Ethiopian Post-Apocalyptic Feature 'Crumbs' + New Work from Ty Hodges, Others, are Los Angeles Film Festival 2015 Selections

And the 2015 film festival beat goes on... 

Announced this afternoon, an eclectic mix of feature films make up lineups of 2 new sections - Zeitgeist and Nightfall - of the upcoming Los Angeles Film Festival (June 10 to 18, 2015), which is produced by Film Independent.

Also the festival's LA Muse section was revealed as well - a competitive section of indies that are "quintessentially Los Angeles." 

“Under the leadership of Roya Rastegar and Jennifer Cochis, the programmers have assembled a slate of films that embody Film Independent’s mission of diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision with a special emphasis on world premieres, first time directors and, of course, films inspired by Los Angeles,” said Elvis Mitchell, Film Independent Curator.

“Zeitgeist is a curated section of bold films that captures a vital picture of independent storytelling today,” said Roya Rastegar, Associate Director of Programming and Curated Content. “As programmers, we see key trends emerge in the thousands of films we watch every year. Stylish and defiant, the films in our inaugural Zeitgeist lineup are structured around a pivotal juncture in the lives of young people, after which there is no going back.”

And about the Nightfall section, Jennifer Cochis, Senior Programmer, said: “We created Nightfall to celebrate films that will make audiences squirm. Ranging from the creepy to the sinister, homages to 80s and 90s era horror, psychodramas and waking nightmares.”

Of note, with respect to this blog's interests, you'll recognize "Crumbs," a title that excited a lot of you when I profiled it in January - a Spanish-Ethiopian co-production which made its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) earlier this year, directed by Spaniard Llansó, who actually lives in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), and stars Daniel Tadesse. The wholly original tale tells a story of diminutive superhero Gagano (played by Tadesse), a junk collector, who embarks on a "surreal epic journey" that's set against "post-apocalyptic Ethiopian landscapes." He's had enough of collecting "valuable crumbs of a decayed civilization," when a spaceship that has been hovering high in the sky for years, starts showing signs of activity, and Gagano has to overcome his fears - which include a witch, Santa Claus and second-generation Nazis - to find out that the world isn't quite what he thought it was.

It's a film that's been on my must-see list since I first learned of it, and I'm glad that I'm one step closer to checking it out finally, as it makes its North American premiere at the LAFF in June.

Other titles of note, include:

- "The Drew: No Excuse, Just Produce," a documentary from co-directors Baron Davis (yes, the NBA player) and Chad Gordon, making its World Premiere.
- "A Girl Like Grace," from Ty Hodges, making its World Premiere as well.
- "Can You Dig This," directed by Delila Vallot, also making its World Premiere.
- And "French Dirty," from co-directors Wade Allain-Marcus & Jesse Allain-Marcus, making its World Premiere.

These are just the few that I immediately recognized. There might be others which I'll discover later.

In the meantime, check out lineups of all 3 sections below. 

The full Festival line up will be announced on May 5. 

Passes to this year's edition are now on sale to the general public. Visit: http://ift.tt/jhoN3c.

Zeitgeist (6)

Zeitgeist is a competitive section of six curated films that embody key trends. 2015 captures hard knock, coming of age stories.

• - "Band of Robbers," dir. Aaron Nee & Adam Nee, USA, World Premiere
• - "A Girl Like Grace," dir. Ty Hodges, USA, World Premiere
• - "In the Treetops," dir. Matthew Brown, USA, World Premiere
• - "Manifest Destiny," dir. Michael Dwyer, Kaitlin McLaughlin, USA, World Premiere
• - "Stealing Cars," dir. Bradley Kaplan, USA, World Premiere
• - "What Lola Wants," dir. Rupert Glasson, USA, World Premiere

Nightfall (8)

From the bizarre to the horrifying, these are films to watch after dark. Films premiering for the first time in the U.S. are nominated for the Nightfall Award. 

• - "Caught," dir. Maggie Kiley, USA, World Premiere
• - "The Confines," dir. Eytan Rockaway, USA, World Premiere
• - "Crumbs," dir. Miguel Llansó, Spain/Ethiopia/Finland, North American Premiere
• - "Crush the Skull," dir. Viet Nguyen, USA, World Premiere
• - "Dude Bro Party Massacre III," dir. Tomm Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, Jon Salmon, USA, World Premiere
• - "Plan Sexenal," dir. Santiago Cendejas, Mexico, North American Premiere
• - "Ratter," dir. Branden Kramer, USA, LA Premiere
• - "Shut In," dir. Adam Schindler, USA, World Premiere

LA Muse (10)

• - "Aram, Aram," dir. Christopher Chambers, USA, World Premiere
• - "A Beautiful Now," dir. Daniela Amavia, USA, World Premiere
• - "Can You Dig This," dir. Delila Vallot, USA, World Premiere
• - "Day Out of Days," dir. Zoe R. Cassavetes, USA, World Premiere
• - "The Drew: No Excuse, Just Produce," dir. Baron Davis, Chad Gordon, USA, World Premiere
• - "The Escort," dir. Will Slocombe, USA, World Premiere
• - "Flock of Dudes," dir. Bob Castrone, USA, World Premiere
• - "French Dirty," dir. Wade Allain-Marcus & Jesse Allain-Marcus, USA, World Premiere
• - "No Más Bebés," dir. Renee Tajima-Peña, USA, World Premiere
• - "Weepah Way for Now," dir. Stephen Ringer, USA, World Premiere

 



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