Yahoo News Greta Gerwig Named AFI Fest’s Guest Artistic Director For 2023
On the heels of a staggeringly triumphant run with Barbie, the fantastical comedy which she co-wrote and directed for Warner Bros, Greta Gerwig has been appointed by the American Film Institute to serve as Guest Artistic Director of AFI Fest 2023.
An Oscar-nominated filmmaker known equally for her work as an actress, Gerwig joins a lineage of Guest Aristic Directors that also includes such titans as Pedro Almodóvar, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ava DuVernay, David Lynch and Agnès Varda. The 37th edition of the festival is set to take place October 25-29 in Los Angeles. Ticket bundles have already been made available for purchase, along with the full festival lineup, with individual tickets to go on sale tomorrow.
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One half of the cultural phenomenon known as Barbenheimer, opposite Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Gerwig’s live-action Barbie has proven immensely popular with critics and moviegoers alike, setting numerous records while grossing over $1.4B worldwide. In addition to the highest-grossing film of the year, it’s also established itself as the top-grossing title ever released by Warner Bros, and the highest-grossing film from a solo female director since its July 21st release. Gerwig directed from her script written with partner Noah Baumbach.
RELATED: ‘Barbie’ Overtakes ‘Super Mario Bros.’ As No. 1 Film Of 2023 Worldwide
Prior to Barbie, Gerwig wrote and directed a popular adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. She earned her other noms from the Academy for her Saoirse Ronan-fronted directorial debut Lady Bird, in the areas of Directing and Original Screenplay.
Gerwig began her career as an actress as a darling of the mumblecore scene, co-writing and starring in Joe Swanberg’s Hannah Takes the Stairs before going on to team with Swanberg on Nights and Weekends, an indie that she co-directed, co-wrote and co-produced. She broke into the mainstream with Baumbach’s Greenberg opposite Ben Stiller and subsequently partnered with the filmmaker as the co-writer and star of both Frances Ha and Mistress America, earning a Golden Globe nom for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical for her work on the former. Gerwig most recently collaborated with Baumbach while starring opposite Adam Driver in his Don DeLillo adaptation White Noise for Netflix, and has also been seen in such acclaimed dramas as Jackie and 20th Century Women, among other titles.
“Greta Gerwig is devoted to cinema, and AFI is devoted to her,” said AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale. “In 2010, she served on the Shorts Jury for AFI Fest – and across the years since then, AFI has been proud to celebrate Ladybird and Little Women, and now we are honored to welcome her home as Guest Artistic Director.””
AFI Fest will this year feature an expanded selection of features and shorts, presenting 141 titles across five days. The starry psychological thriller Leave the World Behind, written and directed by Mr. Robot‘s Sam Esmail (AFI Class of 2004), will world premiere there as the opening night film on October 25, with Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz’s doc Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story also to debut there on October 27, as the Centerpiece film. Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein pic Maestro, in which he stars opposite Carey Mulligan, will close the fest out on October 29.
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