AMERICA’S BURNING - World Premiere - Spotlight Documentary

Directed and Written by: David Smick
Produced by: Ian Michaels
Executive Produced by: Michael Douglas and Barry Levinson
Narrated by: Michael Douglas
Featuring: Michael Douglas, James Carville, Ian Bremmer, Leon Panetta, James Baker, Amy Chua, Katherine Gehl, Arthur Brooks, Hawk Newsome, Derek Black, Gilda Alegria, Stan Druckenmiller, and Larry Summers
 
Executive produced by Academy Award winners Michael Douglas and Barry Levinson, AMERICA’S BURNING probes the economic reasons for today’s hate and division. The middle class is shrinking. The American Dream’s promise of great economic mobility for all is being killed off by a ruthless corporate elite that is strangling American capitalism.
 
Narrated by Michael Douglas and written and directed by NYT bestselling writer David Smick, the film suggests the middle class feels disenfranchised and these feelings have grown in recent decades under both political parties.
 
The film’s extensive cast includes James Carville, Leon Panetta, James Baker and Larry Summers and explores how a civil war could easily lead to a financial crisis that takes us all down.
 
But the film is also hopeful and highlights America's history of resilience. And how its best days could still lie ahead if its people do the hard work of understanding each other.
 

1-800-ON-HER-OWN - World Premiere - Spotlight Documentary (Sales: Record Breaker Films)

Directed by Dana Flor
Produced by Amy Hobby
Executive Produced by Alex Appel
Music by Ani DiFranco
 
1-800-ON-HER-OWN follows groundbreaking indie musician/feminist Ani DiFranco, founder of the first “woman-run non-corporate queer-happy” label, Righteous Babe Records, on wild road trip from her punk-folk past to her life today as an activist, mother and rock star. Throughout, Ani remains resolutely true to herself, no matter the cost.

CHECKPOINT ZOO - World Premiere - Documentary Competition (Sales: UTA)

Directed and Written by: Joshua Zeman
Produced by: Joshua Zeman, Zachary Mortensen, Ian Davies and Torquil Jones
Cinematography by: Nelson Hume and Olivier Sarbil
Featuring: Oleksandr Feldman, Vadim Vorontinsky, Vitalii Ilchenko, Svitlana Vyshnevetska, Andrii Tyvaniuk and Vitalii Sevelin
 
CHECKPOINT ZOO documents a daring rescue led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers, who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
 

OLLOWING HARRY (Belatonte-Nasso-Zeng Production) - World Premiere - Spotlight+

directed by Susanne Rostock
Produced by Frankie Nasso, Suzanne Rostock, & Julius R. Nasso
Executive Produced by Harry Belafonte & Pamela Belafonte, Jeff Kranzdorf, & Edward Zeng
Co-Produced by Douglas Dicconson
 
Following Harry begins with Harry Belafonte at the age of 84, embarking on a deeply personal journey, disrupting injustice over the next ten years by passionately encouraging a diverse group of entertainers and activists to overcome soaring national unrest and anger, by believing that love has the power to redirect oppression into oblivion.

THE FRENCH ITALIAN - World Premiere - US Narrative Competition 

Directed by: Rachel Wolther
Produced by: Miranda Kahn
Executive Produced by: Allison Rose Carter, Jon Read, Chris McConnell, Ross Davidson Burlingame, Donna Rosen, Christopher Zebuda, Murray and Lori Shapero
Starring: Catherine Cohen, Aristotle Athari, Chloe Cherry, Ruby McCollister, Jon Rudnitsky, and Ikechukwu Ufomadu
 
THE FRENCH ITALIAN follows an aggrieved NYC couple (Cat Cohen & Aristotle Athari), who stage a fake play to get revenge on their noisy neighbors (Chloe Cherry & Jon Rudnitsky).

LAKE GEORGE - World Premiere - Spotlight Narrative (Sales: Range Media Partners)

 
Directed by: Jeffrey Reiner
Produced by: Jeffrey Reiner, Joey Oglesby, Cleta Ellington, Bernie Stern
Starring: Shea Whigham, Carrie Coon, Glenn Fleshler, Max Casella
 
A darkly comedic neo-noir, a road trip movie, and a redemption story. Newly released from prison, a white-collar criminal, used to dealing with numbers, is tasked with one last job by his boss: kill the boss’ girlfriend before she talks.

