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Daily News
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AFI Fest Announces Lineup
In his third year as festival director, Christian Gaines continues to turn cynics into believers with a wide range of bold programming.
Friday, October 10, 2003
By J. Sperling Reich
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At a Wednesday evening cocktail reception earlier this week, the American Film Institute's Los Angeles International Film Festival announced the lineup for AFI Fest 2003. Currently entering its 17th year, the fall event will be held in Hollywood at the ArcLight Theater's famed Cinerama Dome and black box theaters from November 6th through the 16th.
Nancy Collet, the festival's director, told the gathered audience that her staff, which includes mostly volunteers, received 2500 submissions for this year's program. She joked that every December she begins to worry about, "How we are ever going to find 100 plus films as good as last year." In the end, Collet and her team successfully dug up 134 worthy entries, spanning 31 different languages and 42 individual countries.
In September, the AFI also announced four of the 26 premieres at this year's event, which include the opening gala presentation of Nigel Cole's Calendar Girls and the closing night screening of Patty Jenkins' Monster.
Among the other more eagerly anticipated AFI Fest 2003 films are Errol Morris' The Fog of War; Japanese Story, starring Toni Collette; The Triplets of Belleville; Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions; The Statement, from director Norman Jewison, as well as DreamWorks' The House of Sand and Fog. The inaugural section "Beyond Conflict: Focus on the Middle East" will offer film goers the chance to view eight different films from the troubled region.
Festival head Christian Gaines looks to the audience at large to confirm the perception that the event's reputation is on the rise. "In the three short years that I've been director I've noticed the cynics all change their tune," he said.
Following the announcement, celebrities such as Martin Landau, Corbin Bernsen and Tera Patrick mingled and sipped event sponsor Absolut's vodka with invited guests.
Festival tickets go on sale October 17th. For a complete list of films selected
for this year's festival visit www.afi.com
or call 866-AFI-FEST.
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