Festival lineup announced for P.S.I.F.F.
Organizers of the 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival have announced the complete lineup of films that will be shown this year.
The festival will showcase films featuring Jennifer Aniston, Annette Benning, Berenice Bejo, Juliette Binoche, Patricia Clarkson, Glenn Close, Marion Cotillard, Dakota Fanning, James Franco, Greta Gerwig, Anne Hathaway, Dustin Hoffman, Ben Kingsley, William H. Macy, Jack O’ Connell, Al Pacino, Kristen Stewart, Patrick Stewart, Emma Thompson, Nia Vardalos and many others, according to the release.
The festival will feature 192 films from 65 countries, including 65 premiers.
“This year’s lineup is particularly noteworthy not only for the overall excellence of the 190+ films included, but for the extraordinary quality of storytelling involved” said Darryl Macdonald, Festival Director. “In this era of mega-blockbusters, filmmakers worldwide seem to be reacting by eschewing traditional genres and formats in favor of innovative and audacious new approaches to storytelling, with newly emerging talents from regions like Eastern Europe, the Arab countries and Latin America leading the charge.”
“Change is in the air and circulating around the globe at warp speed. Under-represented countries are making themselves heard in the Oscar race,” said Helen du Toit, Artistic Director. “Filmmakers are mining the personal stories behind political movements. Marginalized women are asserting their rights. Emerging directors are staking their claims. These are exciting times in cinema and we are thrilled to be sharing them with our audience who comes from near and far.”
According to the release, the festival will offer a selection of 65 premieres of highly anticipated films, showcasing the diversity of international cinema. In addition, the festival’s ever popular Secret Screening will take place on Tuesday, January 6th at 8:00 p.m. at the Camelot Theatre.
World premieres include: Don Quixote: The Ingenious Gentleman of La Mancha (USA) starring James Franco, Horatio Sanz, Luis Guzman and Lin Shaye, Packed In A Trunk: The Lost Art of Edith Lake Wilkinson (USA), Some Kind of Love (Canada), Spirit / Will / Loss (USA), Twenty-Five Palms (Luxembourg) a documentary on the 25 th anniversary of the Palm Springs International Film Festival directed by Fabrizio Maltese, and Walter (USA) starring Justin Kirk, Virginia Madsen, William H. Macy, Neve Campbell and Peter Facinelli.
International premieres include: Accused (Netherlands), Arteholic (Germany), a documentary featuring Udo Kier and Lars von Trier among others, The Grandad (Iceland), Manpower (Israel) and Never Die Young (Luxembourg).
North American premieres include: 40-Love (Belgium), Afterlife (Hungary), Beatles (Norway), The Breach (USA), Chubby (Belgium), Eyes of a Thief (Palestine), Flowers (Spain), Kebab & Horoscope (Poland), The Monk (Myanmar), A Moonless Night (Uruguay), Mother of the Lamb (Chile), NN (Peru), No One’s Child (Serbia), Not All Is Vigil (Spain), See You in Montevideo (Serbia) starring in Aramand Assante, She’s Funny That Way (USA) directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Imogen Poots, Owen Wilson, Will Forte, Kathryn Hahn, Rhys Ifans and Jennifer Aniston, These Are the Rules (Croatia), Three Windows and a Hanging (Kosovo), Unlikely Heroes (Switzerland), What’s Between Us (Switzerland) and Halla Halla (Sweden).
U.S. premieres include: Boychoir (USA), Chagall – Malevich (Russia), Ciudad Delirio (Colombia), Cut Snake (Australia), The Dark Horse (New Zealand), Dcor (Egypt), The Farewell Party (Israel), Fidelio, Alice’s Journey (France), Grand Street (USA) starring Kelly McGillis and Sam Robards, The Grump (Finland), Henri Henri (Canada), Hope and Wire (New Zealand), In Her Place (Canada), In the Crosswind (Estonia), Kurmanjan Datka Queen of the Mountains (Kyrgyzstan), The Lesson (Bulgaria), Life in a Fishbowl (Iceland), The Light Shines Only There (Japan), Magical Girl (Spain), Margarita, with a Straw (India), Mirage (Hungary), Monsoon (Canada), Paper Planes (Australia) starring Sam Worthington, The Perfect Dictatorship (Mexico), The Reaper (Croatia), The Search (France), directed by Michel Hazanavicius and starring Annette Bening and Brnice Bejo, Sorrow and Joy (Denmark), Theeb (Jordan), Tigers (India) directed by Danis Tanovic, Tokyo Fiance (Belgium), White God (Hungary), Who Am I – No System is Safe (Germany), X + Y (UK) starring Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall.
The New Voices/New Visions Award will honor one of 10 films from top emerging international directors marking their feature film debut at the festival, with the additional criteria that the films selected are currently without US distribution. The winner is selected by a jury of US distributors and will receive a glass sculpture designed for the Festival by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Films selected for this year include:
Afterlife (Hungary), Director Virg Zomborcz
Chubby (Belgium), Director Bruno Deville
Fidelio, Alice’s Journey (France), Director Lucie Borleteau
Grand Street (USA), Director Lex Sidon
Henri Henri (Canada), Director Martin Talbot
Manpower (Israel), Director Noam Kaplan
A Moonless Night (Uruguay), Director Germn Tejeira
No One’s Child (Serbia), Director Vuk Ršumovi?
Theeb (Jordan), Director Naji Abu Nowar
What’s Between Us (Switzerland), Director Claudia Lorenz
The Modern Masters section features 12 films from international directors who set the standards for contemporary cinema. Films selected for this year include:
Chagall – Malevich (Russia), Director Alexander Mitta
Clouds of Sils Maria (France), Director Olivier Assayas, Cast: Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chlo Grace Moretz
Dancing Arabs (Israel), Director Eran Riklis
An Eye for Beauty (Canada), Director Denys Arcand
Gemma Bovery (France), Director Anne Fontaine
The Humbling (USA), Director Barry Levinson, Cast: Al Pacino, Greta Gerwig, Charles Grodin, Mary Louise Parker, Dan Hedaya and Dianne Wiest
In Order Of Disappearance (Norway/Sweden), Director Hans Petter Moland
Iris (USA), Director Albert Maysles
Li’l Quinquin (France), Director Bruno Dumont
The Perfect Dictatorship (Mexico), Director Louis Estrada
Queen and Country (United Kingdom), Director John Boorman
Red Amnesia (China), Director Wang Xiaoshuai
Many other films featuring notable talent will be shown at the film festival, which runs from January 2-12. For a complete list of films including thos selected in the World Cinema Now and True Stories program, visit psfilmfest.org.
