IT’S A WRAP AS 2nd ANNUAL FILM FEST 919 COMES TO A CLOSE
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Curated by Screenmancer Staff
Chapel Hill, NC, 10/13/19: Film Fest 919, founded by industry veterans Randi Emerman and Carol Marshall, along with Program Director Claudia Puig, was enthusiastically received and well attended, showcasing five days of extraordinary and compelling independent film. 
The community fully embraced the opportunity to see 38 of the most talked-about films of the season, setting the stage for the festival to return for its third year. Festival founders announced the dates for the 2020 Film Fest 919, which will be October 14 – 18.
The festival offered a roster of incredible films representing 18 countries and drew attendees from across the U.S. FF919 also featured the award season’s top contenders and critical and audience favorites from Cannes, Telluride, and Toronto Film Festivals.
Before the final film rolled, the festival announced the Audience Award Winner, which went to PARASITE, directed by Bong Joon Ho. First Runner up went to Destin Daniel Cretton’s JUST MERCY and second runner up went to Fernando Meirelles’ THE TWO POPES.
“PARASITE is a magic trick of cinema by the visionary director Bong Joon Ho,” commented Tom Quinn, founder of Neon. “We at NEON couldn’t be more thrilled and honored to have been invited to participate in this year’s “nothing finer than” 919 Film Festival. So thank you Chapel Hill for awarding PARASITE with the Audience Award. Your good taste is one hell of a treat.”
PARASITE joins award winner ANTHONY McCARTEN, who received the festival’s first Distinguished Screenwriter Award.
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PARASITE
Directed and written by Bong Joon Ho
Starring Kang-ho Song, Sun-kyun Lee, Yeo-jeong Jo
Winner of the Palm d’Or, Cannes
Official Academy submission for Best International Film for South Korea
Meet the Park Family: the picture of aspirational wealth. And the Kim Family, rich in street smarts but not much else. Be it chance or fate, these two houses are brought together and the Kims sense a golden opportunity. Masterminded by college-aged Ki-woo, the Kim children expediently install themselves as tutor and art therapist to the Parks. Soon, a symbiotic relationship forms between the two families. The Kims provide “indispensable” luxury services while the Parks give the Kims a way out of their shabby circumstances. But this new ecosystem is fragile, and soon enough greed and class prejudice threaten to upend the Kims’ newfound comfort.
JUST MERCY
Directed and written by Destin Daniel Cretton
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Brie Larson
A powerful and thought-provoking true story, “Just Mercy” follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or who were not afforded proper representation, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds—and the system—stacked against them.
THE TWO POPES
Directed by Fernando Meirelles
Written by Anthony McCarten
Starring Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins
An intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront elements from their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world.
Film Fest 919: #FF919 & @FilmFest919
FF919 is founded and run by three women — Randi Emerman, VP of Programming for Silverspot Cinemas and co-founder/former CEO of the Palm Beach International Film Festival whose multi-faceted career spans production, marketing, theatrical exhibition and distribution; Carol Marshall, veteran publicist for a wide variety of entertainment clients including such previous film festivals as Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Sonoma and Bermuda international film fests; and Claudia Puig, President of the LA Film Critics Association and program director for Mendocino Film Festival, current critic for NPR’s Film Week and former lead critic for USA Today. FF919 is a thoughtfully curated, inclusive festival with a commitment to bold, director-driven programming and is especially supportive of female and diverse filmmakers.
Visit FilmFest919 for more information.
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