26th Philadelphia Film Festival, Day 9: Festival winners and good picks

(Read about days 6 and 7 here)

The "closing night" of the festival is supposed to be the ending shebang on the ninth day. The one thing that always baffles me is why closing night festivities occur with two days left in the festival. It's not the last day of the festival so why market it as such? Maybe it's more fun to make the most of a Friday night instead of a Sunday night? At least they get the opening night right by putting it on the first day.

Anyway, winners were announced by the "jury" — the composition of which is never made public so I don't know who is selecting these winners — on "closing night" with documentaries cleaning up nicely. "Bobbi Jene" picked up the documentary feature prize with "At the Drive-In" winning the Pinkenson Award for local features and "Jane" claiming the student choice award.

26th Philadelphia Film Festival, Days 3 and 4: Animals and art.

The third day of the festival — my second since I didn't attend opening night — was only a hair better than day two. My screenings for both days were equally awful. That's not to say that everything shown that day was bad, I just didn't choose correctly.

My day started off with this year's Golden Bear winner "On Body and Soul," a Hungarian film about two slaughterhouse workers who find a connection because of the synchronous dreams they share. Both young, baby-faced Maria and the older Endre dream that they are deer in a snow-covered forest and have the exact same dream each night. The two socially-awkward individuals become simple acquaintances over their nighttime visuals and we delve slowly into their eccentricities and personalities in this delicate feature.

'I, Tonya' and 'Three Billboards...' among films featured at 26th Philly Film Fest

Well over 100 films will play at the 26th Philadelphia Film Festival the Philadelphia Film Society announced Tuesday afternoon.

Craig Gillespi's "I, Tonya" will open the festival on Oct. 19 at the Prince Theater to kick off 11 days of marathon moviewatching for die-hard Philly cinephiles. The society also announced that Martin McDonagh’s "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" will close the festival on Oct. 27. The festival will showcase more than 110 feature length and short films. The festival line-up is curated by our programming committee who carefully selects each film from multiple international festivals throughout the year.

"Coming off our 25th anniversary, we entered this year with a certain amount of trepidation as to how we could match what was arguably our strongest Festival program ever built upon one of the best years for film in recent memory. After traveling the Festival circuit and watching a record number of submissions, we’re thrilled with this year’s line-up, which again represents the best of film from around the world,” said Executive Director, J. Andrew Greenblatt. 

“From crowd pleasers like our Opening Night film 'I, Tonya' to award contenders like Closing Night film 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'; from thought-provoking documentaries like The New Radical to cutting edge foreign films like 'The Square' and experimental indies like 'Flesh and Blood' from Philly-born director Mark Webber, there’s something for everyone in this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival.”

The film society had previously announced a retrospective called "Demme in Philly" featuring projects of recently-passed director Jonathan Demme which includes "Philadelphia" and "Beloved."

The festival runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 29.

Here is the full festival line-up:

Opening Night Film

·         I, Tonya, Director Craig Gillespie. 2017, USA.

Closing Night Film

·         Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Director Martin McDonagh. 2017, USA.

Centerpiece Screenings

·         Darkest Hour, Director Joe Wright. 2017, UK.

·         The Florida Project, Director Sean Baker. 2017, USA.

·         Lady Bird, Director Greta Gerwig. 2017, USA.

·         Last Flag Flying, Director Richard Linklater. 2017, USA.

'La La Land' opens 25th Philadelphia Film Festival

The critically acclaimed "La La Land" will open the 25th Philadelphia Film Festival this year

The Philadelphia Film Society is proud to announce the full film line-up of the 25^th Philadelphia Film Festival, spanning from October 20 – October 30 on four theater screens throughout the Greater Philadelphia area.

Opening on Oct. 20 with Damien Chazelle’s "La La Land" and closing on Oct. 30 with "Arrival", the 11-day Festival will showcase over 110 feature length and short films, curated by our programming committee who chooses each selection from multiple international festivals throughout the year.

