Girlhood
When: Now Playing
Where: Theaters
Director: Céline Sciamma
Starring: Karidja Touré
Why We’re Excited: Nominated for the Queer Palm at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, the latest film from Céline Sciamma, follows Marieme (played by Karidja Touré in a breakthrough role) on her rebellious journey to find freedom and redemption. Sciamma’s drama celebrates feminism and is a fascinating character perspective, as a young woman joins a gang of girls in order to emancipate herself from educational pressure and life decisions she isn’t ready to make.

Dear White People
When: February 3
Where: DVD/VOD
Director: Justin Simien
Starring: Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson
Why We’re Excited:  If you missed it in theaters, now is your chance to see writer/director (and Project Involve Fellow) Justin Simien’s debut feature, which has given him a lot to celebrate. A comedic portrait of four black students at an Ivy League college raises social awareness and tackles controversial subject matter with a sense of humor and undeniable wit. The film is nominated for the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature.

The Voices
When: February 6
Where: Theaters
Director: Marjane Satrapi
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Kendrick, Jacki Weaver
Why We’re Excited: With Ryan Reynolds as a mentally ill man who can talk to animals, with Anna Kendrick as a love interest. Reynolds, who provides the voices of a cat and dog he converses with, also plays a factory worker, a loner with a failed love life, and murderer. This dark comedy is already garnering buzz as one of the most bizarre movies of the year.

 
Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine
When: February 6
Where: Theaters
Director: Michele Josue
Why We’re Excited: It’s been over 15 years since the tragic, brutal beating of Matthew Shepard, which perpetuated a movement in furthering LGBT-hate crime awareness and how we look at bullying in our country. Michele Josue’s first feature is a documentary that invites audiences to get to know the Matthew his parents, friends and family knew and loved. Those who have seen The Laramie Project, the play on the same topic, can tell you that you’ll probably want to bring a box of tissues to the theater.

Faith Connections
When: February 9
Where: DVD
Director: Pan Nalin
Why We’re Excited: Individuals from diverse walks of life all come together as subjects for this fascinating film by indie documentarian Pan Nalin. He travels to Kumbh Mela, the biggest gathering in the world, narrating his experiences meeting some remarkable and inspirational people. The tiny-budget film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.

Lilting
When: February 10
Where: DVD/VOD
Director: Hong Khaou
Starring: Ben Whishaw, Pei-Pei Cheng
Why We’re Excited: After the death of her son, a woman gets an unannounced visit from a young man and begins to learn there was a lot about her child’s life that she never knew. In his first feature film, Cambodian filmmaker Hong Khaou weaves a moving tale about regret, love and loss. The film premiered at Sundance, where it won the Cinematography Award.

What We Do In the Shadows
When: February 13
Where: Theaters
Directors: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Starring: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi
Why We’re Excited: Vladislav and Viago deal with the same daily challenges most of us can relate to: household chores, roommate battles and nightclub drama. But they have a unique issue too: they are vampires who must also deal with the burden of immortality and making sure they are consuming enough blood to stay alive. Jemaine Clement and Taikia Waititi wrote, directed and star in this comic look at the life of a vampire that takes on a fresh perspective and avoids the usual blood-sucker stereotypes.

Wild Tales
When: February 20
Where: Theaters
Director: Damián Szifrón
Starring: Liliana Ackerman, Alejandro Angelini
Why We’re Excited: In this twisted genre-blending film from Argentina, several short narratives are intertwined, all of which dissect love, deception, sex and crime—with violence as the common link among them all. After premiering at the Cannes, it earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film.

Wild Canaries
When: February 25
Where: Theaters
Director: Lawrence Michael Levine
Starring: Lawrence Michael Levine, Sophia Takal
Why We’re Excited: Indie filmmaker Lawrence Levine writes, directs and stars in this comedic mystery about a Brooklyn couple who decide to investigate the death of their neighbor. It premiered at last year’s SXSW Film Fest and stars Levine and real-life girlfriend Sophia Takal as the couple.

Map to the Stars
When: February 27
Where: Theaters
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Julianne Moore, Robert Pattinson, John Cusack
Why We’re Excited: David Cronenberg is notorious for telling demented stories, incorporating frightening imagery and deranged characters. In this departure, he takes a stab at comedy… but we use that word loosely. While it was nominated for a Golden Globe Awards in the comedy category, Cronenberg’s portrait of a Hollywood family obsessed with fame and fortune is still as dark and twisted as one would expect. The film premiered at Cannes and features an all-star cast, led by 2015 Spirit Award nominee (and past Spirit Award winner) Julianne Moore.

Chris Lombardi / Film Independent Blogger

Key
Film Independent Fellow or Member 
Los Angeles Film Festival Alum  
Spirit Award Winner  
First-time Filmmaker 
Microbudget 
Female Filmmaker 
Filmmaker of Color 
LGBT Filmmaker