JES AND LORA (USA)

11:00 AM
FS2A

Director: Patrick Coleman Duncan

Jes just wants to borrow a can of gas for his stranded car but farm girl Lora wants to find out more about the stranger. The two troubled souls form an unexpected bond while revealing dark secrets on a lonely trail. "Jes and Lora features songs by indie folk artist Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

Music by Bonnie ”Prince” Billy

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

WHISPER (UK)

11:00 AM
FS2A

Director: Jo Lewis

“..Beautiful, Artistic, Blood Chilling..’ “as if Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream had a baby” “Whisper is visually an absolute marvel. Jo Lewis’ vision behind the camera is fantastic” UK HORROR SCENE A young woman travels to a remote beachside cabin in an attempt to finally quit her heroin habit. While there she accidentally sets in motion a chain of sinister events. Hauntingly beautiful, Whisper is a modern day ghost story that will keep you gripped from start to spine-chilling finish.

Best International Short

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

POOR GEORGE (USA)

11:00 AM
FS2A

Director: Jim Harris

In this visually stunning and twisted film, by first time filmmaker Jim Harris, George lives in two worlds. One perfect; his dream world, the other; his mundane real life, a living hell. Taking drastic measures, he enacts his plan to stay in his dream world forever with his perfect girlfriend, Dora. But that world it is not all as it seems. The excellent cast, including legendary talent, Brian Doyle-Murray, play out this other worldly tale of broken dreams. In it, George soon learns there's a fine line between dreams and nightmares. Be careful what you wish for.

Peoples Choice Award Nominee

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

ADULT PUBERTY (USA)

11:00 AM
FS2A

Director: Dago Rodriguez

Getting older. It's not for the faint of heart. (Although a faint heart may occur.) When we enter puberty, our teachers told us what we could expect -- we would grow taller, our voices would change, and we would get hair on our genitals. Then, when we reached maturity, it'd all be over and we would never have to worry about it again. No one ever told us about that next phase -- ADULT puberty. There are plenty of videos talking about adolescence. This is the only 1950s educational video for those entering middle age.

Official Selection

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

ONE (USA)

12:00 PM
FS2B

Director: Emmanuel Solotareff

ONE, is the story of the birth of Mankind told through the journey of Danny and his relationship to Nature. ONE is a story about our World, because this film is a hypothesis, a philosophical tale, an accelerated narrative of the construction of the Ego, the evolution of Mankind, told like a poem, a fantastical sacred text.

Official Selection

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

THE STAIRS (USA)

12:00 PM
FS2B

Director: Zach Bandler and Kelly Blatz

An older man facing the realities of his loneliness hires a male escort for company on Christmas Eve. "The Stairs" is an alternate version of the prostitute story, an exploration of loneliness and the wide definition of intimacy. It is the story of our universal need as human beings to just connect with someone. Anyone. The desire to be seen and heard is far more important than almost anything else, and our lives depend on it. Even if it is the last thing we ever accomplish.

Official Selection

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

NEAR MYTH: THE OSKAR KNIGHT STORY (USA)

1:00 PM
FS2B

Director: Scott Fivelson

"Near Myth: The Oskar Knight Story" Somewhere between This Is Spinal Tap!, That's Entertainment!, and Sunset Boulevard, this unique Hollywood biopic is a life-and-times chronicle of one of our greatest directors -- Oskar Knight. Lenny Von Dohlen ("Twin Peaks," "Tender Mercies") brings the iconic director stirringly to life -- a legend of American cinema, forgotten by many, but remembered here by such real-life stars as Oscar winner Margaret O'Brien, International Emmy winner David Suchet, Joaquim de Almeida, Kristina Anapau, Julianna Guill, Rudolf Martin, Randall Batinkoff, Lawrence Pressman, Noel Neill, and many more. He probably never should have made Oskar Knight's Moby Dick. But he did make They Came in Low. It's the story of Oskar Knight.

Breakthrough Director Spotlight

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

ONE SMART FELLOW (USA)

3:15 PM
FS2B

Director: Timothy Busfield and Tommy Lohmann

Starring Timothy Busfield (Thirtysomething, Secret & Lies), Tommy Lohmann (Lost), Melissa Gilbert (Little House on The Prairie, Switched at Birth), and Laura Innes(ER). Carolina a not so smart fellow decides to turn his family's life upside down. Clark, his wife Ellen and their daughter Maddie experience an event that will change their lives forever. One big choice by one small man sends the family into an unforeseen disaster. Maddie

Best Short Film

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

OCCUPANTS: TEASER TRAILER (Japan)

4:00 PM
Award Shorts 2C

Director: Russ Emanuel

A teaser trailer for the feature length science fiction horror feature film starring Robert Picardo about a young couple who plan and produce a "Clean Living" documentary, their cameras capture a “parallel” version of themselves from another dimension. At first they can only “see” their parallel selves via the footage they captured. But soon their “doubles” begin threatening the unsuspecting couple, who must find a way to close the dimensional portal they inadvertently created.

