The 23rd Philadelphia Film Festival ended its 11-day celebration of all things cinematic with a sold-out closing night screening of Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.
This year's festival, which ran from October 16-26, featured 113 films from 28 countries, as well as panel discussions, community events, filmmaker Q&As and a rapidly growing education series inclusionary of students from Philadelphia's public, private and charter schools.
"We were incredibly excited about the turnout this year, as well as the overwhelming positive feedback we received about the program," said Andrew Greenblatt, Executive Director. "We are thrilled to have met and exceeded expectations and are looking forward to doing it again next year."
PFF23 featured 25 sold out shows for the following 19 titles: '71, Art and Craft, Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Clouds of Sils Maria, Crescendo! The Power of Music, Force Majeure, The Imitation Game, The Immortalists, Imperial Dreams, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter, Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere, The Mirage, Mommy, The Overnighters, Revenge of the Green Dragons, St. Vincent, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Tomorrow We Disappear, Wild, Wild Canaries, and Winter Sleep.
As an added bonus, Festival organizers arranged for a special advance screening of Citizenfour, held exclusively for badgeholders, following the festival's end. In one of the most outstanding and chilling documentaries in recent years, Citizenfour tells the shocking, true story behind the Edward Snowden classified information leak, an event that shaped the course of history as we know it.
In the award ceremony preceding the closing night festivities, the Philadelphia Film Society presented a series of awards to this year's festival stand-outs.
Archie Award: Myroslav Slabosphytsky, director ofThe Tribe. The Archie Award is a juried awardpresented in honor of the late Archie Perlmutter to a first-time director.
Narrative Award: Grand Jury Prize // The Duke of Burgundy // Director Peter Strickland
Special Jury Prize // Girlhood // Director Céline Sciamma
Best Director Prize // '71 // Director Yann Demange
Documentary Award: Best Documentary Feature // The Overnighters // Director Jesse Moss
Pinkenson Award for Best Local Film: Best Feature // Crescendo! The Power of Music // Director Jamie Bernstein
Honorable Mention for Innovation in Storytelling // Listen Up Philip // Director Alex Ross Perry
Honorable Mention for World Vision // Tomorrow We Disappear // Director Adam Weber and Jimmy Goldblum
Short Award: Best Short // Port Nasty // Director Rob Zywietz
Honorable Mention for Best Live Action Short // The Cut // Director Geneviève Dulude-De Celles
Just announced following the completion of the 23rd Philadelphia Film Festival, the Audience Award, chosen directly by filmgoer ballots, has been awarded to Crescendo! The Power of Music, directed by Jamie Bernstein.
Audience Award Honorable Mention // I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story // Directors Chad Walker and David LaMattina
See below for a full overview of the 23rd Philadelphia Film Festival, including guest highlights and sold out shows:
DATES: October 16 - October 26, 2014
LOCATIONS:
Old City: Ritz East (2 Screens) and Ritz at the Bourse (1 Screen) Center City: Prince Music Theater (1 screen) and PFS Roxy Theater (2 screens)
PROGRAM & ATTENDANCE:
Approximately 20,000 tickets sold to over 160 Screenings of domestic & international narrative, documentary and short films.
THEMATIC CATEGORIES:
Centerpiece Films, From the Vaults, Spotlights, Masters of Cinema, World Narratives, New French Films, Spanish Language Cinema, Cinema Down Under, American Independents, Greater Filmadelphia Local Films, Documentary Showcase, Sight & Soundtrack, The Graveyard Shift, Animated and Live Action Shorts Programs
HIGHLIGHTS:
Opening Night:Birdman Or (The Virtue of Ignorance), directed byAlejandro González Iñárritu: From acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman is a bold, black comedy that shines a light directly back on the film industry, telling the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) who is famous for portraying an iconic superhero as he struggles to mount a Broadway play and battles his ego while attempting to recover his family, his career and himself. Closing Night:Wild, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée: Adapted from Cheryl Strayed's powerful account of her solo 1,100-mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail, Wild delivers a striking and emotionally rich story of self-discovery and perseverance anchored by a brilliant performance from Reese Witherspoon.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS:
Youth Voices: The Great Invisible Debate - A special town hall style debate, hosted by ASAP and the Philadelphia Scholastic Debate League, where distinguished debaters from local high schools lead an interactive debate on whether or not offshore drilling is in the best interest of the American people.
