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This January marks the 21st anniversary year of the Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF). Today Festival Director Darryl Macdonald announced the program and said, "Our film line-up this year is a strong reflection of the current zeitgeist in world cinema. Sixty-seven first-time feature film directors will screen this year, representing a surge of new filmmaking talent on the world stage. In addition, we'll showcase a vintage crop of new works by established masters, providing ample evidence of their storytelling prowess that has come of age over the last 20 years. The yin and yang of contemporary filmmaking are fully represented in this year's edition of PSIFF."

The Festival launches on Thursday, January 7 with Sony Pictures Classics' The Last Station and wraps on Sunday, January 17 with independent comedy The Lightkeepers from New Films International. There are Galas, Premieres, a Modern Masters section and Special Presentation Programs with a total of 189 films from 70 countries will unspool at the Festival, running from January 7-18 in Palm Springs, California.

James McAvoy and Helen Mirren in a scene from Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station," which will open the 21st Palm Springs International Film Festival. Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

OPENING AND CLOSING GALAS

The Festival opens with the screening of the Golden Globe nominated The Last Station (UK/Germany/Russia), followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Michael Hoffman's exquisite tale of the later years in the life of legendary Russian novelist and social reformer Leo Tolstoy features Christopher Plummer as the great writer, Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya and Paul Giamatti as his secretary and friend Vladimir. Both Mirren and Plummer are Golden Globe nominees for their performances. The film also stars James McAvoy, Kerry Condon and Anne-Marie Duff. McAvoy and Hoffman are expected to attend the Opening Night screening. Mirren will be honored with the Career Achievement Award at the Festival's Awards Gala on January 5.

The Lightkeepers
 with Richard Dreyfuss and Blythe Danner in attendance will close the 21st Palm Springs International Film Festival. Image courtesy of PSIFF. 

The Lightkeepers (USA) will close the Festival on Sunday, January 17. Set in 1912 Cape Cod, the period romantic comedy tells the story of a lighthouse keeper who has disavowed any association with females, but must deal with the unexpected appearance of two attractive women who move into a nearby cottage for the summer. The film, directed by Daniel Adams, stars Richard Dreyfuss, Blythe Danner, Tom Wisdom, Bruce Dern and Mamie Gummer. Dreyfuss, Danner and Adams are expected to attend the Closing Night screening.

PREMIERES

The Festival will offer a selection of 76 premieres of highly anticipated films (7 world, 12 North American and 57 U.S.),  showcasing the diversity of international cinema.

World premieres include:
Dark Resonance (Bangladesh), Dumbstruck (USA/Japan/Bahamas), Expecting Mary (USA), Is it Just Me? (USA), The Making of Plus One with Kate, Cate and George: the Story of a Hollywood Nobody (UK/Canada), Paulista (Brazil) and Shoot the Hero (USA).

North American premieres include:
Altiplano (Belgium/Netherlands/Germany), Dev. D (India), Dzi Croquettes (Brazil), Forgotten Transports: To Poland (Czech Republic), The Happiness of Kati (Thailand), In My Father's Country (Australia), A Matter of Principles (Argentina), Medal of Honor (Romania/Germany), Reverse (Poland), The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom (India/UK/USA/Austria/France/Netherlands), Transmission (Hungary) and Weekend (Chile).

U.S. premieres include:
1981 (Chile), Adrift (Vietnam), Alive! (Albania/Austria/France), Angel at Sea (Belgium/Canada), Bad Day to Go Fishing (Uruguay/Spain), The Balibo Conspiracy (Australia), Blessed (Australia), A Brand New Life (South Korea/France), Bride Flight (Netherlands), Brotherhood (Denmark), Chamaco (Mexico/USA/Canada), Children Metal Divers (Philippines), Dawson, Island 10 (Chile/Brazil/Venezuela), Devil's Town (Serbia), Donkey (Croatia/Bosnia-Herzogovina/UK/Serbia), Draft Dodgers (Luxembourg/Switzerland), Excited (Canada), Father and Guns (Canada), For A Moment, Freedom (Austria/France), The Front Line (Italy), Glorious 39 (UK), Harry Brown (UK), Heliopolis (Egypt), Huacho (Chile/France), Last Ride (Australia), Letters to Father Jacob (Finland), Lucky Country (Australia), The Man Beyond the Bridge (India), My Dog Tulip (USA), My Queen Karo (Belgium), My Year Without Sex (Australia), Nothing Personal (Netherlands/Ireland), The Over the Hill Band (Belgium), Plan B (Argentina), Polytechnique (Canada), Prince of Tears (Hong Kong/China/Taiwan), Rabia (Spain/Colombia), Regrets (France), Restless (France), Reykjavik-Rotterdam (Iceland/Netherlands), Sagan (France), Sawasdee Bangkok (Part 1): Sightseeing (Thailand/Bosnia-Herzogovina/UK/Serbia), The Shadowless (Turkey), Shirley Adams (South Africa/USA), Slovenian Girl (Slovenia/Germany/Serbia/Croatia), Soul Birds (Germany), Sticky Fingers (Canada/France/Spain), This Way of Life (New Zealand), Time of the Comet (Albania/Germany/France), The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (New Zealand), Villon's Wife (Japan), Vortex (Lithuania), What You Don't See (Germany/Austria), The Wildest Dream (USA/UK), Will You Marry Us? (Switzerland), Winter in Wartime (Netherlands/Lithuania) and The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (Bulgaria/Germany/Slovenia/Hungary).

