Lone Star International Film Festival Fort Worth in Sundance Square Releases Film Lineup

Wide variety of genres and artistic expression represent the best of global cinema

11.03.2009 – FORT WORTH, Texas – The Lone Star Film Society (LSFS), has released the feature film lineup for its 2009 Lone Star International Film Festival Fort Worth in Sundance Square, Nov. 11-15. (Complete listing of films and synopses below.)

“The quality of our films signify that the Lone Star International Film Festival Fort Worth in Sundance Square is maturing and growing in stature among festivals around the world,” said Dennis Bishop, LSFS director. “With films of this quality, from U.S. and international talents, there is such true diversity in this selection that it offers an absolutely unique experience to expand ones horizons.”

“Our films represent an eclectic cross-section of genres and artistic movements, with an emphasis on the future of the art of filmmaking,” said Alec Jhangiani, LSFS artistic director. “There are films that pursue revolutionary new directions promising to impact our craft for years to come. Several of the works are from playwrights who are forging completely new territory. When you consider our international spotlight, with powerful films from the German Berlin School, which, has been likened to the French New Wave, and our documentaries, among other things, you are seeing major paradigm shifts. This year’s festival promises to represent a defining time in our history.”

As of now, filmmakers and actors associated with the films “The Scenesters,” “Touching Home,” “Artois the Goat” and “Tenure” are scheduled to attend. Award recipients and additional attendees will be announced next week. Available screeners will be shared upon request. Specific times, dates and locations are to be announced. Visit www.lsiff.com for more details.

FILMS:
OPENING NIGHT
The Scenesters (North Texas Premiere)

THURSDAY NIGHT CENTERPIECE
Touching Home (Texas Premiere)

FRIDAY NIGHT CENTERPIECE
Tenure (North Texas Premiere)

CLOSING NIGHT
The Messenger (North Texas Premiere)

SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS
The Eclipse (Texas Premiere)
Serious Moonlight (North Texas Premiere)
Herpes Boy (North Texas Premiere)
The Vanished Empire
A Sea Change
Breaking Upwards (North Texas Premiere)
Watching TV with the Red Chinese
Racing Dreams (Southwest Premiere)
Blood Simple
Ichi

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Spooner (Southwest Premiere)
Easier with Practice (Texas Premiere)
Modern Love is Automatic (North Texas Premiere)
The Shaft (Dixia de tiankong) (Southwest Premiere)
Artois the Goat (North Texas Premiere)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
My Neighbor, My Killer (Southwest Premiere)
Severe Clear (North Texas Premiere)
Strongman (North Texas Premiere)
Garbage Dreams (North Texas Premiere)
Petition (Southwest Premiere)

CURRENT GERMAN CINEMA (INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT)
Hilde (Southwest Premiere)
Distance (Texas Premiere)
The Red Spot (Southwest Premiere)

GATEWAY TO THE ARTS
Dancing Across Borders (Texas Premiere)
You Won’t Miss Me (North Texas Premiere)
God’s Architects (North Texas Premiere)

FILM SYNOPSIS:
OPENING NIGHT
The Scenesters (North Texas Premiere - In Attendance: Todd Berger, Kevin Brennan)
USA/English
Every resident in the hip environs of East L.A. has a mini-cam in hand and is wired for sound. And they all seem likable enough... That’s the impression you get from Todd Berger’s film, 90 minutes of fun composed of crime scene investigation footage, scenes from a fledgling director’s foray into film noir, trial transcriptions, television news reports, and some stuff that happened when everyone forgot the camera was running. The Scenesters dissects the mediated nature of experience in the postmodern age, but don’t let that worry you. It is also very funny, and it offers at least this one valuable life lesson. If on the witness stand you are asked the question, “Did you not know that withholding evidence in a criminal investigation is a felony?” always answer, “No.”
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer/Director Todd Berger
Producers Kevin Brennan, Jeff Grace, Brett D. Thompson
Executive Producers Christopher R. Sabin, Eric Sherman
Cinematographer Helena Wei
Production Designer Eve McCarney
Editor Kyle Martin
Original Music Dan Houlbrook
Principal Cast Sherilyn Fenn, Blaise Miller, Suzanne May, Jeff Grace
Running Time: 96 minutes
Thursday Night Centerpiece Film

