Vanessa McMahon

“Fourth Annual Sun Valley Film Festival Announces Festival Lineup” • Clint Eastwood to Receive Lifetime Vision Award • Bruce Dern and Bill Paxton to Speak at Festival Coffee Talks • Signature Panels, Parties and Over 60 Films Fill the Weekend Sun Valley, ID-The Sun Valley Film Festival, presented by Zions Bank, announced its film lineup today. The Festival will honor Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood with its inaugural Lifetime Vision Award at the 4th annual Festival, March 4-March 8, 2015.

The SVFF Lifetime Vision Award pays tribute to an individual who has provided the keen insight, influence and initiative to fulfill a creative vision. In addition to the special presentation to Mr. Eastwood, the 2015 Sun Valley Film Festival has added a 5th day of signature programming including Coffee Talks with Bruce Dern and Bill Paxton. More than 60-curated films will screen followed by filmmakers Q&A sessions.

Signature Panels and Parties Fill The Weekend Coffee Talks, presented by Zions Bank, are free, standing-room-only discussions featuring twotime Academy Award® nominee Bruce Dern, legendary actor with a long list of feature film credits and honors, and Bill Paxton, who has starred in films such as Apollo 13, Twister, Titanic and HBO’s Big Love. Mr. Paxton joins the Festival’s Hollywood Heritage series with a special screening of Apollo 13.

The Film Lab, presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka, is where host, Michael Tully (Hammer To Nail), will bring together the director, producer, and writer, the creative forces behind a movie, in an experimental and potentially combustible fashion for the Film Lab. This year’s film is Coming through the Rye, a true story about a boy who runs away from boarding school to find J.D. Salinger.

New to the festival this year, filmmakers reveal the real secrets behind the project all under scrutiny of the audience’s microscope. Screenwriters Lab, presented by Boise State University, will feature Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, the Academy Award®-winning writers of The Descendants and 2014’s comedy, The Way Way Back, as hosts. The Screenwriters Lab, one of the many highlights of the Festival, includes The High Scribe screenplay competition, which gives finalists, among other things, an opportunity for one-on-one meetings with some of the industry’s finest to discuss their work. The 2015 High Scribe judge and mentor will be film, television, and stage actor, Will McCormack. The High Scribe winner will be announced during the lab on March 5th, 2015, and a scene from their script will be brought to life.

SVFF Awards Bash, presented by National Geographic, closes the Festival in style with the announcement and presentation of awards in a variety of categories to the year’s outstanding films. The awards ceremony will be followed by a live performance by The Weeks. Hailing from Jackson, Mississippi, indie-rock band The Weeks, who will bring their brand of southern-fried rock to Sun Valley. Formed while teenagers in 2006, they have quickly amassed a loyal following with their soulful country rock sound and have recently wrapped a European tour with The Kings of Leon. Diverse Films From Around The World Make Up This Year’s Slate Film Screenings: A curated selection of over 60 films including world premieres, shorts, narratives, and documentaries from around the globe.

The following is a small selection of the SVFF chosen films and the full film slate can be viewed here. Narrative:

"Slow West" Writer/Director: John Maclean Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Conor McCaughan, Rachel Gardner Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Michael Fassbender, Ben Mendelsohn, Caren Pistorius, Rory McCann Set at the end of the 19th Century, SLOW WEST follows the story of sixteen-year-old Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as he journeys across the American Frontier in search of the woman he loves and accompanied by a mysterious traveller named Silas (Michael Fassbender). U.K., New Zealand/84 min.

National Geographic Channel’s "Killing Jesus"- *World Premiere Cast: Stephen Moyer, Rufus Sewell, Haaz Sleiman, Emanuelle Chriqui, John Rhys-Davies, Eoin Macken, and Kelsey Grammer It’s a story nearly the whole world knows, with more than 2.2 billion people around the globe following the teachings and principles of Jesus of Nazareth. But the intimate historical details of his life and the political collusions that led to his brutal demise bring new context to the familiar story. Produced by Scott Free Productions and based on the New York Times best-selling book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Jesus dives deep inside the historical story of a man whose message and preachings led to his persecution and execution by a group of conspirators who saw him as a threat to their power. Morocco, U.S.A./135 min

