(selected from the line-ups of the Tribeca Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival)

Freeze Frame
Ireland, 2004

Acquitted murder suspect Sean Veil videotapes himself around the clock to provide an alibi in case he's ever accused of another crime. When the police do come calling, however, the one tape that could prove his innocence has mysteriously disappeared.

Satan's Little Helper
USA, 2004

A naive young boy believes he is living in his favorite video game: Satan's Little Helper. As he assists the dark master on Halloween, he unknowingly helps a serial killer who is dressed up like Satan.

The Green Butchers
Denmark, 2003

At a butcher shop, a fatal accident and a meat shortage lead to the addition of "chickie-wickie" (human meat) to the meat counter. After filleting his fiancée, the butcher wonders whether he's gone too far.

Haute Tension
France, 2003

After Marie accompanies Alex to his family's remote country house, a murderous trucker intrudes. A gruesome battle over Alex, for whom Marie and the killer both lust after, ensues.

The Man of the Year
Brazil, 2003

Maiquel kills a local criminal, earning his neighbors' respect and launching his life as an assassin. What follows is a study of the interchangeability of violence and status in Rio de Janeiro as one man attempts to alter his fate.

Primer
USA, 2004

While working on an independent project in their garage, two engineers accidentally discover a way to travel back in time. First they use their machine for experimentation, then small financial gains. Soon they find themselves plagued by larger moral questions.

A Problem with Fear
Canada, 2003

Subways, elevators and revolving doors are modern conveniences that can kill but usually don't. In the near-future world of phobic-extraordinaire Laurie, they do. Is he the cause, or is the sinister Global Safety Inc. behind the wave of fear gripping the city?

After the Apocalypse
USA, 2004

In the near future, in an unnamed land, five survivors of a devastating Third World War come together in a struggle for survival. Left mute by poisonous gases, the four men and one woman are capable of uttering only the most basic sounds. The film replaces dialogue with music and composed sound effects.

Bad Meat
USA, 2004

Buddy and Earl kidnap a corrupt U.S. Congressman for ransom, but the Congressman ends up dead, and his body in a meat-packing plant, accidentally chopped up, turned into bologna, and sent out to market. Unless they round up all the bad meat and somehow get the Congressman's body back to his family for a proper funeral, Buddy could lose his freedom and Earl the girl of his dreams. From Scott Dikkers and Michael Hirsch, two of the minds behind The Onion.

A Taste of Murder
France, 2003

In 1958 Paris, a serial killer pays a hack novelist to chronicle and immortalize his predatory exploits. Combining existential philosophy with a sense of the absurd, the film posits that murder may be the greatest literary accomplishment of them all.