2007 Film Synopses


Friday, March 9

Pluck
Documentary about New York City in the 1950’s through the early 60’s. This film sings the praises of the people who contributed to the culture of the city and to the world, including William F. Buckley, Dick Hyman, Betty Comden, Eileen Ford, and more.

Central Music School: Retrieving The Light
During Stalin’s reign, in the former Soviet Union, music education became an important state mission. No other country has produced as many virtuoso musicians in the 20th century. With contemporary concert footage, rare archival images and words of parents, teachers and students we see why the Central Music School remains the most sought-after institution to attend.

Intelligence
In a dark Abbu Ghraib-like prison, three Arab detainees are interrogated by two U.S. soldiers – and one woefully incompetent translator. In this satirical thriller, one simple slip of the tongue leads to the next in an escalating series of misunderstandings that culminates in tragedy and injustice.

A Cigar at the Beach
On a family trip to Florida to visit his sick father, The Smoker leaves his napping, pregnant wife and his iPod-addicted stepson in the motel room for a cigar at the beach. A modern tale starring the male psyche, as a married man filters the demands of domestic life through fantasy.

Una Causa Noble
Ignacio and Marina, a young Mexican couple, are at odds over what is best for
their young son’s future. Ignacio, who has been working mostly in the U.S., believes more opportunities exist for them up there. After he decides to join the U.S. Army in hopes of expediting the family’s application for citizenship, Marina is left with some heartrending decisions.

The Undeserved
The Undeserved plunges its viewers into a world where no one is really who they seem to be, and where everyone harbors dark secrets. This character-driven indie takes the viewer on a gripping journey through the underbelly of small-town America, where the mysteries keep unraveling, layer after layer, until the dramatic conclusion.

When They Could Fly
This poetic film is a cinematic adaptation of a magical folktale, which uses the period of American slavery as a stage to show how people can survive and overcome the most extreme experience by the power of their own will.

One Or Two Things
This beautifully shot film from Germany explores a child’s memories of her mother.

DeMatteo: Lessons Beyond The Field
DeMatteo is a portrait of one of the most prolific high school football coaches in the country. The film explores coach DeMatteo’s contributions to the many student athletes he has influenced over his 30-plus-year career including his years at Roosevelt High School in Yonkers, New York. The film shows a personal look into his accomplishments and losses in his personal life.

Half Nelson
Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling is a young inner-city junior high school teacher who ideals are challenged in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his students, while at the same time his disappointments and disillusionments have led to a serious drug habit.

Skels
Three stories of cop brothers. On a single day they encounter a Westchester housewife who stopped taking her medication, a junkie railroad conductor, and a drug bust gone terribly wrong. All three stories take place in different areas of New York.

Random Lunacy: Videos From The Road Less Traveled
They had no home, no money, and no formal education. They called themselves The Flying Neutrinos. For 20 years this street performing family documented themselves with an old high-8 camera, capturing adventures that ranged from a stint in a Mexican circus to sailing on a scrap raft against the Atlantic Ocean. Their greatest achievement – creating for themselves an alternate universe with a value system all its own.


Saturday, March 10

Normal People Scare Me
A documentary about the many faces of autism, directed by Taylor Cross, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 6, and co-directed by his mother Keri Bowers. The film is based upon his own experiences as well as 65 interviews with people touched by autism. The film offers a fresh and unique perspective regarding the challenges and opportunities for children with autism.

Lucid
Lucid is the story of two men, Case and Drake, who share one consciousness, connected by their dreams. When Case dreams, he dreams he is Drake, and vice-versa. When Case starts to experiment in his dreams, he soon realizes the consequences are real. Soon, the two meet, and they reckon with their unique situation.

