Palo Alto

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents Palo Alto the impressive directorial debut of Gia Coppola, based on a book of short stories by James Franco, in June.                                                    

The film features a youthquake of talented Hollywood offspring, including Emma Roberts (niece of Julia), Jack Kilmer (playing alongside his father Val) and James Franco. Coppola herself comes from big screen royalty, as the granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola, the niece of Sofia Coppola and cousin of Nicholas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.

A nuanced character study of a group of Californian teens navigating their way through adolescence, the film captures the often-unthinking impulses of modern youth and their search for meaning.

'But what if I don't think there is a reason for something happening?" April tells her soccer coach, 'I do things all the time for no reason." April (Emma Roberts) is in high school. She plays soccer, goes to parties and smokes with a sense of thoughtful nonchalance. She likes Teddy (Jack Kilmer) but falls into a relationship with her attractive single soccer coach (James Franco) whom she babysits for.