2016

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Is our modern media brainwashing America? That is the question Jen Senko asks while examining how her father’s and her views of their country diverge. Growing up, Jen remembered her dad being a devout family man and a loving father who cared for everything and everyone. But the more the media told her father how America had changed for the worse, the angrier he became. Listen to professors, writers, and ordinary citizens who comment on the construct of our media and how, instead of finding solutions to issues, they sensationalize and breed fear.

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Beautiful landscapes disappear in the rear-view mirror as the intimacy of a marriage is called into question. With the sweep of a stylistic brush, director George D'Amato paints a masterpiece of vanishing intimacy in the heart of the unspoiled American desert. Married couple Harper and Paul spend some desperately needed one-on-one time on their cross-country road trip—but there's a third wheel. The intruder arrives in the form of cold-hearted, modern technology. As the sun shines down on her, wind whipping her hair, Harper remains glued to her phone.

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They love their son, no matter how long they must wait to see him again. Time seems to travel at its own pace—sometimes you get what you want when you want it, but other times gratification is years in the making. For loving, elderly couple Antonio and Bertha, it's the latter. But no matter how many years pass, they'll hold on to hope of seeing their son again. One day, in the midst of financial crisis, their beloved son passes by their makeshift tamale stand. He doesn't stay long, but he leaves behind a gift: their grandson.

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Sometimes filmmaking is murder...literally. Mitchell Altieri (The Hamiltons, Cinequest 2006) channels the filmmakers of the '70s and '80s in this homage to splatter exploitation films. Two brothers, desperate to break into the world of television and film, decide to enter a horror movie contest. And what could be more horrifying than the elusive snuff film? Of course, they won't actually kill someone on camera—all they're going to do is kidnap an actress, torture her, and make her think she's going to die. What could possibly go wrong?

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James Franco, Ed Harris, Amber Heard, Jim Parrack, Cynthia Nixon, and Christian Slater star in a powerful and honest tale about coming to terms with one's past and how our past doesn't necessarily define who we are. Based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott, The Adderall Diaries is the riveting story of how an Adderall-dependent author's (Franco) obsession with a murder case leads him to face his past. Given thorough access to the case, Stephen's fascination also leads him to strike up a romantic connection with Lana (Heard).

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Can a woman truly have it all? Just before reaching the pinnacle of fame, Veronica, a brilliant pianist, must decide between seizing the chance at eternal notoriety, or sacrificing it all to raise her son. Distraught by her dilemma, she retreats into an indefinite hiatus from performing. Just before becoming complacent as a homemaker, she meets Amanda, an alluring, promising, and younger pianist who threatens Veronica's return to the music world and disrupts the family.