Frontrunners

In theaters: October 15th

• Genre:Documentary
• Director:Caroline Suh

FRONTRUNNERS is a smart and funny political documentary that follows the student council presidential campaign at one of the countryʼs most prestigious public high schools: Stuyvesant High School in New York City. An entertaining and symbolic campaign film, put forth in classic verité style, we follow four charming and idiosyncratic candidates as they navigate an electoral process that is said to be one of the most competitive at the high school level. These teenaged candidates face the same issues as candidates of any age, such as picking the ʻrightʼ running mate, shaking as many hands as possible, preparing for televised debates, impressing the pundits and journalistic community, addressing sensitive race-related issues, and mobilizing an apathetic voter base. A microcosm of the U.S. Presidential elections, Caroline Suh’s film shows politicking and pluralities through the lens of the adolescent experience.

Choose Connor

In theaters: October 10th

• Genre:Comedy
• Director:Luke Eberl
• Cast:Steven Weber, Alex Linz, Escher Holloway

Fifteen-year-old Owen Norris (Alex Linz) is at the top of his graduating middle-school class, has no friends and spends almost all of his time studying. But his mundane suburban life is changed forever when he meets Congressman Lawrence Connor (Steven Weber) and his young nephew Caleb (Escher Holloway). As Caleb and Owen become close friends, Connor offers Owen the position of “youth campaign spokesman” for the upcoming Senate primaries. Owen’s fun summer job takes a dark turn as he uncovers the frightening truth about the deranged secret world of politics in which he has become entangled. Directed by Luke Eberl.

Milk

In theaters: November 26th

• Genre:Drama
• Director:Gus Van Sant
• Cast:Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, James Franco

After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city’s mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White’s attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.

Mr. Milk had been the subject of several books and the Academy Award-winning documentary feature, The Times of Harvey Milk (1984); but Milk (2008) is the first fictional feature to explore private aspects of the man’s personal life and career.

Milk was filmed on location in San Francisco. Many of Mr Milk’s real-life surviving friends and former associates participated in the making of this film, several appearing on camera.

Waltz With Bashir

In theaters: December 26th

• Genre:Documentary
• Director:Ari Folman

One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there is a connection between the dream and their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images.

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