I Will Avenge You, Iago!
A comedy about great actors and their on and off stage dramas and farces, including adultery, burglary, suicide and murder. A celebration of acting and actors. A tribute to the people blessed or cursed by the gift to perform, to become somebody else and make us believe it's real. Some dramas and farces of the film happen in real life, some turn out to be staged, but when the actors manage to move us, when we root for them, and laugh when they're funny, and gasp and cry when they die, the line between reality and fiction disappears. It all becomes real.

Twilight of Youth
An arrogant young stockbroker who despises the elderly develops a mysterious virus that begins to age him. He then has to deal with the consequences of his transformation.

Little Italy: Past, Present & Future
A nostalgic journey into the heart of Little Italy. The film explores the Italian-American experience and the neighborhood through the eyes of those who know it best.

Breath of Life
A documentary following the life of an 18-year-old girl born with the fatal genetic illness cystic fibrosis. The film follows her personal experience with illness, balancing her time between medical treatments, applying for college and shopping with friends.

The Ballad of Peter LaFarge
The untold story of an unsung hero at the crossroads of folk, protest music, country, blues and love songs. A Native American protest pioneer who came to fame in 1960’s Greenwich Village.

Novem
In 1973, nine college students spend a week camping out and recording music at a remote studio location. On the way back to campus, they are all killed in a van accident. The music they recorded disappears and remains silent for over 30 years until a college student at a garage sale miraculously purchases it.

Argo
The film tells the story of a dispossessed soul, who is on the road to nowhere. A chance encounter with a stranger puts them on a collision course that will change their lives as they discover that hope can be found in the most unexpected places.

Johan
The story of a young man coming into his own while trying to live up to family expectations. Johan is the eleventh male child in a family of soccer players. The boys make up a complete team, but Johan defies them all by wanting to be a singer. A comedy about romance, a budding musician and his family of soccer players.

A Palestinian Woman
This short documentary brings the viewer close to the conditions isolating Palestinians within their communities.
We are shown how a 27-foot-high wall surrounding East Jerusalem divides it from the adjacent community of Abu Dis, severing the historical bonds of the two communities.

Lemming Drop
The lemming, a harmless arctic rodent that fits in the palm of your hand, was elevated to notoriety by Disney’s nature documentary White Wilderness. Why do we so readily believe what we see on TV? Hear from the experts: animal behaviorists, media scholars, and you.


Sunday, March 11

Smile
Smile is the story of two teenagers from different worlds who share a selfless act that will unite them, change their lives, and likely, the lives of all who come in contact with the film…forever. Nominated for the Chinese National (“Huabiao”) Film Award (a first for an American). The decade-long restrictions on filming freely in Mainland China were lifted for this special feature film.

Cold Kenya
A young businessman in Warsaw tries to reconcile his newfound wealth and success with the pain of Poland’s past. With an upcoming marriage looming, he tries to resolve any doubts he has about the decisions he has made in his life.

Twilights Last Gleaming
A mother’s son is MIA in Vietnam. Before Alzheimer’s steals her memory of him she begins a search to bring him home.

Stroke of Genius
Doctors at UCLA gave Dan Mountain zero chance of surviving and recommend “No Interference.” Undaunted, Dan’s wife Dorothy insists
the doctors operate. The worst case scenario comes to fruition as Dan falls into a coma, kept all but dead by the life support that family and close friends insists must be pulled. But Dorothy won’t let Dan go. What happens next is shocking.

MoonGirl
In this animated short, one night, while out fishing, Leon and his pet squirrel Earl are caught by a giant fish and taken to meet the Girl in the Moon. When a monster steals Leon’s bait jar, he and Earl skillfully win it back and discover their greater purpose in this mystical story.

Flight To Savannah
Nerves and friendships fray as three teenagers wait for their flight to ship out to Parris Island, the U.S. Marine Corps notorious “boot camp.”

Approaching Union Square
Based on stage monologues, Approaching Union Square is a collage of eleven tales capturing thirty-something New Yorkers struggling to find love and connection in the big city. They all cross paths on a New York City bus in a poignant final moment.