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Sun Valley Film Festival Premieres ‘Party Animals’ and More
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Wednesday, February 21, 2018
 

STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

An American diplomat is called back to war-torn Beirut to negotiate for the life of a friend he left behind. And a father and daughter who have been living off the grid are forced to confront conflicting desires after authorities remove them from their camp in a vast nature reserve on the edge of Portland.

These are among the subjects of two films—“Beirut” and “Leave No Trace”—that will be shown at the 2018 Sun Valley Film Festival presented by Zions Bank.

The seventh annual film festival will be held March 14-18. It will include three world premieres, one U.S. premiere and two episodic premiere screenings.

Here’s a look at the films that have been selected so far:

NARRATIVE FICTION:

“American Animals,” about two young men who resolve to attempt one of the most audacious art thefts in the special collections section of their university library.

“Beirut,” starring Jon Hamm and Rosamund Pike, about a U.S. diplomat who flees Lebanon in 1972 after a tragic incident and is called back years later.

“Finding Your Feet,” about a judgmental middle-class snob who is exiled with her bohemian sister in an impoverished inner city after she discovers her husband has been having an affair with her best friend.

“The Guilty,” about a dispatcher who enters a race to save a kidnapped woman after the emergency call is disconnected, only to realize he’s dealing with a crime far bigger than he thought.

“Leave No Trace,” based on the book, “My Abandonment,” about a father and daughter who are forced to choose between a longing for community versus a need to live apart.

“Madeline’s Madeline,” about a young woman who is pushed to weave her troubled history and rich interior world into the work of an experimental theatre troupe that prides itself on authenticity, only to have the lines between performance and reality blur in surprising and potentially destructive ways.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a brassy and sexy retelling of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy that reframes the story as a modern Hollywood fairy tale.

“Nona,” the U.S. premiere of Kate Bosworth’s film about a Honduran girl who meets a charming boy who promises to get her safely to America to reunite with her mother. When he doesn’t deliver, she faces a perilous journey that delivers a message to change the way the world deals with sex trafficking.

“Outside Inn,” co-written by and starring Jay Duplass follows a man who served 20 years for a crime who struggles to adapt to the outside work which has gone digital and—uh-oh—his love for his former high school teacher who would seem out of reach.

“The Unicorn,” which stars Dree Hemingway, follows an indecisive couple thrown into the most uncomfortable night of their lives by intentionally and unintentionally involving a third party in their relationship.

DOCUMENTARIES

“All the Wild Horses” follows riders competing in the Mongol Derby, the longest and toughest horse race in the world.

“Giant Carnivorous Bats” was shot by National Geographic photographer Anand Varma deep in the Mexican jungle as he sought to find two of the continent’s rarest creatures. World Premiere.

“Haymaker,” follows a kid from a small Idaho town who strives for self-respect as he prepares for the rematch of a boxing match he lost while battling the legal system for his freedom. World Premiere.

“Minding the Gap” features three young men who bond to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown only to have unexpected revelations threaten their friendship.

“Of Fathers and Sons” takes viewers to a remote village in northern Syria where boys play in bombed out homes, abandoned tanks and minefields, instructed to stone any girl who dares show her face in public. It captures that chilling moment when childhood dies and Jihadism is born.

“On Her Shoulders,” which won the U.S. Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival, focuses on a 23-year-old who is thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people after surviving genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS.

“Party Animals,” presented by Nat Geo WILD, introduces kids and adults alike to a cute nocturnal primate, a loveable baby sea turtle and silly ducks. World Premiere.

“Science Fair,” which won the Sundance Film Festival’s inaugural Festival Favorite Award, follows a mentor and nine students as they prepare their science projects for the 2017 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles.

EPISODIC

“Last Chance U” features the third-season premiere of a group of young men training to be future NFL stars at Independence Community College in rural Kansas.

“One Strange Rock” was created by National Geographic filmmaker Darren Aronofsy (“Black Swan”) and award-winning producer Jane Root “America: The Story of Us” and “The 80s: The Decade That Made Us.” Hosted by Will Smith, it explores the fragility and wonder of our planet and why life as we know it exists on Earth. The 10-part series takes cameras where they’ve never been before in 45 countries on six continents and from outer space on the International Space Station.

SPECIAL GUESTS:

This year’s film festival will feature Gwyneth Paltrow , as well as Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“The Greatest Showman”), Jay Duplass (“Transparent”), Kate Bosworth (“Blue Crush,” “Nona”), Kevin Walsh (“Manchester By the Sea,” “The Way Way Back”) and wildlife filmmakers and photographers Anand Varma and Jason Jaacks.

For more information and tickets, visit www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org.

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