L.A. Film Festival 2012 Full Lineup Includes 'Magic Mike' and 'People Like Us'

May 02, 2012 03:15:36 GMT

While the Steven Soderbergh-directed male stripper film is set to close the annual event, the Chris Pine-starring family drama is included in the Summer Showcase lineup.

Full lineup for the 18th Annual Los Angeles Film Festival has been unveiled on Monday, May 1. While it has previously been announced that Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love" is set to be the opener for the event, it is now revealed that Channing Tatum-starring male stripper drama "Magic Mike" is chosen to close the annual festival.

Meanwhile, Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks's drama "People Like Us" is set to have its world premiere at the event by joining the Summer Showcase lineup. Also included in the category are some Sundance holdovers such as "Celeste and Jesse Forever", "The Queen of Versailles" and "Robot and Frank".

The festival will also screen a number of acclaimed classic movies in the Community Screenings lineup. The category includes such old films as Steven Spielberg's "E.T.", Emile Ardolino's "Dirty Dancing Dance-A-Long" as well as Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

Of this year's lineup, Festival Director Stephanie Allain said, "There is nothing more satisfying than shining a spotlight on so many unique films from both seasoned and emerging filmmakers. Come experience the wonder of 'Beasts of the Southern Wild', let 'Call Me Kuchu' break your heart and call you to action, or simply be entertained by Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey in 'Magic Mike'."

The 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival will run from June 14 to 24. More than 200 feature films, shorts and music videos from over 30 countries are scheduled to be screened throughout the annual event. The festival is produced by Film Independent, the same company which also organized the Spirit Awards.

Opening Night:

"To Rome with Love", directed and written by Woody Allen

Closing Night:

"Magic Mike", directed by Steven Soderbergh

Gala Screenings:

"Beasts of the Southern Wild", directed by Benh Zeitlin
"Middle of Nowhere", directed by Ava DuVernay
"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World", directed and written by Lorene Scafaria

Narrative Competition:

"All Is Well" (Portugal), directed by Pocas Pascoal
"Breakfast with Curtis", directed and writen by Laura Colella
"The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man" (Mexico), directed and writen by Arturo Pons
"Crazy and Thief", directed and written by Cory McAbee
"Dead Man's Burden", directed and written by Jared Moshe
"Four", directed and written by Joshua Sanchez
"A Night Too Young" (Czech Republic), directed by Olmo Omerzu
"Pincus", directed and written by David Fenster
"Red Flag", directed and written by Alex Karpovsky
"Thursday till Sunday" (Chile), directed and written by Dominga Sotomayor

Documentary Competition:

"25 to Life", directed by Mike Brown
"A Band Called Death", directed by Jeff Howlett
"Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives", directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore
"Call Me Kuchu", directed by Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall
"Drought" (Mexico), directed by Everado Gonzalez
"The Iran Job" (U.S./Germany/Iran), directed by Till Schauder
"Sun Kissed", directed by Maya Stark
"Vampira and Me", directed by R. H. Greene
"Words of Witness" (Egypt/U.S.), directed by Mai Iskander

International Showcase:

"Bestiaire" (Canada), directed by Denis Cote
"Bunohan: Return to Murder" (Malaysia), directed and written by Dain Said
"Canicula" (Mexico), directed by Jose Alvarez
"The First Man" (France), directed and written by Gianni Amelio
"The Last Elvis" (Argentina), directed by Armando Bo
"Neighboring Sounds" (Brazil), directed and written by Kleber Mendonca Filho
"On The Edge" (France/Morocco/Germany), directed and written by Leila Kilani
"P-047" (Thailand), directed and written by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee
"Return to Burma" (Taiwan/Myanmar), directed and written by Midi Z
"Sister" (Switzerland), directed by Ursula Meier
"The Strawberry Tree" (Canada/Cuba/Italy), directed by Simone Rapisarda Casanova
"Summer Games" (Switzerland), directed by Rolando Colla
"Teddy Bear" (Denmark), directed by Mads Matthiesen
"Unforgivable" (France), directed by Andre Techine
"Without Gorky" (U.K.), directed by Cosima Spender

Summer Showcase:

"About Face", directed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
"Beauty Is Embarrassing", directed by Neil Berkeley
"Big Easy Express", directed by Emmett Malloy
"Celeste and Jesse Forever", directed by Lee Toland Krieger
"Gayby", directed and written by Jonathan Lisecki
"Gimme the Loot", directed by Adam Leon
"The House I Live In", directed and written by Eugene Jarecki
"It's a Disaster", directed and written by Todd Berger
"La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus" (U.S./Guatemala), directed by Mark Kendall
"Neil Young Journeys", directed by Jonathan Demme
"An Oversimplification of her Beauty" (U.S./France), directed and written by Terence Nance
"People Like Us", directed by Alex Kurtzman
"The Queen of Versailles", directed by Lauren Greenfield
"Reportero", directed by Bernardo Ruiz
"Robot and Frank", directed by Jake Schreier
"Searching for Sugar Man", directed and written by Malik Bendjelloul

Community Screenings:

directed by Steven Spielberg
"Dirty Dancing Dance-A-Long", directed by Emile Ardolino
"G-Dog", directed by Freida Mock
"The Invisible War", directed and written by Kirby Dick
"LUV", directed and written by Sheldon Candis
"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", directed by Nicholas Meyer

The Beyond:

"The History of Future Folk", directed by J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker
"Juan of the Dead" (Cuba), directed and written by Alejandro Brugues
"Saturday Morning Massacre", directed by Spencer Parsons

Retro: