ANOOSH OF THE AIRWAYS
United States - West Coast Premiere
94 mins. Paramount Theater, 3:00 p.m., Aug. 8.

This highly original and surreal tale follows Anoosh (Melik Malkasian) a poor sheep herding Armenian who comes to America after outgrowing his career as a poster-child for an American airline. A duty bestowed upon him after being born mid-flight. Without the support or culture of a big city, Anoosh is on his own as he attempts to navigate the absurdities of the American Dream and the American Reality in the white-bread suburbs of the Pacific Northwest.

Director: James Westby
Writers: Margaret Maile, James Westby
Producer: Tim Whitcomb
Director of Photography: Greg Gardiner
Editor: James Westby
Cast: Melik Malkasian, Fredric Lane, Richard Sanders, Barbara Niven, Jay Leggett, Steven Clark Pachosa,

FORTUNE COOKIE
United States - World Premiere
106 mins. Studio Theater, 7:00 p.m., Aug. 6.

While having dinner at an upscale Chinese restaurant, three couples have their views of life and love tested against the whims of a cynical but insightful fortune cookie writer.

Director: Clay Essig
Writer: Rob Thomas
Producers: Alan Peterson, Dave Sapp, Steve Thompson
Director of Photography: Tom Taylor
Editor: Michael Fox
Cast: Rachel Kimsey, Matt Barker, Brandy Snow, Christopher Marley, Doug Caputo, Terra Allen

HOSTAGE
United States - U.S. Premiere
80 mins. Studio Theater, 9:00 p.m., Aug. 8.

Adam Dahl, a 28-year-old Swede has come to New York in search of reunification with his half-siblings and to find work. At a party he meets Eveline, who lures him from the party. They spend the night together and develop a relationship. But Eveline has a hidden side. Overwhelmed by her personality, Adam decides to leave her, once and for all, and get on with his life. But Eveline won't take rejection. She has other plans.

Director/Writer: Fredrik Sundwall
Producers: Fredrik Sundwall, Nadia Leonelli
Director of Photography: Gšren Hallberg
Editor: Anne McCabe
Cast: Marcus Schenkenberg, Beatrice Macola, Eve Salvail, David Arrow, Myriam Cyr, Elliott Sharp

JIMMY ZIP
United States - World Premiere
112 mins. Studio Theater, 8:30 p.m., Aug. 7.

A coming of age action-art film where a rebellious 16-year-old pyromaniac runaway teams up with a mysterious welding sculptor in a story that pits the art world against the crime world.

Director/Writer/Producer: Robert McGinley
Director of Photography: Christopher Tufty
Editor: Howard Flaer
Cast: Brendan Fletcher, Robert Gossett, Chris Mulkey, Adrienne Frantz, James Russo, Ike Gingrich, Rosemary Welden, Honey Lauren, Arlmone Smith, Zia, John Truong, John Epps, John Billingsley, Kim Dawson, Andrea Stein, Christos, John Snyder, Floyd Van Buskirk, Karen Landry, Victoria Charters, Susannah Devereux, David Ripley, Nicholas Mele

KISS AND TELL
United States - West Coast Premiere
85 mins. Paramount Theater, 7:00 p.m., Aug. 5.

Kiss and Tell is a romantic comedy satirizing the dating scene and reality television. The film goes behind the scenes of a televised dating show as four guys and four girls are whisked away on the biggest blind date of their lives.

Director/Writer: John Brenkus
Producers: Mickey Stern, John Brenkus
Director of Photography: Scott Carrithers
Editor: John Brenkus
Cast: Kerr Smith, Daniel Cosgrove, Bryan Callen, and cameos by Dan Rather, Donald Trump, Connie Chung, Maury Povich, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Kobe Bryant, and James Brown, as well as the final on-screen appearance by the late film reviewer Gene Siskel.

LAST CALL
Chile - U.S. Premiere
80 mins. Studio Theater, 7:00 p.m., Aug. 8.

Three apartments in an old converted loft building in downtown Santiago de Chile set up the stage for three bizarre love triangles.

