Entourage Still - H 2015
Claudette BariusEntourage, the highly anticipated movie inspired by the HBO television series of the same name, will have a special screening — ahead of its official premiere and release on June 3 — on May 26 to help kick off the inaugural Greenwich International Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Doug Ellin, the show’s creator and the film’s writer and director, is a member of the fest’s board.
GIFF, which will run from June 4-7, also announced its full film slate. It will consist of 31 films: five narrative shorts, four documentary shorts, 10 narrative features, five documentary features and six special screenings. The opening night screening — which will take place on June 5, not June 4 — will be Colin Hanks‘ directorial debut, the Tower Records documentary All Things Must Pass, which will be followed by an opening night party at which fest board member Jenna Bush Hager will serve as master of ceremonies.
Related Stories
The fest’s stated mission is “to harness the power of film to serve the greater good.” That undoubtedly explains the strong presence of social conscience films on its slate, including Oscar nominee Oren Moverman‘s Time Out of Mind, a feature about a homeless man in New York (star Richard Gere will attend its screening) and 3 and 1/2 Minutes, a documentary about a senseless race-related murder that was awarded the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact at January’s Sundance Film Festival.
The fest also announced a number of panels covering topics related to television, sports, female filmmaking and film finance. Panelists will include Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira, a member of the fest’s board; Orange Is the New Black star Alysia Reiner; former New York Knicks star Allan Houston; producer Cary Woods; ESPN analyst Mike Greenberg; producer Rachel Winter (Dallas Buyers Club) and Terence Winter, the creator of Boardwalk Empire an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (The Wolf of Wall Street).
On June 6, the fest will honor longtime UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Harry Belafonte and Mia Farrow as its inaugural Changemaker Honorees at a black tie gala ceremony to be emceed by Kathie Lee Gifford.
There will also be conversation with two of the three members of the controversial Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot, Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, following a screening of their latest video, “I Can’t Breathe.”
“We are so proud of our Year One slate,” said GIFF founders Carina Crain, Colleen deVeer and Wendy Reyes. “The diversity of the films and filmmakers really illustrate what we are trying to do with GIFF — bringing in as many perspectives as possible and sharing those with our community.” They added, “We look forward to creating many memorable moments this year.”
