Philadelphia Film Festival '09 announces opening and closing night films

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Philadelphia Film Festival '09 announces opening and closing night films

POSTED: Monday, September 21, 2009, 4:01 PM

Filed Under: Movies | Film Fest trailer!

The Philadelphia Film Festival announced it will open with the locally-shot and set Law Abiding Citizen and close with Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, by West Philly's Lee Daniels. This year marks the fest's 18 1/2 birthday ' wait, what? And a half? Usually the Film Fest takes place in the spring but when the Philadelphia Film Society split last year, TLA/Cinema Alliance's Ray Murray kept the season and renamed his venture CineFest, while the Film Society moved to October and retained the name. The fest takes place Thu., Oct. 15-Mon., Oct. 19 and features 28 films from 14 different countries. More after the jump' Law Abiding Citizen, from director F. Gary Gray, stars Gerard Butler as a man whose fam is brutally murdered. He's further outraged when D.A. Jamie Foxx lets the perpetrators off with a slap on the wrist. So what's a pissed off man to do? Obviously, plan a series of high-profile murders from the comfort of his own jail cell that derails the city itself. Check out the trailer below:

Loyal CP.net readers know that I'm super jazzed about Daniels' Precious, which recently took home the people's choice award for Best Picture at the Toronto International Film Festival (this is nothing to sneeze at, as the LA Times' the Envelope notes. Many people's choice award winners go on to Oscar gold). The story focuses on Precious, an obese teen living in '80s Harlem. She's pregnant for the second time by her father, and her mother is no better (Mo'nique already garnered Oscar buzz for her role). Precious cleaned up at this year's Sundance and our very own A.D. Amorosi talked to Daniel's about his film. The trailer looks amazing:

While the rest of the films haven't been announced yet, here's a preview of what's already on the docket from the press release:

Good Hair The highly anticipated film by Comedian Chris Rock explores the wonders of African-American hairstyles; in particular, the obsession African American women have with straightening their hair. The film includes commentary from such actresses as Nia Long, Raven Symone, Lauren London, and Meagan Goode.
Red Riding The film is described as a series of three fictionalized accounts of the investigation into the Yorkshire Ripper, a brutal serial killer that stalked the Yorkshire area of England in the 1970s and 1980s.
Shadow Billionaire After Larry Hillblom, founder of DHL, disappeared following a 1995 plane crash off his Micronesian island home, dozens of would be heirs came out of the woodwork to lay claim to his mega fortune. We Live in Public On the 40th anniversary of the Internet, We Live in Public tells the story of the effect the web is having on our society as seen through the eyes of "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of", visionary Josh Harris. Read Gary Kramer's review from Silverdocs.

Keep checking back here for more updates from the fest as we get them.

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