AFI Fest 2018 Presented By Audi Special Screenings, Cinema's Legacy and Midnight Lineups Announced

The American Film Institute (AFI) announced today the films that will play in the Special Screenings, Cinema's Legacy and Midnight sections at AFI FEST 2018 presented by Audi and showcases some of the most highly anticipated films and episodic series of the season.

Narrative features screening are COLD WAR (DIR Paweł Pawlikowski), EVERYBODY KNOWS (DIR Asghar Farhadi), THE FAVOURITE (DIR Yorgos Lanthimos), ROMA (DIR Alfonso Cuarón), the North American Premiere of STAN & OLLIE (DIR Jon S. Baird), UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (DIR David Robert Mitchell) and VOX LUX (DIR Brady Corbet).

Documentaries screening are THE COLD BLUE (DIR Erik Nelson) and DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES (DIR Alexis Bloom). Also screening are are an episode of the docuseries ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI (DIR Jed Rothstein), and the World Premiere of the first episode of the limited series I AM THE NIGHT (DIR Patty Jenkins, AFIClass of 2000).

In this year's Cinema's Legacy program, AFI FEST highlights films directed by women. This section is a celebration of motion picture history and a special opportunity to screen recent restorations of classic and lesser-known films.


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The festival spotlights six independent filmmakers across subjects and genres, including two world-premiere restorations, and newly struck 16mm presentations: THE CRUZ BROTHERS AND MISS MALLOY (DIR Kathleen Collins, 1980), DRYLONGSO (DIR Cauleen Smith, 1998), THE JUNIPER TREE (DIR Nietzchka Keene, 1990), MEETINGS OF ANNA (DIR Chantal Akerman, 1978), NITRATE KISSES (DIR Barbara Hammer, 1992) and QUEEN OF DIAMONDS (DIR Nina Menkes, 1991).

The Midnight section features an international selection of macabre and provocative genre films: CAM (DIR Daniel Goldhaber), IN FABRIC (DIR Peter Strickland), KNIFE+HEART (DIR Yann Gonzalez) and PIERCING (DIR Nicolas Pesce).

Dates and times for all AFI FEST screenings and events will be available later this month on AFI.com.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

THE COLD BLUE – In 1943, legendary Hollywood director William Wyler crafted MEMPHIS BELLE, a celebrated tribute to the titular WWII bomber. Using footage from the National Archives shot by Wyler and his team of cinematographers, director Erik Nelson has crafted a new film, featuring gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots. A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery. DIR Erik Nelson. USA. The film will be followed by Wyler's THE MEMPHIS BELLE: A STORY OF A FLYING FORTRESS (1943). This screening in celebration of Veterans' Day has been underwritten by the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation.

COLD WAR – Zula and Wiktor meet in a provincial talent search in a love story that traverses borders and years. In this stunning black-and-white depiction of 1950s Poland, two unlikely people find love at an almost impossible cost. DIR Paweł Pawlikowski. SCR Paweł Pawlikowski, Janusz Glowacki. CAST Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc, Agata Kulesza, Cédric Kahn, Jeanne Balibar. Poland, UK, France

DIVIDE AND CONQUER: THE STORY OF ROGER AILES – This documentary explores the rise and fall of the late Roger Ailes, a Republican Party heavyweight. From his early media influence on the Nixon presidency to his controversial leadership at Fox News, director Alexis Bloom documents the creation of his media empire and how Ailes was one of the earliest giants toppled by accusations of sexual harassment and the #MeToo movement. DIR Alexis Bloom. USA


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ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI – In this preview of the four-part documentary series inspired by Tim Weiner's book, "Enemies: A History of the FBI," director Jed Rothstein and executive producer Alex Gibney examine the complex history of conflict between the FBI and U.S. presidents, as well as stories of abuse of power from within the bureau. DIR Jed Rothstein. SCR Tim Weiner. USA

