AFI Lineup

The AFI Fest 2008, which runs from October 30-November 9, has announced its full lineup, including tributes to actress Tilda Swinton and director Danny Boyle. The American Film Institute (AFI) has held its annual festival each fall for over 20 years to showcase up and coming international filmmakers.AFI Fest: [1]

• The Soloist IMDb page
  • Director: Joe Wright
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A Los Angeles journalist, befriends a homeless Julliard trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.

• Last Chance Harvey IMDb page
  • Director: Joel Hopkins
  • Synopsis from IMDb: In London for his daughter's wedding, a rumpled man finds his romantic spirits lifted by a new woman in his life.

• Che Variety page
  • Director: Steven Soderbergh
  • Synopsis from Variety: Scenes from the life of revolutionary icon Che Guevara.

• The Wrestler IMDb page
  • Director: Darren Aronofsky
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A drama centered on retired professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson as he makes his way through the independent circuit.

• • Defiance IMDb page
  • Director: Edward Zwick
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Three Jewish brothers escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger.

• Adam Resurrected IMDb page
  • Director: Paul Schrader
  • Synopsis from IMDb: In the aftermath of WWII, a former circus entertainer who was spared from the gas chamber becomes the ringleader at an asylum for Holocaust survivors.

• The Brothers Bloom IMDb page
  • Director: Rian Johnson
  • Synopsis from IMDb: The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job, showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.

• A Christmas Tale IMDb page
  • Director: Arnaud Desplechin

• Hot Dog Seattle International Film Festival Page
  • Director: Bill Plympton
  • Synopsis from the Seattle International Film Festival: In the newest Plymptoon, an enthusiastic pup will do anything to become the fire station's resident pooch.

• Idiots and Angels Seattle International Film Festival Page
  • Director: Bill Plympton
  • Synopsis from the Seattle International Film Festival: In Bill Plympton's newest animated feature film, a morally ambiguous man spends his days at a dead-end job and his nights in an unfriendly dive bar. And then, one morning, a pair of wings begins to sprout from his shoulders. Filled with Plympton's trademark weirdness and visual fluidity, Idiots and Angels is a surreal masterpiece.

• Not Quite Hollywood IMDb page
  • Director: Mark Hartley
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Not Quite Hollywood is the wild, untold story of "OZPLOITATION" movies - a time when Australian cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of sex, violence, horror and foot-to-the-floor, full bore action.

• Sugar IMDb page
  • Directors: Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Dominican baseball star Miguel "Sugar" Santos is recruited to play in the U.S. minor-leagues.

• Tokyo! Movie Web page
  • Director: Michel Gondry
  • Synopsis from Movie Web: The film tells three separate tales of the city.

• Two Lovers IMDb page
  • Director: James Gray
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor (Phoenix) torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor.

• Wendy and Lucy IMDb page

• • Directror: Kelly Reichardt
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A woman's life is derailed en route to a potentially lucrative summer job. When her car breaks down, and her dog is taken to the pound, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she is led through a series of increasingly dire economic decisions.

• Food Fight IMDb page
  • Director: Chris Taylor
  • Synopsis from IMDb: When the lights are turned off and the doors are locked, chaos reigns supreme for the

products in this grocery store.

• Truth in 24
  • Director: Keith Cossrow and Bennett Viseltear

• The World We Want Patrick Davidson Productions page
  • Director: Patrick Davidson
  • Synopsis from the Patrick David Productions page: A feature length documentary film telling the remarkable stories of young student activists, ages 11-16, throughout the world.

• 3 Women from IMDb page
  • Director: Manijeh Hekmat

• Acne YouTube page (Time: 1:30)
  • Director: Federico Veiroj

• Better Things IMDb page
  • Director: Duane Hopkins
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A group of young people grow up together in a small, rural community in the Cotswolds.

• The Desert Within Variety page
  • Director: Rodrigo Pla
  • Synopsis from Variety: Religious madness and protective love that turns to hatred combine for an intense mixture in Rodrigo Pla's The Desert Within.

