Cinetopia Film Festival has announced the schedule of films taking place at this year’s festival, which will run June 1-11 beginning in Ann Arbor and ending in Detroit. The 2017 lineup features a record-breaking 24 Michigan Premieres, as well as 3 U.S. Premieres, including the racing documentary, McLaren, which will premiere at the Henry Ford on Friday, June 2.
Spanning ten days, Cinetopia brings more than 60 films to the Detroit, Dearborn and Ann Arbor area – representing the best feature-length dramas, comedies, and documentaries from the world’s best festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca. See the attached list of films and visit cinetopiafestival.org for full film descriptions, trailers and dates/times/locations of all screenings and events.
The festival will begin in Ann Arbor on June 1, with the Ann Arbor portion taking place in the historic Michigan Theater and Lorch Hall on the University of Michigan campus. The festival continues in Dearborn where partners again include the Arab American National Museum and their Arab Film Festival, as well as The Henry Ford and their Giant Screen Experience.
The festival finishes in Detroit, with screenings at the Detroit Film Theatre, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, Cinema Detroit, and The Maple Theater.
Cinetopia will open on the evening of Thursday, June 1 at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor, with an opening night party at 5:30 PM in the foyer followed by the Michigan Premiere of Sundance favorite The Hero starring Sam Elliott, Nick Offerman, and Laura Prepon at 7:00 PM.
A list of the films currently announced is attached here and also available at cinetopiafestival.org. More films, events, panels, and guests will be announced in the weeks to come.
Woody Harrelson plays an aging loner curmudgeon in a comedy based on a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes, the creator of 'Ghost World.' There are laughs, but the hipster factor is wearing thin.
The film will have its Midwest Premiere in Ann Arbor as part of an exclusive arrangement with Fox Searchlight
Ann Arbor, Mich – Cinetopia Film Festival is proud to continue the tradition of bringing an exclusive Sundance Film Festival premiere to the Michigan Theater with the Woody Harrelson comedy WILSON on Friday, February 3 at 8:00 PM.
In Wilson, based on the Daniel Clowes’ (Ghost World, Art School Confidential) graphic novel of the same name, Harrelson plays a lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged, misanthropic dog lover who reunites with his estranged wife (Laura Dern) and gets a shot at happiness when he learns he has a teenage daughter he has never met. In his uniquely outrageous and slightly twisted way, Wilson sets out to connect with her in what could be his last chance at having a family. Wilson is directed by Craig Johnson (winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival) and adapted for the screen by Clowes himself.
The Cinetopia programming staff is currently in Park City, Utah at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, screening potential selections for the upcoming 2017 Cinetopia Film Festival. As part of an exclusive arrangement with Fox Searchlight Pictures, they have selected Wilson for this special Midwest Premiere, scheduled before the film’s wide release on March 24.
Cinetopia Film Festival Presents Direct from Sundance is an offshoot of the Sundance Film Festival USA program, which premiered brand-new Sundance films at only nine theaters nationwide. The Michigan Theater remains one of the only theaters in the country to continue this program independently. Previous exclusive engagements have included Infinitely Polar Bear, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, The East, The Lobster, and Cyrus.
To round out the experience, the Michigan Theater will screen Sundance Shorts, a collection of the best shorts from the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, on Sunday, January 29 at 1:30 PM, and Tuesday, January 31 at 7 PM.
Direct from Sundance would not be possible without the support of Prime Research and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Ann Arbor. As an added bonus, one lucky attendee will receive a gift card good for Dinner for Two at Ruth’s Chris!
Reserved seats are now available at michtheater.org/Sundance17, and packages are available for both tickets to the Direct from Sundance selection and one of the screenings of the Sundance Shorts. Prices are as follows: for Wilson, tickets are $16 for non-members and $13 for members; for the Sundance Shorts, regular ticket prices ($10 for adults, $8 for students/seniors/children, and $7.50 for members) apply; for packages, prices are $23 for non-members and $20 for members.
Cinetopia International Film Festival is here again! They have ten days of film screenings, special events, celebrities, filmmakers and film fans experience excellent cinema at venues throughout the Detroit region.
Thanks to the help from their Cinetopia partners at the Arab American National Museum, Cinema Detroit, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, the Henry Ford Giant Screen Experience, the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, the Maple Theater, Redford Theatre, Campus Martius, New Center Park, Ford Resource and Engagement Center, and the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, together with the Michigan Theater and the State Theatre in Ann Arbor, movie lovers now have approximately 120 screenings from which to choose over the festival’s ten days! online excel to pdf converter
Cinetopia Festival, recently named as the best Detroit area film festival, today announced an expanded schedule of films and events taking place June 5-14 in Detroit and Ann Arbor. Spanning ten days this year (up from five days in 2014),
Cinetopia brings more 70 films to the Detroit/Ann Arbor area – representing the best feature-length dramas, comedies, and documentaries from the world’s best festivals, including Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca.
See the attached list of films and visit cinetopiafestival.org for full film descriptions, trailers and dates/times/locations of all screenings and events.
