Posted by Larry Gleeson
AFI ANNOUNCES CHRISTY, DEAD MAN’S WIRE, JAY KELLY, AND NUREMBERG AS RED CARPET GALAS AT AFI FEST PRESENTED BY CANVA
BUGONIA, THE CHORAL, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER, IS THIS THING ON?, RENTAL FAMILY, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE and TRAIN DREAMS, plus U.S. Premiere of BAD APPLES and World Premiere of NEBRASKA LIVE Amongst Movies Featured in Particular Screenings Part
Full Slate to be Introduced on September 30
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Los Angeles, CA, September 25, 2025 — The American Movie Institute (AFI) introduced in the present day that JAY KELLY, NUREMBERG, DEAD MAN’S WIRE and CHRISTY will full the Crimson Carpet Premieres part at this yr’s AFI FEST offered by Canva. The JAY KELLY Gala Screening will happen on Thursday, October 23; NUREMBERG on Friday, October 24; DEAD MAN’S WIRE on the afternoon of Saturday, October 25; and CHRISTY on the night of Saturday, October 25. The whole Crimson Carpet Premieres part contains SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE and the World Premieres of SONG SUNG BLUE and THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS. All Crimson Carpet Premieres will happen on the historic TCL Chinese language Theatre. Competition passes, which embody the chance to entry tickets to the Crimson Carpet Premieres, can be found now at FEST.AFI.com.
“AFI FEST is the place over 150 movies from all over the world meet film lovers in Hollywood,” mentioned Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO. “Our aim is nothing in need of a world embrace—the place we uncover and rediscover the ability of a shared story on a giant display screen.”
JAY KELLY
JAY KELLY, the brand new movie from Academy Award nominee Noah Baumbach, follows well-known film actor, Jay Kelly (George Clooney), as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery confronting each his previous and current, accompanied by his devoted supervisor Ron (Adam Sandler). Poignant and humor stuffed, epic and intimate, JAY KELLY is pitched on the intersection of life’s regrets and notable glories. The movie stars George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, Patrick Wilson, Eve Hewson, Greta Gerwig, Alba Rohrwacher, Josh Hamilton, Lenny Henry, Emily Mortimer, Nicôle Lecky, Thaddea Graham, Isla Fisher, Louis Partridge, Charlie Rowe. The movie will premiere on Netflix on December 5.
NUREMBERG
NUREMBERG chronicles the true story of the struggle crimes trials held by the Allies in opposition to the defeated Nazi regime. The movie facilities on American psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), who’s tasked with figuring out whether or not Nazi prisoners are match to face trial for his or her atrocities and finds himself in a fancy battle of wits with former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), Hitler’s right-hand man. The movie is directed by James Vanderbilt and stars Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham, Wrenn Schmidt, Lotte Verbeek and Andreas Pietschmann. The Sony Photos Classics movie can be launched on November 7.
DEAD MAN’S WIRE
Gus Van Sant returns with the unimaginable true story of an notorious 1977 kidnapping and ransom over a enterprise deal gone dangerous, with the kidnapper (Invoice Skarsgård) demanding restitution and an apology from the mortgage dealer whose firm ripped him off. The movie is directed by Gus Van Sant, and the solid contains Invoice Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo, Myha’la, Cary Elwes, Kelly Lynch and Al Pacino. This movie is the primary acquisition for Row Ok Leisure.
CHRISTY
In David Michôd’s stirring biopic CHRISTY, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) by no means imagined life past her small-town roots in West Virginia—till she found a knack for knocking folks out. Fueled by grit, uncooked willpower, and an unshakable need to win, she prices into the world of boxing beneath the steerage of her coach and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). However whereas Christy flaunts a fiery persona within the ring, her hardest battles unfold exterior it—confronting household, identification, and a relationship that simply would possibly develop into life-or-death. Based mostly on exceptional true occasions, Christy Martin’s story is one in every of resilience, braveness, and the struggle to reclaim one’s life. The movie stars Sydney Sweeney, Ben Foster, Merritt Wever, Katy O’Brian and Ethan Embry. Black Bear Photos’ inaugural launch can be in theaters on November 7.
AFI additionally introduced that BAD APPLES, BUGONIA, THE CHORAL, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER, IS THIS THING ON?, A MAGNIFICENT LIFE, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, NEBRASKA LIVE, REBUILDING, RENTAL FAMILY, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE and TRAIN DREAMS, can be among the many movies featured within the Particular Screenings part. BAD APPLES will make its U.S. Premiere, after debuting on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition. Thom Zimny’s NEBRASKA LIVE, a stripped-down live performance documentary that includes Bruce Springsteen performing the songs from his landmark 1982 album, can be a World Premiere screening. Serendipitously, the screening additional enhances AFI FEST’s opening night time presentation of Scott Cooper’s dramatic characteristic SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE, centered on the creation of that album.
“AFI FEST’s Particular Screenings part contains a few of the most buzzed-about movies from the pageant circuit, an eclectic combine that guarantees to shock and delight movie lovers,” mentioned Todd Hitchcock, Director of AFI FEST and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Middle. “We sit up for welcoming Los Angeles audiences to what we’re positive to be a few of the most memorable screening experiences on this yr’s pageant.”
