The USA Film Festival Announces Schedule of Events for 49th Program

The USA Film Festival announces the schedule of events for the 49th Annual USA Film Festival, April 24 - 28, 2019. Celebrating Dallas Arts Month, all programs will be held at the Angelika Film Center, 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, Texas. Advance tickets are available exclusively through Ticketmaster beginning April 10, 2019.The exciting full schedule of programs, guests and events may be viewed at the USA Film Festival's website www.usafilmfestival.comThanks to support from The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs and the Festival's Sponsors, the Festival is pleased to present over 50% of all presentations as Free Admission for the community.

This year's program highlights and guests include:

- Salute to actress Constance Towers in conjunction with a special 55th Anniversary screening of The Naked Kiss (1964) and on-stage conversation.

- Salute to actor Ed Asner in conjunction with a screening of Ed Asner: On Stage and Off and conversation with Asner and the film's writer/director Kurt Jacobsen.

- Salute to actor Udo Kier in conjunction with a screening of Last Moment of Clarity and on-stage conversation. The film's co-writer/directors, Colin Krisel and James Krisel, and lead actor Zach Avery will also be in attendance.

- Salute to actor/director Timothy Busfield in conjunction with a screening of Guest Artist (starring Jeff Daniels) and on-stage conversation. Actress Melissa Gilbert (producer of the film) will also be in attendance.

- Special guest director/producer Edward Zwick will attend the Festival to present Trial by Fire, which is based on the true, tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham (who was convicted and executed for an arson-related triple homicide that occurred in Corsicana, Texas in 1991). An on-stage conversation with Mr. Zwick will follow the screening.

- Stephen Tobolowsky Hosts the "Showcase Shorts" program featuring a fun/dark line-up of new short films with filmmaker guests in attendance including: writer/director Chris Roe and actress Traci Lords will present Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters (featuring Lords); actress Denise Crosby will be in attendance for Paul Sanchez's At the Fence; writer/director Eli Powers will present Holy Moses starring Thomas Sadoski and Amanda Seyfried; director Foster Wilson and actor Josh Zuckerman will present Made Public (featuring Zuckerman); and writer/director Lisa McFadden will present her directorial debut The Ill-Timed Enlightenment of Jason Voorhees. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky will host the on-stage Q&A with all guests following the screenings.

- Writer/director Frédéric Tcheng returns to the Festival to present the documentary Halston, which details the fascinating life and career of an American fashion legend -- Roy Halston Frowick. Halston's niece, Lesley Frowick, will also be in attendance. Ticket holders for Opening Night films are invited to join the Festival for a reception featuring models sporting Halston Heritage fashions with our visiting filmmakers (sponsored by Tootsies).

- Writer/director Laura Steinel will present her endearing comedy, Family, starring Bryn Vale (also in attendance), Taylor Schilling, Kate McKinnon, Brian Tyree Henry, Jessie Ennis, Blair Beeken, Matt Walsh, Allison Tolman, Eric Edelstein, and Fabrizio Guido.

- Producer Jon Cornick will present Bolden, a film that imagines the powerful yet tragic journey of Buddy Bolden, the unsung inventor of jazz about whom little is known. This free-admission program will be presented in partnership with D'JAM (Dallas Jazz Appreciation Month) and the Sammons Center for the Arts.

- Director Cheryl Allison will present her feature debut Shatter the Silence, which explores the #MeToo movement in terms of its effects here in North Texas. Also in attendance will be women's rights activist and former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, Texas State Representative Victoria Neave (both interviewed in the film) and producer Natalie Murray.

- Writer/director Olive Talley will present her documentary All Rise for the Good of the Children, a film that provides a rare and inspiring look inside the courtroom of a family court judge in Tyler, Texas who has pioneered an innovative and unconventional approach to healing and reuniting families struggling in the child welfare system. Film subjects Judge Carole Clark and some of the Texas families profiled in the film will also be in attendance.

