The 34th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will screen 134 films from 64 countries, including 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar® Submissions, from January 5-16, 2023.
PSIFF will open with the world premiere of 80 For Brady on Friday, January 6 at the Richards Center for the Arts. The film is inspired by the true story of four best friends living life to the fullest when they take a wild trip to the 2017 Super Bowl LI to see their hero Tom Brady play. 7-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady is a producer and will appear in the film. 80 For Brady is in-theaters February 3, 2023. The film’s stars are expected to attend Opening Night including Academy Award® nominee Lily Tomlin, Academy Award® winner Jane Fonda, Academy Award® winner Rita Moreno and Academy Award® winner Sally Field, along with additional cast members.
The festival will close with The Lost King on Sunday, January 15. The film starring Sally Hawkins, Shonagh Price, Helen Katamba and Lewis Macleod, follows an ambitious writer and amateur historian guided by instinct and spectral visions, who defies the academic establishment to unearth Richard III’s long-missing remains in a Leicester car park.
Highlights for this year includes the World Premiere of documentary Shot in the Arm with director Scott Hamilton Kennedy and subject Neil deGrasse Tyson scheduled to attend. Other films with guests include Alice, Darling with Anna Kendrick; The Banshees of Inisherin with Colin Farrell; Chevalier with director Stephen Williams; Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy with director Nancy Buirski and Michael Childers; the North American Premiere of Hilma with director Lasse Hallström and actress Lena Olin; Linoleum with director Colin West and actors Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn; the US Premiere of Moving On with director Paul Weitz; the North American Premiere of My Neighbor Adolf with Udo Kier; the North American Premiere of Racist Trees with directors Sara Newens and Mina T. Son; and Somewhere in Queens with Ray Romano which he stars in and directs.
“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition. It is our most thematically diverse year yet and I don’t believe you’ll find two movies that are alike. From light entertainment for casual nights out to urgent commentaries that beg for post-screening conversation and beyond, the cinema is there to capture it all.”
AWARDS BUZZ – BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM SUBMISSIONS
This section is selected by Festival programmers as the strongest entries in this year’s Academy Awards® race and will screen 35 official submissions from the Best International Feature Film category. A special jury of international film critics will review these films to present the FIPRESCI Award for Best International Feature Film of the Year, as well as Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay in this category.
Ajoomma (Singapore) Director He Shuming
Alcarràs (Spain) Director Carla Simón
All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany) Director Edward Berger
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina) Director Santiago Mitre
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico) Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Beautiful Beings (Iceland) Director Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Blanquita (Chile) Director Fernando Guzzoni
The Blue Caftan (Morocco) Director Maryam Touzani
Cairo Conspiracy (Sweden) Director Tarik Saleh
Cinema Sabaya (Israel) Director Orit Fouks Rotem
Close (Belgium) Director Lukas Dhont
Corsage (Austria) Director Marie Kreutzer
Darkling (Serbia) Director Dušan Milić (U.S. Premiere)
Decision to Leave (South Korea) Director Park Chan-wook
EO (Poland) Director Jerzy Skolimowski
Eternal Spring (Canada) Director Jason Loftus
The Happiest Man in the World (North Macedonia) Director Teona Strugar Mitevska (U.S. Premiere)
Holy Spider (Denmark) Director Ali Abbasi
Il Boemo (Czech Republic) Director Petr Václav (U.S. Premiere)
Joyland (Pakistan) Director Saim Sadiq
Kalev (Estonia) Director Ove Musting
Klondike (Ukraine) Director Maryna Er Gorbach
Last Film Show (India) Director Pan Nalin
Mars One (Brazil) Director Gabriel Martins
Mediterranean Fever (Palestine) Director Maha Haj
