Directed by: Allison Berg
Synopsis: Fifty years ago, The Rocky Horror Picture Show burst onto the scene and blew everyone’s minds—a glorious, campy, sexy, utterly bizarre midnight ritual that turned movie-going into something you did rather than just watched. For misfits, dreamers and the delightfully weird, Rocky Horror became their sanctuary. And for the queer community especially, it was something even more powerful: the one place you could feel completely, gloriously free.
Directed by: Adam Meeks
Starring: Will Poulter, Noah Centineo, Annette Deao
Synopsis: Will Poulter and Noah Centineo deliver pitch-perfect performances as brothers Cody and Jack Parsons, each navigating a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program in a pocket of rural Ohio hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Provided with hope for the first time since their struggles began and with the support of a tireless counselor (Annette Deao), the brothers work toward a brighter, sober future. Poulter and Centineo blend seamlessly with a supporting cast composed predominantly of non-professional actors as they share their actual experiences, pain, and optimism as they, themselves, navigate the program. Ohio-born filmmaker Adam Meeks creates a film imbued with realism for an honest, compassionate portrait of a battle being fought across America and the solidarity that flowers on its front lines.
Directed by: Lee Kirk
Starring: Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman, Ryan Foust and Mckenna Grace, Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Fred Armisen, Bobby Lee, Jolene, Keen Ruffalo, Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, Sean Gunn, Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool
Synopsis: When Tommy receives a phone call inviting his band to open for Green Day on New Year's Eve, he doesn’t realize it’s an elaborate prank by his older brother, Wayne. Desperate to believe his life is about to change, Tommy steals Wayne's car and begins driving his band from Kansas City to Los Angeles, hell bent on getting there in three days. What follows is a rowdy and uproarious road trip across America, inspired by Green Day’s early days of touring in a van, years before the release of their breakout record Dookie.
Directed by: Cyril Aris
Starring: Mounia Akl, Hasan Akil, Julia Kassar, Camille Salameh
Synopsis: In this sweeping love story that spans three decades of friendship, passion, heartbreak, and hope, Nino, an eternal optimist, and Yasmina, an impulsive pragmatist, are drawn together by a magnetic relationship. Struggling with universal choices of adult life in the extraordinary circumstances of a country constantly ravaged by war, they are confronted with an impossible choice between love and survival. They must decide if they can build a family and chart a path to happiness in Lebanon, despite the tragedies ravaging their country, or if they should seize the opportunity for reinvention far from home.
Directed by: Lauren Meyering
Starring: Gretchen Mol, Jerod Haynes, Lillian Carrier, Tony Hale, Matthew Schwab, Iqbal Theba
Synopsis: As her mother battles an uncertain diagnosis, neurodivergent 22-year-old Margarita discovers a source of strength in an unexpected place: the sport of hobbyhorsing.
Directed by: Mark Jenkin
Starring: George MacKay, Callum Turner
Synopsis: 30 years ago, the Rose of Nevada disappeared at sea. Now, it has returned. Desperate to make ends meet, two men join its crew and set sail once again, but soon discover they’ve been transported back into the past, where they are mistaken for the original crew.
Directed by: Sasha Waters Freyer
Featuring: John Waters, Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Steve Buscemi, and Oprah Winfrey
Synopsis: If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Celebrated best-selling poet, Pulitzer Prize-winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, openly queer but intensely private, Oliver was America’s unlikely contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself – and her readers – to the known and unknowable world. From a lonely childhood to literary fame, Oliver’s life was shaped by devotion to nature, paying attention, and the long journey toward learning to love and to be loved. Her poems inspire liberals and conservatives, atheists and believers, naturalists and urbanites, speaking directly to contemporary anxieties about attention, presence, and the human relationship with the natural world – issues that feel especially pressing in an era of climate crisis, digital distraction, and social fragmentation.
Featuring interviews with her close friends, including John Waters, never-before-seen personal photos, notebooks, and correspondence from her archive, and recitations of her work by Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Steve Buscemi, and Oprah Winfrey, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World considers the poet’s long lifetime of work in context, capturing the uniqueness of her world and the natural beauty that inspired her.
Directed by: Dawn Porter (Luther: Never Too Much, John Lewis: Good Trouble)
Synopsis: In 1983, noted author Ta-Nehisi Coates remembers learning that a 14-year old boy was murdered in the corridor of his Baltimore middle school. Revisiting the case as an adult, he learns the truth about the three innocent teenagers who were convicted and sentenced to life. After 36 years in prison, it was revealed that false testimony led to their imprisonment. WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS explores the collateral damage the handling of this case had on the community, the wrongfully accused, and the young witnesses pressured to betray them.
Directed by: Katie Aselton
Starring: Katie Aselton, Daveed Diggs, Brad Garrett
Synopsis: Charlie and Erin escape to the desert to navigate an unexpected and challenging new phase of their relationship. A Duplass Brothers Production starring Daveed Diggs (Hamilton) and Katie Aselton (The League). A South by Southwest premiere.
Phoenix Film Society membership includes tickets and fun perks for the annual Phoenix Film Festival each year!
This year’s 11 day celebration of film included over 260 film screenings, filmmaking panels, parties, student workshops, and much more - all at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theatre.
It’s the perfect place to find your new favorite movie.
