21st AFI Fest

This film festival is described as the longest-running film festival in LA and one of the most influential film festivals in North America. Today the fest started and it will run until November 11th.

This year’s festival will pay tributes to Catherine Deneuve and Laura Linney and they will screen their latest movies Persepolis and The Savages.

The festival has the following film sections Galas, Special Presentations, International Feature Competition, World Cinema, African Showcase, American Showcase, Latin Showcase, Dark Horizons, and Milestones.

Here are some interesting movies that will be screened.

Opening Gala: Lions for Lambs, Robert Redford, USA
Centerpiece Gala: Juno, Jason Reitman, USA
Closing Night Gala: Love in the Time of Cholera, Mike Newell, USA (stars Javier Bardem)

Special Presentation
Margot at the Wedding, Noah Baumbach, USA (stars Nicole Kidman)
Southland Tales, Richard Kelly, USA (has some LI secondary story)
The Princess of Nebraska, Wayne Wang, USA (interesting story)

International Feature Competition

Kunsten A Tenke Negativt (The Art of Negative Thinking), Bardb Breien, Norway
Autumn Ball, Vieko Ounpuu, Estonia
Chop Shop, Ramin Bahrani, USA
Continental, Un Film Sans Fusil (Continental, a Film Without Guns), Stephane Lafleur, Canada
Elvis Pelvis, Kevin Aduaka, France and UK
Funukedomo, Kanashimi No Ai Wo Misero (Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers, Daihachi Yoshida, Japan
El Asaltante (The Mugger), Pablo Fendrik, Argentina
Munyurangabo, Lee Isaac Chung, Rwanda and USA
Solos, Loo Zihan and Kan Lume, Singapore
Partes Usadas (Used Parts), Aaron Fernandez, Mexico and France
Til Doden Os Skiller (With Your Permission), Paprika Steen, Denmark

World Cinema
Une Vielle Maitresse (The Last Mistress), Catherine Breillat, France (I’m “dying” to see this one)
Le Voyage du Balloon Rouge (The Flight of the Red Balloon), Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Taiwan and France (ditto!)
Prince of the Himalayas, Sherwood Hu, China (Hamlet set in the Tibetan mountains!!)

Dark Horizons
Sakuran, Mika Ninagawa, Japan (Interesting story about a courtesan...)

Latin Showcase

La Antena (The Aerial), Esteban Sapir, Argentina
Cyrano Fernandez, Alberto Arvelo, Venezuela and Spain
Deficit, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mexico
Deserto Feliz (Happy Desert), Paulo Caldas, Brazil and Germany
Mejor es que Gabriela No Se Muera (It’s Better if Gabriela Doesn’t Die), Sergio Umansky, Mexico
Manuela y Manuel (Manuela and Manuel), Raul Marchand, Puerto Rico (Gay Interest)
Stellet Licht (Silent Light), Carlos Reygadas, Mexico and France (“dying” to see it)
Año Uña (The year of the Nail), Jonas Cuaron, Mexico

There are many other films, shorts and documentaries in this festival that oddly enough are not yet listed in the AFI’s site, but if you want to check the full line-up go here.

Update: the official site has info about all the films. To check them go here.