Film Festival Joys
by nferlisi | created - 21 May 2022 | updated - 8 months ago | PublicOf the film festivals I've been to in the last several years, I have come across some truly great independent films. Some have gone on to be sleeper hits in their own independent circuits, while others have gone to join the streaming network. And then there are some where the festival was the only time I've seen or heard anything about these films but I've haven't forgotten them. I have here a number of films from festivals that I have greatly enjoyed.
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1. Wind River (2017)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A wildlife officer, who is haunted by a tragedy that happened because of him, teams up with an FBI agent in solving a murder of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation and hopes to get redemption from his past regrets.
Director: Taylor Sheridan | Stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Graham Greene, Kelsey Asbille
Votes: 280,693 | Gross: $33.80M
Sundance Film Festival 2017
2. The Novice (2021)
R | 97 min | Drama, Sport
A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.
Director: Lauren Hadaway | Stars: Isabelle Fuhrman, Amy Forsyth, Dilone, Jonathan Cherry
Votes: 6,968
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
3. Swiss Army Man (2016)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body, and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.
Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert | Stars: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Antonia Ribero
Votes: 133,637 | Gross: $4.21M
Sidewalk Film Festival 2016
4. The Hero (I) (2017)
R | 96 min | Drama, Romance
An ailing movie star comes to terms with his past and mortality.
Director: Brett Haley | Stars: Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman
Votes: 10,449 | Gross: $4.08M
Sundance Film Festival 2017
5. Poser (I) (2021)
87 min | Drama, Music
As Lennon fuels her desire for entree into a podcast featuring live music and conversations with the artists she so fervently admires, Lennon finds inspiration for her own musical ambitions...and a growing sense of misdirected identity.
Directors: Noah Dixon, Ori Segev | Stars: Sylvie Mix, Bobbi Kitten, Aujolie Baker, Amber Falter
Votes: 588
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
6. The Beta Test (2021)
Unrated | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A married Hollywood agent receives a mysterious letter for an anonymous sexual encounter and becomes ensnared in a sinister world of lying, murder and infidelity.
Directors: Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe | Stars: Jim Cummings, Virginia Newcomb, PJ McCabe, Wilky Lau
Votes: 6,312
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
7. The Yellow Birds (2017)
R | 94 min | Drama, War
Two young soldiers, Bartle (21) and Murph (18) navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph's mother before their deployment.
Director: Alexandre Moors | Stars: Alden Ehrenreich, Daniel Jose Molina, Mikey Collins, Tye Sheridan
Votes: 4,707
Sundance Film Festival 2017
8. Television Event (2020)
90 min | Documentary
An archive-based feature documentary viewing the dramatic climax of the Cold War through the lens of the ABC network, as it narrowly succeeds in producing the most watched, most controversial made-for-TV movie, THE DAY AFTER (1983).
Director: Jeff Daniels | Stars: Tom Hanks, Liza Minnelli, Penny Marshall, Ronald Reagan
Votes: 91
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
9. Catch the Fair One (2021)
85 min | Crime, Thriller
A former champion boxer embarks on the fight of her life when she goes in search of her missing sister.
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka | Stars: Kali Reis, Shelly Vincent, Kendall Morris, Faye Lone
Votes: 2,391
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
10. The Nightingale (I) (2018)
R | 136 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Set in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Aisling Franciosi, Maya Christie, Baykali Ganambarr, Addison Christie
Votes: 35,666 | Gross: $0.39M
Sidewalk Film Festival 2019
11. Hot Summer Nights (2017)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In 1991, a sheltered teenage boy comes of age during a wild summer he spends on Cape Cod getting rich from selling pot to gangsters, falling in love for the first time, partying and eventually realizing that he is in over his head.
Director: Elijah Bynum | Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Alex Roe, Emory Cohen
Votes: 23,485
Sidewalk Film Festival 2018
12. Walking Out (2017)
PG-13 | 95 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
An urban teenager journeys to Montana to hunt big game with his estranged father. Father and son struggle to connect, until a brutal encounter in the heart of the wilderness changes everything.
