Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alex Manette, John Doman, Judith Roberts
A traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, tracks down missing girls for a living. When a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening.
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Scarlett Johansson
ISLE OF DOGS tells the story of ATARI KOBAYASHI, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by Executive Decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. There, with the assistance of a pack of newly-found mongrel friends, he begins an epic journey that will decide the fate and future of the entire Prefecture.
A hard rain is about to fall on a small town in Southern China.
In a desperate attempt to find money to save his fiancée’s failed plastic surgery, Xiao Zhang, a mere driver, steals a bag containing 1 million from his boss.
News of the robbery spreads fast within the town and, over the course of one night, everyone starts looking for Xiao Zhang and his money…
Liu Jian delivers a whirlwind neo-noir, cementing his place as a pioneering force in independent Chinese animation.
Proceeds benefiting The Director’s List and their continued support of female filmmakers
PROGRAM
CALEB
Directed by Amanda Mesaikos & Susanne Aichele | 14 minutes, 40 seconds
To contend with the bullies at school, 9-year-old Caleb decides to 3D print himself. Back home there’s confusion, discord and reshuffled schedules…But maybe this is just what his family needs? With humor at its heart, CALEB is a fundamentally human story about family dynamics and the inevitability of moral dilemmas in the face of advancing technology.
YOYO
Directed by Nicole Delaney | 15 minutes
Caroline (Sophie von Haselberg) can’t stand that she is a virgin…and then the world ends. In post-apocalyptic LA, after a dust storm has wiped out the planet, she is convinced that Francis (Martin Starr) was sent as the man to pop her cherry. YOYO is a heartfelt, dark comedy about finding meaning in life, even when life ceases to exist.
BLOOD TIES
Directed by Simon Pannetrat, Marion Louw, Thomas Ricquier, and Sophie Kavouridis | 3 minutes, 34 seconds
Fears hit close to home as a young girl must find the strength to face the demon that haunts her.
SO YOU’VE GROWN ATTACHED
Directed by Kate Tsang | 15 minutes
An imaginary friend is forced to consider retirement when his creator starts to grow up.
THE GATE
Directed by Kellie Madison | 8 minutes, 33 seconds
As a spiritual war is brewing one woman must fight to save her sister’s soul.
STRANGE BEASTS
Directed by Magali Barbé | 5 minutes, 8 seconds
“Strange Beasts” is an augmented reality game. It allows you to create and grow your own virtual pet. How far can it go?
THE SWEETENING
Directed by Grace Rowe | 13 minutes, 7 seconds
A lonely woman falls for an avatar in an augmented reality program and it completely upends
GENGHIS KHAN CONQUERS THE MOON
Directed by Kerry Yang | 14 minutes, 45 seconds
In Genghis Khan’s last days, an encounter with a Wizard sends him to the Moon. Just as the Mediaeval anti-hero thinks he’s made his greatest conquest, he finds himself on a spiritual quest, realizing the absurd clash between one man’s need and the silence of the Universe.
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DUST is the first multi-platform destination to experience stunning visions of the future from filmmakers of tomorrow. We feature the best sci-fi short films, series, and innovative content that cuts through the present to invite the future. With vivid special effects, complex characters, and captivating plots, prescient themes are explored and tantalizing questions asked. Whether it’s a utopia worth striving for, an apocalypse to avoid, or a truth about the ways technology is changing the human experience – we amplify the voices and visions that will shape the future through imagination.
Mary is an ordinary young girl stuck in the country with her Great-Aunt Charlotte and seemingly no adventures or friends in sight. She follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest, where she discovers an old broomstick and the strange Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blossoms only once every seven years and only in that forest. Together the flower and the broomstick whisk Mary above the clouds, and far away to Endor College – a school of magic run by headmistress Madam Mumblechook and the brilliant Doctor Dee. But there are terrible things happening at the school, and when Mary tells a lie, she must risk her life to try to set things right.
Based on Mary Stewart’s 1971 classic children’s book The Little Broomstick, Mary and The Witch’s Flower is an action-packed film full of jaw-dropping imaginative worlds, ingenious characters, and the simple, heartfelt story of a young girl trying to find a place in the world. Featuring the voices of Ruby Barnhill and Academy Award®-winners Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent.
Starring: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett, Kaho Minami, Shiori Kutsuna, Kōji Yakusho
OH LUCY! follows Setsuko, (Shinobu Terajima in an Independent Spirit Award-nominated performance), a single, emotionally unfulfilled woman, seemingly stuck with a drab, meaningless life in Tokyo. At least until she’s convinced by her niece, Mika (Shioli Kutsuna, Deadpool 2), to enroll in an unorthodox English class that requires her to wear a blonde wig and take on an American alter ego named “Lucy.” The new identity awakens something dormant in Setsuko, and she quickly develops romantic feelings for her American instructor, John (Josh Hartnett, Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful”). When John suddenly disappears from class, Setsuko travels halfway around the world in search of him, and in the outskirts of Southern California, family ties and past lives are tested as she struggles to preserve the dream and promise of “Lucy.”
Finaly, Bill Plympton’s long awaited new feature film Revengeance is coming out in New York City. For a year, it’s been touring the world in film festivals where it’s garnered awards and great press – now, for the US theatrical premiere we’re proud to introduce the film at the prestigious Nitehawk Cinema.
Mr. Plympton himself will be there to introduce the film; he’ll take questions and give sketches to everyone after the screening.
Revengeance is a co-production by Bill Plympton and L.A. based artist Jim Lujan. If Quentin Tarantino decided to become an animator this would be his film.
Starring: Julia Garner, Joseph Cross, C.S. Lee
A minimalist odyssey about a lonely man, his robothead companion, and a determined young woman hiking across a desert planet in search of a mythical lake. Winner of the Cinematography Award at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival.
The sparkling, pitch perfect performances from Julia Garner (Netflix’s Ozark) and Joseph Cross (HBO’s Big Little Lies), the out of this world photography and the original score from Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo make this quirky, emotional adventure of connection and understanding a pure delight.
Starring: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff
When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.
Oscar Snubs
Toni Collette not getting a Best Actress nomination for her role as Annie in Ari Aster’s debut Hereditary is as crazy as the last twenty minutes of this film. The range, depth, silence, and guts she brought to this grieving mother stands heads above the rest. We worry this is another genre bias but, Toni, you already won in our hearts.
Starring: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny
Lena, a biologist and former soldier, joins a mission to uncover what happened to her husband inside Area X – a sinister and mysterious phenomenon that is expanding across the American coastline. Once inside, the expedition discovers a world of mutated landscape and creatures, as dangerous as it is beautiful, that threatens both their lives and their sanity.
From visionary writer and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) and based on the acclaimed best-selling Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer.
