Two star-crossed lovers, a young, recently-released and unpredictable ex-con with bad luck, and a sexy, listless girl-next-door with a troubled family, become trapped in a downward spiral of crime and obsessive love, as they try to ditch their dead-end town for a better life. A contemporary, low-down story set in the hot lazy days of modern day Mississippi, Dixieland is Hank Bedford’s feature debut about love and lawlessness but also about the reality of poverty and violence. Starring Chris Zylka (The Amazing Spider-Man, HBO’s The Leftovers) and Riley Keough (The Runaways, Magic Mike) as the criminal couple, with country music superstar Faith Hill as Zylka’s mother, and Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte, this Southern drama is a sensitive, riveting tale of young, restless love gone awry.

—Genna Terranova