INDEPENDENT FEATURES

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<center></center> Directed by Amy Wendel | USA | 2011 | 90min | (Q&A) Confronted with an opportunity to reach beyond her means, Luz Garcia (Corina Calderon) is faced with a seemingly impossible situation. She must find enough money to attend college or she will be destined to a life of flipping burgers. BENAVIDES BORN is not simply the biography of Luz, but the tale of countless women in some of the most rural areas of Texas. It is the story of people who become stuck in the most decrepit parts of the world, not because they do not have the mental or physical capacity to leave, but because of their poor financial, societal or political circumstances. Luz, pushed to the brink of hopelessness, decides to enter the State Powerlifting Championship. Her goal is to win and collect the prize money to pay for college; however, her plan is not as black-and-white as she thought, and her journey leads her to see her problem on a much larger level. - Julia Speace

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<center></center> Directed by Michael Rymer | AUSTRALIA | 2010 | 85min | (Q&A) WORLD PREMIERE FACE TO FACE, written by Australian playwright David Williamson and adapted for the screen by Michael Rymer, is an independent feature film based on transcripts from actual conflict resolution sessions. Wayne, a young construction worker, rams into the back of his boss’s car in a fit of anger at being fired. Rather than going to court, he opts for a community conference to discuss the events that led to such a violent reaction. In the tradition of 12 ANGRY MEN, FACE TO FACE is an ensemble piece, focusing on ten very dissimilar Australians bound together by a complex pattern of relationships and shared histories. They come together to navigate a series of entanglements to help determine the fate of this troubled young man. Featuring an impressive cast of A-list Australian actors including Vince Colosimo, Sigrid Thornton, Luke Ford and Matthew Newton, this film truly reveals the tangled webs we weave.

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<center></center> Directed by Mike Wallis | NEW ZEALAND | 2010 | 93min | (Q&A) WORLD PREMIERE A recently orphaned young English woman is immigrating to the American West to live with her uncle on his ranch. She finds herself in a dangerous and unpredictable world when she is kidnapped by The Man, a rugged outlaw and a savage man with a secret even he didn’t know he had. Adventure, drama and comedy ensue as these social opposites collide. With a posse hot on the chase, the unlikely duo must help each other survive. Italian filmmakers of the 60s were successful in making the great Spaghetti Westerns in Italy and Spain, and now New Zealand filmmakers take advantage of their talent and the breathtaking landscapes of Central Otago in the South Island of New Zealand, producing the first Pavlova Western. Director Mike Wallis has been called “the next Peter Jackson.”

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<center></center> Directed by William Eubank | USA | 2010 | 86min | (Q&A) WORLD PREMIERE Watch Movie Trailer After losing contact with Earth, astronaut Lee Miller becomes stranded in orbit alone aboard the International Space Station. As time passes and life support systems dwindle, Lee battles to maintain his sanity—and simply stay alive. His world is a claustrophobic and lonely existence until he makes a strange discovery aboard the ship. In 2007 the American rock band Angels & Airwaves hired writer-director William Eubank to create with them a visual work of art that would be inspired by their music. They wanted it to echo themes both cinematically and sonically that were also represented in the songs from their upcoming album LOVE. Driven by their powerful music, ANGELS & AIRWAVES PRESENTS LOVE explores the fundamental human need for connection and the limitless power of hope. It is a high-impact visual adventure that resonates with a common truth—that everyone has a story to tell and something even greater to leave behind. - Angels&Airwaves.com

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<center></center> Directed by J. Smith | USA / MEXICO | 2010 | 79min | (Q&A) WORLD PREMIERE Watch Movie Trailer Best friends Luis and Ronald are on the cusp of a life changing experience together. Recently enlisted in the Marine Corps, they have 100 days left to say goodbye to their family and friends before they are off for a tour in Afghanistan. Armed with his camera, aspiring filmmaker Luis documents each moment of their journey detailing every tear, laugh and adventure before they embark on the next stage of their life. Will their dreams of being heroes come to fruition? Or will they fall victim to a war that has already taken so many innocent lives? MAKE A MOVIE LIKE SPIKE is a powerful film that takes a close look at the lives of the people who risk their lives for our country while asking the question, is it all worth it? This is a directorial debut by Jamil Walker Smith.

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<center></center> Directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly | CANADA | 2010 | 75min Taking something at face value can be misleading, as it is often what lies beneath that can be the most telling. SMALL TOWN MURDER SONGS, set in a small Mennonite town in Ontario, focuses on Walter (Peter Stormare), a troubled police chief still distraught from the events of a turbulent past. Walter has stripped his life of all iniquities, choosing to live the quiet life of a man devoted to his work, his wholesome girlfriend (Martha Plimpton), and his religion. However, his everyday job of writing parking tickets and pulling over horse-drawn buggies is rocked by an untimely murder, sending him and his town into a frenzy. Forced to play a significant role in the murder investigation, Walter starts to question the strength of his newfound character when he is tested by the events that unfold in the supposedly simple town. - Julia Speace

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<center></center> Directed by Daniel Cockburn | USA | 2010 | 78min US PREMIERE Watch Movie Trailer Brainy, inventive and playful, YOU ARE HERE is the fascinating debut feature from accomplished video artist Daniel Cockburn. Calling to mind the cerebral surrealism of Charlie Kaufman, the cool absurdism of Samuel Beckett and the playfulness of Dr. Seuss, Cockburn has created his own unique and compelling style. YOU ARE HERE melds a series of intriguing and smartly crafted narratives that arise from a string of bizarre experiments. Office workers at a mysterious call centre inexplicably track the movements of several urbanites. An archivist opens a puzzling inquiry into her selfcreated library of found documents. A scientist constructs a working-model scenario for “what to do if they shove Chinese writing under the door.” Cockburn’s characters seem to be trapped in thought experiments of their own making, which is a large part of the fun. Offering a captivating commentary on our modern-day existence, indicting technology and its unyielding influence, this whip-smart brain-teaser signals an exciting new talent. This is his directorial debut. - Agata Smoluch Del Sorbo / Toronto International Film Festival

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