Details:
Friday, July 25 at 7pm (Reception 6pm) at Speed Cinema
Directed by Laura Dunn
Subjects include Wendall Berry, Poetry, Farming, Kentucky
Why We’re Excited:
Sequel, sidequel, companion piece, reprise. Whatever you want to call it, this new feature-length compilation of short films has been assembled from material shot for filmmaker Laura Dunn’s evocative and elegiac 2016 documentary Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry (alternately subtitled Wendell Barry’s Kentucky). Further celebrates the Sundance premiere doc’s not-quite-10th-anniversary by once again revisiting the the highly regarded farmer, poet and educator’s writings through a more abstracted and fragmentary lens, digging still deeper into the POV of a man who somehow seemed to see Kentucky and the natural world’s past, present and future all at once. Having premiered at the DC Environmental Film Festival, the film’s appearance at Flyover will include a pre-screening reception and Q&A with Dunn as well as Berry Center Executive Director (and farmer) Mary Berry.
For fans of:
Under the Southern Cross: The Art and Legacy of Henry L. Faulkner, All Illusions Must Be Broken, 33 Short Films About Glenn Gould, Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry
Details:
Friday, July 25 at 10pm at Baxter Avenue Theaters
Directed by Mitzi Peirone
Cast includes Bella Thorne, Rebecca De Mornay, Ryan Phillippe, Frank Whaley
Why We’re Excited:
If you’re hearing voices in your head telling you to “Kill! Kill! Kill!” you’re likely experiencing a medical event and should seek help. But! What if those voices are real–a supernatural and perhaps holy entity guiding your avenging hand to slay the vile, wicked and corrupt? Such is the dilemma faced by small-town terror Clare Bleecker (Bella Thorne), on a mission to assassinate perceived nefarious actors and ascend to more divine circumstances. And however much you may or may not approve of her actions, things get even more complicated when her latest kill sends Clare tumbling even further down the rabbit hole. Co-written by Peirone and American Psycho screenwriter Guinevere Turner, Saint Clare marks Flyover’s first-ever “Midnight” (erm, close enough) showing. Come to Baxter Avenue with your guard down and get ready to be scared–THN calls the film “A richly drawn noir with dark roots and ideas.” The film will also be preceded by Dylan Query’s short She’s on the Run, which is an electrifying 80’s themed short film about the dangers of escapism when it comes to mental health.
For fans of:
Heretic, Frailty, The Babysitter, The First Omen, The Killer Inside Me
Details:
Saturday, July 26 at 12:30pm at Baxter Avenue Theaters
Directed by Benjamin Flaherty
Subjects include Addiction, Recovery, Healthcare, Mental Illness
Why We’re Excited:
Shot with intense honesty while the filmmaker battled his own addiction hell, Benjamin Flaherty’s Shuffle is a searing documentary exploration of three individuals in crisis. Weaving together the narratives of a trio of patients caught in an institutionalized recovery system that seems diabolically and intentionally cyclical, the film seeks to expose hard facts about a broken system built on insurance fraud and chemical enslavement. It blends autobiography with investigative journalism, expert testimony and literary observation. IndieWire calls the film “Almost biblical in its depiction of well-intentioned policies being corrupted by human avarice.” Winner of the Documentary Feature Competition at this year’s SXSW, Shuffle’s Flyover screening will be followed by a Q&A with Flaherty.
For fans of:
Minding the Gap, Recovery Boys, Heroin(E), Hoop Dreams, The House I Live In
Details:
Saturday, July 26 at 6pm at Baxter Avenue Theaters
Directed by Samuel Dunning
Cast includes Jf Davis, Samuel Dunning, Kelsey Lea Jones, Katherine Ballantone
Why We’re Excited:
The honorific “Best Paddler” is not given. It’s earned. Thus we enter the world of Canoe Dig It?–filmmaker and costar Samuel Dunning’s irreverent mockumentary, which charts the literal and figurative race to become winner of the allegedly prestigious Moosehead Lake Regional Finals rowing competition in Northern Maine. Full of idiosyncratic characters and outlandish oar-oriented misadventures, Dunning’s breezy, boat-filled comedy is a sweet-natured sendup of the “Outdoorsy Guy” lifestyle as well as a sincere celebration of time spent out and about amid nature. Harkoning back to the laugh-a-minute rhythms of mockumentary auteurs Christopher Guest and Eric Idle, Canoe Dig It? is guaranteed (wait for it…) to make a splash. Bonus: the screening will be preceded by Max Neace’s short Steakout!
For fans of:
Best in Show, Documentary Now!, A Mighty Wind, Drop Dead Gorgeous
CRACKING THE CODE: PHIL SHARP AND THE BIOTECH REVOLUTION
Details:
Sunday, July 27 at 2:30pm at Speed Art Museum
Directed by Bill Haney
Subjects include Science, STEM Education, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Native Kentuckians
Why We’re Excited:
Nobel laureate Phil Sharp didn’t just discover RNA splicing, save countless lives (via said RNA splicing) or lay the foundation for what would become a billion-dollar biotech industry and thus revolutionizing healthcare technology in the process–he also grew up as a Kentucky farm boy for whom the Nobel dais in Oslo must have seemed very far away indeed. Narrated by Mark Ruffalo, Cracking the Code follows Sharp’s unprecedented career trajectory and its impact on the global biological and economic ecosystem. Steeped in the trappings of the American dream and its attendant spirit of entrepreneurship, Phil’s story, according to venture capitalist and Yosemite Fund founder Reed Jobs, “Is a roadmap for the future of science and innovation.” The screening includes a virtual Q&A with director Bill Haney.
For fans of:
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, Particle Fever, Human Nature
Details:
Sunday, July 27 at 5:30pm at Speed Art Museum
Directed by Rick Gomez
Cast includes Steve Zahn, Audrey Zahn, Ethan Hawke, Mackenzie Ziegler, Rosemarie DeWitt
Why We’re Excited:
With a script cowritten by director Rick Gomez and star Steve Zahn (Happy Texas, Treme, The Righteous Gemstones), She Dances follows the father-daughter duo of Jason and Claire (Zahn’s IRL offspring Audrey) on an awkward road trip to a dance competition final. Emotionally misaligned due to a recent tragedy–not to mention all the regular teen/parent stuff–communication is tentatively and tenuously pieced back together as the final head-to-head looms. Premiering at Tribeca earlier this year, Variety praised the film’s “lovely suggestion that we all belong in multiple familial communities at the same time.” Afterwards, be sure to stay for a Q&A with Zahn, followed by a post-screening reception in the Speed lobby.
For fans of:
Little Miss Sunshine, Moonrise Kingdom, Sideways, Suncoast
The 2025 Flyover Film Festival takes place at multiple venues across Louisville from July 23 to July 27. To learn more about the films listed above as well as our shorts lineup, check out the 2025 Flyover film program. And more festival info here.
