Josh Tickell

Josh Tickell, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Julia Roberts, Woody Harrelson

America's addiction to oil has endangered the environment, taken the nation to war, and threatens its long-term stability. FIELDS OF FUEL is about one man's search for an alternative to the world's dependence on oil. Josh Tickell dissects how oil companies are paid to keep polluting, how Detroit pumps out cars incapable of running on alternative fuels and how the American government is in the pockets of oil companies. Through the polluted bayous of Louisiana, the misguided corporations of Detroit, the corruption of Washington and the bloodshed of the Middle East, Tickell’s entertaining and passionate film rings out like a bell and makes individual action suddenly seem possible.

Sandra Nettelbeck

Ashley Judd, Goran Visnjic, Lauren Lee Smith

Helen is beautiful, intelligent and seems to have it all. Happily married to David, she enjoys a loving relationship with her teenage daughter from a previous marriage, and teaches at the local university. Yet Helen is hiding a secret which gradually penetrates the very fabric of her well-being. David loves and supports her unconditionally, but at times she becomes inaccessible and withdrawn. When she meets Mathilda, Helen understands they share a common bond and--courageously struggling out of her own quagmire--she tries desperately to help her. Helen takes us on a journey without easy departures. It is a portrait of a marriage and a story of friendship—of courage, devotion, and the triumph of love

Michael Hoffman

Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti, Christopher Plummer

Sixteen years younger than Tolstoy, Sofya bore him 13 children. She also acted as a loyal secretary and is determined to preserve his enormous wealth for herself and her children’s future. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and his wealth, Tolstoy searches for a purpose in his life. Valentin, an idealistic young student, leaves Moscow to work for Sofya and Tolstoy. When he arrives, Valentin meets Masha, a beautiful young teacher and suddenly his vow of celibacy is forgotten! Sofya and Tolstoy are increasingly at odds. Chertkov (Tolstoy’s devoted disciple) urges Tolstoy to sign a new will and leave his estate ‘to the people’ while Sofya battles his every move. Valentin tries not to take sides but inevitably gets caught up in the struggle. Outraged at Valentin’s apparent lack of cooperation, Chertkov spitefully fires Masha. Distraught, Valentin follows to search for her and finally finds her living in a very humble lodging house. Falling happily into her arms, they swear never to leave each other again. Tolstoy, in his final days, makes a run for peace. Too ill to continue beyond the tiny railway station at Astapovo, he stops while hundreds camp outside awaiting hourly reports. Tolstoy often claimed that marriage was the best thing that had ever happened to him. After his death, Sofya remarked, "I lived with him for forty-eight years, but I never really learned what kind of man he was

Ronit Kertsner & Ofra Tevet

Fred Mayer and Menachem Mayer

Menachem & Fred is the exceptional story of the reunion of Menachem Mayer and Fred Raymes, two Jewish brothers with German roots, who survived the Holocaust in a French orphanage and who took vastly different directions at the end of World War II. Each of them chose the polar opposites of Jewish survival – while Fred concealed his Jewish-German origin and became an American citizen, Menachem adhered in Israel to Orthodox Judaism. For decades they renounced each other’s existence until the letters, which their parents had written to them from the concentration camp, brought them together again. In Post-Production

Marko Makilaakso

Andrew Tiernan

Captain Martin Stone is leading a finely-trained, elite platoon of American and Finnish soldiers as they attack an enemy bunker. Underestimating their enemy’s strength, they are quickly beaten back into the forest. As they try to regroup, they are suddenly attacked by the same soldiers they had just killed a few minutes earlier. Forced to flee deeper into Russian territory, they discover one of war’s most terrifying secrets and realize they have woken up a far more deadlier enemy.

Paddy Breathnach

Arielle Kebbel, Sarah Carter, Stephen Dillane, Martin Compston

The medical students at Forthaven General Hospital study hard and party harder, until a cruel prank accidentally puts the facility’s creepy janitor into a deep coma. But when one responsible student (Arrielle Kebbel of THE GRUDGE 2) tries to revive the degenerate loner with an experimental injection, she instead sends his brainwaves berserk. Will a sudden spree of sick kicks now claim the guilty one-by-one, or has the ultimate out-of-body experience ushered in a bloodbath of brutal revenge? Sarrah Carter (SKINWALKERS), Marrtin Compston (DOOMSDAY) and MyAnna Burring (THE DESCENT) co-star in this grisly shocker from Paddy Breathnach, director of the international horror hit SHROOMS.

SCREENING TIMES AT AFM

Wednesday November 5, 5:00pm Laemmle Monica 2
Monday November 10, 1:00pm Laemmle Monica 4

Justin Kerrigan

Robert Carlyle, Aaron Fuller, David Bradley

Charlie is highly charged and on the edge.—an undercover agent, always on an important mission, always on the move. Jamie, his son, is fascinated by his father’s espionage work until the world of spies becomes all too real. Charlie is unpredictable, explosive, yet kind hearted and fiercely protective of his Jamie who hero-worships his father…that is until he slowly begins to understand that his father is occupying a quite different reality.

SCREENING TIMES AT AFM

Friday November 7, 5:00pm Laemmle Monica 1
Monday November 10, 11:00am Laemmle Monica 4

READ THE VIEW LONDON REVIEW

Davis Guggenheim

Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White

Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. From Academy Award winning director, Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth), It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos - The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist's musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a singular day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.

SCREENING TIMES AT AFM

Thursday November 6, 5:00pm AMC Santa Monica 3
Monday November 10, 9:00am AMC Santa Monica 3

Anthony Fabian

Sophie Okonedo, Sam Neill, Alice Krige

Based on a true story.
Sandra Laing entered the world a beautiful baby but no one, not the hospital staff, her mother, father or neighbours would admit the obvious. Abraham and Sannie Laing were white yet their daughter was dark. By a biological quirk, the pigment of an unknown black ancestor had lain dormant for generations and manifested in Sandra. If there was ever a wrong place and wrong time for this phenomenon, it was apartheid South Africa in 1955! ‘Skin’ is a compelling and moving story about love, betrayal and reconciliation.

SCREENING TIMES AT AFM

Thursday November 6, 11:00am AMC Loews Broadway 3
Monday November 10, 3:00pm AMC Loews Broadway 4

Review of Skin from ScreenDaily.com

READ THE BBC INTERVIEW

Courtney Solomon

Lucy Walker

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, Blindsight follows the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers on a climbing expedition up the northside of Mount Everest. A dangerous journey soon becomes a seemingly impossible challenge made all the more remarkable by the fact that the teenagers are blind. Believed to be possessed by demons because of their blindness, the children are feared by their parents, scorned by their villages and rejected by society. Rescued by Sabriye Tenberken - a blind educator and adventuress - the students invite the famous blind mountain climber Erik Weihenmayer to visit their school. Erik arrives in Lhasa and inspires Sabriye and her students Kyila, Sonam Bhumtso, Tashi, Gyenshen, Dachung and Tenzin to let him lead them higher than they have ever been before.

Gino Cabanas

Amanda Brooks, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Kurupt, Malcolm McDowell, Ann Archer, and Faye Dunaway

When Daddy cuts her allowance off, it's up to a desperate Patricia to find a way to keep her lavish lifestyle. When the perfect plan becomes her worst nightmare, she's not only lost her money but she's closing to losing her life.

Derek Yee

Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Zhang Jingchu, Louis Koo

Special agent Nick, is deep undercover in the heart of Asia’s lucrative crime trade as he plays protégé to one of the key players in the game, "Banker." In the eight years he has been infiltrating the underworld industry, Nick has been ordered to remain undercover and expose the identity of the man behind Banker in order to bring down the entire organization. However, as Nick becomes more trusted and embroiled with Banker’s crime family, he finds himself corrupted by the easy money and his new found power. Unable to separate himself from his undercover persona, he immerses himself into his role as a crime figure threatening to bury his true identity forever.

Andres Baiz

Damian Alcazar, Marcela Mar, Blas Jaramillo

A beautiful young woman hustles rich men; a priest struggles under the guilt of his secret love; a teacher dreams of escape with one of his students. Three lives collide at an expensive Bogotá restaurant on the evening of December 4, the scene of one of the most notorious mass murders in history.

Avi Nesher

Fanny Ardant, Ania Bukstein, Michal Shtamler

Two brilliant young women discover their own voices in a repressive orthodox culture where females are forbidden to sing, let alone speak out. Naomi, the studious, devoutly religious daughter of a prominent rabbi, convinces her father to postpone her marriage for a year so that she might study at a Jewish seminary for women in the ancient Kabalistic seat of Safed. Naomi’s quest for individuality takes a defiant turn when she befriends Michelle, a free-spirited and equally headstrong fellow student. When the pair meet Anouk, a mysterious, ailing foreigner with a disturbing past, they start a risky journey into forbidden realms. In the hopes of easing Anouk’s suffering, Naomi and Michelle secretly lead her through a series of Kabalistic cleansing rituals. The process opens up overwhelming new horizons for the girls who find themselves caught between the impulse to protect traditions and maintain order, and the desire to be true to themselves, no matter the cost

Andrew Wagner

Frank Langella (Winner for Best Actor, Boston Critics), Lili Taylor, Lauren Ambrose

Heather Wolf, a sharp and ambitious graduate student idolizes the aging writer Leonard Schiller. She convinces him that she can bring him back into the spotlight he so desperately misses. Initially he resists, but her compelling and seductive ways reawaken his long submerged need for artistic recognition and romantic love.

Gavin Hood

Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Zola

Based on the book by acclaimed author, Athol Fugard, and set amidst the sprawling Johannesburg townships, this deeply affecting film traces six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader who shoots a woman outside her home and steals her car-unaware, in his panic, that her baby is in the back seat. Pumping with gritty energy of Zola’s ‘Kwaito’ music, ‘Tsotsi’ is an extraordinary portrait of third-world ghetto life.