There are a lot of new and interesting titles being debuted next month at SXSW including new movies and series. Here are the titles that will be making their premiere this year for Obscured Pictures.
World Premiere: ANGEL APPLICANT – (Acquisition Title)
Paul Klee, a Swiss-German painter, fled Germany in 1933 when he and other modern artists were vilified by the rising Nazi Party. Isolated in Switzerland, a mysterious disease began wreaking havoc on his body and profoundly changing his artwork. Narrator/director, Ken August Meyer, explores Klee’s expressive last works after being diagnosed with the same life-threatening disease, systemic scleroderma. Through a curation of Klee’s work, Ken finds powerful messages on coping with his own mortality. Using colorful and whimsical visuals, “Angel Applicant” echoes the mystique and ironic wit of Klee, demonstrating how creativity can inspire us to overcome personal suffering and make the most of life.
World Premiere – EYESTRING (Acquisition Title)
Veronica has a mysterious string growing out of her eye and a cryptic message from a hotline service. As the string grows, strange signs related to the hotline message appear everywhere. Each clue she finds only further complicates the question. She must find a way to free herself.
World Premiere – LOUDER THAN YOU THINK (Acquisition Title)
An up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young, the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band’s early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction. Thirty years on with scoliosis, blood clots, and a shriveled liver, Gary is still drumming with no regrets. Note: no puppets were harmed in the making of this film.
World Premiere – NORTHERN COMFORT (Acquisition Title)
A rag-tag bunch of fearful flyers are about to complete a high-end therapeutic course to overcome their fear of flying. The course’s final challenge is an ‘exposure flight’: a return short-haul flight during which they will face their phobia, and in theory, conquer their fear. The group consists of a property developer in her 40s, a social-media ‘influencer’ couple in their late 20s and a former SAS-serviceman turned crime-novelist in his 60s.The destination turns out to be Iceland and the flight ends up being a complete nightmare. When the group finally steps onto solid ground, their anxiety levels are off the charts and the idea of taking a flight back home to London becomes an unbearable prospect. As their intended flight is repeatedly delayed, the airline invites the group to wait out the impending storm in a remote luxury ‘wellness’ hotel somewhere in the bleak, wild moonscape of the Reykjanes peninsula. All relative strangers to each other, each member of the group will not only have to negotiate their own vulnerabilities but also the sometimes-shocking behaviors of their fellow travelers. As tensions grow and conflicts escalate they each face one crucial question: can I finally let go?
World Premiere – Marvin?
Squatting in Amsterdam two friends, Dave and Sam, struggle with their queerness and substance addictions, until Marvin, a magic dream manifesting fridge shows up and gives them everything they want. They soon learn their materialistic world doesn’t bring them happiness, instead Marvin manifests lessons Dave and Sam need, teaching them what real happiness means.
Texas Premiere – THE STARLING GIRL (Bleecker Street)
Seventeen-year-old Jem Starling struggles to define her place within her fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky. Even her greatest joy — the church dance group — is tempered by worry that her love of dance is actually sinful, and she’s caught between a burgeoning awareness of her own sexuality and an instinctive resistance to her mom’s urging that the time has come to begin courting. She finds respite from her confusion in the encouragement of her youth pastor Owen, who is likewise drawn to the blossoming Jem’s attention.
North American Premiere – UPON ENTRY (Acquisition Title)
Diego, a Venezuelan urbanist, and Elena, a contemporary dancer from Barcelona, move to the United States with their approved visas to start a new life. Their intention is to boost their professional careers and start a family in ‘the land of opportunities’. But upon entering Newark airport’s immigration area, they are taken to the secondary inspection room, where border officers will subject them to an unpleasant inspection process and a psychologically grueling interrogation. Over the next few hours, the fate of Elena, Diego and their dreams is called into question as the officers interviewing them try to discover whether the couple may have something to hide, thus jeopardizing their entry.