AFI FEST 2009 presented by Audi has announced that Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner and Oscar contender The White Ribbon will replace Jacques Audiard's Cannes Grand Prix winner A Prophet in the festival's line-up. Reason for the AFI FEST swap: "a recent change in the release date for A Prophet." Both films are being distributed in the US by Sony Pictures Classics.
The White Ribbon is set in a German farming village disturbed by inexplicable acts of cruelty just before the start of World War I. The film is due for release in the US on December 30. The film will screen on Sunday, November 1, at 7:00 PM.
Good that The White Ribbon will be screened; bad that A Prophet won't. Both hard-hitting dramas received widespread praise upon their initial release at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and both will quite possibly land Oscar nods — though with the Academy's foreign-language film voters, you never know. They may always opt for a sentimental melo instead.
Other major film festival winners in the AFI FEST 2009 line-up are:
City of Life and Death (San Sebastián Film Festival Golden Seashell)
Precious (Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize and Audience Award, Toronto Film Festival People’s Choice Award)
The Milk of Sorrow (Berlin International Film Festival Golden Berlin Bear)
Free tickets to all Festival screenings are available online at AFI.com/AFIFEST or by phone at 866-AFI-FEST beginning today, at the Mann Chinese 6 Theatre (6925 Hollywood Blvd.) in the Hollywood and Highland Center beginning October 26, and on the day of scheduled screenings via Rush Lines. Early entry to all screenings can be secured by becoming a patron of the Festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Pass. For more details, visit AFI.com.
too bad
i was looking forward to the prophet.
love prison movies