Directed by: Tony Benna
Starring: André Ricciardi
Synopsis: A celebration of life filled with raw honesty, surreal bursts of imagination, and brazen irreverence, ANDRÉ IS AN IDIOT shows us what it really means to live happily, truthfully, and hilariously. In this Sundance award winning documentary, André Riccardi sets out to chronicle his final journey after receiving a diagnosis he could have prevented, through comedic vérité storytelling and fantastical stop-motion interludes.
Directed by: Stephanie Laing
Starring: Rose Byrne, Jason Cottle, Fredi Bernstein
Synopsis: The true story of Amanda Ogle, a homeless Seattle woman who fought her way out of tow-company hell to reclaim her life and car after receiving a tow bill for $21,634.
Directed by: Kenneth Cran
Starring: Brit Morgan, John Charles Meyer, Susan Papa, Etienne Eckert, Micah Cohen, KylieRae Condon, and Missi Pyle
Synopsis: A happily married father of two, shaken by a message written in a birthday card for his daughter, abruptly leaves his family for a week-long trek through the Grand Canyon. As we follow his solo hike, we see his memories of an earlier trip through the Grand Canyon with a different woman.
Directed by: David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin
Starring: Pavel Talankin, David Borenstein
Synopsis: In Mr. Nobody Against Putin, Pasha Talankin is an unlikely hero – a beloved Russian primary school teacher, known as a mentor and prankster, who offers students a safe haven in his office. After Russia invades Ukraine, Pasha’s role in the school changes dramatically as he is reluctantly drawn into Putin’s propaganda machine. Forced to promote state-sanctioned messages and horrified by the transformation of his school and community, he struggles with guilt and a sense of powerlessness, leading him to become an international whistleblower. As the school’s videographer, Pasha documents intimate and revealing footage of Putin’s regime, capturing the rise of militarized children’s groups, repressive laws, fervent nationalism, and the recruitment of graduating students to fight in the war. When he learns his own life may be at risk, Pasha is forced to plan a dangerous escape from Russia.
Directed by David Borenstein and co-directed by Pasha Talankin, this uniquely collaborative film is as captivating and joyful as it is eye-opening and sobering. Mr. Nobody Against Putin showcases rare footage that reveals the profound impact of Putin’s regime on the lives of everyday Russians, particularly its children.
Directed by: Kelsey Taylor
Starring: Maddison Brown, Ivan Martin, Kaitlin Doubleday, Michael Esper, Dana Millican, David Knell
Synopsis: On the fringes of the Oregon wilderness, two strangers are brought together when a reclusive Woodsman (Ivan Martin) discovers a teenage runaway, Dani (Maddison Brown) hypothermic and barely conscious in the woods. After saving Dani from the elements, The Woodsman begrudgingly agrees to return the teen to her grandmother. As they make their way across the state, they forge an unexpected bond, delving into their pasts and testing their willingness to trust one another. Ultimately, with each other’s help, they find the courage to face the demons that haunt them and discover a way to start anew.
Directed by: Joshua Zeman
Starring: Oleksandr Feldman, Oleksii Husak, Vitalii Ilchenko, Andrii Kharchenko, Tymofii Kharchenko, Andrii Kolesnikov, Serhii Kolesnikov
Synopsis: Checkpoint Zoo documents a daring rescue led by a heroic team of zookeepers and volunteers, who risked their lives to save thousands of animals trapped in a zoo behind enemy lines in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine.
Directed by: Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
Starring: Isaac Levi Anthony, Varda Appleton, David Birmingham, Carly Cannata, Jeffrey Dutemple, Fred Isseks
Synopsis: A teacher inspires a group of teenagers in the early 1990s to make a student film and they uncover a conspiracy that is poisoning their community. Thirty years later they revisit this transformative experience.
Directed by: Kaouther Ben Hania
Starring: Saja Kilani, Motaz Malhees, Clara Khoury, Amer Hlehel
Synopsis: Red Crescent volunteers receive an emergency call. A 6-year old girl is trapped in a car under IDF fire in Gaza, pleading for rescue. While trying to keep her on the line, they do everything they can to get an ambulance to her.
Directed by: Harry Lighton
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Lesley Sharp, Harry Melling, Douglas Hodge, Anthony Welsh, Jake Shears, Miranda Bell, Billy King
Synopsis: A directionless man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, and Juno Temple
Synopsis: .A man claiming to be from the future takes the patrons of an iconic Los Angeles diner hostage in search of unlikely recruits in a quest to save the world.
Phoenix Film Foundation
7000 E. Mayo Blvd., #1059
Phoenix, AZ 85054 480-513-3195
Questions? Contact us.
The Phoenix Film Society is a program under the 501(c)3 non-profit organization Phoenix Film Foundation, and is a sibling of Phoenix Film Festival, International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival, IFP/Phoenix, Arizona Student Film Festival, Peoria Film Fest and Phoenix Critics Circle. The Phoenix Film Foundation is dedicated to promoting diversity and education in the arts, elevating underrepresented voices, and driving the growth of independent film in Arizona. Through film showcases and accessible educational initiatives, we cultivate a vibrant, inclusive cinematic community, utilizing it as a catalyst for personal growth, creative expression, and positive social change.