Asbury Park Hosts Arthouse Film Festival Starting March 16

ASBURY PARK, NJ — The Arthouse Film Festival will begin March 16 and run for 10 weeks at The ShowRoom Cinema in Asbury Park.

This is a curated series of the best not-yet-released movies from around the world, followed by conversations with filmmakers and actors. 2023 is the first year this film festival will be in Asbury Park; previously, it always ran at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange, where it will also run this year, starting March 13.

The selected films comprise award winners from Sundance, Cannes, Toronto, Telluride, Venice and SXSW film festivals, along with prestige studio films.

The movies will be shown in Asbury Park and South Orange before their New York theatrical release dates.

The film festival has also had many celebrity guest appearances over the past 32 years, so you never know who might be showing up in Asbury Park during those 1o weeks. In the past, these Oscar winners and nominees have all made appearances at the film festival: Ethan Hawke, Viggo Mortensen, Alan Arkin, Lee Daniels, Frank Darabont, Jesse Eisenberg, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Melissa Leo, Chazz Palminteri, John Sayles, Aaron Sorkin, Fisher Stevens, David Strathairn, Dylan Baker, Michael Gandolfini, Famke Janssen, Danai Gurira, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Derek Luke, Mary Stuart Masterson, David Morse, Connie Nielsen, Joe Pantoliano and Kevin Smith.

“The program will always be flexible in order to take advantage of opportunities as they arise,” said festival director Chuck Rose. “Wonderful surprises and fantastic celebrities can pop up out of nowhere, so we try to keep the schedule as fluid as possible. Even before we started in 1991, I began working to create an international VIP network of actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, journalists and film industry pros whose jobs involve creating and evaluating the top films destined for distribution, well before their public release. We also work to ferret out potential hits in the development and production stages so we are ready to pounce on the best films first.”

For details and tickets, visit: www.ArthouseFilmFestival.com or call 732-870-6012 The festival is open to anyone, but seating is limited, so early enrollment is advised. Subscription is $146 for five weeks or $257 for all ten weeks. Also being offered is a specially priced flex ticket so users may choose any eight out of ten nights for their convenience.

The following films are confirmed to be shown:

"The Lost King" with Sally Hawkins, Steve Coogan, director Stephen Frears; a crowd-pleasing saga of an underdog on the hunt for buried evidence, based on the true story of Philippa Langley, who took on Britain’s elite historians and forced them to rethink some of the greatest controversies in English history and literature.

"Wild Life" with Kristine and Doug Tompkins, directed by Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin; Oscar-winning filmmakers Vasarhelyi and Chin document the Tomkins’ abandonment of successful corporate lives to purchase and connect millions of acres of land in Chile in a larger-than-life challenge of environmental preservation to create seven pristine national parks across Patagonia.

"Joyland" with Alina Khan, Ali Junejo, director Saim Sadiq; a dazzling directorial debut that’s also the first film from Pakistan to be shortlisted for an Oscar for Best International Feature. Even with unknown and first time actors, the project attracted producers Riz Ahmed, Malala Yousafzai and Ramin Bahrani. Banned in Pakistan, we’ll see it before its U.S. premiere in New York.

"Little Richard: I Am Everything," with Little Richard, Mick Jagger, Billy Porter, director Lisa Cortes; the rise of rock ‘n’ roll icon Little Richard is explored from cradle-to-grave, illuminating his musical invention, ascendance to stardom, and the effect of his brash sexuality on audiences — and his own troubled life.

"Other People’s Children" with Virginie Efira, Roschdy Zem, director Rebecca Alotowski; Rachel (Efira) is 40 years old, with no children. She loves her life, her high school students, her friends, her ex and her guitar lessons. When she falls in love with Ali, she becomes attached to his 4-year-old daughter, and learns that to love other people’s children can be complicated and risky.

"L’Immensita" with Penelope Cruz, Luanna Giuliani, director Emanuele Crialese; inspired by the adolescent life of director Crialese, newcomer Luanna Giuliani navigates gender identity while his mother, played by Penelope Cruz battles mental health demons. A family saga that swells and reverberates with emotion from outsize, magnetic performances.

"Bobi Wine: The People’s President" with Bobi Wine, Barbie Kyagulanyi, directors Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp; singing anthems of peace and freedom, musician Bobi Wine protests the anti-democratic government of Uganda, wins a seat in parliament, and runs for president. The brutal response from dictator Yoweri Museveni is shocking and heartbreaking, but matched by Bobi’s superhuman resolve, evoking visions of Gandhi, Marley, Mandela and MLK.

"Chevalier" with Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lucy Boynton, director Stephen Williams; A black man in rich, white French society, violin virtuoso Joseph Bologne (Harrison Jr.) shreds Mozart, beds the white star of his opera, and conflates artistic success with the sobering reality of white supremacy. A virtuoso struggling for autonomy and dignity, he learns how music can transcend entertainment to become a form of rebellion.

"Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" with Shoshana Wilder, Katherine King So, director Pierre Foldes; a lost cat, a talkative frog, a fumbling bank employee, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant try save Tokyo from an earthquake. Combining whimsy and deeper existential questions, this film won the Special Jury Award at the Annency Animation Film Festival.

"R.M.N." with Judith State, Marin Grigore, director Cristian Mungiu; Romanian auteur Christian Mungiu illuminates the personal tensions, timeless xenophobia and small-town struggles in a drama that was nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes.

And more to come!