STERLING US FEATURE COMPETITION

• Beyond This Place - Director Kaleo La Belle (USA/Switzerland, 2010, 92 minutes, US Premiere) - A personal documentary in which the filmmaker chronicles the 500-mile bike trip in the Pacific Northwest that he made in an attempt to reconnect with his father, Cloud Rock La Belle, a quintessential hippie, who still lives the stoner lives the stoner lifestyle 40 years after the '60s ended.

• Camera, Camera - Director Malcolm Murray (USA/Laos, 2009, 60 minutes, East Coast Premiere) - Focusing on digital photos taken by westerners touring in Laos, the film questions whether the images taken of seemingly exotic locals are snapshots of reality or views that reflect the photographers' preconceived notions of place and culture rather than the actual landscape.
• Circo - Director Aaron Schock (Mexico/USA, 2010, 75 minutes, East Coast Premiere) - In rural Mexico, the Ponce family struggles to preserve the institution of their small traveling circus and way of life in rural Mexico. In following the family, Circo explores the inner workings of the circus business as well as family sacrifice, loss of childhood, and the preservation of a fading art form.
• The Disappearance Of McKinley Nolan - Director Henra Corra (USA/Cambodia/Vietnam, 2010, 85 minutes, World Premiere) - Forty years after Pvt. McKinley Nolan vanished in Vietnam, his family learns there is hope the beloved brother, husband and father is alive and the decades-long mystery of his disappearance may be solved.

• Holywars - Director Stephen Marshall (USA/Canada, 2009, 72 minutes, World Premiere) - The film follows a Muslim and a Christian -- both deeply committed to their respective faiths -- on their travels to proselytize their respective versions of "the truth." What happens when both men are in the same room? This provocative film will spark discussions about nature of religion, extremism and tolerance.
• The Kids Grow Up - Director Doug Block (USA, 2009, 91 minutes) - In this sequel to his previous film, 51 Birch Street, in which he examined his parents' marriage and his own relationship with his father, the filmmaker studies his daughter, documenting her life from birth and expressing his feelings towards her.
• Monica and David - Director Alexandra Cordina (USA, 2009, 67 minutes) - The filmmaker chronicles the first year of married life of a young and blissfully-in-love couple, Monica and David, who have Down syndrome, showing that their joys and struggles are much the same as those of any newlyweds.
• My Perestroika - Director Robin Hessman (USA/UK/Russia, 2010, 87 minutes) - The film presents an intimate and sympathetic look at the lives of the last generation of Soviet children brought up behind the Iron Curtain, and shows the complexity of the challenges they face in adjusting to changing times.
• On Coal River - Directors Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood (USA, 2010, 81 minutes, World Premiere) - Residents of the Coal River Valley notice that a host of their medical problems are linked to a Massey-owned coal-waste dumping ground that sits above the local elementary school, and they demand action.
• Sons Of Perdition - Directors Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten (USA, 2010, 85 minutes) - The film offers a rare insider perspective on family life among members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a branch of Mormonism that continues to practice of polygamy, and follows several young men and women who leave the community to find their way in a world about which they know little.
• Wo Ai Ni Mommy (I Love You Mommy) - Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal - (China/USA, 2009, 76 minutes, East Coast Premiere) - The film follows a year and a half in the lives of Fang Sui Yong, an eight year old Chinese girl, and her adoptive parents, a Jewish couple from Long Island who rename her "Faith."