Festival to Open with New Line Cinema The New World
Palm Springs, CA (December 14, 2005) – The 17th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced its roster of 232 films, culled from more than 70 countries for the 2006 Festival. The selection of films for screening includes a total of 86 premieres (4 World, 51 U.S. and 31 North American). Also, 51 of the 56 films submitted for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the Academy Awards will be screened at this year’s Festival, held from January 5-16, 2006. (For a complete list of this year’s films, see the attached.)
Commenting on this year’s Festival Darryl Macdonald, festival director, said, “this year’s line-up provides the most comprehensive and wide-ranging selection of films and special programs we’ve ever mounted. Along with the list of premieres and celebrated honorees that the 2006 Festival is hosting, this event is positioned as one of the very few absolutely essential film festivals among the hundreds that exist in North America at this time. Add Palm Springs’ hip, mid-century ambience and sun-drenched desert days, and what more could a movie-lover — or a movie maker, for that matter, want?”
This year we saw an overwhelming number of important and significant films that we wanted to include in the Festival,” continued Carl Spence, director of programming. “The growing appetite for documentaries is reflected in our expanded program and the Cine Latino program is particularly impressive with a spotlight on the explosive filmmaking scene of Chile. Throughout the festival a significant number of filmmakers are also making their feature debut with highly original, thought provoking and entertaining new films.”
Seven films will screen in the Gala category including opening night film The New World. The Awards Buzz section will feature the Best Foreign Language Film submissions as well as the films being discussed for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category of the Academy Awards. Forty-five films from Latin America, Spain and Portugal will screen in the Festival’s Ciné Latino program, which will highlight emerging talent from the Latino film world. New this year is a section on Italian cinema called Focus Italy that will screen 13 films including six films from acclaimed director Pupi Avati.
Documentaries have emerged as a major force in the theatrical marketplace and now reach a much broader audience, rivalling the draw of traditional narrative features. The Non-Fiction Features section of the Festival highlights a select overview of the best new contemporary non-fiction cinema. In addition, the World Cinema Now program is a wide-ranging overview of contemporary international cinema, which provides a sampling of the essential new films from around the world, including a number of World and U.S. Premieres, and prize-winners from major festivals worldwide. The Super-Charged Cinema program, a late-night film series, will feature four genre films from the fields of action, martial arts, comedy or horror for the more adventurous filmgoer.
GALA SCREENINGS:
This year’s festival will open on Thursday, January 5, 2005 with New Line Cinema’s The New World, directed by Terrence Malick and starring Colin Farrell, Q’orianka Kilcher, Christian Bale and Christopher Plummer. The New World is an epic adventure set amid the encounter of European and Native American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown settlement in 1607. Inspired by the legend of John Smith and Pocahontas, acclaimed filmmaker Malick transforms this classic story into a sweeping exploration of love, loss and discovery, both a celebration and an elegy of the America that was, and the America that was yet to come.
Other International Gala Screenings include the North American premieres of Two Sons of Francisco (Brazil), directed by Breno Silveira and Palais Royal! (France), directed by Valérie Lemercier, and the U.S. premiere Don’t Tell (Italy), directed by Cristina Comencini. This year’s traditional “Gay-la” screening will be Adam & Steve (USA), directed by Craig Chester. The Festival will announce the closing night gala films at a later time.
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS:
Four films have been selected as Special Presentations, marking their U.S. or world premieres, including the world premieres of King Leopold’s Ghost (USA), directed by Pippa Scott and Oree Rees, and My Bollywood Bride (India), directed by Rajeev Manoj Virani. Other films selected include the U.S. premiere of Off Screen (Netherlands/Belgium), directed by Pieter Kuijpers, and a screening of Fuego (Spain), directed by Armando Bo. The Festival will feature three archival presentations which explore the cinematic heritage from around the world. The films include Distant Journey (Czechoslovakia), directed by Alfred Radok, The Circus (USA), directed by Charlie Chaplin, and Moonrise (USA), directed by Frank Borzage.
PREMIERES:
The Festival will offer a selection of 86 premieres of highly anticipated films showcasing the diversity of international cinema.
World Premieres include Expiration Date (USA), King Leopold’s Ghost (USA), My Bollywood Bride (India) and The Virgin of Juarez (USA).
North American Premieres include 1888: The Extraordinary Voyage of The Santa Isabel (Venezuela), 20 Centimeters (Spain), Ahead of Time (Iceland), Alma Mater (Uruguay/Canada), Annyong Sayonara (South Korea/Japan), Arido Movie (Brazil), Barrio Cuba (Cuba), Buzz (Greece/Germany), The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Mongolia), Cayo (Puerto Rico), Elsa & Fred (Spain/Argentina), Gimme Kudos (China), Heaven & Hell On Earth (India/USA), La Maison de Nina (France), Lost and Found (Brazil/Chile), Malas Temporadas (Spain), Not Here to be Loved (France), Palais Royal! (France), Perhaps Love (Hong Kong/China), Reaching Silence (India/France), Say Good Morning to Dad (Bolivia/Argentina/Cuba), The Second Wedding Night (Italy), Shyamol Chhaya (Bangladesh), Sting (India), Tempesta (UK), The Tin Mine (Thailand), Two Sons of Francisco (Brazil), Underground Game (Brazil), Welcome to Dongmakgol (South Korea), Year Zero (Israel) and Zaina: Rider of the Atlas (France).
