Wassaic Project Film Festival Announces 2015 Lineup, Including ‘Diary of a Teenage Girl’ and ‘Krisha’

READ MORE: Tribeca Winner ‘Zero Motivation’ to Screen At The Wassaic Project Film Festival

The Wassaic Project has announced its lineup for this year’s Wassaic Project Summer Film Festival, which includes Sundance and SXSW feature-length films, as well as shorts selected by the Wassaic Project and Jason Sondhi of Vimeo Staff Picks and Short of the Week.

30 festival attendees will also have the chance to attend a private viewing and discussion with directors and producers of an unknown “work-in-progress” film. In this film workshop, guests will have the chance to learn from the directors and producers’ process and see film development first-hand.

The 2015 Wassaic Project Film Festival runs July 31-August 2 in Wassaic, New York. Head to the Wassaic Project’s website for more information about the event. Check out the synopses of this year’s films below, courtesy of the Wassaic Project: 

Feature Films

“Art and Craft” – Director: Sam Cullman

“Art and Craft” starts out as a cat-and-mouse art caper, rooted in questions of authorship and authenticity—but what emerges is an intimate story of obsession and the universal need for community, appreciation and purpose.

The screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A with director Sam Cullman.

“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” – Director: Marielle Heller

Like most teenage girls, Minnie Goetze (Bel Powley) is longing for love, acceptance and a sense of purpose in the world. Minnie begins a complex love affair with her mother’s (Kristen Wiig) boyfriend, Monroe Rutherford (Alexander Skarsgard). What follows is a sharp, funny and provocative account of one girl’s sexual and artistic awakening, without judgment.

The screening of the film will be followed by a Skype Q&A with director Marielle Heller.

“Krisha” – Director: Trey Edward Shults 

A holiday celebration turns ugly when Krisha (Krisha Fairchild, the director’s real-life aunt) returns to the family she abandoned years ago in an attempt to prove that she has changed. Her every attempt at reconciliation is rebuffed and as she aggressively attempts to make up for lost time, tensions mount and nerves begin to unravel in this dizzying portrait of a woman—and family— on the verge.

“Safe” – Director: Todd Haynes

“Todd Haynes’s enviro-disease masterpiece ‘Safe’ might just be the most terrifying film of the last decade. There are no monsters or homicidal maniacs here—instead, the film’s horror emanates from an abstruse place where suburban drudgery gives way to a self-inflicted, existential crisis.” (Quoted from Slant’s Sal Cinquemani, 2002).

The screening of the film will be followed by a Guest Conversation with producer Christine Vachon. 

“(T)error” – Director: Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe

Saeed “Shariff” Torres, a counterterrorism informant for more than two decades, takes on what he swears is his last job for the FBI and invites filmmakers to follow his covert efforts to befriend a suspected jihadist – without informing his superiors. As surprising revelations emerge, not only about Torres’ past, but also about the increasingly murky ethical grounds of his present mission, “(T)error” explores just how far we are going to prevent terror and exactly what liberties we are sacrificing to get there.

The screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A with producer Christopher St. John. 

Short Program I: “Awkward Interpersonal Relations”

“A Reasonable Request” – Director: Andrew Laurich

A desperate son reconnects with his estranged father to ask an unspeakable favor that will change their lives forever.

“Avoidance” – Director: Erica Rotberg

A short animation about people’s emotional detachment from reality.

“The Girlfriend Game” – Director: Armen Antranikian

An erotic thriller about a twisted game a couple plays at bars. Then, one night, things get out of hand.

“Ringo” – Director: Yaara Sumeruk 

A lonely middle-aged mother hires a young male prostitute for an evening.

“Safety” – Director: Rory Uphold

Andy tries to get over her ex by getting under Morgan.

“This Is It” – Director: Alexander Engel 

Two college kids. First apartment. Shit gets real. Fast.

Short Program II: “Offbeat Fantasies”

“He Took His Skin Off For Me” – Director: Ben Aston

The story of a man who takes his skin off for his girlfriend, and why it probably wasn’t the best idea.

“Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Danger” – Director: Michael Lukk Litwak

Dinosaurs have invaded the earth but neither Tommy nor Stacey care anymore, now that they’ve met each other.

“My Mom is an Airplane” – Director: Yulya Aronova 

Yulya Aranova’s Annie-nominated short is child-like innocence and wonder epitomized.

“Sleepover LA” – Director: Lily Baldwin

An innocent tourist travels to LA and unexpectedly conjures her sister’s last night alive. 

“Snooze Time” – Director: Ivan Barge

A woman reflects on the effects and implications of time throughout the course of her life.

“Yearbook” – Director: Bernardo Britto

With the end of the world imminent, a man is hired to write the history of human existence.

READ MORE: Watch: First Trailer for Sundance Breakout ‘The Diary of a Teenage Girl’ Gets Honest About Female Sexuality

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