On September 26th, Arthouse Film Festival returned for the start of ten weeks at two New Jersey theatres: AMC Mountainside and AMC Monmouth Mall. If you are not one of the thousands of New Jersey film buffs who have attended, just imagine seeing a festival-winning gem before release to the public, then the lights come up, and there in front of you are the creators of the film, ready to answer questions and discuss their work.
Oscar winners and nominees Danny Aiello, Alan Arkin, Frank Darabont, Jesse Eisenberg, Ethan Hawke, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Melissa Leo, Viggo Mortensen, Chazz Palminteri, John Sayles, Aaron Sorkin, Fisher Stevens and David Strathairn have joined Dylan Baker, Jim Breuer, Famke Janssen, Danai Gurira, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Derek Luke, Mary Stuart Masterson, David Morse, Connie Nielsen, Joe Pantoliano and Kevin Smith as guest speakers who have come to share their insights with festival participants.
The festival has hosted 1,748 movie premieres with 1,105 live guest appearances over the past 25 years.
“The program will always be flexible in order to take advantage of opportunities as they arise,” said festival director Chuck Rose. “Wonderful surprises and fantastic celebrities can pop up out of nowhere, so we try to keep the schedule as fluid as possible.
“Even before we started 25 years ago, I began working to create an international VIP network of actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, journalists and film industry pros whose jobs involve creating and evaluating the cream of Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Venice, Berlin, SXSW, Tribeca and the other important film festivals. We also work to ferret out potential hits in the development and production stages so we are ready to pounce on the best films first.
“Over the past three years, we premiered 85 movies which later earned a total of 25 Oscar, 27 Spirit, 23 Golden Globe and 24 British Academy Award nominations.”
For information, to see which films were screened in the past or which ones may be screened this year, or to register, visit: www.ArthouseFilmFestival.com or call 732-870-6012.
The festival is open to anyone, but seating is limited, so early enrollment is advised. Subscription is $139 for five weeks or $245 for all ten weeks. After September 21st, rates will go up. Also being offered is a specially priced flex ticket so users may choose any eight out of ten nights for their convenience.
Confirmed films and those under consideration for the upcoming festival include: “A Man Called Ove” with Rolf Lassgard, director Hannes Holm; “A Quiet Passion” with Cynthia Nixon, director Terence Davies; “Allied” with Brad Pitt, Marion Cottilard, director Robert Zemeckis; “American Pastoral” with Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Connelly, director Ewan McGregor; “The Brand New Testament” with Catherine Deneuve, director Jaco Van Dormael; “Certain Women” with Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, director Kelly Reichardt; “Dean” with Kevin Kline, director Demetri Martin; “Disturbing the Peace” director Stephen Apkon; “I, Daniel Blake” with Dave Johns, director Ken Loach; “La La Land” with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, director Damien Chazelle; “Manchester by the Sea” with Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, director Kenneth Lonergan; “Neruda” with Gael Garcia Bernal, director Pablo Larrain; “One Week and a Day” with Shai Avivi, director Asaph Polonsky; “Seasons” directors Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud; and “Things to Come” with Isabelle Huppert, director Mia Hansen-Love.