AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES STEPHEN FREARS’ LANCE ARMSTRONG FILM,
THE PROGRAM, AS CLOSING NIGHT FILM
ADDITIONAL MARQUEE PROGRAMMING TO FEATURE THE 33, LOVE THE COOPERS,
AND RETROSPECTIVE SCREENING OF LONE STAR PRESENTED BY CHRIS COOPER
Confirmed guests include Kristen Connolly, Catherine Hardwicke, James Moll, Mary Kay Place, Steve Nicolaides, Caroline Thompson, and a Skype conversation with TV Legend Carl Reiner
Austin, TX – October 13, 2015 – Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference (AFF), the premier film festival recognizing the writers’ contributions to film, television, and new media, released today their final program additions, including new marquee films and special guests. The 22nd Annual Festival kicks off on Thursday, October 29 and comes to a close on Thursday, November 5.
The Program joins the Festival as the 2015 Closing Night Selection, held at the historic Paramount Theatre. From Academy Award ®-nominated director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena), comes the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most celebrated and controversial men in recent history: Lance Armstrong, the world-renowned Tour de France champion. Written by John Hodge (Trainspotting), The Program features Ben Foster, Chris O’Dowd, Guillaume Canet, Dustin Hoffman, and Jesse Plemons.
The Festival revealed new marquee titles, including Love the Coopers and The 33, rounding out the slate amongst previously announced films including Carol, Brooklyn, Miss You Already, The Adderall Diaries, By Sidney Lumet, Go With Me, I Saw the Light, Last Days in the Desert, Man Up, Mojave, Remember, Youth, the 2015 Opening Night Film, Legend, and Centerpiece Selection, the world premiere of Burning Bodhi.
Written by Steven Rogers and directed by Jessie Nelson, Love the Coopers stars Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacy, and Anthony Mackie, and follows the Cooper clan as four generations of extended family come together for the annual Christmas Eve celebration. The 33 stars Antonio Banderas and Juliette Binoche in a dramatic thriller based on the true story of the 33 Chilean miners who were buried alive by the catastrophic explosion and collapse of a century-old gold and copper mine for 69 days in 2010.
AFF’s Extraordinary Contribution to Film – Actor award recipient, Chris Cooper, will present a retrospective screening of Lone Star, written and directed by John Sayles. The full retrospective series at the Festival will play host to John Singleton presenting Boyz n the Hood, Gary Ross presenting Pleasantville, Angelo Pizzo presenting Rudy, Charles Burnett presenting The Southerner, and Phil Rosenthal and Leon Vitali presenting a Halloween screening of The Shining.
Confirmed guests recently slated to attend the 2015 Festival & Conference:
- Mary Kay Place (actor Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) will present AFF’s 2015 “Outstanding Television Writer” award to Norman Lear
- Kristen Connolly (actor House of Cards, Cabin in the Woods) joins the cast for the staged script reading of Rosaline, an unproduced screenplay written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (Paper Towns, The Fault in Our Stars)
- Steve Nicolaides (producer Boyz n the Hood) will present the 2015 “Extraordinary Contribution to Film” award to John Singleton
- Catherine Hardwicke (writer/director Thirteen) will present the marquee selection Miss You Already, and lead a Directors Workshop at AFF’s Screenwriters Conference
- Caroline Thompson (writer Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Secret Garden) will participate as a panelist in the Screenwriters Conference
- James Moll (Foo Fighters: Back and Forth, Running the Sahara, The Last Days) joins the Conference’s Independent Filmmaking Track for a discussion on documentary filmmaking
Austin Film Festival will also present a special Skype conversation with TV Legend Carl Reiner, focusing on his work on The Dick Van Dyke Show, on Saturday, October 31 during the Screenwriters Conference.