THURSDAY NIGHT CENTERPIECE
Touching Home (Texas Premiere - In Attendance: Logan and Noah Miller)
USA/English
Identical twins Logan and Noah Miller write, direct, produce, and star in this deeply personal story of young men coming to grips with their fading dreams of baseball stardom. When Lane (Logan Miller) is dismissed from his minor league team for a fast ball that is not quite fast enough his brother Clint (Noah Miller) drops out of community college to follow him home. Back in the small town they grew up in, they practice for upcoming tryouts, work at the local gravel pit, deal with their alcoholic father (Ed Harris), and live with their simple-minded uncle (Brad Dourif). For the first time they realize that truly growing up may involve growing apart.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer/Directors Logan Miller, Noah Miller
Producers Logan Miller, Noah Miller
Co-Producer Jeromy Zajonc
Cinematographer Ricardo Jacques Gale
Production Designer Roy Rede
Editor Robert Dalva
Original Music Composer Martin Davich
Principal Cast Ed Harris, Brad Dourif, Robert Forster
Running Time: 108 minutes

FRIDAY NIGHT CENTERPIECE
Tenure (North Texas Premiere - In Attendance: Mike Million, Brendan McDonald)
USA/English
Charlie Thurber (Luke Wilson) is on the fast track for tenure at Gray College, he tells himself and his retired professor father. Charlie is a really nice guy. As he is the only English professor up for tenure, his effort to impress fellow academics is lackadaisical while his teaching indisputably reaches his students. When new, pretty, straight from teaching at Yale tenure contender Elaine (Gretchen Mol) appears, Charlie sees his tenure drifting quickly away. In an effort to help Charlie, his best friend and recently declined tenure track and Bigfoot expert Jay (David Koechner, The Office) devises multiple sabotage plots against Elaine in this charming romantic comedy by first time director Mike Million.
Janis Jolcuvar
Writer/Director Mike Million
Producers Tai Duncan, Brendan McDonald, Paul Schiff
Executive Producers Richard Hull, Dominic Ianno, Kelly Rodriques
Co-Producer Jared Goldman
Cinematographer Steve Yedlin
Production Designer Beth Mickle
Editor Tom McArdle
Original Music Composer John Frizzell
Principal Cast Luke Wilson, Gretchen Mol, David Koechner, Sasha Alexander, Bob Gunton
Running Time: 90 minutes

CLOSING NIGHT FILM
The Messenger (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Will (Ben Foster) has only three months left in the service. Having spent much of his time in the hospital recovering from a near brush with death, he finds that his final assignment is with the Casualty Notification Office. Working with his senior officer Tony (Woody Harrelson), he must now break the news to families that their son or daughter has been killed. The Messenger is the story of his and Tony’s efforts to return to a normal life they know will never be normal again. Oren Moverman’s film won Best Screenplay and the Peace Film Award at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival.
Writers Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
Director Oren Moverman
Producers Benjamin Goldhirsh, Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller
Executive Producers Steffen Aumueller, Nathaniel Bolotin, Christopher Mapp, Shaun Redick, Glenn M. Stewart, Matthew Street, David Whealy, Bryan Zuriff
Line Producer Gwen Bialic
Cinematographer Bobby Bukowski
Production Designer Stephen Beatrice
Editor Alexander Hall
Original Music Composer Nathan Larson
Principal Cast Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone
Running Time: 105 minutes

SPOTLIGHT SCREENINGS
The Eclipse (Southwest Premiere)
Ireland/English
Acclaimed Irish playwright Conor McPherson wrote and directed this moving drama, seamlessly acted with a stellar cast led by Ciaran Hinds (of HBO’s Rome) playing Michael Farr, a widower in a small Irish costal town whose nightmares and brushes with ghosts draw him to guest horror writer Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle) during the local literary festival. Assigned to take her around, he must also deal with notable, arrogant, author Nicholas Holden’s (Aidan Quinn) pursuit of her. Michael grapples with the eerie lines of life and death and how they hold him as a quiet, contrasting depth of expansive emotion washes over this elegantly crafted film. Ciarán Hinds took a Best Actor Award at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for this performance.
Janis Jolcuvar
Writers Conor McPherson, Billy Roach
Based on a play by Conor McPherson
Director Conor McPherson
Producer Robert Walpole
Executive Producers Paddy McDonald, Rebecca O’Flanagan
Co-Producer Donal Geraghty
Cinematographer Ivan McCullough
Production Designer Mark Geraghty
Editor Emer Reynolds
Music Fionnuala Ni Chiosain
Principal Cast Ciarán Hinds, Iben Hjejle, Aidan Quinn
Running Time: 88 minutes