Directors: Alex Smith, Andrew J. Smith | Stars: Matt Bomer, Josh Wiggins, Bill Pullman, Alex Neustaedter
Votes: 6,707 | Gross: $0.10M
Sundance Film Festival 2017
13. The Grave of St. Oran (2019)
9 min | Animation, Short, Drama
On the Irish island of Iona in the sixth century, two saints arrive ashore and try to build a chapel.
Director: Jim Batt | Star: Neil Gaiman
Votes: 20
Chattanooga Film Festival 2021
14. Plum (2021)
9 min | Short, Drama
A fleeting love encounter between two men with opposing views on love proves that, like a plum, the sweetest turn bitter too soon.
Director: Blake Snawder | Stars: Isaac Dice Vega, Hunter Swindle, Sarah Beams, Brian Stephen Adams
Votes: 17
Black Warrior Film Festival 2021
15. Night of the Living Date (2020)
15 min | Short, Comedy, Horror
An epidemic sweeps the nation where the living dead rise up and begin to walk among us. Maria, a local nurse, needs a date for a friend's dinner party, so she takes advantage of the ... See full summary »
Director: Nicholas Coker | Stars: Laura Stephens, Christian Bender, Raven Jeannette Cotton, Christian Hatcher
Black Warrior Film Festival 2021
16. First Position. (2019)
20 min | Short, Drama
In 1980s San Francisco, aspiring dancer Zachary fights to keep his dream alive after falling ill.
Director: Michael Elias Thomas | Stars: Matt Jennings, Lea Madda, Anthony Sorrells, Stefan Wanigatunga
Votes: 34
Sidewalk Film Festival 2019
17. Galileo (2020)
13 min | Short
Alexander, a space-loving day dreamer hopes to pass that love on to his son Galileo. As he grows up, Galileo realizes his path is closer to his father's dreams than he ever thought.
Directors: Ryan Gentle, Austin Quarles | Stars: Stevie Ray Dallimore, Samantha Teter, Parker Bradway, Ben Bean
Votes: 9
Chattanooga Film Festival 2021
18. Butterfly in the Sky (2022)
87 min | Documentary
Chronicles the journeys of broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who believed television could inspire a lifelong love of reading.
Directors: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb | Stars: LeVar Burton, Alisa Reyes, Kenny Blank, Dean Parisot
Votes: 81
Sidewalk Film Festival 2022
19. The Pez Outlaw (2022)
TV-PG | 85 min | Documentary, Comedy, Family
Steve Glew spent the 1990s smuggling rare pez dispensers into the USA from Eastern Europe, making millions of dollars. It was all magical until his arch-nemesis, The Pezident decided to destroy him.
Directors: Amy Bandlien Storkel, Bryan Storkel | Stars: Steve Glew, Kathy Glew, Josh Glew, Mike Mitros
Votes: 2,786
Sidewalk Film Festival 2022
20. Peace in the Valley (2022)
88 min | Drama
In the aftermath of a senseless act of violence, a young mother must learn to manage her overwhelming grief-not only for her own peace of mind but for the sake of her young son.
Director: Tyler Riggs | Stars: Michael Abbott Jr., Dendrie Taylor, Brit Shaw, Michael Aaron Milligan
Votes: 72
Sidewalk Film Festival 2022
21. Saving Grayson (2021)
24 min | Short, Western
Following the results of the Civil War in 1865, Albert Grayson travels home to Illinois accompanied by his younger brother Sam. Sam, being too young to have joined the war four years prior,... See full summary »
Director: Breck Cuddy | Stars: Sam Cass, Bridger Trent, Christopher Sams, Lauren Prejeant
Sidewalk Film Festival 2021
22. Overgrown (2021)
12 min | Short, Fantasy | Completed
Rose has lived alone in her little garden for as long as she can remember; she doesn't speak because she doesn't need to. Although she struggles with debilitating anxiety, she finds great ... See full summary »
Director: Annabeth Mellon | Stars: Lily Champion, Ginger Jolly
Black Warrior Film Festival 2021
23. Theater Camp (2023)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy
The eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York must band together with the beloved founder's bro-y son to keep the camp afloat.
Directors: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman | Stars: Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Jimmy Tatro
Votes: 16,214
Sidewalk Film Festival 2023
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