Flix Premiere Close Up Magazine - June 2018

June 2018

FLIX PREMIERE Close-Up

this month’s UPCOMING PREMIERES

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome Readers: The purpose of this magazine is to share with our movie-goers, the industry and our partners updates about what is happening at Flix Premiere each month. We aim to highlight and explore the upcoming month’s film premieres in each market, and occasionally announce new developments on our platform.

Happy reading!

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in th e D un es

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IN THIS ISSUE: June Premieres Snapshot Learn about our exclusive new premieres showing each week.

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US June Premieres Snapshot - pg. 3 UK June Premieres Snapshot - pg. 4

Close Up: Premieres Feature Reviews A chance to immerse yourself in the wonderful stories premiering each week.

Sh eScou Ha st a Na me

The Cursed Ones - Oris Erhuero, Ama K Abebrese, Jimmy Jean Louis , Fred Amugi, David Dontoh - pg. 5 Habana Instant - Guillermo Ivan, Jorge Luis de Cabo, Pedro Calvo, Christopher Márquez, Zair Montes - pg. 6 BFFs - Tara Karsian, Andrea Grano, Sigrid Thornton, Patrick O'Connor, Jenny O'Hara, Larisa Oleynik - pg. 7 Necktie Youth - Kelly Bates, Emma Tollman, Kamogelo Moloi, Colleen Balchin, Ricci-Lee Kalish - pg. 8 All the Birds Have Flown South - Paul Sparks, Joey Lauren Adams, Dallas Roberts - pg. 9 The Prosecutor, the Defender, the Father and His Son - Igor Skvarica, Krassimir Dokov, Romane Bohringer - pg. 10 The Paper Store - Stef Dawson, Penn Badgley, Richard Kind - pg. 11 Pneuma - Jason Beaudoin, Jessie Crabbe, Lucas Rubkiewicz, Allyson Grant - pg. 12 She Has a Name - Teresa Ting, Giovanni Mocibob, Will Yun Lee, Eugenia Yuan, Gil Bellows, Deborah Fennelly - pg. 13 Stranger in the Dunes - Delphine Chanéac, Andrew Hovelson, Mike Dwyer - pg. 14

HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE

Starring: Kevin Leslie, Nicholas Day, Marina Sirtis, Rupert Holliday-Evans, Leah Bracknell, Georgina Sutcliffe, Bill Ward, Angela Dixon, Stephen Tompkinson

“ A drama about one man’s quest to recover a relationship with a long lost sibling and another to accept return.” “ EXTRAORDINARY. You’ll be attempt hard-pressed not his to fall in love with all of them.”

Joe Ehrman-Dupre, LOGO TV

UK PREMIERE PREMIERE UK April June 7, 2, 2018 2018 - -7pm 7pmBST BST

After a journey that oscillates between love, joy, truth, resentment and forgiveness, two brothers experience "Habana Instant".

WATCH ON

Apple TV

iOS, Android, Web

Amazon Fire

ChromeCast

Roku

Smart TVs

“ Triffonova [Director] brings an important piece of recent history to life in an epic fashion that is not to be missed.”

UK PREMIERE PREMIERE UK April 16, 14, 2018 2018 -- 7pm 7pm BST BST June

Two ambitious lawyers face each other in the trial of Milorad Krstić, who’s accused of committing war crimes in the Bosnian war.

www.flixpremiere.com

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US PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Oris Erhuero, Ama K Abebrese, Jimmy Jean Louis, Fred Amugi, David Dontoh

june 1, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Tara Karsian, Andrea Grano, Sigrid Thornton, Patrick O'Connor, Jenny O'Hara, Larisa Oleynik

june 8, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Actor Name,Adams, Actor Name, Actor Name, Starring: Paul Sparks, Joey Lauren Dallas Roberts Actor Name, Actor Name

juneDAY, 15, 2018 Month 2018 -- 7pm 7pm EST EST

Starring: Penn Badgley, Stef Dawson, Richard Kind

june 22, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Teresa Ting, Giovanni Mocibob, Will Yun Lee, Eugenia Yuan, Gil Bellows, Deborah Fennelly

june 29, 2018 - 7pm EST

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UK PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Guillermo Ivan, Jorge Luis de Cabo, Pedro Calvo, Christopher Marquez, Zair Montes

