movie shark deblore
Film Critic to the Culver City Observer and over 132 Publications Worldwide including: The Observer, Inc., John Schimmenti, Inc., CCN, Inc.,
Santa Monica Observer, Inc., Beacon-Times, Inc., Columbus-Register, Inc., and a Host of Others

LOS ANGELES, CA, October 3, 2006 –– AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi: AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival announces two Centerpiece Galas: Darren Aronofsky’s THE FOUNTAIN starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and David Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE starring Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons and Justin Theroux. Additionally, AN EVENING WITH ED ZWICK has been added to the Festival’s program this year. All three filmmakers are alumni of the AFI Conservatory’s directing program.

THE FOUNTAIN will screen as an AFI Centerpiece Gala on Saturday, November 11, 2006 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Written and directed by Aronofsky, THE FOUNTAIN is an odyssey about one man’s eternal struggle to save the woman he loves. His epic journey begins in 16th-century Spain, when a conquistador, Tomas (Hugh Jackman), commences a search for the Fountain of Youth, the legendary entity believed to grant immortality. As a modern-day scientist, Jackman plays a man who desperately struggles to find a cure for the cancer that is killing his beloved wife, Isabel (Rachel Weisz). Traveling through deep space as a 26th century astronaut, Tom begins to grasp the mysteries that have consumed him for a millennium. The three stories converge into one truth, as the Thomas of all periods –– warrior, scientist and explorer –– comes to terms with life, love, death and rebirth. A Warner Bros. Pictures and Regency Enterprises release, the film is a Protozoa Pictures / New Regency production. The film is produced by Eric Watson, Arnon Milchan and Iain Smith and executive produced by Nick Wechsler. It will open nationwide on November 22nd.

In 1994, Aronofsky received an M.F.A. in Directing from the American Film Institute. Aronofsky made his feature film directorial debut with the acclaimed independent feature p, which he also wrote. The film brought him several honors, including the Director’s Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. His second film, the critically acclaimed REQUIEM FOR A DREAM premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival and captivated both critics and audiences and went on to earn five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including one for Best Feature and one for Aronofsky for Best Director. For her work in the film, Ellen Burstyn won the Spirit Award for Best Actress and earned Oscar, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations. In 1996, Aronofsky and producing partner Eric Watson formed the production company Protozoa Pictures.


INLAND EMPIRE will play as a Centerpiece Gala at AFI FEST on Friday, November 3. Set in his hometown, Los Angeles, Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE stars Laura Dern as an actress (Nikki) cast in a film directed by Jeremy Irons (Kingsley). Nikki learns that the script is a remake of a movie that was never finished because the original leads were murdered. Filming begins and Dern’s character (Sue) starts to break down. Reality and her film character become intertwined. Nikki and Sue become difficult to separate or tell apart and a terrifying odyssey begins. The film also stars Harry Dean Stanton, Julia Ormond, Diane Ladd, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen, Nastassja Kinski and Laura Harring.


Lynch got his start when he was accepted as a directing fellow in 1970 and received a grant from AFI to make a 34-minute film, THE GRANDMOTHER (1970). Over the next five years working in and around AFI’s Center for Advanced Film Studies (now the AFI Conservatory), Lynch created ERASERHEAD (1977). The success of ERASERHEAD brought Lynch to the attention of Mel Brooks who recruited him to direct what subsequently became THE ELEPHANT MAN. The film was a critical and box-office success and earned eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Screenplay nominations for Lynch. Other groundbreaking projects followed including BLUE VELVET (1986) for which he received a Best Director Academy Award nomination, WILD AT HEART, LOST HIGHWAY, the television series TWIN PEAKS and MULHOLLAND DRIVE which earned Lynch his third Best Director Academy nomination in 2002.


AFI FEST 2006 is also proud to announce AN EVENING WITH ED ZWICK which will take place at the ArcLight on Wednesday, November 8. Utilizing never before seen extended clips from his upcoming film BLOOD DIAMOND, award-winning filmmaker and AFI graduate Ed Zwick will recount the challenges of directing the film. Along the way, he will compare the experience with his work on his previous films.


For the past two years, Ed Zwick has been working on perhaps his most ambitious film project to date. Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990s Sierra Leone, BLOOD DIAMOND is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a South African mercenary, and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a Mende fisherman, who come together in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. BLOOD DIAMOND will be released nationwide on December15 by Warner Bros.

Zwick was accepted as a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute in 1975. His AFI short film, won first place in the student film competition at the 1976 Chicago Film Festival. Zwick made his feature film directorial debut on ABOUT LAST NIGHT…… He went on to direct such films as the multiple Academy Award-winning Civil War drama GLORY, the Academy Award-winning (for cinematography) feature LEGENDS OF THE FALL, COURAGE UNDER FIRE, THE SIEGE and THE LAST SAMURAI. In addition, Zwick was one of the producers on TRAFFIC, the winner of four Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. He also won an Academy Award as a producer on 1999's Best Picture SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE.