• The Higher Force IMDb page
  • Director: Olaf de Fleur Johannesson

• Involuntary IMDb page
  • Director: Ruben Ostlund
  • Synopsis from IMDb: It's almost summer in Sweden and minor indiscretions and misbehavior abound. Leffe likes to show off for his friends and play salacious pranks.

• Lake Tahoe IMDb page
  • Director: Fernando Eimbcke

• Niloofar Niloofar Information
  • Director: Sabine El Gemayel

• Nirvana Variety
  • Director: Igor Voloshin
  • Synopsis from Variety: Essentially a conventional story about drug addiction and the redemptive power of female friendship, Russian drama Nirvana compels attention for its outrageously over-the-top costumes and makeup.

• Poundcake
  • Directors: Rafael Monserrante and Mridu Chandra

• Proper Eyes
  • Director: Liliana Paolinelli

• Rest of Night IMDb page
  • Director: Francesco Munzi
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A wealthy community in the Northeast Italy deals with its immigration fears.

• Alone in Four Walls Variety page
  • Director: Alexandra Westmeier
  • Synopsis from Variety: Alexandra Westmeier's beautifully shot German docu Alone in Four Walls provides a nonjudgmental snapshot of Russian youth at one not-uncommon current extreme -- in a boys' reform school.

• Imaginadores IMDb page
  • Director: Daniela Fiore

• Intimacies of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo Variety page
  • Director: Yulene Olaizola
  • Synopsis from Variety: Simply taking her vid camera and sound mic into her grandmother's Mexico City residence at the corners of Shakespeare and Victor Hugo streets, Olaizola unearths a rich, presumably true tale of a lady and the strange, possibly murderous man who lived under (and on top of) her roof for years.

• Kassim the Dream IMDb page
  • Director: Kief Davidson
  • Synopsis from IMDb: This is the story of World Champion Boxer, Kassim "The Dream" Ouma - born in Uganda, kidnapped by the rebel army and trained to be a child soldier at the age of 6.

• The Last Days of Shishmaref The Last Days of Shishmaref page
  • Director: Jan Louter
  • Synopsis from Official Site: An Inupiaq Community Swallowed by the Sea

• Pindorma -- The True Story of the Seven Dwarves
  • Directors: Roberto Berliner, Lula Queiroga and Leo Crivellare

• Until the Light Takes Us IMDb page
  • Directors: Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Until the Light Takes Us is a feature length documentary chronicling the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal, a musical subculture infamous as much for a series of murders and church arsons as it is for its unique musical and visual aesthetics.

• Agile, Mobile, Hostile Official Site
  • Directors: Tricia Todd and Eric Matthies

• Gogol Bordello Non-Stop IMDb page
  • Director: Margarita Jimeno
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A behind-the-scenes look at the gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello and their charismatic front man Eugene Hutz.

• Hi My Name is Ryan Official Site
  • Directors: Paul Eagleston and Stephen Rose

• Of All the Things Official Site
  • Director: Jody Lambert

• Playing Columbine IMDb page
  • Director: Danny Ledonne
  • Synopsis: Chronicles the history of the game "Super Columbine Massacre RPG!." The film traces back the 16-bit role-playing game to its inception.

• Prodigal Sons
  • Director: Kim Reed Official Site

• Witch Hunt Movie Picture Magazines
  • Directors: Don Hardy and Dana Nachman

• Before the Fall Rotten Tomatoes page
  • Director: F.Javier Gutierrez
  • Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes: Friedrich (Max Riemelt), is a sixteen-year old amateur boxer from a working class family, who dreams of doing something with his life. His big chance comes when he's discovered at a boxing match by a young man who teaches at an elite Nazi National Political School, or Napola.

• Deadgirl Toronto International Film Festival page
  • Director: Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel
  • Synopsis from the Toronto International Film Festival: Bound to draw controversy by virtue of its premise alone, Deadgirl spins a smart and surprisingly funny tale of friendship, morality and the horror of growing up.

• Gachi Boy Wrestling with a Memory IMDb page
  • Director: Norihiro Koizumi
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A comedy about a wrestler struggling with memory lapse.

