2019 AFI FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTED BY AUDI

The AFI Film Festival Presented by Audi has made a major change for the 2019 edition. This year the Hollywood based fest, which begins on November 14th and runs through November 21st, has decided to begin transiting as a paid ticketing event after years of offering movie-goers free tickets to the screenings. The decision was made in order to create a smoother festival experience and to ensure that audiences will have a better opportunity to see all of the movies they wanted to see.

Now I agree that attending the Fest could be a hassle with long wait lines with absolutely no guarantee that you would get in to see the movie. But the free tickets offered people to take a chance on little known features, particularly foreign-language films, that they would most likely not be willing to pay top dollar to see. After learning how to navigate the AFI Fest over the years, I can certainly admit that I saw many films that I would not initially paid to have seen but was so thoroughly thrilled after seeing them. I love this fest yet I definitely will be seeing fewer films this year and will be far more selective on what I will be willing to pay to see.

"Queen & Slim", the feature directorial debut from Melina Matsoukas with a screenplay from Lena Waithe, has been selected as the Opening Night Film and will be making it's world premiere at the Fest. What begins innocently as a first date between an African-American couple (played by Daniel Kaluuya and making her film debut, Jodie Turner-Smith) escalates in to these two virtual strangers on the run after they are involved in the accidental death of a cop.



Other Gala presentations will include the world premiere of Clint Eastwood's "Richard Jewell", the tragic story of the security guard who was hailed as a hero before becoming the prime suspect after the bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.



"The Two Popes", the latest from Fernando Meirelles ("City Of God") which looks at Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins), after serving as pope for eight years, decides to abdicate the position which no pope has done in more than 700 years. He invites Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) to discuss the transfer of power although they both share different ideological views on the direction of the Catholic Church.



The upcoming third season of the award-winning Netflix series, "The Crown" will have Oscar winner, Olivia Colman taking over as Queen Elizabeth II while Tobias Menzies will play Prince Philip and Helena Bonham Carter is Princess Margaret. The first episode of the program will be making it's US premiere screening during the fest.



And to close out the festival will be "The Banker" from director, George Nolfi which will be making it's world premiere and the first feature from Apple TV +. Based on a true story, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie star as two men who are interested in starting a real estate business. But it's the 1950's and these opportunities were not open to African-Americans. So they decide to hire a white man (Nicholas Hoult) to pose as their boss as a chance to open doors to them.



Special tributes will include one for Alan J. Pakula with the west coast premiere of the documentary on the late director, "Alan Pakula: Going For Truth" and free screenings of his films, "The Sterile Cuckoo", "Klute", and "Sophie"s Choice".





Cinema's Legacy, a section devoted to celebrating the history of the motion picture, will include "He Dreams of Giants", a documentary on director Terry Gilliam finally getting his dream film project of Don Quixote made seventeen years after he began actually filming; "Forman vs. Forman" looks at the career of the late Miloš Forman who won Best Director Oscars for "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus"; and "Varda By Agnès", the final feature from French New Wave pioneer Agnès Varda who died earlier this year which merges documentary and fiction in her own unique way. A tribute has been added for Martin Scorsese with a screening of his latest, "The Irishman" on November 15th with a conversation with the legendary director following the film.





For the complete list of films, to purchases tickets or passes, please click below:

AFI Fest 2019