The Vail Film Festival, with presenting sponsor BEST LIFE magazine, announced the complete line-up of films selected to be screened at the 2008 Festival, taking place April 3 - 6, 2008 at America's top-rated ski resort in Vail, Colorado.
The Festival will screen 83 films from around the world, including 16 feature films and 66 documentaries, short films, Oscar shorts, action sports, student, and animated films. The 2008 Festival also will feature the two winning short films from the brand new Red Vision Film Contest.
The 2008 Vail Film Festival opens on Thursday, April 3 with a screening of DIMINISHED CAPACITY, starring Matthew Broderick, Alan Alda, and Virginia Madsen. This entertaining comedy follows a man (Broderick) suffering from memory loss, his Alzheimer's-impaired relative (Alda), and his high school flame (Madsen) to a memorabilia expo where the trio plans a scheme to sell a rare baseball card.
MISTER FOE was selected as the closing film on Saturday, April 5. Starring Jamie Bell, Ciaran Hinds, and Claire Forlani. Hallam's talent for spying on people reveals his darkest fears - and his most peculiar desires. Driven to expose the true cause of his mother's death, he instead finds himself searching the rooftops of the city for love.
Other feature film highlights at this year's festival include: FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL from director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow (director of KNOCKED UP, THE 40 YEAR-OLD VIRGIN), starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Russell Brand, THE LIVING WAKE directed by Sol Tyron and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Redford's directorial debut, THE GUITAR, starring Saffron Burrows, FIX directed by Tao Ruspoli, starring Olivia Wilde and Tao Ruspoli, and ADVENTURES OF POWER directed by Ari Gold and starring Ari Gold and Adrian Grenier.
"2008 marks our fifth year, and we're very proud of the reputation the Festival has developed among filmmakers as a great place to screen and premiere their work," said Scott Cross, co-founder and co-director of the Vail Film Festival. "The submissions we receive are the best in independent film, allowing us to have an exceptionally strong program. This year, we'll screen more films than ever before, with more filmmakers in attendance to support their work. We are honored to have an incredible group of sponsors that believe in the power of film and whose contributions enhance every aspect of the Festival. Their support has enabled us to continue to grow and to create several new and exciting programs for the fifth year."
The 2008 Vail Film Festival will continue its collaboration with (RED), an international initiative founded by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund, an innovative public-private partnership created to finance a dramatic turnaround in the fight against AIDS.
(RED) and the Vail Film Festival will premiere the RED Vision Short Film Showcase at the 2008 Festival, a screening of the winning films from the RED Vision Short Film Contest. For the second year in a row, the Festival will contribute 25 percent of the sale of each Festival Avanti Pass to the Global Fund.
The Vail Film Festival is also excited to announce a brand new category this year: The Esurance Animation Showcase, the Festival's first stand-alone animation program, presented by returning Supporting Sponsor Esurance.
Highlights include Disney/Pixar's LIFTED; Disney's new Goofy short HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER; SHUTEYE HOTEL, from two-time Oscar nominee Bill Plympton; a new short from Aardman Animations, creators of CHICKEN RUN and WALLACE & GROMIT; a hilarious Australian-Chinese co-production about the bittersweet relationship between a dog and Chinatown; and more great animated shorts from around the world.
The Esurance Animation Showcase will also feature a very special event: Pixar Animation Studio's Dylan Brown, the Supervising Animator of RATATOUILLE (winner of the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), will give a behind-the-scenes presentation on the making of the hit film entitled "RATATOUILLE: Acting and Performance in Animation."
"At Pixar, the best part of making our films is being able to share them with the world, and I can't think of a more pristine setting than Vail to do so. Plus, the skiing there is great!" said Dylan. The presentation will be introduced by Phil Robinson, co-founder of the award-winning animation studio W!LDBRAIN and director of Esurance's animated commercials. Phil will explore the challenges and opportunities faced by today's animation studios.
The Festival will also feature the first annual Green Film Showcase presented by MetaFoundry. The showcase is part of this year's documentary film programming, in recognition and support of the growing importance of environmental concerns and the increase in high-quality filmmaking exploring green issues.
