A pair of muddy boots stand on a red carpet with text: "LOUISIANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL & MENTORSHIP PROGRAM.

LIFF 2018 Features Dozens of Q&A’s With Filmmakers


Unprecedented Number of Feature and Short Filmmakers Accompany their Films to Fest, Part in Mentor Sessions and Are Available for Interview

The 6th Annual Louisiana Film Festival and Mentorship Program, taking place April 18-22 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is thrilled with the level of enthusiasm and support from its participants, who will be taking an active part of the festival, as it is rare for so many filmmakers, cast, and crew to be in attendance.

Here’s a list of the 17 feature films whose filmmakers, subjects or stars who will take part in Q&A’s, Mentorship and Performances at LIFF this year. We’ve summarized them below and look forward to facilitating your interest in talking to any of them in advance of or at the Festival.

OPENING/CLOSING/GALAS

Opening Night: BLAZE (USA 2018 / 127 min.) dir: Ethan Hawke.
Appearance and Performance by Ben Dickey and Q&A with Dickey and writer Sybil Rosen.
Stars Alia Shawkat, Josh Hamilton Sam Rockwell, Charlie Sexton,Wyatt Russell, Steve Zahn, Kris Kristofferson and Ben Dickey, in the title role. Based on the book Living in the Woods in a Tree by Sybil Rosen, BLAZE tells the story of legendary singer-songwriter Blaze Foley from his early years living in a Georgia treehouse to defining the Texas Outlaw music scene in 1980’s Austin. Dickey recently received a Special Jury Prize for his performance at Sundance for BLAZE. His debut solo album, Sexy Birds & Salt Water Classics, was released last July. He’s scheduled to appear at the screening and perform, as well. More event information here.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

FAIL STATE (USA / 95 min.) dir. Alex Shebanow.
Q&A with Alex Shebanow and LSU President F. King Alexander.
Refocusing the debate on solutions that can fix the student loan and education crisis. “Our aim is to create a feature documentary on the student loan debt crisis. The film will be an elucidation of the issue and an exploration of the three key players involved: the students, government, and the universities. Our goal is refocus the debate on solutions that can fix this crisis.†Director Alex Shebanow, writers Nicholas Adams and Regina Sobel. More event information here.

NEW VOICES / NEW VISIONS — Competition

AND THEN I GO (USA 2017 / 99 min.) dir: Vincent Grashaw
Q&A with Vincent Grashaw.
Starring Arman Darbo, Sawyer Barth, Justin Long, Tony Hale and Melanie Lynskey. Based on the acclaimed novel Project X by Jim Shepard, this unflinching look at adolescence explores how the powerful bonds of childhood friendship and search for belonging can become a matter of life or death. More event information here.

BRIMSTONE & GLORY (USA | Mexico 2017 / 67 min.) dir: Viktor Jakovleski
Q&A with composer Benh Zeitlin.
For the people of Tultepec, a small Mexican town where three quarters of the residents work in pyrotechnics, the annual National Pyrotechnic Festival is an explosive celebration OF unrestrained delight and real peril. Plunging headlong into the fire, BRIMSTONE & GLORY honors the spirit of Tultepec’s community and celebrates “celebration†itself. The award-winning score is by Beasts of the Southern Wild director Benh Zeitlin. More event information here.

SOUTHERN PERSPECTIVES

1000 YEAR FLOOD (USA 2018 / 79 min.) dir: Lauren Durr
World Premiere; Q&A with director Lauren Durr and Producer Dane Moreton. In August 2016, prolonged rainfall in southern parts of Louisiana resulted in catastrophic flooding that submerged thousands of houses and businesses — a “1000-year flood†— in meteorological parlance. The forgotten victims of Louisiana’s Great Flood must rely on each other to survive when their government fails them. More event information here.

CUT OFF (USA 2017 / 87 min) dir: Jowan Carbin
World Premiere of Director’s Cut; Q&A with producer Carole Bidault de L’Isle. Stars Brad Dourif, William Baldwin, John Robinson, and Laura Cayouette. New Orleanian Clive (Robinson) follows a former professor to his country home on the bayou to gain a new perspective and gets sucked into a mission to kill. More event information here.

DARK MERIDIAN (USA 2017/91 min.) dir: Rankin Hickman
Q&A with Rankin Hickman and Billy Slaughter.
Starring popular NOLA-based Billy Slaughter along with Dave Davis and James Moses Black, this tough as nails thriller with a twist ending focuses on a corrupt New Orleans detective who gets caught up in a fight between two criminal gangs while on a stakeout. To survive the night, he must find a killer on the run and take him out before the killer reaches his other targets. More event information here.

