FILM COURAGE'S 'MUST SEE 2011 FILMS'
by Director Tony Zierra
Is It luck or talent?
Filmed over ten years, this controversial documentary follows five roommates trying to make it in Hollywood who face the unexpected consequences of fame.
Tony Zierra, an aspiring filmmaker with no money, stars or crew, resorts to filming the lives of his four struggling actor roommates. Three of the actors, Brad Rowe (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Shelter), Chad Lindberg (October Sky, The Fast And The Furious) and Wes Bentley (American Beauty, The Hunger Games) quickly hit it big, while the fourth actor, Greg Fawcett, is nearly driven insane watching the others get famous.
by Directors Joke and Biagio
Screenplay by Steve Mazan
When Steve learns he has incurable liver cancer, he dedicates his life to living his dream: performing stand-up comedy on The Late Show with David Letterman. This documentary follows his incredible, often heart-breaking, and ultimately uplifting five year journey. Take Steve's advice, "Live your dream, or die trying."
Dying to do Letterman - IndieGOGO from Joke and Biagio on Vimeo.
By Director Linda Goldstein Knowlton
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN examines what it is like to come-of-age as a trans-racial adoptee in today's America, as seen through the eyes of four of the 79,562 adopted girls from China. Through the voices of these young women, we will see not just their lives, but our own, reflected back to us - whether we are adoptive families or not. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN will start a dialogue about what we see, who we are, and the changing face of the American family.
TRAILER: Somewhere Between - A Feature Documentary from Linda Knowlton on Vimeo.
By Director Elizabeth Lawrence
Chris "Sandman" Sand is a rappin' cowboy from Dunn Center, North Dakota (population: 120 and shrinking). He drives a semi, plays the guitar and raps. Sandman looks like Woody Guthrie but sings like LL Cool J. Roll Out, Cowboy follows the 39-year-old country/hip-hop musician as he tours the American West, performing for rural towns who might not have heard live hip-hop before. Sandman's story is the struggle of an artist trying to make a buck. In a tough economy, can your American dream still carry a tune?
By Director Chris Weitz
Hardworking single father Carlos Galindo (Demian Bichir) lives life for a single purpose: to provide his teenage son with the opportunity for a better life. Director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) crafts a powerful, emotional and ultimately uplifting look at the heroic struggle of immigrants in their quest for the American dream.
By Director Drake Doremus
A love story is both a physical and emotional tale, one that can be deeply personal and heartbreaking for an audience to experience. Director Drake Doremus’ film Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. When a British college student (Felicity Jones) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin) they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated when she violates the terms of her visa. Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and of the Special Jury Prize for Best Actress for Felicity Jones, Like Crazy depicts both the hopefulness and the heartbreak of love.
TREE OF LIFE
By Director Terrence Malick
Tree of Life is a period piece centered around three boys in the 1950s. The eldest son (Hunter McCracken) of two characters (Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain) witnesses the loss of innocence.
We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world's way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.
Framing this story is that of adult Jack, a lost soul in a modern world, seeking to discover amid the changing scenes of time that which does not change: the eternal scheme of which we are a part. When he sees all that has gone into our world's preparation, each thing appears a miracle precious, incomparable. Jack, with his new understanding, is able to forgive his father and take his first steps on the path of life.
The story ends in hope, acknowledging the beauty and joy in all things, in the everyday and above all in the family -- our first school -- the only place that most of us learn the truth about the world and ourselves, or discover life's single most important lesson, of unselfish love.
MISSING PIECES
By Director Kenton Bartlett
A heartbroken man kidnaps two strangers in hopes they will fall in love.
WAKE UP
By Directors Jonas Elrod and Chloe Crespi
Jonas Elrod was leading an ordinary life until he woke up one day to a totally new reality. He suddenly could see and hear angels, demons, auras and ghosts. The documentary WAKE UP follows this fascinating story of an average guy who inexplicably developed the ability to access other dimensions.
With his loving but skeptical girlfriend by his side, Jonas crisscrosses the country as he searches for answers and delves deeper into this thrilling world of the phenomenal and spiritual. Along the way, he encounters an amazing group of religious teachers, scientists, mystics and spiritual healers who help him piece together this intricate puzzle.
WAKE UP is a call to consciousness to everyone who sees it; an invitation to accept that there is more to this life than meets the eye.
By Director Leonard Zelig
Sixteen people get stuck in a subway car in NYC for several days, without communication, hope, way to escape, and a fatal sensation that they are going to die.
A raw display of human behavior when one confronts the possibility of death.
By Director Cameron Crowe
Pearl Jam Twenty (also known as PJ20) is 2011 American rockumentary directed by Cameron Crowe about the band Pearl Jam. Preliminary footage was being shot as of June 2010. Crowe completed filming in April 2011, after using 12,000 hours of footage of the band for the documentary. The film premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and also had an accompanying book and soundtrack.
The documentary charts the history of the band, from the demise of Mother Love Bone, their battle against Ticketmaster and the tragedy of the Roskilde Festival in 2000.
The film was presented theatrically at select cinemas in the US during the month of September 2011, and premiered on October 21, 2011 on PBS' American Masters.
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