Forty on the Boulevard, AFI Fest Opens With Laika’s Wildwood
The 40th edition takes over the TCL Chinese Theatre October 21 to 25 with 157 films from 50 countries.
AFI Fest turns 40 on Hollywood Boulevard. The festival, presented by Canva, runs October 21 to 25 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, and it opens with Wildwood, Travis Knight’s stop-motion feature for Laika.
Wildwood is adapted from the book by Colin Meloy, illustrated by Carson Ellis, and its voice cast includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Angela Bassett, Awkwafina, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Jacob Tremblay, Tom Waits and Richard E. Grant. Fathom Entertainment releases it in theaters on October 23.
The other red carpet nights belong to Peter Berg’s The Mosquito Bowl, Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky and Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn, and Siân Heder’s Being Heumann closes the festival.
In all, the lineup holds 157 films from 50 countries, including 10 official submissions for Best International Feature at the 99th Academy Awards, and women directed 45 percent of the program. Phil Lord and Chris Miller are guest artistic directors, and their picks include Kubrick’s 2001, Harold and Maude, The Muppet Movie and Rififi.
“Our 40th edition of AFI FEST celebrates the cinematic artistry of bold, inspiring filmmakers from around the world,” said Todd Hitchcock, the festival director.
