Palm Springs International Film Festival Executive Director Mitch Levine and Director of Programming Jennifer Stark have announced the full lineup of almost 200 films that will be shown during the Festival, which runs January 9-20. Known for showcasing international cinema, the Festival continues to build on that reputation with its 2003 programming, offering five World Premieres, 23 North American Premieres and 56 US Premieres during the Festival. The Fest will screen 45 of the foreign-language Academy Award entries, out of a total of 54 submitted in that category, a record for the Festival. The schedule also includes a significant number of domestic films, documentaries and a “Best of the Fest” shorts program.
The North American premiere of Franco Zeffirelli’s “Callas Forever” will open the Festival on January 9th. Other notable films that will be screened include Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist,” Brazil’s City of God, Mexico’s prominent “The Crime of Father Amaro,” “China’s Hero,” the German entry “Nowhere in Africa” and Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours,” all of which are Golden Globe nominated. Additional highlights include a special Bollywood/Hollywood film program celebrating the cinema of India, a Franco Zeffirelli retrospective, a Conrad Hall retrospective, and seminars and panels on “How Deals Get Made in Hollywood,” “Painting with Light: The Art of Cinematography,” a Screenwriters’ Forum and an International Filmmakers Forum, all featuring highly-regarded filmmakers, cinematographers, writers and actors.
“We consider ourselves fortunate to offer films of the caliber and diversity that we have programmed for this year’s Festival,” said Levine. “We really have something for everyone – drama, comedy, family films, documentaries, gay and lesbian, and Jewish-interest are just a few of the types of movies that we’ll be showing. Additionally, we have an entire section devoted to the debut features of new filmmakers from around the world, a series of films from established masters of the cinema, and many others. It’s exciting to know that we’ll be offering our audience the opportunity to engage films, filmmakers and film genres that they may never otherwise have had the opportunity to experience.”
Feast your eyes on the schedule at the Palm Springs International Film Festival website.