EVERYBODY KNOWS (TODOS LO SABEN) – Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem turn in brilliant performances as longtime friends who must come together when a brutal event sends their families into crisis. EVERYBODY KNOWS is Asghar Farhadi's skillful suspense saga that keeps the screws turning while sacrificing none of the layered drama for which the Iranian auteur has become known. DIR Asghar Farhadi. SCR Asghar Farhadi. CAST Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín, Eduard Fernández, Bárbara Lennie, Inma Cuesta, Elvira Mínguez, Ramón Barea, Carla Campra, Sara Sálamo, Roger Casamajor, José Ángel Egido. Spain, France, Italy

THE FAVOURITE – Director Yorgos Lanthimos showcases his uniquely dark humor with a royal story of intrigue, jealousy and betrayal. Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) sits on the throne in the early18th century, while her close friend, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), governs behind the curtain and tends to her capricious moods. When a new servant named Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, she charms her way into the women's lives, discovering secrets and provoking rivalries. DIR Yorgos Lanthimos. SCR Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara. CAST Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, James Smith, Mark Gatiss, Jenny Rainsford. USA

I AM THE NIGHT – Inspired by true events, this TNT limited series tells the incredible story of Fauna Hodel, a teenage girl given away at birth, growing up outside of Reno, Nevada. Fauna has always lived with her contradictions and her mysterious origins, until she makes a discovery that leads her to question everything. As Fauna begins to investigate the secrets of her past, she meets a ruined reporter, haunted by the case that undid him. Together they follow a sinister trail that swirls ever closer to an infamous Los Angeles gynecologist, Dr. George Hodel, a man involved in some of Hollywood’s darkest debauchery, and possibly, its most infamous unsolved crime. DIR Patty Jenkins. SCR Sam Sheridan. CAST Chris Pine, India Eisley, Jefferson Mays, Dylan Smith, Leland Orser, Yul Vazquez, Justin Cornwell, Golden Brooks, Jay Paulson and Connie Nielsen. USA

ROMA – Alfonso Cuarón's ROMA is a semi-autobiographical recounting of one year in the life of an upper-middle-class family in Mexico City in the 1970s. From the perspective of their live-in maid and nanny Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio, in an exceptionally subtle yet powerful performance), this profoundly compassionate and humanistic portrait delivers a transcendent masterwork from one of our greatest living filmmakers. DIR Alfonso Cuarón. SCR Alfonso Cuarón. CAST Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira. Mexico, USA

STAN & OLLIE – The true story of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, the world's two biggest stars, and how they fell from grace and lost not only their fortunes but their friendship. Delightful performances from Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as the titular duo transport audiences to Hollywood's Golden Age. DIR Jon S. Baird. SCR Jeff Pope. CAST John C. Reilly, Steve Coogan, Stephanie Hyam, Shirley Henderson. UK, Canada, USA

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE – A killer cast leads this highly anticipated noir from David Robert Mitchell, one of our most exciting directors. Hidden beneath the surface of the lives of the young and beautiful in Los Angeles lurks a sinister code to unlocking everything. DIR David Robert Mitchell. SCR David Robert Mitchell. CAST Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace, Zosia Mamet, Callie Hernandez, Patrick Fischler, Grace Van Patten. USA

VOX LUX – In Brady Corbet's assured and razor-edged second directorial feature, Natalie Portman stars as Celeste, a jaded pop star who as a teen was a survivor of a Staten Island school shooting. Now, when Celeste's most popular music video is the inspiration for another mass shooting, she must contend with the link between her past and present. DIR Brady Corbet. SCR Brady Corbet. CAST Natalie Portman, Jennifer Ehle, Jude Law, Stacy Martin, Raffey Cassidy. USA


