AFI FEST announced the remaining programs and films that will screen in the festival’s World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Shorts programs at the 25th edition this November.
The festival describes each programs as “World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthrough highlights works discovered only through the submissions process and Midnight’s eclectic selection presents films with provocative and unexpected ideas.”
WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS
ALMAYER’S FOLLY: DIR/SCR Chantal Akerman. Belgium/France. U.S. Premiere.
ALPS: DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. SCR Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou. Greece/France. U.S. Premiere.
ARIRANG: DIR Kim Ki-duk. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
CAFÉ DU FLORE: DIR/SCR Jean-Marc Vallée. Canada. U.S. Premiere.
CARRÉ BLANC: DIR/SCR Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. France/Luxembourg/Russia/Belgium/Switzerland. U.S. Premiere.
THE DAY HE ARRIVES: DIR/SCR Hong Sang-Soo. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL: DIR/SCR Nacho Vigalondo. Spain.
FAUST: DIR Alexander Sokurov. SCR Alexander Sokurov, Marina Koreneva. Russia. U.S. Premiere.
FOOTNOTE: DIR/SCR Joseph Cedar. Israel. Israel’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD: DIR Joshua Marston. SCR Joshua Marston, Andamion Murataj. USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy.
THE INVADER: DIR Nicolas Provost. SCR Nicolas Provost, Giordano Gederlini, François Pirot. Belgium. U.S. Premiere.
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI: DIR David Gelb. USA.
KINYARWANDA: DIR/SCR Alrick Brown. USA.
MAMA AFRICA: DIR Mika Kaurismäki. Germany/South Africa/Finland.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA: DIR Nuri Bilge Ceylan. SCR Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Turkey/Bosnia/Herzegovina. Turkey’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
PLAY: DIR/SCR Ruben Östlund. Sweden/France/Denmark.
A SEPARATION: DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi. Iran. Iran’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
THE SILVER CLIFF: DIR Karim Aïnouz. SCR Beatriz Brachner, Karim Aïnouz. Brazil.
TARGET: DIR Alexander Zeldovich. SCR Vladimir Sorokin, Alexander Zeldovich. Russia.
THIS IS NOT A FILM: DIR/SCR Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi. Iran.
THE TURIN HORSE: DIR Béla Tarr. SCR Béla Tarr, László Krasznahorkai. Hungary. Hungary’s official foreign-language Oscar submission.
BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS
The Breakthrough films are true discoveries – films that come straight from the submissions process.
EXPECTING: DIR/SCR Francisca Fuenzalida. Chile. U.S. Premiere.
LIGHT OF MINE: DIR Brett Eichenberger. SCR Jill Remensnyder. USA.
THREE AND A HALF: DIR/SCR Naghi Nemati. Iran. U.S. Premiere.
WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT: DIR/SCR Alexandra-Therese Keining. Sweden. World Premiere.
MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS
The Midnight section showcases an eclectic group of films across the globe from fearless proponents of provocative, jarring and unexpected ideas.
BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW: DIR/SCR Panos Cosmatos. USA.
HEADHUNTERS: DIR Morten Tyldum. DIR Morten Tyldum. SCR Lars Gudmestad, Ulf Ryberg. Norway.
KILL LIST: DIR Ben Wheatley. SCR Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump. UK.
SHORT FILM SELECTIONS (In Competition)
The films in this section are in competition for the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short Film and Animated Short Film. Both award categories are recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards®.
30,000 DAYS: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.
ALL FLOWERS IN TIME: DIR Jonathan Caouette. USA.
ALL IN ALL: DIR Charlie Reff. USA.
ANOTHER BULLET DOGED: DIR Landon Zakheim. USA.
BABYLAND: DIR Marc Fratello. USA.
BLINK: DIR Rick Rosenthal. AFI Conservatory Directing Class of 1973. Canada.
BROKEN NIGHT: DIR Yang Hyo-Joo. Korea.
