Lone Star International Film Festival 2008

In the war-torn republic of Chechnya, a room full of jurors divided by racism and prejudice must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager accused of murdering his Russian stepfather. Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12, a loose remake of Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film 12 Angry Men, corrals a racist taxi-driver, a suspicious doctor, a vacillating TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a flamboyant musician, a cemetery manager, and other characters representative of modern day Russia’s fragmented society. Amidst volatile struggles, the group must render a unanimous verdict as the battle between Chechens and Russians flares outside and a stray bird, symbolizing tolerance, flies above the jurors' heads. 12, the 2008 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film from Russia was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival where Mikhalkov was awarded a special Golden Lion for his overall body of work. The film also took home the Audience Award at the 2008 Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic as well as a Golden Amvrosi at the Milano film festival. Mikhalkov received the 1994 Oscar for Best Foreign Film for his film, "Burnt by the Sun," about the repression of the Stalin-era.

Sidney Lumet's directorial debut is a snapshot of the American judicial system in action. Twelve average New York males convene in a very small jury room on a very hot day in order to reach a verdict in a murder trial. Almost everyone wants to vote guilty and get on with their lives except for Juror No. 8 (Henry Fonda), a conscientious citizen who insists on establishing reasonable doubt. Arguments are made, cigarettes are smoked, murder weapons examined, diagrams drawn, and prejudices revealed. Firm opinions weaken and reverse; voices get raised, the clock ticks, and a ghetto kid's life hangs in the balance. Lumet's direction and camerawork steadily builds pressure into the plot.

Twelve years have gone by since the sensitive and silent Jacob Hunter suffered through a traumatizing rite of passage at the hands of his primitive father. He was eleven years old. Now he’s an expelled Marine, medically discharged from his duties in Iraq following a mysterious incident, traveling by home surprise to his beloved sister, Candice, on her birthday. But when Jacob arrives at Candice’s apartment he discovers that she is not who he thinks she is, he is forced to exorcize the inherited violence, rage, and hatred he is surprised to find within himself. To do this, Jacob must painfully revisit the day his innocent was lost and cathartically take it back.

Anne is lonely. She lives with her mother, has no friends, and is fighting cancer. Her escape from reality exists in the form of THE AVIATRIX, an intergalactic superhero alter ego who rockets through space to fight the powers of evil on distant planets. Anne’s fantasy world is her only way of experiencing the adventure and romance that remain painfully absent from her life – until Miles shows up. Toddy Burton made her first movie when she was 12 and has been pursuing filmmaking ever since. The Aviatrix is her Masters Thesis from her MFA in Film/Video Production from the University of Texas in Austin.

Visually captivating, this story of betrayal, loneliness, desire and faith tells its story in cinematic poetry – rich in contrasting and stunning imagery. Forced from his family to make a living and support them, Alex returns to an eerie, almost empty Russian town but the city seems to brighten the family’s relationships, smoothing the rough edges, and even creating some illusion of happiness and love. Alex moves his family from the city to return to the countryside estate of his childhood home with his family - a breathtaking setting of rolling hills, the bottom of a prehistoric sea, and fertile land. It is Nature, sad even though it is beautiful and proud. It doesn’t let on. It will demand great sacrifice and drive them to expose their deepest secrets. Beneath the stunning imagery, Banishment is a film about kind, beautiful people in the tragic circumstances of hopelessness.

Anna needs money. Not for herself; for her son. The father says no. Swears he’s got none. Some men show up. They have a gun.

Love’s labor is lost at an auto dealership when misplaced affections lead to tragedy and self-discovery. This is a modern day tragedy that ends with a twist the audience never sees coming. Beautifully shot and well crafted, this film has garnered many festival awards and a studio deal for the director. A must see!

City of Cranes takes the viewer on a journey high up in the sky to look at the world through the eyes and words of crane drivers. A visual and poetic insight into the drivers’ lives, City of Cranes is a must see for anybody who has ever wondered what it is like to work hundreds of feet above the ground, only surrounded by a small metal cage. Originally made for Channel 4’s 3-minute wonder strand, the film is divided into four different chapters: “The City Above”, “The Last Topman”, “Ballet of Cranes” and “Solitary”. Each chapter highlights a different aspect of a crane driver’s life.

Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and JT (Noah Segan) are the kids you remember from high school as skids or bangers – dudes from the wrong side of the tracks. One afternoon, the pair skip class and escape their adolescent despair by quaffing beers and causing mischief at an abandoned mental hospital. Breaking through a rusted door that leads into a boiler room, they discover the naked body of a woman strapped to a gurney and covered in plastic. At first they suspect they've stumbled into the lair of a deranged killer, but the rusted entrance is proof that no one else has been in the space for years. Things take a dark turn when the body shows signs of life, and JT suggests he and Rickie shouldn't waste the opportunity to have some lewd and lusty fun with their naked captive. Horrified and disgusted by his friend's intentions in this unusual circumstance, Rickie struggles with his own moral compass. When word of their discovery spreads, a dangerous battle of wills erupts between friends, leading to a disturbing climax.