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This year’s visual and narrative theme — cult suburbia — frames the story of the entire festival. And frankly, our cinematic neighborhood has grown so much that it could probably apply for municipal rights by now. The range and diversity of the program go far beyond the standard understanding of a housing estate. Luckily, our wise mayor Ula Śniegowska has drawn up a map to help you take your first steps around town. Above all, keep your eyes open for the unusual titles — the beautifully offbeat gems you might only ever see on the big screen at AFF. So, let’s hear from Ula!

Ula Śniegowska's TOP 10

How do you choose a TOP 10 when you’ve already chosen a TOP 137? Let’s start by omitting older titles included for nostalgic, educational, or sentimental reasons (after all, they’re selections from the All-Time 100, so each of them is important in its own right). Still, it’s not easy. How do you pick favorites from a competition lineup built on a year-long search for the most exciting works by new (not always young) directing talents?

I’d like to highlight 10 titles that might appear less prominent, hidden within the dense weave of the festival program, but which truly deserve attention — opportunities to experience them on the big screen may be few and far between.

By Design, dir. Amanda Kramer

There’s never been anything quite like it. Amanda Kramer’s quirky, melancholic comedy was hailed as the most stylish film at this year’s Sundance (and took part in last year’s edition of our US in Progress program). The title could be Trading Places: a woman (Juliette Lewis) falls in love with a chair, and when she can’t have it, she simply becomes it. The cast also includes Melanie Griffith, Mamoudou Athie, and Udo Kier.

The True Beauty Of Being Bitten By A Tick, dir. Pete Ohs

I believe Tick is the first American surrealist feature. It perfectly captures Pete Ohs’s anti-auteur, collaborative approach to directing (he’s involved in the production of three films in this year’s lineup). The script was written on set, responding to evolving relationships within the immediate crew. Four friends spend time in a remote house, and strange things begin to happen, with the turning point marked by a bite from a tiny bloodsucker.

Rosemead, dir. Eric Lin and Lucky Lu, dir. Lloyd Lee Choi

Two films reaffirm the strong presence of Asian filmmakers in American indie cinema. In Rosemead — a Locarno award-winner still collecting prizes across the US — Lucy Liu plays a desperate mother who, while battling a terminal illness, discovers her depressed son’s dangerous secret hobby. Meanwhile, Lucky Lu follows a man (played by Chang Chen, a star of Taiwanese cinema and a favorite of Wong Kar-Wai) who, after bringing his wife and daughter to the US, suddenly loses both his job and his apartment. A moving drama transposing Bicycle Thieves to modern-day Chinatown, Lucky Lu was screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.

The Plague, dir. Charlie Polinger

Also from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, this unsettling film stars Joel Edgerton as a coach trying to stem a wave of violence among boys on his school’s water polo team. A disturbing depiction of adolescence as a nightmare of bodies and emotions spinning out of control.

Late Fame, dir. Kent Jones

Don’t miss this unique reflection on the twists and illusions of fame. A beatnik poet turned modest New York postal worker (Willem Dafoe) suddenly finds himself “rediscovered” by young hipster enthusiasts. But is this really a blessing?

After This Death, dir. Lucio Castro

Director Lucio Castro (The End of the Century, Drunken Noodles) explores the pull of desire and fear in After This Death, screened at the Berlinale. Isabel (Mia Maestro) begins an affair with a cult musician who suddenly vanishes.

Lurker, dir. Alex Russell

Another dark satire in the program, blending horror with a take on celebrity obsession. Matthew (Theodore Pellerin, a face you won’t forget once you’ve seen it) will stop at nothing to become part of the entourage of the magnetic Oliver (Archie Madekwe, known from Saltburn and Gran Turismo).

Making Mr. Right, dir. Susan Seidelman

A crisis of masculinity, 1980s style, featuring John Malkovich in a dual role. A scientist creates an android — and for a modern, go-getting PR woman, Ulysses turns out to be more interesting than any real man she’s met.

Zodiak Killer Project, dir. Charlie Shackleton

Our ever-present self-referential streak (see Documents on Art and Film and the Alexander O. Philippe retrospective) culminates in one extraordinary title: Charlie Shackleton’s Sundance-award-winning Zodiak Killer Project. This fascinating meta-film explores an unrealized production — a story of an attempt, an intention — revealing the inner workings of filmmaking and everything creators must confront so that we, the audience, can fully indulge our love of cinema.

We invite you to the 16th TAURON American Film Festival, taking place from November 6 to 11 at the New Horizons Cinema in Wrocław. And until November 23, you can bring the festival home with online screenings available via the New Horizons VOD platform.

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