July 2025

She Rides Shotgun


Directed by: Nick Rowland

Starring: Taron Egerton, Ana Sophia Heger, Rob Yang and John Carroll Lynch

Synopsis: In the gritty, explosive action-thriller She Rides Shotgun, Taron Egerton stars as newly released ex-con Nate. Marked for death by unrelenting enemies, Nate must now protect his estranged 11-year-old daughter, Polly (Ana Sophia Heger) at all costs. Shy, precocious, and wary of her father, Polly is swept up in Nate’s dangerous plight as they flee to evade the corrupt sheriff and brutal leader of a gang who will stop at nothing to protect his criminal interests. With scant resources and no one to trust, Nate and Polly form a bond forged under fire as he shows her how to fight and survive — and she teaches him what unconditional love truly means in this intense, moving story about loyalty, strength, and redemption.

July 2025

The Marching Band


Directed by: Emmanuel Courcol

Starring: Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Lottin, Sarah Suco

Synopsis: Thibaut, an internationally renowned orchestra conductor, is diagnosed with leukemia and desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant. His search for a donor leads him to discover, at 37, that he was, in fact, adopted… and actually has a biological brother somewhere in France. An equally hilarious and affecting crowd-pleaser from Emmanuel Courcol (The Big Hit, Rendez-Vous 2021), this Cannes favorite draws nuanced and sensitive portraits of affluence and working-class life in the northern town of Lille to bring texture and substance to a universally resonant story about the power of family.

July 2025

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight


Directed by: Embeth Davidtz

Starring: Lexi Venter, Embeth Davidtz, and Zikhona Bali

Synopsis: Based on Alexandra Fuller’s memoir of the same name, DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT captures the childhood of 8-year-old Bobo on her family farm in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) at the end of the Zimbabwean War for independence in 1980. Growing up in the midst of this long running war, Bobo internalizes both sides of the struggle. Conflicted by her love for people on opposing sides, she tries to make sense of her life in a magical way. Through her eight-year-old gaze we witness Rhodesia’s final days, the family’s unbreakable bond with Africa, and the deep scars that war leaves on survivors.

July 2025

Mr. Blake at Your Service!


Directed by: Gilles Legardinier

Starring: John Malkovich, Émilie Dequenne, Eugénie Anselin, Philippe Bas, Fanny Ardan

Synopsis: A widowed British businessman takes the job as a butler of a manor house in France to keep memories of his late French wife. His life takes a turn as he navigates the eccentric behavior of the lady of the manor and the household staff.

June 2025

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore


Directed by: Shoshannah Stern

Synopsis: In 1987, at the age of just 21, Marlee Matlin shattered expectations as the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award® for her groundbreaking performance in Children of a Lesser God. Catapulted into the spotlight, she seized the moment to challenge an industry unprepared for her immense talent, emerging as a trailblazer not only as a performer but also as an author and activist. Matlin's incredible journey continued with standout roles in acclaimed projects such as The West Wing and the Oscar-winning CODA, all while relentlessly advocating for greater inclusion and accessibility both within Hollywood and beyond its borders. Matlin opens up about her personal and professional struggles – her meteoric rise to fame, the challenges of navigating a predominantly hearing industry, the pain of a tumultuous high-profile relationship, getting sober and years of being overlooked by Hollywood – alongside her many triumphs. 

Director Shoshannah Stern reimagines traditional documentary storytelling, elevating ASL as the film’s heart and soul while removing conventional voiceovers and including open captions, creating an authentic and visually immersive experience. Through split-screen interviews with both Deaf and hearing contributors, the film weaves a poignant and inspiring narrative of Matlin’s legendary career, highlighting her tireless fight for inclusion and representation in an entertainment world that at first had no place for her.

May 2025

The Libarians


Directed by: Kim A. Snyder
Executive Producer: Sarah Jessica Parker

Synopsis: As an unprecedented wave of book banning largely addressing race and LGBT issues is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.

Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder (NewtownUs Kids, 2025 Oscar®-Nominated Death By Numbers) takes us to an unexpected front line where librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy, free access to information, and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities.

In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories—triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of White Christian Nationalism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work—the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.

May 2025

We Were Dangerous


Directed by: Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu

Starring: Erana James, Rima Te Wiata, Nathalie Morris, Manaia Hall

Synopsis: Nellie, Daisy and Lou form a rebellious alliance at a 1954 island institution for delinquent girls. Their friendship empowers them against the system until the matron's tactics threaten their bond.

April 2025

Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Society membership includes tickets and fun perks for the annual Phoenix Film Festival each year!

This year’s 11 day celebration of film marked the Festival’s 25th anniversary and included over 280 film screenings, filmmaking panels, parties, student workshops, special guests including actor Billy Zane and Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone, and much more - all at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theatre.

It’s the perfect place to find your new favorite movie.

 

March 2025

Phoenix Film Festival

Phoenix Film Society membership includes tickets and fun perks for the annual Phoenix Film Festival each year!

This year’s 11 day celebration of film marked the Festival’s 25th anniversary and included over 280 film screenings, filmmaking panels, parties, student workshops, special guests including actor Billy Zane and Academy Award winning director Oliver Stone, and much more - all at the Harkins Scottsdale 101 Theatre.

It’s the perfect place to find your new favorite movie.

