AFI FEST

TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles
October 25th – 29th, 2023

AFI FEST’s 37th edition program features over 140 titles, represents 49 countries, and includes 20 Best International Feature Oscar® submissions, including Io, Capitano, Matteo Garrone’s Italian submission.

Io, Capitano (Me, Captain) is one of the three Italian films at the festival and the representative of Italy at the 2024 Academy Awards. The others are Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera and Marco Bellocchio’s Rapito (Kidnapped).

Buy tickets: https://fest.afi.com/2023/luminaries-2023/the-captain-io-capitano/

AFI FEST 2023 will kick off on October 25 with the highly anticipated World Premiere of Leave The World Behind, written and directed by Sam Esmail, who graduated from AFI in 2004. The star-studded cast includes Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, and Mahershala Ali. On October 27, the Centerpiece film Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story by Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz will take the spotlight. Closing out the festival on October 29 is Maestro, a captivating love story depicting the enduring bond between Leonard Bernstein (played by Bradley Cooper) and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (portrayed by Carey Mulligan).

In addition, the program includes 3 Red Carpet Premieres, 11 Special Screenings, 15 Luminaries, 12 Discovery, 16 World Cinema, 14 Documentary, 42 Short Film Competition, 30 films in the AFI Conservatory Showcase presented by AMC Networks, and 5 Guest Artistic Director (Greta Gerwig) selections: All That Jazz, An American In Paris, & A Matter Of Life And Death, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and Wings Of Desire. Gerwig will present the screenings of A Matter Of Life And Death and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure at the TCL Chinese Theatre on October 26th at 6:00 p.m.

The U.S. Premiere of Lee, starring Academy Award® winning actress Kate Winslet, has also been added to the Special Screenings section. Kate Winslet, in addition to producing the film, takes on the role of Lee Miller, a war correspondent who captured powerful images of the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps of Buchenwald and Dachau, shedding light on the hardships and atrocities of World War II. The film is the narrative feature directorial debut from renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras and features performances by Josh O’Connor, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård, and Marion Cotillard. The film screens Saturday, October 28th, at noon.

Sly, directed by Thom Zimny and featuring Sylvester Stallone, has been added to the Documentary section. In this intimate and unexpected documentary, Sylvester Stallone looks back at his life and career. Friends and collaborators pay tribute. Among them: Talia Shire, Henry Winkler, Quentin Tarantino, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film screens Saturday, October 28, at 3:15 p.m.

With a diverse and innovative programming slate, the film festival presents a robust lineup of fiction and nonfiction features and shorts offered in established AFI FEST sections, along with panels and conversations featuring master filmmakers and new cinematic voices.

Over the years, the festival has recognized and celebrated many influential artists and icons, such as Halle Berry, Danny Boyle, Marion Cotillard, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Barry Jenkins, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Mira Nair, Rita Moreno, Sofia Coppola, Steve McQueen, Natalie Portman, Christopher Plummer, and Tilda Swinton. Esteemed figures like Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ava DuVernay, David Lynch, and Agnès Varda have served as Guest Artistic Directors in the past.

Individual tickets for all screenings are available for purchase at FEST.AFI.com.