GALAS & SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

The Festival will feature three Gala screenings and four Special Presentations which are:

• World Cinema Now Gala: The Over the Hill Band (Belgium) - In the tradition of sassy social comedies such as last year's Moscow, Belgium and playing like a combination of Calendar Girls and Young at Heart, this charming comic drama, from NeoClassics Films, is a coming-of-old-age story about a classy woman who rediscovers life and love when it's almost too late. Director: Geoffrey Enthoven. Cast: Jan van Looveren, Marilou Mermans, Lea Couzin, Lut Tomsin, Lucas van den Eynden. US Premiere.

• The Gay!La – His: I Love You Phillip Morris (Spain) – Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are madly in love in this deliriously entertaining story of a con man (Carrey) continually breaking out of jail to be with his man (McGregor). Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and also starring Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro and Michael Mandel.

• The Gay!La – Hers: The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (New Zealand) – A documentary about yodeling New Zealander lesbian twins Jools and Lynda Topp, who for the last 30 years have brought their kooky Kiwi sense of humor, political potency, and snazzy country music stylings to dazzled audiences. Director: Leanne Pooley. U.S. Premiere.

• Special Presentation: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden/Denmark/Germany) - From the best-selling novel, this gripping thriller brings to mind both The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en in its tale of an investigative journalist trying to crack a 40-year-old murder that may have been the work of a still-at-large serial killer. As his collaborator, troubled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace is everything you might have imagined. Director: Niels Arden Oplev. Cast: Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Haber.

• Special Presentation: Red Riding Trilogy (UK) - A trilogy of movies based on a quartet of novels by David Peace. The books (and films) are fictionalized accounts of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, a brutal serial killer that stalked the Yorkshire area of England in the 1970's and 1980's. The three films – titled 1974, 1980 and 1983 were adapted for the screen by Tony Grisoni and will screen at the Festival.
o Red Riding: 1974 (UK) - The haunting first film in the trilogy that winds its way through a sordid labyrinth of police corruption and mysterious murders, 1974 immerses us in a crime reporter's investigation into the disappearance of a young girl. Director: Julian Jarrold. Cast: Sean Bean, Cathryn Bradshaw, Warren Clarke, Shaun Dooley, Anthony Flanagan, Andrew Garfield.
o Red Riding: 1980 (UK) - Yorkshire is being plagued by a serial killer who preys on young women. When a detective (In America's terrific Paddy Considine) is dispatched to investigate local police for their failure to apprehend the killer, he uncovers deeper, far more sinister horrors. From the Oscar-winning director of Man on Wire. Director: James Marsh. Cast: Jim Carter, Warren Clarke, Paddy Considine, Lesley Sharp, Sean Harris.
o Red Riding: 1983 (UK) - The ongoing struggles between the depraved and the just reach a hair-raising climax in the final film of the Red Riding trilogy. This time, the tables are turned: 1983 explores the toll that institutional corruption takes on a cop who is privy to its perpetration. From the director of Shopgirl and Hilary and Jackie. Director: Anand Tucker. Cast: Tony Mooney, David Morrissey, Tony Pitts, Saskia Reeves, Steven Robertson, Cara Seymour.

MODERN MASTERS

Ten films have been selected as part of the Festival's Modern Masters program highlighting the latest work of established directors at the forefront of contemporary international cinema:

• Air Doll (Japan) - The internationally acclaimed director of Nobody Knows and After Life returns with a romantic fantasy that explores the complexities of love, loneliness and loss through the story of a life-size inflatable doll who comes to life and begins exploring what it means to be human. Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda.

• Baarìa (Italy) - A family fresco set in Sicily during the last century, Baarìa is a tribute by Giuseppe Tornatore to his land and its people. With its richness and perfection of style, this film is the Cinema Paradiso of his maturity. Director: Giuseppe Tornatore.

• Backyard (Mexico) - This chilling thriller, from the director of The Crime of Father Amaro, dramatizes the tragic true story of border town Juárez, Mexico, where since the mid-90s thousands of women have gone missing or turned up as sun-burnt corpses in the desert. Can new police captain Blanca Bravo stop the savagery? Director: Carlos Carrera.

• Dawson, Island 10 (Chile/Brazil/Venezuela) - After the 1973 coup that deposed Allende and brought Pinochet to power in Chile, the former members of his cabinet are imprisoned on Dawson Island, the world's southern-most concentration camp. Veteran filmmaker Miguel Littin follows the ordeal of these men who are determined to survive and provide history with their testimony. Director: Miguel Littin.

• The Girl on the Train (France) - When her flash-in-the-pan relationship goes sour, heartbroken young Jeanne spins a lie that quickly spirals out of control. Émilie Dequenne and Catherine Deneuve anchor the excellent ensemble cast in revered director Téchiné's (My Favorite Season) sexy, sophisticated drama about deception and its repercussions. Director: Andre Téchiné.

• London River (UK/Algeria/France) - A tough but tender drama of two strangers discovering a common destiny. As they seek their missing children in the wake of the 2005 London terror attack, a piece of evidence unites them in a way neither could ever imagine and helps surmount racial and cultural misunderstanding. Director: Rachid Bouchareb.

• Looking for Eric (UK/France/Italy/Belgium/Spain) - Lauded director Ken Loach's (The Wind That Shakes the Barley) whimsical dramedy centers on miserable postman Eric Bishop, whose only joy is the Manchester United football team. When the team's former star Eric Cantona magically materializes in his bedroom to offer advice, Bishop realizes he must begin putting his life back together. Director: Ken Loach.

• Shameless (Czech Republic) - Prague TV weatherman gets a bad case of the seven-year itch in this slyly entertaining marital infidelity comedy that treats relationship issues in a candid, adult way that should resonate with anyone who has ever had lust in their heart. Director: Jan Hrebejk.

