The Los Angeles Film Festival has tapped Nat Faxon and Jim Rash’s “The Way, Way Back” as the closing night film on June 23.
The coming-of-age story stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Annasophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph and Liam James. Fox Searchlight, which acquired the comedy at Sundance, is releasing “The Way, Way Back” on July 5.
The festival, now in its 19th year, also announced Wednesday gala screenings for Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” from the Weinstein Co. and the North American premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives” from Radius-TWC. James Ponsoldt‘s “The Spectacular Now,” David Lowery’s “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, ” Ava DuVernay‘s “Venus Vs.” and Lake Bell‘s “In a World …” will also screen as part of the summer showcase series.
The festival had previously announced that Pedro Almodovar’s “I’m So Excited!” will be its opening-night selection on June 13.
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The festival, which moved to downtown Los Angeles in 2010, also announced free community screenings including a 20th anniversary showing of “Dazed and Confused” from director Richard Linklater and a dance-along screening of John Waters’ “Hairspray” in honor of its 25th anniversary.
Fest organizer Film Independent has based fest events mostly based around the L.A. Live complex and its Regal cinemas, with a Festival Village set up atop the parking structure.
The festival received 5,428 submissions from filmmakers, compared to 5,283 last year. The final selections represent 35 world, North American and U.S. premieres.
A dozen titles were selected for the narrative competition: “All Together Now,” Alexander Mirecki; “Forev,” Molly Green, James Leffler; “Forty Years From Yesterday,” Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck; “Four Dogs,” Joe Burke; “Goodbye World,” Denis Henry Hennelly; “The House That Jack Built,” Henry Barrial; “I.D.,” Kamal K. M.; “Mother, I Love You,” Janis Nords; “My Sister’s Quinceanera,” Aaron Douglas Johnston; “Pollywogs,” Karl Jacob; “Winter in the Blood,” Andrew Smith, Alex Smith; and “Workers,” Jose Luis Valle.
Documentary competition includes “All of Me,” Alexandra Lescaze; “American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs,” Grace Lee; “Code Black,” Ryan McGarry; “The Island of Saint Matthews,” Kevin Jerome Everson; “Llyn Foulkes: One Man Band,” Christopher Quilty, Tamar Halpern; “My Stolen Revolution,” Nahid Persson Sarvestani; “The New Black,” Yoruba Richen; “Rain,” Olivia Rochette, Gerard-Jan Claes; “Tapia,” Eddie Alcazar; and “Purgatorio,” Rodrigo Reyes.
International Showcase titles include “The Act of Killing,” Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn; “Black Out,” Eva Weber; “Boxing Day,” Bernard Rose; “Dormant Beauty,” Marco Bellocchio; “Drug War,” Johnnie To; “Ernest & Celestine,” Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner; “The Expedition to the End of the World,” Daniel Dancik; “The Fifth Season,” Peter Brosens, Jessica Woodworth; “House With a Turret,” Eva Neymann; “The Moo Man,” Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier; “Nobody’s Daughter Haewon,” Hong Sang-soo; “The Patience Stone,” Atiq Rahimi; “Wadjda,” Haifaa Al-Mansour; “When I Saw You,” Annemarie Jacir; “The Women and the Passenger,” Valentina Mac-Pherson, Patricia Correa.
Other summer showcase titles include “Brothers Hypnotic,” Reuben Atlas; “Casting By,” Tom Donahue; “Concussion,” Stacie Passon; “The Crash Reel,” Lucy Walker; “Crystal Fairy,” Sebastian Silva; “Europa Report,” Sebastian Cordero; “First Cousin Once Removed,” Alan Berliner; “Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction,” Sophie Huber; “Our Nixon,” Penny Lane; “Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton,” Jeff Broadway; and “Short Term 12,” Destin Daniel Cretton.