AFI FEST DAILY NEWS, DAY 6

Moviegoers are smitten with Viggo Mortensen’s iconic performances—dating from Peter Weir’s WITNESS (1985) to tonight’s Tribute Gala, THE ROAD—which have equally garnered critical acclaim. But this thoughtful actor also works as a poet, photographer and painter, and in 2002 founded Perceval Press to publish the works of underrepresented artists and writers.

For more information about Mortensen’s Tribute, along with other highlights of today’s lineup, read on.

Note: We are having great success getting Rush Lines into screenings, and more tickets have been released. Reserve your tickets online and bring the printout confirmation to the theater.

Documentaries for Your Left and Right Brains

This year, the Festival is rich with a number of documentaries that focus on art or art-making, as well as films that showcase the more rational side of human endeavors.

THE ART OF THE STEAL
This probing documentary charts the various lawyers, elected officials and businesspeople trying to wrest control of the Barnes Foundation’s world-class collection of modern and postimpressionist art. As the New York Film Festival put it, the movie is “filled with intrigue, conflicting reports, enormous egos, and provocative questions about money, culture and art.”

MOSCOW
Brazil’s premier documentary filmmaker, Eduardo Coutinho, traces the thin and fascinating line between the actual lives of actors and the roles they play in this surprising, even mysterious, account of the Galpão Theatre Company’s production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

And don’t miss tomorrow’s TRANSCENDENT MAN, about the philosopher Ray Kurzweil; Pedro Costa’s documentary on French actress/singer Jeanne Balibar, NE CHANGE RIEN; and Saturday’s poetic SWEETGRASS, created by Harvard academics.

On the Red Carpet

Tribute to Viggo Mortensen: THE ROAD
John Hillcoat’s THE ROAD is adapted from the haunting novel by Cormac McCarthy. It stars Mortensen as a father making his way with his young son across the scorched landscape of a postapocalyptic world. Directed by Hillcoat from a script by Joe Penhall, the film also stars Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce and Molly Parker.

Expected to attend: John Hillcoat, Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron

THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS
Director Werner Herzog returns to the Festival after his celebrated panel appearance two years ago. THE BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS, starring Nicolas Cage, is a reimagining of Abel Ferrara’s gritty cult film featuring a rogue detective as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). The film also stars Val Kilmer.

Expected to attend: Werner Herzog, Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Fairuza Balk, Shawn Hatosy and Jennifer Coolidge

4:00 p.m. Press Check-in opens
5:30 p.m. Will Call opens
6:00 p.m. Red Carpet opens
6:45 p.m. Start releasing tickets to Rush Lines
7:00 p.m. Programs begin

Also attending: THE ART OF THE STEAL: Don Argott, Sheena Joyce and Lenny Feingold; EASIER WITH PRACTICE: Kyle Patrick Alvarez, Cookie Carosella and Brian Geraghty