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The Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) has announced its complete 2016 lineup, and we’re excited to share it here. Here’s the complete program, with stars designating some of our own most anticipated films:
Opening Night Film
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*Alive and Kicking - Director: Susan Glatzer: This upbeat documentary gives the audience an intimate, insider’s view into the culture of the current Swing dance movement while shedding light on issues facing modern society.
Narratives
A Month of Sundays – Director Michael Saville: Everyone deserves a second chance, even a real estate agent. Frank’s mid-life funk is turned around when he receives a phone call from his dead mother.
Ayiti Mon Amour – Director Guetty Felin: Haiti, five years after the earthquake.... In a coastal town forgotten by the rest of the world, the sea is gaining ground and although the memories of the great disaster still haunt the villagers, life must go on.
Fare – Director Thomas Torrey: A cab driver finds himself transporting the man who is secretly sleeping with his wife.
Girl Flu. – Director Dorie Barton: Bird, 12, has to become a woman whether she wants to or not, as she and her free spirited mother navigate the ins and outs of her disastrous first period.
Hunky Dory – Director Michael Curtis Johnson: A comedy-drama about a drag queen and his son.
Junction 48 – Director Udi Aloni: A family tragedy brings Kareem closer to his singer girlfriend, Manar, and motivates him to do something more with his life.
Little Mountain Boy – Director Xavier Koller: A young boy must climb high into the mountains to retrieve his family's most prized possession.
Occupy, Texas – Director Jeff Barry: The story of a washed up Occupier (Gene Gallerano) who returns home after the death of his parents to find himself responsible for his two teenage sisters (Lorelei Linklater and Catherine Elvir) and his Texas-sized past.
Operator – Director Logan Kibens: Joe, a programmer and obsessive self-quantifier, and Emily, a budding comedy performer, are happily married until they decide to use one another in their work.
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*The High Sun (Zvizdan) – Director Dalibor Matanić: Three different love stories, set in three consecutive decades, in two neighboring Balkan villages burdened with a long history of inter-ethnic hatred.
The Other Kids – Director Chris Brown: A raw, intimate look into the struggles of six small-town teens on the verge of high school graduation.
Documentaries
Contemporary Color – Director David Byrne: In the summer of 2015, legendary musician David Byrne (Talking Heads) staged an event at Brooklyn's Barclays Center to celebrate the art of color guard’s synchronized dance routines involving flags, rifles, and sabers. Recruiting performers including St. Vincent, Nelly Furtado, Ad-Rock, and Ira Glass to collaborate on original pieces with 10 color guard teams from across the US and Canada, Contemporary Color is a beautifully filmed snapshot of a one-of-a-kind live event.
Insatiable: The Homaro Cantu Story- Director Brett Schwartz: Chef and inventor Homaro Cantu helped put Chicago on the culinary map and wanted to change the world. Insatiable takes you on a dizzying and thrilling ride with Cantu, in a story that moves from redemption and inspiration to tragedy and back again.
Kate Plays Christine – Director Robert Greene: In this ingenious blend of documentary and psychological thriller, Robert Greene follows Kate Lyn Sheil as she prepares for the role of Christine Chubbuck, the Florida newscaster who committed suicide live on-air in 1974.
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*Learning to See: The World of Insects – Director Jake Oelman: One man's transformational journey to find the Amazon's strangest creatures.
*Life, Animated – Director Roger Ross Williams: Life Animated is the inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films.
Most Likely to Succeed – Director Greg Whiteley: Examining the history of education in the United States, the growing shortcomings of conventional education methods are revealed in today’s innovative world, while exploring compelling new approaches that aim to transform learning as we know it.
SCORE: A Film Music Documentary – Director Matt Schrader: Tracking the progress of modern-day film score development, SCORE will illustrate how the first few notes on a piano keyboard end up in the most dramatic moments of a film's emotional climax.
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*Sidemen: Long Road to Glory – Director Scott Rosenbaum: Sidemen: Long Road to Glory is an intimate look at the lives and legacies of three legendary bluesmen not long before their deaths in 2011: piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, all Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf sidemen. Historic live shows are accompanied by performances and personal insights from many of the stars they inspired, including; Bonnie Raitt, Gregg Allman, Tim Reynolds, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Perry, Joe Bonamassa and Johnny Winter.
The Founders – Director Charlene Fisk: In 1950, 13 amateur women golfers battled society, finances and sometimes even each other to create the first and longest running professional sports organization for women. With humor, grit and raw talent, these underdogs not only changed the course of women's sports, they created a timeless story of redemption and endurance.
The Rebound – Director Shaina K. Allen: The film follows the underdog journey of the Miami Heat Wheels, a wheelchair basketball team, in their quest for a national title. The story is a visceral portrait of the athletes’ journey to realize their dreams while facing life’s biggest challenges.
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*Voyagers Without Trace – Director Ian McCluskey: In 1938, three young Parisians arrived in the American West with kayaks, cameras, beer and a plan: to be the first to kayak down the wild Green and Colorado rivers. They recorded their journey, creating the first adventure film shot in vivid color. But the reels go unseen for 75 years, until filmmaker Ian McCluskey spots a photo of the trio on a roadside marker. His curiosity sends him on a historical treasure hunt, learning to paddle the same waters and searching for clues.
Shorts Program I: Discovering Identity
Wannabe
Sophie: A Story of Discovery
Situational
Colours
Frontman
Shorts Program II: Facing the Challenge
Out of the Village
Facing the Surge
Tyson
Phil's Camino
Shorts Program III: The Science of Fiction
The Light Thief
Sputnik
It’s Snowing
Bernie and Rebecca
Again
Halloween Tribute: Saturday Movie Marathon
The Addams Family
Young Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Creepshow
Psycho
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (No props, please!)
Closing Night Film
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*Colin Hay: Waiting for My Real Life – Directors Nate Gowtham, Adam Faulls: Colin Hay - Waiting For My Real Life tells the inspiring story of Colin Hay’s personal and artistic journey from the heights of rock superstardom as the frontman for Men At Work, to the depths of obscurity
and addiction, to finding salvation through song as an acclaimed solo artist.
The closing film will be followed by a wrap-party performance by Colin Hay at Blue Martini Lounge.
The festival runs Oct. 27-30 at Silverspot Cinema, with the opening night film and party held at Artis—Naples. For more information on participating films and to see trailers, please visit naplesfilmfest.com. To purchase tickets and for a complete schedule of screening times, visit the NIFF website or call ( 239) 775-FILM (3456).