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Headsup: Independent Film Friday #1

Wichita DVD Life of Significant Soil DVD Game Changers DVD La Vie de Jean-Marie DVD
 

If you’re an independent film buff, one (or more!) of these titles may be right up your alley…

 

From Candy Factory Films comes Wichita, a horror flick that follows Jeb (played by Trevor Peterson), a failing children’s show director desperate to save his job by leading a work-intensive writers’ retreat in Aspen.   As the “retreat” progresses, Jeb is pushed to the brink and turns his frustrations outward as hidden cameras capture the homicidal results of his ever-deepening psychotic rage. The film co-stars Caitlin Gerard (as Natalie), Persia White (as Raven), Demetri Goritsas (as Clark) and Christopher Robles (as Billy) and was directed by Matthew Ward and Justyn Ah Chong. You can rent or purchase digitally on Amazon (for $4.99 and $9.99 respectively) and see the trailer below for a preview.

 

Taking its name from the final line of T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Dry Salvages,” Life of Significant Soil follows a couple whose relationship has outlasted their love for each other as they find themselves trapped in their last day together.  Starring Alexis Mouyiari (as Conor) and Charlotte Bydwell (as Addison), the film examines the building blocks of a once bright relationship and seeks to solve the mystery of how to keep its flame from self-extinguishing.  The film is the feature-length debut of director Michael Irish and was nominated for “Best Showcase Feature Film” in the 2016 Soho Film Festival and won “Best Feature Film” at both the Art of Bklyn Film Festival and the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival.  It is currently available on DVD from Candy Factory Films on Amazon for $14.99 and you can check out the trailer below.

 

Next up is Game Changers, the story of fading eSports gaming champions Bryan (Brian Bernys) and Scott (Jacob Albarella) as they try to regain their former greatness when faced with the realities and drudgery of adulthood.  As they put together a top tier team of players in an effort to regain their former glory, the pair are forced to ask themselves (and each other) how much they are willing to do to once again become the legends they were, and how much they are willing to risk losing along the way.  Rob Imbs wrote and directed the dramedy, which won “Best Feature” and “Best Gaming Film” at the 2016 Origins Film Festival.  The movie will be released on July 11 and Candy Factory Films has announced it will be available on DVD and digital platforms including Amazon and iTunes. To check out the trailer, see below.

 

Also later in July comes La Vie de Jean-Marie, a cinéma vérité documentary by director Peter van Houton about an elderly dutch pastor safeguarding the spiritual well being of twenty-five villages in the French Pyrenees.  A colorful portrait of a man who turned to his religious calling after being rejected by the love of his life, the film was created from material spanning six years of van Houton following the pastor in his everyday life and recording his thoughts and stories.  The film was featured at multiple festivals in 2015, including the Festival du Nouveau Cinema de Montreal in Canada, the IndieFestival El Horizonte and the IndieFestival Sao Paulo in Brazil, the International Festival du film de la Rochelle and the Petite Lanterne Olonne sur Mer Festival in France, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam and the Nederlands Film Festival in the Netherlands.  The DVD is available for pre-order on Amazon ($24.95, shipping on July 18) and according to IndiePix Films will also be available on Amazon channels and on IndiePix’s signature streaming service.  To see the trailer, just watch below.