Opening nationally with Sophie Brooks’s directorial debut THE BOY DOWNSTAIRS featuring Girls star Zosia Mamet as Diana, an ambitious, aspiring writer who finds the perfect Brooklyn apartment only to discover that her new downstairs neighbour is her ex-boyfriend. Join us at the opening night for a New York style bite and live music.

The strong program features hard hitting dramas including: 55 STEPS – based on the true story of the friendship between lawyer Colette Hughes (Hilary Swank) and psychiatric patient Eleanor Riese (Helena Bonham Carter) and their 1987 San Francisco case for patients’ rights; Lynn Shelton’s new drama OUTSIDE IN which sees an ex-con (Jay Duplass) struggling to readjust to life in his small town (also co-starring Eddie Falco); in MY DAYS OF MERCY Ellen Page and Kate Mara star as lovers against the backdrop of a death penalty case, whose burgeoning relationship is tested by their opposing political views; THE YELLOW BIRDS is based on the acclaimed novel by American poet and veteran Kevin Powers, and follows two young soldiers who face the terrors of the Iraq War; an ailing photographer (Ed Harris), his nurse (Elizabeth Olsen) and his estranged son (Jason Sudeikis) embark on a road-trip across America in KODACHROME; from the producers of Harry Potter, I KILL GIANTS sees a defiant teenage girl escape her family and school life into a fantasy world where she fights evil giants; and in THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN Bill Pullman is Lefty Brown in this classic bounty huntin’, revenge dealin’ old school Western adventure where a busted-out loser meets a quick shooting gang on the open range.

Crime dramas and thrillers are well represented with: NEVER HERE a haunting Lynchian thriller, starring Mireille Enos (The Killing) and the late Sam Shepard in his last screen appearance; black comedy MOM AND DAD in which Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair star as a suburban couple who are caught in a bizarre phenomenon that fills parents with a murderous rage; and direct from Cannes comes biopic GOTTI.Exuding charisma, John Travolta transforms into the late John Gotti, aka “Teflon Don,” for this chronicle of the mafia kingpin’s rise to power over three decades.

On the lighter side is the heartfelt comedy HUMOR ME staring Jemaine Clement as a struggling playwright who moves into his wisecracking father’s (Elliott Gould) New Jersey retirement community; and PET NAMES in which a former couple find themselves in close quarters in a Wisconsin-set feature directed by Carol Brandt.

Get your music fix with AMERICAN FOLK, about two musicians (played by Joe Purdy and Amber Rubarth) stranded in California, who take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music and based on the award-winning Off-Broadway musical, STUCK follows a group of strangers who are stranded on a New York subway train together, starring Ashanti and Giancarlo Esposito; and documentary HOW THEY GOT OVER featuring rare interviews with the genre’s pioneers, traces the origins of African-American gospel quartets in the 1930s and 40s creating a sound that foreshadowed rock ‘n’ roll.

Another documentary offering, RBG is a triumphant look at the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealing the woman behind the robe and the experiences that continue to shape her legacy.

In a special retrospective program that honours the life, loves and dark side of LA comes WATTSTAX. More than a concert film, WATTSTAX captures a heady moment in mid-1970s African-American culture, just seven years after the Watts riots and features performances by musical greats like the Staple Singers. Screening as part of a special double feature with KILLER OF SHEEP, the lyrical and starkly neorealist, portrait of a struggling African-American family in L.A.’s Watts neighbourhood influenced generations of filmmakers and is widely regarded as an American masterpiece.

In splendid newly restored 4k, you can re-live the crime saga of HEAT, which sees Al Pacino and Robert De Niro on opposite sides of the law, featuring one of cinema’s greatest showdowns.

Plus see CHINATOWN on the big screen again. In one of his most iconic roles, Jack Nicholson stars as Jake Gittes, a dogged private investigator in ‘30s Los Angeles; co-starring Faye Dunaway. And set on the eve of Nixon’s 1968 election win SHAMPOO sees a pleasure-seeking Beverly Hills hairdresser (Warren Beatty) dreaming of opening his own salon in Hal Ashby’s screwball classic.

