With its fourth edition just days away, Film Fest 919 recently shared what audiences can expect to catch on the big screen this month.

The Chapel Hill-based film festival is set to run from Monday, October 18 through Sunday, October 24 and will screen 23 films at two different locations: Silverspot Cinema in University Place and The Drive-In at Carraway Village.

According to a release from festival organizers, this year’s Film Fest 919 will begin with its Spotlight Award presentation, as award-winning songwriter Diane Warren is honored for her discography and work in film. Among plans for the opening event are a conversation with Warren, who has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards through her career, and a “laser show presentation of her hit tunes” at the Drive-In at Carraway Village.

Film Fest 919 was the opening event for The Drive-In at Carraway Village theater in 2020. For the 2021 festival, films will be screened either at the drive-in or at Silverspot Cinema at University Place.

The first film to be screened at 2021 festival will be “King Richard” on Tuesday, October 19. The film, produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, stars Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena Williams on the family’s journey to the pinnacle of tennis. “King Richard” is set to release widely in theaters November 19, as well as on the streaming service HBO Max.

Other highlights of the schedule include a screening of A24’s indie film “C’Mon C’Mon,” starring recent Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix, on Thursday, October 21. Deemed “the Centerpiece film” of the festival, its story follows a radio journalist and his young nephew as they bond over a cross-country trip.

The following evening, Film Fest 919 will present this year’s Distinguished Screenwriter Award to screenwriters Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch whose most recent collaboration, “Red Rocket,” will be screened before the ceremony. The drama and comedy film, which follows an out-of-work adult film actor returning to his hometown in Texas, was screened at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or competition in May.

Film Fest 919 founders Randi Emerman and Carol Marshall said they have a special connection with the screenwriters in a release.

“We are beyond excited about honoring Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch,” Emerman and Marshall wrote. “Film Fest 919 first began with a special showing of The Florida Project which Chris attended and he has attended each year and has been dubbed our official mascot ever since. And now we can finally share that adulation with Sean Baker.”

To close out its slate of films, the festival will screen the upcoming Pablo Larraín drama “Spencer,” which stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. The film is a dramatic depiction of a handful of days at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in 1991 that led to Diana choosing to end her marriage with Prince Charles. “Spencer,” which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September, is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 5.

 

During the 2020 Film Fest 919 and initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic, all films were screened outdoors. With indoor screenings returning in 2021, organizers are requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all in-person events and masks will be required for all attendees.

A limited number of passes for the festival are still available here, according to organizers. Passholders will have the opportunity to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the public on Monday, October 11.

For the full lineup of films at the 2021 edition of Film Fest 919, visit the festival’s website.

 

Editor’s Note: 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com are media sponsors for Film Fest 919. This is article was not paid for by the festival.


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