Best Trailer 2nd Place

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

THE EXORCISM DIARIES (UK)

4:00 PM
Award Shorts 2C

Director: S.C. McCullough

A trailer the Exorcism Diaries. Catholic Church dispatches a priest to uncover an epidemic of possessions. A real audio recording of an exorcism causes the Church to investigate the deaths of two priests. Based on real recordings of genuine exorcism conducted in Siberia.

Best Trailer 1st Place

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

HOW TO NOT HATE YOURSELF (USA)

4:00 PM
Award Shorts 2C

Director: Gia Vangieri

This film is the story of inelegantly chasing that one thing on the road becoming who you are. Somewhere between college and adulthood, is a period of dissatisfaction. Life in general doesn't feel like anything you're comfortable with. Confused, embarrassed, with no idea how to communicate any of that to anyone. Then, in the middle of all that, one thing connects and makes sense. Even though you can't make sense of why it makes sense. For the first time in a long time, you have a glimpse of something that might actually make you happy.

Best LGBT Short Film

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

EDDIE AND THE AVIATOR (USA)

4:00 PM
Award Shorts 2C

Director: Sean Whitesell

Eddie (Brett Rickaby), a gravedigger, is having a bad day. Things turn ugly when he has bad memories of his father. The Aviator (Matthew St. Patrick), Eddie's partner, makes things worse, by cracking jokes at Eddie's expense throughout the morning. Later, alone in the grave, he regains his spirit and courage - only to have The Aviator show up and deflate him once again. Eddie's on edge and you never know what someone might do.

Official Selection

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

THE PACKAGE (USA)

4:00 PM
Award Shorts 2C

Director: Sue Keeton & Brian J Kronenberg

Starring David Labrava (Sons of Anarchy), this film tells the tale of Kyle, a good kid with the best intentions though he’s no angel. With months left before the foster care system dumps Kyle out on the street, he begins to take drastic measures to make money. Kyle becomes a courier for Tony, a ruthless crime boss, and soon realizes he is in over his head. A rival gang has stolen the package he has to deliver, and Kyle has never failed to deliver a package… until today.

Official Selection

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

HERE IN THE EAST (USA)

5:00 PM
Award Shorts 2D

Director: Walter Perez

“Here in the East” is a film that tells the story of Richard Garcia, a newly discharged Marine Corporal who returns home with no plans. As he reconnects to society – his life takes a turn when his father is brutally murdered. Taking the law into his own hands, he ignites a war against a crime organization known only as "The Corporation".

Best Action Short

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

TATTOO YOU (USA)

5:00 PM
Award Shorts 2D

Director: S.R. Bindler

Tattoo You tells the story of two women from the same town, yet with very different backgrounds, who re-connect in the bathroom at their 20th high school reunion. Their troubled past breaks the cool veneer of the present. Some scars don't fade away. Creative team includes award-winning director S.R. Bindler (Hands on a Hardbody), award-winning playwright Lisa Kenner Grissom (Tattoo You), and Emmy-winning producer Noam Dromi (Sleepy Hollow Virtual Reality Experience). Starring Jenica Bergere (Shameless) and Christina Kirk (Girls, Along Came Polly).

Peoples Choice Award Nominee

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

OUT WITH A BANG (USA)

5:00 PM
Award Shorts 2D

Director: Mike Peebler

Alan Platt is having a terrible day in a lifetime of terrible days. It only gets worse when his latest suicide attempt is interrupted by an unexpected visitor who shows Alan that life actually may be worth killing for. Alan Blumenfeld and Art Kulik star in this raucous dark comedy about a man's struggle between his will to live and his want to die.

Best Actor in A Short Film (Alan Blumenfeld)

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

COWBOYS & ENGINES (USA)

5:00 PM
Award Shorts 2D

Director: Bryn Pryor

The year is 1876, and Cade Ballard is tired. Three decades spent embroiled in the wars between the five nations of North America has sent Cade off in search of solitude. Instead of isolation, the former ambassador from the Republic of Texas finds Guinivere Wheeler, a quick-witted con-artist and sometime gunslinger. When they are attacked on the road to Dodge City by a renegade Myrmidon — a mechanized dead soldier sent back into battle in the continuing Civil War — Cade & Guinivere throw in together and form an uncomfortable alliance.

Best Sci-Fi Short

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

WELCOME TO FOREVER (USA)

5:00 PM
Award Shorts 2D

Director: Laddie Ervin

A government technician runs into trouble at the house of digitized man whom he’s been sent to terminate. Decades ago, scientists discovered how to scan a person's brain into a computer. The tech went mass-market and millions were converted into digitized persons. Then, a computer virus wiped out the system, leaving them all infected and malfunctioning. Cal Jenner’s job is to turn off and dismantle these malfunctioning digitized persons. Today he’s at Mr. Cooper’s house, but Cooper quickly becomes suspicious of his motives.

