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The first trailer and poster for director Megan Griffiths' Eden is now online. Check them both out below, courtesy of iTunes Movie Trailers . Griffiths co-wrote the screenplay alongside Richard B. Phillips. The film tells the true story of a Korean-American teenager (Jamie Chung) who is kidnapped from a bar in New Mexico and transformed into a sex slave in Las Vegas by a band of ruthless international thugs. Beau Bridges plays an avuncular federal marshal, a good ol' boy, who turns out to be one of the operation's masterminds while Matt O'Leary is equally repellent as the boss's wildly erratic, drug-addled right-hand man. Eden is scheduled for a limited release on March 20.

The Toronto-based distributor Phase 4 Films has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths' drama "Eden," Phase 4 announced on Wednesday.  Griffiths and Richard B. Phillips Jr. wrote the screenplay for the project, and Jamie Chung, Beau Bridges and Matt O'Leary  are set to star in the film, produced by Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler.  The story follows a Korean-American teenager who is abducted and forced to work as a sex slave in Las Vegas after getting a ride home from a bar in New Mexico. Phase 4 is...

Los Angeles, CA (August 29, 2012) – Berry Meyerowitz, President & CEO of Phase 4 Films, announced today that the company has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths’ drama Eden. Griffiths and Richard B. Phillips Jr. wrote the screenplay for the project based on a true story by Chong Kim and Phillips. Jamie Chung (Premium Rush with Joseph Gordon Levitt, upcoming Man With The Iron Fists with Russell Crowe), Beau Bridges (The Descendants) and Matt O’Leary (upcoming The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp) star in the film, which was produced by Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler through Plank’s Centripetal Films. Eden made its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and the Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for director Griffiths. The film also played at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival, where Chung won the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress.

Phase 4 Films has acquired all North American rights to director Megan Griffiths’ drama “Eden,” which had its world premiere at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival. The specialty distributor has scheduled a release in theaters for early 2013. Based on the true story of Chong Kim, “Eden” follows a Korean-American teenager who is abducted from a New Mexico bar in 1994 and turned into a sex slave in Las Vegas for two years before finally escaping. Jamie Chung, Beau Bridges and Matt O'Leary star. The film, which was written by Griffiths (“The Off Hours”) and Richard B. Phillips Jr., won the audience award for best narrative feature at SXSW as well as the Emergent Narrative Woman Director Award for Griffiths. Read More: 'Eden,' 'The Invader' and 'Five Star Existence' Take the Top Prizes at the Seattle International Film Festival Colin Harper Plank and Jacob Mosler produced the project through Plank’s.

Often the problem when making an "issue" movie, wherein you tackle some far-reaching social, systemic, or religious injustice, is that scope often becomes too burdensome, with the given topic often begging for thoughtful, intimate conversation and not the broad strokes that cinema offers. The best issue movies, things like Steven Soderbergh's multi-layered "Traffic," make the central concern seem both universal and incredibly personal, often setting aside crass moralization (the stuff "Crash" was mired in – hey, racism still exists, everybody!) for actual entertainment. "Eden," the Narrative Feature winner at SXSW, similarly tackles the issue of sex slavery, but it does so in a way that never feels too clumsy or overarching. Instead, it's a character study with thriller elements; it exposes you to a horrible underworld without ever beating you over the head with it.

The movie starts with us meeting Hyun Jae (former MTV personality Jamie Chung), a Korean-American...

Another year, another South by Southwest. The Indiewire team will once again be attending the SXSW Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas. To help you keep track of the latest news, we've made up a handy guide to all of this year's feature films with links to their film pages and relevant interviews. Narrative Feature Competition "Booster" (Filmmaker Interview) Director & Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere) "Eden" Director: Megan Griffiths | Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips & Megan Griffiths | Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim A young Korean-American girl, abducted and forced into prostitution by domestic human traffickers, joins forces with her captors in a...

Sound On Sight will once again be covering the SXSW Film Festival this year, making it our second time attending. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas fest taking place March 9-17, including 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. As previously announced, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods will have the honours of opening the festival, and now they have released the full list of films – and it’s looking pretty amazing. Enjoy!

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths,...

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year's Festival, March 9 - 17, 2012 in Austin, Texas. We are also pleased to reveal the world premiere of Emmett Malloy's documentary Big Easy Express as our Closing Night Film, which follows a train ride unlike any other with Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show. Big Easy Express will screen on Saturday, March 17. The program will also include the world premiere of Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures' 21 Jump Street, screening in the Centerpiece slot on Monday, March 12. The 2012 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of celebrating ambitious experimentation with risk takers both in front of and behind the camera, and a deep immersion into cultural touchstones. The Midnighters feature section and the Short Film program will be announced on February 8.

"SXSW has long been a haven for bold...

Iggy Pop and Debbie Harry, shot by Bob Gruen in 1977

Rock 'N' Roll Exposed: The Photography of Bob Gruen

screens as part of 24 Beats per Second

SXSW Film has just announced its features lineup for the 2012 edition, running March 9 through 17. We already knew that the Opening Night Film would be Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods. For its Closing Night Film, the festival will host the world premiere of of Emmett Malloy’s documentary Big Easy Express (more below). The lineup, with descriptions from the festival:

Narrative Feature Competition

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin. When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted. Cast: Nico Stone, Adam DuPaul, Seymour Cassel, Kristin Dougherty, Brian McGrail. (World Premiere)

Eden

Director: Megan Griffiths, Screenwriters: Richard B. Phillips, Megan Griffiths, Story by: Richard B. Phillips & Chong Kim.

With Sundance 2012 Film Festival over, the next big one on the horizon is South by Southwest, which we’ll be heavily covering. The biggest chunk of the line-up has been announced today, which has some great premieres including 21 Jump Street, Tiff and Sundance hit The Raid, Will Ferrell‘s Casa de mi Padre, the documentary Girl Model (which we liked at Tiff), as well as the next from Broken Lizard, The Babymakers. There are many other promising titles included and you can see them all below. Check back for our coverage for the fest, kicking off March 9th.

Narrative Feature Competition

This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,112 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere. Films screening in Narrative Feature Competition are:

Booster

Director/Screenwriter: Matt Ruskin

When Simon’s brother is arrested for armed robbery, he is asked to commit a string of similar crimes in an attempt to get his brother acquitted.

The full lineup for South By Southwest 2012 has been announced and for those of you not attending the festival, prepare to seethe with jealousy. The Austin, Texas festival will host screenings of the Will Ferrell Spanish-language comedy Casa de mi Padre, festival favorite The Raid, Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America, and the world premiere of 21 Jump Street, which recently screened to press to overwhelmingly positive praise. Add these films to the previously announced festival opener Cabin in the Woods (from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard), and I’m sufficiently envious of those making the trek to Austin. Other highlights from the full lineup include the documentary The Imposter, Killer Joe, The Hunter, Lena Dunham’s Girls, and Kevin Macdonald’s doc Marley. Hit the jump to see the full list, but keep in mind that the midnight selections have yet to be announced. Collider’s own Matt Goldberg will...

SXSW 2012 is just over five weeks away, and I haven’t bought my plane ticket yet. But I will, especially now that I’ve seen today’s official announcement of the features (narrative and documentary) playing at this year’s fest. Fsr will be on the ground in Austin in the form of Kate Erbland, Jack Giroux, Neil Miller, and myself, and we look forward to seeing as many of the films below as our eyeballs can stomach. I know what you’re thinking, but gastronomical biology really does work differently within the confines of Austin. We’ll offer up some films we’re looking forward to closer to the fest, but it should come as no surprise that some of my most anticipated include The Raid, The Cabin In the Woods, The Hunter, Thale, and the documentary Seeking Asian Female. (Don’t judge.) Check out the complete (as of now) listing below of the feature films...

Attendees of South by Southwest 2012 are in for a treat. 130 feature films will screen at the Austin, Texas festival taking place March 9-17. Among them are 65 World Premieres, 17 North American Premieres and 10 U.S. Premieres. The organization already announced [1] Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods would open the festival (the movie is phenomenal [2]) and today the majority of the remaining line up has been revealed. One of the highlights is the unbelievably smart and hilarious 21 Jump Street, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller. Both of those are World Premieres. Other highlights include The Hunter, Killer Joe, The Babymakers, frankie goes boom, God Bless America, The Imposter, The Raid, Bernie and Casa de mi Padre just to name a few. After the jump, read descriptions of all the films that have been announced so far. Before I copy and paste the rest of the list, a few minor notes.

SXSW has announced their complete 2012 feature film slate. Over 90 films will screen across the festival’s ten categories, including the already announced opening night premiere of Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods and a special preview screening of Lena Dunham’s new HBO series Girls.

New additions include the sixteen films premiering in narrative and documentary competition. The eight films competing on the narrative side include Booster, directed by Matt Ruskin, Eden, directed by Megan Griffiths, Gayby, directed by Jonathan Lisecki, Gimme the Loot, directed by Adam Leon, Los Chidos, directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Pilgrim Song, directed by Martha Stephens, Starlet, directed by Sean Baker, and The Taiwan Oyster, directed by Mark Jarrett.

On the documentary side, the eight competing films include Bay of All Saints, directed by Annie Eastman, Beware of Mr. Baker, directed by Jay Bulger, The Central Park Effect, directed by Jeffrey Kimball, Jeff, directed by Chris James Thompson,...

Jaime Chung boosted her profile recently in studio releases including the Zack Snyder fantasy Sucker Punch and the smash comedy The Hangover Part II where she played the new fiancée to the character played by Ed Helms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung signed on to play the female lead in director Megan Griffiths’ indie drama Eden. Chung joined co-star Scoot McNairy (Coogan’s Bluff) on Eden; playing a Korean-America girl kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into slavery. Richard B. Phillips and Griffiths wrote the script from a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Griffiths announced an August production start in Seattle and eastern Washington State.

Jaime Chung boosted her profile recently in studio releases including the Zack Snyder fantasy Sucker Punch and the smash comedy The Hangover Part II where she played the new fiancée to the character played by Ed Helms. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chung signed on to play the female lead in director Megan Griffiths’ indie drama Eden. Chung joined co-star Scoot McNairy (Coogan’s Bluff) on Eden; playing a Korean-America girl kidnapped by human traffickers and forced into slavery. Richard B. Phillips and Griffiths wrote the script from a story by Phillips and Chong Kim. Griffiths announced an August production start in Seattle and eastern Washington State.