Life came calling earlier this week, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to as many AFI Fest screenings and events as I had hoped. I did catch Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” however (a bizarre, confusing misstep with a wonderful performance from Heath Ledger) and “Everybody’s Fine” (D.O.A.).
I also caught the tribute to Christopher Plummer, who makes it known that he doesn’t want to discuss “The Sound of Music” in interviews, but given the tribute setting, poor Scott Foundas had to bring it up, right? After some mumbling, Plummer finally shouted, with an uncomfortable smile, “Why did you ask me that?!” I thought said tribute could have run a little longer than 20 minutes, but it was a modest event plugged in just before the festival screening of “The Last Station.”
Anyway, the festival has announced this year’s New Lights Competition award winners, a designation that “was created to acknowledge and honor vital, groundbreaking films by first and second time feature filmmakers from around the world,” according to AFI. Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank” and Javier Rebello’s “Woman Without Piano” shared the honor.