Director: Christine Lucas
Writer: David T. Page
Producer: J.J. Harting
Director of Photography: Antonio Farias
Editor: Danielle Fillios
Cast: Peter Coyote, Elizabeth Berkley, Bastian Bodenhofer, Lorene Prieto, Eric Michael Cole, Elizabeth Rossa, Garret Dillahunt

LITHIUM
Sweden
127 mins. Paramount Theater, 9:00 p.m., Aug. 6 and 3:00 p.m. Aug. 7.

Hanna is a young hard-working intern at a tabloid in Stockholm. A letter to the editor arrives from a man seeking help in locating his missing girlfriend. Hanna decides to get involved, soon finding herself in a situation she cannot control.

Director/Writer: David Flamholc
Producer: Leon Flamholc Cinematography: Marten Nilsson
Editor: Leon Flamholc
Cast: Agnieska Kosön, Johan Widerberg, Fredrik Dolk, Björn Granath, Göran Forsmark, Ola Wahlström, Yvonne Lombard, Kent-Arne Dahlgren, Annika Kofoed, Peter Edding, Nicke Lundblad, Johan Kekonius, Lina Perned, Marika Lagercranz, Christer Holmgren, Simon Paulsson, Jannike Grut, Mans Westfeldt, Lasse Lundgren, Babben Larsson, Marcus Starberger, Nina Nord, Tony Lindsjö

A PERFECT LITTLE MAN
United States - World Premiere
46 mins. Studio Theater, 6:00 p.m., Aug. 8.

A Perfect Little Man is the story of Billy, a man obsessed with being a hero. Billy has always proven his worth as a man in violent confrontations, with his mother Ruth being his principal audience. Ruth was fed up with men who never lived up to her expectations of what a man should be, and created a "perfect little man" out of her son. The story really begins on the day that Ruth dies, and Billy is left without an audience, desperately trying to find a new one.

Director/Writer: Jeff Hare
Producers: Richard Zelniker, John Bareirro, Meredith Robinson
Director of Photography: Ricardo Gale
Editor: Carolina Padilla
Cast: Neal McDonough, Delaine Yates, Jennifer Jostyn, Tegan West, Gary Wolf

REDBALL
Australia - U.S. Premiere
90 mins. Paramount Theater, 7:00 p.m., Aug. 7.

A powerful contemporary police thriller about a few weeks in the lives of some used-up city detectives, Redball is a darkly humorous drama about the psychoses of frontline police work. It follows the story of Detective JJ Wilson, a homicide cop struggling to keep her mind and morals intact in the face of inhuman acts and rampant corruption.

Director/Writer: Jon Hewitt
Producers: Meredith King, Philip Parslow
Director of Photography: Mark Pugh
Editors: Alan Woodruff, Cindy Clarkson
Cast: Belinda McClory, John Brumpton, Frank Magree, Peter Docker, Anthea Davis, Neil Pigot, Damien Richardson, James Young, Robert Morgan, Paulene Terry-Beitz, Daniel Wyllie, Chris Hatzis

ROSENZWEIG'S FREEDOM
Germany - U.S. Premiere
90 mins. Paramount Theater 7:00 p.m., Aug. 6 and 9:00 p.m. Aug. 8

Germany 1991. A Jewish laborer is suspected of having killed a neo-Nazi. His brother comes to his defense. Rosenzweig's Freedom confronts two Jewish brothers whose parents survived the Holocaust with the renewed flaring up of right-wing extremist violence in Germany in the '90s.

Director/Writer: Liliane Targownik
Producer: Susan Schulte
Director of Photography: Johannes Hollmann
Editor: Olga Barthel
Cast: Benjamin Sadler, Christoph Gareissen, Gertrud Roll, Peter Roggisch, Felix von Manteuffel, Pierre Franckh, Monica Bleibtreu, Bernd Stegemann, Uyen Van Thi Dao

STANDING ON FISHES
United States - West Coast Premiere
92 mins. Paramount Theater, 5:00 p.m. Aug. 7.

Standing on Fishes is a romantic comedy set in contemporary Los Angeles that follows the twisted journey of Caleb (Bradford Tatum), a sculptor in the never-ending battle to maintain his artistic integrity and still make a buck.