June 2, 2018 - 7pm bST

Starring: Colleen Balchin, Ricci-Lee Kalish, Giovanna Winetzki, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Bonko Cosmo Khoza, Kelly Bates

june 9, 2018 - 7pm bST

Starring: Romane Bohringer, Samuel Fröler, Izudin Bajrovic

june 16, 2018 - 7pm bST

Starring: Allyson Grant, Jason Beaudoin, Jessie Crabbe, Lucas Rubkiewicz

june 23, 2018 - 7pm bST

Starring: Andrew Hovelson, Mike Dwyer, Delphine Chanéac

june 30, 2018 - 7pm bST

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

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The Cursed Ones

US Premiere JUNE 1 - 7PM EST

D

uring recess at school, a girl is accused of being a witch by her peers. Fodder for childish nonsense around the world, the accusation seems harmless enough–until it becomes deadly serious. This is what can happen, as Arthur Miller famously has shown, when superstition couples itself with opportunism in the rocky and unstable terrain of societal change.

But the setting in The Cursed Ones is far from Salem, Massachusetts. Rather, the action takes place in a rural West African village where the urban journalist Godwin Ezeudu has been sent to cover a small tribal festival.

What he finds is a village in turmoil when a sacred ritual yields no prize for its hunters. People are hungry to cast blame for the enmeshed local poverty and scarcity at any easy target.

...it has all the elements of a fantastic film - Great story, great acting, great cinematography and fantastic sound.

Nollywood Observer

It’s a heart-pounding film which asks powerful questions about culture, tradition and the most vulnerable in society.

Precious Oyelade, True Africa

Enter Paladin, a traveling combination of shaman and exorcist, who will identify and cast out demons, for a rich fee. Godwin discovers, though, that the huckster has a dark history which raises the stakes of his presence in the village from mere fraud to outright danger.

Will the reporter be able to team with the local clergy to stop the village from being consumed by the fever of a witch hunt?

What follows is an intense social drama that exposes, through fiction, the real-life practice of maligning, torturing, and killing young women who are accused of witchcraft. The problem has been identified by the UN as reaching daunting proportions. Directors Nana Obiri-Yeboah and Maximilian Claussen approach this disturbing subject by way of the creation of a rich and vibrant portrait of tribal village life in their cinematic universe.

We are witnesses to the bold colors and pageantry of the rite of the hunt. The eclecticism and enmeshment of Catholic religious practices with indigenous traditions, stands out for the ways in which it produces a unique culture, even as the overall setting shows itself to be a recipe for potential disaster.

Oris Erhuero gives a standout performance as the relentless Godwin, who finds himself completely surprised to have discovered a story of real import in the village. We see the passion of his resolve transform him from a mere outside observer of a social problem into an active participant in its attempted resolution. Will Godwin manage to intervene for the young girl before it is too late?

The Cursed Ones is a powerful film that brings us into a rarely-explored and understudied living culture. It has an impactful message that is sure to shift our perspectives of the situation of young women in rural West Africa. No wonder, then, that it won three major production accolades, for Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design at the Africa Movie Academy Awards.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Habana Instant

UK Premiere JUNE 2 - 7PM BST

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fter 23 years, Charlie is setting foot again on his native island of Cuba.

In fleeing by raft so long ago, he left not only memories of his origins there, but also a younger brother, Marcelo. Decades of his absence have burdened Marcelo with the care of their elderly grandfather, and the deep pain of abandonment. Why would a mother choose to take one son to the U.S. and not the other, and why has so much time passed before Charlie’s return?

Habana Instant portrays a compelling family crisis and realistic Habana Instant is a drama about one man’s quest to recover a relationship with a long-lost sibling, and another’s attempt to accept his return. It is also a film about the wide gulf between families torn apart by hostile Cuban and American relations. A geopolitical situation that has scattered Cubans across oceans and rendered Havana a city frozen in time.