• Vincere (Italy) - Before Mussolini was Il Duce, he was a struggling political outsider. Beautiful Ida Dalser was his early financier, lover and mother to his son, but decades later she was shunned and imprisoned by the dictator. Their closely guarded story is revealed in fittingly operatic proportions in this electrifying tour de force. Director: Marco Bellocchio

• The White Ribbon (Germany/Austria/France/Italy) - Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Michael Haneke's (Funny Games) mesmerizing and disturbing mystery follows the escalating errant behavior of a group of children and adults in a rural German village in the years leading up to the First World War. Director: Michael Haneke.

The Festival will announce films in competition and the rest of the line-up on Monday, December 21.

About the Palm Springs International Film Festival

Celebrating its 21st anniversary, the Palm Springs International Film Festival was founded in 1990 by then-Mayor Sonny Bono. The Festival presents a majority of the films submitted for consideration in the Best Foreign Language category for the Academy Awards, as well as a large number of American independent and international features and documentaries marking their world, North American or U.S. debuts. Screenings are held on 15 screens throughout Palm Springs.

The Festival's 21st Annual Awards Gala is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Entertainment Tonight. Renewing sponsors of this year's Festival are Title Sponsor The City of Palm Springs and Presenting Sponsors The Desert Sun, the City of Indian Wells, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Spencer's Restaurant and KPSP Local 2. Major Sponsors include Bank of America, Ketel One, Johnnie Walker and Don Julio, Regal Entertainment Group, Wells Fargo, Verizon, Integrated Wealth Management, Guthy-Renker, Wessman Development, Ocean Properties Development, Chihuly Art Glass and Chophouse Edit.

2010 PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PREMIERES

1981
Canada, 2009, 102 min.
US Premiere
This cheeky, semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale tells the story of Ricardo, 11, who, struggling with his family's move and a new school, decides to become a liar. With a flare for inventiveness and a desperate desire to impress his classmates, Ricardo dismisses his family and weaves an elaborate web of untruths.
Director: Ricardo Trogi
Cast: Claudio Colangelo, Sandrine Bisson, Gabriel Maillé

Adrift
Vietnam, 2009, 110 min.
US Premiere
This poetic, languidly sensual story of tangled loves in modern Vietnam illustrates changing values in a traditional society as it explores sexual awakening, lesbian desire and marital infidelity.
Director: Bui Thac Chuyen
Cast: Do Thi Hai Yen, Linh-Dan Pham, Johnny Tri Nguyen

Alive!
Albania/Austria/France, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
A carefree Albanian student gets drawn into an ancient gjakmarrja, or blood feud, when he returns to his native village for his father's funeral. This fascinating drama considers how deeply the traditions of one's forebears can affect one's life.
Director: Artan Minarolli
Cast: Nik Xhelilaj, Bruno Shllaku, Besart Kallaku

Altiplano
Belgium/Netherlands/Germany, 2009, 109 min.
North American Premiere
A ravishingly shot environmental drama set in the High Andes of Peru. When a mysterious sickness afflicts a remote village, the superstitious inhabitants' fears turn to anger, which they direct against a team of European medics until one young woman learns the sinister truth about the source of the illness, to her own great cost.
Directors: Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth
Cast: Magaly Solier, Jasmin Tabatabai, Olivier Gourmet

Angel at Sea
Belgium/Canada, 2009, 86 min.
US Premiere
Twelve-year-old Louis lives a charmed life in a small Moroccan town. But one night his father shares a secret with him that changes their relationship—and Louis' life—forever. This visually arresting and emotionally gripping film won the top prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.
Director: Frédéric Dumont
Cast: Olivier Gourmet, Anne Consigny, Martin Nissen

Bad Day to Go Fishing
Uruguay/Spain, 2009, 110 min.
US Premiere
A droll dark comedy that plays out like a classic Western crossed with the decidedly modern sensibilities of filmmaker such as Jim Jarmusch or Aki Kaurismäki, this quirky tale pits a scamming hustler and his wrestler sidekick against the inhabitants of a small Uruguayan town, circa 1961.
Director: Alvaro Brechner
Cast: Gary Piquer, Jouko Ahola, Antonella Costa

The Balibo Conspiracy
Australia, 2009, 111 min.
US Premiere
In 1975, five young Australian TV journalists covering the invasion of East Timor by the Indonesian army were murdered at the border village of Balibo. Their story, denied and covered up for more than 30 years, is grippingly recreated in this tense and moving film from Robert Connolly (The Bank, Three Dollars).
Director: Robert Connolly
Cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Oscar Isaac, Damon Gameau, Gyton Grantley, Nathan Phillips, Thomas Wright

Blessed
Australia, 2009, 115 min.
US Premiere
Focusing on the often-fraught bond between mothers and their children, Blessed unfolds in a blue-collar suburb of Melbourne over the course of 24 hours. The intersecting stories are divided into two parts, the first told from the viewpoint of the troubled offspring and the second through the weary eyes of their struggling moms.
Director: Ana Kokkinos
Cast: Frances O'Connor, Miranda Otto, Deborra-Lee Furness, Victoria Haralabidou, Sophie Lowe

A Brand New Life
South Korea/France, 2009, 92 min.
US Premiere
It's 1975. Jinhee is nine years old, and the life she knows is about to be shattered. Inexplicably abandoned by her father in a Catholic orphanage outside Seoul, Jinhee begins an extraordinary emotional journey marked by rage and hope, death and rebirth.
Director: Ounie Lecomte
Cast: Kim Saeron, Park Doyeon, Ko A-Sung

