Crazy people, they’re just like us! Sure, we may not hurl copies of A Farewell To Arms through closed windows or live with our parents at age 37 (if the Wikipedia entry on Bradley Cooper is to be believed) but as far as the trials and triumphs of burgeoning love are concerned, David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook looks like a standard rom com on prescription meds. One would think that Russell would cash in his chips after the Awards-scooping The Fighter and serve up something that defies category like I Heart Huckabees or his uncompleted feature Nailed , but my guess is since Russell has seen the interior of director’s jail he has no intention of going back. Silver Linings Playbook , despite the mouthful of a title, looks like a strong, albeit conventional flick. Count me as one of many eager to see Jennifer Lawrence play an adult (and, no, I don’t mean “adult” in any euphemistic way.) Plus this looks like an appropriate use of Bradley Cooper’s bordering-on-manic charm. The November 21 release of SLP couldn’t be better timed, as it will wipe his slate clean after September’s soporific Sundance dud The Words . From these few clips here it seems like the relationships sparkle, and even the paycheck-happy Robert De Niro looks like he’s going to bring some spin to the potentially sitcom-ish weary Dad. The other big surprise in the trailer is the appearance of a guy who may look familiar to you. You may need to hit pause. Is that…? Yes, it is! It’s Chris Tucker. You know, that comic actor who seemed like a rising star in the 1990s until he decided that prepping for the next Rush Hour movie took LOTS AND LOTS of research. Watching nut-cases fall in love has long been a pleasure ( David and Lisa , As Good As It Gets , my cousin and that kleptomaniac she married) so Silver Linings Playbook seems ready to scratch that itch. Plus, it doesn’t look too preachy. The family scenes, mere flashes in this trailer, tease some of that “gotta love ’em” positivity that made The Fighter such a standout. Verdict: Nothing revolutionary, but neither was The Fighter , and that turned out great. Gonna’ watch this one closer than the usual rom com. Silver Linings Playbook hits theaters November 21. There’s still time to change the title.
Crazy people, they’re just like us! Sure, we may not hurl copies of A Farewell To Arms through closed windows or live with our parents at age 37 (if the Wikipedia entry on Bradley Cooper is to be believed) but as far as the trials and triumphs of burgeoning love are concerned, David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook looks like a standard rom com on prescription meds. One would think that Russell would cash in his chips after the Awards-scooping The Fighter and serve up something that defies category like I Heart Huckabees or his uncompleted feature Nailed , but my guess is since Russell has seen the interior of director’s jail he has no intention of going back. Silver Linings Playbook , despite the mouthful of a title, looks like a strong, albeit conventional flick. Count me as one of many eager to see Jennifer Lawrence play an adult (and, no, I don’t mean “adult” in any euphemistic way.) Plus this looks like an appropriate use of Bradley Cooper’s bordering-on-manic charm. The November 21 release of SLP couldn’t be better timed, as it will wipe his slate clean after September’s soporific Sundance dud The Words . From these few clips here it seems like the relationships sparkle, and even the paycheck-happy Robert De Niro looks like he’s going to bring some spin to the potentially sitcom-ish weary Dad. The other big surprise in the trailer is the appearance of a guy who may look familiar to you. You may need to hit pause. Is that…? Yes, it is! It’s Chris Tucker. You know, that comic actor who seemed like a rising star in the 1990s until he decided that prepping for the next Rush Hour movie took LOTS AND LOTS of research. Watching nut-cases fall in love has long been a pleasure ( David and Lisa , As Good As It Gets , my cousin and that kleptomaniac she married) so Silver Linings Playbook seems ready to scratch that itch. Plus, it doesn’t look too preachy. The family scenes, mere flashes in this trailer, tease some of that “gotta love ’em” positivity that made The Fighter such a standout. Verdict: Nothing revolutionary, but neither was The Fighter , and that turned out great. Gonna’ watch this one closer than the usual rom com. Silver Linings Playbook hits theaters November 21. There’s still time to change the title.
