Opening Night Film

American Independent

Certain Women

(USA, 2016, 107 min.)

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, Jared Harris, James Le Gros, Rene Auberjonois, Lily Gladstone

Set with great regional specificity in Montana, the film richly portrays several women at a personal or professional crossroads. Gina (Michelle Williams), has a marriage that is faltering after buying a new home; Laura (Laura Dern), a lawyer contending with a volatile client; and Jamie (Lily Gladstone), a young ranch hand besotted with Beth (Kristen Stewart), her adult education teacher. These complex characters have lives that intersect in subtle ways, and all share dreams and desires for something more or different from what they already possess.

Best Film – (BFI) – London Film Festival

Incline Village Cinema – Thursday, December 1 – 6:00pm

American Independent

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

(USA, 2016, 92 min.)

Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

Producers: Brent Miller, Suzanne Hillinger

With: Norman Lear, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Amy Poehler, Rob Reiner, Phil Rosenthal

Arguably the most influential creator, writer, and producer in the history of television, Norman Lear brought primetime into step with the times. Using comedy and indelible characters, his legendary 1970s shows such as All in the Family, Maude, Good Times and The Jeffersons, bodly cracked open dialogue and shifted the national consciousness, injecting enlightened humanism into sociopolitical debates on race, class, creed and feminism. The film is the definitive chronicle of Mr. Lear’s life, work, and achievements, but it is so much more than an arm’s-length, past-tense biopic; at 93, Mr. Lear is as vital and engaged as he ever was.

Village Cinema #2 – Northstar California – Saturday, December 3 – 7:30pm

American Independent

The Last Laugh

(USA, 2016, 85 min.)

Director: Ferne Pearlstein

Producers: Ferne Pearlstein, Robert Edwards, Anne Hobby, Jan Warner, Anne Hubbell

With: Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner, Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Gilbert Gottfried, Larry Charles, Harry Shearer

Can the Holocaust be funny? In this witty and moving documentary, spanning decades of humor on the most taboo of subject, button pushing comics like Mel Brooks and Sarah Silverman discuss why and how they joke about the genocide of their own people, from “Springtime for Hitler” to stand-up zingers. Meanwhile, Holocaust survivors and Jewish community leaders try to decide when they can laugh and when they draw the line.

Village Cinema #2 – Northstar California – Saturday, December 3 – 5:30pm

American Independent

For the Love of Spock

(USA, 2016, 111 min.)

Director: Adam Nimoy

Producers: Joseph Kornbrodt, Kevin Layne, David Zappone

With: Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto, Mayim Bialik, Jim Parsons, J.J Abrams, George Takei, Jason Alexander

For the Love of Spock is a documentary film about the life of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock as well as that of Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Mr. Spock for almost fifty years, written and directed by his son, Adam Nimoy. Leonard Nimoy owned a vacation home in Tahoe City for many years and loved to visit Lake Tahoe with his wife Susan to get away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles according to his daughter, Julie Nimoy.

Village Cinema #1 – Northstar California – Thursday, December 1 – 8:00pm

American Independent

The Architect

(USA, 2016, 95 min.)

Director: Jonathan Parker

Producers: Catherine DiNapoli, Jonathan Parker, Patrick Peach

Cast: Parker Posey, Eric McCormack, James Frain, Pamela Reed

Drew (Parker Posey) and Colin (Eric McCormack) are a married couple going through the stress of buying a new house. She is artistically inclined and prefers more vintage properties, while he is practical and leans toward new construction. They do find one they can agree on, but, this being a comedy, the day after they close a freak windstorm destroys it. They ask their friends for recommendations of an architect to build a new home on the old land, and end up with Miles Moss (James Frain), a modernist architect with unconventional methods. Drew loves that he asks the couple about their feelings and inspirations, but Colin doesn’t see the point. As they argue about what should go into their new home, they soon realize that Miles may be making his own dream home instead of theirs.

• Director Jonathan Parker present

Village Cinema #1 – Northstar California – Thursday, December 1 – 6:00pm

American Independent

Casting By

(USA, 89 min.)

Director: Tom Donahaue

Producers: Ilan Arboleda, Joanna Colbert, Tom Donahue, Kate Lacey-Kiley

With: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Woody Allen, Robert Redford, Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Diane Lane, Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, John Lithgow, Oliver Stone, Paul Rudd, Jon Voight, John Travolta and many others.

CASTING BY combines over 230 interviews, extensive archival footage, animated stills and documents to tell the untold tale of the Hollywood casting director. The film had its international premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, its US premiere at the New York Film Festival, and was acquired by HBO Documentary Films. The film is a celebration of the casting profession, highlighting its previously unsung role in film history while also serving as an elegy to the lost era of New Hollywood. It focuses on casting pioneer Marion Dougherty, an iconoclast whose exquisite taste, tenacity and gut instincts brought a new kind of actor to the screen that would mark the end of the old studio system and help to usher in this revolutionary new period. “The film features what is arguably the greatest assemblage of talking-head star power in any documentary ever made.” – Backstage

● Director Tom Donahue present

Incline Village Cinema – Sunday, December 4 – 4:00pm

American Independent

Thank You for Your Service

(USA, 2016, 88 min.)

Producers: Tom Donahue, Ilan Arboleda, Matt Tyson

With: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Admiral Mike Mullen, Generals David Petraeus and Loree Sutton, Sebastian Junger, Nicholas Kristof, Dexter Filkins, Senator Patty Murray, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and Colonels Lawrence Wilkerson and Dave Sutherland

The U.S. military faces a mental health crisis of historic proportions. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE takes aim at the flawed mental health policies within the armed services and and their tragic consequences. The film interweaves the stories of four Iraq War veterans with candid interviews with top military and civilian leaders. Observing the systemic neglect, this film argues for significant internal change and offers a roadmap of hope.

• Director Tom Donahue present

Incline Village Cinema – Sunday, December 4 – 6:00pm