SILVER

3 FACES

[SE ROKH]

The fourth movie he's made in defiance of the Iranian government's filmmaking ban won Jafar Panahi (CRIMSON GOLD, TAXI, THE WHITE BALLOON) the Best Screenplay award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. 3 FACES is a touching tribute to the road movies of Panahi's late mentor, Abbas Kiarostami. Playing fictionalized versions of themselves, Panahi and well-known actress Behnaz Jafari trek to Iran's mountainous northwest to investigate a video of a teenage girl apparently committing suicide. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young calls the film "charming Iranian cinema at its purest," and "defiantly modern in its liberal message about freedom of choice." (Note courtesy of the Freer|Sackler.) DIR/SCR/PROD Jafar Panahi; SCR Nader Saeivar. Iran, 2018, color, 100 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

AT ETERNITY'S GATE

Directed by Academy Award® nominee Julian Schnabel (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY), AT ETERNITY'S GATE is a journey inside the world and mind of a person who, despite skepticism, ridicule and illness, created some of the world's most beloved and stunning works of art. This is not a forensic biography, but rather, scenes based on Vincent van Gogh's (Academy Award® nominee Willem Dafoe) letters, common agreement about events in his life, hearsay and moments that are just plain invented. Also starring Rupert Friend, Oscar Isaac, Mads Mikkelsen, Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner. (Note courtesy of CBS Films.) DIR/SCR Julian Schnabel; SCR Jean-Claude Carrière, Louise Kugelberg; PROD Jon Kilik. Switzerland/UK/France/U.S./Ireland, 2018, b&w/color, 111 min. In English and French with English subtitles. RATED PG-13

AFI Member passes accepted.

BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS, THE

Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 2018 Venice Film Festival, the Coen brothers' endlessly surprising Western anthology boasts a star-studded cast (Liam Neeson, James Franco, Tim Blake Nelson, Brendan Gleeson, Tyne Daly, Stephen Root, Harry Melling, Tom Waits, Zoe Kazan) and an epic aesthetic that demands to be seen on the big screen. Ranging from absurd to profound, six distinct vignettes follow the adventures of several outlaws and settlers on the American frontier — a sharp-shooting songster, a wannabe bank robber, two weary traveling performers, a lone gold prospector, a woman traveling toward an uncertain future and a motley crew of strangers undertaking a carriage ride. DIR/SCR/PROD Joel Coen, Ethan Coen; PROD Megan Ellison, Robert Graf, Sue Naegle. U.S., 2018, color, 133 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

BLACKKKLANSMAN

After wowing international audiences at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, BLACKKKLANSMAN gained accolades and praise across the globe and is now firmly positioned as an Oscar® frontrunner. Spike Lee's latest joint is a daring retelling of the stranger-than-fiction tale of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department — and the first to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Teaming up with colleague Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), Stallworth aims to take down the extremist hate group just as it is attempting to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream. Produced by the team behind the Academy Award®-winning GET OUT, BLACKKKLANSMAN offers an eerily resonant, unflinching, true-life examination of race relations in 1970s America. DIR/SCR/PROD Spike Lee; SCR Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, from the book "Black Klansman" by Ron Stallworth; PROD Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele, Shaun Redick. U.S., 2018, color, 135 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

BURNING (2018)

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and shortlisted for this year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®, Lee Chang-dong's (POETRY, SECRET SUNSHINE) BURNING is a searing examination of an alienated young man, Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in), a frustrated introvert whose already difficult life is complicated by the appearance of two people into his orbit: first, Hae-mi (newcomer Jeon Jong-seo), a spirited woman who offers romantic possibility, and then Ben (Steven Yeun, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU, THE WALKING DEAD), a wealthy and sophisticated young man she returns from a trip with. When Jong-su learns of Ben's mysterious hobby and Hae-mi disappears, his confusion and obsessions begin to mount, culminating in a stunning finale. (Note adapted from Well Go.) DIR/SCR/PROD Lee Chang-dong; SCR Oh Jung-mi, from the story "Barn Burning" by Haruki Murakami; PROD Lee Joon-dong, Ok Gwang-hee. South Korea, 2018, color, 148 min. In Korean with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