Bride Flight
Netherlands, 2008, 130 min.
US Premiere
Fifty years after they met on a flight to New Zealand, where they were headed to join their already-settled fiancés, three women meet at the funeral of a fellow passenger and discover just how intertwined their lives have been over the past half century. A sweeping melodrama from the director of Twin Sisters.
Director: Ben Sombogaart
Cast: Rutger Hauer, Karina Smulders, Elise Schaap, Anna Drijver, Waldemar Torenstra

Brotherhood
Denmark, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
Former Danish servicemen Lars and Jimmy are thrown together while training in a neo-Nazi group. Moving from hostility through grudging admiration to friendship and finally passion, events take a darker turn when their illicit relationship is uncovered. Winner, Best Film, Rome Film Festival.
Director: Nicolo Donato
Cast: Thure Lindhardt, David Dencik, Nicolas Bro

Chamaco
Mexico/USA/Canada, 2009, 97 min.
US Premiere
Abner is trapped in the rough life of Mexico City. His escape? Boxing. Dr. Frank Irwin (Martin Sheen) and his son Jimmy, a pro boxer, come together to teach Abner that the heart fuels the punches we throw in life.
Director: Miguel Necoechea
Cast: Martin Sheen, Kirk Harris, Alex Perea, Sofia Espinosa, Michael Madsen

Children Metal Divers
Philippines, 2009, 93 min.
US Premiere
A realistic docudrama, Children Metal Divers tells the heart-tugging story of children who scavenge for metal scraps in the murky waters of Manila Bay, often risking their lives in the process.
Director: Ralston Jover
Cast: Gina Pareno, Meljon Guinto, Vincent Olano

Dark Resonance
Bangladesh, 2009, 105 min.
World Premiere
If a child is sent to university by parents who are beggars, is she an emancipated person who can choose her destiny or only the literate daughter of beggars? This sensitive first feature comes from award-winning painter Khalid Mahmood Mithu.
Director: Khalid Mahmood Mithu
Cast: Emon, Kusum Sikder, Masum Azeed

Dawson, Island 10
Chile/Brazil/Venezuela, 2009, 117 min.
US Premiere
After the 1973 coup that deposed Allende and brought Pinochet to power in Chile, the former members of his cabinet are imprisoned on Dawson Island, the world's southernmost concentration camp. Veteran filmmaker Miguel Littin follows the ordeal of these men who are determined to survive and provide history with their testimony.
Director: Miguel Littin
Cast: Benjamín Vicuña, Cristián de la Fuente, Pablo Krögh, Sergio Hernández, Luis Dubó, Horacio Videla

Dev. D
India, 2009, 144 min.
North American Premiere
Dev D is a modern take on the classic love story Devdas, illustrating the sensibilities, aggression, and free thought of youth today. At times reckless, it reflects the conflicts of a generation caught between their Eastern roots and Western sensibilities.
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin

Devil's Town
Serbia, 2009, 82 min.
US Premiere
A stylish black comedy about life in contemporary Belgrade that satirizes the moral malaise clouding Serbia, Devil's Town features a host of top actors as city dwellers whose lives intersect on a hot summer day while the country's tennis stars compete in an important tournament.
Director: Vladimir Paskaljevic
Cast: Lazar Ristovski, Slavko Stimac, Marija Zeljkovic

Donkey
Croatia/Bosnia-Herzogovina/UK/Serbia, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
A gentle comic fable that shows how one family of mulish, macho men in the Herzogovina countryside ultimately gain some much-needed self-awareness—with the help of a real donkey.
Director: Antonio Nuic
Cast: Nebojsa Glogovac, Natasa Janjic, Ljubomir Kiki Kapor

Draft Dodgers
Luxembourg/Switzerland, 2009, 97 min.
US Premiere
When the Nazis annex Luxembourg, François must make a choice: either be conscripted and fight the Allies on the Russian front, or become a draft dodger living underground. This gritty psychological drama depicts a world in which his fascist father and shackled nation are weapons in a war for his identity.
Director: Nicolas Steil
Cast: Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Marianne Basler, Carlo Brandt, Michel Voïta

Dumbstruck
USA/Japan/Bahamas, 2010, 85 min.
World Premiere
At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. But in this delightful, it's-all-true documentary, the characters are real, and so are the emotional attachments that they have with their "dummies."
Director: Mark Goffman

Dzi Croquettes
Brazil, 2009, 95 min.
North American Premiere
Dzi Croquettes is a revealing documentary about a Brazilian dance and theater group resembling an all-male, 1970s version of the Ziegfeld Follies. Banned by the ruling military dictatorship, they used their empowering sexuality to revolutionize the gay movement worldwide.
Directors: Tatiana Issa, Raphael Alvarez

Excited
Canada, 2009, 83 min.
US Premiere
In this smart dramatic comedy that impishly bills itself as a relationship movie "about premature ejaculation," successful businessman and sexual sad-sack Kevin learns a thing or two about relationships when he is introduced to the sexy Hayamm. Funny, pithy and profane in equal measure.
Director: Bruce Sweeney
Cast: Cam Cronin, Laara Sadiq, Gabrielle Rose, Paul Skrudland, Agam Darshi

Expecting Mary
USA, 2009, 97 min.
World Premiere
Dan Gordon (screenwriter of Wyatt Earp and The Hurricane) marks his directorial debut with this effervescent dramedy about a pregnant teenage runaway who escapes the cosseting clutches of her parents and hits the road, winding up in New Mexico, where she finds a new kind of family amid an eccentric group of trailer park denizens.
Director: Dan Gordon
Cast: Elliott Gould, Linda Gray, Lainie Kazan, Cloris Leachman, Della Reese, Olesya Rulin, Cybill Shepherd, Gene Simmons, Fred Willard