CLEAR BLUE: DIR Lindsay MacKay. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2010. USA.
DR. BREAKFAST: DIR Stephen Neary. USA.
THE EAGLEMAN STAG: DIR Michael Please. UK.
EX-SEX: DIR Michael Mohan. USA.
FROZEN STORIES: DIR Grzegorz Jaroszuk. Poland.
INFINITE MINUTES: DIR Cecilia Felmeri. Hungary/Romania.
JUAN Y LA BORREGA: DIR J. Xavier Velasco. Mexico.
LIBERTAS: DIR Kan Lume. Australia/Singapore.
LITTLE KITTEN: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.
MASKA: DIR Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay. USA.
MEXICAN CUISINE: DIR Francisco Guijarro. USA.
NEGATIVAPEG: DIR M. Rankin. Canada.
NIGHT HUNTER: DIR Stacy Steers. USA.
ONCE IT STARTED IT COULD NOT END OTHERWISE: DIR Kelly Sears. USA.
ONE MINUTE PUBERTY: DIR Alexander Gellner. USA.
PIONEER: DIR David Lowery. USA.
PROTOPARTICLES: DIR Chema García Ibarra. Spain.
RUNAWAY: DIR Victor Carrey. Spain.
SATAN SINCE 2003: DIR Carlos Puga. USA.
SLEEP STUDY: DIR Kerri Lenoo, John Merriman. USA.
TATUM’S GHOST: DIR Stephanie Barber. USA.
THIEF: DIR Julian Higgins. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2010. USA.
TO DIE NEXT TO YOU: Dir Simon Cahn, Spike Jonze. France.
UNMANNED: DIR Casey Cooper Johnson. AFI Conservatory Thesis Film/AFI Directing Class of 2011. USA.
THE VOYAGERS: DIR Penny Lane. USA.
WE’RE LEAVING: DIR Zachary Treitz. USA.
YEARBOOK: DIR Carter Smith. USA.
ZERGUT: DIR Natasha Subramaniam, Alisa Lapidu. USA.
SHORT FILM SELECTIONS (Out of Competition)
AANTENI: DIR Todd Cole. USA.
I SAW YOUR SISTER YESTERDAY: DIR Mina Park. USA.
MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO: DIR Juliano Dornelles. Brazil.
MY BOW BREATHING: DIR Enrico Maria Artale. Italy.
WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS
ALMAYER’S FOLLY: Chantal Akerman loosely adapts Joseph Conrad’s novel set in Malaysia, the tragic tale of a failed European trader and his
“mixed blood” daughter. DIR Chantal Akerman. CAST Stanislas Merhar, Marc Barbé, Aurora Marion, Zac Andrianasolo. Belgium/France.
U.S. Premiere.
ALPS: DOGTOOTH director Yorgos Lanthimos returns with a tale of a group offering an unusual service for grieving families: They inhabit the
role of the recently deceased. DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. SCR Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou. CAST Aggeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Ariane
Labed, Johnny Vekris. Greece/France. U.S. Premiere.
ARIRANG: Traumatized by a near-fatal accident during filming, director Kim Ki-duk offers a visionary self-portrait of a troubled artist reeling
from an emotional breakdown. DIR Kim Ki-duk. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
CAFÉ DU FLORE: In his follow-up to C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean Marc Vallée tells two parallel stories connected by music about a Montreal D.J. and a
mother devoted to her special-needs son. DIR/SCR Jean-Marc Vallée. CAST Vanessa Paradis, Kevin Parent, Hélène Florent, Evelyne Brochu,
Marin Gerrier. Canada. U.S. Premiere.
CARRÉ BLANC: One of the strongest debuts in years, CARRÉ BLANC is a dystopian sci-fi vision of a world with limited resources and limitless
cruelty. DIR/SCR Jean-Baptiste Léonetti. CAST Sami Bouajila, Julie Gayet, Jean-Pierre Andreani, Fejria Deliba, Valerie Bodson.