FAVOURITE, THE

Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead, while tending to Anne's ill health and mercurial temper. When new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time-consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the queen's companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives Abigail a chance to fulfil her ambitions, and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way. DIR/PROD Yorgos Lanthimos; SCR Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara; PROD Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday. Ireland/UK/U.S., 2018, color, 120 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

FIRST MAN (2018)

On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, LA LA LAND, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for FIRST MAN, the riveting story behind the first manned mission to the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong (Gosling) and the decade leading to the historic Apollo 11 flight. A visceral and intimate account told from Armstrong's perspective, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the film explores the triumphs and the toll — on Armstrong, his family, his colleagues and the nation itself — of one of the most dangerous missions in history. Written by Academy Award® winner Josh Singer (THE POST, SPOTLIGHT), this epic drama of leading under the pressure of grace and tragedy is produced by Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen (the TWILIGHT saga, THE FAULT IN OUR STARS), alongside Isaac Klausner (LOVE, SIMON) and Chazelle. (Note adapted from Universal Pictures.) DIR/PROD Damien Chazelle; SCR Josh Singer, from the book by James R. Hansen; PROD Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Isaac Klausner. U.S., 2018, color, 141 min. RATED PG-13

AFI Member passes accepted.

FIRST REFORMED

Nominated for four Film Independent Spirit Awards and winner of the Best Screenplay and Best Actor prizes at the 2018 Gotham and New York Film Critics Circle Awards, FIRST REFORMED has emerged as a dark horse in this year's packed Oscar® race. Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reformed church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence. From director/writer Paul Schrader (AFFLICTION, AMERICAN GIGOLO, TAXI DRIVER) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political and planetary. (Note adapted from A24 Films.) DIR/SCR Paul Schrader; PROD Jack Binder, Greg Clark, Gary Hamilton, Victoria Hill, David Hinojosa, Frank Murray, Deepak Sikka, Christine Vachon. U.S., 2017, color, 113 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

FREE SOLO

Winner of the Toronto International Film Festival's People's Choice Award for Best Documentary, the Critics' Choice Documentary Award and shortlisted for this year's Best Documentary Feature Oscar®, FREE SOLO is among the most lauded nonfiction films of 2018. Directed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (MERU) and world-renowned photographer and mountaineer Jimmy Chin, FREE SOLO is a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world's most famous rock — the 3,000-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park — without a rope. Celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, Honnold's climb set the ultimate standard: perfection or death. Succeeding in this challenge, Honnold enters his story in the annals of human achievement. FREE SOLO is both an edge-of-your seat thriller and an inspiring portrait of an athlete who exceeded our current understanding of a human's physical and mental potential. The result is a triumph of the human spirit. (Note adapted from National Geographic Documentary Films.) DIR/SCR/PROD Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin; PROD Shannon Dill, Evan Hayes. U.S., 2018, color, 100 min. RATED PG-13

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GRAVELESS, THE

aka AS I LAY DYING [HAMCHENAN KE MIMORDAM]

Inspired by William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying," Mostafa Sayari's first feature debuted at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival. Fulfilling their recently deceased father's final wishes, four adult siblings transport his body across the harsh Iranian desert to the remote village where he wanted to be buried. As the temperature rises, the body begins to decompose, and tempers flare as old family secrets and resentments boil to the surface. (Note courtesy of the Freer|Sackler.) DIR/SCR Mostafa Sayari; SCR Behnam Abedi, Hamed Hosseini Sangari, from William Faulkner's novel "As I Lay Dying"; PROD Abbas Amoori. Iran, 2018, color, 73 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

