Actor Sir Patrick Stewart will be the recipient of the Gregory Peck Award for Excellence in Cinema at the 2017 San Diego International Film Festival (
SDiFF). The awards will be presented October 5th at The VARIETY Night of the Stars Tribute.
“Patrick Stewart has captivated audiences for years with spectacular performances, from Star Trek to his career defining performance in Logan earlier this year, as well as his Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated performance as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, a role which Mr. Peck made famous more than 40 years earlier. We couldn’t be more excited to honor him this year with the Gregory Peck Award,” said Tonya Mantooth, Executive and Artistic Director of the San Diego International Film Festival.
Created in honor of famed actor and San Diego area native Gregory Peck, with the support of his family, this award is given to an individual whose work has made a profound impact on the art of cinema. Launched in 2014, the first recipient of the award was Alan Arkin, with Annette Bening receiving the award last year.
The festival, now in its 16th year, will run from October 4th through October 8th in San Diego, California, and feature a lineup of 117 films total, 10 Narrative Spotlight Competition films, 18 Narrative Competition films, 12 Documentary Competition films, 5 Documentary Spotlight Competition films, and 72 Short films.
2017 San Diego International Film Festival Line-up
Narrative Spotlight Films
The Ballad of Lefty Brown, Dir. Jared Moshe, USA, West Coast Premiere
Breathe, Dir. Andy Serkis, USA, West Coast Premiere
Thelma, Dir. Joachim Trier, Norway, United States Premiere
Dismissed, Dir. Benjamin Arfmann, USA, World Premiere
Dog Years, Dir. Adam Rifkin, USA, West Coast Premiere
The Divine Order, Dir. Petra Volpe, Switzerland, Southern California Premiere
Juvenile, Dir. Bradley Buecker, USA, West Coast Premiere
The Bachelors, Dir. Kurt Voelker, USA, San Diego Premiere
Thumper, Dir. Jordan Ross, USA, California Premiere
My Friend Dahmer, Dir. Marc Meyers, USA, San Diego Premiere
Narrative Competition
Selling Isobel, Dir. Rudolf Buitendach, Sweden/USA, World Premiere
Butterfly Caught, Dir. Manny Rodriguez Jr., USA, World Premiere
The Lonely Italian, Dir. Lee Farber, USA, World Premiere
Juggernaut, Dir. Daniel DiMarco, Canada, North American Premiere
Otherlife, Dir. Ben C. Lucas, Australia, North American Premiere
Storm Letters of Fire, Dir. Dennis Bots, Netherlands, North American Premiere
Room for Rent, Dir. Matt Atkinson, Canada, United States Premiere
Under the Rose, Dir. Josue Ramos, Spain, United States Premiere
A Prominent Patient, Dir. Julius Sevcik, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United States Premiere
Life Hack, Dir. Sloan Copeland, USA, West Coast Premiere
Heart, Baby!, Dir. Angela Shelton, USA, San Diego Premiere
Hard Surfaces, Dir. Zach Brown, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Price, Dir. Anthony Onah, USA, West Coast Premiere
Scent of Rain and Lightening, Dir. Blake Robbins, USA, California Premiere
GUN, Dir. Sam Upton, USA, Southern California Premiere
Entanglement, Dir. Jason James, Canada, San Diego Premiere
And Then There Was Eve, Dir. Savannah Bloch, USA, San Diego Premiere
20 Weeks, Dir. Leena Pendharkar, USA, San Diego Premiere
Spotlight Documentary Films
The Last Animals, Dir. Kate Brooks, UK/USA, California Premiere
Apache Warrior, Dir. David Salzberg & Christian Tureaud, USA, World Premiere
WASTED! Story of Food Waste, Dir. Anna Chia & Nari Kye, USA, San Diego Premiere
Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall, Dir. Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA, Southern California Premiere
Resistance is Life, Dir. Apo W. Bazidi, USA/Turkey, San Diego Premiere
Documentary Competition
Becoming Who I Was, Dir. Moon Chang-Yong & Jeon Jin, South Korea, California Premiere
42 Grams, Dir. Jack C. Newell, USA, California Premiere
Herd, Dir. Stefan Morel, Canada, California Premiere
Blind Spot; Moments Unseen, Dir. Stefan Morel, Canada, California Premiere
Down the Fence, Dir. MJ Isakson, USA, Southern California Premiere
Spirit of Discovery, Dir. Eliana Alvarez Martinez, USA, World Premiere
RiverBlue: Can Fashion Save the Planet?, Dir. David McIlvride & Roger Williams, Canada, San Diego Premiere
Poisoning Paradise, Dir. Keely Shaye Brosnan & Teresa Tico, USA, San Diego Premiere
Legion of Brothers, Dir. Greg Barker, USA, California Premiere
Mankiller, Dir. Valerie Red-Horse Mohl, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Lavender Scare, Dir. Josh Howard, USA, Southern California Premiere
Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and Rise of Isis, Dir. Sebastian Junger & Nick Quested, USA, San Diego Premiere
Shorts Competition
Shorts in front of feature films:
Lucky Me, Dir. Thomas Morgan, USA, World Premiere
The Horse Whisperer, Dir. Richard Mullane, UK, United States Premiere
The Velvet Abstract, Dir. James Hughes, UK, San Diego Premiere