There was talk, back a week or so ago, about the perfect Father’s Day movie. Some made jokes about That’s My Boy , others took the opportunity to reassert the paternal themes across the work of Wes Anderson, including his latest, Moonrise Kingdom . I couldn’t help thinking, watching Beasts of the Southern Wild , a dreamy, boisterous, folk-inflected allegory of American independence and its foes, among other things, that for a certain type of father and daughter, at least, the story of a benevolent universe-ruler named Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her willful dad Wink (Dwight Henry) would unleash the floodgates like no other. If you’ve ever attempted to prepare for your own death at your father’s hands by leaving a record for the future excavators of history, you might agree. But then Hushpuppy’s circumstances are so unique that they could only be hers; Hushpuppy’s world is the world. The success of this exuberant, affecting debut feature from director Benh Zeitlin depends on his ability to universalize the particular, in this case by drawing us into the perspective of a six-year-old girl living in squalor and feeling and uncertainty in the Louisiana bayou, then telling our own story from behind it. That story is rich enough to accommodate a number of thematic inscriptions, including American class and ideological disparities, moral philosophies of prosperity and independence, environmental imbalance and Katrina-esque catastrophe, and, perhaps most indelible, reckoning with our inevitable visit from the goon squad. Though she scrawls a cave-drawing version of her own imminent fate (death by very, very angry dad) after setting her trailer ablaze in a fit of don’t-ignore-me pique, Beasts details young Hushpuppy’s confrontation with her father’s mortality. Like Where the Wild Things Are ’s Max (more specifically in Spike Jonze’s adaptation), she has a single parent, in this case an unstable and ailing man trying to instill self-sufficiency in his daughter before his time runs out. What Hushpuppy sees, variously and with a level, absorbent gaze, is a bully, a crank, a king, a madman, a playmate, and a scary dad. Like everything else, she imagines his illness as her doing, and assumes that when he goes he will take the world with him. Both Wallis and Henry are non-professionals plucked from the local environs, each personifying — along with a supporting cast of outsiders and eccentrics —the toughness of spirit that keeps their characters at the center of a very specific universe, come what storms and tusked beasts may. Beasts was shot on location, though its marshy, water-veined bayou setting is more of a frame for the starkly imagined habitat of Hushpuppy and her father. They live among the animals; sometimes they eat with them, sometimes they eat them. In the earthy, ethereal opening sequence, Hushpuppy searches for the heartbeat of various creatures, holding some up to her ear like a seashell, piecing together a collective rhythm. For her heartbeats have a soothing effect; others have their own ideas. The sailor Hushpuppy meets on the water, after she and a coterie of dirty-limbed girls attempt to swim out to the light believed to be her mother, says it’s the smell of chicken biscuits that makes him feel “cohesive.” At times it feels like not much holds this world together; at others it seems nothing could possibly tear it apart. Zeitlin and cinematographer Ben Richardson create a sense of coherent near-chaos with constant, searching camerawork. They shoot from the hip, literally — life as seen from a little person’s point of view — with the wobbly, watchful intensity of a young girl just getting her sea legs. At the same time that we see the world as Hushpuppy does, we take in the tenuousness of her existence with apprehension. At first the romantically appointed poverty and dissipation may set off a certain wariness; the marshalling of filth and decay as the authentic counterpoint to sleek, self-alienated lives. And indeed, the group’s violent evacuation to a shelter following a storm’s devastating flood feels too easy, a false note in an otherwise nuanced and persuasive evocation of stubborn iconoclasm. That Hushpuppy’s perspective eventually swallows and uplifts the movie is the happy result of an uncommonly sensitive screenplay (adapted from Lucy Alibar’s play Juicy and Delicious by Alibar and Zeitlin) and the staging of a climax whose transcendence removes all doubt that we are in the hands of a confident, exceptionally lyrical filmmaker. Wink calls his daughter the king and the boss lady, commands her to eat crab like a beast, admonishes her when she jumps from a catfish’s sting, and drills into her the idea that she should never, ever cry. The latter feels like a nod to Beasts ’s own vulnerability to sentiment. Instead, with the help of a tough-bodied little girl too fantastically of the earth to fall prey to the preternatural, it strikes upon actual, unforgettable emotion. Follow Michelle Orange on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The existential crisis inherent to writer-director Rian Johnson’s ( Brick , Brothers