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CINEMA'S LEGACY

THE CRUZ BROTHERS AND MISS MALLOY – This charming feature debut from recently rediscovered filmmaker Kathleen Collins (LOSING GROUND), THE CRUZ BROTHERS AND MISS MALLOY follows three Puerto Rican brothers who, under the watchful eye of their father's ghost, are enlisted to help an eccentric elderly widow restore her home before her own anticipated death. DIR Kathleen Collins. SCR Kathleen Collins, Henry H. Roth, Jo Tavener. CAST Rae Ferguson, Sylvia Field, Cesar Gonzalez, Susan Hurst, Susan Lukas, Jose Machado. USA

DRYLONGSO – While photographing "America's most endangered species" — the African-American male — Pica Sullivan encounters Tobi, disguised in men's clothing to avoid her abusive boyfriend. Like its title, DRYLONGSO — an old term meaning "ordinary" — the issues addressed in Cauleen Smith's powerful and little-seen 1998 film remain appallingly ordinary to young African-American men and women. New 16mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. DIR Cauleen Smith. SCR Salim Akil, Cauleen Smith. CAST Toby Smith, April Barnett, Will Power. USA

THE JUNIPER TREE (EINITREO) – This beautiful restoration exhumes Nietzchka Keene's unheralded debut, a feminist interpretation of the Brothers Grimm fairytale that underscores the uncertain safety of women in a patriarchal society. Filmed in Iceland, this atmospheric fantasy features a 20-year-old Björk as Margit, who escapes with her sister Katla when their mother is killed for practicing witchcraft. DIR Nietzchka Keene. SCR Nietzchka Keene. CAST Björk Gudmundsdottir, Bryndis Petra Bragadottir, Valdimar Orn Flygenring, Gudrun S. Gisladottir, Geirlaug Sunna Pormar. Iceland

MEETINGS OF ANNA (LES RENDEZ-VOUS D'ANNA) – In Chantal Akerman's 1978 masterwork, Anna (Aurore Clément) is a respected Belgian filmmaker on a no-frills European tour promoting her latest film. As Anna travels from city to city, she has a series of startling encounters with different men and women, all of which seem to underscore her uneasy place in an increasingly dreary and anonymous Western Europe. DIR Chantal Akerman. SCR Chantal Akerman. CAST Aurore Clément, Helmut Griem, Magali Noël. France, Belgium, West Germany

NITRATE KISSES – The debut feature from celebrated filmmaker Barbara Hammer, NITRATE KISSES is an experimental excavation of queer histories, a celebration of difference across communities and a lament for histories lost to cultural repression. New 16mm print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive. DIR Barbara Hammer. USA

QUEEN OF DIAMONDS – A seminal work by experimental narrative filmmaker Nina Menkes, this film stars her sister and longtime collaborator Tinka Menkes as a blackjack dealer at a desert casino. The resulting film is a hypnotic trance of white bones and blue sky, the occasional oasis, the dark nights punctuated by neon. Restored in 2018 by the Academy Film Archive and the Film Foundation with funding provided by the George Lucas family. DIR Nina Menkes. SCR Nina Menkes. CAST Tinka Menkes, Emellda J. Beech. USA

MIDNIGHT

CAM – Lola (Madeline Brewer of THE HANDMAID'S TALE) is a modern-day camgirl who makes her living through online private chats, but her world is about to turn upside down. Written by former camgirl Isa Mazzei, this thriller is one of the most surprising and intelligent films of the year. DIR Daniel Goldhaber. SCR Isa Mazzei, Daniel Goldhaber. CAST Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, David Druid, Imani Hakim, Michael Dempsey. USA

IN FABRIC – A demonic dress haunts the lives of all that come into contact with it in this sexually explicit, phantasmagoric fever dream. As the garment moves from person to person, it leaves death and destruction in its wake. DIR Peter Strickland. SCR Peter Strickland. CAST Gwendoline Christie, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hayley Squires, Leo Bill. UK

KNIFE+HEART (UN COUTEAU DANS LE COEUR) – A masked madman stalks across the world of a producer and her film company. What results is psychosexual slasher set in the world of the 1970s gay porn scene in Paris, from visionary and boundary-pushing director Yann Gonzalez. DIR Yann Gonzalez. SCR Yann Gonzalez, Cristiano Mangione. CAST Vanessa Paradis, Nicolas Maury, Kate Moran, Jonathan Genet, Khaled Alouach, Félix Maritaud, Noé Hernandez, Thibault Servière, Bastien Waultier, Bertrand Mandico, Jules Ritmanic. FRANCE


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PIERCING – In Nicolas Pesce's wicked and kinky black comedy PIERCING, Reed (Christopher Abbott) is a seemingly normal guy struggling to channel some dark urges involving an ice pick. But when he orders a call girl (Mia Wasikowska) with the secret intention of taking his violence out on her, things go disturbingly off-script. DIR Nicolas Pesce. SCR Nicolas Pesce, Ryû Murakami (novel). CAST Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Bond, Laia Costa, Maria Dizzia, Marin Ireland, Dakota Lustick, Wendell Pierce. USA

As Previously Announced

AFI FEST takes place November 8–15, 2018, in the heart of Hollywood. Screenings, Galas and other events will be held at the TCL Chinese Theatre, the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and The Hollywood Roosevelt.

The Opening Night Gala will be the World Premiere of ON THE BASIS OF SEX (directed by AFI Conservatory alumna Mimi Leder) and the Closing Night Gala will be the World Premiere of MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (directed by Josie Rourke). Visit AFI.com/AFIFEST to view the entirety of this year's previously announced programming.

AFI FEST will once again bring the best in global cinema to Los Angeles thanks to the visionary support of Audi — now in its 15th consecutive year as Presenting Sponsor of the festival. Audi was born with a vision of boldly challenging the status quo and is bound by a promise to imaginatively innovate. That same progressive spirit drives Audi's iconic partnership with the American Film Institute.

Audi has collaborated with AFI to celebrate the history of the motion picture, honoring filmmakers and their work and educating the next generation of storytellers. Inspired by a commitment to drive progress, Audi joined forces with AFI to expand the alliance by creating the Audi Fellowship for Women, which supports one female director for her entire two-year AFI Conservatory enrollment. The next Audi Fellow will be announced in 2019.


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Audi is the exclusive presenting sponsor of AFI FEST 2018. Additional top sponsors include AT&T and American Airlines, the official airline of AFI.

Go to AFI.com now to purchase Patron Packages, which can include access to Galas and other high-demand films and events. A limited number of individual tickets will be available free of charge on AFI.com beginning October 30.

About the American Film Institute
The American Film Institute was established by presidential proclamation in the White House Rose Garden, and launched its national mandate on June 5, 1967 — to preserve the heritage of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. AFI's founding Trustees included Chairman Gregory Peck, Vice Chairman Sidney Poitier, Francis Ford Coppola, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., Jack Valenti and George Stevens, Jr., as Director.

For more information about AFI, visit AFI.com or connect with AFI at twitter.com/AmericanFilm

facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute and youtube.com/AFI.

About AFI FEST presented by Audi 
A program of the American Film Institute, AFI FEST presented by Audi is a celebration of global cinema and today's Hollywood — a showcase for the best festival films of the year and an opportunity for master filmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences in the movie capital of the world. Celebrating its 32nd edition, AFI FEST is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFIFEST as a qualifying festival for both Short Film categories for the annual Academy Awards®. This year's edition takes place November 8–15, 2018. Additional information about AFI FEST is available at AFI.com/AFIFEST. Connect with AFI FEST at facebook.com/AFIFESTtwitter.com/AFIFEST and youtube.com/AFI.

About Audi 
Audi of America, Inc. and its U.S. dealers offer a full line of German-engineered luxury vehicles. AUDI AG is among the most successful luxury automotive brands, delivering about 1.878 million vehicles globally in 2017. In the U.S., Audi of America sold nearly 227,000 vehicles in 2017 and broke all-time company sales records for the eighth straight year. Visit audiusa.com or media.audiusa.com for more information regarding Audi vehicles and business topics.

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