HAPPY AS LAZZARO

[LAZZARO FELICE]

Winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Alice Rohrwacher's (CORPO CELESTE, THE WONDERS) modern-day fairytale blends neo-realism and magical realism to tell the story of Lazzaro (newcomer Adriano Tardiolo), a naive and optimistic young sharecropper, and Tancredi (Luca Chikovani), a young nobleman with a fervid imagination. The pair form a life-altering bond when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping, and lines between past and present, fantasy and reality, town and country are forever blurred. DIR/SCR Alice Rohrwacher; PROD Carlo Cresto-Dina, Gregory Gajos; Arthur Hallereau, Alexandra Henochsberg, Pierre-François Piet, Tiziana Soudani, Michael Weber. Italy/Switzerland/France/Germany, 2018, color, 125 min. In Italian with English subtitles. RATED PG-13

AFI Member passes accepted.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK

Based on the novel by James Baldwin and directed by Academy Award® winner Barry Jenkins (MOONLIGHT), IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is the story of Tish (KiKi Layne), a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover's (Stephan James) innocence while carrying their first-born child to term. It is a celebration of love told through the story of a young couple, their families and their lives, trying to bring about justice through love, for love and the promise of the American dream. With Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Aunjanue Ellis, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Emily Rios, Ed Skrein, Finn Wittrock and Bryan Tyree Henry. DIR/SCR/PROD Barry Jenkins; SCR from the novel by James Baldwin; PROD Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski. U.S., 2018, color, 117 min. RATED R

No AFI Member passes accepted.

INCREDIBLES 2

Winner of the National Board of Review's Best Animated Feature Award and nominated for a whopping 11 Annie Awards, INCREDIBLES 2 is a firm Oscar® favorite. Everyone's favorite family of superheroes is back — but this time Helen (Holly Hunter) is in the spotlight, leaving Bob (Craig T. Nelson) at home with Violet (Sarah Vowell) and Dash (Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of "normal" life. It's a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that the family is still unaware of baby Jack-Jack's emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to work together again — which is easier said than done, even when they're all Incredible. (Note adapted from Disney/Pixar.) DIR/SCR Brad Bird; PROD Nicole Paradis Grindle, John Walker. U.S., 2018, color, 118 min. RATED PG

AFI Member passes accepted.

LEAVE NO TRACE

Nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards (Best Feature, Best Director and Best Supporting Actress), and winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Director Award, as well as the National Board of Review's Breakthrough Performance Award (Thomasin McKenzie), LEAVE NO TRACE is the rare film that unites critics and audiences across the board. It currently boasts a very rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom (McKenzie), have lived off the grid for years in the forests of Portland, Oregon. When their idyllic life is shattered, both are put into social services. After clashing with their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a harrowing journey back to their wild homeland. Academy Award®-nominated director Debra Granik (WINTER'S BONE) returns for her first narrative feature since discovering Jennifer Lawrence in 2010 with a young lead who delivers an equally powerful breakout performance. (Note adapted from Bleecker Street Media.) DIR/SCR Debra Granik; SCR/PROD Anne Rosellini, from the novel "My Abandonment" by Peter Rock; PROD Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman. U.S., 2018, color, 109 min. RATED PG

AFI Member passes accepted.

LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE

50th anniversary of the legendary Led Zeppelin show at Wheaton Youth Center

1969. Man lands on the moon. Half a million strong at Woodstock. SESAME STREET debuts…. and Led Zeppelin perform in the gym of the Wheaton Youth Center on Georgia Avenue in front of 50 confused teenagers. Or did they? Filmmaker Jeff Krulik (HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT) screens his feature documentary about an enduring local legend, on the 50th anniversary that this concert is alleged to have taken place: January 20, 1969, during the first Presidential Inauguration of Richard Nixon. LED ZEPPELIN PLAYED HERE explores the start of the modern rock concert industry, focusing on Led Zeppelin's first month crisscrossing the U.S. Many swear that this concert took place, but just as many cast doubt. Did it really happen? Or, 50 years later, is it some sort of a "rock-and-roll RASHOMON" reimagining history? The film features interviews with rock writers, musicians and fans, plus some who claim they were there, witnessing history that night. DIR/SCR/PROD Jeff Krulik. U.S., 2014, color/b&w, 90 min. NOT RATED

