2014 AFI FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY AUDI

The lovely face of screen legend, Sophia Loren graces the poster for this year's American Film Institute Film Festival presented by Audi running November 6th through November 13th. The Italian actress is being honored with a special tribute to her luminous career on November 12th with screenings of the 1964 classic, "Marriage Italian Style" with Marcello Mastroianni, "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", the 1963 film directed by Vittorio De Sica and her most recent work, "Human Voice", a short directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti.

Once again, AFI will be offering free tickets to all of the screenings beginning today in addition to festival packages and passes for purchase which offers various privileges to films, presentations and events. The gala screenings will be held at the home of the Academy Awards in the Dolby Theatre while regular screenings will be shown in TCL Chinese 6 Theatres and the Egyptian Theatre .

The Opening Night Gala will be "A Most Violent Year", the latest film from writer/director, J.C. Chandor. This will be the world premiere and stars Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac as a 1980's New York couple trying make a better life for themselves while wading through the crime ridden streets of the city.



Another world premiere will be "The Gambler" which is the Centerpiece Gala. Mark Wahlberg stars in this remake of the 1974 James Caan film as a college professor who gets in way over his head in the world of underground gambling. John Goodman, Brie Larson, Michael K. Williams and Jessica Lange also star.



"Foxcatcher" has been selected to close out the festival. This fact-based drama directed by Bennett Miller ("Capote") has been receiving plenty of buzz due to the amazing, transformative performances from Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo

The festival will present special screenings which includes Tommy Lee Jones' "The Homesman" and "Inherent Vice" as well as offering a wide selection of programing ranging from world cinema, American independents, new auteurs, breakthrough filmmakers, short films, midnight screenings and cinema's legacy. For the complete list of films, please click below:

AFIFEST 2014

WINNERS FROM THE 2014 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

I know this is a bit of old news but I was on an European vacation for the last two weeks and I have to comment on this year's winners from the Cannes Film Festival. "Winter Sleep", the latest from Turkish director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan took home the top prize. This lengthy (196 minutes!) drama examines a wealthy former actor who has great influence in his small town but not much respect. I don't know how much commercial appeal this film will have but at this time, there is no distribution deal set for it to screen in America. I was thrilled that Julianne Moore took home the "Best Actress" Award for her performance in David Cronenberg's "Maps To The Stars". Ms Moore has been passed over far too many times in the past for such great work, so this is a long time in coming. I'm also happy that the amazing twenty-five year old film maker, Xavier Dolan won the Jury Prize for his new film, "Mommy" which, in a surprise, tied with eighty-three year old art-house legend, Jean-Luc Godard's "Goodbye To Language". Another pleasant surprise is the American director of the well received, "Foxcatcher", Bennett Miller went on to capture the directing award.

This year also marks the final appearance of Gilles Jacob, the long-time president of the festival who is retiring after thirty-five years. Some of the many innovative ideas he brought to help mold this in to a first-class celebration of world cinema include starting a market at Cannes to help independent films find distribution as well as securing investors for future productions, creating the Un Certain Regard competition for the more challenging works, the Camera d'Or prize for first-time directors and the Cinéfondation which offers support for new filmmakers. Mr Jacob received a warm standing ovation at the closing night ceremony.

Here is the list of winners from the 2014 Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d'Or: "Winter Sleep"


Grand Prix: "La Meraviglie" (The Wonders)

Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director): Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"

Prix d'interpretation masculine (Best Actor): Timothy Spall, "Mr. Turner"



Prix d'interpretation feminine (Best Actress): Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"

Prix du Scenario (Best Screenplay): Andrey Zvyagintsev and Oleg Negin, "Leviathan"



Prix du Jury (Jury Prize): "Mommy" and "Goodbye to Language" (Tie)



Camera d’Or (Best First Feature): "Party Girl"

Un Certain Regard: "White God"

2014 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

The Cannes Film Festival had released the official poster earlier this year for the upcoming event with the iconic image of Italian screen heartthrob (and two-time "Best Actor" winner), Marcello Mastroianni. Now the time has come to finally announce the films selected to be screened at the 67th edition of the festival. There had been plenty of speculation of what would be picked with some coming to fruition while others were left disappointed.

In addition to the previously announced opening night film, "Grace of Monaco", starring Nicole Kidman as film legend, Grace Kelly and directed by Olivier Dahan ("La Vie En Rose"), there are nineteen films selected for competition of the top prizes.

Many selections are from internationally acclaimed film makers who have made previous appearances at Cannes including Olivier Assayas ("Clouds of Sils Maria"), Mike Leigh ("Mr. Turner"), Ken Loach ("Jimmy’s Hall"), David Cronenberg ("Maps to the Stars"), Michel Hazanavicius ("The Search"), Xavier Dolan ("Mommy") Jean-Luc Godard ("Goodbye to Language") and representing the U S of A, Bennett Miller ("Foxcatcher") and Tommy Lee Jones ("The Homesman"). 

Among the eighteen films selected for Un Certain Regard which recognizes innovative new works is "Lost River", the directorial debut from Ryan Gosling. Director Jane Campion ("The Piano") heads the jury with the festival beginning on May 14th and concluding on May 25th.