Suffering from a degenerative disease, Marcelo’s only wish is to share an instant with his brother before it is too late.

vision of contemporary Cuba.

A drama about one man’s quest to recover a relationship with a long lost sibling and another attempt to accept his return.

Director and writer Guillermo Iván transports audiences to Havana with Charlie, a New Yorker whose memory of home is so distant that it seems like a foreign land. There the automobiles date from the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s, life and time take on a slower pace, and the locals practice Santería to heal Marcelo’s illness.

The beauty of Iván’s approach to Havana is that it neither indulges too heavily in nostalgia, nor does it ignore the city’s archaic charms and its symbiotic relationship with the ocean.

Rather, Habana Instant portrays a compelling family crisis and a realistic vision of contemporary Cuba that celebrates its vivacity, its intrinsic poetry, and its resilient people, while not shying away from the hardships and challenges that make up a part of daily life there.

Iván himself, in addition to directing, plays a compelling Marcelo, tormented by his brother’s absence, wounded by his return, and yet ready to relish each moment they are able to spend together.

Christopher Márquez plays an entirely Americanized Charlie, eager to make amends and reconnect with his brother but incapable of accounting for the past or explaining the twists of fate that led him to a prosperous life abroad while Marcelo struggled.

Will the brothers reconcile before it is too late?

Watch Habana Instant to find out, and experience Cuba through the eyes of Charlie and Marcelo.

BFFs

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 8 - 7PM EST

W

hen it’s time to celebrate Kat’s birthday, her family and friends cannot stop themselves from reminding her that she is reaching middle age unmarried. In fact, her mother’s gift is a couples’ therapy retreat weekend called “Closer to Closeness,” which she offers with the idea that Kat will invite her most recent ex-boyfriend to attend.

Only Samantha, her best friend, sees how cringe-worthy the celebration has become in its fixation on marriage, and the two BFFs escape to bemoan the tediousness of relatives over some hard liquor. During the course of their libations Samantha comes up with a solution to the unseemly birthday present–she can go together with Kat as a couple on the retreat! They both have been needing a vacation anyways, and what could be more entertaining than hanging out with the kind of people who would attend group therapy?

Every little layer and voice in BFFs is fun and fascinating, creating a nice hidden gem.

Every Movie Has a Lesson

...delivered with a light touch and sharp comic timing.

Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

Entertaining it is, indeed, when the two venture out to the new-age compound designed to rekindle and reignite romance. From group sharing and “cluck therapy,” to obstacle course challenges, the pair quickly realize they have gotten themselves in too deep as they pretend to be a couple. In their discomfort, they start to consider the possibility that some unexplored feelings exist between them. The result is an unexpected and original re-imagining of friendship and love.

Writer-stars and real-life BFFs Andrea Grano (as Samantha) and Tara Karsian (as Kat) have an incredible wit and deadpan delivery in the most absurd of situations. The authenticity of their friendship and familiarity with one another shines through their performance.

Grano and Karsian are surrounded by a cast of familiar faces and practiced comedians, who create a hilarious but credible atmosphere for the couples’ retreat. From a gay couple struggling with trust issues, to a forever-young and carefree husband exasperating his wife, the retreat pits a room of complete strangers together in the most messy and personal aspects of their lives.

BFFs balances comedy and the absurd with moments of heartfelt contemplation about the extent and depth of friendship, the nature of romance, and the character of the couple as a social ideal. The result is a smart comedy with a mature sense of humor and a lot of heart. Be sure to share BFFs with your own favorite friend on Flix Premiere.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review UK Premiere JUNE 9 - 7PM BST

Necktie Youth S

hot in black and white, Shongwe-La Mer’s film is a tale of disaffected youth, bad drugs, bravado and suicide, set amongst the leafy suburbs of middle class Johannesburg. It's one year after the death of Jabz's friend Emily who mysteriously live streamed her own suicide on the Internet.