Aronofsky, Lynch and Zwick are all past recipients of AFI’s prestigious Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal which recognizes the extraordinary creative talents of a graduate of the AFI Conservatory or of the Directing Workshop for Women who symbolizes the legacy of Franklin Schaffner. Schaffner, over the course of a remarkable 40-year career, earned a total of 28 Academy Award nominations and the directing Oscar for PATTON in 1970. Schaffner's association with AFI began in 1975, with his election to the Board of Trustees, and lasted until his death in 1989.

This year’s AFI FEST is heavily populated with AFI Conservatory alumni filmmakers. Additional films with alumni include; DRAMA/MEX (DIR Gerardo Naranjo), YOUR LIFE IN 65' (DIR Maria Ripoll), WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY (DIR/SCR Goran Dukic, PROD/ACT Michal Lazarev, ED Jonathan Alberts, PD Linda Sena), DANIKA (DP Darko Suvak, ED Danny Rafic), BUG (DP Michael Grady, PD Franco Carbone), THE DEAD GIRL (DP Michael Grady), TV JUNKIE (DIR Michael Cain), VENUS (DP Haris Zambarloukos), as well as the previously mentioned THE FOUNTAIN (PROD Eric Watson, DP Matthew Libatique), and short films APPARENT HORIZON (an AFI thesis film with DIR Thymaya Payne, PROD Patricia Lee West, DP Bobby Shore, ED Cindy Thoennessen, PD Maya Sigel), MOTHER (an AFI Directing Workshop for Women film with DIR Sian Heder, DP Paula Huidobro), FOURTEEN (DIR Nicole Barnette), and I WANT TO BE A PILOT (DIR Diego Quemada-Diez).

AFI FEST 2006's overall lineup will showcase a total of 111 features (91 narrative, 20 documentary) and 36 shorts (33 narrative, 3 documentary) for a total of 147 films from 45 different countries. Of the fils, 22 are World Premieres including AFI FEST’s Closing Night film to be announced at a later date, 30 are North American Premieres and 28 are US Premieres.

The breakdown by section is Galas (5), Special Presentations (12), International Feature Competition (12), International Documentary Competition (12), Latin Cinema Series (10), World Cinema (17), American Directions (10), Asian New Classics (8) and the International Shorts Competition (36). Additionally, the Festival introduces three new sections: African Voices (6), Dark Horizons (6) and World Cinema (17)

The African Voices Cinema Series is designed to amplify the diverse voices of the African continent through the creative work of directors, producers and writers of the African Diaspora, who were also born in Africa, and who play the ultimate role in communicating the culture, politics, and the vision of a people through film. With the introduction of African Voices, AFI FEST intends to build on its 20 year legacy of presenting international cinema to the international film community. The aim is to create an opportunity for African filmmakers to present their work on a global scale, while providing African filmmakers with access to industry resources in a structured environment.

Dark Horizons was created for films that are pushing the envelope and uses the tools of genre filmmaking to explore much deeper socio- political and human issues. The films in this section will screen in late night slots on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

World Cinema was formed for the films that are not covered in AFI’s other regional sections, African, Asian, Latin and American.

"This is a very exciting year for us. We noticed a lot of emerging trends really hitting their stride. The films in the new late-night movie section Dark Horizons seemed to be pushing some classic genre elements to the limits. We also noticed a thriving, exciting film industry in Africa so we created the African Voices section. There are really original story-telling techniques coming from that part of the world," said AFI FEST’s Director of Programming Nancy Collet.

This year’s lineup has 11 films that have been chosen as their country’s Oscar submission. Some of them include: Algeria’s DAYS OF GLORY, Australia’s TEN CANOES, Austria’s GRBAVICA, Egypt’s THE YACOUBIAN BUILDING, Hong Kong’s THE BANQUET, Denmark’s AFTER THE WEDDING, Germany’s THE LIVES OF OTHERS, Hungary’s WHITE PALMS, Spain’s VOLVER and Sweden’s FALKENBERG FAREWELL.

The FEST is headquartered at ArcLight Hollywood, where most of the international Festival’s activities will take place. As previously announced, AFI FEST 2006 will be celebrating 20 years with plans to celebrate AFI FEST and 15 years of FILMEX through a series of commemorative events, series and special programs throughout the 11- day Festival. As part of the anniversary celebration, approximately a dozen movies will be programmed to play during the 24-Hour Movie Marathon, raising money for The Global Fund, an organization created to finance the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. Movie Marathons were a programming staple of FILMEX. At press time, confirmed titles in the AFI FEST/FILMEX 24-Hour Movie Marathon & Fundraiser include THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, CAT PEOPLE, neTHE END, FLASH GORDON, RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS 7 and THE WIZ, with more titles confirmed in the coming weeks.

AFI FEST 2006 presented by Audi will run November 1-12, 2006. Passes are on sale now and individual event tickets go on sale on Friday, October 13, 2006. To order passes, tickets or for more information, visit www.AFI.com or call 1.866.AFI.FEST.