DEAD ON ARRIVAL (USA 2017/96 min) dir: Stephen Sepher
Q&A with Stephen Sepher.
Stars D.B. Sweeney, Lillo Brancato and Christa B. Allen. In this very atmospheric thriller, a pharmaceutical sales rep visits a small town in Louisiana on business. He finds himself in a dark world of corruption and murder with 24 hours to live, running from the police, the mob and a sheriff that wants him dead. More event information here.

DO U WANT IT? (USA 2017 / 95 min.) dir: Josh Freund
Q&A with Josh Freund.
Cobbled together in 2000 from local jam sessions, Papa Grows Funk carved out a successful place for itself in the New Orleans live music scene, playing to loyal crowds of locals and tourists every Monday night at The Maple Leaf. The documentary DO U WANT IT? re-visits the band’s career as they prepare for a final tour and album before a planned hiatus. More event information here.

ON OUR WATCH (USA 2017/60 min) dir: Jonathan Evans
Q&A with Jonathan Evans.
This documentary by NOLA-based professor Evans presents the problem of coastal land loss in Southern Louisiana with honesty, directness, and urgency. The film features interviews with activists, professors, and community leaders who demonstrate how we got here and where we are going. More event information here.

RANCHER FARMER FISHERMAN (USA 2017 / 103 min.) dir: Susan Froemke
Appearances by Tom Brokaw, Dusty Crary and Justin Knopf. Oscar®-nominated and Emmy®-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke travelled to the American heartland including Louisiana, to film working families that bridge their political differences in order to preserve the land around them. Many of the protagonists would not brand themselves environmentalists, but they recognize the importance of safeguarding everything from the Montana Rockies to the Gulf of Mexico.

TINKER (USA 2017/97 min.) dir: Sonny Marler
Q&A with Sonny Marler and producer Tom Bhramayana.
Stars Clayne Crawford, Christian Kane and Wilmer Calderon. A hermit farmer discovers his late father’s secret journal containing plans to a magnetic powered machine that could change the world, while unexpectedly becoming custodian of his gifted six-year-old nephew, after his mom’s untimely death. This award-winning film about hope, fatherhood, support, faith, friendship and duty, with a science fiction twist is the producing debut of Louisiana native Tom Bhramayana. More event information here.

URBAN COUNTRY (USA 2018 / 89 min) dir: Teddy Smith
Q&A with Teddy Smith and Earl Heard, producer.
World Premiere; Stars Brighton Sharbino, Lou Diamond Phillips and Jason London. Shot on location in Biloxi Mississippi, the first feature by cinematographer Teddy Smith tells the classic tale of a troubled young girl who must choose to exchange a carefree life in the city for a hard-work and no-frills country lifestyle in order to learn who she really is and what she wants out of life. More event information here.

CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT

LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY (USA ‘17/102 min.) dir. Tiffany Bartok Q&A with Tiffany Bartok.
Featuring Christy Turlington, Tori Amos, Kevyn Aucoin and more. In the fashion heyday of New York City in the ’90s, renowned makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin was working with stars like Liza Minnelli and Cher and supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, transforming celebrity beauty into an international business. This documentary is an inspiring tribute to Aucoin’s life and work and a moving portrait of a small-town kid from Lafayette, Louisiana who possessed a dream, a portfolio, and an incredible work ethic. More event information here.

THE REAL REEL

SUICIDE: THE RIPPLE EFFECT (USA 2018/93 min.) dir: Kevin Hines, Greg Dicharry
Q&A with co-directors Kevin Hines, and Baton Rouge’s Greg Dicharry.
This film chronicles the story of co-director Kevin Hines, who at age 19 attempted to take his life by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Since then, Kevin has undertaken a mission to use his story to help others find recovery and stay alive, and has become the world’s most prominent suicide prevention speaker and advocate. The film also features some of the world’s leading suicide prevention experts and shines light on people who are using personal experiences with suicide to help others find the hope they need to stay alive. More event information here.

THROUGH THE BANKS OF THE RED CEDAR (USA 2018/69 min) dir. Maya Washington
Q&A with Maya Washington.
In 1963, Michigan State Head Coach Duffy Daugherty gave 23 African American young men the opportunity of a lifetime. The daughter of football legend Gene Washington uncovers how the first fully integrated college football team in America changed the face of the game forever. More event information here.

NOTHING WITHOUT US: THE WOMEN WHO WILL END AIDS (2017 USA/68 min.) dir: Harriet Hirshorn
Q&A with Harriet Hirshorn and activist Dr. Joyce Turner Keller.
This documentary tells the story of the inspiring women at the forefront of the global AIDS movement. Combining archival footage and interviews with female activists, scientists and scholars in the US, the film explores the current health crisis among women in 2 Louisiana cities: New Orleans and Baton Rouge. More event information here.

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