While a documentary crew tries to make sense of her death, Jabz and others who knew Emily are desperate to forget. Jabz and his friend September float through the city in a borrowed Jaguar, mouthing off about race, politics and bizarre sexual encounters.

Necktie Youth is a stylish, thought-provoking, edgy and provocative drama, which while scattershot, leaves indelible images and timely universal sentiment with its audience.

SPL!NG

A series of seemingly random events, from shoplifting pharmaceuticals to picking a fight in a liquor store, to a disturbing visit to their cross-dressing drug dealer, eventually leads them to the home (and the arms) of beautiful bikini-clad Jewish twins, Tali and Rafi.

Expensive wine is opened and more drugs consumed as the group descends into a child-like euphoric haze.

The aimlessness of privileged youth is captured on camera with a sense of sadness, as parents who probably struggled through the tough times of the past to achieve status and wealth are only seen on the fringe of the tale, pressuring their offspring to grasp a sense of purpose.

A raw and despondent portrait of wayward Johannesburg Millennials.

Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

That sense seems to be out of reach, as the realisation of no-one really knowing or caring about each other emerges. Through it all Jabz and September cling to each other, trying to express the feeling shared by all the kids in the city; a desire for compassion and identity in large doses, which nonetheless remains elusive for their generation.

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A

All The Birds Have Flown South

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 15 - 7PM EST

fter decades of caring for his ailing mother, Stephen [Paul Sparks] is left alone in her house after her recent passing. An untouched museum of porcelain dolls, pills, dentures, and birdcages, one has the impression that the home has remained frozen in time and Stephen along with it. His arrested development is painfully obvious in his awkward social interactions, his almost constant silence, and his voyeuristic tendencies.

The mother’s absence haunts the screen, as we drift through the house while Stephen lays out one of her dresses on the bed. When he finally leaves the nest, Stephen heads to a local diner where he quickly becomes obsessed with a waitress named Tonya. She is also a caretaker, but she tends to her abusive and chronically ill husband, Jimmy.

At times, it is both poetic and mysterious.

Scene after scene keeps you wondering what is coming next.

Nathan Box, NateTheWorld

It's the kind of horror movie that transcends the genre label; it's about the quiet monsters living lonely in our midst.

Philip Martin, Arkansas Online

Sensing her plight as an opportunity to get to know Tonya better, Stephen first offers her a ride home, and then another to take Jimmy to the hospital for treatment. When he later volunteers to serve as a caretaker for Jimmy, the latter quickly grows suspicious. But Tonya, desperate for help, accepts without being able to afford the luxury of considering his motives.

As the paths of these three characters, all of whom seem to be heavily burdened by a dark past, more closely entwine, the action begins to spin from the mundane and the unseemly to the horrific.

All the Birds Have Flown South is a Southern Gothic thriller with elements of surrealism that play off an otherwise highly-realistic character study of the life of impoverished motel-dwellers from rural America and an oddball introvert who has suddenly taken an interest in them.

Writer-directors, brothers Joshua and Miles Miller, transpose splendidly deformed elements of their own experience – a general mood of foreboding and gloom – from life growing up in Arkansas to their work. Incidentally, the film was shot on location there. With engaging cinematography and a score that keeps building tension, All the Birds Have Flown South is a unique and raw portrait of set of dismal existences.

In addition to the richness of the dark mood painted by the Millers, what stands out in this film are the stellar performances by a series of successful actors at the height of their careers. Paul Sparks of House of Cards and Boardwalk Empire plays the creepy and subtle Stephen.

Cinema favorite Joey Lauren Adams gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the destitute and unlucky Tonya, whose life is plagued by the men that surround her. Just when it looks like things cannot get worse for Tonya, or as if she cannot get in her own way even more, it gets darker for her. Adams and Sparks make for a perfectly original odd couple, even as they are not truly playing a couple. Dallas Roberts frustrates them both as the belligerent Jimmy.

All the Birds Have Flown South will be a favorite of those who enjoy psychological dramas and gothic horror in the notable and unique tradition of the American south. Be sure to see it this month!

