Government secrecy is ostensibly practiced with the protection of national security interests in mind. The dramatic increase in the volume of classified information is making the sharing of data amongst agencies and intelligence gatherers increasingly difficult. Presently, the protection of state secrets is under heightened scrutiny, since the practice, some say, is being used by the Bush administration to avoid accountability for its own misdeeds.

Robb Moss and Peter Galison’s insightful and balanced film examines the many aspects of the United States’ various secrecy programs. The subject matter explored in the film is augmented with visually rich animations and installments, which along with a brilliant score produces an exhilarating cinematic experience.

Directors: Peter Galison, Robb Moss; Editor: Chyld King; Associate Producers: Beth Sternheimer, Tricia Wilk, Caitlin Boyle, Ann Kim

Despondent over his divorce, Paul tries to take an overdose of sleeping pills. The young woman who works at the pharmacy secretly loves him and intercedes by giving him a placebo instead. When Paul tries to discover what really happened, he winds up finding there is a lot more in his world than he ever realized. Including, perhaps, a reason to live.

Written and Directed by Chuck Rose

Somewhere at the edge of our vast universe, there’s a robot planet inhabited only by machines. One day, a plucky young robot discovers signs of organic life and sets out across a barren desert to find it.

Written and Directed by Tatchapon Lertwirojkul

Set in the near future in Mexico, Alex Rivera’s ambitious first feature is a scifi political parable about Memo Cruz (Luis Fernando) who lives in a small dusty village with his family who eeks out a living growing crops on their small farm. Luis’s love of technology and satelite radio hacking inadvertently provokes a military strike on his home. Reeling from the tragic consequences of his mistake, Luis makes his way to the one of the big cities “up north” determined to make a fresh start. Sleep Dealer serves up a fast paced and suspenseful story with a healthy dose of astute political commentary and frightening insights into what may be in store for the near future.

Saturday, June 21, 11:30 a.m.
Unitarian Universalist Church,
11 Orange Street

Each year, the Nantucket Film Festival demonstrates its commitment to the written word with staged readings of screenplays. This year we’re reading the much-loved classic. SOME LIKE IT HOT. Two Struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. They must find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only job that will pay their way is an all girl band! The two men dress up as women and the resulting hilarious antics are film history.

Most have heard the story: In October 1972, a plane carrying a rugby team from Uruguay crashed in the Andes mountains. Sixteen of the original 45 passengers spent 72 days on a frozen glacier resorting to cannibalism in order to survive.

Gonzalo Arijon’s deeply moving and poetic documentary revisits the story with such fresh and personal perspective that we feel as if we are experiencing it completely anew. Much more than an examination of the men’s well-publicized survival methods, the film invites us to share in the philosophical soul searching each of the men went through in order to choose life over death.

Director: Gonzalo Arijon; Editors: Claudio Hughes, Samuel Lajus, Alice Larry

It’s a hot summer day in Brooklyn, and Stanley gets an idea to plant a tree for some relief. The whole block benefits from the shade and all is well, until the neighborhood’s abuse of the tree drives Stanley over the edge.

Written and Directed by Paul Starkman

Transsiberian is a thriller set on the legendary train that links the Far East and Europe. Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) decide to travel on the Transsiberian Railway from China to Moscow, through exotic, wild, and snow-laden places. They take refuge in the company of Carlos and Abby, a fellow western couple, who are sharing their private compartment. Roy gets temporarily separated from the rest of the group and when Carlos tries to take advantage of Jessie, things go from bad to worse. She soon discovers that Carlos and Abby are in fact drug dealers, being pursued by corrupt police officers, who are now chasing her!

Brad Anderson successfully contributes to the canon of great train films with this suspenseful and intricate thriller. Ominous images of the thundering, merciless train mirror the rapidly worsening situation in which Roy and Jesse find themselves. Our heroes, like the train, itself are on a fast track to disaster.

Writers: Brad Anderson, Will Conroy; Director: Brad Anderson; Cast: Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer, Kate Mara, Thomas Kretschmann, Eduardo Noriega, Ben Kingsley; Producer: Julio Fernandez

Trouble the Water begins the day before Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans, and tells the story of Kimberly Rivers Roberts and her street-wise husband, trapped in the city by deadly floodwaters. They survive the storm, and then seize a chance for a new beginning. Kimberly captures their harrowing ordeal using an inexpensive video camera and essentially rewrites most of the media coverage of the disaster. Directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal incorporate Kimberly’s footage into an unapologetic and riveting tale of governmental neglect and mainstream media failure.

Directors: Tia Lessin, Carl Deal; Editor: T. Woody Richman; Co-Producer: Amir Bar Lev

Insecurity and tension rise as Kenneth LeComb, a down and out bartender, is forced to work in the presence of Herbert Zelinger, a world-renowned, accomplished artist.

Written and Directed by Peter Bolte

It’s the summer of 1994 and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop and wafting with the sweet aroma of marijuana. Luke (Josh Peck) is a teenage dealer whose business is aimed at keeping his family’s home from foreclosure. Josh forges an unlikely friendship with his eccentric therapist Dr. Squires (Ben Kingsly) who accepts pot as payment for their sessions. Besides their mutual interest in marijuana, both Luke and Squires are struggling with the larger questions of life, and increasingly rely on each other for support and inspiration. Luke falls for Squires’ popular and pretty stepdaughter (Olivia Thirlby), who breaks his heart just as Squires’ much younger wife (Famke Janssen) decides to leave him. Luke is able to reach out to Squires in his time of need and both men move on together on their journey towards maturity.

The Wackness is an amusing and offbeat tale, which captures the summer spirit of New York replete with its boundless opportunities for love, and the painfully sweet taste of innocence lost.

Writer: Jonathan Levine; Director: Jonathan Levine; Cast: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Famke Janssen, Olivia Thirlby, Mary Kate Olsen, Method Man; Producers: Joe Neurauter, Keith Calder, Felipe Marino

Nathan Weller is an unapologetic germophobe. Aside from his weekly group therapy, he lives in isolation, happily spending his days in a sealed-off bubble of an apartment. That is, until a devastating plague hits, and a knock on his hermetically-sealed window changes everything.

Written and Directed by Tim Cawley

Thomas Lindsey (Jeff Clark) is an American everyman. He doggedly pursues his door-to-door sales job hoping for advancement and tries to make the best of his cheerless existence. Thomas works for Paul Stubbs (Paul Mahaffy), the manager of Wellness, who berates him as an incompetent. Wellness is a sham outfit and obvious pyramid scheme. Lindsey realizes his dream of success is doomed to failure. The viewer is a witness to his inevitable downfall.

Wellness is a great example of a low-budget independent film, which reaffirms the notion that a strong script in the hands of a sensitive director can transcend production limitations and that story still reins king.

Writer: Jake Mahaffy; Director: Jake Mahaffy; Cast: Jeff Clark, Paul Mahaffy; Producer: Jake Mahaffy

Octogenarian comic Jackie Bright, who was a star in the era of vaudeville and later on television, finds himself nearing the end of his life routine. His final struggle is to make it to his grandson's wedding.

Directed by Kevin S. Bright and Linda Feferman