Nantucket Film Festival 2011

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 20 June 2011 01:34

Written by L E Shannon

The 16th annual Nantucket Film Festival (NFF) takes place June 22 - 26, 2011 at Bennett Hall, Nantucket High School, Starlight Theater and ’Sconset Casino on the Island of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

NFF was founded in 1996 to spotlight screenwriters, screenwriting and storytelling in today's cinema. Now in its 16th year, NFF has become a prestigious annual event within the international film industry and is a significant attraction that draws over 10,000 attendees, screenwriters, producers, agents and development executives each year.

This year‛s Compass Rose Acting Award recipient is Academy Award^® nominee Vera Farmiga, whose directorial debut film is the Closing Night Film.

This year's Screenwriters Tribute honors Academy Award-winning writer/director Paul Haggis. Haggis is the only screenwriter to have written back-to-back Oscar winners for Best Picture.

Also featured at the Tribute event is Cars 2 writer Ben Queen, honored with the New Voices in Screenwriting Award.

Other events are:

All-Star Comedy Roundtable presented by Ben Stiller, with host Seth Meyers (Saturday Night Live) and comedy legends Jerry Seinfeld and Colin Quinn along with Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation)

In Their Shoes…^®, an in-depth conversation providing a rare insight into the life and work of a legend working in the film industry. This year‛s guests are Paul Haggis and Vera Farmiga.

Late Night Storytelling, co-hosted this year by Glee’s Mike O’Malley and festival legend Anne Meara. Participants include five surprise guests as well as audience members.

This year‛s event features two Opening Night Films:

Cars 2
Directed by John Lassetter
Voices of Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Emily Mortimer, Michael Caine
Star racecar Lightning McQueen and the incomparable tow truck Mater take their friendship to exciting new places when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world's fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. 

Buck
Directed by Cindy Meehl
The documentary follows real life "horse-whisperer" Buck Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. He eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life.

The Centerpiece Film:

Margin Call
Written and Directed by J.C. Chandor
Starring Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell
This tense Wall Street thriller follows the staff of a high-powered brokerage firm in the 24 hours before the stock market crash of 2008.

The Closing Night Film:

Higher Ground
Directed by Vera Farmiga
Starring Vera Farmiga, Joshua Leonard, John Hawkes, Dagmara Dominczyk, Norbert Leo Butz, Donna Murphy
The film follows one woman's spiritual journey as she joins a small fundamentalist community where she finds meaning and stability. But some of its more conservative tenets leave her unsettled, driving her into a profound crisis of faith that turns her world upside down. 

Other Narrative Films include:

The Last Rites of Joe May
Written and Directed by Joe Maggio
Starring Dennis Farina, Jamie Anne Allman, Ian Barford
Featuring a powerful performance by Dennis Farina and the full impact of Chicago’s urban landscape, the movie chronicles the final days of an aging short-money hustler who has always believed that a glorious destiny awaits him around every corner. Now in his sixties, his health failing and resources dwindling, May is presented with one last shot at greatness. 

Five Days Gone
Written and Directed by Anna Kerrigan
Starring Anna Kerrigan, Brooke Bloom, Austin Lysy, Sam Rosen
After her father passes away, Camden discovers she has an illegitimate half sister: Alice. The two couldn't be more different; but Camden is confident that the two of them are destined to be great friends. Alice, on the other hand, is not quite convinced. In an effort to bond, the sisters and their significant others take a trip to the family estate in Massachusetts.

Mia and the Migoo / Mia et le Migou
Written and Directed by Jacques-Rémy Girard
Voices of Dany Boon, John Di Maggio, Garance Lagraa (French); Whoopie Goldberg, Matthew Modine, Wallace Shawn (English)
Mia sets out on a journey to search for her father, who has been trapped in a landslide at a construction site on a remote tropical lake. In the middle of the lake stands the ancient Tree of Life, watched over by the Migoo, who have been disrupting the construction to protect this sacred site. Created from 500,000 gorgeous hand-painted frames of animation, this film is a breathtaking work of art.
 
Point Blank / À bout portant
Written and Directed by Fred Cavayé
Starring Gilles Lellouche, Roschdy Zem, Gérard Lanvin
A nurse-in-training at a hospital, Samuel spots someone threatening a patient. He goes by the book and confronts the intruder, saves the wounded man, and reports the incident to the authorities. But Samuel’s world is turned upside down when the dangerous criminal behind the attempted murder kidnaps Samuel’s wife. Paris provides a magnificent backdrop to the action as Samuel dodges rival gangsters and trigger-happy police to save the lives of his family.

Other Documentaries include:

Nantucket by Nature
Directed by Kit Noble
Featuring never-before-seen images of grace and beauty, Nantucket by Nature provides an extraordinary four-season glimpse of the splendors of the Island. Supported by a stirring and poignant score recorded by local musicians, the film is a remarkable chronicle of the Island in all its grace and glory.

We Still Live Here: Âs Nutayuneân
Directed by Anne Makepeace
Celebrated every Thanksgiving as "the Indians" who saved the Pilgrims, then largely forgotten, the Wampanoag of Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, spurred on by their intrepid Wampanoag linguist and MacArthur honoree Jessie Little Doe Baird, are saying loud and clear, in their Native tongue, "Âs Nutayuneân" – "We still live here."

The Other F Word
Directed by Andrea Blaugrund Nevins
Featuring a large chorus of punk rock's leading men -- Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tim McIlrath of Rise Against -- this wise and insightful portrayal of fatherhood explores what happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authority figures become society's ultimate authorities.

Donor Unknown
Directed by Jerry Rothwell
JoEllen grew up in Pennsylvania with two mothers, and a burning curiosity to know more about her anonymous sperm donor father she only knows as Donor 150. When she discovers an online registry that connects donor-conceived children, she manages to track down over 12 half-siblings across the USA.
 
Unraveled
Directed by Marc H. Simon
Days before Bernie Madoff made headlines with his billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, respected Manhattan attorney Marc Dreier was arrested for orchestrating his own massive hedge fund fraud. Confined to his Upper East Side penthouse, Dreier allows Simon inside as he counts down the final days before his sentencing. An irresistible glimpse into the mind of a consummate trickster and a fascinating study of deception and downfall.

For more information, visit www.nantucketfilmfestival.org.

Nantucket Film Festival
June 22 - 26, 2011

Bennett Hall
62 Centre Street
Nantucket, MA

Nantucket High School
10 Surfside Road
Nantucket, MA

Starlight Theater
1 North Union Street
Nantucket, MA

’Sconset Casino
New Street, Siasconset
Nantucket, MA

• < Prev
• Next >