In addition to the impressive array of films, curated specifically for Cinetopia by a dedicated team of programmers led by Michigan Theater CEO and Cinetopia founder Russ Collins and Elliot Wilhelm, Director of the Detroit Film Theatre series at the DIA, a majority of the screenings will include special post-film events, including presentations, discussion panels, and Q&A sessions with directors, writers, and stars of the films being presented.
The festival will feature more than 100 screenings of 72 films, in an expanded array of venues throughout Detroit and Ann Arbor. Besides the Detroit Film Theatre, additional Detroit venues include the Arab American National Museum, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, College for Creative Studies, Cinema Detroit, The Redford Theatre, Senate Theater, and The Maple Theater. In addition to the historic Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor venues include The State Theater and UM Modern Language Building.
Cinetopia will open on Friday, June 5th with a free outdoor screening on the DIA’s North Lawn of the stunning new animated film Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. The event is being presented in partnership with Midtown Detroit, Inc. and the film is being presented at Cinetopia as part of the Arab Film Festival (see below).
The Prophet, by Lebanese author Kahlil Gibran, is among the most popular volumes of poetry ever written, having been published in over 40 languages since its publication in 1923. The book's timeless verses have been given new form in this anthology film, directed by some of the world's foremost animators, among them Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells) and Bill Plympton (Idiots and Angels).
With a score by Gabriel Yared that includes contributions from Glen Hansard, and Yo-Yo Ma, the film is also a musical collaboration, a richly spiritual experience worthy of Gibran's lyrical book. This festive kickoff evening will begin at dusk (7pm) on the DIA North Lawn with a live jazz interpretation of Holst’s The Planets by the Mike Jellick Ensemble, followed by the screening at sundown (9:30pm).
More special highlights of the 2015 Cinetopia include:
The Arab American National Museum’s Arab Film Festival, offering eight fascinating new titles from one of the most currently prolific and creative group of filmmakers on the planet, including the opening night film Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.
All acclaimed on the international festival circuit, these films by both Arab World and Arab American artists are, with few exceptions, unlikely to reach American commercial theaters. Genres include drama, comedy and documentary, in both short-form and feature lengths. Each of these films is subtitled in English, making them accessible to all.
The University of Michigan’s Orson Welles Centennial Symposium, presented by the University’s Department of Screen Arts & Culture and the UM Libraries, celebrates the richness of the libraries’ Welles archival holdings and brings together donors, scholars, students and media makers who have used the archives to give us a better understanding of the man and the artist. In honor of his 100th birthday, Cinetopia will screen several Welles films, some are rarely seen, and host post-film discussions in conjunction with the symposium.
Detroit Voices, a short film competition which invites Michigan filmmakers to share their community’s point of view via film. The winners of the competition will be announced during Cinetopia and their films will be screened as part of the festival. The brainchild of local filmmaker Sultan Sharrief and launched in 2014, Detroit Voices has helped to recognize several talented artists with both screen time and cash awards. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS MAY 4!
In addition to the film screenings and discussions, the festival includes several free outdoor film screenings in addition to the opening night festivities at the DIA. On June 11, Ann Arbor will host an outdoor screening of the summer film classic Jaws on Maynard at Liberty Street, free and open to the public.
The Cinema Circus series of free outdoor screenings continues this year with eight events taking place from May 30 to August 22, bringing films to communities across Detroit and extending the Cinetopia experience.
Cinetopia passes are on sale now at cinetopiafestival.org and include Festival Passes (offering unlimited film screenings, priority admission, opening night parties and other hospitality events), Movie Passes (unlimited film screenings and priority admission) and, for the first time, Student Passes for those with valid student identification (unlimited film screenings).
A Personal Sponsorship Pass is also available for individuals interested in supporting special features like guest filmmaker appearances and post-screening panel discussions.
Tickets to individual films are $12 for the general public and $9 for DIA, DFT, Wright Museum, Arab American Museum, and Michigan Theater members and go on sale for the general public on May 22 at cinetopiafestival.org.
The Cinetopia International Film Festival would not be possible without the generous support of our title sponsor University of Michigan Health System and our presenting sponsors Knight Foundation, MGM Grand Detroit, Opportunity Detroit and Masco Foundation.
Ann Arbor, Mich. - The Cinetopia International Film Festival is honored to welcome groundbreaking auteur Spike Lee for a special 25th anniversary screening of his film Do the Right Thing at the Michigan Theater on Friday, June 6. This invite-only event is made possible by a generous Michigan Theater donor.
Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. In 1989, with Do the Right Thing, he became the first African American to move decisively into the front rank of the film industry, while breaking new ground in his portrayal of the black community and creating a work that has since become a lasting testament to its time and place. Over a career that now spans three decades, he has gone on to make more than thirty films in every genre, including intimate family dramas, crime thrillers, historical epics, satires, musicals, and documentaries.
His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 45 films since 1983. Lee's work has been formally recognized by his peers throughout his career, earning him an Emmy Award, two Academy Award nominations, and the 2013 Gish Prize "for his brilliance and unwavering courage in using film to challenge conventional thinking."
1. Status. Nothing says “I’m somebody” at a festival like a personalized, official pass.
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