The Flyover Film Festival will return for its 12th year at the Speed Cinema from July 28-31.

The festival announced the lineup in a press release on Friday. All of the movies featured in the festival have ties to Kentucky.

In a statement, Louisville Film Society board chair Stu Pollard said, “We are thrilled that Flyover is back. It’s an honor to partner with Speed, as Dean Otto and his team will showcase all the films we’ve selected in the best possible environment. With all the enthusiasm around film production in Kentucky right now, this is an exciting time to champion films with local ties. We hope this year’s lineup inspires all who attend and sets the stage for more locally produced work to be screened at Flyover.”

Tickets will be $8 for Speed and Louisville Film Society members and $12 for general admission.

Here are the main films with descriptions from the press release. Each of these will also include a Q&A with the filmmakers after its screening.

• “Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids”
  Directed by Andrew Jenks, this documentary tells the unbelievable but true story of the kids who stole America’s heart… the Cabbage Patch Kids – and how they set the wheels in motion for modern-day Black Friday. The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival last month and tracks the CPK origin story – from its folk art origins at Appalachian craft fairs to mass production, big box stores, TV movies, and inevitable flameout. Friday, July 29, 7 pm.

 

• “What We Do Next”
  Written and directed by Stephen Belber and produced by Kentuckians Merry-Kay Poe and Max Neace, this emotional thriller sits at the intersection of race, class, and criminal justice and centers on the three powerful and dynamic performances from its leads. It premiered at Cinequest earlier this year and starred Corey Stoll (Billions, House of Cards), Karen Pittman (And Just Like That, The Morning Show), and Michelle Veintimilla (Big Sky, Gotham). Saturday, July 30, 7 pm. 
• “Gurgle: Pulling Water”
  A full-length documentary produced and directed by Louisvillian Richard Van Kleeck. The film illuminates the excitement and life lessons surrounding the sport of rowing, once the most popular spectator sport in America. The film features Tori Murden McClure, the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic; Oksana Masters, one of the world’s most decorated Paralympic athletes who grew up in an orphanage near Chornobyl in Ukraine; and a host of other characters that inhabit the world of rowing. Sunday, July 31, 5:30 pm.
• “Live Out Loud”
  A new documentary from Louisvillian Melissa Gregory Rue about the transformative power of filmmaking. Shot over one year, it tells the stories of three people experiencing homelessness in Portland, Oregon, who begin to heal from childhood trauma by learning to make films in a grant-funded class. Sunday, July 31, 1 pm.
• “Statues: This Is What We Stand For?”
  This documentary, directed by Morgan C. Atkinson, asks challenging questions such as “what determines the truth?” and “what do communities choose as historical symbols?” Set in the filmmaker’s hometown of Louisville, “Statues” considers America’s current state of intense polarization through the lens of seven public meetings that were convened to determine what is appropriate public art today. Sunday, July 31, 3:30 pm. 

The lineup also includes a new Shorts Program, which will play on July 30 at 2 p.m. The shorts will include Jeremy Frindel’s “The Beat of the Heart,” Shane Devon’s “The UFO Girl,” Gary Leo Miller’s “Flobic” and Noah Griffin’s “The Silence Between.”

It’ll also include “the Secret Screening of a work-in-progress film” as well as two panels: one about narrative filmmaking on Saturday morning and one with documentary filmmakers on Sunday morning. Both panels will be free to the public.

You can find the full schedule here.

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