Emerging U.S. and 1st & 2nd time global filmmakers will have work showcased
AFI Fest, a program of the American Film Institute, has announced the films that will be featured in the Young Americans and New Auteurs sections at this year’s festival.
Young Americans features works by emerging U.S. filmmakers and New Auteurs highlights first and second-time feature film directors from around the world. AFI Fest will take place November 1 through 8 in Hollywood at the historic Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
“This year we’ve expanded our Young Americans section to accommodate the many great American independent films submitted,” said Lane Kneedler, associate director of programming at AFI Fest. “The section features exciting directors and filmmakers like the Zellner brothers and Joe Swanberg who are returning to AFI Fest with new films. It’s been extraordinary to see the growth and evolution of this section over the past three years.”
The films in the Young Americans section are eligible for an Audience Award while the films in the New Auteurs section are eligible for a Grand Jury Award.
“Our New Auteurs competition section is an opportunity for us to highlight some of the strongest filmmaking by first and second time directors this year. These are films that have been garnering acclaim and winning awards at festivals all over the world and are now being showcased together for the first time,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, director of AFI Fest. “Last year this section included Michael Roskam’s Oscar½- nominated Bullhead and Julia Loktev’s The Loneliest Planet. Every year, it’s exciting to see the talent that emerges from this showcase of new narrative feature filmmakers.”
For the fourth consecutive year, AFI Fest will continue its unprecedented offer of free tickets to all screenings beginning on Thursday, October 25. Festival attendees can avoid rush lines and gain access to all regular screenings without a ticket by purchasing the new Cinepass Express. Cinepass Express holders receive priority entry to all regular screenings, including the Young American and New Auteurs selections, as well as access to the cinema lounge.
The complete festival program will be announced on Thursday, October 11.
YOUNG AMERICANS SELECTIONS
The Young Americans section features work by emerging U.S. filmmakers.
ALL THE LIGHT IN THE SKY: DIR/SCR Joe Swanberg.
APE: DIR/SCR Joel Potrykus.
ELECTRICK CHILDREN: DIR/SCR Rebecca Thomas.
THE INTERNATIONAL SIGN FOR CHOKING: DIR/SCR Zach Weintraub.
KID-THING: DIR/SCR David Zellner.
ONLY THE YOUNG: DIR Jason Tippet, Elizabeth Mims.
PEARBLOSSOM HIGHWAY: DIR Mike Ott. SCR Mike Ott, Atsuko Okatsuka.
SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME: DIR/SCR Robert Byington.
STARLET: DIR Sean Baker. SCR Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch.
SUN DON’T SHINE: DIR/SCR Amy Seimetz.
TCHOUPITOULAS: DIR Turner Ross, Bill Ross.
NEW AUTEURS SELECTIONS
The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors from around the world.
AFTER LUCIA: DIR/SCR Michel Franco. Mexico.
ANTIVIRAL: DIR/SCR Brandon Cronenberg. Canada/USA.
CLIP: DIR/SCR Maja Miloš. Serbia.
EAT SLEEP DIE: DIR/SCR Gabriela Pichler. Sweden.
HERE AND THERE: DIR/SCR Antonio Mendez Esparza. Mexico/Spain/USA.
A HIJACKING: DIR/SCR Tobiaas Lindholm. Denmark.
IN THE FOG: DIR Sergei Loznitsa. Germany/Russia/Belarus/The Netherlands/Latvia.
NOT IN TEL AVIV: DIR/SCR Nony Geffen. Israel.
SIMON KILLER: DIR/SCR Antonio Campos. USA.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More