Directed by: Rungano Nyoni
Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, and Henry B.J. Phiri
Synopsis: On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family, in filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and vibrant reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves.
Directed by: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Natalie Morales, Sonequa Martin-Green, Ed Harris, Gloria Reuben
Synopsis: Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family's ancestral lake house.
Directed by: Jon Gunn
Starring: Zachary Levi, Patricia Heaton, Jacob Laval, Meghann Fahy
Synopsis: When his parents, Scott (Zachary Levi) and Teresa (Meghann Fahy), learn that Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become “unbreakable,” finding joy, gratitude, and courage even in the most trying times — an extraordinary true story about a father and son learning together that every day can be the best day of your life!
Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino
Starring: Celeste Dalla Porta, Stefania Sandrelli, Gary Oldman, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Isabella Ferrari
Synopsis: Parthenope, born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino comes a monumental and deeply romantic story of a lifetime.
Directed by: Sareen Hairabedian
Synopsis: My Sweet Land is a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus Mountains. It follows an 11-year-old boy named Vrej, growing up in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who dreams of becoming a dentist in his picture-postcard village with its roaming ducks and golden bees. His sweet land, however, is strewn with mines from previous wars, shaping a country that remains unrecognized to the world. Vrej’s life takes a sudden turn when war erupts, forcing him to flee with his family. He spends his days in exile impatiently waiting for victory, but reality takes a different turn; Armenians lose the war. Upon returning to his surviving village, he confronts the devastation, new power dynamics, and education that prepares children for near-future battles. Vrej must learn the rules of war… But can he carry a nation’s hopes on his young shoulders? The film is a testament to the people of Artsakh, where hope and trauma had shaped their resilience across generations.
Directed by: Gia Coppola
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman
Synopsis: The Last Showgirl, a poignant film of resilience, rhinestones and feathers, stars Golden Globe® nominee, Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a glamorous showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. Directed by Gia Coppola, The Last Showgirl co-stars Oscar®, SAG® Award and Golden Globe® winner Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly’s best friend, who brings her own unique interpretation and brilliance to the story, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd. Written by Kate Gersten, the film is produced by Robert Schwartzman, Natalie Farrey and Gia Coppola and features a new original song “Beautiful That Way,” sung by pop superstar Miley Cyrus, produced by Academy Award nominee Andrew Wyatt and written by Wyatt, Cyrus and Lykke Li.
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, Victoria Hill
Synopsis: Aging filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), still fiery despite his battle with illness, wants to tell his life story, unfiltered, before it’s too late. As the director of acclaimed documentary exposés, he has much to be proud of, but his Vietnam War draft-dodging and his past relationships harbor thorny truths. Leonard sits for an extended interview with his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), relating candid stories about his younger self (Jacob Elordi) in the tumultuous 1960s and beyond. At Leonard’s insistence, his wife and indispensable artistic partner, Emma (Uma Thurman), bears witness to it all. His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left. Paul Schrader’s adaptation of Russell Banks’s novel sees him reunited with Gere more than 40 years after American Gigolo, and together they deliver a moving and deeply personal take on this story of an artist reflecting on a lifetime of storytelling.
Directed by: Edward Berger
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Ciarán Hinds, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Helen Behan, Clare Dunne
Synopsis: Oscar winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as devoted father Bill Furlong in this film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. While working as a coal merchant to support his family, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.
Directed by: Edward Berger
Starring: John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini
Synopsis: CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Emily Mitchell, Patch Darragh, Jeremy Strong, Martin Donovan, Maria Bakalova
Synopsis: The Apprentice is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire. It charts a young Donald Trump's ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.
Directed by: Aaron Schimberg
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, Renate Reinsve
Synopsis: Aspiring actor Edward undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
Directed by: Nora Fingscheidt
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillane
Synopsis: After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands — where she grew up — hoping to heal. Adapted from the bestselling memoir by Amy Liptrot.
