More Feature Films Added to 2012 Nashville Film Festival Presented by Nissan

Directors Michael Mohan and Yulene Olaizola, who both won major awards at previous editions of the Nashville Film Festival (NaFF), return to the Festival this year with their latest works, it was confirmed as part of a broader announcement of added features for the 2012 Festival. Mohan, who picked up the inaugural New Directors Jury Prize in 2010 for his film “One Too Many Mornings,” returns with “Save the Date,” the story of two sisters fumbling through the bumpy emotional landscape of modern-day relationships. Olaizola, who in 2009 picked up the Best Documentary Jury Prize and the Women in Film and Television Best Female Filmmaker Award for her film “Shakespeare and Victor Yugo’s Intimacies,” brings her first narrative feature to the festival, “Artificial Paradises,” the story of a young, heroin-addicted tourist on the beautiful coast of Veracruz, Mexico, and her peculiar friendship with a 63-year-old peasant and fisherman.

Also added to the list of films in competition and non-competition categories are “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life,” director Dori Berinstein’s portrait of the irrepressible Broadway legend; “V/H/S,” the multi-director P.O.V. found footage horror film from the perspective of America’s top genre filmmakers; “LUV,” director Sheldon Candis’ portrait of a shy 13-year-old and his ex-convict uncle, starring Common, Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover and Charles S. Duttonand; and  “One Night Stand,” a funny, intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the journey from the blank page to the live stage, as top Broadway and television writers, actors, and directors produce four original short musicals, all within 24 hours. The film stars Jesse Tyler Fergusen, Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Dratch, Richard Kind, Tracie Tomas and Nellie McKay among others.

A complete list of previously announced feature films in competition and non-competition categories, as well as animated, narrative and documentary shorts, are available at nashvillefilmfestival.org. Films in the “Tennessee First” category will be announced later this week. Panels, jurors, music showcases and a complete schedule will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Tickets for the festival go on sale to the general public on April 12. Members of the media wishing to apply for media credentials may do so now at nashvillefilmfestival.org/press > “Apply for Media Credentials.”

Nashville Film Festival is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and receives funding from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Franklin Brooks Philanthropic Fund and William N. Rollins Fund for the Arts of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Ann & Lance Krafft Charitable Lead Trust, The Memorial Foundation, Nashville Metro Arts Commission, Tennessee Arts Commission, and its generous patrons and sponsors.

World Cinema & Special Presentations

Hell and Back Again
(Danfung Dennis / USA / 88 min.)
What does it mean to lead men in war? What does it mean to come home? The Academy Award nomination “Hell and Back Again” is a cinematically revolutionary film that asks and answers these questions with a power and intimacy no previous film about the conflict in Afghanistan has been able to achieve. It is a masterpiece in the cinema of war. Special Free ITVS Community Cinema screening.

The Perfect Family
(Anne Renton / USA / 84 min.)
A devoutly Catholic wife and mother (Kathleen Turner) has been nominated for one of the church’s top awards. She then goes about trying to prove she has the “perfect” family, refusing to accept them for who they are. With Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter and Richard Chamberlain.

Carol Channing: Larger Than Life
(Dori Berinstein / USA / 82 min. )
If Carol Channing didn’t exist, no one could have made her up. One in a billion, Carol, at 89, remains an unstoppable, megawatt dynamo. Broadway diva extraordinaire is just the icing. Channing hovered at the pinnacle of the entertainment world from the late-1950’s through the 1960’s and beyond, living life sensationally large. As Carol has observed, ‘…if you’re lucky enough to have two hit shows, the world passes through your dressing room’. At 89, she remains irrepressible. In “Larger than Life,” director Dori Berinstein profiles the Broadway legend. With appearances by Loni Anderson, Tyne Daly, Phyllis Diller, Angela Lansbury and more.

Duke and the King
(Kris Wheeler, Wayne Franklin / USA / 91 min.)
Singer/songwriter Duke Bardwell once appeared destined for greatness … until he met his childhood idol. There is danger in meeting your hero, especially if your hero becomes your boss and your boss happens to be the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. WORLD PREMIERE.