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

The Prosecutor, The Defender,

UK Premiere JUNE 16 - 7PM BST

The Father, and His Son

The Prosecutor, The Defender, The Father and His Son is a tense courtroom drama set in the high-stakes atmosphere of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

Beneath the chess match between lawyers, journalists, defendants, and victims, however, lies a layered family drama. Following the resurfacing of the soldier’s abjured family, the film becomes a profound reflection on each of the players’ relationship to their own father and the role that such a legacy plays in shaping their current goals, dreams, and aspirations.

Parental inheritance, we learn, can be both a beautiful gift and a profound burden – the kind of motor that powers high-profile careers, religious zeal, and even wars.

A

man accused of mass murder and crimes against humanity in battle sails untarnished through days of his own trial.

Despite hours of recorded testimony from surviving witnesses indicting Milorad Krstic, the charges do not promise to stick – the evidence is inconclusive. A monster looks poised to walk free.

Enter a young man who testifies that he served as an orphaned soldier underneath Krstic and can identify him as the perpetrator of a massacre in the Bosnian war that resulted in dozens of civilian casualties.

The Prosecutor, The Defender, The Father and His Son is an important

Director Iglika Triffonova takes on the emotionally weighty topic of the Bosnian genocide through the scaffolding of the law. In doing so, she challenges our preconceived notions of justice and our expectations for a struggle between good and evil. Romane Bohringer delivers what first appears to be an austere and sober performance as the Prosecutor.

Underneath her measured professional facade, however, we sense an agonizing devout woman who is terrified that a villain will escape the law under her watch.

film about contemporary Bulgarian cinema - it is an important artistic act, an in-depth commentary on the latest history of the Balkans.

Elitsa Mateeva, 12mag

Triffonova [Director] brings an important piece of recent history to life in an epic The press is abuzz as the tide appears to have turned against the commander. Will justice finally be served?

And what of the unexpected resurfacing of the boy’s family, thanks to the aggressive investigational efforts of the defense?

fashion that is not to be missed.

Similarly, Samuel Fröler’s Defender at first presents as cold-hearted and calculating. How could anyone zealously defend such a man as Krstic? But over the course of the film, we see beyond the veneer of his character’s ambition into the man who has an idealized notion of the law and a fraught relationship with his own father.

The Prosecutor, The Defender, The Father and His Son is a moving drama based on historical events.

Triffonova brings an important piece of recent history to life in an epic fashion that is not to be missed.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

The Paper Store

US Premiere JUNE 22 - 7PM EST

R

evenge may be a dish best served cold, but there is nothing frigid about Nicholas Gray’s vendetta drama, The Paper Store. Passion, ambition, betrayal, and retribution are all on the menu in this brassy and heady feature.

Annalee Monegan (Stef Dawson) is a professional college essay writer.

Priced out of finishing her own undergraduate education, the highly capable Annalee churns out papers in all subjects as a hired gun for desperate, lazy, or otherwise preoccupied co-eds. When work introduces her to the enigmatic Sigurd Rossdale (Penn Badgley), her comfortable routine is quickly disturbed, as he demands more of her time and all manner of attention. Sharing a love for film and a sense of arousal brought about by the contemplation of big ideas, their relationship evolves into one of intense co-dependence until it is punctuated by betrayal.

What ensues is a revenge drama that eschews quick moral judgments.

Rather, it manages through this heated pair to paint a picture of an entire higher education system in which cheating and cold pragmatism are the pervasive rule rather than the exception.

Based on a play written by the latter [Katharine Gray], the duo [Nicholas and Katharine Gray] expertly adapted the work for the screen, producing a gem of a character study in the process.

Linn Grey, Los Angeles Film Review

The Paper Store is a wonderfully palpable interrogation about the ultimate value of an institution our society holds so dear.

Conor O’Donnell, The Film Stage

Stef Dawson is an impeccable Annalee, balancing fiery righteous indignation, brilliant turns of phrase and observation, and restrained displays of fragility. Penn Badgley strikes a handsome and elusive Sigurd, asserting a manipulative personality and then retreating to warmth, cleverness, and concern.

