THE MESSENGER opened in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 13. It opens across the country on Friday, November 20. Ticket information .

In between hustling to all the screenings he introduced—and ensuring the Festival’s program ran on schedule “like a German train station”—Director of Programming Robert Koehler helped photographically document AFI FEST 2009; here are some of his pics and captions.

These excerpts were taken from a press conference for our Closing Night film, A SINGLE MAN, with principle members of the cast and the films director.

Our Opening Night film was THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX, and it paved the way for three more animated films.

For Tolstoy—and Michael Hoffman’s film about him—tensions reign supreme.

The New Lights jury—comprised of two actresses, two filmmakers and a writer—gives top honors to two equally deserving directors, plus a special jury prize.

AFI FEST DAILY NEWS, DAY 8

AFI FEST continues today—not at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, but at the Laemmle Monica 4-Plex (1332 Second St. in Santa Monica), joining the American Film Market (AFM) for two days. In addition to providing you with a rare second chance to see some of the Festival’s important titles (KANIKOSEN, POLICE, ADJECTIVE, IN THE ATTIC and THE LAST STATION) the AFM screenings offer new titles as well.

For more details, continue reading.

Note: Rush Lines are still getting into screenings. So come on down!

Tom Ford’s film makes a poignant illustration of the climate of cinema at the moment; it is a work by a leading figure of an industry whose imprint transfers into the medium of cinema almost naturally.

Thousands of film industry decision makers converge in Santa Monica every year to buy movies, and for the first time AFI FEST shares some of their screenings.

Virtually every conversation in Corneliu Porumboiu’s film, be it about sports or popular music, is built on the slippery shoals of communication.