Hit So Hard
(P. David Ebersole / USA / 104 min.)
“Hit So Hard”  follows the journey of Patty Schemel, the openly gay drummer of Courtney Love’s seminal rock band Hole. As a young girl who always knew she was ‘different’ from the other kids in her farm town home outside of Seattle, Patty never dreamed she would one day have her picture on the cover of “Rolling Stone.” But she also never fathomed that she could lose it all. A true survivor of what we now know was the disaffected ‘slacker’ generation, Patty found herself, like her friend Kurt Cobain, embraced by the dark side. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Sarabah
(Gloria Bremer, Maria Luisa Gambale / USA / 60 min.)
Rapper, singer and activist, Sister Fa is a hero to young women in Senegal and an unstoppable force for social change. A childhood victim of female genital cutting (FGC), she tackled the issue by starting a grassroots campaign, “Education Without Excision,” which uses her music and persuasive powers to end the practice. But until 2010 there’s one place she had never brought her message – back home to her own village of Thionck Essyl, where she fears rejection. “Sarabah” follows Sister Fa on this challenging journey, where she speaks out passionately to female elders and students alike, and stages a rousing concert that brings the community to its feet. A portrait of an artist as activist, Sarabah shows the extraordinary resilience, passion and creativity of a woman who boldly challenges gender and cultural norms. It’s an inspiring story of courage, hope and change. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Bestiaire
(Denis Côté / Canada  / 72 min. )
Animals and people — along the rhythm of the changing seasons they watch one another. “Bestiare” unfolds like a filmed picture book about mutual observation, about peculiar perception. A contemplation of a stable imbalance, and of loose, tranquil and indefinable elements.

Five Broken Cameras
(Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi / Palestinian Territories / 90 min.)
When his fourth son, Gibreel, is born, Emad, a Palestinian villager, gets his first camera and begins to film his son’s growth. At the same time, a separation barrier is being built in his village, Bil’in, and the villagers start to resist this decision. For more than five years, Emad films the struggle as well, which is lead by two of his best friends. Very soon, the barrier and filming begins to affects his family and his life. Daily arrests and night raids are common, scaring his family and his friends, as he and his brothers are either shot at or arrested. One Camera after another is shot at or smashed, each one telling a part of his story.

Narrative Competition

Absent
(Marco Berger / Argentina / 87 min.)
Martin finds a whole series of excuses to subtly invade his sport teacher Sebastian’s privacy, ending up spending a night in his apartment. But when Martin’s intentions dawn on him, the teacher has already been compromised. It takes a tragic accident for Sebastian to become aware of his own feelings for Martin. Ausente is about the abuse of an adult by a minor, who is fully aware of his teacher’s delicate position and all too willing to exploit it. (Synopsis by Berlin International Film Festival). TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Adalbert’s Dream
(Gabriel Achim / Romania / 101 min.)
Adalbert’s Dream is a black comedy based on a true story that happened in a Romanian communist factory in the 80’s. A work accident is re‐enacted, but the re‐enactment turns into a new accident: the worker playing the victim gets his hand cut off, as well. SOUTHEASTERN PREMIERE.

California Solo
(Marshall Lewy / USA / 93 min.)
A former Brit-pop rocker who now works on a farm gets caught driving drunk and faces deportation after living in Los Angeles for many years. His efforts to stay in the U.S. force him to confront the past and current demons in his life. SOUTHEASTERN PREMIERE.

Catalunya Uber Alles
(Ramon Térmens / Spain / 101 min.)
An ex-convict, an unemployed immigrant and a successful businessman are the three main characters of this portrayal of inner Catalonia. Three stories show a conflicting society forced to reinvent itself or collapse. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Empire Builder
(Kris Swanberg / USA / 72 min.)
Jenny’s life has changed significantly since she had a baby.  Her days of food activism and urban anthropology have been replaced by diapers and playtime in the park.  When she inherits a cabin in Montana, she leaves the comfort of her Chicago high-rise and travels with her baby to a remote part of the country.  While she waits for her husband to join her, she fashions a temporary life of independence for herself  – one which takes an unsettling turn when she begins a dangerous relationship with the man her husband hired to fix the property. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

LUV
(Sheldon Candis / USA / 95 min.)
Woody (Michael Rainey), an adorable 11-year-old boy awaiting the return of his missing mother, lives with his grandmother and Uncle Vincent (Common), who is fresh off an eight-year prison stint. For Woody, the confident, charismatic Vincent is a titan among men. When Vincent notices that Woody could learn a thing or two about becoming a man, he brings him along as he ventures forth to open his own business. But when legit life fails to support Vincent’s vision, and his old Baltimore crime boss, Mr. Fish, haunts him, the pace of little Woody’s manhood lesson accelerates. (Synopsis by Sundance Film Festival). Also starring Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover and Charles S. Dutton. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

QWERTY
(Bill Sebastian / USA / 90 min.)
Before introverted word nerd, Zoe, gains the courage to enter the National ScrabbleTM Championship, she meets her emotional match in Marty, an irascible recluse. She finds him equally pitted against the opposing forces in her life – other people – including family, co-workers and a couple of particularly irksome adversaries standing in the way of her dream to become the world’s second female National Scrabble Champion. WORLD PREMIERE .

