The 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, running January 2-12, 2015, has announced its lineup. From the official press release:
The 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) announces its complete line-up including Premieres, New Voices/New Visions and Modern Masters. 192 films from 65 countries, including 65 premieres (7 World, 5 International, 20 North American and 33 U.S.) will unspool at the Festival, running from January 2-12, 2015 in Palm Springs, California. For a complete list of films visit: www.psfilmfest.org.
“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.”
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 25th 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), Décor (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 Bérénice Bejo, Sorrow and Joy (Denmark), Theeb (Jordan), Tigers (India) directed by Danis Tanovic, Tokyo Fiancée (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 Virág Zomborácz
- 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 Germán 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, Chloë 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
Other Festival films with notable talent and directors include: 5 To 7 (USA), directed by Victor Levin and starring Anton Yelchin, Olivia Thirlby, Lambert Wilson, Glenn Close and Frank Langella, ’71 (UK) starring Jack O’Connell, Back on Board: Greg Louganis (USA), the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour (Germany) directed by Laura Poitras, Effie Gray (UK), starring Dakota Fanning, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane, Julie Walters, Helicopter Mom (USA) starring Nia Vardalos, Kate Flannery and Lisa Loeb, the documentary Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey (USA) featuring Hal Holbrook, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Emile Hirsch, Cherry Jones, Robert Patrick and Annie Potts, In Order of Disappearance (Norway) starring Stellan Skarsgård, Keep On Keepin’ On (USA) directed by Alan Hicks and featuring Clark Terry, Justin Kauflin, Gwen Terry and Quincy Jones, Learning to Drive (USA) starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley, Match (USA) starring Matthew Lillard, Carla Gugino and Patrick Stewart, The Outrageous Sophie Tucker (USA) featuring Barbara Walters, Tony Bennett, Carol Channing, Michael Feinstein, Shecky Greene, Bruce Vilanch and David Hyde Pierce, Song One (USA) starring Anne Hathaway and Mary Steenburgen, Trespassing Bergman (Sweden) directed by Jane Magnusson and Hynek Pallas featuring Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Francis Ford Coppola, Clare Denis, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Michael Haneke, Ang Lee, Alexander Payne, Ridley Scott and Lars von Trier, Two Days, One Night (Belgium) starring Marion Cotillard.
For a complete list of films including those selected in the World Cinema Now and True Stories program visit www.psfilmfest.org.
