Lady Bird will play as Opening Night film and The Current War will serve as the Centerpiece Film of this year’s 2017 Austin Film Festival (AFF) taking place October 26 to November 2.
The directorial debut by actress Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Mistress America), Lady Bird stars Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn, The Grand Budapest Hotel) as Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, a young woman who fights against but is exactly like her wildly loving, deeply opinionated and strong-willed mom (Laurie Metcalf), a nurse working tirelessly to keep her family afloat after Lady Bird’s father (Tracy Letts) loses his job.
The Current War, the latest film by director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), chronicles the race for marketable electricity in the United States between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. The film also stars Tom Holland, Nicholas Hoult, and Katherine Waterston. Gomez-Rejon will present the film during the Festival.
Lady Bird and The Current War will join already announced titles An Ordinary Man, starring Ben Kingsley, 24 Hours to Live, starring Ethan Hawke, Please Stand By, starring Dakota Fanning and Toni Collette, and the premiere of the season finale of HBO’s new dramatic series The Deuce, with creators David Simon and George Pelecanos in attendance.