"The Curse of Quon Gwon" is the earliest example of Asian American filmmaking known to exist today, and it is also one of the few American silent feature films made by a woman. Written and directed by Marion Wong, it was produced in 1916-17 by the Mandarin Film Company in Oakland, California.…
Miles, a writer from Los Angeles, doesn't believe relationships can last, so they don't. Stuck in a rut and desperate to get out, Miles tries to get back with his ex in hopes that this is the key to his success.
Three young women desperetaly seeking for happiness are driven to unexpected violent paths. A student, a hore and a clerk, strangers to each other, are trying to escape from their families. In three days, their ways cross fatal as secrets and lies encircle them dangerously. Best Film, Best Director,…
Luchino Visconti's award-winning classic examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa and her companions - her lover, her daughter and the daugther's boyfriend -…
The Russian poet Gortchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia, is traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th century Russian composer. In a ancient spa town, he meets the lunatic Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his own family in a barn to save them from the evils of…
In Paris in the near future. Aging thieves Marc and Hans owe money to a tough American woman who gives them two weeks to pay. They scheme to steal and sell a new serum for a disease that's killing lovers, but they need someone with quick steady hands. They recruit Alex, a disaffected youth who's…
A "brilliant exploration of violence and corruption in contemporary China" (Jon Frosch, The Atlantic), A TOUCH OF SIN was inspired by four shocking (and true) events that forced the world's fastest growing economy into a period of self-examination. Written and directed by master filmmaker…
Anna (Kathryn Worth) arrives in Italy to stay with her school friend Verena (Roscoe) and her family in their rented villa in Tuscany. Her partner Alex was meant to accompany her, but Anna tells Verena (at the last minute) that he has to stay in London due to his work. Over the course of the film…
Ten year-old Yachine and his 13-year-old brother Hamid live in Sidi Moumen, an impoverished slum on the outskirts of Casablanca. Hamid, though just a child, works hard to sustain his family by any means, but eventually get involved with the ""wrong crowd"" and becomes one of the local…
AFTER THE TRIUMPH OF YOUR BIRTH Shootist Films 2012, 99 mins. Written and directed by Jim Akin Critics on Akin’s debut feature - “Lots of influences flood the mind: Robert Altman and Jacques Demy; the L.A. skid-row poetics of Charles Bukowski, the dust of John Fante.” “Fusing…
THE OCEAN OF HELENA LEE, 2015, Shootist Films, 88 min. Writer-director Jim Akin’s autobiographical second feature film follows 12 year old Helena Lee’s lyrical pilgrimage from summer to spring with her self destructive surf-rat father in the carnival of California’s Venice beach. The…
It's really difficult to grow up in today's world of high technology, absent parents, limited jobs, and exponential information growth. It's even harder if you're queer. From the moment that you start questioning your sexuality you're battling your conscience and wondering if…