2008 Vail Film Festival Feature Films: CAKE EATERS, directed by Mary Stuart Masterson GOODBYE BABY, directed by Daniel Schechter OFF JACKSON AVENUE, directed by John-Luke Montias FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, directed by Nicholas Stoller SUMMERHOOD, directed by Jacob Medjuck THE COLLECTIVE, directed by Judson Pearce Morgan & Kelly Overton THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY, directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly UP WITH ME, directed by Greg Takoudes REMARKABLE POWER, directed by Brandon Beckner THE LIVING WAKE, directed by Sol Tryon MISTER FOE, directed by David Mackenzie DIMINISHED CAPACITY, directed by Terry Kinney ADVENTURES OF POWER, directed by Ari Gold THE GUITAR, directed by Amy Redford IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS, directed by Alex Holdridge FIX, directed by Tao Ruspoli BROKEN FENCES, directed by Troy McGatlin
Documentary: A SOLDIER'S PEACH, directed by Kristen & Marshall Thompson DARK & BLOODY GROUND, directed by Alex Farnsley, Kevin King GOLDEN DAYS, directed by Chris Suchorsky MARDIK: FROM BAGHDAD TO HOLLYWOOD, directed by Evan York & Jeff Orsa MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL, directed by Michael O'Connell MOVING MIDWAY, directed by Godfrey Cheshire ONE BRIDGE TO THE NEXT, directed by Kim Snyder TEAM EVEREST: A HIMALAYAN JOURNEY, directed by Andrew Cockrum THE LISTENING PROJECT, directed by Dominic Howes, Joel Weber BI THE WAY, directed by Brittany Blockman & Josephine Decker FLOW, directed by Irena Salina ODYSSEY IN ROME, directed by Alex Grazioli
Shorts: AND THEN SHE WAS GONE, directed by Jacqueline Pennewill, Pete Konczal ANTES Y DESPUES DE BESAR A MARIA, directed by Ramon Alos BAD DAY, GOOD DAY, BAD DAY, directed by Noah Pink BASKET CASKET, directed by Greg Hewett BEER, CHOCOLATE OR YOU, directed by Matt West DOOR NUMBER TWO, directed by Jeremy Redleaf FELIX MELMAN, directed by Dan Lantz GOD'S BEACH, directed by Abigail Carpenter HARDLY MARRIED, directed by Diego Nunez HOLLYWOOD JEROME, directed by Frey Hoffman KIDS + MONEY, directed by Lauren Greenfield LITTLE PUMPKIN, directed by Tiffany Bartok LOOKING UP DRESSES, directed by Jared Ingram MURDERING MAMA'S BOY, directed by Katherine Cunningham-Eves NEW BOY, directed by Steph Green OFFICER DOWN, directed by Patrick Curd SLINGERS, directed by Rory Kindersley THE JOB, directed by Jonathan Browning THE RAPTURE OF THE ATHLETE ASSUMED INTO HEAVEN, directed by Keith Bogart THE TEMERITY OF ZIM, directed by Joshua Kopple VALIDATION, directed by Kurt Kuenne FURY, directed by Kevin Hershberger RAVING, directed by Julia Stiles RABIA, directed by Muhammad Hasan
Student Films: 15-40, directed by Christian Bagger A DAYS WORK, directed by Rajeez Dassani ASSAULT, directed by Kazik Radwanski AT THE SURFACE, directed by Timothy Anderson IF A BODY MEET A BODY, directed by Brian Davis KEYS, directed by Christopher Babers LES VULNERABLES, directed by Ben-Jorgen Perlmutt OFFICE MOBIUS, directed by Seung Hyung Lee REBEL SONG, directed by Simon Arthur SIMULACRA, directed by Tatchapon Lertwirlojkul THE FANTASTIC DESTINY OF MELFORD NELSON KAULLIE, directed by David Fishel TWO WORDS, directed by Ariel Barron
Oscar Shorts: I MET THE WALRUS, directed by Josh Raskin IL SUPPLENTE (THE SUBSTITUTE), directed by Andrea Jublin MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI, directed by Chris Lavis, Maciek Szczerbowski MEME LES PIGEONS VONT AU PARADIS (EVEN PIGEONS GO TO HEAVEN), directed by Samuel Tourneux, Simon Vannesse LE MOZART DES PICKPOCKETS, directed by Philippe Pollet-Villard
Action Sports: SLIDING LIBERIA, directed by Britton Caillouette 24 SOLO, directed by Jason Berry THE THIN LINE: LIFE ON THE EDGE, directed by Jay Jalbert
Animated Films: HOW TO HOOK UP YOUR HOME THEATER, directed by Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers LAPSUS, directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella LIFTED, directed by Gary Rydstrom OPERATOR, directed by Matthew Walker SHUTEYE HOTEL, directed by Bill Plympton SWEET & SOUR, directed by Eddie White THE PEARCE SISTERS, directed by Luis Cook
Red Vision: UBUNTU, directed by David Serota BINTY, directed by Armen Evrensel
Film details and the entire line-up of 2008 film selections in all categories are now available at www.vailfilmfestival.org.
Additional Festival highlights include an opening night gala at the Donovan Pavilion, a filmmakers' reception at Larkspur at the base of Golden Peak, the festival awards ceremony featuring Tim Daly, Adrian Grenier, Olivia Wilde, Jesse Eisenberg, and Jeremy Davies, as well as a party on-mountain at Vail's Eagle's Nest Marketplace and a closing brunch at Larkspur.
The BEST LIFE Lodge, which will act as the festival's central destination, will feature such partners as Epson, Subaru, Swiss Army and Stella Artois and will be open to festival passholders. Also this year, BEST LIFE has aligned with some of Vail's finest restaurants, including Terra Bistro, Larkspur, and Sapphire to feature signature dishes during apres ski events.
