Introducing the Films of AFI FEST 2011

Up until last year, film festivals had always been a bit of a mystery to me. I had gone to a few conventions before and been shown advanced screenings of films, but to actually go to an event where all you did was watch films seemed a bit beyond my reach. Didn’t help either that I had never really lived in areas with affordable or frequent festivals. That is, up until last year when I was introduced to AFI FEST. They hooked me in with free tickets and the promise of engaging cinema from around the world. To say I had fun is a bit of an understatement. As the credits to the last film rolled, I decided that I would come back next year in a more professional manner and write about it.

Which brings us to now. AFI FEST 2011 Presented by Audi is a little over a week away (November 3-10) and they’ve once again made the tickets to all their films free. This is definitely a good thing as there’s quite an impressive lineup this year. It’s going to be difficult scheduling which films I’d like to see!

Listed below are all the films being showcased at the festival. If you’re in the LA area and want to go to any of these screenings hop over to the AFI FEST site and keep an eye out for ticket information.

THE GALAS

J. EDGAR – DIR Clint Eastwood. CAST Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer. USA. World Premiere. – OPENING NIGHT GALA

THE LADY – DIR Luc Besson. CAST Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett, Jonathan Woodhouse, Susan Wooldridge. France/UK.

CARNAGE – DIR Roman Polanski. CAST Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly. France/Germany/Poland.

MY WEEK WITH MARILYN – DIR Simon Curtis. CAST Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench, Emma Watson. UK.

LAW OF DESIRE (An Evening with Pedro Almodóvar) – DIR Pedro Almodóvar. CAST Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Miguel Molina. Spain.

THE ARTIST – DIR Michel Hazanavicius. CAST Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller. USA.

SHAME – DIR Steve McQueen. CAST Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie. UK.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

BUTTER – DIR Jim Field Smith. CAST Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Hugh Jackman, Ashley Greene. USA.

CORIOLANUS – DIR Ralph Fiennes. CAST Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain. UK.

I MELT WITH YOU – DIR Mark Pellington. CAST Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Rob Lowe, Christian McKay, Carla Gugino. Canada/USA.

INTO THE ABYSS – DIR Werner Herzog. USA.

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME – DIR Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass. CAST Jason Segel, Ed Helms, Judy Greer, Susan Sarandon. USA.

THE KID WITH A BIKE – DIR Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne CAST Cécile de France, Thomas Doret, Jérémie Renier. Belgium/France/Italy.

MELANCHOLIA – DIR Lars von Trier. CAST Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland. Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany.

MISS BALA – DIR Gerardo Naranjo CAST Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, James Russo. Mexico’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

PINA – DIR Wim Wenders. CAST Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante, Andrey Berezin. Germany/France. Germany’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

RAMPART – DIR Oren Moverman. CAST Woody Harrelson, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright, Ben Foster. USA.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN – DIR Lynne Ramsay. CAST Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller. UK.

NEW AUTEURS SELECTIONS

The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors from around the world.

ATTENBERG – DIR Athina Rachel Tsangari. Greece.
BONSAI – DIR Cristián Jiménez. Chile/France/Argentina/Portugal.
BULLHEAD – DIR Michaël R. Roskam. Belgium.
HANAAN – DIR Ruslan Pak. Russia/South Korea/Uzbek.
THE LONELIEST PLANET – DIR Julia Loktev. USA/Germany.
MICHAEL – DIR Markus Schleinzer. Austria.
OSLO, AUGUST 31 – DIR Joachim Trier. Norway.
RESTLESS CITY – DIR Andrew Dosunmu. USA.
SNOWTOWN – DIR Justin Kurzel. Australia.

YOUNG AMERICANS SELECTIONS

The Young Americans section features work by emerging U.S. filmmakers.

THE COLOR WHEEL – DIR Alex Ross Perry.
THE DISH & THE SPOON – DIR Alison Bagnall.
DRAGONSLAYER – DIR Tristan Patterson. (Documentary)
GREEN – DIR Sophia Takal.
SPARK OF BEING – DIR Bill Morrison. (Experimental)
WUSS – DIR Clay Liford.

BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS

The Breakthrough films are true discoveries – films that come straight from the submissions process.

EXPECTING – DIR Francisca Fuenzalida. Chile. U.S. Premiere.
LIGHT OF MINE – DIR Brett Eichenberger. USA.
THREE AND A HALF – DIR Naghi Nemati. Iran. U.S. Premiere.
WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT – DIR Alexandra-Therese Keining. Sweden. World Premiere.

WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS

A showcase of modern masters and emerging filmmakers from across the globe, this year’s World Cinema program showcases some of the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year.

ALMAYER’S FOLLY – DIR Chantal Akerman. Belgium/France. U.S. Premiere.
ALPS – DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. Greece/France. U.S. Premiere.
ARIRANG – DIR Kim Ki-duk. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
CAFÉ DE FLORE – DIR Jean-Marc Vallée. Canada. U.S. Premiere.
CARRÉ BLANC – DIR Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. France/Luxembourg/Russia/Belgium/Switzerland. U.S. Premiere.
THE DAY HE ARRIVES – DIR Hong Sang-Soo. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL – DIR Nacho Vigalondo. Spain.
FAUST – DIR Alexander Sokurov. Russia. U.S. Premiere.
FOOTNOTE – DIR Joseph Cedar. Israel. Israel’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD – DIR Joshua Marston. USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy.
THE INVADER – DIR Nicolas Provost. Belgium. U.S. Premiere.
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI – DIR David Gelb. USA.
KINYARWANDA – DIR Alrick Brown. USA.
MAMA AFRICA – DIR Mika Kaurismäki. Germany/South Africa/Finland.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA – DIR Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey/Bosnia/Herzegovina. Turkey’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
PLAY – DIR Ruben Östlund. Sweden/France/Denmark.
A SEPARATION – DIR Asghar Farhadi. Iran. Iran’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
THE SILVER CLIFF – DIR Karim Aïnouz. Brazil.
TARGET – DIR Alexander Zeldovich. Russia.
THIS IS NOT A FILM – DIR Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi. Iran.
THE TURIN HORSE – DIR Béla Tarr. Hungary. Hungary’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.

MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS

The Midnight section showcases an eclectic group of films across the globe from fearless proponents of provocative, jarring and unexpected ideas.

BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW – DIR Panos Cosmatos. USA.
HEADHUNTERS – DIR Morten Tyldum. Norway.
KILL LIST – DIR Ben Wheatley. UK.

SPOTLIGHT ON JOE SWANBERG

SILVER BULLETS – DIR Joe Swanberg.
ART HISTORY – DIR Joe Swanberg.
THE ZONE – DIR Joe Swanberg. World Premiere.