Bloom ) upcoming sci-fi time travel flick Looper is, itself, quite a pickle: Mob hitman Joseph Gordon-Levitt finds his latest target, sent back in time from the future for execution, is… himself. (Well, in older, balder Bruce Willis form.) But how much more than that do you want to know about Looper ? If Johnson himself is advocating going in fresh, should we even watch these trailers? The matter is a personal one, as many a film has taught us. (Looking at you, Prometheus .) Those already committed to buying a Looper ticket come September 28 could forgo the latest international trailer, if the words “Rian Johnson,” “Joseph Gordon-Levitt,” “Bruce Willis,” and “time-travel” are enough to pique the curiosity. (I mean, they should be. Obviously .) If you know you want to watch the film, is it just tempting fate to peek at the roll-out of marketing clips and trailers in the months leading up to release? Can you even resist? On the other hand, trailers like this one, which reveals a lot more information, not to mention new looks at supporting characters and Gordon-Levitt’s prosthetic-nosed Willis impersonation, might be key to convincing those on the fence to put Looper on their must-watch list. And so Johnson, himself a savvy fellow of the world and denizen of the internet who knows how these things go, has Tweeted his own advice to prospective Looper -watchers: “If you’re already set on seeing Looper , I’d avoid any trailers from here on out. They don’t ruin the movie, but they tip a few little things that are fun to discover in the context of the movie.” So here we are. To watch, or not to watch? Tempt fate (or seize it like Gordon-Levitt and his Willisnose do!) below. Looper is in theaters September 28.
Those marketing gurus at Fox are going to make sure you keep talking about Ridley Scott’s Prometheus all summer, as a new viral video has been unveiled that highlights, testimonial-style, how awesome it is to work for the good folks at Weyland Corp. The way this scientist chick talks about Weyland’s envelope-pushing embracing of new technologies makes it sound like the best corporation to work at since Pixar, only with more semi-feeling anthropomorphic robots running around the place making sh*t happen. The viral teases a recruiting event at next months’ Comic-Con in San Diego and links out to ProjectPrometheus.com , though the site has yet to be updated with information. What could it mean? (Besides DVD/Blu-ray promotion for Prometheus ?)
Director Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike debuted over the weekend , closing out the Los Angeles Film Festival. And while the Warner Bros film opens in theaters this Friday, fans may have the opportunity to see it live in the flesh as it were in the future. Starring Channing Tatum, the story loosely revolves around the actor’s eight month stint dancing at male strip clubs in Tampa, Florida. It is a time during which Tatum admits to witnessing a much more dark and depressing version of events than what producing partner/writer Reid Carolin transposes to the script. He meets an eager college drop out, played by Alex Pettyfer and takes him under his wing. Carolin tipped off to USA Today that there are plans to strut Magic Mike on Broadway in the near future. “”We are working on it as a Broadway show, which would be a different story,” said Carolin, adding, “More of a romp, more of a fun night out at a club with a story. I’m almost more excited about that than the movie because I think it’s the perfect thing for women to go see on Broadway, to be participants in the show.” And Pettyfer may have a chance to show more skin as well if and when the show hits the great white way. He said he “absolutely” would do the show. “”I think we should all do the opening night,” he said.
Director Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike debuted over the weekend , closing out the Los Angeles Film Festival. And while the Warner Bros film opens in theaters this Friday, fans may have the opportunity to see it live in the flesh as it were in the future. Starring Channing Tatum, the story loosely revolves around the actor’s eight month stint dancing at male strip clubs in Tampa, Florida. It is a time during which Tatum admits to witnessing a much more dark and depressing version of events than what producing partner/writer Reid Carolin transposes to the script. He meets an eager college drop out, played by Alex Pettyfer and takes him under his wing. Carolin tipped off to USA Today that there are plans to strut Magic Mike on Broadway in the near future. “”We are working on it as a Broadway show, which would be a different story,” said Carolin, adding, “More of a romp, more of a fun night out at a club with a story. I’m almost more excited about that than the movie because I think it’s the perfect thing for women to go see on Broadway, to be participants in the show.” And Pettyfer may have a chance to show more skin as well if and when the show hits the great white way. He said he “absolutely” would do the show. “”I think we should all do the opening night,” he said.
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