Serious Moonlight (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
The late Adrienne Shelly’s (Waitress) talent for mixing everyman dilemma with eccentricity has a way of knoodling an unexpected path to expected outcomes, with a wink. Such is the case when high-powered attorney Louise’s (Meg Ryan) surprise early visit to Ian (Timothy Hutton) her husband of 13-years, unravels his plan to run off with his twenty-something mistress, Sara (Kristen Bell). Unwilling to give up both husband and marriage, Sara refuses to let Ian go by tying him up. When Todd (Justin Long), a menacing hooligan, hears Ian’s cries for help and decides to take advantage rather than help, he creates an even thornier patch for the ill-fated love triangle, as Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) explores the outer reaches of love and commitment in this dark comedy, her feature directorial debut. Janis Jolcuvar
Writer Adrienne Shelly
Director Cheryl Hines
Producers Andy Ostroy, Michael Roiff
Executive Producers Cliff Chenfeld, David Graff, Dan Katcher, Todd King, Rick Milenthal, Dawn Porter, Isabel Rose, Tod Stein
Line Producer Brigitte Mueller
Cinematographer Nancy Schreiber
Production Designer Cecil Gentry
Editor Steven Rasch
Original Music Andrew Hollander
Principal Cast Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kimberlee Peterson
Running Time: 84 minutes

Herpes Boy (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Rudolph Murray (Byron Lane) has a problem. Actually he has many problems – school problems, family problems, girl problems – but his main problem is a birthmark on his upper lip that has earned him the nickname “Herpes Boy.” He goes on the web to make videos about how much he hates his life but thanks to the unwanted intervention of a cousin, so obnoxious that she spells her name “Christeee,” he becomes an internet star. Herpes Boy began life as a series on YouTube and is the first film to crossover from the web to the big screen. Lane’s script was funny enough to attract such actors as Beth Grant (No Country for Old Men), Ahna O’Reilly (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), and the accomplished veteran actress Julianna McCarthy in the role of Grananna.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer Byron Lane
Director Nathaniel Atcheson
Producer M. Elizabeth Hughes
Line Producer Kelly Green
Co-Producers Beth Grant, John Baumgartner
Cinematographer Benjamin Kantor
Production Designer Giovanna Federico
Editor Nathaniel Atcheson
Original Music Dorothea Tachler
Principal Cast Beth Grant, Byron Lane, Ahna O’Reilly, Zack Silva, Julianna McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Michael Chieffo
Running Time: 85 minutes

The Vanished Empire
Russia/Russian with English subtitles
1973- Moscow, the hottest contraband is blue jeans and western rock music, traded on the black market, and it’s just what 18-year-old student Sergey Narbekov (Alexander Lyapin) needs to impress Lyuda (Lidiya Milyuzina). At a time when the old school of respected intellectualism is beginning to lose ground with Russian youth to the elements of western pop culture leaking through, these typical pursuits of students, who happen to be Russian, present a charming and intriguing glimpse into Russia during the mid-70’s with the expertise of esteemed filmmaker Karen Shakhnazarov. Janis Jolcuvar
Writers Sergei Rokotov, Yevgeni Nikishov
Director/Producer Karen Shakhnazarov
Executive Producer Galina Shadur
Cinematographer Shandor Berkeshi
Production Designer Lyudmila Kusakova
Original Music Konstantin Shevelev
Principal Cast Alexander Lyapin, Lidiya Milyuzina, Yegor Baranovsky
Narrated by (Documentaries)
Running Time: 105 minutes

A Sea Change (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
A Sea Change follows Sven Huseby from California to Alaska to Norway as he searches for the facts behind the rising acidity of the earth’s oceans. On his journey, he meets with oceanographers, marine biologists, climatologists, and artists who are involved with the dangers posed by this fundamental change in the quality of ocean water. His findings are made charmingly accessible as reported via letters to his grandson. Babara Ettinger’s film won Best Documentary Feature at the FICA International Environmental Film Festival and has played at festivals from Kosovo to Honolulu. Throughout the film, Claudia Raschke-Robinson’s spectacular cinematography accentuates the beauty of this endangered world.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Barbara Ettinger
Producers Barbara Ettinger, Sven Huseby, Susan Cohn-Rockefeller
Cinematographer Claudia Raschke-Robinson
Editor Toby Shimin
Running Time: 86 minutes

Breaking Upwards (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Daryl (Daryl Wein) and Zoe (Zoe Lister Jones) have planned the perfect break up of their four-year relationship. They will do it slowly, establish “on” and “off” days, and ease into a separation so that nobody will get hurt. This all goes about as well as any rational person might expect it to but for the audience the process is both humorous and heartbreaking. Along with playing characters named after themselves, Daryl Wein directs, and Zoe Lister Jones shares the screenplay credit with Peter Duchan. Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers Peter Duchan, Zoe Lister Jones, Daryl Wein
Director Daryl Wein
Producers Zoe Lister Jones, Daryl Wein
Cinematographer Alex Bergman
Editor Daryl Wein
Original Music Kyle Forester
Principal Cast Zoe Lister Jones, Daryl Wein, Julie White, Andrea Martin, Peter Friedman
Running Time: 88 minutes

