'Cholera' confirmed for AFI closing night

(Story originally posted September 6, 2007)

The AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival lineup includes two world premieres, two U.S. premieres and 11 high profile films, many of which have been regulars on the Fall film festival circuit. The movies will be screened at AFI Fest 2007, which runs Nov. 1-11 at the ArcLight in Hollywood.

Festival officials announced that they would open with Robert Redford's "Lions for Lambs." The closing-night film is Mike Newell's cinematic adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "Love in the Time of Cholera," starring Javier Bardem and Liev Schreiber.

Among the AFI premieres are the documentaries "Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome," director Robert Patton-Spruill's 20-year look at the influential and politically charged hip hop group, and "1,000 Journals," Andrea Kreuzhage's piece on an anonymous social artist in San Francisco who sent journals around the world.

AFI is also unspooling a number of award-winning films, including Cannes winners "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" and "Secret Sunshine."

For a complete list of films at AFI 2007, see below.

World Premiere: Documentary

Public Enemy: Welcome to the Terrordome / (Director: Robert Patton-Spruill) -- Documentary looks at the 20-year history of the influential hip hop group Public Enemy and its impact musically, socially and politically, as well as giving rare insight into the personalities that make up the group. Includes interviews with Tom Morello (Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine) and Henry Rollins, among others.

1,000 Journals / (Director: Andrea Kreuzhage) -- Documentary looks at the social art project initiated by "Someguy" in San Francisco, who sent a thousand journals out into the world, with 25 of them eventually being returned, containing writings, art and other contributions from people in 35 countries.

US Premiere

The Tracey Fragments / (Director: Bruce McDonald) -- Canadian drama features a startling and innovative visual design, with Ellen Page starring as a teenager and social outcast wandering the streets of Winnipeg searching for her lost younger brother.

With Your Permission / (Director: Paprika Steen) -- The entry out of Denmark follows the antics of an opera-obsessed cafeteria manager who infuriates those around him with his increasingly difficult behavior.

Official Selections

4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Romania) / (Director: Cristian Mungiu) -- The Palme d'Or winner at this year's Cannes Film Festival, the drama follows the harrowing choices two young women must make when one of them seeks an illegal abortion in 1987 Romania.

The Band's Visit (Israel) / (Director: Eran Kolirin) -- The film follows a brass band composed of members of the Egyptian police force as they travel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Israeli arts center, only to become lost and stranded along the way.

The Counterfeiters (Austria/Germany) / (Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky) -- Set in 1936, the film details the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis and utilizing Jewish prisoners who were bankers, printers and professional forgers before their imprisonment.

Persepolis (France/Iran) / (Directors: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud) -- An animated feature with voice work by Catherine Deneuve, among others, tells the poignant story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl who comes of age during the Islamic Revolution.

Deficit (Mexico) / (Director: Gael Garcia Bernal) Bernal makes his feature film directing debut with the story of a social class war being played out during a party hosted by a privileged young man concerned about his university schooling prospects.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (USA/France) / (Director: Julian Schnabel) -- Film follows the true-life story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body except for his left eye. Using that eye, he blinked out his memoir.

Flight of the Red Balloon (Taiwan/France) / (Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien) -- An overwhelmed mother(Juliette Binoche) enlists the aid of a babysitter to help her care for her two children. Soon her little boy and the babysitter find they inhabit the same imaginary world, in which they are followed through their adventures by a strange red balloon.

Jellyfish (Israel/France) / (Directors: Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen) -- The winner of the Camera d'Or for Best First Feature, the film revolves around a series of overlapping encounters and intertwining relationships surrounding a couple's wedding preparations, the effort of an actress to find a caregiver for her aging mother and the arrival of a mysterious child.

Juno (USA) / (Director: Jason Reitman) -- The film stars Ellen Page as a girl who, faced with an unplanned pregnancy, makes an unusual and bizarre decision. The cast includes Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Michael Cera and Allison Janney.

The Savages (USA) / (Director: Tamara Jenkins) -- A drama focusing on a sister and brother (Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman) who face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.

Secret Sunshine (Korea) / (Director: Lee Chang-dong) -- The film follows the travails of a woman, played by Jeon Do-yeon (in a performance that brought her the Best Actress award at this year's Cannes Film Festival), who relocates with her son to the hometown of her husband after he dies in a car accident. Her sense of welcome in the new town quickly leaves after tragedy strikes again.

For more information, visit: www.AFI.com.