“We are thrilled to celebrate a milestone year for the Philadelphia Film Festival and to have the opportunity to showcase some of the best films of the year right here in Philly.” said Executive Director, J. Andrew Greenblatt.  “From our Opening Night screening, "La La Land", which was the talk of the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, to the Closing Night screening of "Arrival", this year’s prodigious line-up fully embodies what the Philadelphia Film Festival truly is: a community filled with film lovers brought together to experience today’s most thought-provoking and innovative films!”

“As we celebrate 25 years of Philadelphia Film Festival, we are extremely proud to announce that it’s once our best lineups. With over 110 works from world renowned directors, including tons of surprises, our lineup includes something for everyone to enjoy,” said Michael Lerman, Artistic Director.  “We’ve had pretty incredible success rate. Four out of the last 5 Best Picture winners made their Philadelphia debut at our Festival, so this is the chance to see it first!”

The Philadelphia Film Society is honored to have Damien Chazelle, recipient of the Academy Award nomination for best adapted screenplay for "Whiplash"¸ and director of the Opening Night film, "La La Land" join us for the #PFF25 opening night.

The full Festival schedule and digital Festival Program Guide is available now on www.filmadelphia.org/festival. 

Screenings for the 25^th Philadelphia Film Festival will take place at the Ritz East (125 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106), Ritz Five (214 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106), PFS Roxy Theater (2023 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103), and Prince Theater (1412 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102). Tickets will go on-sale for Philadelphia Film Society members on Friday, September 30, and to the general public beginning Friday, October 6.  Tickets may be purchased through the Festival website, www.filmadelphia.org/festival, or in-person at the Main Box Office at the Prince Theater (open Monday – Saturday from 12 noon to 5:00 pm).

25^th Philadelphia Film Festival Full Line-up

Opening Night Film

·         La La Land, Director Damien Chazelle. 2016, USA.

Closing Night Film

·         Arrival, Director Denis Villeneuve. 2016, USA.

Centerpiece Screenings

·         Jackie, Director Pablo Larraín. 2016, USA, France, Chile.

·         Lion, Director Garth Davis. 2016, Australia, USA, UK.

·         Manchester by the Sea, Director Kenneth Lonergan 2016, USA.

·         Moonlight, Director Barry Jenkins. 2016, USA.

·         Toni Erdmann, Director Maren Ade, 2016, Germany

From the Vaults: Film history comes alive as it was meant to be seen - on the big screen. Come see old favorites bigger than life once again.

·         Dekalog, Director Krzysztof Kieślowski. 1988, USA.

·         Night on Earth, Director Jim Jarmusch. 1991, USA.

·         Wonder Boys, Director Curtis Hanson. 2000, USA.

Spotlights, Presented by Philly Style: Highly–anticipated movies from some of the biggest names in the industry, these films shine a spotlight on top talent from around the world.

·         Christine, Director Antonio Campos. 2016, USA.

·         King Cobra, Director Justin Kelly. 2016, USA.

·         Wolves, Director Bart Freundlich. 2016, USA.

Media Film Festival brings great films, nostalgia back to borough

Photo Courtesy of Media Arts Council

Beloved film critic Roger Ebert had a great saying about the length of a film: “No good movie is too long, and no bad movie is short enough."

That was the statement I thought about before the start of the ninth Media Film Festival.

The way Ebert’s wonderful quote applies to the films shown at this year’s festival went like this: can a short film be too long, or not long enough?

Comprised of over 40 short films ranging in length from two minutes to 30, could it be possible that even at such a minute length compared to a feature, do some stories overstay their welcome, and others not stay long enough?

It turns out, yes.

That’s not to say that the artists, from Media to India, did not show off their good craftsmanship, but even on a small canvas, some work cannot fill the entirety of their space with enough substance to keep you intrigued.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Days 2 and 3: Having a 'Cannes' do attitude

This may be only the second time of sitting in theaters for hours a day watching movies, a.k.a., enduring the best of a film festival. And for me, Philadelphia's annual fest devoted to international and local cinema is the only place I do it... for now.

