Provincetown International Film Festival 2009

Based on the smash Broadway musical comprised entirely of hit ABBA tunes ("Dancing Queen," "S.O.S.," "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"), sing along to the sunny story of three strong women and the foibles of love that envelop them during 24 chaotic, magical hours on a lush tropical island full of wondrously romantic possibilities. Donna (Meryl Streep), an independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends - practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tonya (Christine Baranski) - from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own: On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men (played by Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård) from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. From wedding eve to wedding day, and spanning two dozen chart-topping, rhapsodous sing-along ABBA numbers, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled in the most movie musical magical of ways. Featuring sing-along English subtitles Print Source: Universal Pictures

New England Premiere Author Colin Beavan and his family are pictures of liberal complacency - sophisticated, takeout-addicted New Yorkers who refuse to let moral qualms interfere with good old-fashioned American consumerism. Then Colin turns things upside down. For his next book, he announces he's becoming No Impact Man, testing whether making zero environmental impact adversely affects happiness. The hitch is he needs his wife, Michelle - an espresso-guzzling, Prada-worshipping Business Week writer - and their toddler to join the experiment. A year without electricity, cars, toilet paper and nonlocal food isn't going to be a walk in the park. Or is it? As Michelle contends with caffeine and shopping withdrawal, compost worms and defending her dreams in the face of Colin's household hegemony, she's gradually transformed by this life-without-wastefulness. Meanwhile, Colin's numerous media appearances unleash a viral rash of criticism among bloggers and friends, raising doubts about the project's integrity. Whatever the conclusion, no one can deny we're going to have to alter our habits radically to achieve sustainability. Through the intimate prism of conflict within a contemporary marriage, NO IMPACT MAN suggests that individual change can be the first step in a quantum leap toward a systemic, societal shift. And the temporary discomfort just might be worth it. -Caroline Libresco, Sundance Film Festival Print Source: Filmmakers

Director Nicole Opper will be in attendance. Avery is a typical Brooklyn teen living in an atypical, United Nations-style melting pot. Her adoptive parents are white Jewish lesbians, her younger brother is Korean, her older brother is mixed-race, and she is black. Though her household is loving, she can't quite quell her curiosity about her biological African-American roots. The decision to contact her birth mother sparks a complicated exploration of race and identity. As Avery's self-awareness increases, the question of racial identity takes center-stage. The more she searches for answers about her biological family, the more emotionally charged and distant from her current family she becomes. She maintains her position on the school track team, but drops out of high school and eventually leaves home. Avery's constant displacement - whether it was at her Jewish elementary school, or among black friends, or even at home - informs her difficult journey, objectively documented by director Nicole Opper. Most impressive is Opper's poised camera, able to capture honest and articulate conversations between Avery and her incredibly attentive brother Rafi. OFF AND RUNNING is a unique and very American coming-of-age story that delves into the psyche of race through a fresh and careful dissection of a family's struggle. -Sara Nodjoumi, Tribeca Film Festival Print Source: Filmmaker

OFFICE KILLER is a victim-turned-avenger tale hinging on a murderous copy editor. When Dorine Douglas' job at Constant Consumer magazine is turned into an at-home position during a downsizing, she doesn't know how to cope. But after accidentally killing one of her co-workers, she discovers that murder can quench the loneliness of her home life. Spinning into madness at the film's center Kane leads a cast of seasoned professionals, Molly Ringwald and Jeanne Tripplehorn among them in this comic thriller. This dark tale of corporate downsizing is even more relevant today than when it was released in 1997. In her first feature film, American artist Cindy Sherman concocts a peculiarly funny caricature of psycho-thriller and horror genres. The film follows the transformation of the "pathetic" office mouse Dorine into an unruly predator, a femme-fatale-gone-wrong. Having stirred up criminal chaos, Dorine finds much pleasure in fashioning a grisly tableau of her colleagues in a dark basement, upping the stakes in Sherman's trademark portrayal of perversity. Print Source: Strand Releasing

Set on a quixotic mission to find their film in the midst of the August music festivals that permeate the heart of rural Portugal, director Miguel Gomes and company shot everything and everyone possible, leaving no stone unturned in their quest for art and story. What emerged is a lengthy and deliberately chaotic hybrid of documentary and fiction which delicately captures the vibrancy of the local community while simultaneously allowing a reworked meta-narrative - centering on the strange relationship between a father, daughter and nephew in a traveling pop band - to quietly creep in to the proceedings. The camera drifts endlessly through picturesque vistas, capturing unrestrained merriment, rural ritual, colorful anecdotes and vivacious characters awash in the vérité spell of his melodious travelogue-cum-joyride. The proceedings are occasionally interrupted by the appearance of the filmmakers, their plight a central fixture of the increasingly bewildering story. People who have once appeared begin to return as fictional characters indicating that Gomes has stumbled upon his cast along the way, their "real" selves having become lost in the current. Inventively risky in execution, OUR BELOVED MONTH OF AUGUST whisks the viewer into a whirlwind, playfully challenging audience expectation and the possibilities inherent in cinematic storytelling, all while gliding along to the provincial Portuguese pop music. - Landon Zakheim, San Francisco International Film Festival In English, French and Portuguese with English subtitles Print Source: O Som e a Fúria

Director Ella Lemhagen's dramatic comedy, adapted from a three-person stage play, hinges on a bureaucratic blunder. After facing much discrimination in their quest to adopt a child, Swedish gay couple Goran and Sven finally appear to be cleared to take possession of an 18-month-old boy named Patrik. However, due to a misplaced punctuation mark, the "1.5-year-old" turns out to be 15 - and a homophobe with a violent criminal record to boot. This sitcom-like plot point is transformed in Lemhagen's hands into an intelligent rumination on tolerance and gradual understanding in a country that has been surprisingly slow to accept the idea of same-sex couples adoption. Initially, all involved are displeased about the situation, especially Sven, who has also had his share of youthful run-ins with the law and knows the violence Patrik is capable of unleashing. The couple eventually coax positive qualities out of Patrik that go deeper than the teen's initial disgust about having to live with "homos." With strong performances by all involved, PATRIK AGE 1.5 is a sensitive, quietly funny and surprisingly affecting take on the theme of a same-sex couple raising an adopted child. - Seattle International Film Festival In Swedish with English subtitles Print Source: Regent Releasing

New England Premiere -Sponsored by Kodak Director Jay DiPietro and actors, Jason Ritter, Jess Weixler and Grant Varjas will be in attendance. PETER AND VANDY is a love story told out of order. Set in Manhattan, the story shifts back and forth in time, juxtaposing Peter and Vandy's romantic beginnings with the twisted, manipulative, regular couple they become. As we jump between past and present, the film explores the question most couples ask themselves... 'How the hell did we get this way?' And, like a lot of couples, they don't always know why they have stayed together, or why they are the way they are. But the answers are found in the little moments, presented to the viewer out of sequence. The way Peter and Vandy bicker while trying to order takeout reveals more about them than couples therapy ever could. Through these small iconic moments, we see just who they are, revealing a bigger picture... and bigger questions. What brought them together? What made them change? What is it that keeps them together? Imagine if you could go back and watch yourself falling in love with your partner. Imagine if you could hear exactly what you were saying. Chances are it would be a lot different than you remember - and a lot more revealing. With Peter and Vandy, by first seeing their future can we truly understand their past. With Jason Ritter (Happy Endings), Jess Weixler (Teeth) and Zak Orth (Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Print Source: Strand Releasing

Directors David Barba and James Pellerito will be in attendance. POP STAR ON ICE is an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of outspoken Olympian and three-time US Figure Skating National Champion Johnny Weir. When Johnny fails to win a medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics, the media turns on him and he feels the backlash. Love him or hate him, Johnny is one of the most talented skaters of all time, but it takes more than just talent to make a champion. Johnny's complicated relationship with his longtime coach Priscilla Hill and his struggle to reach the top of the sport takes us from small town Delaware to competitions, shopping sprees, fashion shows and personal appearances around the world. The inspiration for Jon Heder's character in the box office smash BLADES OF GLORY, Johnny seeks to balance his larger-than-life persona with the constraints of his sport. POP STAR ON ICE uncovers the graceful, athletic and cutthroat sport of figure skating through the prism of its most controversial athlete as he tries to fulfill his potential on the world stage. Print Source: Filmmakers

Director Paul Saltzman and Producer Patricia Aquino will be in attendance. In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman offered to pay for the senior prom at Charleston High School in Mississippi under one condition: the prom had to be racially integrated. His offer was ignored. In 2008, Freeman offered again. This time the school board accepted, and history was made. Charleston High School had its first-ever integrated prom - in 2008. Until then, blacks and whites had had separate proms even though their classrooms have been integrated for decades. Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman follows students, teachers and parents in the lead-up to the big day. This seemingly inconsequential rite of passage suddenly becomes profound as the weight of history falls on teenage shoulders. We quickly learn that change does not come easily in this sleepy Delta town. Freeman's generosity fans the flames of racism - and racism in Charleston has a distinctly generational tinge. Some white parents forbid their children to attend the integrated prom and hold a separate white-only dance. "Billy Joe," an enlightened white senior, appears on camera in shadow, fearing his racist parents will disown him if they know his true feelings. PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI captures a big moment in a small town, where hope finally blossoms in black, white and a whole lot of taffeta. -David Courier, Sundance Film Festival Print Source: Filmmaker