World Premiere
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Electrical engineers turned filmmakers, Matt and Dan O'Donnell, transform this multi-character story into a surreal adventure in their 3-D animated feature, Missing Persons - a fascinating journey through the lives of four lost souls who are intertwined by the investigation of a half-drowned man living one foot beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Grizzled NYPD detective, John Funn, hooks up with the mumbling Officer Snookie, as they traverse a New York filled with street fighting drug vendors who have a bad habit of surviving shotgun blasts.
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Cinequest is proud to present the World Premiere of Rachel Raney and David Murray's Livermore. This offbeat film unearths one suburban town's long forgotten yet often hilarious history. Livermore's 25 year-old time capsule has inexplicably disappeared, and a handful of eccentric locals are the last hope in finding it. Part history, part mystery, but mostly comedy, Livermore introduces a memorable cast of characters, each with a distinct vision of the town -- from romanticized tributes to scathing send-ups of suburban life.
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Doug Finelli's feature debut is a delightfully sexy comedy about love, marriage, friendship, and wife swapping. The late '70s: a time of experimentation and sexual freedom. For twelve-year-olds Steve and Eric, the prospects for their future seem limitless. Not quite. A little over 18 years later, Steve and Eric are average guys with average wives in the small town of Freehold, and they have yet to make any kind of mark.
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Director Noah Nuer presents a heartwarming comedy about two young Parisians who come together to improve each other's lives. Get a Way urges its characters and its viewers to change the course of their future-to stop hiding from life and start embracing it. Didier is a disaffected young man with no apparent direction and a tenuous relationship with his uptight sister, Claire. After a bad encounter with his absent father, Didier nearly runs his van into Anne, a student upset about failing her exams and at odds with her strict parents.
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Courageous...pushes the boundaries of what is permissible in modern cinema...powerful and intense. - Robert Hawk Director Brent Sims' work is always arresting, uncompromising, and controversial. With Gutter Punks (Cinequest, 1998), Sims took a gritty and intimate look at street kids. In Becoming Vex, he again focuses his attention towards young people (this time twenty-somethings) and portrays perhaps a more misanthropic view of society and the effects of violence. Trust lives in the 'burbs.
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The point in life when you discover the world is not 'black & white' is pivotal. For Morris, the quest to understand the 'shades of gray' happened when he was about seventeen years old. Morris' family is certainly not a perfect one. While growing up, Morris faced obstacles most youngsters only read about. His mother died of cancer, and it is possible his father assisted his wife's death to spare her the pain of her last agonizing moments. Morris is still knotted with doubts about his father's innocence or guilt.
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Sure to push buttons this year is director Adam Ripp's all-digital film Gang Tapes, a brutally "in-your-face" film about growing up in South Central, as seen through the eyes of 13-year-old Kris Noland--played by newcomer Trivell, whose captivating performance stirs the pot of emotions. After stealing a video camera, Kris decides to give the world a glimpse of his life by filming his "rise" to moral corruption, as a gang takes him in with open arms. With a highly unique style, director Ripp doesn't look to simply depict a young boy's misguided path to violence.
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Sure to be an audience-pleaser, Dinner and a Movie is an intricately drawn and comically vivid romance from first-time feature film director Lisa Kors. Katie is an idealistic filmmaker, hell-bent on creating the next Great American Documentary. According to Katie, however, time is running out. Her parents have suddenly asked for their "student loan" money back -- with interest. Her day job as a children's party entertainer is more humiliating than her glittery mermaid costume. Katie knows it's time to get her dream made.
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Aaron Fischer is a San Francisco native with a simple dream - to be immortalized forever as a world record holder. Rather than being able to lift the heaviest weight or have the longest toenails, Fischer seeks to create the world's largest container of popcorn. Set to a jazzy score by the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Popcorn! follows Fischer as he enlists friends and family to help him enter the Guinness Book. The road is paved with tons of unpopped kernels, dozens of "modified" air poppers and many funny miscalculations.
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Director's Note: Never try to shoot a feature with only $350. Don't ever hire a homeless man as your script supervisor. And, last but not least, always do a thorough background check on all leading actors. They could be nuts! An appropriate statement once you've seen Shawn Flanagan's The Friggin' Mafia Movie -- a film that pretty much lets you know that filmmaking is hell! In fact, at some point, you are going to ask yourself if the filmmakers have edited together their film or the making of their film.