{"id":513,"date":"2014-01-09T22:51:49","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T22:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/?p=513"},"modified":"2014-01-09T22:51:49","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T22:51:49","slug":"the-palm-springs-international-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/?p=513","title":{"rendered":"The Palm Springs International Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Palm Springs International Film Festival<\/strong>
\nbrings Hollywood to Palm Springs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Palm Springs International Film Festival has grown into one of the world’s most popular \u2014 about 140,000 people attended last year, many from outside the area \u2014as a showcase for international cinema. The festival essentially takes over the town for 10 days, with films on 15 screens in Palm Springs and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

The 25th festival, which kicks off Jan. 3 and runs through Jan. 12, features some of this award season’s brightest lights, including Sandra Bullock<\/a>, Tom Hanks<\/a>, Julia Roberts<\/a>, Meryl Streep<\/a>, Bruce Dern<\/a>, and director Steve McQueen<\/a>. The members of U2, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr will be honored with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n

This year’s festival features 187 films from 60 countries, including 77 premieres. The 2014 lineup includes 45 of the foreign-language film submissions, including all nine titles that made the academy’s shortlist.<\/p>\n

The festival combines elements of Sundance<\/a>, Toronto and Cannes film festivals. It is also a rare chance to highlight foreign-language films in the U.S., where the audience for them has dwindled.<\/p>\n

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, there are special screenings and events, including “Deja View: Past PSIFF Favorites,” which features films that have won the Audience Award and gone on to win the foreign-language Oscar. Also showing will be first films at PSIFF whose directors went on to major careers \u2014 Roberto Benigni’s “Life Is Beautiful”<\/a> and Baz Luhrmann’s “Strictly Ballroom.”<\/p>\n

The awards gala and the festival are part of the nonprofit Palm Springs International Film Society, which has member screenings and education programming throughout the year. Money is raised for the festival through the awards gala, which has revenues of about $2.3 million, and its sponsors Cartier, Mercedes-Benz and “Entertainment Tonight.” Festival sponsors include the city of Palm Springs, Wells Fargo, Wintec, Windermere<\/a> Real Estate, Bank of America<\/a>, Guthy-Renker and Diageo.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s LGBT film choices.<\/b><\/p>\n

Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton
\n<\/strong>USA \u2013 Directors: Stephen Silha, Eric Slade, Dawn Logsdon \u2013 82 minutes<\/p>\n

Celebrating the life and work of poet, experimental filmmaker and visionary James Broughton, Big Joy is an ode to liberation, bisexual desire, and artistic expression. As Broughton put it: \u201cFollow your own weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia<\/strong>
\nUSA\/Italy \u2013Director: Nicholas Wrathall \u2013 89 minutes<\/p>\n

Gore Vidal, as you\u2019ve always known him, only more so more acerbic, more insightful, more brilliant\u2026 and more sorely missed now than ever. A fascinating exploration of the life, times and work of the late, great American writer.<\/p>\n

Ignasi M.<\/strong> \u2013 US Premiere
\nSpain \u2013 Director: Ventura Pons \u2013 87 minutes<\/p>\n

Meet Ignasi Millet, larger-than-life Catalan connoisseur, father of two, gay, HIV-positive and ebullient conversationalist. He shares provocative and inspirational thoughts on art, religion, sex, politics\u2026 and much more.<\/p>\n

TWO: The Story of Roman and Nyro<\/strong>
\nUSA \u2013 Director: Heather Winters \u2013 72 minutes<\/p>\n

Famed songwriter\/producer Desmond Child (Livin\u2019 La Vida Loca, Waking Up in Vegas) and his long-time partner Curtis fought the good fight for gay marriage and child rearing long before it was commonplace. This hugely engaging documentary, which won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Nashville Film Fest, traces the tale of their marriage and \u2018modern family\u2019.<\/p>\n

Tattoo \u2013 US Premier<\/strong>
\nBrazil – Director: Hilton Lacerda \u2013 110 minutes<\/p>\n

A young soldier in the Brazilian military is drawn into the anarchic and uninhibited world of avant-garde cabaret in Hilton Lacerda\u2019s award-winning debut, a lively period piece set in the mid-70s.<\/p>\n

Cupcakes<\/i><\/strong> \u2013 US Premiere
\nIsrael\/France \u2013 Director: Eytan Fox \u2013 90 minutes<\/p>\n

A charming confection about six friends \u2013 gay, straight, successful, not so successful \u2013 whose jokily written song is chosen as Israel\u2019s entry in a Eurovision-like song contest, Cupcakes features a who\u2019s who in Israel\u2019s film, television and music industries, and is unabashed fun.<\/p>\n

Gerontophilia<\/i><\/strong> \u2013 US Premiere
\nCanada \u2013 Director: Bruce LaBruce \u2013 90 minutes<\/p>\n

An 18-year-old lad with a penchant for pensioners takes a job in a care home and falls for an 81-year-old man. Shocking? The big shock here is that director LaBruce eschews his usual hardcore style for a film that is positively gentle and pleasing.<\/p>\n

The Dog<\/strong>
\nUSA – Directors: Allison Berg, Frank Keraudren \u2013 100 minutes<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen Dog Day Afternoon and marveled at Al Pacino\u2019s portrait of the gay bank robber who wanted to fund his lover\u2019s sex change. But Berg and Keraudren went further. They spent years getting to know the real, larger-than-life character behind the story.<\/p>\n

Hidden Hills<\/strong> \u2013 World Premiere
\n<\/strong>USA – Director: Dan Steadman \u2013 73 minutes<\/p>\n

