TCM Classic Film Festival Announces More Stars and Directors (press release, March 21)

[ificandream]

TCM Classic Film Festival Announces More Stars and Directors: Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Nancy Meyers, David Fincher and More to Attend

Additional Talent and Programming Announced for 15th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today (March 21) announced additional talent and programming for this year’s 15th annual TCM Classic Film Festival running April 18 – 21, 2024 in Hollywood, including a closing night screening of 1987’s comedy Spaceballs presented by writer and director Mel Brooks. The lineup for the weekend will also include:

- Steven Spielberg in Q&A with UCLA Film School’s Howard Suber ahead of the director’s cut of Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- A Little Romance (1979) with star Diane Lane in conversation with TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz
- The Shawshank Redemption (1994) with stars Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in attendance
- Filmmaker Nancy Meyers introduces the world premiere restoration of one of her favorite movies, North By Northwest (1959), completed by Warner Bros. and The Film Foundation
- Director David Fincher presenting a world premiere restoration IMAX® screening of his 1995 thriller Se7en
- A cast reunion for Little Women (1994) featuring Trini Alvarado, Samantha Mathis and Eric Stoltz
- A world premiere restoration of The Searchers (1956), completed by Warner Bros. and The Film Foundation, introduced by writer/director Alexander Payne
- Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings introduces a U.S. premiere restoration of The Small Back Room (1949), restored by The Film Foundation and courtesy of Rialto Pictures

In addition, TCM and Warner Bros. will present That’s Vitaphone!: The Return of Sound-on-Disc. For the first time in more than 90 years, six hilarious, often outlandish, Vitaphone vaudeville shorts of the 1920s will be projected in 35mm, with sound played back from their original 16-inch discs on a turntable designed and engineered by Warner Bros. Post Production Engineering Department. In 1926, Warner Bros., with technology developed by Western Electric, introduced Vitaphone, a system of adding high fidelity synchronized sound to motion pictures, using discs mechanically coupled to the movie projector. Vitaphone would usher in the talking picture with the premiere of The Jazz Singer in October 1927. By the early 1930s, though, sound-on-disc would be replaced industry-wide by the less cumbersome sound on film. This replica of a Vitaphone machine, the only one in existence, marks the first time modern audiences will be able to experience these films as they did in the 1920s, using discs restored from the era. In attendance to provide context will be Bruce Goldstein, founder and co-president of Rialto Pictures, Warner Bros. post-production engineers Steve Levy and Bob Weitz, and Vitaphone expert Shane Fleming.

For more information, please visit http://tcm.com/festival.

About the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival

Movie lovers from around the globe will descend upon Hollywood for the 15th edition of the TCM Classic Film Festival. The 2024 Festival is set to take place Thursday, April 18 - Sunday, April 21, 2023. Over four packed days and nights, attendees will be treated to an extensive lineup of great movies, appearances by legendary stars and filmmakers, fascinating presentations and panel discussions, special events, and more.

TCM Primetime Host Ben Mankiewicz will serve as official host of the TCM Classic Film Festival, alongside Jacqueline Stewart, Dave Karger, Alicia Malone, and Eddie Muller.

The Festival's official hotel and central gathering point will be The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, which has a longstanding role in movie history and was the site of the first Academy Awards® ceremony. The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel will also offer special rates for Festival attendees. Screenings and events during the Festival will be held at the Egyptian Theatre,TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX®, and the TCL Chinese 6 Theatres. For the latest news and information, follow us on social at #TCMFF.

This year's theme is "Most Wanted: Crime and Justice in Film," inviting the usual suspects to the big movie house for a lineup of films that not only bring the heat but reflect and inspire new ways of thinking about what defines true justice, straight down the line.

Information about festival passes can be found at https://filmfestival.tcm.com/attend/.

Full TCM Film Festival 2024 schedule: https://filmfestival.tcm.com/programs/schedule/