It's the autumn of 1985. In intertwining tales written by Oscar nominated actor James Franco, three 5th grade friends - Chris, Joe and Ted - unfold in the suburban paradise of Palo Alto.. Chris drives up to Yosemite for the weekend with his dad (James Franco, 127 Hours) and discovers a corpse in the woods. Joe, left to his own devices by his babysitter, befriends a lonely drifter who shares his love of comic books. Meanwhile, a mountain lion is spotted in Palo Alto in broad daylight and Ted searches for his cat, who has gone missing…. Based on the short stories “Yosemite” and “Peter Parker” from James Franco’s collection A California Childhood.. Winner of the Women in Film & TV Award and nominated for Grand Jury Prize at the Nashville Film Festival, Official Selection at the Mill Valley Film Festival.. "Intimate and affecting...impressive...absorbing. Demeestere shows acute sensitivity in her understanding of boys and their growing awareness of the world, with its real and imagined menaces. The movie succeeds on its own quiet terms, binding the three parts together with assurance and tonal consistency to cast a lingering spell." - The Hollywood Reporter. "Quietly impressive. YOSEMITE pays off in an authenticity that pervades both individual scene rhythms and performances." - Variety