MFF 2019 Festival Catalog

Films
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE HOTTEST AUGUST
Director: Brett Story
Producers: Danielle Varga, Brett Story
USA/Canada, 94 min.
NYC, August 2017, the summer after the presidential
inauguration. A city oppressed by the unrelenting heat
and the tensions that have been simmering ever since the
election. A city that is trying to grapple with a growing
anxiety over economic insecurity, rising rents, marching
white nationalists and ever-present news of natural
catastrophes across the country. THE HOTTEST AUGUST,
Brett Story’s (THE PRISON IN TWELVE LANDSCAPES)
latest documentary, is a complex and nuanced portrait
of a city and its inhabitants. Sampling works from Zadie
Smith, Karl Marx, and Annie Dillard, it offers a hypnotic
glimpse into a society on the verge of catastrophe,
registering the anxieties, distractions, and survival
strategies that preoccupy ordinary lives.
Saturday, May 11, 2:15 pm, Clairidge 4
Sunday, May 12, 5:30 pm, Clairidge 5
I LOVE YOU, NOW DIE:
THE COMMONWEALTH
VS. MICHELLE CARTER
Director: Erin Lee Carr
Producer: Andrew Rossi
USA, 140 min
The nation was rocked in July of 2014 by the suicide of
a Massachusetts teen named Conrad Roy. Roy, seeking
support from his girlfriend Michelle Carter, was instead
urged by her through phone calls and text messages to
follow through on his suicidal thoughts. But when Michelle
Carter was arrested and charged with manslaughter for
her role in his death, profound questions were raised
about the nature of free speech and her culpability in the
case. I LOVE YOU, NOW DIE is the latest incendiary true
crime tale from director Erin Lee Carr.
Saturday, May 11, 4:00 pm, MKA Upper School
FICTION FEATURE
NJ FILM COMPETITION
IN FABRIC
Director: Peter Strickland
Producer: Andy Starke
Cast: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hayley Squires, Leo Bill,
Julian Barrett, Steve Oram, Gwendoline Christie
UK, 118 min.
Peter Strickland’s hilarious, haunted take on art house
horror films of the 1970s, IN FABRIC is a ghost story set
against the backdrop of a busy winter sales period in a
department store. Looking for an outfit to enhance her
love life, Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) discovers a
beautiful red dress and brings it home. But the dress has
a mind of its own and soon creates mayhem as it passes
from person to person, with devastating consequences.
At once spooky and formally outrageous, IN FABRIC
guarantees customer satisfaction; you’ll never shop the
same way again!
Friday, May 10, 8:30 pm, Clairidge 1
Saturday, May 11, 7:00 pm, Clairidge 1
THE INFILTRATORS
Director: Cristina Ibarra, Alex Rivera
Producers: Cristina Ibarra, Darren Dean, Daniel J. Chalfen
USA, 95 min.
An unmissable, gut-wrenching film, Cristina Ibarra and
Alex Rivera’s THE INFILTRATORS skillfully combines
documentary with scripted segments to chronicle the
deeply dysfunctional US immigration detention system.
Claudio Rojas is detained by ICE outside his Florida
home and sent to the Broward Transitional Center, a
detention facility that functions as a holding space for
imminent deportations. Worried they’ll never see Claudio
again, his family contacts the National Immigrant Youth
Alliance (NIYA), a group of activist Dreamers known for
stopping deportations, to save Claudio. Once inside, they
discover an unjust system of oppression that they will
fight to change.
Saturday, May 11, 3:15 pm, Clairidge 2
Sunday, May 12, 5:45 pm, Clairidge 1
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