The RiverRun International Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled a competition lineup for its 13th edition that’s filled with winners and favorites from festivals around the world.
Cannes Palme d’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, from director Apichatpong Weerasethakul — who goes by Joe — is one highlight of the Narrative Competition.
Berlin Golden Bear winner Bal (Honey), from director Semih Kaplanoglu, Cannes Critics Prize winner On Tour, from director Mathieu Amalric, and Berlin Critics Prize winner Crab Trap are also on the Narrative Competition docket.
The competition is rounded out with Berlin International Film Festival competition titles The Future (Miranda July) and The Robber (Benjamin Heisenberg), Toronto International Film Festival films Curling (Denis Cote) and Home for Christmas (Bent Hamer), Locarno Film Festival’s Morgen (Marian Crisan) and Cannes competition film A Screaming Man (Mahamat-Saleh Haroun).
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All told, RiverRun, which runs from April 8-17 in Winston-Salem, N.C., will screen 57 features and 61 shorts from 32 countries, including the world premiere of the documentary The Day Carl Sandburg Died, directed by Paul Bonesteel.
“We’ve got a really great lineup of films in this year’s program,” said Andrew Rodgers, RiverRun executive director. “There’ll be no shortage of challenging works at this year’s festival that will expose audiences to the range of new ideas and cultures and broaden their artistic horizons.”
The festival opens with Win Win, Thomas McCarthy’s quirky comedy starring Oscar nominees Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan, and will wrap up with Francois Ozon’s Potiche, a comedy set and filmed in the colorful style of the 1970s.
The festival will also include an eight-film Spotlight on Contemporary French Masters, featuring works from Arnaud Desplechin, Jacques Audiard, Abdel Kechiche and others. As part of this year’s focus on French cinema, filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich (the 2010 recipient of Master of Cinema Award) will present a screening of Jean Renoir’s French Cancan and lead a discussion after.
The ever-popular Late Night lineup includes Evan Glodell’s Bellflower, Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber and Andre Øvredal’s The Troll Hunter. And for the early morning crowd, the Saturday Morning Cartoons will screen shorts including Oscar winner The Lost Thing. Other shorts include Madagascar, A Journey Diary, The Eagleman Stag and Esterhazy.
A complete list of titles can be found at www.riverrunfilm.com.
The 2011 official selections follow:
Narrative Competition
Bal (Honey) – Turkey/Germany, dir., Semih Kaplanoglu
Crab Trap – Colombia/France, dir., Oscar Ruiz Navia
Curling – Canada, dir., Denis Cote
The Future – U.S./Germany, dir., Miranda July
Home for Christmas – Norway/Sweden/Germany, dir., Bent Hamer
Morgen – Romania/France/Hungary, dir., Marian Crisan
On Tour – France, dir., Mathieu Amalric
The Robber – Germany/Austria, dir., Benjamin Heisenberg
A Screaming Man – Chad/France/Belgium, dir., Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Thailand/UK/France/Germany/Spain/Netherlands, dir., Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Documentary Competition
An African Election — Ghana/Switzerland/U.S., dir., Jarreth Merz
Armadillo – Denmark, dir., Janus Metz Pedersen
The Day Carl Sandburg Died – U.S., dir., Paul Bonesteel – World Premiere
The Flaw – U.K., dir., David Sington
The Game of Death – France, directors: Thomas Bornot, Gilles Amado and Alain-Michel Blanc
Genpin – Japan, dir., Naomi Kawase
Kinshasa Symphony – Germany, directors: Claus Wischmann and Martin Baer
Nenette – France, dir., Nicolas Philibert
Space Tourists – Switzerland, dir., Christian Frei
We Were Here – U.S., directors, David Weissman and Bill Weber
Special Presentations
Win Win – U.S., dir., Thomas McCarthy (Opening Night)
Potiche – France, dir., Francois Ozon (Closing Night)
A Beginner’s Guide to Endings – U.S./Canada, dir., Jonathan Sobol
French Cancan – France/Italy, dir., Jean Renoir
I Will Follow – U.S., dir., Ava DuVernay
Meek’s Cutoff – U.S., dir., Kelly Reichardt
Queen to Play – France/Germany, dir., Caroline Bottaro
Rio Sex Comedy – France/Brazil, dir., Jonathan Nossiter
The Whistleblower – U.S., dir., Larysa Kondracki
The Wonder Year – U.S., dir., Kenneth Price
French Masters Spotlight
8 Women (Huit Femmes) – dir., Francois Ozon
35 Shots of Rum (35 Rhums) – dir., Claire Denis
A Christmas Tale (Un Conte de Noel) – dir., Arnaud Desplechin
The Class (Entre les Murs) – dir., Laurent Cantet
The Secret of the Grain (La Graine et le Mulet) – dir., Abdel Kechiche
Summer Hours (L’Heure Eure D’ete) – dir., Olivier Assayas
Read My Lips (Sur mes Levres) – dir., Jacques Audiard
To Be and to Have (Être et Avoir) – dir., Nicolas Philibert
Altered States: New Directions in American Cinema:
Gabi on the Roof in July – dir., Lawrence Levine
The Off Hours – dir., Megan Griffiths
Passenger Pigeons – dir., Martha Stephens
Postales – dir., Josh Hyde
To.Get.Her – dir., Erica Dunton
Two Gates of Sleep – dir., Alistair Banks Griffin
Films on Film
These Amazing Shadows – U.S., directors, Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton
All the President’s Men – U.S., dir., Alan J. Pakula
American Grindhouse – U.S., dir., Elijah Drenner
Motor Psycho – U.S., dir., Russ Meyer
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff – U.K., dir., Craig McCall
The Red Shoes – U.K., directors, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
