AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival announced its opening, closing and centerpiece films for the Festival, taking place June 20-26, 2011 in the Washington, D.C. area.
The Festival will open its ninth annual edition on June 20, 2011 with THE SWELL SEASON. Directed by Nick August-Perna, Chris Dapkins and Carlo Mirabella-Davis, THE SWELL SEASON follows musical artists Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, who captivated audiences and earned an Academy Award for their musical collaboration in the film, ONCE. As their fictional, on-screen romance blurred with reality, they fell in love, recorded a self-titled album called “The Swell Season” and embarked on a world tour. Fueled by two years of exhilarating, sold out performances and psychological turmoil, the documentary is a volatile and intimate portrait of a romance that fractures in the face of life on the road and personal tragedy.
REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR will close the Festival. The documentary, directed by Chris Paine, explores the triumphant reemergence of the “clean car,” focusing on four dynamic entrepreneurs dedicated to creating an environmentally friendly automobile.
The featured Centerpiece film, THE INTERRUPTERS, from acclaimed director Steve James (HOOP DREAMS), chronicles former gang members – now modern-day heroes – who risk their lives to disrupt violence and make extraordinary change in their Chicago communities.
[source: AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival]