Newport Beach Film Festival 2009

An alcoholic detective finds crucial evidence to solve his wife's murder, only to be dismissed as a drunk.

In this twisted, mysterious thriller, Lou Peavy applies for a strange government permit. This unusual permit ignites an eerie and intense personal desire to be executed.

Breathtaking cinematography and a heartfelt story combine in this film that captures the amazing journey of a group of illiterate women in southern Nepal. In a country where running water and electricity are luxuries, most of the people in Nepal live below the poverty line. A group of women, with the help of Heifer International, an aid organization that promotes sustainable development, are helping hundreds of other women and their families rise from poverty to reclaim a future. It is a deeply moving testament to the strength of empowerment and the remarkable will to become something more.

This is the true story of Kai Hansen, a Danish tennis player, forced to choose between his personal dreams and his commitment to his countrymen during the Nazi occupation of Denmark during World War II. Kai’s world is comfortably restricted to the tennis court and the luxuries of his elite status. He is unbelievably close to his dream of securing a spot at the European championships in Sweden; only one man stands in his way: Erik Bjarnson. Bjarnson is an aging tennis legend, but more importantly, he might be a Jew. The Nazis plan a massive deportation of the Danish Jews that may leave Kai with a defaulted win into the championships. Will Kai accept this fate and continue to live a life of shielded privilege, or will he risk his life and dream for the sake of his countrymen?

This pass grants the bearer admission to all screenings and events. The pass does not guarantee a seat. All seating at the festival is done on a fisrt-come, first-served basis and pass holders must arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the screening to get a seat.

Anna Politkovskaya was a Russian journalist and human rights activist well known for her opposition to President Putin and the Chechen conflict. On October 7, 2006 she was discovered dead. The questionable circumstances of her death are underscored by Alexander Litvinenko who, after publicly denouncing Putin as being behind her assassination, was poisoned by radioactive polonium and died. This documentary journeys through 30 years of Soviet Union/Russian history as seen through the eyes of Anna, her husband, her sons and colleagues, and conducts a separate investigation into what happened to Politkovskaya, revealing contradictions marring the official investigation of her death.

When you're dead, you're gone. You exist only in the minds of those whom you've left behind. Tom is dead. Elliot has been left behind. Tom was the front man of their successful band Finn. He died on his 27th birthday. Born six days apart, Tom and Elliot have spent their whole lives side by side. As their story is revealed, it is clear that it takes more than just a number to determine one's fate. Elliot, in a desperate attempt to escape from all he knows, hires a grocery store clerk to drive him from Los Angeles to New York where Tom's funeral is to be held. Elliot's fragmented memories of Tom are beautifully juxtaposed against the anamorphic landscape as the unlikely pair travels across America together.

Albert never fully recovered from the untimely death of his daughter nineteen years ago. His only escape comes from the strangers of the night that ride in his taxi, blissfully unaware of Albert’s life or the tragedy of his daughter’s death; choosing to live each day in denial. But during every full moon Albert retreats into the refuge of his daughter’s room which has been left unchanged since her death nearly two decades before. 

Two couples live at extreme opposites of each other, yet they share one commonality: an unexpected pregnancy. Carmine and Sasha live in a comfortable world where the arrival of a child should be a time that fills them with joy. Instead, it blows their bourgeois house of cards to the ground. Justine and Seb are freedom seekers who live day by day on the streets of Montreal. Justine's pregnancy destabilizes Seb, who has better things to do than to be a father. Yet somehow things never seem to work out as they should... Stephen Decker is a 50-something father who has lost everything, has found a new purpose for his life: revenge. What he finds is far from what he expected... Five destinies converge, not only in blood and suffering, but also in hope, love and rebirth.

This is a story of boy meets girl, begins the wry, probing narrator of (500) Days of Summer, and with that the film takes off at breakneck speed into a funny, true-to-life and unique dissection of the unruly and unpredictable year-and-a-half of one young man’s no-holds-barred love affair. Tom, the boy, still believes, even in this cynical modern world, in the notion of a transforming, cosmically destined, lightning-strikes-once kind of love. Summer, the girl, doesn’t. Not at all. But that doesn’t stop Tom from going after her, again and again, like a modern Don Quixote, with all his might and courage. Suddenly, Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman – not that he minds any of that -- but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world.

In the winter of '96/'97, while everyone was riding 6'1” thrusters featuring Slater's elf shoe rocker and long before the "retro fish" craze, two kids attacked the North Shore and beyond on 5'5" twin fins. A collection of 12 years of surf footage from the best surfers in the world on boards under five and a half feet, the film features Chris Ward, Aaron Cormican and Mason Ho pushing their short boards to their limits, with sections from Dane Reynolds, Jordy Smith, Kolohe Andino, Luke Davis, Ryan Carlson and Mr. Sl9ter. Check out Cory Lopez and Ian Walsh on the wave Surfer Magazine called "the holy grail" of surf scores.

This tragic comedy about destiny gives a whimsical twist to how one of cinema’s most memorable films was constructed. Nanshu is a poor man with a big heart just looking for a chance to break into the booming field of Japanese cinema during the 1950s. After years of persistence and many failures, he finally gets the chance of a lifetime: a lead role as a samurai in one of Japan’s most famous director’s new film. Nanshu is certain this role will make him one of the greatest actors in the history of Japan. What Nanshu doesn’t plan for is the director’s sudden change to the script in which one samurai must be cut. Before shooting ever begins, Nanshu is fired. The next morning he confronts the director, and what happens surprises everyone –even Nanshu.

This is the true story of a man who traveled the spectrum of the baseball world, rising from zero to hero, and back again. In an age where sports are constantly scrutinized for their questionable ethics, one man dared to play the game with integrity and love.

A romantic comedy set on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Short films screening in this program include: Beyond the Dream: the Joey Buran story, Clay Marzo: Just Add Water

Short films screening in this program include: Havana Surf, Hermanos 2

Short films screening in this program include: Greend, Looking Thru the B-Sides, The Ripple Effect, WaterMan

Adela is a former radio personality celebrating her 80th birthday in the slums of Manila. She longs for her family and the stability of years past, possibly making this the loneliest day of her years. Mundane events take on heightened meanings when they inspire calm but weighty ponderings. On what should be a joyous and carefree day, Adela begins to measure her life against the rest of humanity.