Save the Date
(Michael Mohan / USA / 98 min.)
Sarah finds herself caught in an intense post-breakup rebound with new infatuation Jonathan after tragically breaking the heart of rocker, Kevin. Always one to give Sarah life advice is her sister Beth, who is diligently planning her upcoming wedding to apprehensive fiancée Andrew. Both sisters fumble through the bumpy emotional landscape of modern-day relationships, forced to relearn how to love and be loved. (Synopsis from Sundance Film Festival). TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

New Directors Competition

Artificial Paradises
(Yulene Olaizola / Mexico / 83 min.)
Jicacal is a beautiful beach lined by the rainforest, a natural paradise located in the coast of Veracruz, Mexico. There the stories of Luisa and Salomón come across. She is a tourist from the city, a young woman who is dealing with her addiction to chiva (heroin). He is a 63 year old peasant and fisherman, as well as employee of the family that runs the roadside inn. Both, Luisa and Salomón, have found in drugs a way to ease their needs and worries, and in spite of their different backgrounds, they develop a peculiar friendship and share some deep experiences. (Synopsis from International Film Festival Rotterdam). TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Burros
(Odin Salazar Flores / Mexico / 93 min.)
People tend to forget that donkeys, apart from being stubborn and hard-working, are also characterized by their invaluable ability to carry other people’s burdens. Lautaro is a young boy growing up in the inner Guerero State of Mexico during the 40s. Upon his father’s murder, his mother decides to send him away to live with his aunt, lest the murderers decide to do the same to her son. While Lautaro is sad about being away from his family, he makes an exciting new discovery, as he is introduced for the first time to the world of the spirits. With one foot firm in the dimension of realism, and the other reaching out to the universe of magic, Donkeys follow Lautaro in his abrupt coming-of-age journey, as he is forced to carry an inherited responsibility. Dreams, memories, fleeting encounters with ghostly beings and with tangible new friends and allies accompany Lautaro in Odin Salazar Flores’ tender, but never condescending or melodramatic film. (Synopsis from Thessaloniki International Film Festival). SOUTHEASTERN PREMIERE.

Days of Grass
(Tomas Kaan / Netherlands / 49 min.)
Ben lives an isolated life with his mother in a manor in the woods. When Ben becomes
friends with the charismatic Tom, they experience a summer full of music, alcohol and drugs. Tom’s influence puts the relationship between Ben and his mother under great pressure and brings the summer to an abrupt end. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE.

How the Fire Fell
(Edward P. Davee / USA / 91 min.)
Charismatic self proclaimed prophet Edmund Creffield gathers his followers in 1903 Corvallis, Oregon. Teaching complete devotion and isolation from all non-believers, themakings of a cult are born. In 1906, Creffield’s flock meets its heartbreaking and tragic end. SOUTHEASTERN PREMIERE.

The Romance of Loneliness
(Sarah Ledbetter / USA / 63 min.)
Amanda, a misfired pistol, has no idea what to make of her life and is determined to avoid finding out. At her ex-best friend Cristina’s renegade wedding to her longtime girlfriend at a West Tennessee farmhouse, she finds out she has nowhere left to hide. WORLD PREMIERE.

Documentary Competition

La Camioneta – The Journey of One American Schoolbus
(Mark Kendall / USA / 72 min.)
Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses migrate from the United States to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring people to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been killed for not paying the extortion money demanded by local gangs. “La Camioneta” follows the migration of one bus as a vehicle into the stories of five men whose lives become intertwined with its resurrection. Like the bus that unites their stories, the choice between obsolescence and innovation defines their decisions, propelling them toward an increasingly uncertain future. SOUTHEASTERN PREMIERE.

The Magic Life
(Nelson Cheng / USA / 72 min.)
Three aspiring magicians try to turn their passion into a career. Can they pull off thebiggest trick of their lives and become working magicians? WORLD PREMIERE.

