Eric Lavallée

Perhaps the least known member of the North Carolina club (David Gordon Green, Jeff Nichols, Craig Zobel, Jody Hill, DP Tim Orr, Aaron Katz and Ramin Bahrani) this is the year that Todd Rohal breaks out beyond the faithful few who've been tracking Rohal's genius since The Guatemalan Handshake, and more recently, the Sundance/SXSW preemed The Catechism Cataclysm (here is our review). We like this helmer's offbeat, unique humor and wouldn't be surprised if Patton Oswalt and Johnny Knoxville were challenged by the material -- which was part of the Sundance's 2009 Screenwriting Lab.

Dosunmu has been workshopping this project since 2005 (he was invited to the Sundance labs with it) but got delayed (here is our sit-down with the Dosunmu) and then the filmmaker with a photography background and a true knack for capturing city life made the indie budgeted gem Restless City (released on the festival circuit at fests such as Sundance, AFi Fest) and here re-teams with the excellent DP Bradford Young for a project that includes the beautiful Yaya DaCosta and regular Jim Jarmusch contributor, Isaach De Bankolé. We're banking an intimate, immigrant experience tale that is textured and stylized.

It'll be a great 2012 for fans of the Palme d'Or winning director Laurent Cantet, as he explores both Havana (La Fuente) with his Sunday piece in 7 Days and with this English language first. With The Class, the filmmaker certainly felt at ease working with teens, and something tells me that this 50's piece will be just as poignant.

It's been a long, very long eight years since she dropped Somersault upon art-house patrons. Once again employing the unknown young actress in the lead, this multi-territory co-production is a heftier and I don't think will have any resemblance to her 2004 debut (I recall a more gloomy, low budget aesthetic) this could make for a potentially engrossing watch with young leads surviving WW2.

Going on year two, we've been anticipating the project when it was first announced (#61 in 2011) and oddly, somewhere along the way Ben Foster dropped out of this indie addiction drama (perhaps Rampart took its place?) which is a shame because he and Cassavetes worked out so well with his Alpha Dog character. On paper this is up our alley and we think this dark comedy might pan out to be an edgier, more worthwhile career choice for this Cassavetes.