Richard Kind effortlessly completes something of a backward trio as the “Alternative Cinema” Professor Marty Kane, who inserts himself in the conflict between Annalee and Sigurd. Together they make a highly skilled set of lead actors, with particularly compelling chemistry emerging between Dawson and Badgley.

One of the film’s great strengths is its writing, which should come as no surprise as its screenplay was adapted from a play penned by Gray’s wife, Katharine Clark Gray, and co- written by the couple.

The dialogue has deliberate shades of poetry, characteristic of an exhilarating theatrical piece. But such flirtations with lyricism are explosively paired with a fast-cutting, masterfully framed, and well-paced film aesthetic to great effect.

With its academic backdrop, it’s hard not to see the film as a contemporary riff on a Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, replete with an updated perspective on higher ed and an even more blunt and raw look at the couple. Whatever its influences, The Paper Store is sure to score a good mark of its own.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Pneuma

UK Premiere JUNE 23 - 7PM BST

J

onathan finds himself in a correctional facility with little to no memory of his life after a crime he committed. He undergoes therapy sessions with Dr. Erin Sandstone in order to rehabilitate his retrograde amnesia. Erin, conflicted but optimistic, finds herself setting aside her moral integrity for his redemption.

However, the two find themselves doing more than side-step regulation and develop a more intimate relationship. Through a series of powerfully vulnerable conversations, Pneuma explores the question of human nature, learned behavior, and whether someone can fundamentally change who they are.

The natural chemistry and flawless performance between Jason (Beaudoin) and Allyson (Grant) paint an intimate atmosphere. The interaction between the two, immerse you into the story.

Darren Wiesner, Hollywood North Magazine

Imaginative, gripping dialogue and delectably problematic characters makes you forget the limiting circumstances and sucks you in completely.

Jason Beaudoin gives a stirring performance as Jonathan as he battles his demons. After remembering the hate crime he carried out, Jason effortlessly draws the audience into a place of sympathy for the character.

Jonathan finds his past transgressions despicable and desperately longs to start over - to lead a completely different life and to forget the one he regrets. Although we can’t remove the character from his crime, we can identify with his remorse and his desire to turn over a new leaf.

Allyson Grant (Dr. Erin Sandstone) gives her character an undeniable light and charm. In an attempt to forward her career, she puts everything on the line for Jonathan’s rehabilitation. Much like the audience, Sandstone feels much torment over her growing sympathies towards Jonathan.

Not to mention the dialogue which brings up interesting questions about human nature and how much of our personality is shaped by our experiences and beliefs. And the film poses a very important question to the audience: can people actually change?

Writer and director William Carne exacts beautiful character studies in the film. Employing a subtle and nuanced approach, the audience can understand who these people are from their word choice and tones, creating characters that are easy to invest in.

Pneuma takes a bold approach to storytelling by limiting themselves to one location and essentially two characters. Imaginative, gripping dialogue and delectably problematic characters makes you forget the limiting circumstances and sucks you in completely.

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She Has a Name

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 29 - 7PM EST

A

dolescence is a time for exploring the world around us, for developing our curiosity with boundless energy in recreation and in study. But for too many young people – more than our imaginations want to allow – these prime years of youth are consumed by the nightmare of human sex trafficking.

She Has a Name is a dramatic action film that takes on the widely-known but inadequately addressed problem of human trafficking. Although its plot develops in Thailand, the film distinctively frames the issue as an international problem – one for which people of all nations are responsible.

And this global approach to the topic is appropriately reflected in the film by the diverse nationalities of its cast and crew, as well as its exquisite location shooting in Bangkok.

When I saw [She Has A Name] … I was really moved. One of the best films I have ever seen, and I don’t say that lightly.

Michael Dawe, Author and Historian

She Has a Name marks a cinematic triumph.

Red Deer Express

The immense gravity of the issue of the enslavement and trade of humans for sex work is presented through the lens of a narrative about a specific pair of its victims and the government agents who are attempting to liberate them.