One Night Stand
(Elisabeth Sperling, Trish Dalton / USA / 72 min.)
One Night Stand is a funny, intimate, behind-the-scenes journey from the blank page to the live stage, as top Broadway and television writers, actors, and directors  produce four original short musicals, all within 24 hours. Think A Chorus Line meets Project Runway–a window into the creative process with a compressed time frame: the spark, the camaraderie, the sheer panic and the ultimate thrill of expression. With Jesse Tyler Fergusen, Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Dratch and Richard Kind, Tracie Tomas and Nellie McKay among others. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

The Patron Saints
(Brian M. Cassidy, Melanie Shatzky / Canada / 72 min.)
The Patron Saints is a disquieting and hyper-realistic glimpse into life at a nursing home. Bound by the candid confessions of a recently disabled resident, the film weaves haunting images, scenes and stories from within the institution walls. Side-stepping conventional documentary methods for a heightened cinematic approach to storytelling, the film employs lyrical realism and black humor in its charged portrait of fading bodies and minds. U.S. PREMIERE.

Salaam Dunk
(David Fine / Iraq & USA / 82 min.)
Through traditional interviews and private confessional video diaries, Salaam Dunk follows the ethnically diverse AUIS women’s basketball team as they discover what it means to be athletes. From the joy of their first win to the pain of losing the coach who started their team, the film gives a glimpse into an Iraq we don’t see on the news. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Trash Dance
(Andrew Garrison / USA / 66 min.)
Sometimes inspiration can be found in unexpected places. Choreographer Allison Orr finds beauty and grace in garbage trucks, and in the men and women who pick up our trash. Filmmaker Andrew Garrison follows Orr as she joins city sanitation workers on their daily routes to listen, learn, and ultimately to convince them to collaborate in a unique dance performance. Hard working, often carrying a second job, their lives are already full with work, family and dreams of their own. But some step forward, and after months of rehearsal, two dozen trash collectors and their trucks perform an extraordinary spectacle. On an abandoned airport runway, thousands of people show up to see how in the world a garbage truck can “dance.” TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Music Films/Music City Competition

Brick and Mortar Love
(C. Scott Shuffitt / USA / 71 min.)
Independent record stores are not just the place to buy a CD, they are cultural centers where music is learned, and art is cultivated. They are vitally important to the communities that they serve. WORLD PREMIERE.

Give Me The Banjo
(Marc Fields / USA / 105 min.)
Narrated by Steve Martin, with appearances by Bela Fleck, Earl Scruggs, Pete Seeger, Don Flemmons, Rhiannon Giddens and others, “Give Me The Banjo” takes a comprehensive look at a quintessential American musical instrument, the banjo, from its African roots to contemporary jazz and into the 21st century.

The Porchlight Sessions
(Anna Schwaber/ USA / 145 min.)
The Appalachian Mountains were a cultural crossroads where the influences of Jazz and Blues merged with the folk-songs of Scots-Irish immigrants to create Bluegrass. Now this culture has evolved and gone international, appealing to a desire in modern society to return to the Roots and a way of life that is being lost. From the campground picker to the musical icons that define the Bluegrass sound, this documentary looks at the heart of what makes this music so great. A journey across Appalachia’s musical legacy, “Porchlight Sessions” follows the folk tradition either in the depths of the mountains, the big cities, on the road, or while sitting in a rocking chair under porchlight. With Marcus Mumford, Bela Fleck, Bobby Osbourne, Ralph Stanley, Doc Watson, Jerry Douglas, Sara Watkins and more. WORLD PREMIERE.

Graveyard Shift

George the Hedgehog
(Wojciech Wawszczyk, Jakub Tarkowski, Tomek Lesniak/ Poland / 80 min.)
Jez Jerzy is a skateboarding hedgehog who likes to drink beer and fondle breasts. He finds it hard to pursue his passions, however, while being tormented by neo-nazi skinheads, mad scientists and a drooling, flatulent clone of himself. (Synopsis by SXSW Film Festival). TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Scalene
(Zack Parker / USA / 97 min.)
Told from three points-of-view, SCALENE is a perceptual thriller that revolves around a mother’s revenge after her mentally-challenged son is accused of a sexual assault by his student caretaker. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.

Super Zeroes
(Potsy Ponciroli / USA / 97 min.)
Two loser brothers and their simpleton roommate’s lives are forever changed when a mysterious meteor strikes their house. WORLD PREMIERE.

V/H/S
(David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, Joe Swanberg, Ti West, Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett / USA / 116 min.)
When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape. Upon searching the house, the guys are confronted with a dead body, a hub of old televisions and an endless supply of cryptic footage, each video stranger than the last. The result, “V/H/S,” is a P.O. V. found footage horror film from the perspective of America’s top genre filmmakers. TENNESSEE PREMIERE.