PLUS, the premiere screening of short film LED ZEPPELIN TREASURE CHEST, a look at a most remarkable Led Zeppelin memorabilia collection. (DIR Jeff Krulik, Greg DeLiso. 2017, 6 min.)

AFI Member passes accepted.

MAN OF INTEGRITY, A

[LERD]

With an as-yet-unexecuted prison sentence hanging over his head, Mohammad Rasoulof (IRON ISLAND, MANUSCRIPTS DON'T BURN) secretly filmed this movie in rural northern Iran. This biting critique of contemporary Iranian culture can be summed up by one character's pessimistic line: "In this country, you're either the oppressed or the oppressor." Its title character, Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), is a Tehrani who moves to the country to live a peaceful, principled life running a goldfish farm. Instead, he finds himself in a corrupt town run by a mysterious company that has designs on his property. A MAN OF INTEGRITY is "an uncompromising drama from one of Iran's most outspoken directors." –Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter. (Note courtesy of the Freer|Sackler.) DIR/SCR/PROD Mohammad Rasoulof. Iran, 2017, color, 117 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

MINDING THE GAP

Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival and among the National Board of Review's top five documentaries of 2018, MINDING THE GAP is a rare example of a film uniting critics and audiences across the board with its technical skill and flawless storytelling. Filmed over a decade in the lives of three best friends, this arresting debut documentary about a group of Rust Belt skaters explores everything from domestic violence to absent fathers to racial identity, all with an empathetic eye toward its subjects. In what was first meant to be a skate film, director Bing Liu weaves his stunning cinematography with intimate footage to profile Zack as he becomes a father, Keire as he gets his first job and himself as he finds his voice as a filmmaker and comes to grips with his tumultuous childhood. Named Best Documentary of 2018 by the Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver film critics' associations, this portrait of an industrial town and three of its sons is as beautiful in its visuals as it is in its emotional exploration. DIR/SCR/PROD Bing Liu; PROD Diane Moy Quon. U.S., 2018, color, 93 min. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

MIRAI

When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning "future"), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun's entire family. As his mother returns to work, and his father struggles to run the household, Kun becomes increasingly jealous of his baby sister, until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future — including Mirai, as a teenager. Together, Kun and teenage Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family's incredible story. An official selection at Cannes Directors' Fortnight, and the epic capstone of director Mamoru Hosoda's (SUMMER WARS, WOLF CHILDREN) career, MIRAI is a sumptuous, magical and emotionally soaring adventure of love passed down through generations about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are. (Note adapted from GKIDS Films.) DIR/SCR Mamoru Hosoda; PROD Yûichi Adachi, Takuya Itô, Genki Kawamura, Yûichirô Saitô. Japan, 2018, color, 98 min. RATED PG

AFI Member passes accepted.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - FALLOUT

Accepting (and completing) the near-impossible mission of creating a box office mega-hit beloved by audiences and critics alike, director Christopher McQuarrie (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE ¬– ROGUE NATION) returned to the franchise with a bang. On a dangerous assignment to recover stolen plutonium, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) chooses saving his team over completing the mission, allowing nuclear weapons to fall into the hands of a deadly network of highly-skilled operatives intent on destroying civilization. Now, with the world at risk, Ethan and his IMF team (Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames and Rebecca Ferguson) are forced to become reluctant partners with a hard-hitting CIA agent (Henry Cavill) as they race against time to stop the nuclear fallout. There's never been a threat more destructive, stunts so jaw-dropping or a helicopter chase so thrilling — this one deserves the full big-screen experience! (Note adapted from Paramount Pictures.) DIR/SCR/PROD Christopher McQuarrie; PROD J.J. Abrams, Tom Cruise, Jake Myers. U.S./China/France/Norway, 2018, color, 147 min. RATED PG-13

AFI Member passes accepted.

