I've been asked to speak on a few panels at this year's event (I did it last year too and it was a good time). Also, they asked me to be a juror for their Short Film Competition, which I accepted. Here's a press release about the upcoming festival...

LSIFF ‘08 HAS ARRIVED!!!

Opening Night is just 5 days away!

ON SALE NOW: Tickets and Passes for ALL screenings!

TO PURCHASE CLICK HERE

Opening Night Screening

The Second Annual Lone Star International Film Festival will open on Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30pm with a red carpet screening of:

"Sunshine Cleaning"
Directed by Kristine Jeffs
Starring Amy Adams
(All principal cast)

Directed by Christine Jeffs, SUNSHINE CLEANING revolves around a single mom and her slacker sister as they find an unexpected way to turn their lives around. Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams), a former high school cheerleading captain, finds herself, at thirty-something, a single mother working as a maid. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades her sister Norah to go into the lucrative crime scene clean-up business with her. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other…situations. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Sunshine Cleaning is a glittering tale of loss in which Adam’s gleaming lead performance and Christine Jeff’s astute attention to detail create a genuine world in which Megan Holley’s sincere and carefully paced story plays out.

Centerpiece Screenings

"Shades of Ray"
Directed by Jaffar Mahmood
Starring Zachary Levi, Kathy Baker, and Bonnie Somerville

Thursday, November 13 at 8:00pm

AMC Palace 2

American-born Ray Rehman comes home one night to find his Pakistani father on his L.A. doorstep; his Caucasian mother in NJ threw him out. Ray just proposed to his girlfriend—whose promised him an answer in a week and his traditionalist father insists that he meet a Sana, a Pakistani girl - just to consider – or he won’t begin talks to work things out with Ray’s mother. Sana turns out to be of mixed descent, like him, and marriage on his mind, questions about his identity and love come into question. Mahmood’s first feature is a charming mix of comedy and pathos, with a fantastic performance by lead Zachary Levi (TV’s Chuck).

"12"
Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov
Starring Sergei Makovetsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergei Garmash, Alexei Petrenko

November 14 at 7:30pm

AMC Palace 2

In the war-torn republic of Chechnya , a room full of jurors divided by racism and prejudice must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager accused of murdering his Russian stepfather. Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12, a loose remake of Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film 12 Angry Men, corrals a racist taxi-driver, a suspicious doctor, a vacillating TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a flamboyant musician, a cemetery manager, and other characters representative of modern day Russia’s fragmented society. Amidst volatile struggles, the group must render a unanimous verdict as the battle between Chechens and Russians flares outside and a stray bird, symbolizing tolerance, flies above the jurors' heads. 12, the 2008 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film from Russia was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival where Mikhalkov was awarded a special Golden Lion for his overall body of work. The film also took home the Audience Award at the 2008 Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic as well as a Golden Amvrosi at the Milano film festival. Mikhalkov received the 1994 Oscar for Best Foreign Film for his film, "Burnt by the Sun," about the repression of the Stalin-era.

Closing Night Screening

"Last Chance Harvey"
Directed by Joel Hopkins
Starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson

Saturday, November 15 at 7:30pm

AMC Palace 2

New Yorker Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman), a struggling jingle writer given one last chance to deliver by his boss, leaves for his daughter’s wedding in London on threat of getting fired if he’s not back for a Monday morning meeting. He arrives to learn that he she wants her stepfather (James Brolin), not him, to walk her down the aisle. Crestfallen, he leaves before the reception to make his flight but somehow misses it. He calls his boss to explain and is fired on the spot. Next stop…airport bar, where Harvey meets Kate (Emma Thompson), a British government worker subject to endless phone calls from her mother and occasional dreadful blind dates. Kate, whose life is limited to work, the occasional blind date and endless phone calls from her smothering mother (Eileen Atkins). Touched by Harvey , who finds himself energized by her intelligence and compassion.The growing connection between the pair inspires both as they unexpectedly transform one another’s lives. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Sunshine Cleaning is a glittering tale of loss in which Adam’s gleaming lead performance and Christine Jeff’s astute attention to detail create a genuine world in which Megan Holley’s sincere and carefully paced story plays out.
To browse all films and purchase individual screening tickets and festival passes

CLICK HERE

From now throughout the festival, keep an eye out for daily updates featuring different parts of our film program and other special events.

Starting November 10, come visit us at our temporary Sundance Square office at Norris Conference Center:

304 Houston Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

For more information, visit http://www.lsiff.com/.

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