New Hampshire Film Festival Announces Spotlight Films

New Hampshire Film Festival Announces Spotlight Films

The New Hampshire Film Festival is proud to announce the following spotlight films.

All spotlight films take place on The Portsmouth Sheraton Music Hall Mainstage.

New Hampshire Night – Thursday, October 16, 8 P.M.

SlingShot – Director Paul Lazarus in attendance

Paul Lazarus’ feature length documentary focuses on Segway inventor Dean Kamen and his work to solve the world’s water crisis. SlingShot is about an indomitable man who just might have enough passion and innovative thinking to create a solution for a crisis affecting billions. His latest passion: the SlingShot water purification system was created to obliterate half of human illness on the planet. Kamen reminisces about improving home dialysis technology and choosing to forego parenthood while lamenting he has only one lifetime for inventing. SlingShot is both an inspirational character study and a look at Kamen’s vapor compression distiller from its earliest development through recent trials in rural Ghana and beyond.

Opening Night Film – Friday October 17, 7:30 P.M.

Men, Women & Children  – A New Hampshire Premiere

In this comedic drama, Director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Thank You For Smoking, Juno), explores how technology has changed the way we interact with one another. Kaitlyn Dever, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Ansel Elgort star as a group of teenagers and their parents that attempt to navigate the many ways the internet has changed their relationships, their communication, their self-image and their love lives. Men, Women & Children attempts to stare down social issues such as video game culture, anorexia, infidelity, fame hunting and the proliferation of illicit material on the internet.

Paramount Pictures has delayed the release of this film in New Hampshire to allow NHFF the state’s exclusive premiere.

Saturday Night Spotlight – Saturday, October 18, 8:15 P.M.

Low Down – Cast member Flea (of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), Writer Amy Albany and producer Chris Stinson all in attendance.

Director Jeff Preiss’ Low Down is a look at the life of pianist Joe Albany, portrayed by John Hawkes, from the perspective of his young daughter, Amy, who is portrayed by Elle Fanning. The film is based on Amy’s book Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales from Childhood. Low Down follows Amy as she watches her father struggle to balance his musical ambition, his devotion to his teenage daughter, and his suffocating heroin addiction during the 1960s and ’70s jazz scene. This biographical drama beautifully evokes the colorful, seedy world of struggling musicians, artists and vagabonds in which Amy grew up.

Closing Night Film – Sunday, October 19, 7:10 P.M.

Force Majeure – Sweden’s bid for the Foreign Language Oscar

Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure is the tale of a family ski vacation in the French Alps that is interrupted by a mid-day avalanche that catalyzes this wonderfully told drama. The avalanche shakes the family to its core and questions their values, leaving a question mark over their patriarch in particular. Tomas, portrayed by Johannes Kuhnke, is left struggling to reclaim his place in the family while his wife, Ebba, portrayed by Lisa Loven Kongsli is left to question their marriage.

To experience all of these great films and more, buy a VIP pass today at the NHFF Online Box Office.