Breakfast with Caroll Spinney - In a rare appearance, the PFS Roxy Theater hosted a conversation with Caroll Spinney, the beloved 80-year-old puppeteer who has played Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969.
"PFF On Us" Complimentary Ticketing Program - Created to make the Festival accessible to all interested Philadelphians and provide a shared cultural experience throughout the community, free tickets were provided to all films in the American Independents and Documentary Showcase film categories.
PANEL DISCUSSIONS:
Crescendo! The Power of Music featured a live youth orchestra and panel discussion regarding youth music initiatives in Philadelphia and Harlem through Stanford Thompson's Play-On, Philly! program and Anne Fitzgibbon's Harmony program.
Ballet 422: On-pointe Discussion Panel featured local ballet performers, instructors, and choreographers, hosted by Drexel University.
GPFO's Set in Philadelphia Screenwriting Competition Panels surround the SIP competition. The competition is open to all screenwriters, world-wide, who submit a feature length screenplay or an original TV pilot length screenplay to be shot in the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. Scripts are judged on their overall quality, and the extent to which they project "shootability" in the Greater Philadelphia region. SIP Finalist Judges are high profile Producers, Writers and Actors who have a Philadelphia connection. Winners were announced during the Festival's closing night award ceremony.
GUESTS:
Director Guillaume Renussen // Producer Benjamin Bonnet // After School
Producer Ellen Bar // Ballet 422
Director Jamie Bernstein // Crescendo! The Power of Music
Directors Marlon Johnson & Chad Tingle// Deep City: The Birth of the Miami Sound
Director Riley Stearns // Faults
Director Lou Howe // Actor Rory Culkin // Gabriel
Writer Simon Barret // Guest
Director Amir Bar-Lev // Happy Valley
Subject Caroll Spinney // Directors David LaMattina & Chad Walker // I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
Producer Teddy Schwarzman// Imitation Game
Directors David Alvarado & Jason Sussberg // The Immortalists
Director Malik Vitthal (Booth) // Imperial Dreams
Director Alex Ross Perry // Listen Up Philip
Director Dave Janetta // Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere
Director Dave Boyle // Man From Reno
CO-Writer/D.P. Alan P Blanco // Mano Sucias
Director Kyle Roper // Producer Diane Richey // Cinematographer Alex Tyson // Mirage
Director Farzad Sangari (Nikbakht) // Subject Sebastian Milla // Mudbloods
Directors Andrew Lau & Andrew Loo // Actors Celia Au, Carl Li, Shing Ka & Geoff Pierson // Revenge of the Green Dragons
Director Ted Melfi // Actor Jaeden Lieberher // St Vincent
Director Kate Barker-Froyland // Producer Thomas Froyland // Song One
Director Jason Strouse // Teacher of the Year
Directors Jeff Reichert & Farihah Zaman // This Time Next Year
Director Kanu Behl // Titli
Director Jimmy Goldblum & Director Adam Weber // Tomorrow We Disappear
Director Sean Gullette // Traitors
The 23rd Philadelphia Film Festival was made possible through the generous support of its sponsors including Official Sponsors: 500 Walnut, 6ABC, Comcast Xfinity, Lincoln Motor Company, Philadelphia Magazine, Southwest Airlines, Sweat Fitness; Premiere Sponsors: The Condo Shops, Dock Street Brewing Co., Tito's Vodka, Top of the Tower, Stella Artois, Wyndham Philadelphia Historic District;
Patron Sponsors: Allied Integrated Marketing, Amtrak, Cozen O'Conner, Glenmede, Iroko Pharmaceuticals, Landmark Theaters, Pep Boys, The Nouveau Image, TV5Monde; Participating Sponsors: Circuit Six, Dive Visual, Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University, Entertainment Partners, Koordit, Positano Coast, Prime Stache, Wawa; Community Sponsors: After School Activities Partnerships, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Food Should Taste Good, Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Honest Tea, Honeygrow, Insomnia Cookies,The Food Trust Philadelphia, Scüncii, Spodee Wine, WHYY, WXPN; Friends of the Festival: The Arts Blog, The Barnes Foundation, Curtis Institute of Music, Free Library of Philadelphia, InLiquid, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia Gay News, PIFVA, ReelBlack, World Cafe Live