Father and Guns
Canada, 2009, 106 min.
US Premiere
Jacques and Mark are cops who just don't get along. Unfortunately they are also father and son. When they are assigned as an undercover team to infiltrate an outdoor adventure group-therapy camp for fathers and sons, hilarity ensues. An American remake is already in the works.
Director: Émile Gaudreault
Cast:: Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde, Rémy Girard, Caroline Dhavernas, Robin Aubert, Patrick Drolet

For A Moment, Freedom
Austria/France, 2009, 110 min.
US Premiere
Combining realism, warmth, suspense, humor and tragedy, For A Moment, Freedom, centers on a group of weary Middle Eastern refugees who have made their way to Turkey to apply for European visas. Best First Feature, Montreal and Zurich Film Festivals.
Director: Arash T. Riahi
Cast: Navid Akhavan, Pourya Mahyari, Kamran Rad, Payam Madjlessi

Forgotten Transports: To Poland
Czech Republic, 2009, 90 min.
North American Premiere
From a forbidden love affair to participation in the Sobibor uprising, those who escaped Nazi ghettos, labor and death camps speak out, some for the first time. This is the final entry in a monumental quartet of documentaries that meticulously trace the history of Czech Jews deported during the Holocaust.
Director: Lukás Pribyl

The Front Line
Italy, 2009, 100 min.
US Premiere
Here's the fictionalized story of Sergio Segio and Susanna Ronconi, a modern-day Marxist Bonnie and Clyde who terrorized Italy in the 1970s through their extreme left-wing terrorist organization Primea Linea. It's an insightful examination of the terrorist mind.
Director: Renato De Maria
Cast: Riccardo Scamarcio, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Fabrizio Rongione

Glorious 39
UK, 2009, 130 min.
US Premiere
Set in the days leading up to World War II, Glorious 39 is a complex mystery built around Britain's secret plot to bargain with Hitler to stay out of the war. Uncovering secrets about her upstanding ruling-class family, one strong young woman finds herself in terrible danger as she struggles to be heard.
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Cast: Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Christopher Lee, Hugh Bonneville

The Happiness of Kati
Thailand, 2009, 105 min.
North American Premiere
With the impending death of her mother, a young girl living with her adoring grandparents completes the puzzle of her past and discovers the reason that her mother gave her up as a baby. A delicate and touching adaptation of one of Thailand's most beloved novels.
Director: Genwaii Thongdenok
Cast: Patsorn Kongmeesuk, Ratchanok Saeng-Xuto, Saad Peampongsanta

Harry Brown
UK, 2009, 97 min.
US Premiere
When the escalating gang violence of his public-housing neighborhood leads to the death of his best friend, aging Royal Marines veteran Harry Brown's (Michael Caine) contempt for the ineffectual forces of the local law sees him turn vigilante with devastating results.
Director: Daniel Barber
Cast: Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Charlie Creed-Miles, Ben Drew, Liam Cunningham

Heliopolis
Egypt, 2009, 96 min.
US Premiere
An honest and important expression of a generation's fight for their dreams in the face of harsh realities, Ahmad Abdalla's ensemble drama focuses a sharp critique of Egyptian society matched by a nostalgia-drenched longing for life before the 1952 Revolution.
Director: Ahmad Abdalla
Cast: Khaled Abul Naga, Ibrahim Hanan Motawe, Engy Hany Adel, Dr. Hany Atef Yousef

Huacho
Chile/France, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
Huacho is a poignant but unsentimental look at the harsh life of the rural population in southern Chile. Following a small peasant family through its day, we are privy to the hardships they bear but also to their indomitable resilience and resourcefulness.
Director: Alejandro Fernández Almendras
Cast: Clemira Aguayo, Alejandra Yáñez, Cornelio Villagrán, Manuel Hernández, Wilson Valdebenito

In My Father's Country
Australia, 2008, 80 min.
North American Premiere
In one of the most remote corners of indigenous Australia a boy will soon become a man. Following preparations for the ritual, the film shows the life lessons he receives from his father and grandfather. Set against the political backdrop of government pressure to close "uneconomic outstations," it also shows modernity almost imperceptibly penetrating their community. Winner, Best Documentary, Best Director, Australian Director's Guild.
Director: Tom Murray

Is It Just Me?
USA, 2010, 93 min.
World Premiere
Frustrated by his ongoing failure to meet Mr. Right, Blaine stumbles upon what might be his perfect match in an online chat room—Xander, a sweet, hunky guy who's recently moved to LA. Smitten, Blaine then finds that he's been chatting to Xander under his go-go dancer roommate's profile, setting in motion a convoluted comedy of errors with romance as the ultimate objective.
Director: J.C. Calciano
Cast: Nicholas Downs, David Loren, Adam Huss, Michelle Laurent, Bob Rumnock, Bruce Gray

Last Ride
Australia, 2009, 100 min.
US Premiere
When his ex-con father (Hugo Weaving) bundles him into the car in the middle of the night, 10-year-old Chook knows that something is wrong. As the two drive into the desert towards an unknown future, their troubled relationship and the need to survive sees them battling the elements and each other.
Director: Glendyn Ivin
Cast: Hugo Weaving, Tom Russell, Anita Hegh, John Brumpton

Letters to Father Jacob
Finland, 2009, 74 min.
US Premiere
In the latest from the talent behind the PSIFF 2006 Audience Award Winner, a simple but transcendent story about faith and human frailty achieves a state of grace. Centering on a tough ex-con temporarily serving as an amanuensis for a blind pastor in rural Finland, the director's magisterial control renders predictable material into something fresh and heart-rending.
Director: Klaus Härö
Cast: Kaarina Hazard, Heikki Nousiainen, Jukka Keinonen, Esko Roine

