The 31st annual Philadelphia Film Festival is encouraging all film lovers to “see something you’ll never forget”.
You always know that late fall has arrived in the city when the Philadelphia Film Festival hits home. Run and curated by the Philadelphia Film Society’s nonprofit organization, the PFS is “committed to presenting film as a powerful medium for artistic expression, a transformative force, and a catalyst for strengthening community.” They’re also really into the idea of highlighting Philly as an international film fest destination town. Hit Filmadelphia.org for info about this stellar local cinema organization.
For its 31st iteration of the Philadelphia Film Festival, knowing that big name guests are crucial to any destination festival, Rian Johnson – the director and writer of Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out (for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay) will be in Philly for the PFF Centerpiece screening of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, a 2022 release starring Daniel Craig. Other Centerpiece screenings include White Noise (from director Noah Baumbach starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig), director/writer James Gray’s Armageddon Time with Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins; director Sam Mendes’ Empire of Light with Olivia Colman and Colin Firth, and Till, a film directed by Temple University Alumni, Chinonye Chukwu, about the slaying of 14-year-old Emmett Till and the quest of justice led by his mother. Also coming for PFF is Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the real life biopic of comedian and musician “Weird” Al Yankovic, starring Daniel Radcliffe, which is truly weird when you consider that Yankovic himself will be at the Miller Theater on the Kimmel Center Campus at the same time. As its opening flick, look for Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin with Brendan Gleeson.
And while Philly favorites such as Robert Downey, Sr.’s Rittenhouse House (2005), presented in 35MM, and John Waters’ Pink Flamingos will be screened for its 50th anniversary, the PFF”s Filmadelphia Category and Filmadelphia Shorts Program emphasizes the Philadelphia Film Society’s ongoing commitment to film in Greater Philadelphia, will, as always feature “brilliant films from the region’s most captivating filmmakers.” This year, the category includes two world premieres, the first is Brandon Eric Kamin’s own Rittenhouse Square (2022), “which tells the story of a young man named who is struggling with the aftermath of his father’s death and thoughts of suicide as he befriends an older homeless veteran, which forges a friendship that saves them both. The second world premiere is Tim Downlin and Connie’s Ric Rac’s Frank Tartaglia’s Not for Nothing, which is a “story about a man who searches for answers after his girlfriend dies, with the aid of his fellow South Philly bar flys only to ignite a dangerous street war with a mysterious drug dealer.”
We’ll be talking about the Philly connections of Till, Rittenhouse Square and Not for Nothing in the days to come.
The 31st Philadelphia Film Festival (PFF) goes from October 19 – October 30.
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