Brigade 2020 Sundance Film Festival Slate

2020 Sundance Film Festival Slate THE EVENING HOUR U.S. Dramatic Competition Directed by Braden King Written by Elizabeth Palmore Starring Philip Ettinger, Stacy Martin, Cosmo Jarvis, Lili Taylor, Michael Trotter, Kerry Bishé, Marc Menchaca, Ross Partridge, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Tess Harper

SCARE ME Midnight Written and Directed by Josh Ruben Starring Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, Chris Redd

LA LLORONA Spotlight Directed by Jayro Bustamante Written by Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sánchez Starring María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, Julio Diaz

UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE Indie Episodic Written and Directed by David Shapiro Featuring subjects David Shapiro, Leeds Atkinson, and Andrew Bellucci

BLOCKS Shorts Program Written and Directed by Bridget Moloney  Starring Claire Coffee, Mark Webber, Ruha Taslimi

THE EVENING HOUR U.S. Dramatic Competition Directed by Braden King Written by Elizabeth Palmore Based on the Novel by Carter Sickels Starring Philip Ettinger, Stacy Martin, Cosmo Jarvis, Lili Taylor,  Michael Trotter, Kerry Bishé, Marc Menchaca, Tess Harper

Synopsis: Cole Freeman (Philip Ettinger, First Reformed) maintains an uneasy equilibrium in his declining Appalachian mining town, looking after the old and infirm in the community while selling their excess painkillers to local addicts to help make ends meet. But when his old friend, Terry Rose (Cosmo Jarvis, Lady Macbeth), returns with dangerous plans that threaten the fragile balance Cole has crafted, his world and identity are thrown into disarray.   Cole's life is further complicated by the sudden homecoming of his estranged mother, Ruby (Lili Taylor, The Conjuring), and his shifting relationships with two local women, Charlotte (Stacy Martin, Vox Lux) and Lacy (Kerry Bishé, “Halt and Catch Fire”). Faced with an impossible set of choices and increasing pressure from all sides, Cole decides to take action to save the tight-knit fabric of family, friendship, land and history that binds everything - and everyone - he loves.   The second narrative feature from director Braden King (Here, Sundance 2011 U.S. Competition), THE EVENING HOUR presents an empathetic portrait of a rural American landscape in transition - and the people fighting to survive within it. Section: U.S. Dramatic Competition Director: Braden King Screenwriter: Elizabeth Palmore Based on the Novel by: Carter Sickels Cast: Philip Ettinger, Stacy Martin, Cosmo Jarvis, Lili Taylor, Michael Trotter, Kerry Bishé, Marc Menchaca, Ross Partridge, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Tess Harper Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Braden King, Derrick Tseng Director of Photography: Declan Quinn Editors: Andrew Hafitz, Joseph Krings TRT: 115 min. Country: USA Language: English U.S. Sales: Cinetic International Sales: Film Constellation

SCARE ME Midnight Written and Directed by Josh Ruben Starring Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, Chris Redd Synopsis Fred (Josh Ruben, College Humor), a frustrated copywriter, checks in to a winter cabin to start his first novel. While jogging in the nearby woods, he meets Fanny (Aya Cash, “You’re The Worst”), a successful and smug young horror author who fuels his insecurities. During a power outage, Fanny challenges Fred to tell a scary story. As a storm sets in, they pass the time spinning spooky tales fueled by the tensions between them, and Fred is forced to confront his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller. The stakes are raised when they’re visited by a horror fan (Chris Redd, “Saturday Night Live”) who delivers levity (and a pizza) to the proceedings. Writer-director Josh Ruben’s debut feature is a metafictional horror comedy about the pleasures and perils of storytelling and the genre’s power to exorcise social demons. SCARE ME is a clever and chilling hybrid of humor and horror that subverts the cabin-in-the-woods trope. Propelled by Cash and Ruben’s comedic chemistry, SCARE ME ventures into darker territory, drawing dread and pathos from the gender hostilities driving Fanny and Fred’s game of ghost stories. Section: Midnight Director and Screenwriter: Josh Ruben Cast: Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, Chris Redd, Rebecca Drysdale Producers: Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Josh Ruben Director of Photography: Brendan H. Banks Editor: Patrick Lawrence Composer: Chris Maxwell and Phil Hernandez as Elegant Too TRT: 105 min. Country: USA Language: English Distributor: Shudder LA LLORONA Spotlight Directed by Jayro Bustamante Written by Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sánchez Starring María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, Julio Diaz Synopsis   Indignant retired general Enrique finally faces trial for the genocidal massacre of thousands of Mayans decades ago. As a horde of angry protestors threatens to invade their opulent home, the women of the house—his haughty wife, conflicted daughter, and precocious granddaughter—weigh their responsibility to shield the erratic, senile Enrique against the devastating truths being publicly revealed and the increasing sense that a wrathful supernatural force is targeting them for his crimes. Meanwhile, much of the family’s domestic staff flees, leaving only loyal housekeeper Valeriana until a mysterious young Indigenous maid arrives.   A tale of horror and magical realism, the film reimagines the iconic Latin American fable as an urgent metaphor of Guatemala’s recent history and tears open the country’s unhealed political wounds to grieve a seldom discussed crime against humanity. LA LLORONA marks Bustamante’s third feature and demonstrates his continued efforts to highlight social inequality in his native Guatemala following his previous titles Temblores (2019) and Ixcanul (2016). Section: Spotlight Director: Jayro Bustamante  Screenwriters: Jayro Bustamante, Lisandro Sánchez Cast: Starring María Mercedes Coroy, Margarita Kénefic, Sabrina De La Hoz, Julio Diaz Producers: Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu, Georges Renand, Marina Peralta Director of Photography: Nicolás Wong  Editors: Jayro Bustamante, Gustavo Matheu TRT: 96 min. Country: Guatemala/France Language: Spanish  Distributor: Shudder Sundance Screenings   Press & Industry Screening: Friday, Jan 24th at 3:30 PM (Holiday Village Cinema 3) Public Screening #1: Friday, Jan 24th at 6:00 PM (Broadway Centre Cinema 6, SLC) U.S. Premiere: Tuesday, Jan 28th at 8:30 PM(Prospector Square Theatre) Public Screening #3: Wednesday, Jan 29th at 11:59 PM (Library Center Theatre) Public Screening #4: Friday, Jan 31st at 9:30 PM (Redstone Cinema 1)   Director Jayro Bustamante will be in attendance and available for select press requests.

UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE Indie Episodic Written and Directed by David Shapiro Featuring subjects David Shapiro, Leeds Atkinson, and Andrew Bellucci

Synopsis   In the early 1990s, Independent Spirit Award winning filmmaker David Shapiro (Keep the River on Your Right, Missing People) and his best friend Leeds Atkinson set out to find the perfect slice of New York City's biggest commodity: pizza.   Under the guise of filming a TV series titled "Eat to Win", the two traversed pizzerias throughout their rapidly changing city until they found a favorite: Lombardi’s, widely acknowledged as the first pizzeria in the country. There they discovered Andrew Bellucci, a passionate chef whose humble beginnings segued into an unlikely role as a darling of the New York food world. But shortly after they film with him, the truth catches up to Bellucci - he was a Wall Street criminal wanted by the FBI. Dave and Leeds film him in prison, but eventually life catches up with the two friends. They drift apart and the film remains unfinished.   Twenty years later, David receives an email: Leeds is dead. Shapiro, now an established filmmaker in his own right, pieces together their lost footage to find out what happened to Bellucci and Leeds. Weaving together an abandoned film with a triple character portrait, UNTITLED PIZZA MOVIE collapses fact and fiction, biography and autobiography, to paint a complex and original portrait that examines the faultiness of memory, friendship, gentrification, filmmaking … and pizza!   Section: Indie Episodic Director and Screenwriter: David Shapiro Featuring Subjects: David Shapiro, Leeds Atkinson, and Andrew Bellucci  Producers: Michael Tubbs, Brendan Doyle, Peter Sillen, David Shapiro Director of Photography: Jonathan Kovel Editor: David Shapiro TRT: 105 min. Country: U.S.A. Language: English U.S. Sales: Cinetic

Sundance Screenings World Premiere: Monday, Jan 27th at 6:00 PM(Temple Theatre) Public Screening #2: Tuesday, Jan 28th at 3:00 PM (Broadway Centre Cinema 6, SLC) Public Screening #3: Wednesday, Jan 29th at 11:30 AM (Egyptian Theatre)   Filmmaker David Shapiro and Pizza Maker Extraordinaire Andrew Bellucci  will be in attendance and available for select press requests.

BLOCKS Shorts Program Written and Directed by Bridget Moloney  Starring Claire Coffee, Mark Webber, Ruha Taslimi

Synopsis An existential comedy about the mother of two young children who begins to spontaneously vomit plastic toy blocks.  About Bridget Moloney Bridget Moloney is a 2020 AFI Directing Workshop for Women fellow. Her independent pilot "I Was A Teenage Pillow Queen" premiered at the 2018 Tribeca TV Festival. She is also an actress, qualifying for great health insurance one national commercial at a time. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Creative Writing for Media at Northwestern, and her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine. Moloney lives in LA with her husband and two children.  Section: Shorts Programs Director and Screenwriter: Bridget Moloney Cast: Claire Coffee, Mark Webber, Ruha Taslimi, Phoebe Sinclair & George Sinclair  Executive Producer: Ben Sinclair Producers: Kate Chamuris, Kristin Slaysman, Valerie Steinberg Director of Photography: Jake Hossfeld  Editor: Nick Weidner  TRT: 11 min. Country: U.S.A. Language: English