Lucky Country
Australia, 2009, 96 min.
US Premiere
A gripping thriller set in 1902, in the wild Australian outback, where a desperate family on the brink of ruin find themselves turning on each other after three strangers arrive at their farm with rumors of gold.
Director: Kriv Stenders
Cast: Aden Young, Toby Wallace, Pip Miller, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Neil Pigot, Eamon Farren

The Making of Plus One
UK/Canada, 2009, 93 min.
World Premiere
A fictional documentary set among the wheelers and dealers behind the scenes at the Cannes Film Festival, this satirical comedy packs a punch and pokes more than a little fun at the celebrity obsession fuelling the modern-day film industry.
Director: Mary McGuckian
Cast: Lothaire Bluteau, Michael Eklund, Suzan-Lori Parks, Jennifer Tilly, Jordy Molla, Geraldine Chaplin

The Man Beyond the Bridge
India, 2009, 96 min.
US Premiere
A lonely forest guard comes across a filthy, mentally challenged woman outside his house. After his initial disgust, he slowly gets used to her visits and starts to care for her. However, when she becomes pregnant the villagers question his right to do so.
Director: Laxmikant Shetgaonkar
Cast: Chitranjan Giri, Veena Jomkar, Prasanthi Talpanker

A Matter of Principles
Argentina, 2009, 110 min.
North American Premiere
A man with seemingly unwavering ethics is challenged by his new boss, who believes everyone has a price and is willing to prove it. In this Capra-esque tale no one leaves unscathed when principles and pragmatism collide.
Director: Rodrigo Grande
Cast: Federico Luppi, Norma Aleandro, Pablo Echarri, Maria Carambula, Monica Antonopulos

Medal of Honor
Romania/Germany, 2009, 106 min.
North American Premiere
Told with precision, irony, and extraordinary performances, this immensely touching film encapsulating Romania's shift from Communism to Capitalism, centers on a 75-year-old man awarded a Medal of Honor for unspecified "heroic" actions during World War II. Winner, Jury Award, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, FIPRESCI Award, Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Director: Calin Peter Netzer
Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Camelia Zorlescu, Mircea Andreescu

My Dog Tulip
USA, 2009, 83 min.
US Premiere
This delightful animated adaptation of J.R. Ackerley's quirky 1947 memoir looks at the loving relationship between the author and his muse—an Alsatian with a huge desire for doggie sex. Voiced by Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, and Isabella Rossellini, the film's mordant wit and warmth make a winning combination.
Directors: Paul Fierlinger, Sandra Fierlinger
Cast: Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave, Isabella Rossellini

My Queen Karo
Belgium, 2009, 101 min.
US Premiere
Moved from Belgium to the chaos of a 1974 Amsterdam artists' commune, a precocious 10-year-old witnesses the disintegration of her parents' marriage in this compelling coming-of-age story.
Director: Dorothée van den Berghe
Cast: Anna Franziska Jäger, Deborah François, Matthias Schoenaerts, Maria Kraakman

My Year Without Sex
Australia, 2009, 96 min.
US Premiere
A middle-class Melbourne mom recovering from a near-fatal illness wrestles with the titular problem and a whole lot more in this endearing comic drama from the writer/director of the prize-winning Look Both Ways (PSIFF 2006).
Director: Sarah Watt
Cast: Sacha Horler, Matt Day, Portia Bradley, Jonathan Segat, Katie Wall, Fred Whitlock

Nothing Personal
Netherlands/Ireland, 2009, 85 min.
US Premiere
A lone woman on the road in Ireland meets an equally reticent man who offers her food for work on the grounds of his grand house. Urszula Antoniak's wonderfully understated and surprising debut features standout performances from Lotte Verbeek (Best Actress at Locarno) and Stephen Rea in the leads.
Director: Urszula Antoniak
Cast: Stephen Rea, Lotte Verbeek

The Over the Hill Band
Belgium, 2009, 93 min.
US Premiere
In the tradition of sassy social comedies such as last year's Moscow, Belgium and playing like a combination of Calendar Girls and Young at Heart, this charming comic drama is a coming-of-old-age story about a classy woman who rediscovers life and love when it's almost too late.
Director: Geoffrey Enthoven
Cast: Jan van Looveren, Marilou Mermans, Lea Couzin, Lut Tomsin, Lucas van den Eynden

Paulista
Brazil, 2009, 83 min.
World Premiere
From award-winning director Roberto Moreira, Paulista is the story of three young people in search of love amid the frantic pace of São Paulo. What will a relationship unearth of their unspoken past, and can they dare hope for a happy future?
Director: Roberto Moreira
Cast: Silvia Lourenço, Maria Clara Spinelli, Danni Carlos, Paulo Vilhena, Fabio Herford

Plan B
Argentina, 2009, 103 min.
US Premiere
When conniving Bruno gets dumped by his girlfriend he decides to win her back by hook or by crook. Since she is happy with new boyfriend Pablo, Bruno devises another plan to get him out of the way in this clever, witty comedy.
Director: Marco Berger
Cast: Manuel Vignau, Lucas Ferraro, Mercedes Quinteros

Polytechnique
Canada, 2009, 82 min.
US Premiere
A mesmerizing dramatization of the 1989 massacre by Montreal engineering student Marc Lepine of 14 female students, fuelled by rage at feminist "viragos." The film faithfully recreates the violence in gleaming black and white, but refuses to wallow in it, abstracting an impression of profound beauty from the atrocity.
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Sébastien Huberdeau, Maxim Gaudette, Karine Vanasse, Evelyne Brochu, Pierre-Yves Cardinal

