The AFI FEST Interview: ALWAYS SHINE Director Sophia Takal

The AFI FEST Interview: ALWAYS SHINE Director Sophia Takal

November 12, 2016

Sophia Takal’s sophomore feature follows two friends, Anna and Beth, both actresses with varying degrees of success, as they travel to Big Sur for a weekend getaway in hopes of reconnecting and reestablishing a bond broken by years of competitiveness and jealousy. Once away, tension bubbles to the surface, forcing them to finally confront their issues — and to lose grasp of their own identities in the process. Building on the theme of jealousy that permeated her debut feature GREEN, Takal explores the nature of female friendships and what it means to be feminine in the eyes of others. Mackenzie…

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Four AFI Conservatory Alumni Win Grants for Their Thesis Work

November 11, 2016

Today at AFI FEST, AFI will present its annual alumni awards to four AFI Conservatory graduates from the Class of 2015 for excellence in their thesis work, honoring the remarkable talents of each promising storyteller while propelling them forward to successful careers in film and TV. Director/producer Rick Rosenthal (AFI Class of 1973) will present the William J. Fadiman Award for Screenwriting ($15,000) to Andy Siara for the screenplay “The Last Karpinski”; and the Richard P. Rogers Spirit of Excellence Award ($10,000 each) to director Shelly Lauman for the film WOMAN OUTSIDE and director David Gerson for the film ALL…

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The AFI FEST Interview: BUSTER’S MAL HEART Director Sarah Adina Smith

The AFI FEST Interview: BUSTER’S MAL HEART Director Sarah Adina Smith

November 10, 2016

Sarah Adina Smith’s sophomore feature is the story of Jonah, a man who has been split in two by grief — one who lives in the woods and another who is trapped at sea — with each incarnation looking for a reckoning with God. Actor Rami Malek delivers an exceptional performance, playing fractured parts of the same man and imbuing each persona with a wholly different performance. Kate Lyn Sheil and DJ Qualls round out the cast, as Jonah’s sensitive wife and a drifter who contributes to Jonah’s downward spiral, respectively. Director/writer Smith expertly crafts a darkly humorous and touching…

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AFI FEST State of the Art Tech Showcase Launches November 12 With Anthony Batt Keynote

AFI FEST State of the Art Tech Showcase Launches November 12 With Anthony Batt Keynote

November 10, 2016

AFI FEST’s State of the Art Technology Showcase: Innovation and Immersive Storytelling, now in its third year as part of the festival, will feature a selection of 360-degree, VR and immersive short film experiences representing a cross-section of what’s currently possible in this new cinematic medium — and what’s yet to come. The opening keynote is sponsored by Google Spotlight Stories and will be delivered at the AFI FEST Cinema Lounge in The Hollywood Roosevelt on November 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. by Anthony Batt, co-founder and executive vice-president of virtual reality creative studio and production company Wevr.…

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The AFI FEST Interview: Peter Bogdanovich on Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE

The AFI FEST Interview: Peter Bogdanovich on Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE

November 9, 2016

Ranked at the top of AFI’s list of the greatest films of all time, Orson Welles’ portrait of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (a thinly veiled stand-in for William Randolph Hearst) is brilliant, blistering and beautiful. The story moves through the tragedies and triumphs of Kane’s life, from a happy childhood in snowy Colorado cut short; to a towering ascendance in the newspaper industry; a dysfunctional marriage with a tone-deaf wife he tries desperately to mold into a great opera singer; and a cloistered existence in his palatial home Xanadu. Welles’ superb cast, many from his own Mercury Theatre, is…

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