 

March 2025

Bob Trevino Likes It


Directed by: Tracie Laymon

Cast: Barbie Ferreira, John Leguizamo, French Stewart, Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, Rachel Bay Jones

Synopsis: Often playing the role of caretaker to people like her father who should be caring for her, Lily Trevino longs for a familial connection, having been abandoned by her mother as a child and then suddenly by her father in her twenties.

Bob Trevino works long hours alone at a construction company to support his wife Jeanie’s scrapbooking habit. The couple has endured a lot in the past decade, and Bob has sought to put his wife first, to the point of ignoring his own feelings and need for friendship, meaning, and connection, That is, until he gets an unexpected Facebook message from a stranger.

Lily and Bob’s blossoming friendship becomes a vital source of connection and healing in both their lives. Bob’s small acts of fatherly kindness fill a familial void in Lily's life and hold the power to change her direction forever. In their own ways, these two must both learn they are worthy of extraordinary love exemplified through small acts of kindness.

March 2025

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl


Directed by: Rungano Nyoni

Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, and Henry B.J. Phiri

Synopsis: On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle. As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle-class Zambian family, in filmmaker Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and vibrant reckoning with the lies we tell ourselves.

February 2025

My Dead Friend Zoe


Directed by: Kyle Hausmann-Stokes

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Natalie Morales, Sonequa Martin-Green, Ed Harris, Gloria Reuben

Synopsis: Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather at the family's ancestral lake house.

February 2025

The Unbreakable Boy


Directed by: Jon Gunn

Starring: Zachary Levi, Patricia Heaton, Jacob Laval, Meghann Fahy

Synopsis: When his parents, Scott (Zachary Levi) and Teresa (Meghann Fahy), learn that Austin is both autistic and has brittle bone disease, they initially worry for their son’s future. But with Scott’s growing faith and Austin’s incredible spirit, they become “unbreakable,” finding joy, gratitude, and courage even in the most trying times — an extraordinary true story about a father and son learning together that every day can be the best day of your life!

January 2025

Parthenope


Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino

Starring: Celeste Dalla Porta, Stefania Sandrelli, Gary Oldman, Silvio Orlando, Luisa Ranieri, Isabella Ferrari

Synopsis: Parthenope, born in the sea of Naples in 1950, searches for happiness over the long summers of her youth, falling in love with her home city and its many memorable characters. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino comes a monumental and deeply romantic story of a lifetime.

January 2025

My Sweet Land


Directed by: Sareen Hairabedian

Synopsis: My Sweet Land is a coming-of-age story set against a multigenerational war in the post-Soviet Caucasus Mountains. It follows an 11-year-old boy named Vrej, growing up in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who dreams of becoming a dentist in his picture-postcard village with its roaming ducks and golden bees. His sweet land, however, is strewn with mines from previous wars, shaping a country that remains unrecognized to the world. Vrej’s life takes a sudden turn when war erupts, forcing him to flee with his family. He spends his days in exile impatiently waiting for victory, but reality takes a different turn; Armenians lose the war. Upon returning to his surviving village, he confronts the devastation, new power dynamics, and education that prepares children for near-future battles. Vrej must learn the rules of war… But can he carry a nation’s hopes on his young shoulders? The film is a testament to the people of Artsakh, where hope and trauma had shaped their resilience across generations.

December 2024

The Last Showgirl


Directed by: Gia Coppola

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Pamela Anderson, Dave Bautista, Kiernan Shipka, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman

Synopsis: The Last Showgirl, a poignant film of resilience, rhinestones and feathers, stars Golden Globe® nominee, Pamela Anderson as Shelly, a glamorous showgirl who must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run. Directed by Gia Coppola, The Last Showgirl co-stars Oscar®, SAG® Award and Golden Globe® winner Jamie Lee Curtis as Shelly’s best friend, who brings her own unique interpretation and brilliance to the story, Dave Bautista, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka and Billie Lourd. Written by Kate Gersten, the film is produced by Robert Schwartzman, Natalie Farrey and Gia Coppola and features a new original song “Beautiful That Way,” sung by pop superstar Miley Cyrus, produced by Academy Award nominee Andrew Wyatt and written by Wyatt, Cyrus and Lykke Li.

December 2024

Oh, Canada


Directed by: Paul Schrader

Starring: Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli, Victoria Hill

Synopsis: Aging filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere), still fiery despite his battle with illness, wants to tell his life story, unfiltered, before it’s too late. As the director of acclaimed documentary exposés, he has much to be proud of, but his Vietnam War draft-dodging and his past relationships harbor thorny truths. Leonard sits for an extended interview with his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), relating candid stories about his younger self (Jacob Elordi) in the tumultuous 1960s and beyond. At Leonard’s insistence, his wife and indispensable artistic partner, Emma (Uma Thurman), bears witness to it all. His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left. Paul Schrader’s adaptation of Russell Banks’s novel sees him reunited with Gere more than 40 years after American Gigolo, and together they deliver a moving and deeply personal take on this story of an artist reflecting on a lifetime of storytelling.

November 2024

Small Things Like These


Directed by: Edward Berger

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Watson, Ciarán Hinds, Eileen Walsh, Michelle Fairley, Helen Behan, Clare Dunne

Synopsis: Oscar winner Cillian Murphy delivers a stunning performance as devoted father Bill Furlong in this film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Claire Keegan. While working as a coal merchant to support his family, he discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent — and uncovers truths of his own — forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.