BAMcinemaFest 2018 Announces Full Festival Lineup

By: May. 01, 2018
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BAMcinemaFest 2018 Announces Full Festival Lineup

BAM announces the full lineup for the tenth annual BAMcinemaFest (Jun 20-Jul 1). Described as "filmgoers' most exhilarating annual opportunity for discovery" (The Village Voice), BAMcinemaFest has evolved into a platform for both emerging and established filmmakers as well as unconventional and often overlooked films. This year's 12-day festival presents all New York premieres including two North American premieres, and three world premieres.

Gina Duncan, BAM's Associate Vice President of Cinema explains "We are proud to present work that is compelling, defiant, and ultimately thrilling. It feels appropriate to celebrate the tenth BAMcinemaFest with a line-up of films and filmmakers whose energy and adventurousness hints at something profound taking root. I can't wait to see what it bears."

Opening this year's festival on Wednesday, June 20 is the head-spinningly surreal debut from musician-turned-filmmaker Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You. Struggling to make ends meet in Oakland, CA, Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) lands a job as a RegalView telemarketer. Realizing perfecting his "white voice" is the key to his monetary success, Green soon discovers it's not without considerable consequences. Also starring Armie Hammer as RegalView's callous CEO and a beguiling Tessa Thompson as Green's activist-artist love interest. Sorry to Bother You is an Annapurna Pictures release.

This year's Closing Night selection on Saturday, June 30 is the New York premiere of Brooklyn filmmaker Josephine Decker's third feature, Madeline's Madeline. It stars writer/actor/director Miranda July as single mother Regina and dazzling young newcomer Helena Howard as her daughter Madeline. The film chronicles a volatile mother-daughter relationship which slowly intensifies with Madeline's participation in an improvisational theater class led by an unscrupulous stage director (played by Molly Parker). Madeline's Madeline is an Oscilloscope release.

This year's Centerpiece selection is Leave No Trace. Eight years after Winter's Bone, director Debra Granik returns with an arresting portrait of a father and daughter living a transient lifestyle off the grid. Starring Ben Foster and newcomer Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie in a mesmerizing breakout performance, Leave No Trace is a Bleeker Street release. This year's Spotlight selections are Eighth Grade and Crime + Punishment. Bo Burnham's much talked about Sundance film Eighth Grade follows 13-year-old Kayla (a riveting portrayal by newcomer Elsie Fisher), who, just having been awarded the status of 'Most Quiet' by her peers, ironically finds a voice in making inspirational videos for teens on YouTube. At once unflinchingly honest and unfailingly empathetic, Burnham's auspicious directorial debut is as relatable as it is hilarious. Eighth Grade is an A24 release. Stephen Maing's Crime + Punishment is a galvanizing documentary chronicling 12 New York Police Department minority officers who risk everything, speaking out against the continued use of quotas that unfairly target young black and Hispanic men. With unprecedented fly-on-the-wall access, the film exposes racism, corruption, and intimidation within the NYPD. Crime + Punishment is a Film Collaborative release.

Kasi Lemmons' Eve's Bayou (1997) has been selected as the festival's free, outdoor screening happening on Thursday, June 28 at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Relayed through the eyes of 10-year-old Eve (Jurnee Smollett), this Southern Gothic saga transpires over the course of a Louisiana summer after Eve discovers her picture-perfect family is something else entirely.

The BAMcinemaFest main slate includes 20 feature films, with three world and two North American premieres, as well as nine documentary titles. The world premieres include Chained for Life, Feast of the Epiphany, and Two Plains & a Fancy. Aaron Schimberg's Chained for Life is a reflexive look at the making of a controversial art film, with a heartbreaking performance by Adam Pearson (Under the Skin), featuring familiar faces from BAMcinemaFest's past. Feast of the Epiphany, by film critic Michael Koresky and BAMcinemaFest alums Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman (Remote Area Medical) explores metaphysical connections among guests at an urban dinner party in the wake of a loss. BAMcinemaFest alums Whitney Horn and Lev Kalman (L is For Leisure) return with Two Plains & a Fancy, a spa-Western-comedy following three hapless tourists as they encounter ghosts, time travelers, and lonesome cowboys.

This year's BAMcinemaFest includes two short film programs, one comprising six narrative short films. The second, a documentary shorts program, is paired with the North American premiere of Lizzie Olesker and Lynne Sachs' documentary The Washing Society, about the behind-the-scenes labor involved in the laundromat industry. Penny Lane's documentary The Pain of Others, about controversial Morgellons disease sufferers, is the festival's second North American premiere, and screens with the short film The Water Slide (Nathan Truesdell).

Tickets go on sale to the general public Thursday, May 17 at 10am. BAM members receive early access starting Thursday, May 10 at 10am and $5 off tickets. To join BAM Membership, please visit BAM.org/join.

BAMcinemaFest press screenings will be held at BAM Rose Cinemas the first week in June. Complete press screening schedule will be announced May 2.



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