Newport Beach Film Festival 2008

In the summer of 1952, we are at war with China and Chinese Americans are afraid. As the 'red scare' of the McCarthy era gains momentum, people don't feel safe. As this oppressive atmosphere permeates the country, Chinese American reporter, Roland Lu, returns to his hometown of Millville. Things are not as he remembers. As he strolls down main street, a Chinese man shoots himself in front of city hall. Roland smells a story and soon learns that below the surface, Millville is full of interracial relationships that could tear the town apart. Roland also learns the Chinese are being fired from their jobs, and suspects that his old nemesis, Frank Dugan, is plotting to take their property.

Golden Age is an animated faux documentary about the sordid lives of eccentric cartoon characters from yesteryear. Ten segments highlight the stories of animated entertainers as they struggle to succeed as animation superstars.

Long Island teen Melissa Brooks can't afford to go to college. To escape her mother and boyfriend she ends up moving in with her brother Robbie and his boyfriend Miller in their SoHo apartment. She finds work as a waitress at a comedy club while honing her act and working up the nerve to get on stage. While trying to get over her crippling fear of public speaking by covertly attending support groups, she meets Kevin, a kindred spirit with a troubled past. Just as her act begins to click and she just might have this relationship thing figured out, tragedy strikes and her new family of friends is shaken badly as old tragedies crash back in on her.

Anna rents some porn DVDs from immediately smitten clerk at West Los Angeles' celebrated specialist shop Cinefile. Following her to her apartment, he watches her through the window. Relentlessly stalking her, he soon gains entry to her place with a sob story and is willing to put up with endless put-downs and humiliations from the nasty-mouthed woman in order to prolong and, he hopes, advance their relationship. POST PARTY: This screening will be part of the Friday Night Showcase Gala. The post party will be held at Land Rover Newport Beach. Some of Orange County's top restaurant will be serving signature appetizers and the bar will be hosted by Absolut vodka and Karl Strauss beer.

In the cold, small-town heartland that has always been the defining state of mind for America, there are two worlds. There is a community whose focal point is the football team, and there is the alienated existence of the kid who doesn’t fit in. Jason works two jobs, struggles with his uncaring family, is tortured by a bully, and in general is quietly suffocating in the provincial insularity of his town. His only escape and window to the outside world is the local cinema until he meets a new friend who helps him cope with his life.

For 50 years, Charles M. Schulz captivated and comforted millions with PEANUTS—his innovative daily chronicle of cruelty, hope, and heartbreak in the younger set. But unprecedented worldwide success did not quiet his own Charlie-Brown-style doubts. Instead, the outwardly mild-mannered Schulz relentlessly revisited the turbulent realities of his lost childhood in search of elusive answers. Interviews with those who knew him best—including the real-life Linus and Little Red-Haired Girl—propel this 90-minute documentary. With full access to Peanuts strips and specials and to Schulz’s personal archives, the film will explore his life, his work, and the complex ways the two intersected.

Jim Killeen, an entrepreneur from Los Angeles, googled his name one day and found other Jim Killeens online. Jim took the next step by contacting the others by email. Then he gave them a call on the phone. Finally, he decided to go around the world meeting the Jim Killeens he found through his Google search. Each Jim adds his own individual contribution to the "first" Jim’s journey as he discovers others while discovering himself.