I am always happy to take part in AFIFest.
AFIFest 2022 is set to begin, running November 2nd-6th, 2022. It is the first time since 2019 that it will be a fully in-person festival. (In 2020, it was entirely virtual, and 2021 was a hybrid festival.) It is wonderful that things are beginning to return to normal, although this year?s festival is only five days, rather than eight as it was before the pandemic. Even so, there will be some wonderful films being played at Los Angeles?s premier film festival. The festival will 125 titles.
Of course, there will be red carpet excitement, with films such as the world premiere of Selena Gomez: My Mind and Me, which opens the festival. Other red carpet events will include the U.S. premieres of Steven Spielberg?s The Fablemans, and Guillermo del Toro?s Pinocchio. Other red carpet screenings include Alejandro Gonz?lez I??rritu?s Bardo, False Chronicles of a handful of Truths, as well as The Son, Living, and She Said.
Among the films that I?ve made plans to see at the festival are some documentaries: The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari, about the 2017 rescue from an island that erupted; Geographies of Solitude, about a scientist who is one of the few inhabitants of Sable Island; and The Corridors of Power, a look at U.S. foreign policy since the end of the Cold War.
I?ll also be seeing some of the films submitted for Best International Feature Oscar consideration, including EO, Poland?s entry which allows us to see the world through the life of a donkey; and Close, Belgium?s entry about the fragile friendship between two thirteen year old boys. Other world cinema I?ll be seeing include Godland, a story of faith and colonization; No Bears, from imprisoned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi; One Fine Morning from Mia Hansen-L?ve; and The Eternal Mother, with Tilda Swinton in a dual role.
And of course, the festival has shorts to see, including many by recent graduates of the AFI Conservatory.
I?m looking forward to being able to share my impression of these films with you over the coming days and weeks.