PADDINGTON 2

The sequel to 2014's PADDINGTON finds the beloved bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) now very much a part of the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, and a popular member of the local community. But when he's framed for the theft of a beautiful old pop-up book from Mr. Gruber's (Jim Broadbent) antique shop, Paddington and the Browns must work extra hard to clear the bear's good name. Hugh Grant, in a BAFTA-nominated performance, headlines the newcomers to the wonderful cast, including Brendan Gleeson, Joanna Lumley, Eileen Atkins, Noah Taylor and Tom Conti, joining Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Peter Capaldi and Imelda Staunton from the original film. DIR/SCR Paul King; SCR Simon Farnaby, from the books by Michael Bond; PROD David Heyman. UK, 2017, color, 103 min. RATED PG

AFI Member passes accepted.

PIG (2018)

[KHOOK]

PIG is a dark satire on artistic egotism from actor, writer and director Mani Haghighi (A DRAGON ARRIVES!, Asghar Farhadi's ABOUT ELLY). Hasan Majuni plays Hasan, a famous movie director whose career has languished since he was placed on a government blacklist. His favorite actress and mistress (Leila Hatami) seems ready to move on, professionally and personally. Worst of all, a serial killer beheading Iran's most esteemed filmmakers has conspicuously neglected to target him. (The killer is displaying "no criteria, no sense of stature" in choosing his victims, Hasan complains to his mother.) Out of desperation, the frustrated filmmaker embarks on a plan to launch his career into orbit. (Note courtesy of the Freer|Sackler.) DIR/SCR/DIR Mani Haghighi. Iran, 2018, color, 108 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

PRIVATE LIFE (2018)

Nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards (Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress), the latest from Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (THE SAVAGES, SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS), PRIVATE LIFE is the bracingly funny and moving story of Richard (Academy Award® nominee Paul Giamatti) and Rachel (Kathryn Hahn), a couple in the throes of infertility who try to maintain their marriage as they descend deeper and deeper into the insular world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption. After the emotional and economic upheaval of in vitro fertilization, they're at the end of their middle-aged rope, but when Sadie (breakout newcomer Kayli Carter), a recent college dropout, re-enters their lives, things begin to look up. (Note adapted from Netflix.) DIR/SCR/PROD Tamara Jenkins; PROD Stefanie Azpiazu, Anthony Bregman. U.S., 2018, color, 123 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

RIDER, THE

Winner of the Best Feature Award at the 2018 Gotham Awards and named Best Film of 2018 by the National Society of Film Critics, Chloé Zhao's (SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME) powerful sophomore feature has become a fixture on critics' 2018 top film lists, made the National Board of Review's Top Ten Independent Films and is nominated for four Film Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. After a tragic riding accident, young cowboy Brady (newcomer Brady Jandreau), once a rising star of the rodeo circuit, is warned that his competition days are over. Back home, Brady finds himself wondering what he has to live for when he can no longer do what gives him a sense of purpose: to ride and compete. In an attempt to regain control of his fate, Brady undertakes a search for new identity and tries to redefine his idea of what it means to be a man in the heartland of America. Following the success of THE RIDER, Chloé Zhao has been tapped to direct Marvel Studios' upcoming saga THE ETERNALS. (Note adapted from Sony Pictures Classics.) DIR/SCR/PROD Chloé Zhao; PROD Mollye Asher, Sacha Ben Harroche, Bert Hamelinck. U.S., 2017, color, 104 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

ROMA (2018)

