Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Allison Janney, Steve Coogan

Evolving from single-celled yellow organisms at the dawn of time, Minions live to serve, but find themselves working for a continual series of unsuccessful masters, from T. Rex to Napoleon. Without a master to grovel for, the Minions fall into a deep depression. But one minion, Kevin, has a plan; accompanied by his pals Stuart and Bob, Kevin sets forth to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. Their search leads them to Scarlet Overkill, the world’s first-ever super-villainess.

Starring: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Brittany Murphy, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving

Mumble (Elijah Wood), a young emperor penguin, lives in Antarctica. Like others of his kind, he needs to be able to sing to attract a mate, but he has a terrible voice. Instead, Mumble must express himself, and lure a female through his amazing talent for tap-dancing.

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Maria Conchita Alonso, Jennifer Beals, Elizabeth Ashley, Kasi Lemmons

The life of white-collar New Yorker Peter (Nicolas Cage) seems to revolve solely around making as much money and sleeping with as many women as possible. After a typical night of scouring trendy bars for some action, Peter manages to take home the sexy Rachel (Jennifer Beals), who bites him on the neck while they’re in bed. The next day, Peter is certain he is now a vampire. Though no one shares his point of view and he hasn’t changed physically, he dons fake fangs and begins stalking women.

Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson

All screenings in our CLASS OF ’08 series include an optional donation ticket price with proceeds going to the Entertainment Community Fund, who work to support film and TV workers during the work stoppage. Choose the “Reserved + Donation” ticket option to donate.

High-school student Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), always a bit of a misfit, doesn’t expect life to change much when she moves from sunny Arizona to rainy Washington state. Then she meets Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a handsome but mysterious teen whose eyes seem to peer directly into her soul. Edward is a vampire whose family does not drink blood, and Bella, far from being frightened, enters into a dangerous romance with her immortal soulmate.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea, Christian Slater, Kirsten Dunst

Born as an 18th-century lord, Louis is now a bicentennial vampire, telling his story to an eager biographer. Suicidal after the death of his family, he meets Lestat, a vampire who persuades him to choose immortality over death and become his companion. Eventually, gentle Louis resolves to leave his violent maker, but Lestat guilts him into staying by turning a young girl — whose addition to the “family” breeds even more conflict.

Starring: Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Jenifer Lewis, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney

Based on the life of the legendary soul singer, Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) — born Anna Mae Bullock — discovers her love of singing in her Tennessee church choir. She moves to St. Louis to pursue a career, and there she meets the charismatic Ike Turner (Laurence Fishburne), who rechristens her Tina and offers to help her succeed. As a musical team, Ike and Tina take the charts by storm. But as his physical abuse worsens, Tina has to make the tough decision to leave Ike and set out on her own.

Starring: Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Jason Leigh

As we celebrate Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog this awards season, The FOFIF looks back to her under-appreciated 2003 sexy psychological thriller In the Cut, in which she masterfully subverts the male gaze.

To make an additional $10 donation to The Future of Film is Female, select the “Event + Donation” ticket on the checkout screen.

An English teacher (Meg Ryan) has an affair with a detective (Mark Ruffalo), though she suspects him of murdering a woman.

Starring: Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Mendelsohn, Bashir Salahuddin

Award-winning director Joe Wright envelops moviegoers in a symphony of emotions with music, romance, and beauty in Cyrano, re-imagining the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle. A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac (played by Peter Dinklage) dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her — and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.).

NoBudge is happy to present new work from a group of emerging indie filmmakers, mostly based in New York. We’re screening eight short films, an even split of the dramatic and comedic. In the first half of the program, we’re focusing on edgy character studies that hover around sexual or emotional longing. The second half opens up into a series of dark comedies about good intentions gone wrong, or featuring characters embroiled in desperation. On both sides, the work explores loneliness and isolation, or rocky relationships filled with paranoia and/or manipulation. The program kicks off with a bit of an outlier, a lovely and imaginative stop motion animated film that eases us into the evening. This is the first public screening in New York for each of the films, and in most cases, the first public screening anywhere. All directors will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A and Afterparty.

NoBudge is an online platform spotlighting the best in low-budget indie filmmaking. “One of the best places to sample what’s happening in low-budget cinema worldwide,” says Glenn Kenny of The New York Times. Its mission is to provide a supportive home for emerging indie filmmakers working with limited resources and without major industry connections, and to be a trusted discovery platform.

The movies:
Snow Angel
New York Premiere
Directors Evie Metz & Nicholas Daly present.
A journey through dreams and desires following a young woman making a snow angel and other wintry adventures.
(4 minutes)

Sincerely, Erik
New York Premiere
Director Naz Riahi present.
A lonely bookseller in Brooklyn navigates the post Covid-19 world as best as he can.
(12 minutes)

Journal
New York Premiere
Director Alex Bliss present.
Two best friends retrace their steps in hopes of locating a missing item after a seemingly average night.
(8 minutes)

Nudes
New York Premiere
Director Evan Daves present.
Desperate to be desired in her long-expired relationship, Jen becomes embroiled in a sextual encounter with her co-worker.
(16 minutes)

I’m SO Sorry
New York Premiere
Director Chester Vincent Toye present.
Two roommates struggle to decide which Black Lives Matter sign they should purchase to show their support for the BLM movement.
(5 minutes)

Maggie So Low
New York Premiere
Directors Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine Borowiec present.
Maggie invites friends, acquaintances and total strangers into her home for what they think is a party, but she has other plans in store.
(16 minutes)

The Ultimate (By Lou Fescano)
New York Premiere
Director Daniel Jaffe and co-writer/star Michelle Uranowitz present.
After the death of her high school boyfriend Lou, Nicole returns home to New Jersey where she finds herself directing Lou’s unproduced screenplay.
(17 minutes)

Nicole
New York Premiere
Directors Edy Modica and Ian Faria present.
In a small town outside of New York City, a woman desperately tries to get to Dunkin Donuts for a coffee coolatta.
(18 minutes)

Starring: Steve Carell, Pierre Coffin, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Julie Andrews, Alan Arkin

In the heart of the 1970s, amid a flurry of feathered hair and flared jeans, Gru (Oscar nominee Steve Carell) is growing up in the suburbs. A fanboy of a supervillain supergroup known as the Vicious 6, Gru hatches a plan to become evil enough to join them. Luckily, he gets some mayhem-making backup from his loyal followers, the Minions. Together, Kevin, Stuart, Bob, and Otto–a new Minion sporting braces and a desperate need to please–deploy their skills as they and Gru build their first lair, experiment with their first weapons and pull off their first missions. When the Vicious 6 oust their leader, legendary fighter Wild Knuckles (Oscar winner Alan Arkin), Gru interviews to become their newest member. It doesn’t go well (to say the least), and only gets worse after Gru outsmarts them and suddenly finds himself the mortal enemy of the apex of evil. On the run, Gru will turn to an unlikely source for guidance, Wild Knuckles himself, and discover that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.