The third edition of the American Independent Film Festival wil take place between April 12-18 at Cinema PRO and Cinema Muzeul Țăranului. The festival will present, in Romanian premiere, the newest film by Jacques Audiard: The Sisters Brothers. The western, filmed almost entired in Romania, was awarded the Silver Lion for Best Director at the Venice Film Festival in 2018.

The Sisters Brothers is a French-Romanian-Spanish-Belgian-American co-production, which brought  the multi-awarded French director to Romania, along with some of the most well-known actors from Hollywood: actors John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed. The film will be released in Romania on the 19th of April by Voodoo Films.

On the 22nd of February, 2019, The Sisters Brothers won four César Awards, for Best Director, Best Cinematography (Benoît Debie), Best Production Design (Michel Barthelemy) and Best Sound (Brigitte Taillandier, Valerie de Loof, Cyril Holts). Earlier that month, the film was awarded Best Film, Best Director, and Best Cinematography at the Lumière Awards (France’s equivalent to the Golden Globes).

Following the international success of Deephan (winner of the Palme d’Or, Cannes 2015), The Sisters Brothers is Jacques Audiard’s first film in English, and is based on the book of the same name by Patrick DeWitt, published in 2011. The western tells of Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix) and Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly), who, always on the hunt, find themselves on a journey that puts their special bond in peril. Part of a wild and hostile world, both Charlie and Eli live with the blood of criminals and civilians on their hands. Charlie, the youngest, was born to kill, while Eli dreams of a normal life. Both are emplyoed with the Commodore to fina and kill a man.

Audiard started his career as director assistant to Roman Polanski on The Tenant (1976), debuting as a director 18 years later, in 1994, with See How They Fall. The eight films he has since directed have premiered at festivals such as Cannes and Venice, bringing him a number of international awards. He has written over 20 screenplays for film and TV, some of them in collaboration with his father, the writer Michel Audiard.

Initiated on the basis of the tradition of grand American narratives, the American Independent Film Festival continues to present a selection of the most recent made in the USA productions – lauded by critics and the public alike, and presented at the most prestigious film festivals on the international circuit, such as Sundance, New York, Tribeca, Telluride, Toronto, Cannes and Venice.

 

The first two editions of the festival welcomed guests such as: Ethan Hawke, Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Sebastian Stan, as well as Kent Jones, film critic and director of the New York Film Festival. Directors Barry Jenkins, (winner of the Best Film Oscar for Moonlight in 2017), and Sean Baker (The Florida Project) joined audiences at the American Independent Film Festival via Skype.

 

The third edition of the American Independent Film Festival will take place between April 12th-18th, 2019, with tickets becoming available soon on Eventbook.ro and on the Eventbook network. The screening program and all updates about the third edition will be posted on filmedefestival.ro, on the American Independent Film Festival Facebook page and on Instagram @AmericanIndependentFilmFest

The American Independent Film Festival is organized by Asociația Cinemascop with the support of Catena. The festival is a cultural project financed by the National Center of Cinematography. Partners: American Chamber of Commerce in Romania – AmCham Romania. Main Media Partners: Pro Cinema, Radio Guerrilla. Media Partners: Radio România Cultural, AaRC, CineFan, Senso TV, Ziarul Metropolis.