Nostalgia (Italy) Director Mario Martone
The Quiet Girl (Ireland) Director Colm Bairéad
Return to Seoul (Cambodia) Director Davy Chou
Saint Omer (France) Director Alice Diop
Under the Fig Trees (Tunisia) Director Erige Sehiri
Utama (Bolivia) Director Alejandro Loayza Grisi
Victim (Slovakia) Director Michal Blaško
War Sailor (Norway) Director Gunnar Vikene (U.S. Premiere)
World War III (Iran) Director Houman Seyyedi
You Won’t Be Alone (Australia) Director Goran Stolevski
TALKING PICTURES
The Talking Pictures program includes in-depth discussions with directors, writers and actors from the year’s top titles. The following film selected for this year’s program with guests attending are:
Alice, Darling (Canada/USA) with actress Anna Kendrick
Chevalier (USA) with director Stephen Williams
The Banshees of Inisherin (Ireland/UK/USA) with actor Colin Farrell
Moving On (USA) with director Paul Weitz and producer Andrew Miano
MODERN MASTERS
New films, classic auteurs.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (USA) Director Laura Poitras
Broker (South Korea) Director Hirokazu Koreeda
A Compassionate Spy (USA/UK) Director Steve James
Hilma (Sweden) Director Lasse Hallström (North American Premiere)
No Bears (Iran) Director Jafar Panahi
One Fine Morning (France/UK/Germany) Director Mia Hansen-Løve
R.M.N (Romania/France/Belgium/Sweden) Director Cristian Mungiu
Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (Italy) Director Luca Guadagnino
Tori and Lokita (Belgium/France) Director Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS
Unique viewpoints from first- and second-time directors.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (USA) Director Aitch Alberto (U.S. Premiere)
Butterfly Vision (Ukraine/Czech Republic/Croatia/Sweden) Director Maksim Nakonechnyi (U.S. Premiere)
The Damned Don’t Cry (France/Belgium/Morocco) Director Fyzal Boulifa (North American Premiere)
How to Blow Up a Pipeline (USA) Director Daniel Goldhaber
Love According to Dalva (Belgium/France) Director Emmanuelle Nicot
Our Father, the Devil (USA) Director Ellie Foumbi
Riceboy Sleeps (Canada) Director Anthony Shim
Snow and the Bear (Turkey/Germany/Serbia) Director Selcen Ergun (U.S. Premiere)
Susie Searches (USA/UK) Director Sophie Kargman (U.S. Premiere)
TRUE STORIES
Non-fiction filmmaking at its most urgent and illuminating.
1341 Frames of Love and War (Israel) Director Ran Tal
All That Breathes (India/UK) Director Shaunak Sen
Anxious Nation (USA) Director Vanessa Roth, Laura Morton
The Art of Eating: The Life of M.F.K. Fisher (USA) Director Gregory M. Bezat
Bella (USA) Director Bridget Murnane
Body Parts (USA) Filmmakers Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Helen Hood Scheer
Born in Chicago (USA) Director Bob Sarles, John Anderson
Butterfly in the Sky (USA) Director Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb
The Caviar Connection (France) Director Benoît Bringer
Crows Are White (Japan/Ireland/USA) Director Ahsen Nadeem
Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy (USA) Director Nancy Buirski
The Grab (USA) Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite
I Like It Here (USA) Director Ralph Arlyck
Lakota Nation vs. United States (USA) Director Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli
Lift (USA) Director David Petersen
Liquor Store Dreams (USA) Director So Yun Um
Of Medicine and Miracles (USA) Director Ross Kauffman
Roberta (USA) Director Antonino D’Ambrosio
Shot in the Arm (USA) Director Scott Hamilton Kennedy (World Premiere)
Split at the Root (USA) Director Linda Goldstein Knowlton
Subject (USA) Director Camilla Hall, Jennifer Tiexiera
The Thief Collector (USA) Director Allison Otto
To Kill a Tiger (Canada) Director Nisha Pahuja (International Premiere)
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb (USA) Director Lizzie Gottlieb
CINE LATINO
Latin American/Latinx Stories
Chile ’76 (Chile/USA) Director Manuela Martelli
Huesera (Mexico/Peru) Director Michelle Garza Cervera
I Have Electric Dreams (Belgium/France/Costa Rica) Director Valentina Maurel (North American Premiere)
Sublime (Argentina) Director Mariano Biasin
The Substitute (Argentina/Italy/France/Spain/Mexico) Director Diego Lerman
QUEER CINEMA TODAY & THE GAYLA
Poignant, heartfelt and insightful stories from the LGBTQ community.