Prince of Tears
Hong Kong/China/Taiwan, 2009, 123 min.
US Premiere
Yonfan's sumptuously made drama looks back to 1950s Taiwan, when anti-communist feeling was at an all-time high, to tell the fairy-tale-like story of two young sisters whose parents are arrested as communist spies. Stunning cinematography, luscious set design and a plot with more than a few twists.
Director: Yonfan
Cast: Fan Chih-Wei, Joseph Chang, Terri Kwan, Zhu Xuan

Rabia
Spain/Colombia, 2009, 89 min.
US Premiere
A gripping social thriller about two immigrants: a short-tempered construction worker and a live-in maid eking out a livelihood in Spain. A few weeks into their passionate relationship a tragic accident forces him to hide in her attic. Unbeknownst to her he becomes a menacing ghost-like dweller in the house.
Director: Sebastián Cordero
Cast: Martina García, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Concha Velasco, Xabier Elorriaga, Iciar Bollain

Regrets
France, 2009, 106 min.
US Premiere
Cedric Kahn's suspenseful tale of irrational, obsessive love features Yvan Attal (Munich) and Valéria Bruni Tedeschi as old flames who reconnect and leave emotional carnage in their wake. With a suitably propulsive score by Philip Glass.
Director: Cedric Kahn
Cast: Yvan Attal, Valéria Bruni-Tedeschi, Arly Jover

Restless
France, 2009, 100 min.
US Premiere
This delicately wrought gem proves the "coming-of-age" story knows no age limit. Orphaned 18-year-old Claire lives with her elderly grandfather Maurice. As she meets a hopeless romantic and fumbles through her first feelings of love, he struggles to heal love's old wounds in his waning days.
Director: Laurent Perreau
Cast: Michel Piccoli, Pauline Etienne, Eric Caravaca, Marie Kremer

Reverse
Poland, 2009, 101 min.
North American Premiere
A darkly comic story of three generations of Polish women and the mysterious young man whose presence sparks a series of surprising events that change all of their lives. Best Film, Actress, and Cinematography, Gdynia Film Festival; FIPRESCI Award, Warsaw Film Festival.
Director: Borys Lankosz
Cast: Agata Buzek, Krystyna Janda, Anna Polony, Marcin Dorocinski, Adam Woronowicz

Reykjavik-Rotterdam
Iceland/Netherlands, 2008, 88 min.
US Premiere
The principals of Jar City (PSIFF 2008) reunite in this tight thriller about an ex-con lured into one last job smuggling booze. This film is being remade as a vehicle for Mark Walhberg under the direction of current star Kormákur.
Director: Óskar Jónasson
Cast: Baltasar Kormákur, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson

Sagan
France, 2009, 116 min.
US Premiere
With perfect attention to period detail and a decidedly sympathetic point of view, director Diane Kurys and actor Sylvie Testud (in a César-nominated performance) bring the controversial life of French author Françoise Sagan—known best for writing Bonjour Tristesse at the age of 18—to the big screen.
Director: Diane Kurys
Cast: Sylvie Testud, Pierre Palmade, Jeanne Balibar

Sawasdee Bangkok
Thailand, 2009, 86 min.
US Premiere
Sawasdee Bangkok is comprised of four love letters to the city that form a colorful tapestry of life in the capital. Directed by four of Thailand's most respected filmmakers, these shorts move from magical travelogue to heartfelt melodrama.
Directors: Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Pen-ek Ratanaruang
Cast: Tanthai Prasertkul, Bongkot Kongmalai, Ananda Everingham, Louis Scott, Namo Thongkamnerd

The Shadowless
Turkey, 2009, 97 min.
US Premiere
Unfolding in a timeless village rife with supernatural beliefs, mysterious disappearances, and untimely deaths, this mesmerizing film offers an ambitious adaptation of a multilayered literary work by Hasan Ali Toptas, "the Kafka of the East," and plays like an Anatolian "Twin Peaks."
Director: Ümit Ünal
Cast: Selçuk Yöntem, Hakan Karahan, Taner Birsel, Ertan Saran

Shirley Adams
South Africa/USA, 2009, 92 min.
US Premiere
A searing, unsentimental story of a mother whose world is forever changed when her son is left paralyzed by a stray bullet in a gang shootout. Struggling after her husband walks out and battling meddling hospital authorities, Shirley refuses to seek charity or compassion as tragedy inexorably closes in.
Director: Oliver Hermanus
Cast: Denise Newman, Keenan Arrison, Theresa Sedras, Emily Childs, Lee-Ann Van Rooi

Shoot the Hero
USA, 2009, 82 min.
World Premiere
When a young couple shops for wedding rings they accidentally become eyewitnesses to a jewelry store heist gone awry. A mob boss dispatches a mysterious hit man to find the couple and clean up the mess. What follows is an action-packed romp full of thugs, fights, laughs, and love.
Director: Christian Sesma
Cast: Jason Mewes, Samantha Lockwood, Danny Trejo, Nick Turturro, Taylor Negron, Fred Williamson

Slovenian Girl
Slovenia/Germany/Serbia/Croatia, 2009, 87 min.
US Premiere
An amoral coed gets more than she bargains for when she tries prostitution as a shortcut to the good life. Centering on secrets, lies, and a single-minded quest for money, this smoothly made drama starts as a thriller but later switches tracks. Winner, Best Actress, Valencia Film Festival.
Director: Damjan Kozole
Cast: Nina Ivanisin, Peter Musevski, Primoz Pirnat, Marusa Kink, Uros Furst

Soul Birds
Germany, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
Boasting an exceptional visual style to match its elemental themes, Soul Birds from documentarian Riedelsheimer (Rivers and Tides, Touch the Sound), observes the intimate relationship between human beings and nature in this deeply moving portrait of three children battling leukemia.
Director: Thomas Riedelsheimer

