On the cusp of the 19th century, young painter Marianne travels to a rugged, rocky island off the coast of Brittany. Here, she has been commissioned to create a wedding portrait of the wealthy yet free-spirited Héloise, whose hand in marriage has been promised to a man she’s never met. Resentful of the forced union, Héloise at first refuses to be painted, yet a growing bond—at first emotional and then erotic—develops between the women, exquisitely etched by Noémie Merlant as the artist and Adèle Haenel as her initially reluctant muse. With a visual precision as delicate as that of Merlant’s Marianne—whose patient acts of creation are lovingly dwelt upon—Céline Sciamma classically builds her double portrait from tentative romance to melodramatic rapture to a quietly devastating ending, all while subverting the traditional story of an artist and “his” muse. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Directed by Céline Sciamma
Starring Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami
Genre(s) Drama Film
The 8th Annual Key West Film Festival announced its official 2019 lineup including major fall films from Noah Baumbach and Destin Daniel Cretton. More than 115 films and V/R pieces will be shown during the 5-day festival, which runs November 20-24. Nearly half of the feature films at the festival will be Florida festival premieres.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) by director Céline Sciamma, hailed by the jury as a portrayal of the all-consuming nature of love and the beauty of women’s solidarity, took home the top prize in the International Feature Film Competition at the 55th Chicago International Film Festival.
THE TWO POPES starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce and THE AERONAUTS starring Felicity Jones along with Eddie Redmayne have been added to the Gala line-up at AFI FEST 2019 presented by Audi. THE TWO POPES will screen on Monday, November 18 and THE AERONAUTS will screen on Tuesday, November 19 completing this year’s Gala line-up. All Galas will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre.
New Orleans native, 6-time Grammy winner and Academy Award® -nominated composer Terence Blanchard will be presented with a Career Achievement Award at the Closing Night of the 30th New Orleans Film Festival on October 23rd. Blanchard composed the music for HARRIET, the Closing Night Selection of the festival which tells the story of the renowned abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Three more Irish premiere Galas have been added to the 64th Cork Film Festival, which runs from November 7 to 17. The Irish premiere of Feras Fayyad’s gripping film on war-torn Syria The Cave will be featured as the Documentary Gala, the Irish Gala is Aoife Crehan’s comedy-drama debut The Last Right, and the Family Gala is Disney’s long-awaited Frozen 2, ahead of its general release. This brings to five the number of Galas at this year’s festival, with Opening Gala Ordinary Love and Closing Gala The Other Lamb.
The 28th Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) will screen 389 films representing 63 countries, from November 7 to 17. The festival will kick off on Thursday, November 7, with the local premiere of the much-lauded “Marriage Story,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, and directed by Noah Baumbach.
Austin Film Festival 2019 has selected Waves as the fest’s Centerpiece selection on October 28. The Centerpiece screening will include the Texas homecoming for native Trey Edward Shults, whose previous writer- director credits include Krisha and It Comes at Night. Set against the vibrant landscape of South Florida and featuring an astonishing ensemble of award-winning actors and breakouts alike, Waves traces the epic emotional journey of a suburban African-American family— led by a well-intentioned but domineering father—as they navigate love, forgiveness, and coming together in the aftermath of a loss.
The Napa Valley Film Festival returns this fall with its five-day festival showcasing the year’s best new independent films from November 13 to 17, 2019.
Destin Daniel Cretton’s JUST MERCY will open the 28th Philadelphia Film Festival on October 17. This heartrending and inspirational film tells the story of author and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenson, played by acclaimed actor Michael B. Jordan of FRUITVALE STATION, CREED, and BLACK PANTHER fame. Additional Opening Night titles include PARASITE, opening Masters of Cinema; CUNNINGHAM, opening Spotlights; COME AS YOU ARE, opening Made in the USA; BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, opening Non/Fiction; and THE LODGE opening After Hours.
The 2019 Indie Memphis Film Festival spanning from October 30th to November 4th, 2019, features work from up-and-coming filmmakers, as well as festival hits such as Agnès Varda’s final film VARDA BY AGNÈS and Céline Sciamma’s PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE. This year’s Special Presentations includes Jim Jarmusch in attendance for the 30th Anniversary of his now-classic Memphis-set film MYSTERY TRAIN and a screening of his latest THE DEAD DON’T DIE, with Jarmusch in conversation with The New Yorker’s Richard Brody.
The 22nd SCAD Savannah Film Festival, presented by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), will showcase a record total of 159 films, including 35 narrative films, 15 documentary films and 109 shorts, from October 26 to November 2.
