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Philly mobster movie ‘The Irishman,’ Eagles Super Bowl documentary lead 2019 Philadelphia Film Festival

What you'll be seeing at this year's Philadelphia Film Fest.

Eagles fans in South Phila celebrate after Eagles win the Super Bowl LII between the Eagles vs Patriots on February 4, 2018.
Eagles fans in South Phila celebrate after Eagles win the Super Bowl LII between the Eagles vs Patriots on February 4, 2018.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

The 2019 Philadelphia Film Festival, which will run Oct. 17-27, announced a lineup Friday that includes major Oscar contenders and some of the most talked-about titles on the fall schedule.

Festivalgoers will be the first to see Martin Scorsese’s new mob epic The Irishman, starring Robert DeNiro as Philadelphia mobster Frank Sheeran and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa; Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, starring Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a couple whose relationship is dissolving; and Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet Tubman biopic Harriet, which has caused controversy for casting a British-Nigerian woman, the fantastic Cynthia Erivo, as the American hero.

There are two opening night movies: Bong Joon-ho’s thriller Parasite, about the problematic blending of rich and poor Korean families, which won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and Just Mercy, starring Michael B. Jordan in the true story of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, an Eastern University graduate who fought to free a man (Jamie Foxx) from death row. Stevenson will attend the festival along with Lemmons and other luminaries. The closing night film is thriller Knives Out, an Agatha Christie tribute starring Daniel Craig as a man investigating a murder at a British estate, courtesy of director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi).

Other highlights include Clemency, starring Alfre Woodard as a death row prison warden, which made writer/director and Temple alum Chinonye Chukwu the first black woman to win the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

There is a robust documentary section, including the locally made Maybe Next Year, which started as a documentary about long-suffering Eagles fans but became something special when the Eagles won the Super Bowl and the fan chronicle built to a conclusion no one expected, except maybe Nick Foles.

There is also a documentary executive produced by Sixer Ben Simmons, called The Australian Dream, about Australian rules football star Adam Goodes, whose anti-racism advocacy made him a target of derisive fans.

Other titles include Jojo Rabbit, from New Zealand director Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Thor: Ragnarok), that’s described as an anti-hate movie about a boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler.

The lineup also includes Motherless Brooklyn, directed by Edward Norton, who also stars as a detective solving the murder of his mentor, and costarring Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin and Willem Dafoe.

Tickets for the festival are on sale now for members of the Philadelphia Film Society, and will be available to the general public beginning Monday, Oct. 7. For tickets and information, go to www.filmadelphia.org/festival, or visit the box office at the Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut St.

The Film Center will be one of the principle venues for the festival, which will also screen titles at the Ritz East and Ritz Five.

28th Philadelphia Film Festival lineup

Galas

  1. Harriet, Director Kasi Lemmons. 2019, U.S.A.

  2. The Irishman, Director Martin Scorsese. 2019, U.S.A.

  3. Jojo Rabbit, Director Taika Waititi. 2019, U.S.A.

  4. Just Mercy, Director Destin Daniel Cretton. 2019, U.S.A. Opening Night Gala

  5. Knives Out, Director Rian Johnson. 2019, U.S.A. Closing Night Gala

  6. Marriage Story, Director Noah Baumbach. 2019, U.S.A.

  7. Motherless Brooklyn, Director Edward Norton. 2019, U.S.A.

  8. The Two Popes, Director Fernando Meirelles. 2019, U.S.A, U.K., Italy, Argentina.

  9. Waves, Director Trey Edward Shults. 2019, U.S.A.

Masters of Cinema

  1. By the Grace of God, Director Franҫois Ozon. 2019, France.

  2. A Hidden Life, Director Terrence Malick. 2019, Germany, U.S.A.

  3. It Must Be Heaven, Director Elia Suleiman. 2019, France, Qatar, Germany, Canada, Palestine, Turkey.

  4. Oh Mercy!, Director Arnaud Desplechin. 2019, France.

  5. Parasite, Director Bong Joon-Ho. 2019, South Korea. Opening Night Masters of Cinema

  6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Director Céline Sciamma. 2019, France.

  7. Sorry We Missed You, Director Ken Loach. 2019, U.K.

  8. The Truth, Director Hirokazu Kore-Eda. 2019, France, Japan.

  9. Varda by Agnès, Director Agnès Varda. 2019, France.

  10. The Whistlers, Director Corneliu Porumboiu. 2019, Romania, France, Germany.

  11. Young Ahmed, Director Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne. 2019, Belgium, France.

Spotlights

  1. The Aeronauts, Director Tom Harper. 2019, U.K.

  2. Cunningham, Director Alla Kovgan. 2019, Germany, France, U.S.A.

  3. Extra Ordinary, Director Mike Ahern, Enda Loughman. 2019, Ireland, Belgium.

  4. Honey Boy, Director Alma Har’el. 2019, U.S.A.

  5. Paradise Hills, Director Alice Waddington. 2019, U.S.A.

  6. Seberg, Director Benedict Andrews. 2019, U.S.A., U.K.

  7. Swallow, Director Carlo Mirabella-Davis. 2019, U.S.A.

World View

  1. Adam (Morocco), Maryam Touzani. 2019. Morocco, France.

  2. And Then We Danced, Director Levan Akin. 2019, Sweden, Georgia, France.

  3. Beanpole, Director Kantemir Balagov. 2019, Russia.

  4. Divine Love, Director Gabriel Mascaro. 2018, Brazil, Uruguay, Denmark, Norway.

  5. Flatland, Director Jenna Bass. 2019, South Africa.

  6. Hearts and Bones, Director Ben Lawrence. 2019, Australia.­

  7. Idol, Director Lee Su-Jin. 2019, South Korea.

  8. Invisible Life, Director Karim Aïnouz. 2019, Brazil, Germany.

  9. Jallikattu, Director Lijo Jose Pellissery. 2019, India.

  10. Litigante, Director Franco Lolli. 2019, Colombia, France.

  11. Nina Wu, Director Midi Z. 2019, Taiwan, Malaysia, Myanmar.

  12. Papicha, Director Mounia Meddour. 2019, Algeria, France, Belgium, Qatar.

  13. Queen of Hearts, Director May El-Toukhy. 2019, Denmark.

  14. Synonyms, Director Nadav Lapid. 2019, France, Israel, Germany.

  15. System Crasher, Director Nora Fingscheidt. 2019, Germany.

  16. Temblores, Director Jayro Bustamante. 2019, Guatemala, France.

  17. The Unknown Saint, Director Alaa Eddine Aljem. 2019, Morocco, France, Qatar.

  18. We Are Little Zombies, Director Makoto Nagahisa. 2019, Japan.

  19. A White, White Day, Director Hlynur Pálmason. 2019, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden.

Cinema de France

  1. Atlantics, Director Mati Diop. 2019, France, Senegal, Belgium.

  2. I Lost My Body, Director Jérémy Clapin. 2019, France.

  3. Les Misérables, Director Ladj Ly. 2019, France.

  4. Sibyl, Director Justine Triet. 2019, France, Belgium.

  5. You Deserve a Lover, Director Hafsia Herzi. 2019, France.

Visions of China

  1. Leftover Women, Director Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam. 2019, Israel.

  2. So Long, My Son, Director Wang Xiaoshuai. 2019, China.

  3. The Wild Goose Lake, Director Diao Yinan. 2019, China, France.

Made in U.S.A.

  1. Adam, Director Rhys Ernst. 2018, U.S.A.

  2. Blow the Man Down, Director Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy. 2019, U.S.A.

  3. Come As You Are, Director Richard Wong. 2019, U.S.A. Opening Night Made in U.S.A.

  4. Fourteen, Director Dan Sallitt. 2019, U.S.A.

  5. Lucky Grandma, Director Sasie Sealy. 2019, U.S.A.

  6. The Vast of Night, Director Andrew Patterson. 2019, U.S.A.

Non/Fiction

  1. Advocate, Director Philippe Bellaïche, Rachel Leah Jones. 2019, Israel, Canada, Switzerland.

  2. Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, Director Eva Orner. 2019, U.S.A. Opening Night Non/Fiction

  3. Citizen K, Director Alex Gibney. 2019, U.S.A., U.K.

  4. Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy, Director Elizabeth Carroll. 2019, Mexico, U.S.A.