Watching TV with the Red Chinese
USA/English
The year is 1980. Dexter Mitchell (Ryan O’Nan), a graduate student in New York City, finds that his new neighbors are three exchange students from the People’s Republic of China. He enjoys getting to know them, chiefly by explaining to them the arcana of American popular culture they encounter on TV, and he hospitably introduces them to his circle of friends and neighbors. Initially, the three Chinese students are amused and intrigued by everything they find in America but the darker aspects of their host country also appear on the screen and in the neighborhood where they live. Jealousy and violence infect even the most well intentioned situations as Shimon Dotan’s culture clash comedy heads into unexpectedly dark territory.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers Netaya Anbar, Shimon Dotan
Director Shimon Dotan
Producers Sameer Butt, Shimon Dotan
Co-Producer Netaya Anbar
Cinematographer Mike Rossetti
Production Designer Tania Bijlani
Editor Netaya Anbar
Principal Cast Ryan O'Nan, Leonardo Nam, Gillian Jacobs, James Chen
Running Time: 117 minutes

Racing Dreams (Southwest Premiere)
USA/ English
Academy Award nominated director, Marshall Curry (Street Fight), takes us into the lives of Annabeth (11 years old), Josh (12), and Brandon (13) as they compete for the World Karting Association’s National Championship. Clocking speeds of up to 70 mph in extreme racing karts, these young racers hope to follow the scores of great NASCAR drivers who got their start in racing’s version of the little league. As they race their way through the year-long Championship series, they also navigate the treacherous road between childhood and young adulthood. In intimate moments of young love and family struggle we experience a time in life when all of us are just beginning to figure out who we are. Curry’s film won Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Marshall Curry
Producer Bristol Baughan
Executive Producers Dany Johnson, Benjamin Goldhirsh, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Turner
Cinematographer Marshall Curry
Editors Marshall Curry, Matthew Hamachek, Mary Man Hardt
Original Music Composer Joel Goodman
Running Time: 93 minutes

Blood Simple
USA/English
Some films just seem to have it all: sex, betrayal, murder, Austin, Texas, and M. Emmett Walsh as the meanest, toughest bastard you would ever not want to cross paths with. Joel and Ethan Coen’s first feature film won the Grand Jury Award at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival and it keeps looking better over time. For this “Director’s Cut,” the brothers have actually removed three minutes of footage. Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers/Directors Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Producer Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Executive Producer Daniel F. Bacaner
Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld
Production Designer Jane Musky
Editors Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Don Wiegmann
Original Music Carter Burwell
Principal Cast John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh
Running Time: 99 minutes

Ichi
Japan/Japanese with English subtitles
Between 1962 and 1974, Japanese studios produced 26 feature films and over 100 television episodes on the life of Zatoichi, a blind masseur and swordsman of the Edo Period. In this version, the character becomes Ichi (Haruka Ayase), a beautiful woman searching the snowy, mountainous regions of Japan for the man who taught her the way of the sword. True to the genre, she meets someone to protect, Takao Osawa in a comic role, and crosses paths with many rogues and villains whom she cuts down mercilessly with great style. The fight sequences were choreographed by Kuzi Hiroshi, also responsible for the fights in such films as Ran and Twilight Samaurai. Sori’s film is a perfect blend of action, period detail, and gorgeous cinematography. Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer Kan Shimosawa
Director Fumihiko Sori
Producer Toshiaki Nakazawa
Cinematographer Keiji Hashimoto
Editor Mototaka Kusakabe
Original Music Michael Edwards, Lisa Gerrard
Principal Cast Haruka Ayase, Shido Nakamura, Yôsuke Kubozuka, Takao Osawa
Running Time: 120 minutes

