Nantucket Film Festival announces lineup for 29th edition of much-loved event
Nantucket, Massachusetts (Release): The Nantucket Film Festival (NFF), has announced its lineup, honorees, and Signature Programs for the 29th annual edition, which will run from June 19-24, 2024.
NFF will open on June 19 with Magnolia Pictures’ 'Thelma', written and directed by Josh Margolin, which follows 93-year-old Thelma Post as she sets out on a quest for justice after being scammed out of $10,000, starring Academy Award nominee June Squibb, Richard Roundtree, Clark Gregg, Fred Hechinger, and Parker Posey.
On June 26, the Festival will present 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' as its Closing Night film. Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, the film tells of Reeve’s astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, including his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but catalyzed his activism for disability rights.
Screening as NFF’s Centerpiece selection is Netflix’s 'Skywalkers: A Love Story'. Director Jeff Zimbalist chronicles the visually stunning documentary which tells the nail-biting story of a daredevil couple journeying across the globe to clandestinely film themselves climbing the world’s last super skyscraper. For the thirteenth year, NFF will host a screening of a Disney and Pixar film on the Festival’s Opening Day. 'Inside Out 2', directed by Kelsey Mann with a screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, follows Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust who have been running a successful operation by all accounts for 13 years; however, when Anxiety shows up, they aren't sure how to feel — and Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment soon follow.
More than 60 features and short films will screen as part of NFF’s 2024 film lineup. Narrative features include Sony Pictures Classics’ 'Between the Temples', directed by Nathan Silver and co-written with C Mason Wells; Focus Features’ 'DÌDI (弟弟)', written and directed by Academy-Award-nominee Sean Wang; IFC Films’ 'Ghostlight', written and directed by Kelly O’Sullivan and co-directed with Alex Thompson; Juno Films’ 'Girls Will Be Girls', written and directed by Shuchi Talati; Metrograph Pictures’ 'Good One', written and directed by India Donaldson; 'In the Summers', written and directed by Alessandra Lacorazza; Sony Pictures Classics’ 'Kneecap', written and directed by Rich Peppiatt; 'Los Frikis', written and directed by Michael Schwartz and Tyler Nilson; Vertical Entertainment’s 'Widow Clicquot', written by Erin Dignam and directed by Thomas Napper; and 'Winner', written and directed by Susanna Fogel and co-written by Kerry Howley.
Documentary features include Netflix’s 'Daughters', directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae; 'Devo', directed by Chris Smith, with special guest Gerald V. Casale from the band Devo in attendance; Hulu’s 'Diane Von Furstenberg: Woman In Charge', directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton; HBO Documentary Films’ 'Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes', directed by Nanette Burstein; 'Eno', directed by Gary Hustwit; 'Every Little Thing' directed by Sally Aitken; 'Love Machina', directed by Peter Sillen; 'Luther: Never Too Much', directed by Dawn Porter; Greenwich Entertainment’s 'Never Look Away', directed by Lucy Lawless; 'Porcelian War', directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev; Netflix’s 'The Remarkable Life of Ibelin', directed by Benjamin Ree; and National Geographic Documentary Films’ 'Sugarcane', directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie.
“This year’s slate of films continues to celebrate bold and independent voices close to home and across the world,” said Basil Tsiokos, Senior Programmer, and Anita Raswant, Lead Programmer. “We invite our audiences to explore a wide range of work that honors the power of storytelling — and in turn, our shared humanity over the course of our six-day, highly curated festival.”
NFF will honor Emmy and Golden Globe Award-nominated writer and producer Kerry Ehrin with the Excellence in Television Writing Award, recognizing her work on the critically acclaimed series 'The Morning Show', 'Friday Night Lights' and others. Past recipients of the award have included Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, and Beau Willimon.