Sticky Fingers
Canada/France/Spain, 2009, 107 min.
US Premiere
In this sly comedy, six of the world's worst gangsters managed to heist $2 million, but only one got away. Now after four years in the clink, five bumbling thieves from Montreal are forced to walk the famous Camino pilgrimage in Spain to prove they've changed their ways and deserve their cut of the loot.
Director: Ken Scott
Cast: Roy Dupuis, Patrice Robitaille, Aure Atika, Jean Pierre Bergeron, Andrea Bonelli

The Sun Behind The Clouds: Tibet's Struggle for Freedom
India/UK/USA/Austria, 2009, 79 min.
North American Premiere
With unusual intimate access, filmmakers Sonam and Sarin find a unique perspective on the Dalai Lama's trials and tribulations and follow him over an eventful year, including the 2008 protests in Tibet, the long march in India, the Beijing Olympics, and the breakdown of talks with China.
Directors: Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam

This Way of Life
New Zealand, 2009, 84 min.
US Premiere
Peter Karena, his wife Colleen, their six children and many horses live almost wild in the stunning beauty of New Zealand's rugged Ruahine Mountains. Until, that is, Peter's escalating battle with his own father has profound consequences for the whole clan.
Director: Tom Burstyn

Time of the Comet
Albania/Germany/France, 2008, 103 min.
US Premiere
Romantic, tragic, and profoundly hilarious, this period epic, set shortly before WWI and based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner Ismail Kadare, marries the absurdity of war to the utter absurdity that was once Albania.
Director: Fatmir Koci
Cast: Blerim Destani, Masiela Lusha, Xhevdet Feri, Thomas Heinze, Cun Lajci

The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
New Zealand, 2009, 84 min.
US Premiere
"On paper," says comedy writer Paul Horan, "Yodeling lesbian twins don't really work." But for the last 30 years New Zealanders Jools and Lynda Topp have brought their kooky Kiwi sense of humor, political potency, and snazzy country music stylings to dazzled audiences—and now prove dynamite on the big screen.
Director: Leanne Pooley

Transmission
Hungary, 2009, 90 min.
North American Premiere
A mesmerizing dystopian drama set in a world in which all the screens have stopped functioning. Television stations don't broadcast, computer monitors are empty, the entire telecommunication industry is gone. The story starts months after the last screen has stopped working and society has started to develop alternative ways of living.
Director: Roland Vranik
Cast: Károly Hajduk, Zoltán Rátóti, Sándor Terhes, Kata Wéber, Éva Kerekes

Villon's Wife
Japan, 2009, 114 min.
US Premiere
This enticing period melodrama depicts a long-suffering woman's relationship with her brilliant but self-destructive writer husband in postwar Tokyo. Based on a semi-autobiographical 1947 novel by Osamu Dazai, the story centers less on the womanizing, heavy-drinking, suicidal hero than on the wife who loves him.
Director: Kichitaro Negishi
Cast: Takako Matsu, Tadanobu Asano, Ryoko Hirosue, Satoshi Tsumabuki

Vortex
Lithuania, 2009, 140 min.
US Premiere
The story of the generation who lived through the entire Soviet period is told through the main character: his childhood spent in a village, true friendship, work in Soviet Klaipeda, thrilling eroticism, and a final, fatal love.
Director: Gytis Luksas
Cast: Giedrius Kiela, Oksana Borbat, Jevgenija Varenitsa

Weekend
Chile, 2009, 85 min.
North American Premiere
Patricio wants time alone with Francisca while she tries to forget her recent heartbreak. Sofia, a sexy hitchhiker, just wants a little distraction on her aimless journey. In a beautiful beach house on the Chilean coast, three twentysomethings are about to get much more than they expected.
Director: Joaquín Mora
Cast: Patricio Ochoa, Francisco Benedetti, Sofia Garcia, Diego Muñoz

What You Don't See
Germany/Austria, 2009, 89 min.
US Premiere
Vaguely reminiscent of François Ozon's See the Sea, this impressive psychological thriller about a sensitive German adolescent grappling with his father's suicide and his mother's new boyfriend plays out against the eerie woods and fantastic rock formations of the Brittany Coast.
Director: Wolfgang Fischer
Cast: Ludwig Trepte, Frederick Lau, Alice Dwyer, Bibiana Beglau, Andreas Patton

The Wildest Dream
USA/UK, 2008, 94 min.
US Premiere
The Wildest Dream uses astonishing visuals to tell the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory's frozen remains 75 years later.
Director: Anthony Geffen
Narrators: Hugh Dancy, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, Alan Rickman

Will You Marry Us?
Switzerland, 2009, 90 min.
US Premiere
A charming romantic comedy about a small-town civil servant whose life is thrown for a loop when an old boy friend pops up from her past and they find they still have feelings for each other.
Director: Micha Lewinsky
Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Dominique Jann, Oriana Schrage, Beat Schlatter, Herbert Leiser

Winter in Wartime
Netherlands/Lithuania, 2008, 103 min.
US Premiere
The perfect blend of classical cinema and arthouse sensibilities, this exciting WWII coming-of-age story portrays a 14-year-old Dutch lad's brutal loss of innocence when circumstances force him to become a one-man Resistance movement.
Director: Martin Koolhoven
Cast: Martijn Lakemeier, Yorick van Wageningen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Raymond Thiry

The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner
Bulgaria/Germany/Slovenia, 2009, 105 min.
US Premiere
This sweet intergenerational drama about an amnesiac helped toward recovery by his charismatic grandfather encompasses over 30 years of social and identity crises, with backgammon as a metaphor for life. Winner, Best Bulgarian Film, Sofia Film Festival.
Director: Stephan Komandarev