By: Al Ballesteros
SWEETHEART
Film Movement
Available on DVD/Digital Now
A socially awkward lesbian teenager AJ begrudgingly joins her family on a seaside vacation. She finds herself constantly at odds with her painfully “normal” mother and older sister, neither of whom can understand why she doesn’t smile more or “dress like a girl.” Her anticipated “week of hell” takes an unexpected turn when Isla, a free-spirited and sun-loving lifeguard, catches her eye. Full to the brim with teen angst and romantic fumbling, Sweetheart wryly captures the bittersweet pangs of adolescent yearning, self-realization and personal connections, all against the hilarious ups and downs of the quintessential British family holiday.
MOONLIGHTING WIVES
Film Movement Classics
Available Blu-ray/DVD/Digital now
When diner owner Jenny Hill’s childhood sweetheart returns home to direct a new film project, her once stable life is turned upside down. She
THE NAKED FOG
Film Movement Classics
Available Blu-ray/DVD/Digital now
Tired of her jet-setting lifestyle, Marge creates a new identity as a writer in upper east coast suburbia. Struggling with writer’s block, she finds inspiration in the town brother – a hotbed of infidelity and blackmail – offers the perfect inspiration.
A HANDFULL OF WATER
IndiePix Films
Available on VOD/Digital & DVD Now
A Cantankerous old man still mourning his wife’s death, living alone in a large house with little but tropical fish tank for company. At the other end of town, 11-year old Thurba has other problems: the police are at the door and want to deport and resettle her Yemeni family to Bulgaria. But that only works if all the children are there, so the resourceful young girl jumps from the second floor and runs away to seek shelter and food in Konrad’s basement. Unfortunately, and much to his horror, thinking Thurba is a burglar, he accidentally injures her. From there , and despite his initial rejections, the unlikely pair strikes up a tender friendship that will change both of their lives forever.
PILGRIMAGE:
THE VOYAGES OF FERNÃO MENDES PINTO
IndiePix Films
Available on DVD/Digital Nnow
Over a span of twenty years, 16th-century Portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto lived a life of unparalleled adventure while traveling across the continent of Asia as a soldier, merchant, diplomat, pirate and missionary. Shipwrecked and taken prisoner numerous times, he was one of the first Europeans to visit Japan and was even sentenced to a year of hard labor on the Great Wall of China. Adapted from his posthumously published memoirs and featuring songs from folk musician Fausto Bordalo Dias, details the explorer’s legendary journeys at sea and on land in unforgettable fashion.
CHESS STORY
Film Movement
Available on DVD/Digital now
Vienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazis. Dr. Josef Bartok is preparing to flee to America when he is arrested by the Gestapo. As a former notary to the deposed Austrian aristocracy, he is instructed to hand over access to their private bank accounts. Refusing to cooperate, Bartok is locked in solitary confinement by the local secret police operative Böhm. Just as his mind is beginning to crack, he happens upon a book of famous chess matches. To withstand the torture of isolation, Bartok disappears into the world of chess, maintaining his fragile sanity only by memorizing every move.
THE MISSION
Film Movement
Available on DVD/Digital Now
This documentary follows four Latter-day Saints teenagers from their training in Utah to their missions in Finland, home of Europe’s most private and secular people. Tania Anderson’s feature-length debut tracks these wide-eyed, impassioned teens on their two-year rite of passage, as they struggle with being immersed in a new culture, and the daily rejections they inevitably receive throughout their task. Granted total access by the Church, THE MISSION is a sensitive observational documentary detailing the challenges and triumphs of these missionaries’ journeys.
COLONIALS
Epic Pictures
Available on Demand & Digital Now
In his mission from Mars, a space colonist’s ship is attacked by a Moon-based civilization and crash lands on Earth. Having lost his memory, he joins forces with a Resistance to save the galaxy from human extinction.