The American Essentials Film Festival
Sydney: May 8 – 20, Palace Central
Canberra: May 9 – 20, Palace Electric
Brisbane: May 9 – 20, Palace Centro
Melbourne: May 10 – 20, The Astor Theatre & Kino Cinemas
Tickets are now availablewww.americanessentials.com.au

This May, Palace Cinemas once again are bringing the best of American independent film to Australian screens with American Essentials. Twenty films make their Australian premiere—many hot on the heels of their world premieres at A-list festivals around the world—as the three-week festival tours five cities, celebrating the latest indie treasures in narrative feature and documentary, together with newly restored American classics.

Straddling styles from thriller to melodrama, comedy to body horror, symphonic documentary to visual art, American Essentials’ world-class program of thirty-one films curated by Artistic Director Richard Sowada reflects the remarkable breadth of contemporary independent cinema produced in the US.

Richard Sowada: “The 2017 American Essentials program showcases the vitality and incredible talent of some of the most exciting young directors today, such as Kentucker Audley & Albert Birney (Sylvio), Kogonada (Columbus) and Xander Robin (Are We Not Cats). These directors strive to present new perspectives and approaches, while honouring the rich traditions of American storytelling.

“These are bold works by filmmakers who are unquestionably voices we’ll hear well into the future – films that take no prisoners in their analysis of the current political environment, and films that dazzle in their capacity to entertain audiences of all shapes, sizes, tastes and ages.”

Highlights of the fifteen new American Essentials narrative features include Opening Night film,20th Century Women, Oscar-winning director Mike Mills’ moving tale of a mother doing her best to bring up a teenage son starring Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig; Are We Not Cats, a deliciously imaginative debut of romantic magical realism; Walking Out, an incredible wilderness drama; the lean and mean thriller Detour, and Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut, an adaptation of Philip Roth’s sprawling epic American Pastoral.

The line-up of eight new documentaries includes the festival centrepiece, Josh Greenbaum’sBecoming Bond, a laugh-out-loud docu-drama about Australia’s one-time-only Bond, George Lazenby; as well as Kevin Ford, Smriti Keshari and Eric Schlosser’s blistering symphonic political documentary The Bomb, which is composed of footage spanning the early days of atomic bomb development to deep space, and set against a thundering score from electronic outfit The Acid.

Reflecting a growing cinematic interest in literature, music and fine art, this year’s documentary stream includes David Lynch: The Art Life by Jon Nguyen, Rick Barnes, and Olivia Neergaard-Holm; G-Funk, Karam Gill’s star-studded exploration of West Coast hip-hop, featuring interviews with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Warren G, the late Nate Dogg and Ice Cube; and You Never Had It: An Evening With Bukowski, a visual stream-of-consciousness documentary made up entirely of until recently lost U-matic tapes of writer Charles Bukowski interviewed by journalist Silvia Bizio.

Paying homage to iconic American works and cult rarities, the seven retrospective titles featured in the Masters and Masterpieces section include Andy Warhol’s Bad, David Lynch’sEraserhead and a new 4K restoration of Woody Allen’s Annie Hall, all in their 40th-anniversary year, as well as Postcards From The Edge, Mike Nichols’ 1990 adaptation of the late Carrie Fisher’s autobiography dealing with her struggles with drugs and alcohol in Hollywood, starring Meryl Streep.

Pairing old and new, American Essentials presents two unmissable double bills: Matteo Borgardt’s You Never Had It: An Evening With Bukowski with Barbet Schroeder’s Barfly in its 30th-anniversary screening; and David Lynch: The Art Life screening with a new restoration of Lynch’s 1977 masterpiece, Eraserhead.

American Essentials Film Festival
SYDNEY – Tuesday 9 May to Wednesday 24 May – Palace Verona and Palace Norton Street
MELBOURNE – Thursday 11 May to Wednesday 24 May –  Palace Cinema Como, Palace Westgarth and The Astor Theatre
CANBERRA – Tuesday 16 May to Sunday 28 May – Palace Electric Cinema
BRISBANE – Wednesday 17 May to Sunday 28 May – Palace Centro
ADELAIDE – Thursday 18 May to Sunday 28 May – Palace Nova Cinemas
www.americanessentials.com.au

Competition will be drawn 16 May 2017, winners will be notified by mail.