France/Luxembourg/Russia/Belgium/Switzerland.
THE DAY HE ARRIVES: In director Hong Sang-soo’s sublime black-and-white vision of Seoul in winter, a filmmaker’s visit to an old friend
reverberates with déjà vu-inducing parallels and repetitions. DIR/SCR Hong Sang-Soo. CAST Yu Jun-sang, Kim Sang-joong, Song Sun-mi,
Kim Bok-yung. South Korea. U.S. Premiere.
EXTRATERRESTRIAL: TIMECRIMES director Nacho Vigalondo’s surprising second feature finds an alien invasion providing the backdrop for
one of the most delightful romantic comedies in years. DIR/SCR Nacho Vigalondo. CAST Julian Villagran, Michelle Jenner, Raul Cimas,
Carlos Areces, Miguel Noguera. Spain.
FAUST: RUSSIAN ARK director Alexander Sokurov offers a poetic meditation on Goethe’s legend of the scholar who exchanges his soul for
unlimited knowledge. DIR Alexander Sokurov. SCR Alexander Sokurov, Marina Koreneva. CAST Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinskiy, Isolda
Dychauk, Georg Friedrich, Hanna Schygulla. Russia. U.S. Premiere.
FOOTNOTE: With wit and pathos, Joseph Cedar tells the story of a rivalry between father and son, both professors in the competitive world of
Talmudic scholarship. DIR/SCR Joseph Cedar. CAST Shlomo Bar Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Alisa Rosen, Alma Zak, Daniel Markovich, Micah
Lewesohn, Yuval Scharf, Nevo Kimchi. Israel.
THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD: In MARIA FULL OF GRACE director Joshua Marston’s assured second feature, a modern Albanian teenager
finds himself ensnared in his family’s ancient blood feud. DIR Joshua Marston. SCR Joshua Marston, Andamion Murataj. CAST Tristan
Halilaj, Sindi Laçej, Refet Abazi, Ilire Vinca Çelaj, Çun Lajçi. USA/Albania/Denmark/Italy.
THE INVADER: THE INVADER tells the riveting story of an African immigrant who flees near-enslavement and fights for survival in a European
city where he does not belong. DIR Nicolas Provost. SCR Nicolas Provost, Giordano Gederlini, François Pirot. CAST Issaka Sawadogo,
Stefania Rocca, Serge Riaboukine, Dieudonné Kabongo, Tibo Vandenborre, Hannelore Knuts. Belgium. U.S. Premiere.
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI: With stunning cinematography and a score by Philip Glass, David Galb’s documentary about renowned 85-year-old
sushi master Jiro Ono is a complete feast for the senses. DIR David Gelb. CAST Jiro Ono, Yoshikazu Ono, Masuhiro Yamamoto, Takashi
Ono, Hachiro Mizutani. USA.
KINYARWANDA: Set in 1994, KINYARWANDA interweaves six true tales into one epic narrative about the Rwandan genocide. DIR/SCR
Alrick Brown. CAST Cassandra Freeman, Edouard Bamporiki, Cleophas Kabasita. USA.
MAMA AFRICA: A documentary film about the late Miriam Makeba, the charismatic South African singer and anti-apartheid activist who
became the voice and the hope of Africa. DIR Mika Kaurismäki. Germany/South Africa/Finland.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA: A confessed killer leads detectives to his victim’s body in this slow-burning and far from routine police
procedural from Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan. DIR: Nuri Bilge Ceylan. SCR: Ercan Kesal, Ebru Ceylan, Nuri Bilge Ceylan. CAST
Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel, A. Mumtaz Taylan, Ercan Kesal. Turkey/Bosnia/Herzegovina.