- Writer/director Olicer Muñoz, actor Jacob Lince, and actress (and former Dallasite) Madison Ford will present the coming-of-age drama/fantasy Nathan's Kingdom. We are pleased to welcome our friends in the Autism community to this special free screening. (April is Autism Awareness Month.)

- Writer/director Mark Bochsler and professional female MMA Fighter, Bokator expert, and actress Tharoth Sam Oum will present the inspiring documentary Surviving Bokator, a film that details the story of a survivor of Pol Pot's reign of terror in Cambodia during the 1970s and his quest to resurrect his nation's nearly lost martial art form, Bokator.

- Writer/director/editor Roger Nygard returns to the Festival to present his insightful and amusing documentary The Truth About Marriage.

- Jurors for the USAFF's 41st Annual International Short Film Competition include actor Paul Marcarelli, actress Dale Dickey, actress/writer/director Christina Beck, writer/director/editor Roger Nygard, painter and filmmaker Rosson Crow, and animator Bill Haller. The Awards program will take place on Sunday during the Festival.

- Other highlights include: the stirring drama AMERICAN WOMAN directed by Jake Scott, written by Brad Ingelsby, starring Sienna Miller, Sky Ferreira, Amy Madigan, Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul, and Will Sasso; the incredible true story The White Crow directed by Ralph Fiennes and written by David Hare, which details THE JOURNEY of iconic ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev -- who defected to France from the Soviet Union in the early 1960s; the compelling drama The Chambermaid directed by Lila Avilés, co-written by Avilés and Juan Carlos Marquéz, starring Gabriela Cartol; Nick Broomfield's most personal and romantic film to date, the documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love; the inspiring documentary Accidental Climber directed by Steven Oritt featuring former-Dallasite Jim Geiger (in attendance); and several compilation programs of short films (Narrative, Nonfiction, Student, Animation), as well as Texas-made works.

[A full schedule of films is listed in the attached program flyer. An additional 60+ filmmaker guests will be in attendance.]

DEDICATION - USAFF49 is dedicated to these friends and filmmakers that we lost this past year: actor Tab Hunter (USAFF 2015); director Danny Leiner (USAFF 1992); actress Julie Adams (USAFF 2014); and actress/director Penny Marshall (USAFF 2000). We also remember Dallas' Caroline Rose Hunt, whose friendship, patronage and support the Festival enjoyed throughout her lifetime. We dedicate this year's program to these wonderful friends and filmmakers.

TICKET & SCHEDULE INFORMATION Tickets for most programs are $10.

There are also several FREE admission programs noted in the schedule.

Advance tickets will be available via TICKETMASTER beginning April 10th

-- To purchase tickets online - www.ticketmaster.com/usaff

A complete schedule of all Festival events may be:

-- viewed online at www.usafilmfestival.com

-- and printed schedules can also be picked up at the Angelika Film Center Dallas

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Sponsors of the 49th Annual USA Film Festival include Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate, Gaedeke Group, Carol and Alan J. Bernon Family Charitable Foundation, Moody Fund for the Arts, Headington Company, Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District, Mary FOX and Laura Fox, Dallas Creative Industries, cashstore.com, Sidley LLP, Tootsies, MPS Studios, Yelp Dallas, Jackson Walker LLP, Norma's Café, Texas Film Commission, SAG-AFTRA, Dallas Producers Association, The Downtown Business News, Boisset Wine Society, Alford Media Services, Angelika Film Center and Ticketmaster.

The USA Film Festival is supported, in part, by the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs.

The USA Film Festival is supported, in part, by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

ABOUT THE USA FILM FESTIVAL

A year-round film festival featuring 50 days of programs

The USA Film Festival is a 49-year-old Dallas-based 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the recognition and promotion of excellence in the film and video arts. Year-round events include the annual KidFilm Festival, a 41-year-old International Short Film Competition; monthly screenings; special programs and premieres; and the USA Film Festival, held each Spring. Throughout the year, the Festival presents a variety of membership, exhibition, educational, and cultural programs designed to promote equity and equality, and to bring together audiences and artists for a "live cinema" experience.

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