...a riveting, fast-paced political thriller.

Eric Volmers, Calgary Herald

She Has a Name follows Jason (Giovanni Macibob), an undercover State Department agent, as he befriends and gradually attempts to free the unfortunately-branded “Number 18”. Only fifteen years old, she cautiously agrees to help him build a legal case against her pimp and his protectors, after multiple reassurances and persuasion.

But the deeper Jason dives into her world, the clearer it becomes that powerful global actors and forces are supporting and sustaining this heinous trade. Will he be able to intervene with his superiors in time to save “18”? And will they be able to bring those who would abuse and enslave her to justice?

Brothers Daniel, Matthew and Andrew Kooman bring the latter’s award-winning play, She Has a Name, to life in the cinema. The team has a pronounced commitment to attracting global awareness to the critical problem of human trafficking through compelling film, with gripping narrative and visuals.

Their assembled cast brings insight and depth to both the pain of the victims of this phenomenon, and the psychological turmoil of their would-be rescuers, as they wage a battle of epic proportions.

The intimate connection formed between viewers and the characters of She Has a Name makes it a drama that gives life and a personal face to a population that is usually discussed only in terms of statistics. Extend your knowledge about our world and make sure to catch the premiere of this riveting drama later this month.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Stranger in the Dunes

UK Premiere JUNE 30 - 7PM BST

I

t could have been a restful summer vacation at the beach house, filled with morning swims and dramatic views, but everything changes for married couple Elliott (Andrew Hovelson) and Diana (Delphine Chanéac) when Wesley, an old friend (played by Mike Dwyer) drops by their porch early one morning, with a bandage on his hand and a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Tensions run high, as Diana and Wesley clearly have history, and Elliott seems to know it. Stranger In The Dunes turns themes of marital loneliness into the stuff of supernatural proportions. Early one morning, Diana and the heavily intoxicated Wesley slip out for a walk while Elliott sleeps. They stumble upon a secluded dune and what seems to be a gold mine of sorts - a shallow pool of water glittering an ethereal turquoise blue - that alters the course of their lives.

The pool, gleaming with both unimaginable opportunities as well as violent ramifications, ultimately tests their humanity.

A minimalistic, eerie sci-fi story that lingers long after the screening proving that independent cinema has no genre or budget limitations, with the productions outcome solely depending on the authors vision.

Adam Samuel Court, Raindance

Director Nicholas Bushman has created a film that pulses with sensuality, texture and even fierce existential dread.

Stranger In The Dunes beautifully straddles various genres - horror, sci-fi and psychological thriller seem the most apt - with hints of the disaffected ennui in the style Antonioni.

Director Nicholas Bushman has created a film that pulses with sensuality, texture and even fierce existential dread.

The motif of the ocean - so cruel, while also fecund with life - haunts the film. Often captured by skillful and breathtaking panning shots, the ocean surrounds and entraps them from the greater world, while also teasing them with tremendous opportunity.

Stranger In The Dunes is in many ways a fabulistic character study, examining how different people react in tense, trying circumstances while forcing the spectator to confront them as well.

There seems to be no good answer to the moral quandaries that the film poses. When they first discover the pool, it is life - giving and restorative.

But it turns out to be like a fantastical mirror, revealing the depths of human frailty.

HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE

“ I will advise, you have to see this film, it will make you cry, make you laugh but the best part is that you will see the aspects of our lives that has been ignored by filmmakers.”

Nollywood Observer

US PREMIERE June 1, 2018 - 7pm EST The Cursed Ones is a gripping drama about a young girl accused of witchcraft and a reporter who fights to free her from corruption.

WATCH ON

Apple TV

Amazon Fire

iOS, Android, Web

ChromeCast

Roku

Smart TVs

“ The Paper Store is a wonderfully palpable interrogation about the ultimate value of an institution our society holds so dear.”

Conor O’Donnell, Syrfilm Review

US PREMIERE June 22, 2018 - 7pm EST A tale of a former college student forging essays for cash, the client who becomes her lover, and the professor who discovers their scheme.

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