Palm Springs Film Fest Opens with Golden Globe-Nominated 'Selma'

– By Beau Behan, Film Critic & Entertainment Reporter

The 26th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival opens on Friday, Jan. 2 with Ava DuVernay’s Golden Globe nominated Selma, the civil rights drama recounting the turbulent three-month period in 1965 when Dr. King led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The film stars David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tim Roth and Tom Wilkinson.

The festival will close on Jan. 11 with the U.S. premiere of François Girard’s Boychoir, an uplifting drama about a troubled 12-year-old from a disadvantaged background who gets accepted at an elite music school, The National Boychoir Academy. He engages in a battle of wills with a tough taskmaster, the school’s Choirmaster, Carvelle. The film stars Dusting Hoffman, Garrett Wareing, Kathy Bates, Eddie Izzard, Kevin McHale, Josh Lucas and Debra Winger.

“We are thrilled to launch this year’s festival with Selma, Ava DuVernay’s deeply moving civil rights drama, featuring an Oscar-worthy performance by David Oyelowo in the role of Dr. Martin Luther King” said Helen du Toit, artistic director for the festival.

“The opportunity to close this year’s Festival with a rapturous new work by acclaimed master of music on film François Girard provides the perfect capper to a 10-day symphony of superb cinematic treats,” said Darryl Macdonald, Festival director. “Bookending this year’s exceptionally diverse lineup with these two remarkable American films makes for strong and quintessentially satisfying viewing from start to finish.”

The festival will also screen eight of the nine films selected to compete for the next round of voting in the 87th Academy Awards®, Foreign Language Film category. Among them are Argentina’s Wild Tales, Estonia’s Tangerines, Georgia’s Corn Island, Mauritania’s Timbuktu, Netherland’s Accused, Poland’s Ida, Russia’s Leviathan, and Sweden’s Force Majeure.

One of the most highly anticipated events is the festival’s Awards Gala which will be held on Saturday, Jan. 3. Previously announced honorees include Julianne Moore, Richard Linklater, Eddie Redmayne, Rosamund Pike, Reese Witherspoon, J.K. Simmons, David Oyelowo and the cast of The Imitation Game.

The Palm Springs International Film Festival runs Jan. 2-12. For more information, go to: http://www.psfilmfest.org/

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Photo: Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Ava DuVernay

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures