IndieWIRE: Undiscovered Gems is a selection of the films chosen on IndieWIRE's annual list of the best undistributed films of the year. Watch for the new list of the best of 2005 in December

AWFUL NORMAL
A film by Celesta Davis

Not Rated, 1 hour 16 minutes

When Karen and Celesta Davis were molested in 1978, little was being done about sexual abuse. Their parent’s inaction was not questioned as they continued to keep up a relationship with this ‘friend’ of the family. Twenty-five years later, the now-grown women continue to be haunted by the abuse and denial, and so embark on a journey to find their perpetrator. In this real-life documentation of confrontation and recovery, we follow Celesta and Karen as they face head-on their demons and their courage.

DEAR PILLOW
A film by Bryan Poyser

Not Rated, 1 hour 33 minutes

Bryan Poyser’s striking debut is a brave story of contemporary loneliness and obsession that has been compared to the works of Todd Solondz and Larry Clark. Wes, an awkward and frustrated teenager, forms an unlikely friendship with an older man, Dusty, who lives in the same apartment complex and who writes for a porn magazine called “Dear Pillow.” Grappling with themes of sexual alienation and isolation, Poyser’s film is at once unsettling and believable, earning him a well-deserved IFP Independent Spirit nomination.

HOTEL
A film by Jessica Hausner

Not Rated, 1 hour 25 minutes

Stylish and ethereal, and set in the Austrian Alps, Hotel is the sinister second feature of Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner. Irene is the new receptionist who discovers that she replaced a girl who vanished mysteriously. When she questions the other employees they react with indifference and hostility, and she soon becomes convinced that she must escape her impending doom. IndieWIRE describes this eerie and menacing film as a must-see “minimalist tale from the Brothers Grimm.”

HOUSE OF THE TIGER KING
A film by David Flamholc

Not Rated, 1 hour 44 minutes

Come meet a spicy mix of characters: an intrepid explorer, a Vietnam vet, an esoteric mystic, a couple of Machiguenga warriors and fifteen hired American porters. You will have to leave the comfort of the Western world behind, and join writer and explorer, Tahir Shah, while he searches for the most famous lost city of the Incas. The journey takes them through torrential rainforest downpours, sheet lightning, fever, mutiny and extortion. Cultural clashes produce frequent hilarious moments. David Flamholc captures the essence of discovery, and shows a journey of the soul, sprinkled with a pinch of salt. 

www.tigerkingmovie.com

LIBERIA: AN UNCIVIL WAR
A film by Jonathan Stack

Not Rated, 1 hour 39 minutes

This award-winning documentary from Jonathan Stack (co-director of The Farm: Angola, USA) takes viewers to the front lines of battle for Liberia, between oppressive leader Charles Taylor and a rebel group known as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy. With interviews and verite footage of the fighting, Stack and co-director James Brabazon offer a harrowing, inside report on an embattled country whose struggles have been ignored by the US government and overshadowed by the media’s spotlight on other parts of the world.

NO REST FOR THE BRAVE
A film by Alain Guiraudie

Not Rated, 1 hour 33 minutes

French director Alain Guiradie’s surreal feature is the metaphysical tale of a teenager who believes that the next time he falls asleep he will die. Determined to survive, the boy refuses to sleep, and as exhaustion sets in, the film embarks on a wild, hallucinatory ride in which reality and fantasy become obfuscated and intertwined.

SPEEDO
A film by Jesse Moss

Not Rated, 1 hour 18 minutes

Ed “Speedo” Jager is a king of the demolition derby circuit, a formidable figure in a rough-and-tumble sport, and through several seasons the film follows his collisions and confrontations on the track and off. While he is a success in his sport, his marriage is a different story. Director Jesse Moss’ skillful verité portrait immerses us in Speedo’s world, showing how the races have become his release valve, and dispelling the stereotypes and clichés his eccentric lifestyle might bring to mind.