AFI Fest Adds Oscar Foreign Contenders, Eli Roth, ‘Mary Poppins’

Final additions to Hollywood festival program also include new works from Drake Doremus, Kim Ki-duk and Jafar Panahi

mary poppins 100 percent fresh rotten tomatoes

A dozen films that are competing in the Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film have been added to the lineup at this year’s AFI Fest, the American Film Institute announced on Tuesday.

The festival slate will also include new films by Drake Doremus, Jafar Panahi, Kim Ki-duk and Eli Roth, as well as a screening of the 1964 Disney film “Mary Poppins,” the making of which is the subject of the festival’s opening-night film, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

The completed AFI Fest lineup will consist of 83 features and 36 shorts from 43 countries, screening over the course of eight days in Hollywood. The festival begins on Nov. 7 with “Saving Mr. Banks,” and ends on Nov. 14 with the Coen brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”

Oscar contenders in the World Cinema Selections program include Yuval Adler’s “Bethlehem” (Israel), Alex van Warmerdam’s “Borgman” (the Netherlands), Calin Peter Netzer’s “Child’s Pose” (Romania), Danis Tanovic’s “An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker” (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Louise Archambault’s “Gabrielle” (Canada), Sebastian Leilo’s “Gloria” (Chile), Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” (Italy) Amat Escalante’s “Heli” (Mexico), Kang Yi-kwan’s “Juvenile Offender” (South Korea), Rithy Panh’s “The Missing Picture” (Cambodia), Hany Abu-Assad’s “Omar” (Palestine) and Kim Mordaunt’s “The Rocket” (Australia).

Also read: Oscar’s 2013 Foreign-Language Entries: The Complete List

Also added: Ritesh Batra’s “The Lunchbox” and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Like Father, Like Son,” which set off controversies in India and Japan when they were bypassed by those countries’ Oscar selection committees; Jafar Panahi’s “Closed Curtain,” made while the director was under house arrest in Iran; Ari Folman’s part live-action, part-animated “The Congress”; and Alain Guiraudie’s sexually explicit “Stranger by the Lake.”

Selections in the American Independents program include Drake Doremus’ “Breathe In,” Zeke Hawkins’ and Simon Hawkins’ “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and AJ Schnack’s documentary “Caucus.”

Films in the Midnight section include Eli Roth‘s “The Green Inferno,” Hitoshi Matsumoto’s “R100” and Ti West‘s “The Sacrament.”

Also read: AFI Fest Adds ‘Lone Survivor’ Premiere, ‘August: Osage County’ Gala

The Cinema’s Legacy section includes revival screenings of Jacques Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” and Norman Panama’s and Melvin Frank’s “The Court Jester,” as well as a screening of Disney’s “Mary Poppins,” the making of which is the subject of the festival’s opening-night film, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

Passes for the festival are now available for purchase at AFI.com/AFIFEST. Free tickets to all screenings will be available beginning Oct. 30.

The new selections:

WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS
BABY BLUES Kasia Rosłaniec. Poland.
BETHLEHEM Yuval Adler. Israel.
BORGMAN Alex van Warmerdam. Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark.
CHILD’S POSE  Călin Peter Netzer. Romania.
CLOSED CURTAIN  Jafar Panahi, Kamboziya Partovi. Iran.
THE CONGRESS  Ari Folman. Israel, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg.
AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN IRON PICKER   Danis Tanovic. Bosnia and Herzegovina,
France, Slovenia.
EXHIBITION  Joanna Hogg. United Kingdom.
GABRIELLE  Louise Archambault. Canada.
GLORIA  Sebastián Lelio.. Chile, Spain.
GRAND CENTRAL  Rebecca Zlotowski. France, Austria.
THE GREAT BEAUTY Paolo Sorrentino. Italy, France.
HALF OF A YELLOW SUN  Biyi Bandele. Nigeria, United Kingdom.
HELI  Amat Escalante. Mexico, France, Germany, Netherlands.
JUVENILE OFFENDER Kang Yi-kwan. South Korea.
LA JAULA DE ORO  Diego Quemada-Diez.  Mexico, Spain.
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON  Hirokazu Kore-eda. Japan.
THE LUNCHBOX  Ritesh Batra. India, France, Germany.
MANAKAMANA  Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez. Nepal, USA.
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN  Mohammad Rasoulof. Iran.
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS  Thomas Imbach.  Switzerland, France.
THE MISSING PICTURE  Rithy Panh. Cambodia, France.
MOEBIUS  Kim Ki-duk. South Korea.
OMAR  Hany Abu-Assad. Palestine.
OUR SUNHI  Hong Sang-soo. South Korea.
THE ROCKET  Kim Mordaunt. Australia.
STRANGER BY THE LAKE  Alain Guiraudie. France.
TOM AT THE FARM  Xavier Dolan. Canada, France.
VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR  Denis Côté. Canada.
WE ARE THE BEST!  Lukas Moodysson. Sweden.
WHEN EVENING FALLS ON BUCHAREST OR METABOLISM Corneliu Porumboiu. Romania, France.
THE WIND RISES  Hayao Miyazaki. Japan.

AMERICAN INDEPENDENTS SELECTIONS
AWFUL NICE Todd Sklar. USA.
BLUE RUIN  Jeremy Saulnier. USA.
BREATHE IN  Drake Doremus. USA.
CAUCUS  AJ Schnack. USA.
CHARLIE VICTOR ROMEO  Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Karlyn Michelson.  USA.
WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE  Zeke Hawkins, Simon Hawkins.  USA.

BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS
B FOR BOY  Chika Anadu. Nigeria.
CONGRATULATIONS!  Mike Brune. USA.
LITTLE BLACK SPIDERS  Patrice Toye. Belgium.
MY AFGHANISTAN – LIFE IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE  Nagieb Khaja. Denmark.

MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS
BIG BAD WOLVES  Navot Papushado, Aharon Keshlaes. Israel.
THE GREEN INFERNO  Eli Roth. USA, Chile.
R100  Hitoshi Matsumoto. Japan.
THE SACRAMENT  Ti West. USA.
THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS  Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani. Belgium, France, Luxembourg.

CINEMA’S LEGACY SELECTIONS
THE COURT JESTER (1955)  Norman Panama, Melvin Frank. USA.
MARY POPPINS (1964)  Robert Stevenson. USA.
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (1964)  Jacques Demy. France.

PRESENTATIONS SELECTIONS
DRONES Rick Rosenthal. USA.
HERBLOCK: THE BLACK AND THE WHITE  Michael Stevens. USA.

Comments