Best Fantasy Short

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

HUX (USA)

6:00 PM
Award Shorts 2E

Director: Mageina Tovah

A film that takes a stark look at life and social interaction through the eyes of a woman on the autism spectrum. Hux, longing to connect, rebels against the lonely isolation of her autism. Braving the confusing, chaotic world of others, her attempts at interaction are repeatedly thwarted - by her powerful aversion to stimuli. Starring Harry Dean Stanton.

Best Dramatic Short Film

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

THREE ROSES (USA)

6:00 PM
Award Shorts 2E

Director: Jamie Kaye Wheeler

Joe Lo Truglio (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Beth Dover star in the horror-comedy film THREE ROSES follows married couple Tim and Julie—lost and on their way to their first weekend getaway without their daughter. As they stumble upon a ranch, they realize this weekend isn’t going to be exactly what they signed up for…or is it?

Best Supporting Actor

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

CUDDLE PARTY (USA)

6:00 PM
Award Shorts 2E

Director: Matthew Irving Epstein

Executive produced by Jill Soloway, the Golden Globe and Emmy-winning creator of TRANSPARENT, and written & directed by Matthew Irving Epstein, CUDDLE PARTY follows Jane and Drew, a couple on the brink of divorce who attend an intimacy workshop to heal their marital issues. Their toxic bond sours the party and leads to an accident that ultimately reunites them. Starring Michaela Watkins (SNL, CASUAL), Rob Huebel (TRANSPARENT, CHILDRENS HOSPITAL), and Yvette Nicole Brown (COMMUNITY, THE ODD COUPLE).

Best Comedy Short & Supporting Actress

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

THE SCARECROW (UK)

6:00 PM
Award Shorts 2E

Director: Phillip Rhys

A recently divorced man confronts the rocky shores of loneliness after a day spent with his adolescent son and an encounter with his ex-wife, (Sandra Oh).

Best Actress in a Short (Sandra Oh)

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

RED CARPET PRESS EVENT

5:45 - 6:30 PM

Join HRIFF Celebrity Guests, Award Winners and film fanatics at the HRIFF Red Carpet Press event. Press, Media Photographers, and Paparazzi will be on hand from 5:45 to 6:30 to catch filmmakers, friends, family and celebrities in press images for the media wire services as well as print and online press. Staff Photographers will be on hand from 2pm till 11pm. Awards Ceremony to follow requires an Award Ticket purchase for entry, but his event is Free for all festival guests and filmmakers to attend!

PRESS PHOTO EVENT

Feb 19, LA LIVE

AWARDS CEREMONY

6:30 PM

Join us for the HRIFF Awards Ceremony! Cheer on your favorite filmmakers and listen to heartfelt speeches, as HRIFF hosts Miles Hunter & David Del Valle present the HRIFF Award of Excellence to Gene Wilder and Dusan Makavejev, honor the late Haskell Wexler, David Bowie & more, all before honoring this years HRIFF Award Winners and announcing this year's HRIFF Best Picture Winner!
All-Festival Screening Passes are not valid for this event. Awards Ticket Required for entry.

AWARD CEREMONY

Feb 19, LA LIVE

HICKEY (USA)

8:15 PM

Director: Alex Grossman

Hickey is a coming of age comedy, featuring friends who get stoned on pot matzo, have a penis comparison, and see a banana mascot beat the hell out of a boom box mascot.

Best Director & Best Supporting Actress (Raychel Weiner)

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

DISPLACEMENT (USA)

9:30 PM

Director: Kenneth Mader

Grieving over the death of her mother to cancer, a young physics student must find a way to reverse a deadly quantum time anomaly and solve the apparent murder of her boyfriend, while battling short-term memory loss and time slips caused by the event.

Best Supporting Actor (Bruce Davison)

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

MEGA SUMMER HIT: A Slam Dunkumentary (USA)

11:30 PM

Director: Ryan Max O'Melia

Reality is bent in this unique examination of a man striving for success as a comedian. Thomas Kellogg is a mechanic in Irvine who is sometimes an actor in Hollywood, and creator of an R&B song with longtime friend, Kyle (co-creator of Comedy Central's Workaholics), and together they launch a music video submission contest using Twitter, in which contestants participate to win the prize of slam-dunking a basketball off of a trampoline in their hometown!

Best Actor (Thomas Kellogg)

Feb 19, Regal Cinemas LA LIVE

LA LIVE AWARDS CEREMONY AFTER-PARTY EVENT

10:00 PM

The official HRIFF AWARDS AFTER-PARTY is the biggest and most popular Party Event of the entire festival and is not to be missed.
Immediately following the HRIFF Awards Ceremony, the next thing to do on this gala day is head to the Awards After-Party and mix it up with celebrities, performers, filmmakers, and fans at LA LIVE.

Venues To Be Announced. Ticket Required. All-Fest Pass not valid. Tickets available online only! Not to be missed!

LA LIVE AWARDS AFTER PARTY EVENT

Feb 19, LA LIVE