NARRATIVE FEATURE COMPETITION
Spooner (Southwest Premiere)
USA/English
Henry Spooner (Matthew Lillard) meets the girl of his dreams, Rose Conlin (Nora Zehetner), as he heads into the worst day of his life. A used car salesman, his sales numbers, like his life, are just coasting along but not really cutting it. Teetering on the edge of 30, with a mandate to move out of his parent’s house when he reaches that ominous age, and a mandate from his boss to bring up his numbers, Spooner’s heart overrules his practicality diverting his energy from securing his job and a place to live to securing the heart of his new-found love who reveals she is leaving for the Philippines. This quirky romantic comedy has won multiple film festival awards this year.
Janis Jolcuvar
Screenplay Lindsay Stidham
Story Lindsay Stidham, Drake Doremus, Jonathan Schwartz
Director Drake Doremus (story)
Producer Jonathan Schwartz
Executive Producer Zygi Wilf
Co-Producers Matthew Lillard, Marius A. Markevicius, Lindsay StidhamCinematographer John Guleserian
Production Designer Theresa Avram
Editor Andrew Dickler
Original Music Bobby Johnston
Principal Cast Matthew Lillard, Nora Zehetner, Shea Whigham, Christopher McDonald, Kate Burton, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Running Time: 83 minutes

Easier with Practice (Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Davy Mitchell (Brian Geraghty) is touring the Southwest promoting his self-published book of short stories. What he imagined to be a fun trip with his brother has turned out to be a series of poorly attended readings, bad meals, and cheap motels. Alone in the room one night, Davy gets a call from a woman who identifies herself as Nicole. She just wants to talk but she turns the talk sexual. Davy’s initial, amused distrust – this has to be a joke, right? — turns to arousal because Nicole is very sensual and clearly no stranger to phone sex. For the remainder of the trip, Davy and Nicole “meet” every night and their relationship is both erotic and affectionate. Davy realizes that it is the most real thing in his life and he wants to meet Nicole. Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s first feature film, already the winner of several international awards, is an accomplished meditation on loneliness, desire, and both the pleasures and dangers of intimacy.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers Kyle Patrick Alvarez (screenplay), Davy Rothbart (story)
Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez
Producer Cookie Carosella
Co-Producer David Melito
Cinematographer David Rush Morrison
Production Designer Brooke Peters
Editor Fernando Collins
Principal Cast Brian Geraghty, Kel O’Neill, Marguerite Moreau, Jeanette Brox, Jenna Gavigan, Kathryn Aselton
Running Time: 100 minutes

Modern Love is Automatic (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Director Zach Smith has said he wanted this film “to take the exact same stance on being a dominatrix that it would take on making a sandwich. Both are just things that are done in the course of someone’s day.” In this case, that someone is Lorraine (Melodie Sisk), nurse by day, dominatrix by night. Her new roommate is Adrian (Maggie Ross), an aspiring model whose unflagging optimism is severely tested by her job at what must the sleaziest mattress store on the planet. Their stories are told against a soundtrack filled with the music of Blasphemer and in a visual style that evokes Douglas Sirk on a John Waters budget. Modern Love is Automatic, winner of the Best in Fest Feature Award at the 2009 Boston Underground Film Festival, is a movie that manages to be both understated and totally nuts.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer/Director Zach Clark
Producers Zach Clark, Sydney-Chanele R. Dawkins
Cinematographer Daryl Pittman
Editor Zach Clark
Original Music Composer Adam Blais
Principal Cast Melodie Sisk, Maggie Ross
Running Time: 97 minutes

The Shaft (Dixia de tiankong) (Southwest Premiere)
China/Mandarin with English subtitles
Writer/director Chi Zhang’s debut film is a moving series of linked stories centered around one family in a mining community in western China. As they seek to find their place in a post-Communist world, a father, his son, and his daughter all dream of leaving the impoverished village where they have spent their lives. These stories of dreams, frustrations, and family are told simply and with minimal with minimal dialogue. The Shaft introduces an important new presence in the growing number of masterful Chinese filmmakers.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer/Director Chi Zhang
Producers Hu Guipu, Jianmin Kang
Cinematographer Shumin Liu
Editor Yong Chen
Original Music Sida Guo
Principal Cast Deyuan Luo, Xuan Huang, Luoqian Zheng, Chen Li
Running Time: 98 minutes

Artois the Goat (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Virgil Gurdies (Marl Scheibmeir) doesn’t eat to live, he lives to eat. Unfortunately for Virgil, his passion for fine cheese and wine doesn’t jive with his day job: manufacturing artificial flavor additives for TV dinners. But Virgil is ready to take a bold step. He strips off his lab coat, spends the money he had saved for his girlfriend’s engagement ring on a goat, and plunges into the world of artisanal cheese making. It’s a world where a hermit, yes, a hermit, becomes your best friend, and nefarious German bakers work to foil your every move. The Austin-based Bogart Brothers’ first feature is the story of one young man’s quest for true love and the perfect round of goat cheese.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers Cliff Bogart, Kyle Bogart
Directors Cliff Bgart & Kyle Bogart
Producer Richard Reininger
Cinematographer David Blue Garcia
Editors Cliff Bogart, Kyle Bogart
Original Music Brian Satterwhite
Principal Cast Mark Scheibmeir, Sydney Andrews, Stephen Taylor Fry, Dan Braverman
Running Time: 107 minutes