But the some feeling kicks in days before it starts: do I really have the energy to endure four movies a day for the first few days of the fest? In my head I say no, but by the third movie of each day my body is programmed to endure it. It also doesn't mean that I don't feel like nodding off during the third movie, either. Whoops.

So with day one of the festival off to a smashing start with "Anomalisa", I grabbed my badge and tickets (for select screenings not covered with my badge) and headed downtown for day two, Oct. 21.

24th Philadelphia Film Fest, Day 1: "Anomalisa" shines as opener!

Yay, the Philadelphia Film Festival has officially started!

After weeks since announcing the fest's lineup the anticipation can finally start to dissipate as local cinephiles can start their marathon moviewatching.

The festival's opening night activities appeared to go off without a hitch, and what a fabulous event that sounded like. The red carpet, the party, and all sorts of luxuriation that comes with it.

It started off with two screenings of "Anomalisa", the award-winning, stop-motion animation film from Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, at the Prince Theater at 6 and 8:30. There seemed to be a flood of interest for the 8:30 screening since it was announced that Kaufman and Johnson would be in person to have a Q&A segment after that showing of their film, and they would be honored with the fest's artistic achievement award. Of course there were email updates saying this screening was sold out, rush tickets were available and blah blah blah.

Charlie Kaufman, Todd Haynes to appear at Philly Film Fest

Organizers of the 24th Philadelphia Film Festival announced Thursday that Charlie Kaufman and 30 other special guests will be in attendance for certain screenings during the duration of the 11-day festival.

Following the 8:30 screening of their festival-opening film "Anomalisa" at the Prince Theater, directors Kaufman and Duke Johnson will participate in a Q&A following the screening, and will be feted with the festival's artistic achievement award: Kaufman for his "incredibly imaginative writing" and Johnson for his work in animation that culminated in "the revolutionary stop-motion animated work of art 'Anomalisa'".

The festival also announced a Charlie Kaufman Retrospective section has been added to the festival line-up at the Prince Theater, which will showcase all of his titles: "Adaptation"; "Being John Malkovich"; "Confesstions of a Dangerous Mind"; "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"; "Human Nature"; and "Synecdoche, New York".

The retrospective has not yet been scheduled.

In addition to previously announced guest Michael Moore during the closing night showing of his latest film "Where to Invade Next"at the Prince Theater, director Todd Haynes ("Carol") is scheduled to appear, as is Gaspar Noé ("Love", "Irreversible"), actress Zoë Bell ("Camino") and Jamie Kennedy ("Scream").

Below is the full line-up of guests scheduled to attend. All information is subject to change.

Patricia Riggen, Director, The 33

Charlie Kaufman, Director, Anomalisa

Duke Johnson, Director, Anomalisa

Kevin Kerslake, Director, As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM

Brian Klugman, Director, Baby Baby Baby

David April, Subject, Beer Runners

Justin Wirtalla, Director, Beer Runners

Erik Shirai, Director, The Birth of Sake

Josh C. Waller, Director, Camino

Zoë Bell, Actor, Camino

Todd Haynes, Director, Carol

Rick Alverson, Director, Entertainment

Alison Bagnall, Director, Funny Bunny

Tara Culp, Producer, Funny Bunny

Greg Koh, Director, The Great Alone

Lynn True, Director, In Transit

Erika Frankel, Director, King Georges

Georges Perrier, Subject, King Georges

Jeffrey Loeb, Producer, A Light Beneath Their Feet

Gaspar Noé, Director, Love

Jessica Edwards, Director, Mavis!

Jay Dockendorf, Director, Naz and Maalik

Noah Pritzker, Director, Quitters

Ben Hickernell, Director, A Rising Tide

Jamie Kennedy, Actor, Scream

David Felix Sutcliffe, Director, (T)error

Christopher K. Walker, Director, Welcome to Leith

Marilyn Cohen, Executive Producer, When Voices Meet

Sharon Katz, Subject, When Voices Meet

Nonhlanhla Wanda, Subject, When Voices Meet

Michael Moore, Director, Where to Invade Next