Directed by: Megan Park
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Maisy Stella
Synopsis: The summer before college, bright-yet-irreverent Elliott (Stella) comes face-to-face with her older self (Plaza) during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny and heartfelt journey of self-discovery and first love as Elliott prepares to leave her childhood home.
Directed by: David Schurmann
Starring: Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza
Synopsis: Inspired by the incredible true story of DinDim the Penguin, this enchanting adventure is about a little lost penguin who - after being rescued from an oil spill - transforms the life and soul of the heartbroken fisherman. The penguin and the fisherman become unlikely friends, so bonded that even the vast ocean cannot divide them.
Directed by: Harry Macqueen
Starring: Stanley Tucci, Colin Firth
Synopsis: Sam (Colin Firth) and Tusker (Stanley Tucci), partners of twenty years, are travelling across England in their old campervan visiting friends, family and places from their past. Following a life-changing diagnosis, their time together has become more important than ever until secret plans test their love like never before.
Directed by: Dawn Porter
Synopsis: LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH the documentary film, chronicles the story of a vocal virtuoso. Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, Luther tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack. The film relives the many stunning moments of Vandross’ Grammy® award-winning musical career, while exploring his personal life, health struggles, and a lifelong battle to earn the respect his music deserved.
Directed by: Brett Story, Stephen Maing
Synopsis: On April 1, 2022 a group of ordinary workers made history when they did what everyone thought was impossible: they successfully won their election to become the very first unionized Amazon workplace in America. This feat would be extraordinary for any union, let alone the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), who did it with no prior organizing experience, no institutional backing, and a total budget of $120,000 raised on GoFundMe. Heralded as the most important win for labor since the 1930s, this highly cinematic documentary captures the ALU’s historic grassroots campaign to unionize thousands of their co-workers from day one of organizing.
Described by ALU President Christian Smalls as the “N.W.A. of the organizing world,” the group’s persona and strategies are highly unconventional: from wearing Money Heist costumes at press conferences to distributing free marijuana to workers. A core emotional arc arises out of the journey of these worker-turned organizers through a series of political battles, pivotal strategic events, and interpersonal tensions that test their commitments and their solidarity. Up against a corporate superpower and with legal protections at a drastic low for workers, all odds are against the ALU. Yet this rag-tag ensemble remains unswayed in their beliefs in collective action and the dignity and power of the working-class.
Directed by: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon, Tom Hardy, Boyd Holbrook, Damon Herriman, Norman Reedus
Synopsis: THE BIKERIDERS, starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy and Norman Reedus, follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.
Directed by: Marco Bellocchio
Cast: Paolo Pierobon, Fausto Russo Alesi, Barbara Ronchi, Enea Sala, Leonardo Maltese, Filippo Timi, Fabrizio Gifuni
Synopsis: In 1858, in the Jewish quarter of Bologna, the Pope’s soldiers burst into the home of the Mortara family. By order of the cardinal, they have come to take Edgardo, their seven-year-old son. The child had been secretly baptized by his nurse as a baby and the papal law is unquestionable: he must receive a Catholic education. Edgardo’s parents, distraught, will do anything to get their son back. Supported by public opinion and the international Jewish community, the Mortaras’ struggle quickly takes a political dimension. But the Church and the Pope will not agree to return the child, to consolidate an increasingly wavering power.
Directed by: Christopher Burke
Synopsis: FOR LOVE & LIFE: NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN is an emotionally gripping documentary illustrating the power of love and determination in the face of adversity. The film follows the life of Brian Wallach and his wife Sandra in the aftermath of his ALS diagnosis at age 37. Exemplifying bravery, inspiration and hope, Brian and Sandra, continue to fight against a broken system for their own future, while seeking to build a brighter one for countless others.
Phoenix Film Foundation
7000 E. Mayo Blvd., #1059
Phoenix, AZ 85054 480-513-3195
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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.