Parkour – a movement discipline based on French military obstacle-course training – might be considered controversial, but seeing it is not. Cedric Dahl’s documentary follows five American parkour practitioners who share this passion for movement. Characterized as a physical “type of freedom,” “kind of expression,” and “state of mind,” parkour has influenced the stunts in action films from Bond to Bourne. But there’s much more to it than chasing the bad guy with acrobatic moves. As one practitioner comments, “If you listen to the movement it teaches us to touch the world and interact instead of being sheltered by it.”

Lotte, the irrepressible canine heroine and her invention-loving relatives are back! PCFF premiered this film in Providence in 2013, and now a new generation can enjoy her antics.

It’s not often that a sequel far outshines the original, but” Lotte and the Moonstone Secret” is that movie! The irrepressible canine heroine of “Lotte in Gadgetland” (PCFF 2012) and her invention-loving relatives are back. Lotte takes us on a wonderful journey where you will visit with lunar rabbits, ballroom-dancing cats, fitness-mad cows and singing penguins in pants. Light but not lightweight, charming but not silly, genuinely funny both in visuals and dialogue, “Lotte” is a breath of animated fresh air.

Three countries. One passion. Three hundred bodies — climbing, reaching the sky to build a human tower.

In Mumbai, India, a team of men attempt to break the Indian record for biggest human tower at the one-day Dahi Handi Festival. In Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain, a group of castellers ( climbers) formed by men, women and children share their passion with the world following a tradition that goes back 400 years. A legendary coach takes his passion to Santiago, Chile, hoping to empower and help the local groups to improve their performances while unifying them as a community.

The film cuts between the three countries, leading to a major climatic scene that will take your breath away and keep you on the edge of your seat. All it takes is one shaky foot and the human tower falls, sending hundreds of bodies tumbling in the rain or into the mud or onto the crumbling pavement of a forgotten neighborhood. A passion beyond race, borders, and ages. A global story of fearless skills heart-pounding suspense and also of human connection.

Why Make Human Towers? Human towers are medicine for the soul. You risk your life for a moment of sublime camaraderie and community. Trust is paramount. All it takes is one shaky foot and the entire tower falls, sending you and hundreds of others tumbling into the air, onto each other and then onto the pavement. Building human towers is more than a quirky attraction, more than an international sport and more than a refuge for lost youth. It’s more even than a thirst for the glory of winning. A human tower, when done right, represents an unparalleled passion for human connection that goes beyond race, borders and ages. In this sense, the world’s best human tower builders represent all of us — all people, all communities, all nations — in our hope for a better future.

Bored and all alone in the sky, the Moon Man hitches a ride to Earth on a passing comet. His arrival is mistaken as an attack from outer space by the Earth’s arrogant president. Meanwhile, the world’s children are unable to sleep without seeing the Moon Man in the night sky, leading our protagonist to enlist a sympathetic scientist to help with his return to his rightful place. The quirkiness and slower pace set “Moon Man” apart from the frenetic energy of so many other animated films. With nods to Rube Goldberg, Picasso and Escher, and delightful set pieces that use recordings by Louis Armstrong and Iron Butterfly, the picture unfolds with a sense of discovery that will draw young and old alike into the earthbound adventures of its unlikely lunar hero.

REVIEWS:
“Dazzling. The movie’s offbeat charm sets it apart.” -Sherri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter

The fifth-grade chorus of PS22 on Staten Island, N.Y., became a YouTube sensation when their teacher started posting videos of them singing. Their rousing renditions of pop songs soon earned them a national legion of fans, as well as the attention of Academy Awards producers. This joyous documentary follows the talented and diverse group of kids and their energetic instructor, as together they tackle creative differences, lost voices, and homesickness on their way to appearing in the finale of the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony. The transformative power of music shines throughout.