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
My Neighbor, My Killer (Southwest Premiere)
USA,France/English, Kinyarwanda with English subtitles
In 1994, when Rwanda’s Hutu populace was incited by the government-supported to an ethnic cleansing of the country’s Tutsi minority, 800,000 lives were claimed in 100 days. Winner of the Nestor Almendros Prize for Courage in Filmmaking (Human Rights Watch), this powerful and heart-wrenching film follows Rwanda’s new regime government’s Gacaca (ga-CHA-cha - open-air hearings) of 1999, in which citizen-judges publicly tried their neighbors, released from prison, who had slaughtered their families. Designed to reunite the country, empty the incomprehensibly full prisons and help rebuild the nation, the despair, fear and resignation, accusations and defenses, wisdom, lies, power of betrayal and need to forgive and be forgiven reveal unusual glimpses into the depths of the collective community.
Janis Jolcuvar
Director Anne Aghion
Producer Anne Aghion
Cinematographers Claire Bailly du Bois, Linette Frewin, Mathieu Hagnery, James Kakwerere, Simon Rittmeier
Editor Nadia Ben Rachid
Running Time: 80 minutes

Severe Clear (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
First Lieutenant Mike Scotti was deployed with the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines at the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. During the weeks that followed he kept a journal and used his digital mini-cam to record events from the initial staging of troupes in Kuwait to their entry into Baghdad. Director Kristian Fraga has used Scotti’s journal and the footage he and other members of his battalion shot to assemble a movie that gives a raw, uncensored view of the tedium, chaos, and adrenalin rush of 21st century combat.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Kristian Fraga
Producers Kristian Fraga, Marc Perez
Executive Producers Benjamin Charbit, John Sikes,
Co-Producer Sehban Zaidi
Editor Kristian Fraga
Original Music Cliff Martinez
Principal Cast Mike Scotti
Running Time: 92 minutes

Strongman (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Stanless Steel is a very strong man. He can leg press a 10,000 lb dump truck, bend a penny between two fingers, bend a horseshoe with his bare hands and, with his bare fist, drive a nail through a board and two New Jersey license plates. But Stanless Steel’s audiences are getting smaller and he is getting older. For this cinema vérité documentary, Zachary Levy spent time over several years with Stanless and his family. The result is a moving and sometimes unsettling story about a man who cannot dare lose faith himself for fear of facing the failure that surrounds him. Strongman won the Best Documentary Award at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Zachary Levy
Editor Andrew Pang
Sound Editors Andrea Bella, Michael Feuser
Running Time: 113 minutes

Garbage Dreams (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
In a small ghetto located on the outskirts of Cairo, 60,000 Zaballeen (“Garbage People”) collect and recycle 80% of their garbage as their method for survival in the world’s largest garbage village. Their efficiency in garbage collection is, arguably, the most proficient in the world; however, their jobs quickly become endangered by the globalization of their trade from larger multi-national garbage disposal companies. Through the narrow roadways in the labyrinth of garbage, three boys, born into the trash trade, must make choices at a cross roads in their lives that will impact their future as well as the future of their community. This fascinating film has won 4 festival awards this year.
Blake Nelms
Writer/Director/Producer Mai Iskander
Executive Producer Tiffany Shauer
Running Time: 82 minutes

Petition (Southwest Premiere)
China, France/Mandarin with English Subtitles
In Beijing, the government has established an official Complaints Office where petitioners come from across China in hopes of redress for injustices in their local communities. The Complaints Office however, is organized to force the petitioners to wait years for their cases to be heard, creating a Kafkaesque nightmare for country people stranded in the city and often pursued by “retrievers” sent by their local governments. Zhao Liang began work on this documentary in 1996, often shooting footage with a secret camera. It is both infuriating and moving as it shows the community that comes together in the shantytown known as Petition Village. Zhao’s film was among those pulled by the Chinese government from the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival. Petition Village was demolished as part of Beijing’s Olympic building program.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Zhao Liang
Producer Sylvie Blum
Cinematographer Zhao Liang
Editors Zhao Liang, Sylvie Blum, Shun Zi, Bruno Barwise
Running Time: 120 minutes

CURRENT GERMAN CINEMA (INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT)
Beginning in 2003, the world has experienced a resurgence of German films such as Goodbye Lenin!, The Edukators, and Fatih Akin's Head On at major festivals like Berlin and Cannes. This trend continues today with the triumph of Michael Haneke’s White Ribbon at this year’s Cannes film festival, Turkish-German director Fatih Akin’s continued excellence, and an ever expanding movement known as the Berlin School, as crests of a wave in a sea of artistic expression. Remaining in many of the films are themes that have pervaded German culture since World War II. While considering it fitting to acknowledge these themes, this year’s international spotlight is also meant to showcase films that prove Germany extends far beyond a period in its history.

Hilde (United States Premiere)
Germany/German with English subtitles
American audiences knew Hildegard Knef as a European actress with usually minor roles in American films and as the star of Cole Porter’s Silk Stockings on Broadway. But in her native Germany and across Europe, Hildegard Knef (born 1925) was a major star whose colorful career included a scandalous nude scene in The Sinner (1951), three marriages, triumphs on stage and screen, and a final turn as a night club singer. Kai Wessel’s film is a sumptuously mounted bio pic. Art director Thomas Freudenthal recreates postwar
Germany, midcentury Hollywood, and 1970’s Europe in lavish detail. German singer/actress Heike Makatsch finds the beauty and power of Knef’s character whether playing her as a twenty-year-old aspiring actress of a fifty-year-old chanteuse.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer Maria von Heland
Based on the autobiography of Hildegard Knef
Director Kai Wessel
Producer Judy Tossell, Jens Meurer
Line Producer Anne Leppin
Co-Producers Ralf Schmitz, Bastian Griese
Cinematographer Hagen Bogdanski
Production Designer Thomas Freudenthal
Editor Tina Freitag
Original Music Martin Todsharow
Principal Cast Heike Makatsch, Dan Stevens, Monica Bleibtreu, Michael Gwisdeck, Hanns Zischler
Running Time: 136 minutes

Distance (Texas Premiere)
Germany/German with English Subtitles
Jana (Franziska Welsz) quite likes Daniel (Ken Duken), her shy, introverted co-worker at the botanic garden. They have a few dates and Jana feels that Daniel also likes her. What she doesn’t know however, is that Daniel also likes to kill people. Frequently. For his debut feature, Thomas Seiben has put together a quiet, stylish thriller punctuated by well-timed shocks and the blackest of humor.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writers Thomas Sieben, Christian Lyra
Director Thomas Sieben
Producers Ken Duken, Norbert Kneissel
Executive Producer Michael Frenschkowski
Co-Producer Patric Stegenwalner
Cinematographer René Dame
Editor Charlie Lézin
Principal Cast Ken Duken, Franziska Weisz, Josef Heynert
Running Time: 84 minutes

The Red Spot (United States Premiere)
Germany/Japan -German/Japanese with English subtitles
When young Japanese student, Aki Onodera, finds an old camera, a yellowed envelope with a letter, and a map marked with a red dot left by her long-deceased parents, the pull of her unanswered questions becomes irresistible. Leaving her studies to re-trace their steps, she travels alone from Tokyo to Bavaria. A local German family comes to her aid and their personal journeys intertwine in this award winning debut feature by Marie Miyayama. The Red Spot (Der Rote Punkt), her graduation project, is an intriguing blend of German and Japanese aesthetics.
Janis Jolcuvar
Writers Marie Miyayama, Christoph Tomkewitsch
Director Marie Miyayama
Producer Martin Blankemeyer, Miyako Sonoki
Line Producers Christian Müller-Germany, Kinya Yagi-Japan
Cinematographer Oliver Sachs
Production Designer Gabriele Mai
On-line Editor Marko Krinke
Digital colorist Manfred Turek
Original Music Helmut Sinz
Principal Cast Yuki Inomata, Hans Kremer, Orlando Klaus, Imke Buechel, Zora Thiessen, Shinya Owada, Mikiko Otonashi, Yuu Saito, Toru Minegishi, Toshihiro Yashiba, Nahoko Fort-Nishigami
Running Time: 85 minutes

GATEWAY TO THE ARTS
For many, film can be a gateway to the arts. Since its inception, the Lone Star International Film Festival has made celebrating the intersection of film and other arts an essential part of its mission. Due in large part to the existing cultural community of Fort Worth, this has proven to be a highly rewarding effort. As the momentum of our shared successes expand cultural interaction, we look forward to further exploring the presence, in terms of both method and content, of architecture, painting, sculpture, music, literature, photography, dance, theater and design in cinema. In turn, the festival aspires to afford these disciplines greater exposure by capitalizing on the mass appeal of the moving image.

With these objectives in mind, we are proud to announce the first edition of Gateway to the Arts, a multi-faceted program that will lend additional form to the ideas stated above. For 2009, this program is comprised of two parts. First, a special category of films listed on the following page. There are no concrete criteria for this category but in the synopses we have described the rationale behind each selection.

Dancing Across Borders (Texas Premiere)
USA/English and Khmer with English subtitles
First time filmmaker Anne Bass successfully captures the talent and charm of dancer Sokvannara (Sy) Sar in this uneven but captivating documentary. Following his pursuit of classical Cambodian dance from age nine in his native country through his subsequent discovery by and patronage of Anne Bass, we follow his journey to New York and his immersion in classical training, as the oldest recruit at the School of American Ballet at age 16. The sheer talent, charm and determination of Sy, as he struggles with the physical, artistic, cultural, economic and personal challenges, is at once admirable, riveting, sad and triumphant as he returns to Cambodia as an accomplished western ballet dancer and cultural ambassador, and ultimately joins the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. Featured performance footage includes Sy with legendary composer Phillip Glass at the Vail International Dance Festival.
Janis Jolcuvar
Director Anne Bass
Producers Catherine Tatge, Anne Bass
Executive Producer Anne Bass
Cinematographer Robert Elfstrom, Anthony Forma, Tom Hurwitz
Editor Girish Bhargava, Mark Sutton
Principal Cast Sokvannara (Sy) Sar

You Won’t Miss Me (North Texas Premiere)
USA/ English
Shelly (Stella Schnabel) is 23 years old and no longer out of control enough to stay at the mental hospital. She is sent home to Brooklyn and to her old circle of friends and casual lovers who seldom seem to work but always pay the rent. But Ry Russo-Young’s second feature film is not a navel-gazing exploration of the twenty-something psyche. Fueled by Schnabel’s no-holds-barred performance and shot in five different formats that capture the tech-soaked atmosphere Shelly and her friends inhabit, You Won’t Miss Me is both a hilarious and excruciating ride through the inner life of a fragile but tenacious young woman.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Writer Ry Russo Young, Stella Schnabel
Director Ry Russo Young
Producer Andrew Barchilon
Executive Producer Ry Russo Young
Cinematographer Kitao Sakurai
Editors Ry Russo Young, Gil Koffman
Original Music Composer Will Bates
Principal Cast Stella Schnabel, Noah Kimmerling, Gina Abatemarco
Running Time: 81 minutes

God’s Architects (North Texas Premiere)
USA/English
Leonard Knight has worked for decades on God is Love Mountain, his painted concrete hillside in the California desert. In Arkansas, Shelby Ravellette is building a stone castle to honor his young daughter who died of the flu. These are two of the five visionary artists profiled in Zack Godshall’s documentary. Each one has devoted his life to realizing in this world the environment they feel God has chosen them to create. Godshall allows them to speak in depth about their projects and their faith and leads the audience on a tour of their eccentric, often beautiful, and always moving constructions.
Charles Dee Mitchell
Director Zack Godshall
Producer Zack Godshall
Executive Producer Zack Godshall
Co-Producer Emilie Taylor
Cinematographer Zack Godshall
Editor Zack Godshall
Original Music Shane Monds
Running Time: 82 minutes

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News Facts

The Lone Star Film Society was created in 2002 after the original editions of the Fort Worth Film Festival concluded in 2001. The inaugural Lone Star International Film Festival Fort Worth in Sundance Square was realized in 2007 through the hard work of a dedicated staff and Board of Directors. While preserving the original event’s objective to promote artistic integrity and the independent spirit in film, the Lone Star Film Society added to its mission a goal of becoming a beneficial partner in the community of Fort Worth so that a successful November festival and year round slate of events would not only be a good thing for filmmakers, but for everyone in the city of Fort Worth and beyond. Now in its third year, the LSFS and LSIFF have reached that goal as evidenced through the support of the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and many of Fort Worth’s most prestigious corporations, non-profits, and cultural institutions.
The Lone Star International Film Festival (LSIFF) Fort Worth in Sundance Square is a presentation of the Lone Star Film Society (LSFS) and represents the culmination of the society’s year round series of film screenings and events. Featuring an impressive slate of narrative and documentary features and short films from around the world, educational panels, red carpet entrances, filmmakers, celebrity guests, and nightly parties featuring celebrated musical acts, the fall festival is quickly becoming a marquee cultural event in Fort Worth and beyond. For more, visit: www.lonestarfilmsociety.com or www.lsiff.com.