• The Juche Idea IMDb page
  • Director: Jim Finn
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Ready for a Marxist-Leninist-musical documentary? The Busby Berkeley of propaganda, Jim Finn, follows a South Korean video artist in North Korea who hopes to revitalize Juche cinema, somewhat inspired by a true story of a South Korean filmmaker kidnapped in the 70s to make the North Korean film industry better.

• Paradise
  • Director: Michael Almereyda

• Still Orangutans The New York Times page
  • Director: Gustavo Spolidoro
  • Synopsis from The New York Times: Over the course of one very hot day and shot with one take, we follow sixteen people in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

• Time Crimes IMDb page
  • Director: Nacho Vigalondo
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.

• Achilles and the Tortoise IMDb page
  • Director: Takeshi Kitano

• Afterschool IMDb page
  • Director: Antonio Campos

• Birdsong IMDb page
  • Director: Albert Serra

• The Chaser Variety page
  • Director: Na Hong-jin
  • Synopsis from Variety: Ex-cop pimp Joong-ho is irritated because his girls keep disappearing without clearing their debts.

• The Class"" International Herald Tribune
  • Director: Laurent Cantet
  • Synopsis International Herald Tribune: The young bodies crowding The Class, an artful, intelligent movie about modern French identity and the attempt to transform those bodies into citizens through talk, talk, talk, come in all sizes, shapes and colors.

• Divizionz WIDE Management page
  • Director: Donald Mugisha
  • Synopsis from WIDE Management: Kapo, Bana, Kanyankole and Mulokole are 4 youths that originally come from 4 regions of the country but now live in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city in the 'Central Division, particularly in Zone B4. They are all aspiring musicians, with each character representing stereotypical characteristics of people from these 4 regions.

• Everlasting Moments Cinematical
  • Director: Jan Troell
  • Synopsis from Cinematical: Based on the real-life story of Troell's wife's grandmother, the film takes us through the life of Maria Larsson, a belabored mother of a large brood in the early days of the 20th century who finds renewed passion and intellectual independence through a Contessa camera she wins in a lottery.

• Finally, Lillian and Dan Variety page
  • Director: Mike Gibisser
  • Synopsis from Variety: The awkward pushes and pulls between two lonelyhearts are patiently registered in Mike Gibisser's quiet and furtive Finally, Lillian and Dan.

• Gomarrah Twitch Film page
  • Director: Matteo Garrone
  • Synopsis from Twitch Film: Focusing on five cross-generational crime stories in modern Italy, Gomorrah won the Grand Prix at 2008's Cannes Film Festival and so inevitably comes with a considerable weight of expectation.

• A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy IMdb page
  • Director: Dennis Dorth
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A between-the-sheets peek at Black Love and Sexuality.

• The Good The Bad and the Weird IMDb page
  • Director: Kim Jee-woon
  • Synopsis from IMDb: The story of three Korean outlaws in 1930s Manchuria and their dealings with the Japanese army and Chinese and Russian bandits.

• Hunger IMDb page
  • Director: Steve McQueen
  • Synopsis from IMDb: The last six weeks of the life of the Irish republican hunger striker Bobby Sands.

• I'm Gonna Explode IMDb page
  • Director: Gerardo Naranjo

• • Kisses IMDb page
  • Director: Lance Daly
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Two kids, Dylan and Kylie, run away from home at Christmas and spend a night of magic and terror on the streets of inner-city Dublin.

• A Necessary Death Official Site
  • Director: Daniel Stamm
  • Synopsis from Official Site: "Documentary Filmmaker looking for suicidal individual to follow from first preparation to final act." Cut from 142 video tapes, this project sheds light on the tragedy following the infamous internet ad.

• O'Horten IMDb page
  • Director: Bent Hammer

• A Quiet Little Marriage IMDb page
  • Director: Mo Perkins

• Revanche IMDb page
  • Director: Gotz Spielmann

• Skin IMDb page
  • Director: Anthony Fabian
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

• Summer Hours IMDb page
  • Director: Olivier Assayas
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession.