One of the most famous shots in silent comedy: a man in a straw hat and horn-rimmed glasses, hanging from the minute hand of a clock 12 stories above the street – and yet not many people have seen “Safety Last!” The comic genius of silent star Harold Lloyd is eternal. Chaplin is the innocent Tramp, Keaton the stoic outsider, but Lloyd—the modern guy striving for success—is us. With its torrent of perfectly executed gags and astonishing stunts, “Safety Last!” is the perfect introduction to this luminary of the silent era.

Played at 2014 PCFF to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of Japan’s masterpieces of animation.

One of the most endearing and internationally renowned films of all time, a film that Roger Ebert called “one of the five best movies” ever made for children, “My Neighbor Totoro” is a deceptively simple tale of Satsuki and Mei, two young girls who move with their father to the countryside while their mother convalesces in a nearby hospital. They soon discover that the surrounding forests are home to a family of Totoros, gentle but powerful creatures who live in a huge and ancient camphor tree and are seen only by children. Based on Miyazaki’s own childhood imaginings, Totoros look like oversized pandas with bunny ears, the largest of which takes the girls on spinning-top rides through the tree tops, introduces them to a furry, multi-pawed Catbus—a nod to Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat—and ultimately brings the two much closer together as sisters.

Beneath the film’s playfulness and narrative simplicity lie depths of wisdom. As with much of Miyazaki’s work, at its core “My Neighbor Totoro” is about humankind’s relationship to the Earth. The film is infused with an almost spiritual reverence for the power of nature (a philosophy tied to the ancient Shinto belief that every object in nature has a soul). Everything that surrounds us, from light-dappled tree groves, to the marvelous clouds, echoes the density and lusciousness of life. Protected by the Totoros, we know no harm will come to our two heroines in the forest’s sunlit glades and mysterious shadows. The girls may be awed by the power and majesty around them, but they understand instinctively that nature has no malice. The viewer is left with a sense of wonder at the beauty, mystery and preciousness of the world all around us.

Fearing the possibility of being split up because of their grandmother’s illness, a young brother and sister embark on an unforgettable journey through breathtaking landscapes of rural Scotland. SIDE BY SIDE is a rare and genuinely heartfelt story about two very different siblings growing closer because they must depend on one another during an unsettling time.

Lauren and her younger brother, Harvey, live with their elderly grandmother who needs constant care. When the old woman is sent to a nursing home, Lauren accepts a scholarship to a prestigious sports academy believing that she and Harvey will stay together and live with Janice, Lauren’s calculating and deceitful sports agent. It soon becomes clear, however, that Janice’s real intention is to split the pair up to better exploit Lauren’s athletic talent. When Harvey runs away to fulfill the promise he made to Grandma to find their long-lost grandfather, Lauren follows after him. En route, brother and sister discover that, despite all their differences, when they are side by side they are strong enough to deal with anything, even their biggest fears. As we follow their journey across the beautiful British countryside, we slowly come to realize that it is the journey, not the destination that really matters.

Part road movie, part Bildungsroman, part family drama and part children’s escapade, Arthur Landon’s endearing feature-film debut explores the solid bond between a sister and brother, and celebrates the importance of coming together.

** USA PREMIERE** 

While attending a super-cool summer camp where campers compete to build the highest multi-story, self-standing structure possible using scrap wood, a best friendship between two adolescent boys is greatly tested. A series of misunderstandings and hurtful slights, some intentional and some not, creates a building tension that grips the viewer’s attention—and empathy—to the end. Director Marien Rogaar has constructed a film with an amazingly caring hand. Don’t miss this USA PREMIERE!

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN has been voted one of the greatest films of all time in international critics’ polls. There are other contenders: Top Hat, Swing Time, An American in Paris, Oklahoma, and West Side Story, but SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN stands above the rest because it is not only from Hollywood, it is about Hollywood. This 1952 musical offers a comical depiction of the American movie business caught up in the bumpy transition from silent films to “talkies”. A modest hit when first released, it eventually became legendary. Starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen.