Some well-established Hollywood actors and actresses, including Kristin Scott Thomas, Diane Keaton, Kathleen Turner, Ethan Hawke and Lizzay Caplan headline the showcase films at the 2012 Phoenix Film Festival.
The full list of showcase films include
Darling Companion – Beth (Diane Keaton) saves a bedraggled lost dog from the side of the freeway on a wintry day in Denver. Struggling with her distracted, self-involved husband Joseph (Kevin Kline) and an empty nest at home, Beth forms a special bond with the rescued animal. When Joseph loses the dog after a wedding at their vacation home in the Rockies, the distraught Beth enlists the help of the few remaining guests and a mysterious young woman (Ayelet Zurer) in a frantic search.
The Perfect Family – A devout Catholic who’s in the running for the coveted Catholic Woman of the Year award at her church, Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) must prove that her family conforms to the image of the ‘perfect family’ as envisioned by the church, an image she’s put forth with considerable effort her whole life.
6 Month Rule – A romantic, charming, and poignant look at relationships, seen from the eyes of Tyler (Blayne Weaver), who lives by a philosophy that allows him to avoid making any significant connections with women.
Intouchables – A true story of a quadriplegic aristocrat whose world is turned upside down when he hires a young, good-humored ex-con as his caretaker.
Queens of Country – Living in a fantasy era long gone and obsessed with old time country stars, the prettiest girl in a small Arizona town finds a lost iPod filled with songs that speak to her sensitive heart. Jolene Gillis (Lizzy Caplan) is convinced the owner is her soul mate and she is shot down the rabbit hole and into a surreal adventure of mistaken identities, ATVs, line dancing competitions, kidnappers, time machines and doppelgängers.
Diana Vreeland – An intimate portrait and a vibrant celebration of one of the most influential women of the 20th century, an enduring icon whose influence changed the face of fashion, beauty, art, publishing and culture forever. During her fifty year reign as the “Empress of Fashion,” she launched Twiggy, advised Jackie O and coined some of fashion’s most eloquent proverbs such as “the bikini is the biggest thing since the atom bomb.”
The Woman in the Fifth – American writer Tom Ricks (Ethan Hawke) arrives in Paris to be closer to his young daughter who is living with his estranged ex-wife. Completely broke, he accepts a job as a night guard for a local crime boss. Stationed in a basement office, his only task is to push a button when a bell rings. The tranquility of the night, he hopes, will help him focus on his new novel. His days become more exciting when he starts a romance with Margit (Kristin Scott Thomas), a mysterious and elegant widow who sets strange rules to their meetings: she will only see him at her apartment, at 5 pm sharp, twice a week and he should ask no questions about her work or her past life.
The 12th Annual Phoenix Film Festival runs this year from Thursday, March 29th to Thursday, April 5th in Phoenix, Arizona.