A frontrunner for this year's Best Picture, Best Director and Best Foreign Language Film Oscars®, ROMA is the most personal project to date from Academy Award®-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón (CHILDREN OF MEN, GRAVITY, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN). Following Cleo (breakout star Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in Mexico City, Cuarón delivers an artful love letter to the women who raised him, drawing on his own childhood to create a vivid and emotional portrait of domestic strife and social hierarchy amidst the political turmoil of the 1970s. (Note adapted from Netflix.) DIR/SCR/PROD Alfonso Cuarón; PROD Nicolás Celis, Gabriela Rodriguez. Mexico/U.S., 2018, b&w, 135 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

SHOPLIFTERS

Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Hirokazu Kore-eda's (AFTER THE STORM; LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON; THE THIRD MURDER) SHOPLIFTERS is a major Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® contender. On the margins of Tokyo, a dysfunctional band of outsiders are united by fierce loyalty, a penchant for petty theft and playful grifting. When the young son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous, below-the-radar existence and test their quietly radical belief that it is love — not blood — that defines a family. Fear not if SHOPLIFTERS leaves you wanting more Kore-eda — THE TRUTH, his English language debut, starring Juliet Binoche, Catherine Deneuve and Ethan Hawke, is expected later this year. (Note adapted from Magnolia Pictures.) DIR/SCR/PROD Hirokazu Kore-eda; PROD Kaoru Matsuzaki, Hijiri Taguchi, Akihiko Yose. Japan, 2018, color, 121 min. In Japanese with English subtitles. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

SLY

[MARMOUZ]

This political spoof is a hilarious takedown of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a religious hard-liner who ruled for eight years before running afoul of the country's top clergy. Kamal Tabrizi's film portrays Ahmadinejad as a malapropism-prone buffoon. He lucks into office by accidentally saving hundreds of people from a bomb at a rock concert, and he remains in power only as long as his handlers deem him useful. Famous for his 2004 film THE LIZARD, which shocked Iranian audiences with its story of a phony cleric who turns out to be great at the job, Tabrizi proves with SLY that he is a master at courting controversy through comedy. (Note courtesy of the Freer|Sackler.) DIR Kamal Tabrizi; SCR Aidin Sayar Sarie; PROD Javad Norouzbeigi. Iran, 2018, color, 90 min. In Persian with English subtitles. NOT RATED

AFI Member passes accepted.

STAN & OLLIE

Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor - Musical or Comedy (John C. Reilly)

Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly bring their brilliant comedic chops to bear as legendary comedy duo Stan "Laurel" (Coogan) and Ollie "Hardy" (Reilly) in this hilarious road movie recounting the pair's famed 1953 "farewell" tour of Britain and Ireland. Initially underwhelming, the tour gradually picks up steam as the duo move toward a big London finale, reigniting their celebrity and causing the world to fall in love with them all over again. But health issues, the stress of being on the road and the arrival of their wives Lucille and Ida (Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda) threaten to upset the delicate balance required for their creative partnership. Director Jon S. Baird (FILTH) and screenwriter Jeff Pope (PHILOMENA) offer a nuanced study of lifelong male friendship and a suitably laugh-inducing tribute to two of cinema's comedy greats. Official Selection, 2018 London and AFI FEST film festivals. DIR Jon S. Baird; SCR Jeff Pope; PROD Faye Ward. UK/Canada/U.S., 2018, color, 97 min. NOT RATED

No AFI Member passes accepted.

