s sparse and intimate narrative, captured with exquisite black-and-white cinematography, is a thoughtful meditation on friendship and sexuality, crafted around a brief moment in the lives of two extremely well-known pop figures.
Starring: Ian Hart, David Angus, Stephanie Pack, Robin McDonald, Sergio Moreno, and Unity Grimwood
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THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND
Directed By: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Studio: Netflix
Official Synopsis: Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine. Based on the true story of William Kamkwamba.
Starring: Maxwell Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aïssa Maïga, Lily Banda, Lemogang Tsipa, and Philbert Falakeza
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LEVEL 16
Directed By: Danishka Esterhazy
Studio: Dark Sky Films
Official Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Vivien is trapped in The Vestalis Academy, a prison-like boarding school, keeping to herself and sticking her neck out for no one. Until she is reunited with Sophia — the former friend who betrayed her. Together the girls embark on a dangerous search to uncover the horrifying truth behind their imprisonment. Soon running for their lives, the girls must save themselves or die trying.
Starring: Katie Douglas, Celina Martin, Sara Canning, Peter Outerbridge, Alexis Whelan, and Amalia Williamson
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STRAY
Directed By: Joe Sill
Studio: Screen Media Films
Official Synopsis: An orphaned teenager teams up with the detective investigating her mother’s murder. They soon discover a supernatural force threatening the city and realize the teen possesses hidden powers of her own which might be the key to stopping it.
Starring: Karen Fukuhara, Miyavi, Christine Woods, Ross Partridge, Takayo Fischer, and Kiran Deol
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FURIE
(Hai phuong)
Directed By: Le-Van Kiet
Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment
Official Synopsis: When a little girl is kidnapped by a trafficking ring, they soon find they messed with the wrong child. Her mother, a notorious former gang leader, is close on their trail and will go to any lengths to bring her daughter home.
Starring: Veronica Ngo, Phan Than Nhien, and Mai Cat Vi
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PRETTY BROKEN
Directed By: Brett Eichenberger
Studio: Freestyle Digital Media
Official Synopsis: PRETTY BROKEN tells the story of Lindsey Lou (Jillian Clare), an unemployed, college drop-out on the verge of divorce who finds herself couch surfing at her childhood home while her family grieves the death of her father. As the family tries to put the past behind them, Lindsey fights to keep his memory alive before her mother, Caroline Lou (Stacy Edwards), replaces him with a younger man, Jerry Carlyle (Tyler Christopher).
Starring: Jillian Clare, Tyler Christopher, Stacy Edwards, Preston Bailey, Adam Chambers, and Peter Holden
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THE SOWER
(Le semeur)
Directed By: Marine Francen
Studio: Film Movement
Official Synopsis: In 1851, France’s autocratic President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte has ordered the arrest of all the men of a remote mountain farming village following a Republican uprising. The women spend years in total isolation, forced to tend the crops themselves. Some women have lost their husbands; others, like the shy but inwardly strong Violette, suddenly have no chance of experiencing physical love or motherhood. The women take an oath: if a man comes, they will share him as a lover. When a mysterious and handsome stranger arrives, he ignites passions and jealousies that threaten to destroy the tight-knit community.
Starring: Pauline Burlet, Geraldine Pailhas, Alban Lenoir, Iliana Zabeth, Françoise Lebrun, and Raphaëlle Agogué
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SOMETHING
Directed By: Stephen Portland
Studio: Subspin
Official Synopsis: A man (Michael Gazin) and woman (Jane Rowen) are struggling to adjust to life with their new baby. But their situation begins to unravel further, when they begin to suspect that a menacing stranger could be lurking, watching, even entering their home. This twisty and chilling single-location drama/horror/mystery from director Stephen Portland will keep you guessing right up until the end.
Starring: Jane Rowen and Michael Gazin
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THIS MAGNIFICENT CAKE!
(Ce magnifique gâteau!)
Directed By: Marc James Roels and Emma De Swaef
Studio: GKIDS Films
Official Synopsis: An official selection at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Toronto International Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival, THIS MAGNIFICENT CAKE! (CE MAGNIFIQUE GÂTEAU!) is an unforgettable work of stop-motion animation exploring the bitter milieu of Belgium-occupied Congo. In the late 19th century, keen to compete with other European imperial powers on the continent, King Leopold II of Belgium proclaimed, “I do not want to miss a good chance of getting us a slice of this magnificent African cake.” The subsequent occupation of the Congo would come to attract a contingent of servants, merchants and miscellaneous bourgeois driven by everything from insatiable greed to existential fear. From the intimate stories of these characters — many of whom pass through a luxury hotel in the middle of the jungle – emerges a greater narrative concerning the imperialist mentality. In a film by turns surreal, darkly comic and brutal, directors Marc James Roels and Emma de Swaef ultimately turn their critical gaze on the colonists themselves in a work of stunning, mysterious beauty.
Starring: Jan Decleir, Bruno Levie, Alexander Rolies, and August Rolies
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JOSEPH PULITZER: VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
Directed By: Oren Rudavsky
Studio: Folium Films
Official Synopsis: Joseph Pulitzer’s New York newspaper, The World, would transform American media and make him wealthy, admired and feared. Throughout his four decades as a reporter and publisher, he created a powerful artistic vehicle that spoke to an unprecedented number of readers. Towards the end of his life, both sickly and blind, Pulitzer’s commitment to fearless reporting would tested by the most powerful person in American life. On December 15th, 1908, President Teddy Roosevelt delivered a scathing indictment of Pulitzer to Congress, accusing the publisher of libel–for claiming that the President’s greatest achievement, the Panama Canal, amounted to a colonialist overreach built on a $40 million cover-up. Roosevelt threatened Pulitzer with imprisonment. The president proclaimed: “it is high national duty to bring to justice this vilifier of the American people.” Pulitzer is an American icon who spoke of “fake news” over one hundred years ago. He fought the dangers that the suppression of news had for a democracy long before our present threats to press freedom. While he is remembered for the prizes that bear his name, his own heroic battles in the face of grave illness and Presidential ire have been forgotten as has the artistry and game changing originality he brought to newspapers. How did Joseph Pulitzer, once a penniless young Jewish immigrant from Hungary, come to challenge a popular president and fight for freedom of the press as essential to our democracy?
Starring: Adam Driver
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¡HE MATADO A MI MARIDO!
(I KILLED MY HUSBAND)
Directed By: Francisco Lupini-Basagoiti
Studio: Shoreline Entertainment
Official Synopsis: A desperate woman accidentally murders her unfaithful husband the morning of a big party, and with a little help from the maid, she must put on a grand night of celebration, without being found out.
Starring: Maria Conchita Alonso, Rafael De La Fuente, Fernanda Romero, Assumpta Serna, Eduardo Yanez, and Guy Ecker
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