The 23rd annual New Orleans Film Festival will be from October 12th – 18th, 2012 and will showcase over 180 films.
Featuring a wide array of films from all genres, this year’s New Orleans Film Festival looks like a can’t-miss event. 2011’s festival featured over 180 films and more than triple the amount of local films for “I Love Louisiana Day.” With the state’s burgeoning importance in the film industry, the New Orleans film festival continues to expand.
The New Orleans Film Society began the Film Festival in 1989 in an attempt to expose local audiences to more diverse programming and to help local artists and professionals. The Film Festival is a collection of events, panels and screenings of remarkable films that include everything from big action films to intimate indie dramas and documentaries.
Must-See Films
Last year, two films especially stood out. The first is A Dangerous Method from David Cronenberg. The film has an outstanding cast, with Michael Fassbender (recently in this past summer’s X-Men: First Class), Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Viggo Mortensen (History of Violence, Lord of the Rings). Here is the synopsis from the New Orleans Film Society:
Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient. Jung's weapon is the "dangerous method"of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina's spell. Based on Christopher Hampton's ("Dangerous Liaisons"-the man has a thing for danger, at least in his titles) and "The Talking Cure." Both film and play are based on John Kerr's acclaimed 1992 history of the development psycholanalysis. With Vincent Cassel.
The second film is Melancholia, from film director Lars von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams), and Kiefer Sutherland (24).
It's the End of the World--not as we know it, not as some cataclysmic CGI spectacle; nor would you expect such from Lars von Trier, the melancholy Dane who was the promulgator of Dogma 95, the late-nineties school of minimalist filmmaking. In his beautiful movie about the end of the world, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) are celebrating their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire's best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco, with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth.
Great Film Recommendations
The New Orleans Film Festival has a strong track record of films in its history. 2010's films included 127 Hours (nominated for multiple Oscars), Black Swan (Oscar winner for Best Actress), and The Myth of the American Sleepover (SXSW winner for Special Jury Award). Get informed for the award season with this year’s batch of fantastic films.