  5. Plucked, Director Joel Van Haren. 2019, U.S.A.

  6. Red Penguins, Director Gabe Polsky. 2019, U.S.A.

  7. Sunset Over Mulholland Drive, Director Uli Gaulke. 2018, Germany.

Filmadelphia

  1. Clemency, Director Chinonye Chukwu. 2019, U.S.A.

  2. Colewell, Director Tom Quinn. 2019, U.S.A.

  3. Maybe Next Year, Director Kyle Thrash. 2019, U.S.A.

  4. The Nomads, Director Brandon Eric Kamin. 2019, U.S.A.

  5. The Place of No Words, Director Mark Webber. 2019, U.K., U.S.A.

  6. Waldo on Weed, Director Tommy Avallone. 2019, U.S.A.

State of the Union

  1. The Human Factor, Director Dror Moreh. 2019, U.K., Israel.

  2. The Report, Director Scott Z. Burns. 2019, U.S.A.

  3. Slay the Dragon, Director Chris Durrance, Barak Goodman. 2019, U.S.A.

  4. The War Room, Director Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker. 1993, U.S.A.

After Hours

  1. Bacurau, Director Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonҫa Filho. 2019, Brazil, France.

  2. Deerskin, Director Quentin Dupieux. 2019, France.

  3. Dogs Don’t Wear Pants, Director Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää. 2019, Finland, Latvia.

  4. The Lodge, Director Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz. 2018, U.S.A., U.K. Opening Night After Hours

  5. Porno, Director Keola Racela. 2019, U.S.A.

  6. The Twentieth Century, Director Matthew Rankin. 2019, Canada.

  7. Wounds, Director Babak Anvari. 2019, U.S.A., U.K.

From the Vaults

  1. Audition, Director Takashi Miike. 1999, Japan.

  2. Blue Velvet, Director David Lynch. 1986, U.S.A.

  3. Defending Your Life, Director Albert Brooks. 1991, U.S.A.

  4. Magnolia, Director Paul Thomas Anderson. 1999, U.S.A.

  5. Romeo and Juliet, Director Franco Zeffirelli. 1968, U.K., Italy.

Special Event

  1. The Australian Dream, Director Daniel Gordon. 2019, Australia, U.K.

  2. Stallone: Frank, That Is, Director Derek Wayne Johnson. 2020, U.S.A.

  3. Shorts: This year’s most enjoyable, surprising, and memorable short films from around the world.

  4. Abortion Helpline: This is Lisa, Director Barbara Attie, Mike Attie, Janet Goldwater.

  5. All Cats Are Grey in the Dark, Director Lasse Linder.

  6. And Then the Bear, Director Agnès Patron.

  7. Aziza, Director Soudade Kaadan.

  8. Betty Feeds the Animals, Director James P. Gannon.

  9. Broken Orchestra, Director Charlie Tyrell.

  10. Ceremony Night, Director Behnam Abedi.

  11. The Coin, Director Siqi Song.

  12. Count Your Curses, Director Lorène Yavo.

  13. Daughter, Director Daria Kashcheeva.

  14. The Distance Between Us and the Sky, Director Vasilis Kekatos.

  15. Docking, Director Trevor Anderson.

  16. Don’t You Forget About Me, Director Lydia Ricci.

  17. Entropia, Director Keir Politz.

  18. Everything You Wanted to Know About Sudden Birth* (*but were afraid to ask), Director Scott Calonico.

  19. Flesh, Director Camila Kater.

  20. Human Nature, Director Sverre Fredriksen.

  21. Knockstrike, Director Pau Anglada, Genis Rigol, Marc Torices.

  22. Little Miss Sumo, Director Matt Kay.

  23. Lockdown, Director Logan George, Celine Held.

  24. The Manila Lover, Director Johanna Pyykkö.

  25. Milton, Director Tim Wilkime.

  26. Miss Barton’s Famous Cakes, Director Jared Hirschdirector, Nelson Vicens.

  27. The Physics of Sorrow, Director Theodore Ushev.

  28. She Runs, Director Qiu Yang.

  29. Stay Close, Director Luther Clement, Shuhan Fan.

  30. Throat Singing in Kangirsuk, Director Manon Chamberland, Eva Kaukai.

  31. To Be Queen, Director Jeff Reichert, Farihah Zaman.

  32. The Water Song, Director Dave Jannetta.