Mimicking the style of \u201860s Rock Hudson-Doris Day movies and turning societal convention on its ear, this deeply demented, straight-faced comedy asks the question: \u201cCan true love between two white men survive in a time and place where societal norms only tolerate interracial romance, and straight people are the ones kept in the closet?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s All So Quiet<\/strong>
\nNetherlands\/Germany \u2013 Director: Nanouk Leopold \u2013 93 minutes<\/p>\n

This subtle portrait of rural loneliness follows a middle-aged farmer’s quest to cast off the shackles of closeted emotional repression he\u2019s worn all his life. \u201cA poignant reflection on solitude, homosexual repression and aging.\u201d The Hollywood Reporter<\/p>\n

Rosie
\n<\/strong>Switzerland – Director: Marcel Gisler \u2013 106 minutes<\/p>\n

When Lorenz, a successful gay author suffering writer\u2019s block, has to return to his small hometown in Switzerland to care for his aging mother long-buried family secrets and the chance for romance challenge his assumptions about himself.<\/p>\n

Five Dances<\/strong>
\nUSA \u2013 Director: Alan Brown \u2013 83 minutes<\/p>\n

A coming out tale of an extraordinarily gifted young dancer recently arrived in the big city (Broadway star Ryan Steele: Newsies, West Side Story), Five Dances is a sensual glimpse of life and first love in New York\u2019s downtown contemporary dance world.<\/p>\n

Continental
\n<\/strong>USA – Director: Malcolm Ingram \u2013 94 minutes<\/p>\n

Steve Ostrow and his legendary The Continental Baths \u2013 the gay hotspot in 60s and 70s New York where Bette Midler got her start \u2013 take center stage in this funny, moving documentary blending anecdotes and archival footage into a big-hearted celebration.<\/p>\n

Test<\/strong>
\nUSA \u2013 Director: Chris Mason Johnson \u2013 90 minutes<\/p>\n

Set in San Francisco in 1985, Test follows Frankie, the newest member of a fast-rising contemporary dance company. When a troupe member falls ill Frankie is called upon to fill his role, and his relationship with a handsome veteran member of the company deepens in unexpected ways. Winner, Jury Award, Best Narrative Feature, L.A. Outfest.<\/p>\n

Salvation Army<\/strong> \u2013 US Premiere \/unconfirmed<\/p>\n

This milestone in the depiction of homosexuality in the Arab world follows Abdellah from his teenage years of furtive sex in Morocco to his time as a graduate student in Geneva, where being a gay Moroccan comes with a different set of obstacles.<\/p>\n

Open Up To Me<\/strong> \u2013 US Premiere
\nFinland\/Sweden – Director: Simo Halinen \u2013 95 minutes<\/p>\n

Maarit is a beautiful, intelligent and sexy woman \u2013 who used to be a man. When she meets and falls in love with Sami, she finally feels like she can fit in somewhere. But Sami\u2019s tolerance is soon put to the test.<\/p>\n

Reaching for the Moon
\n<\/strong>Brazil \u2013 Director: Bruno Barreto \u2013 118 minutes<\/p>\n

Miranda Otto (The Lord of the Rings<\/i>) and telenovela superstar Gl\u00f3ria Pires deliver commanding, intensely emotional performances as timid American poet Elizabeth Bishop and fiery Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares in the true love story.<\/p>\n

Sarah Prefers to Run
\n<\/strong>Canada \u2013 Director: Chlo\u00e9 Robichaud \u2013 96 minutes<\/p>\n

Robichaud\u2019s debut feature is a highly assured, subtle, observational film about a young middle-distance runner making the leap to a big city university team, but stumbling in the adult world of relationships and responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Two Mothers
\n<\/strong>Germany \u2013 Director: Anne Zohra Berrached \u2013 75 minutes<\/p>\n

The German system makes it very difficult for lesbian couples to have a child, a fact explored with intelligence and depth in this deeply moving docudrama that shows the increasing strain put on one relationship by this profoundly unfair practice.<\/p>\n

Vic + Flo Saw a Bear
\n<\/strong>Canada – Director: Denis C\u00f4t\u00e9 \u2013 95 minutes<\/p>\n

Acclaimed Quebecois filmmaker Denis C\u00f4t\u00e9 picked up a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for this jaggy, ominous, hypnotic piece about two lesbian ex-cons cohabiting uneasily out in the woods.<\/p>\n

For a complete list of films, show times and venues visit www.psfilmfest.org<\/a> . See you at the movies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palm Springs International Film Festival brings Hollywood to Palm Springs The Palm Springs International Film Festival has grown into one of the world’s most popular \u2014 about 140,000 people attended last year, many from outside the area \u2014as a showcase for international cinema. The festival essentially takes over the town for 10 days, with films on 15 screens in Palm Springs and the surrounding area. The 25th festival, which kicks off Jan. 3 and runs through Jan. 12, features some of this award season’s brightest lights, including Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Bruce Dern, and director Steve McQueen. The members of U2, Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr will be honored with the Sonny Bono Visionary Award on Jan. 4. This year’s festival features 187 films from 60 countries, including 77 premieres. The 2014 lineup includes 45 of the foreign-language film submissions, including all nine titles that made the academy’s shortlist. The festival combines elements of Sundance, Toronto and Cannes film festivals. It is also a rare chance to highlight foreign-language films in the U.S., where the audience for them has dwindled. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, there are special screenings and events, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[51,48,46,47,8,44,52,49,43,42,45,50],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":515,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions\/515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thestandardps.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}