• Three Blind Mice IMDb page
  • Director: Matthew Newton
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Three young Navy officers hit Sydney for one last night on land before being shipped over to the Gulf to fight. Sam has been mistreated at sea and is going AWOL, Dean has a fiance and the future in-laws to meet, and Harry just loves playing cards. Throughout the night the boys lose each other, find themselves, and along the way discover courage, friendship and redemption.

• Two-Legged Horse IMDb page
  • Director: Samira Makhmalbaf
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A wealthy boy hires a poor child to carry him around like a horse.

• Visioneers IMDb page
  • Director: Jared Drake
  • Synopsis from IMDb: When people begin exploding from stress, George Washington Winsterhammerman tries to ignore the epidemic and live his usual life, but then he suffers his first symptom.

• Waiting for Sancho Cinema Scope page
  • Director: Mark Peranson
  • Synopsis from Cinema Scope: Waiting for Sancho is an ontological investigation into a place where cinema becomes something more than cinema. Filmed in high-definition colour over five days in the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Tenerife, Waiting for Sancho is a kind of experimental "making of" the critically acclaimed El Can Dels Ocells (Birdsong) A particular take on the Biblical story of The Three Kings en route to the baby Jesus, El Can Dels Ocells premiered at the Quinzaine des Realisateurs at Cannes 2008.

• Waltz with Bashir IMDb page
  • Director: Ari Folman
  • Synopsis from IMDb: One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there's a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can't remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.

• Wellness Variety page
  • Director: Jake Mahaffy
  • Synopsis from Variety: A sad-sack salesman tries to live the American dream to tragic, occasionally comic effect in the smartly executed, shoestring-budgeted DV pic .

• World's Apart IMDb page
  • Director: Neils Arden Oplev
  • Synopsis from IMDb: The daughter of a Jehovah's Witness is forced to choose between religion and love when she falls for someone outside her faith.

• Blood Appears (La Sangre Brota) IMDb page
  • Director: Pablo Fendrik

• Headless Woman (La Mujer sin Cabeza) IMDb page
  • Director: Lucrecia Martel
  • Synopsis from IMDb: After running into something with her car, Vero experiences a particular psychological state. She realizes she might have killed someone.

• Imaginadores IMDb page

• La Vie des Morts IMDb page
  • Director: Arnaud Desplechin

• Lion's Den (Leonera) IMDb page
  • Director: Pablo Trapero
  • Synopsis from IMDb: An incarcerated woman struggles to raise her son from prison.

• Liverpoot

• Rabia Official Site
  • Director: Muhammad Ali Hasan
  • Synopsis from Official Site: Rabia is a woman who must blow herself up in order to exist. From the moment she straps explosives to her bare body, we are exposed to flashbacks of Rabia's past, filled with abuse, rejection, and struggle. With detonator in hand, we find ourselves asking whether Rabia's act is one of evil or one of heroism?

• Kings and Queen page
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Parallel storylines tell the current state of affairs for two ex-lovers: Nora's a single mother who comes to care for her terminally ill father; holed in up in mental ward, Ismael, a brilliant musician, plots his escape.

• My Sex Life...or How I Got Into an Argument Rotten Tomatoes
  • Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes: An almost-thirty junior professor can't follow through with his career, his dissertation, or his foundering ten-year love relationship, and he covets everything around him, from a colleague's full professorship to his best friend's girlfriend.

• La Sentinelle IMDb page
  • Synopsis from IMDb: Mathias, whose dead father was a diplomat in Germany, decides to study the forensic medicine in Paris.

• Esther Kahn IMDb page
  • Synopsis from IMDb: A Jewish girl in 19th century London dreams of becoming a stage actress.

• 24 City IMDb page
  • Director: Zhang Ke Jia

• Perfect Life (Wammei Shenhuo) La Biennale di Venezia
  • Director: Emily Tang Xiaobai

• Plastic City (Dangkou) IMDb page
  • Director: Nelson Yu Lik-wai

• Chouga Variety page
  • Director: Darezhan Omirbaev

• Native Dancer

• Tulpan IMDb page
  • Director: Sergei Dvortsevoy