BAD APPLES | U.S. Premiere
Director: Jonatan Etzler
On this delectably darkish satire, an beautiful Saoirse Ronan performs an overworked schoolteacher whose pupils’ research enhance after she removes a foulmouthed and violent pupil from her classroom—by inadvertently kidnapping and locking him up in her basement
BUGONIA
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Two conspiracy-obsessed younger males kidnap the high-powered CEO of a significant firm, satisfied that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The movie stars Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone and newcomer Aidan Delbis.
THE CHORAL
Director: Nicholas Hytner
1916. As struggle rages on the Western Entrance, the Choral Society in Ramsden, Yorkshire has misplaced most of its males to the military. The Choral’s formidable committee, decided to press forward, decides to recruit native younger males to swell their ranks. They need to additionally interact a brand new refrain grasp, and regardless of their suspicions that he has one thing to cover, their greatest wager appears to be Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) – pushed, uncompromising, and just lately returned from a profession in Germany. As conscription papers begin to arrive, the entire neighborhood discovers that one of the best response to the chaos that’s laying waste to their lives is to make music collectively.
THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER
Director: Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart’s staggering directorial debut adapts Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir of abuse and therapeutic, anchored by a uncooked and revelatory efficiency from Imogen Poots.
IS THIS THING ON?
Director: Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper’s fantastically affecting comedic drama stars Will Arnett and Laura Dern in standout performances as a New York couple whose separation results in main midlife self-reckoning and reinvention. When Arnett’s character makes an attempt open-mic standup at a comedy membership with confessional, self-deprecating materials, an entire new world opens for him.
A MAGNIFICENT LIFE
Director: Sylvian Chomet
In 1955, 60-year-old Marcel Pagnol is a widely known and acclaimed playwright and filmmaker. When the editor-in-chief of ELLE journal commissions a weekly column about Pagnol’s childhood, he sees this as an amazing alternative to return to his inventive roots: writing. Realizing his reminiscence is failing him and deeply affected by the disappointing outcomes of his final two performs, Pagnol begins doubting his capability to pursue his work. That’s, till Little Marcel – the younger boy he was once – seems to him as if by magic. Collectively, they are going to discover Marcel Pagnol’s unimaginable life and convey again to life his most cherished encounters and recollections.
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Director: Maria Friedman
Spanning three many years, Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Alongside charts the turbulent relationship between composer Franklin Shepard and his two lifelong mates — author Mary and lyricist & playwright Charley. Initially produced on Broadway in 1981, then changing into an ingenious cult-classic forward of its time, Merrily We Roll Alongside options a few of Stephen Sondheim’s most celebrated and private songs.
NEBRASKA LIVE | World Premiere
Director: Thom Zimny
Bruce Springsteen performs the songs from his 1982 album “Nebraska” for the primary time ever in its entirety in an intimate soundstage setting. Shot in moody black-and-white, the movie is directed by Springsteen’s longtime filmic collaborator Thom Zimny.
REBUILDING
Director: Max Walker-Silverman
Divorced and displaced Colorado rancher Dusty (Josh O’Connor) re-enters the lives of his ex-wife Ruby (Meghann Fahy) and younger daughter when he loses his household ranch to a devastating wildfire.
RENTAL FAMILY
Director: HIKARI
Academy Award® winner Brendan Fraser performs an American actor in modern-day Tokyo employed by a “rental household” company to function a stand-in for purchasers. As he immerses himself in his purchasers’ worlds, he begins to kind real bonds that blur the traces between efficiency and actuality. Confronting the ethical complexities of his work, he rediscovers function, belonging, and the quiet fantastic thing about human connection.
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
Director: Mona Fastvold
A daring colonial-era musical, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE follows visionary Shaker chief Ann Lee as she builds a radical utopian religion in 18th century America. Amanda Seyfried stars as Lee in a career-defining function. Academy Award® winner Daniel Blumberg composed the rating and unique songs for the movie.
TRAIN DREAMS
Director: Clint Bentley
Based mostly on Denis Johnson’s beloved novella, Prepare Goals is the shifting portrait of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger and railroad employee who leads a lifetime of surprising depth and sweetness within the quickly altering America of the early twentieth Century. The movie additionally stars Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon and William H. Macy.
The complete pageant lineup for AFI FEST 2025 can be unveiled on September 30. Passes and 10-ticket bundles are actually obtainable at FEST.AFI.com. A cross alone doesn’t grant entry to a screening, and passholders should reserve tickets upfront of the pageant. Patron passholders could have precedence entry to screening choice on October 1 starting at 11:00 a.m. PT. Star passholders could have early entry to screening choice on October 2 starting at 11:00 a.m. PT. Particular person tickets can be obtainable on October 6. Be taught extra at FEST.AFI.com.
Canva is the unique Presenting Sponsor of AFI FEST. FIJI Water is the pageant’s Official Water Sponsor.
The pageant will happen October 22–26 on the TCL Chinese language Theatres within the coronary heart of Hollywood and have a curated collection of Crimson Carpet Premieres, Particular Screenings, World Cinema, Documentaries and Brief Movies.
