The Grand Cinema is proud to be the only cinema in America to present the films from each year's "25 New Faces of Independent Film" as named annually by Filmmaker Magazine.  In 2010 the Grand played films from 22 of the 25 honored "New Faces".  Eleven of those filmmakers flew to Tacoma to talk about their films, meet our audiences and connect with each other. We continued the tradition in 2011, by playing 20 out of 25 honored filmmakers and welcomed 11 to Tacoma for the all of the events and screenings.

This year's group of filmmakers has now been named and we are proud to say that 20 filmmakers will be coming to Tacoma! You'll have a chance to meet directors, animators, producers, actors...they'll all be here. Every screening from Friday the 17th through Tuesday the 21st will have at least one filmmaker in attendance to answer your questions after the screening.

Tickets are on sale now at the box office or online. Normal Grand Cinema ticket prices apply: you get the film and the filmmaker for the same price!

To see the profiles on this year's talent, visit Filmmaker Magazine.

The schedule with movie descriptions are below. There is also a PDF schedule available for downloading. Films in bold have the filmmaker in attendance.  All films over the weekend will have a Q&A lead by Seattle's master of film, Warren Etheredge.

Friday, August 17

7:30 p.m. ONLY THE YOUNG is a beautifully shot documentary that follows three youth in a film that Filmmaker Magazine says “in its gentleness, its avoidance of artificial drama, this sweetly melancholic movie feels like something new”. The film is preceded by a short documentary about teens who clean up abandoned swimming pools for skate boarding.

 

Saturday, August 18

1:30 p.m. A collection of five short films including the winner of Canada’s Academy Award for best short film, an adaptation of a Joyce Carol Oates story and the best short film from the Venice Film Festival.

 

3:45 p.m. CALL ME KUCHU, a film that debuted at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, documents the LGBT community in Uganda.

 

6:00 p.m. SUN DON’T SHINE-a smartly assured psychological noir.

 

8:15 p.m. AN OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF HER BEAUTY – a truly one-of-a-kind film with many layers, all at once candid, complex, artistic and so much more. This film debuted at Sundance in January.

 

Sunday, August 19

12:30 p.m. Another collection of short films, this one including an animated film, a documentary about elderly aquatic dancers, a series of hysterically funny short films centered on a lesbian couple and a truly nutty film starring former 2 Live Crew rapper Luther Campbell.

 

2:45 p.m. ELECTRICK CHILDREN – Rachel, a young teenager from a fundamentalist Mormon community, believes in immaculate conception, while her fundamentally religious family regards her condition as an intolerable transgression. Join us with the up-and-coming star of the film Julia Garner in attendance.

 

5:20 p.m. A secret screening! What is a secret screening?  It is a film that is yet to debut and needs to stay under wraps to preserve their debut status for possible major festivals. Yet Tacoma gets to see it first! This is a beautifully filmed “deeply sensitive” documentary on children that is filmed in Karachi.

 

Monday, August 20

2:15 A repeat of the short film package from Saturday (see previous description)

 

7:00 Another, yet different, secret documentary screening!  This one is for you if you are interested in U.S. history and unseen video footage of the people involved. It will be preceded by a creative five minute short film that will also later play in The Tacoma Film Festival in October.

 

Tuesday, August 21

6:30 IN THE FAMILY – one of Executive Director Philip Cowan’s favorite films of the year. So as to not give too much away, we’ll say it is a story of family and deciding what is most important to you.  Roger Ebert gave it a perfect 4-star rating and it is at 100% on the critic’s website Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Wednesday, August 22

2:15 p.m. OMA & BELLA – it is impossible not to fall in love with these two aging women as they prepare meal after meal while sharing both endearing memories of their past as well as time spent in concentration camps. Documentary.

 

6:45 p.m. A repeat of the short film package from Sunday afternoon plus an additional short, Cherry Bloom.

 

Thursday, August 23

6:45 THE SWELL SEASON – Were you one of the people who loved the film ONCE when it played at the Grand? This is a documentary on the true life romance between the lead characters of the film.  Even if you missed ONCE, this is a musical film you’ll enjoy.

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