Michael Moore, Charlie Kaufman Attending Philadelphia Film Festival
The 24th annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off next Thursday, October 22nd, showcasing over 100 screenings and correlating events around the city. Today, they rolled out their guest-list schedule, which includes A-listers like Todd Haynes, Charlie Kaufman and documentarian Michael Moore.
Young writer/director Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and director Duke Johnson (Marrying God) will be in attendance for the opening night film, their surreal stop-motion animation flick Anomalisa. They’ll stick around afterward for a Q&A with the audience. The duo will also be presented with the festival’s Artistic Achievement Award, honoring their imaginative writing skills and achievements in animation, respectively. On top of that, the Festival is presenting a whole Charlie Kaufman retrospective at the Prince Theater. The mini festival within the Festival will feature six of Kaufman’s best titles, including Adaptation, Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine.
Director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) will be on hand to attend his latest film, Carol, starring the divine Cate Blanchett, on Sunday, October 25th. The film, set in New York in the 1950s, explores what it was like to be gay at a time when being such a thing was hush-hush.
Political documentarian Michael Moore will close out the festival with a screening of his latest, Where to Invade Next, on Friday, October 30th. Philly Film Society calls Where to Invade Moore’s “most intelligent and subversive movie yet.” In it, he sets out to “find solutions to problems on the homefront by “invading” various countries and bringing back their best ideas home for himself.” Always the provocateur.
That’s just a handful of special guests attending this year’s Festival, which takes place October 22nd to October 30th. For you star-seekers, Philly Film Society has laid out the full list below, along with the film each guest will be attending. For more information on the Festival, including the schedule, ticket packages and writeups on every single film, start here.
- Patricia Riggen, Director, The 33
- Charlie Kaufman, Director, Anomalisa
- Duke Johnson, Director, Anomalisa
- Kevin Kerslake, Director, As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM
- Brian Klugman, Director, Baby Baby Baby
- David April, Subject, Beer Runners
- Justin Wirtalla, Director, Beer Runners
- Erik Shirai, Director, The Birth of Sake
- Josh C. Waller, Director, Camino
- Zoë Bell, Actor, Camino
- Todd Haynes, Director, Carol
- Rick Alverson, Director, Entertainment
- Alison Bagnall, Director, Funny Bunny
- Tara Culp, Producer, Funny Bunny
- Greg Koh, Director, The Great Alone
- Lynn True, Director, In Transit
- Erika Frankel, Director, King Georges
- Georges Perrier, Subject, King Georges
- Jeffrey Loeb, Producer, A Light Beneath Their Feet
- Gaspar Noé, Director, Love
- Jessica Edwards, Director, Mavis!
- Jay Dockendorf, Director, Naz and Maalik
- Noah Pritzker, Director, Quitters
- Ben Hickernell, Director, A Rising Tide
- Jamie Kennedy, Actor, Scream
- David Felix Sutcliffe, Director, (T)error
- Christopher K. Walker, Director, Welcome to Leith
- Marilyn Cohen, Executive Producer, When Voices Meet
- Sharon Katz, Subject, When Voices Meet
- Nonhlanhla Wanda, Subject, When Voices Meet
- Michael Moore, Director, Where to Invade Next
