#LRFF 2012 Feature Films in Competition

The Little Rock Film Festival has announced its first round of films which will compete for the 2012 Golden Rock Awards for best narrative feature and best documentary feature. Little Rock Film Festival Artistic Director Brent Renaud said, "This has been by far our most competitive year ever. These selections from the United States, Iraq, Africa, India and beyond, represent the very best in what is happening in independent film today." The Golden Rock winners will be announced at the Awards Gala at the Clinton Presidential Center, on June 3.  

The first round of films is listed below with their summaries. The LRFF will make additional announcements in the coming days.  

Golden Rock Narrative Competition :

Booster, Directed by Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Caught between loyalty to his brother and his own will, Simon is forced to examine his life.

The Dynamiter, Directed by Matthew Gordan

All 14-year-old Robbie ever really wanted was a family. Yet as another Mississippi summer begins, his wayward mother has run off again, and he's left to burn the days caring for his half brother, Fess. With older brother Lucas dangerously in his life again.

First Winter, Directed by Benjamin Dickinson

In this extraordinary debut feature, a blackout of apocalyptic proportions strands a group of Brooklyn hipsters in a remote country farmhouse with no heat and no electricity during the coldest winter on record. At first, it's all sex and drugs and acoustic guitars. But as the days go on and the food supply dwindles, struggles of power, jealousy, and desire threaten the group's ability to work together in order to survive.

Future Weather, Directed by Jenny Deller

Abandoned by her dreamer single mom, a teenage loner becomes obsessed with ecological disaster, forcing her and her grandmother, a functioning alcoholic, to rethink their futures. Inspired by a New Yorker article on global warming, Future Weather uses the refuge of science and the environment as a backdrop to examine the intertwining lives of three generations of women. 

Gimme the Loot, Directed by Adam Leon

Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from the Bronx, are the ultimate graffiti-writers. When a rival gang buffs their latest masterpiece, they must hatch a plan to get revenge by tagging an iconic NYC landmark, but they need to raise $500 to pull off their spectacular scheme. 

I am not a Hipster, Directed by Destin Daniel

Set in the indie music and art scene, a young songwriter barely surviving on music must reconcile his past with an uncertain future. Fresh from Sundance, this character-driven story explores themes of love, loss, and what it means to be creative in the face of tragedy.

Leave Me Like You Found Me, Directed by Adele Romanski

After a year of heartbreak and loneliness, Erin and Cal have forgotten enough of each other's flaws to get back together. They take what they hope will be a romantic camping trip in Sequoia National Park. Alone in the majestic landscape, they begin to revisit their past relationship. As cracks start to show each is left wondering whether the other has changed enough to make it work this time.

Lola Versus, Directed by Daryl Wein

Daryl Wein returns to the LRFF with Lola Versus. Greta Gerwig stars as Lola, a New Yorker on the verge of 30 who finds herself abruptly dumped mere weeks before her long-anticipated wedding. Single for the first time in eight years, Lola attempts to rebuild with the help of her friends, sweet and supportive Henry (Hamish Linklater) and no-nonsense chatterbox Alice (co-screenwriter Zoe Lister-Jones), only to find that suddenly navigating the unfriendly waters of dating and relationships makes letting go and moving on much more easily said than done.

On Down the Line, Jonathan Schmaiz and Casey Barteau

 A couple in their early 30s - Paul and Molly - inherit a river house on a plot of land just outside of San Antonio, Texas. They excitedly spend their nights and weekends there, fixing it up and trying to get a hang of rural life. Gordon, a farmer in his 50s who has leased and tended the acreage for decades, is hesitant to accept his new landlords as members of his home; Molly and Paul have not yet earned their country credentials, so he takes it upon himself to test their fortitude. As Gordon's trials intensify, the couple is faced with the threatening consequences of their own inexperience.

Pilgrim Song, Directed by Martha Stephens

Martha Stephens returns to the LRFF with Pilgrim Song. Kentucky's Sheltowee Trace Trail. Among the verdant hills of Appalachia, he encounters various strange characters and becomes the reluctant companion of a gregarious father and son who ultimately help him rediscover what he's been missing.

Supporting Characters, Directed by Daniel Schechter

In this funny and authentic take on modern relationships, best friends Darryl (Tarik Lowe) and Nick (Alex Karpovsky) are a film editing duo hired to rework a movie in crisis, only to find themselves increasingly consumed with reworking their own personal lives. While Nick begins to question his stable relationship after receiving attentions from the film's flirtatious starlet, Darryl finds himself falling hard for tempestuous dancer Liana (Melonie Diaz).

Teddy Bear, Directed by Mads Matthiesen

The 38-year-old bodybuilder Dennis would really like to find true love. He has never had a girlfriend and lives alone with his mother in a suburb of Copenhagen. When his uncle marries a girl from Thailand, Dennis decides to try his own luck on a trip to Pattaya, as it seems that love is easier to find in Thailand. 

