Opening Night Presentation
I Had The Heart (Tuve el Corazon)
Directors: Oliver Kolker, Hernan Findling
Country: Argentina; Running Time: 107 minutes
Moti Cohen a one time hit rock producer discovered Bartolo, a stutterer mechanic who sings Tango like nobody. Moti will make him a star.
Preceded by Elm
Director: Kay Qiao
Country: USA; Running Time: 16 minutes
An abandoned doll and a scarecrow scared of crows form an unlikely bond when they work together to overcome their fears and heal their mutual pain.
Closing Night Presentation
Pilgrim
Country: USA; Running Time: 111 Min.
Directors: Scout Purdy & Doug Purdy
After a series of revelations, 15-year-old Joe devises a plan to cure her teen angst: a month-long pilgrimage filled with communication issues, terrible survival skills, and zero Wi-Fi—AKA a summer hiking trip with her father. Pilgrim is a funny, heartwarming story of connection and discovery.
Preceded by Incoming Call
Director: Lisa Molinaro
Country: United States; Running Time: 15 minutes
Ellie, a project manager, is stuck in a generic hotel on what feels like an endless work trip. As the construction project she’s overseeing faces delays, Ellie struggles to meet the demands of her job and her family from home. Incoming Call showcases how the challenges faced by the middle class might be pushing some people to their breaking point.
Special Presentations
The Ladies of the House (2015)
Director: John Stuart Wildman
Country: USA, Running Time: 93 minutes
The Ladies of the House follows the fate of two brothers, Jacob and Kai, who, along with their friend Derek, go to a dance club to celebrate Kai’s birthday. After Derek convinces the other two to follow one of the dancers home, things take a tragic turn. However, that is simply the beginning of the nightmare for the young men, because her roommates (Getty, Lin and Crystal) aren’t just fellow dancers, they are also cannibals with a fierce sense of home and family – and a taste for men.
Open Water (2003)
Director: Chris Kentis
Country: USA, Running Time: 79 minutes
Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left.
FILM UNDERGROUND
The “Film Underground” is a NYC-based screening series and collective run by filmmaker Tzvi, focusing on showcasing lesser-known films from around the world. For the first time ever Festival of Cinema NYC will be partnering with Film Underground and founder Tzvi to present 10 short films all under 10 minutes that have been randomly picked to screen raffle style.
KIDS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Tamesha Scott’s Kids in the Spotlight is an organization based in L.A. that helps foster care-impacted and underrepresented youth heal and grow from trauma through the power of storytelling, filmmaking, and workforce development. KITS is erasing the limits of the foster system with every film released. And with Hollywood-level production and opportunities, KITS filmmakers are bringing their talent to the creative community.
Additional Narrative Feature Films
BitterSweet
Director: Steven Martini
Country: USA; Running Time: 85 minutes
This romantic comedy tells the story of a new father on the verge of losing his family to an overprotective government system that sees him as the root of the problem.
East Bay Confidential World Premiere
Director: Chris De Pretis
Country: United States; Running Time: 92 minutes
A disillusioned Iraq War veteran is framed for a murder by a beautiful social media influencer. He must track down the only person who can testify on his behalf: a former sex worker on the run from a murderous gangster.
I Never Said Goodbye
Director: Yev K’banchik
Country: United States; Running Time: 70 minutes
An Eastern European immigrant’s journey through grief and self-discovery intertwines with the lives of others in Baltimore, exploring themes of loss, connection, and the shared humanity that bridges cultural and socio-economic divides.
Moments of Youth North American Premiere
Director: Gregory Pellerito
Country: United States of America; Running Time: 125 minutes
On the night before graduation, the Senior Class at Winthrop Creek High partakes in a fun-filled scavenger hunt which features a massive grand prize. With their dreams on the horizon, they share one epic night of laughs and secrets before their futures begin. Unbeknownst to them, the night serves as a way to overcome a tragedy that’s been hindering their growth.
Perdido
Director: Muhammad Bilal
Country: USA; Running Time: 49 minutes
After a tragic run-in with police, Amir Rashad tries to avoid watching the news and anything that reminds him of the encounter. But as he becomes inundated with countless news reports about police brutality, repressed memories from his past begin to resurface. Unable to escape disturbing memories that now haunt him, Amir reluctantly chooses to seek help from a therapist to face his greatest fear.
Roughhead
Director: Aurelio Galfetti
Country: Switzerland; Running Time: 68 minutes
Ela and Anao are united by their hard work on the farm. In the solitude of the foothills of the Alps, their partnership of convenience develops into love. A love that doesn’t stand a chance. When Ela discovers Anao’s secret, it is too late and the sinister surrounding become increasingly threatening. A threat that Ela confronts until …
Rowdy Friends
Director: Jacob Hatley
Country: USA; Running Time: 91 minutes
Residents of a North Carolina halfway house take matters into their own hands when a roommate suspiciously disappears. Led by a cast of first-time actors, recovering addicts and ex-cons, this blend of fact, fiction and genre offers an unhinged look at life on the American margins.
The Premiere
Director: Jon Silver
Country: USA; Running Time: 81 minutes
A young filmmaker manages countless challenges at his first movie premiere – including high expectations, celebrity appearances, and paranoid delusions projected onto the screen.
Water Lilies
Director: Chanho Lee
Country: Republic of Korea; Running Time: 119 minutes
The water lilies bloom, even in the filthiest waters. Amid the mire of selfish desires and the indifference to others’ suffering, Hope begins to bloom anew in the fleeting moment when we recognize the humanity within one another.
Documentary Feature Films
40 Days
Director: Peter Takla
Country: United States; Running Time: 98 minutes
Naguib and his wife Mariam decide to take over a dangerous Journey to the United States starting from central America all the way to the U.S. – Mexico Border facing many tough life threatening obstacles.
Game On: Hoops and Dreams in Rural China
Director: David Hamlin
Country: USA; Running Time: 80 minutes
This is the untold and surprising story of how American basketball came to rural China and is now deeply rooted in this rural culture. And every year, there is a remarkable basketball tournament attended by 20,000 local people. It’s the Super Bowl of Rural China – and a cultural and athletic spectacle unlike anything you’ve seen before. We follow three teams of men and women as they pursue their dreams to become basketball champions and bring glory to their villages.
It Doesn’t Matter North American Premiere
Director: Josh Mond
Country: USA; Running Time: 86 minutes
It Doesn’t Matter follows the cross-country wanderings of Alvaro, a homeless man from Staten Island, and his fortuitous relationship with a young filmmaker. Alvaro comes to confront the issues that have left him homeless and how he begins to heal.
Free Fernando!
Director: Marc Wishengrad
Country: USA; Running Time: 98 minutes
Filmed over 25 years, Free Fernando! chronicles the incarceration and eventual release of an innocent man who spent 18 years in maximum security prisons after being convicted of murder in 1990‚ New York City. Initially begun as an attempt to free Fernando from prison, Director Marc Wishengrad continued to follow Fernando and his family post-exoneration. Free Fernando! offers an intimate look at the far-reaching reverberations of wrongful incarceration.
Moses
Director: Fran Guijarro
Countries: USA/Spain; Running Time: 127 minutes
In San Francisco, a man enduring homelessness for two decades connects with passersby to be seen among the invisible‚ a skill he learned from a promising music career cut short in the 70s, and one that will ultimately transform his life.