[b]U.S. Premieres include [/b]1973 (Mexico), a/k/a Tommy Chong (USA), Awakening From the Dead (Serbia/Montenegro), Bal-Can-Can (Macedonia/Italy), [b]Beowulf & Grendel (Canada/Iceland/UK)[/b], Blush (Belgium/France), The Bow (South Korea), The City of the Sun (Slovak Republic/Czech Republic), The Collector (Poland), Don’t Tell (Italy), Dreaming of Space (Russia), Familia (Canada), Five Days in September (Canada), Gie (Indonesia), Heading South (France), Iberia (Spain), Imagine Me and You (UK/Germany), In The Darkness of The Night (Portugal), Kamataki (Canada/Japan), The Life That I Want (Italy), The Long Weekend (USA), Love + Hate (UK), Mahaleo (Madagascar/France/Belgium), Mario’s War (Italy), Marock (France/Morocco), The Master (Poland), Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company (Canada), Mother of Mine (Finland/Sweden), Off Screen (Netherlands/Belgium), One Long Winter Without Fire (Switzerland), One Night (Iran), Persona Non Grata (Poland/Russia, Italy), Requiem of Snow (Iraq/Iran), Saratan (Kyrgyzstan/Germany), Sex and Philosophy (Tajikistan/Iran/France), Shark In the Head (Czech Republic), Shop of Dreams (Estonia/Finland), Sleeper (Austria/Germany), Someone Else’s Happiness (Belgium/Netherlands), Stolen Eyes (Bulgaria), Sud Express (Spain/Portugal), The Porcelain Doll (Hungary), The Prince That Contemplated His Soul (Tunisia/France/Germany/Hungary/UK), The Wind (Spain/Argentinia), This is Bossa Nova-The Histories and Stories (Brazil), Three Dollars (Australia), Time Off (Chile), Whole New Thing (Canada) and Workingman’s Death (Austria/Germany).
AWARDS BUZZ:
As part of the Awards Buzz program, the Festival will screen 51 of the official submissions to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Best Foreign Language Film. Documentaries screening in the Awards Buzz category include 39 Pounds of Love (USA), After Innocence (USA), The Boys of Baraka (USA), Darwin’s Nightmare (France/Austria/Belgium), The Devil and Daniel Johnson (USA), Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (USA), Favela Rising (USA), Mad Hot Ballroom (USA), The March of the Penguins (France), Murderball (USA), Occupation: Dreamland (USA), Rize (USA), Street Fight (Australia) and Unknown White Male (UK).
FESTIVAL AWARDS:
The Festival will present two juried competitions this year. The New Voices/New Visions Award will honor one of 12 features from new international talents making their first or second films. Last year Danielle Arbid, director of In the Battlefield (Lebanon/France/Belgium), received the award. The John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature or Documentary that acknowledges the work of a first-time filmmaker whose narrative or documentary feature will also be presented at the Festival. Last year Jesse Acevedo, director of Everything Blue (Brazil/Mexico), received the award.
The Festival’s annual Awards Gala on Saturday, January 7, 2006, will honor David Cronenberg with the Visionary Award, Jake Gyllenhaal with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actor, Terrence Howard with the Rising Star Award, Michael London with the Producer of the Year Award, Shirley MacLaine with the Lifetime Achievement Award, Thomas Newman with the Frederick Loewe Award for Film Composing, and Charlize Theron with the Desert Palm Achievement Award, Actress.
Founded in 1990 by then Mayor Sonny Bono, the PSIFF is one of the largest film festivals in North America. The Festival has an attractive film sales and distribution record and is seen by American distributors as one of the best Academy Award campaign marketing tools. The Festival also features cultural events, filmmaker tributes, industry seminars and an annual black-tie gala award presentation.
The 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival sponsors include title sponsor, the City of Palm Springs, joined with ample support from the City of Indian Wells, the City of Palm Desert, the Aqua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, including the Agua Caliente Casino and the Spa Resort Casino, The Desert Sun, Harper’s Bazaar, Spencer’s at the Mountain, “Entertainment Tonight,” Ciroc Vodka, Tanqueray #10 and Talisker Scotch, all brands of Diageo Spirits, Wessman Development, Regal Entertainment Group, Integrated Wealth Management, and Mercedes-Benz, the official car of the Festival.
For additional information, call the Festival headquarters at (760) 322-2930 or visit the website at www.psfilmfest.org.