1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture (USA/Canada) Director Sharon “Rocky” Roggio
Casa Susanna (USA) Director Sebastien Lifshitz
Eismayer (Austria) Director David Wagner (North American Premiere)
Esther Newton Made Me Gay (USA) Director Jean Carlomusto
Gayla! Screening – God Save the Queens (USA) Director Jordan Danger
Gayla! Screening – Mama Bears (USA) Director Daresha Kyi
My Emptiness and I (Spain) Director Adrián Silvestre
Nelly & Nadine (Sweden/Belgium/Norway) Director Magnus Gertten
Punch (New Zealand/USA) Director Welby Ings (North American Premiere)
Winter Boy (France) Director Christophe Honoré
You Can Live Forever (Canada) Director Mark Slutsky, Sarah Watts
WORLD CINEMA NOW
Travel the world without leaving your seat.
Back Then (Poland) Director Kinga Dębska
The Beasts (Spain/France) Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Before, Now & Then (Indonesia) Director Kamila Andini
Burning Days (Turkey/France/Germany/Netherlands/Greece/Croatia) Director Emin Alper
Concerned Citizen (Israel/USA) Director Idan Haguel
Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous (France/Italy/Lebanon/Saudi Arabia/Qatar) Director Wissam Charaf (North American Premiere)
Driving Madeleine (France) Director Christian Carion (U.S. Premiere)
Emily (UK) Director Frances O’Connor (U.S. Premiere)
Freaks Out (Italy/Belgium) Director Gabriele Mainetti
Golden Years (Switzerland) Director Barbara Kulcsar (North American Premiere)
Greener Pastures (Israel) Director Matan Guggenheim, Assaf Abiri (North American Premiere)
Gyeong-ah’s Daughter (South Korea) Director Kim Jung-eun
Haute Couture (France) Director Sylvia Ohayon
The Judgement (Netherlands/Germany) Director Sander Burger
Juniper (New Zealand) Director Matthew J. Saville
Linoleum (USA) Director Colin West
Lullaby (Spain) Director Alauda Ruiz de Azúa
Max, Min & Meowzaki (India) Director N Padmakumar (U.S. Premiere)
Melchior the Apothecary (Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania/Germany) Director Elmo Nüganen
My Neighbor Adolf (Israel/Colombia/Poland) Director Leonid Prudovsky (North American Premiere)
My Sailor, My Love (Finland/Ireland) Director Klaus Härö
Next Sohee (South Korea) Director July Jung
The Origin of Evil (France/Canada) Director Sébastien Marnier
Revoir Paris (France) Director Alice Winocour
Simone: Woman of the Century (France) Director Olivier Dahan (U.S. Premiere)
Somewhere in Queens (USA) Director Ray Romano
Stonewalling (Japan/China) Director Huang Ji, Ryuji Otsuka
The Storyteller (India) Director Anant Narayan Mahadevan (North American Premiere)
Talia’s Journey (Belgium/Senegal/Luxembourg) Director Christophe Rolin
Viking (Canada) Director Stéphane Lafleur
Where Life Begins (Italy) Director Stéphane Freiss
Without Her (Iran/Germany) Director Arian Vazirdaftari (North American Premiere)
The Word (Czech Republic/Slovakia/Poland) Director Beata Parkanová (U.S. Premiere)
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
These films have been selected as part of the Local Spotlight program highlighting films from the Coachella Valley.
Don’t Worry Darling (USA) Director Olivia Wilde
Racist Trees (USA) Director Sara Newens, Mina T. Son (North American Premiere)