MARS - World Premiere - Midnight Section (Sales: CAA)

Directed & Produced by Sevan Najarian
Written & Produced by Trevor Moore, Zach Cregger & Sam Brown
Produced by Kara Welker
Executive Produced by James Bristow, Darren Trumeter & Timmy Williams
Starring: The Whitest Kids U’ Know
 
Kyle is a man whose whole life is laid out before him. Engaged to his fiancé, Candace, he works as a dentist,  knows that they’ll settle down and have children, and all of life’s decisions have already been figured out for him… and that is terrifying. One night, he sees an ad for billionaire Elron Branson’s contest to travel to Mars on the maiden trip of his new MARS VOYAGER.  Unsure of the road ahead, Kyle sends in a submission video and,  to his surprise, wins. When the dates of the rocket launch and wedding conflict, he decides to ditch his big day and head off to the red planet. This would all be great for him except the luxury accommodations are merely a facade, the other space travelers are insane, and all the space travelers get stranded on Mars with no way home.

RENT FREE - World Premiere - US Narrative Competition (Sales: Visit Films)

Directed by: Fernando Andrés
Written by: Fernando Andrés and Tyler Rugh
Produced by: Fernando Andrés, Jacob Roberts, and Temple Baker
Starring: Jacob Roberts, David Treviño, Molly Edelman, Neal Mulani, Sarah J. Bartholomew, and Zeke Goodman
 
This freewheeling comedy follows down-on-their-luck Gen Z best friends Ben and Jordan as they mooch off of their friends’ and acquaintances’ hospitality, all while grappling with love, heartbreak and awkward flings. The film’s effortless humor brings forth a fresh exploration on queer male friendship.

THE SHALLOW TALE OF A WRITER WHO DECIDED TO WRITE ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER - World Premiere - Spotlight Narrative (Sales: CAA / UTA)

Written and Directed by: Tolga Karaçelik
Produced by: Scott Aharoni, Sinan Eczacibasi, Alihan Yalçındağ, Wren Arthur, Steve Buscemi, Alex Peace Power, Mustafa Kaymak, and Tolga Karaçelik
Executive Producer: John Magaro, Britt Lower, Aykut Sanver, Kanat Dogramaci, Eppie Ozen, Daniel John Goldberg, Julien Levesque, Ahmet Kenan Bilgic, Can Gursoy, Tara Khorti, Irmak Pakdemir, Peter Veverka, Ali Yurerer, Aret Tasciyan
Starring: Steve Buscemi, John Magaro, and Britt Lower 
 

A struggling writer in the midst of a divorce befriends a retired serial killer who incidentally becomes his marriage counselor by day, and killing counselor for his next book by night.

STEVIE VAN ZANDT: DISCIPLE (HBO) - World Premiere - Spotlight Documentary

Directed by: Bill Teck
Produced by: David Fisher and Robert Cotto
Cinematography by: David Fisher
Featuring: Stevie Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Bono, Maureen Van Zandt and Darlene Love
 
Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple traces Van Zandt’s career as a musician, activist and actor from the clubs of Asbury Park, NJ, to stadiums around the world, to the Bada Bing Club.

THE THINKING GAME - World Premiere - Spotlight Documentary (Sales: ROCO Films)

 
Directed by: Greg Kohs
Produced by: Gary Krieg
Executive Produced by: Tom Dore and Jonathan Fildes
Featuring: Demis Hassabis
 
The Thinking Game chronicles the extraordinary life of visionary scientist Demis Hassabis and his relentless quest to solve the enigma of artificial general intelligence.
 

TREASURE (Bleecker Street / FilmNation Entertainment) - International Premiere - Spotlight Narrative

Based on the 1999 novel Too Many Men by Lily Brett
 
Directed by: Julia von Heinz
Co-Written by: Julia von Heinz, John Quester
Produced by: Fabina Gasmia, Julia von Heinz, Lena Dunham
Starring: Lena Dunham, Stephen Fry, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Iwona Bielska, Maria Mamona, Wenanty Nosul, Klara Bielawka, Magdalena Celowna, Tomasz Wlosok, Sandra Drzymalska

A father-daughter road trip set in 1990s Poland, TREASURE follows Ruth (Dunham), an American music journalist, and her father, Edek (Fry), a charmingly stubborn Holocaust survivor, on a journey to his homeland. While Ruth is eager to make sense of her family’s past, Edek embarks on the trip with his own agenda. This emotional, funny culture clash of two New Yorkers exploring post-socialist Poland is a powerful example of how reconnecting with family and the past can be an unexpected treasure.