STAR IS BORN, A (2018)

In A STAR IS BORN, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga fuse their considerable talents to depict the raw and passionate tale of Jack and Ally, two artistic souls coming together, on stage and in life. Theirs is a complex journey through the beauty and the heartbreak of a relationship struggling to survive. In this new take on the iconic love story, four-time Oscar® nominee Cooper (AMERICAN HUSTLE; AMERICAN SNIPER; SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK), makes his directorial debut, and also stars alongside multiple-award-winning, Oscar®-nominated music superstar Gaga in her first leading role in a major motion picture. Cooper portrays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers and falls in love with struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has given up on her dream to become a successful singer, until she meets Jack, who immediately sees her natural talent. (Note adapted from Warner Bros.) DIR/SCR/PROD Bradley Cooper; SCR Eric Roth, Will Fetters; PROD Bill Gerber, Lynette Howell Taylor, Jon Peters, Todd Phillips. U.S., 2018, color, 136 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

SUSPIRIA (2018)

Oscar®-nominated director Luca Guadagnino's (CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, I AM LOVE) daring reinterpretation of Dario Argento's horror classic stars Dakota Johnson as young American dancer Susie Bannion. When Bannion arrives in 1970s Berlin to audition for the world-renowned Helena Markos Dance Company, she stuns the troupe's famed choreographer, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton), with her raw talent. When she vaults to the role of lead dancer, Olga, the previous lead, breaks down and accuses the company's female directors of being witches. As rehearsals intensify for the final performance of the company's signature piece, Susie and Madame Blanc grow strangely close, suggesting that Susie's purpose in the company goes beyond merely dancing. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist trying to uncover the company's dark secrets enlists the help of another dancer (Mia Goth), who probes the depths of the studio's hidden underground chambers, where horrific discoveries await. Featuring a haunting soundtrack by Thom Yorke and a stunning triple performance by Swinton (see if you can spot her!), SUSPIRIA became one of the most talked-about highbrow horror films of 2018. (Note adapted from Amazon Studios.) DIR/PROD Luca Guadagnino; SCR/PROD David Kajganich; PROD Bradley J. Fischer, Francesco Melzi d'Eril, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, William Sherak, Silvia Venturini Fendi. Italy/U.S., 2018, color, 152 min. In English, German and French with English subtitles. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.

VICE

Academy Award®-winner Adam McKay (THE BIG SHORT) tells the untold true story of Dick Cheney (an unrecognizable Christian Bale), the most powerful vice president in history, and how his policies changed the world as we know it. VICE explores the epic story of how a bureaucratic Washington insider quietly became the most powerful man in the world as vice president to George W. Bush, reshaping the country and the globe in ways that we still feel today. Also starring Amy Adams, Steve Carrell, Sam Rockwell, Jesse Plemons, Alison Pill, Lily Rabe, Tyler Perry, Justin Kirk, LisaGay Hamilton, Shea Whigham and Eddie Marsan. DIR/SCR/PROD Adam McKay; PROD Megan Ellison, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Will Ferrell, Kevin Messick. U.S., 2018, color, 131 min. RATED R

No AFI Member passes accepted.

VOX LUX

Brady Corbet's follow-up to his 2015 breakout debut THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER is the deliciously dark flipside to A STAR IS BORN — a gloriously matter-of-fact examination of the cult of celebrity and the media machine in all its guts, grit and glory. In 1999, teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a violent tragedy. After singing at a memorial service, Celeste transforms into a burgeoning pop star with the help of her songwriter sister (Stacy Martin) and a talent manager (Jude Law). Celeste's meteoric rise to fame and concurrent loss of innocence dovetails with a shattering terrorist attack on the nation, elevating the young powerhouse to a new kind of celebrity: American icon, secular deity, global superstar. By 2017, adult Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mounting a comeback after a scandalous incident that derailed her career. Touring in support of her sixth album, the indomitable, foul-mouthed pop savior must overcome her personal and familial struggles to navigate motherhood, madness and monolithic fame in the Age of Terror. (Note adapted from Neon.) DIR/SCR Brady Corbet; PROD D.J. Gugenheim, David Hinojosa, Andrew Lauren, David Litvak, Michel Litvak, Svetlana Metkina, Robert Salerno, Christine Vachon, Gary Michael Walters, Brian Young. U.S., 2018, color, 114 min. RATED R

AFI Member passes accepted.