Tonight is the night that the 6th Annual Cinema Arts Festival will open in Houston and run through Sunday, November 16. The Festival will feature 50 programs, over four consecutive nights, including the Houston premiers of Oscar contenders, Wild with Reese Witherspoon and The Imitation Game. Also the U.S. premier of the Houston Ballet/Lang Lang collaboration Sons de L’ame (“sounds of the soul”). More info here (hcaf14.org) on the festival that keeps getting better each year and is a tribute to both Franci Neely Crane and Trish Rigdon for all that they and their team have accomplished in bringing quality, innovative film to our town, while celebrating the great diversity of the arts in Houston.
The Lineup (Click here for the full schedule)
Levantine Cinema Awards Winner James Ivory
Three time Academy Award winner, James Ivory will present three of his films at the 2014 Houston Cinema Arts Festival; City of Your Final Destination, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, and The Remains of the Day. Ivory will receive the Levantine Cinema Arts Award which honors “leading actor, director, or other creative artist who has stretched the boundaries of cinematic expression throughout an illustrious career.” (HCAF Website)
Special Guests at the Festival
Tony award winner, Julie Taymor (The Lion King) will open the festival with a screening of her 2014 film A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Also Ken Jacobs, legendary avant-garde filmmaker, will be presenting in 3D and Marcello Gomes, Brazilian film director, whose film screened to wave reviews in Cannes, will be presenting his latest film, will be presenting his latest film, an inventive Edgar Allen Poe adaptation titled The Man In the Crowd. These are just a sampling of the many special guests and their films that will be participating in the festival.
Documentary Special Jury Award: Dior and I
Closing the festival will be a 90-minute documentary, Dior and I, with Director Frederic Tcheng , who will participate in a post-film discussion hosted by Houston icon, Lynn Wyatt. The film which won the Documentary Special Jury Award at the 40th Annual Seattle International Film Festival in June, chronicles life at the Christian Dior fashion house, with a behind-the-scenes look at the first collection for haute couture of its then new creative director, Raf Simons. It is being called a “labor of love created by a dedicated group of collaborators.”
For the full schedule and more details: Houston Cinema Arts Festival
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