As beforehand introduced, Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro will function the Visitor Creative Director for this yr’s pageant. SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE, will open the pageant on October 22, the World Premiere of THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS will display screen on the afternoon of Sunday, October 26 and the World Premiere of SONG SUNG BLUE will shut the pageant on October 26.
Passes to AFI FEST 2025 are actually obtainable for buy on-line at FEST.AFI.com. Festivalgoers have the chance to buy a Star Move or improve to a Patron Move. The AFI FEST Star Move is a five-day cross with entry to all screenings (excluding Crimson Carpet Premieres), early screening choice earlier than particular person tickets go on sale, precedence theater entry, entry to the pageant lounge, invitation to the pageant mixer to mingle with filmmakers and company, a complimentary AFI FEST tote and free Rush Line entry to all screenings. The AFI FEST Patron Move options all the advantages of the Star Move plus two tickets to every of the star-studded Crimson Carpet Premieres held on the historic TCL Chinese language Theatre and precedence screening choice earlier than Star passholders.
AFI FEST is acknowledged by the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences as a qualifying pageant for the Reside Motion, Animated and Documentary Brief Movie classes for the annual Academy Awards®. AFI FEST can be a qualifying pageant for consideration for the British Brief Movie classes of each the BAFTA Movie Awards and the British Unbiased Movie Awards (BIFA).
AFI is a nonprofit, donor-powered group. Be a part of AFI’s Premiere Circle to help the American Movie Institute and luxuriate in entry to unique one-of-a-kind alternatives at AFI occasions, together with AFI FEST. To study extra, e mail Development@AFI.com.
Canva, the all-in-one visible communication and collaboration platform, returns because the unique Presenting Sponsor of AFI FEST 2025. Designed to empower leisure professionals to visualise their concepts into impactful movie and TV tasks, Canva can be built-in all through AFI FEST together with internet hosting business networking occasions, hands-on coaching workshops for filmmakers, and powering the pageant’s digital and printed supplies. Leisure professionals can discover sources to pitch tasks, plan shoots, and convey artistic visions to life at canva.com/leisure.
Concerning the American Movie Institute (AFI)
The American Movie Institute (AFI) is a nonprofit group with a mandate to champion the shifting picture as an artwork kind. Established in 1967, AFI launched the primary complete historical past of American movie and sparked the motion for movie preservation in the US. In 1969, AFI opened the doorways of the AFI Conservatory, a graduate-level program to coach narrative filmmakers. The Conservatory, which counts Deniese Davis, Affonso Gonçalves, Susannah Grant, Matthew Libatique, David Lynch, Melina Matsoukas and Rachel Morrison as Alumni, is ranked as one of many prime movie colleges in America. AFI’s enduring traditions embody the AFI Life Achievement Award, which honors the masters for work that has stood the check of time; AFI AWARDS, which celebrates the artistic ensembles of probably the most excellent display screen tales of the yr; and scholarly efforts such because the AFI Catalog of Characteristic Movies and the AFI Archive that protect movie historical past for future generations. AFI exhibition applications embody AFI FEST Offered by Canva and year-round exhibition on the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Middle in Maryland. AFI Film Membership is a vacation spot for film lovers from all over the world to have a good time and have interaction with the artwork kind each day. Different pioneering applications embody workshops geared toward elevating rising storytellers and expertise, together with AFI DWW+ and the AFI Cinematography Intensive Workshop. Examine all of those applications and extra at AFI.com and comply with us on social media at Fb.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, YouTube.com/AFI, X.com/AmericanFilm, TikTok.com/@americanfilminstitute and Instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
About AFI FEST
Now in its thirty ninth yr, AFI FEST is a world-class occasion, showcasing one of the best movies from throughout the globe. This yr’s version takes place in Los Angeles from October 22-26, 2025. With an progressive slate of programming, the five-day pageant presents screenings, panels and conversations, that includes each grasp filmmakers and new cinematic voices. AFI FEST contains high-profile movies with Q&As that includes the movies’ solid and crew and a strong lineup of fiction and nonfiction options and shorts, offering a one-of-a-kind expertise for film followers. Further info is obtainable at FEST.AFI.com. Join with AFI’s movie pageant at Fb.com/AFIFEST, Twitter.com/AFIFEST, Instagram/AmericanFilmInstitute, TikTok/@AmericanFilmInstitute and YouTube.com/AFI.
About Canva
Launched in 2013, Canva is the world’s main all-in-one platform for visible communication and collaboration. Constructed to empower everybody to design, the corporate serves the artistic and design wants of enterprises, small companies, customers, and college students in additional than 190 international locations worldwide. Whether or not you’re a novice taking your first steps in design, or a artistic skilled in search of highly effective instruments, Canva ensures customers have what they should rework an concept into one thing stunning. Underpinned by the world’s most complete library of designer-made content material, Canva is powered by a set of merchandise and proprietary AI instruments which elevate how people and groups create, collaborate, and talk with ease.
Press contact: American Movie Institute
Shari Mesulam:. shari@themesulamgroup.com
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