The Trouble With the Truth, Directed by Jim Hemphill

Musician and starving artist Robert reconsiders his own failed marriage to Emily after his daughter announces that she's engaged.

Think of Me, Directed by Bryan Wizemann

As things unravel for a struggling single mother in Las Vegas, she must decide what she's willing to give up to get by.

Wolf, Directed by Ya’Ke Smith

A family is shaken to the core when they discover their son has been molested. As they struggle to deal with the betrayal, their son heads towards a total mental collapse because of his love for his abuser, while his abuser attempts to exorcise his own past demons. The film stars Irma P. Hall (THE LADYKILLERS, COLLATERAL), Eugene Lee (LACKAWANNA BLUES, COACH CARTER) and newcomers Mikala Gibson, Shelton Jolivette and Jordan Cooper.

Golden Rock Documentary Competition:

America’s Parking Lot, Jonny Mars

When the Dallas Cowboys move to the first stadium built for a billion dollars, the shifting politics and economics of major league sports threaten to dissolve friendships and traditions, and force Tiger and Cy to make the costly choice to follow their beloved team.

Andrew Bird, Director Xan Aranda

The acclaimed musician's rigorous touring year culminates in perpetual fever as he crosses the finish line on crutches from an onstage injury.

Bay of All Saints,  Director Annie Eastman

In Bahia, Brazil, generations of impoverished families live in palafitas, shacks built on stilts over the ocean bay. When the government threatens to reclaim the bay in the name of ecological restoration, hundreds of families are about to lose their homes. 

Booker’s Place, A Mississippi Story, Director Raymond Defelitta

While filming a documentary on racism in Mississippi in 1965, Frank De Felitta forever changed the life of an African-American waiter and his family. More than 40 years later, Frank's son Raymond (director of City Island) returns to the site of his father's film to examine the repercussions of their fateful encounter. 

Eating Alabama, Andrew Beck Grace

In search of a simpler life, a young couple returns home to Alabama where they set out to eat the way their grandparents did – locally and seasonally. But as they navigate the agro-industrial gastronomical complex, they soon realize that nearly everything about the food system has changed since farmers once populated their family histories.  

High Tech Low Tech, Director Stephen Maing

As the Chinese government expands its efforts to police the Internet and block websites in the country, and television stations selectively report the news, the rising tide of censorship has aroused a wave of citizen reporters committed to investigating local news stories and crime scenes. 

In My Mother’s Arms, Directed by Mohamed Al-Daradji and Atia Al-Daradji

Husham works tirelessly to build the hopes, dreams and prospects of the 32 damaged children of war under his care at a small orphanage in Baghdad’s most dangerous district. When the landlord gives Husham and the boys just two weeks to vacate the premises, a desperate search for lodging ensues.

Journey to Planet X, Director Josh Koury and Myles Kane

By day Eric Swain and Troy Bernier are a couple of mild-mannered, middle-aged desk jockeys from Florida, but their wildest dreams come to life after hours when they get together to make fantastical sci-fi movies with the help of a green screen, amateur actors, and retro-futuristic computer graphics. 

The List, Director Beth Murphy

After working for an aid group tasked with improving infrastructure in war-torn cities in Iraq, young American Kirk Johnson returns home to news that his Iraqi co-workers are being killed, kidnapped, or forced into exile by radical militias who perceived them as traitors because of their involvement with the U.S. Frustrated by his government's inability to safeguard its endangered allies, Johnson begins compiling a list of Iraqis seeking refuge and a new life in America—all of them desperately in need of an advocate.

The Mayor, Director Jareb Scheib

Senior love lives abound in The Mayor, the true story of an 88-year-old tailchaser, an adoring widow, and a raunchy gossip queen living it up in a retirement home in Texas.

Once in a Lullaby, Directed by Jonathan Kalafer

The PS22 chorus from Staten Island became world famous after their YouTube videos went viral. This feel-good documentary follows them to their big performance as the closing act at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony, where creative differences, lost voices, and homesickness threaten their performance. 

Sister’s Call, Directed by Kyle Tekiela and Rebecca Schaper

Call Richmond disappeared in 1977. Twenty years later, his sister Rebecca found him homeless, alone and suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia. A SISTER'S CALL follows Rebecca's 14 year journey to "bring her brother back" from the depths of his homelessness and  hallucinations. 

Tchoupitoulas, Directed by Bill and Turner Ross

Tchoupitoulas is a story of the New Orleans night. Abstractly aural and visual, it is a sensory document of one night in the many lives of a thriving nocturnal populace. Three young boys act as our wide-eyed conduits to a parade of entertainers and revelers as they dance through the lamp lit streets and doorways of the Crescent City.  

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