Shorts: American Indian Stories:
Waabooz, Dir. Molly Katagiri, USA, San Diego Premiere
Five Dollars, Dir. Ty Coughenour, USA, San Diego Premiere
In the Beginning was Water and Sky, Dir. Ryan Ward, USA, San Diego Premiere
Lost Face, Dir. Sean Meehan, Australia/Canada, San Diego Premiere
Neemkomok’, Dir. Douglas Cushnie, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Gift, Joel Edgerton, USA/Australia, California Premiere
Shorts: For Shorts & Giggles:
The Bouquet, Dir. Julien Segard & Romain Carciofo, France, San Diego Premiere
Ostoja Will Move Your Piano, Dir. Sandra Mitrovic, Serbia, West Coast Premiere
Annie Waits, Dir. Marnie Paxton-Harris, UK, San Diego Premiere
A Ghost Named George, Dir. Harrison Macks, USA, World Premiere
Dollar King, Dir. Drew Pollins, USA, Southern California Premiere
The Heist, Dir. Luke Harris, USA, Southern California Premiere
Love me Madly, Dir. Emre Okten, USA, World Premiere
Shorts: A Stranger in Stranger Land:
Picture Wheel, Dir. David O’Donnell, USA/Australia, San Diego Premiere
Wyrm, Dir. Christopher Winterbauer, USA, North American Premiere
Albedo Absolute, Dir. Vlad Marsavin, USA, Southern California Premiere
Time Flies When I am Having Fun, Dir. Johan Tappert, Sweden, West Coast Premiere
Cautionary Tales, Dir.Christopher Barrett & Luke Taylor, UK, North American Premiere
See You Yesterday, Dir. Stefon Bristol, USA, Southern California Premiere
Fairy Tales Anonymous, Dir. Jacob Lundgaard Andersen, USA, San Diego Premier
Shorts: Illusion:
Gridlock, Dir. Ian Hunt Duffy, Ireland, Southern California Premiere
Cul-de-sac, Dir. Damon Russell, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Obituary, Dir. Jonathan Thompson, USA, Southern California Premiere
Standby, Dir. Daumoun Khakpour & Travis Pulchinski, Canada, United States Premiere
The Peculiar Abilities of Mr. Mahler, Dir. Paul Philipp, Germany, California Premiere
Frederick, Dir. Ty Coughenour, USA, San Diego Premiere
Shorts: Independent Animation:
The Wall, Dir.Nick Baker & Tristan Klein, Australia, West Coast Premiere
Green Light, Dir. Seongmin Kim, South Korea, Southern California Premiere
Tanguito Argentino, Dir. Joaquin Braga, Argentina,Southern California Premiere
Wishing Box, Dir. Wenli Zhang & Nan Li, USA, San Diego Premiere
Hope, Dir. Michael Scherrer, Switzerland, Southern California Premiere
First Bloom, Dir. Tingting Liu, China, San Diego Premiere
Revelation: City of Haze, Dir. Mao Qichao, China, San Diego Premiere
Karma, Dir. Zhaoyu Zhou, USA, World Premiere
Shorts: Heart of a Soldier:
Orion, Dir. Spencer Currie, USA, San Diego Premiere
Corpsman, Dir. Amanda Larsh, USA, World Premiere
One Halloween, Dir. Rebecca Murga, USA, World Premiere
Tango on the Balcony, Dir. Minos Papas, USA/Cyprus, Southern California Premiere
Wandering Soul, Dir. Josh Tanner, Australia, San Diego Premiere
Shorts: Twisted Humor:
The Dog with the Woman, Dir. Phoebe Arnstein & Stephen Ledger-Lomas, UK, World Premiere
A Done Deal, Dir. Pierre-Marc Drouin and Simon Lamarre-Ledoux, Canada, West Coast Premiere
Eat and Drink, Dir. Jaime Figueroa, Spain, North American Premiere
Nicole’s Cage, Dir. Josef Brandl, Germany, Southern California Premiere
Unleaved Bread, Dir. Wilfried Méance, France, Southern California Premiere
Shorts: On Pins and Needles:
Will Wilson, Dir. David C. Herman, USA, San Diego Premiere
Morning Has Broken, Dir. Olga Chajdas, Poland, United States Premiere
Icarus, Dir. Tom Teller, USA, Southern California Premiere
Warm Springs, Dir. Sean Wang, USA, San Diego Premiere
Game, Dir. Joy Webster, Canada, United States Premiere
Standby, Dir. Daumoun Khakpour & Travis Pulchinski, Canada, United States Premiere
Shorts: When Worlds Collide:
Lost Dogs, Dir. Cullan Bruce, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Foster Portfolio, Dir. Danielle Katvan, USA, San Diego Premiere
The Transfer, Dir. Michael Grudsky, Germany/Israel, San Diego Premiere
Pickle, Dir. Grant Moore, USA, San Diego Premiere
Brainstorm, Dir. Christophe Clin, Belgium, San Diego Premiere
Temporary, Dir. Milena Govich, USA, San Diego Premiere
Shorts: Global Consciousness:
Shine, Dir. Barrett Lewis, Daniel Andreani & Austin Bousley, USA, World Premiere
Witnesses, Dir. David Koch, France, California Premiere
All of Us, Dir. Katja Benrath, Germany/ Kenya, United States Premiere
Ravage, Dir. Leon Lee, Canada, West Coast Premiere
Citizen, Dir. Robert Bracker, USA, West Coast Premiere
The Fare, Dir. Santiago Paladines, Equador/USA, San Diego Premiere
Shorts: Student Track:
I Have to Kill my Professor, Dir. Jonathan Pickett, USA, World Premiere
Dated, Dir. Daniel Lachman, USA, California Premiere
Uncle Tommy, Dir. Tan Shi Ying, Singapore, World Premiere
Hurt People, Dir. Gabriel Gaurano, Jayden Gillespie & Navin Bose, USA, World Premiere
Dibashram, Dir. Weilee Yap, Singapore, World Premiere
Head Above Water, Dir. Eric Shahinian, USA, West Coast Premiere
Chicken Beauty Pageant, Dir. Nurul Amirah, Singapore, World Premiere
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