The 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival will open with the French farce "Potiche" and close with the UK/Kenyan production "The First Grader," PSIFF organizers announced on Wednesday. The festival lineup will include 193 films from 68 countries, including nine world premieres and 50 U.S. and North American premieres.
"Potiche" (left), directed by Francois Ozon, stars French icons Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu in a lighthearted, '70s-set film about a "trophy wife" taking over her ailing husband's umbrella factory. "The First Grader," which was the runner-up to "The King's Speech" for the Toronto Film Festival audience award, deals with an 84-year old former freedom fighter who attends school for the first time.
Other films to screen in Palm Springs include a gala presentation of Peter Weir's "The Way Back"; Gillian Armstrong's "Love, Lust & Lies"; 2010 Cannes favorite "Certified Copy"; Mike Leigh's Oscar contender "Another Year"; director Ed Gass-Donnelly "Small Town Murder Songs," with Peter Stormare, Jill Hennessy and Martha Plimpton; "Road to Nowhere," the first film in 21 years from cult director Monte Hellman; and the world premiere of James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen in "Down the Shore."
Last week, the festival announced a lineup of foreign-language films that includes 40 of the 65 movies competing in the Academy Awards' Best Foreign-Language Film category.
The festival will run from January 6 through January 17, 2011. The full list of films is available at www.psfilmfest.org.
Details from the PSIFF press release:
OPENING AND CLOSING GALAS
Marking its U.S. premiere, the Festival will open with the screening of Potiche (France), followed by a reception at the Palm Springs Art Museum. In Potiche, Catherine Deneuve commands the screen with a regal wink as Suzanne Bujol, a trophy wife (“potiche”) whose mettle is tested when catastrophe strikes in her husband’s umbrella factory. This stylish French farce is an irresistible romp through 1970s kitsch, politics and female emancipation. The film, directed by François Ozon, also stars Gérard Depardieu, Fabrice Luchini, Karin Viard, Judith Godrèche and Jérémie Renier.
Closing the Festival is The First Grader (UK/Kenya), about 84-year-old Kimani, a former Mau Mau freedom fighter, who takes advantage of a new Kenyan law to attend school. This emotionally uplifting drama cuts between Kimani’s education and flashbacks to his harsh treatment at the hands of the British. The film received the Audience Award at the Tribeca Doha Film Festival. The film stars Naomie Harris, Oliver Musila Litondo, Vusi Kunene and Tony Kgoroge. Director Justin Chadwick is confirmed to attend the screening.
PREMIERES
World premieres include: James Gandolfini and Famke Janssen in Down the Shore (USA),The Encore of Tony Duran (USA), Wendie Malick and Jessalyn Gilsig in Fifty – Nothing (USA), Jeremy Irons narrating the documentaryThe Last Lions (Botswana), Terrence Howard and Josh Lucas in Little Murder (USA), The Rescuers (USA), Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill and Michelle Kwan in the documentary Rise (USA), Charles Durning and Rita Rudner in the dark comedy Thanks (USA) and Wild Horse, Wild Ride (USA).