PLAY: Based on actual events, PLAY follows a group of kids lured from an enclosed mall into remote woods by another group with possibly
nefarious intentions. DIR/SCR Ruben Östlund. CAST Anas Abdirahman, Sebastian Blyckert, Yannick Diakité, Sebastian Hegmar, Abdiaziz
Hilowle. Sweden/France/Denmark.
A SEPARATION: Winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, this drama is a complex portrait of an Iranian family torn apart by a divorce and an
escalating feud. DIR/SCR Asghar Farhadi. CAST Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi, Babak
Karimi, Merila Zarei. Iran.
THE SILVER CLIFF: Abandoned with shocking cruelty by her husband, Violeta embarks on a heartbroken 24-hour odyssey through the bustling
and beautiful cityscape of Rio de Janeiro. DIR Karim Aïnouz. SCR Beatriz Brachner, Karim Aïnouz. CAST Alessandra Negrini, Thiago
Martins, Gabi Pereira, Otto Jr., Carla Ribas. Brazil.
TARGET: In this flamboyant and ambitious Russian science fiction drama, a wealthy couple from Moscow search for the source of eternal youth.
DIR Alexander Zeldovich. SCR Vladimir Sorokin, Alexander Zeldovich. CAST Maksim Sukhanov, Justine Waddell, Danila Kozlovsky, Daniela
Stoyanovich. Russia.
THIS IS NOT A FILM: Banned by Iran from filmmaking for 20 years and threatened with imprisonment, Jafar Panari offers a remarkable
portrait of an artist at the crossroads. DIR/SCR Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, Jafar Panahi. Iran.
THE TURIN HORSE: An apocalyptic vision of the harsh lives of peasants in a pitiless landscape, this enigmatic and beautiful film marks
Hungarian master Béla Tarr’s farewell to cinema. DIR Béla Tarr. SCR Béla Tarr, László Krasznahorkai. CAST Erika Bók, János Derzsi, Mihály
Kormos, Ricsi. Hungary.
BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS
EXPECTING: In Chile, a young girl and her boyfriend wait for a black-market drug to take effect in this tense and insightful examination of teen
pregnancy. DIR/SCR Francisca Fuenzalida. Chile. U.S. Premiere.
LIGHT OF MINE: Rapidly going blind, photographer Owen and his wife Laura take a life-changing trip to Yellowstone National Park where
they experience a beauty that rivals their tragedy. DIR Brett Eichenberger. SCR Jill Remensnyder. USA.
THREE AND A HALF: Three women risk everything and travel to the northwest Iranian border in hopes of escaping prison and reuniting with
their comrades. DIR/SCR Naghi Nemati. CAST Samaneh Vafaiezadeh, Shooka Karimi, Negar Hassanzadeh, Mehdi Poormoosa. Iran.
U.S. Premiere.
WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT: In this Swedish romantic drama, uptight Mia attends her father’s engagement party and not only gains a
stepmother, but also a new lover, Frida. DIR/SCR Alexandra-Therese Keining. CAST Ruth Vega Fernandez, Liv Mjönes, Lena Endre, Krister
Henriksson. Sweden. World Premiere.
MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS
BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW: An intense and hallucinogenic sci-fi film set in 1983, director Panos Cosmatos’ BEYOND THE BLACK
RAINBOW is a one-of-a-kind film experience. DIR/SCR Panos Cosmatos. CAST Michael Rogers, Eva Allan, Scott Hylands, Marilyn Norry,
Rondel Reynoldsen. USA.
HEADHUNTERS: In this thriller, corporate headhunter by day, art thief by night Roger will do anything to keep his gorgeous wife happy, even
stealing from the wrong adversary. DIR Morten Tyldum. SCR Lars Gudmestad, Ulf Ryberg. CAST Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund,
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Norway.
KILL LIST: As bills stack up and pressures at home mount, an unemployed dad realizes it’s time to get back on the horse and kill some people.
DIR Ben Wheatley. SCR Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump. CAST Neil Maskell, Michael Smiley, MyAnna Buring. UK.