"Up the River"- *World Premiere Writer/Director: Ben Greenblatt Producers: Nick Shore, Brendan McHugh Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brill, Adam David Thompson, Nathalie Love On a weekend trip to the Hudson Valley, Rebecca finds herself in between places. Traveling with her fiancé Thomas, and their friends Willy and Laura, Rebecca is anxious about transitioning from being a student to a professional and is torn between lust and love. As the trip unfolds, she struggles through emotional uncertainty, doubtful of her relationship with Thomas and intrigued by his best friend Willy’s bold advances. Nerves are pushed, wills broken, secrets exposed and relationships tested. Thomas and Rebecca may never recover from this weekend. U.S.A./76 min

"Cut Bank"- Director: Matt Shakman Writer: Roberto Patino Producers: Mickey Barold, Dan Cohen, Mark Manuel, Ted O’Neal, Laura Rister, Edward Zwick Cast: Liam Hemsworth, Teresa Palmer, Bruce Dern, Billy Bob Thornton, John Malkovich, Oliver Platt Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) dreams about escaping small town life in Cut Bank, Montana, “the coldest spot in the nation,” with his vivacious girlfriend Cassandra (Teresa Palmer). When Dwayne witnesses an awful crime, he tries to leverage a bad situation into a scheme to get rich quickly but he finds that fate and an unruly accomplice are working against him. Thrust into the middle of a police investigation spearheaded by the local sheriff (John Malkovich), everything goes from bad to worse in this all-American thriller. Directed by Matt Shakman and also starring Billy Bob Thorton, Bruce Dern, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oliver Platt. U.S.A./93 min

International Documentary Premiere: "True Appaloosa" *International Premiere Director: Conor Woodan A 69-year old horse-woman from California sets off on an extraordinary journey to find the truth about the origins of the Appaloosa spotted horse. Back in the saddle for the first time in 12 years, she crosses one of the world’s highest mountain ranges in search of a lost valley. There, she hopes to discover whether the experts have been wrong all along, and that the true source of the North American Appaloosa horse in Asia - and not Europe as the history books would have us believe. An inspirational adventure story inspired by a lifelong passion for horses. U.S.A./Pakistan/73 min Documentary: National Geographic Channel’s "Hubble’s Cosmic Journey"- * World Premiere Producer/Director: Christopher Riley Narrator: Neil deGrasse Tyson Hubble’s Cosmic Journey is a celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope’s 25 years orbiting our planet. Narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Hubble’s Cosmic Journey is the story of one of the most remarkable advances in modern technology, as told by the people who designed, built, launched, operated and repaired the legendary observatory. U.S.A./48 min

"Finders Keepers"- Directors: Clay Tweel, Bryan Carberry Producers: Ed Cunningham, Seth Gordon, Adam Gibbs, Bryan Carberry Co-Producers: Tim Grant, Clay Tweel Shannon Whisnant has a nose for a bargain. But when he bought a used grill at a North Carolina auction, the severed human foot he found among its ashes was not part of the deal. Soon the gruesome discovery becomes the toast of the infotainment world, and the new owner spies a golden opportunity to cash in on the media frenzy, until struggling addict and amputee John Wood recognizes his missing member and demands his own foot back. It is the stuff of documentary legend. U.S.A./82 min

"Most Likely to Succeed"- Director: Greg Whiteley Producer: Adam Leibowitz For most of the last century, entry-level jobs were plentiful, and college was an affordable path to a fulfilling career. That world no longer exists. The feature-length documentary MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED examines the history of education, revealing the growing shortcomings of our school model in todayʼs innovative world. The film follows students in a school created to prepare graduates for the innovation era. There, over the course of a school year, ninth graders take on ambitious, project-based challenges that promote critical skills rather than rote memorization and, indirectly, bring to life new approaches that revolutionize school as we know it. U.S.A./86 min

About The Festival The Sun Valley Film Festival, presented by Zions Bank, is celebrating its fourth year. The event has quickly become a filmmaker’s festival in a place steeped in cinematic history, with a proven knack for drawing industry heavyweights and independent talents to an intimate locale far from the Hollywood scene. The combination of cutting-edge programming and bona-fide insider access in a fun, relaxed atmosphere is making the Sun Valley Film Festival a rising star in the world of destination festivals. For tickets and more information on the festival go to www.sunvalleyfilmfestival.org.

-SVFF Press Release-

Edited by Vanessa McMahon