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Aspen Filmfest reels ’em in

Aspen Times Staff Report
Aspen, CO Colorado
Universal PicturesGreg Kinnear stars as an inventor trying to win back the rights to his invention in "Flash of Genius," the opening night film at this year's Aspen Filmfest.
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ASPEN ” Aspen Film has announced the partial program for next month’s Filmfest. The 30th annual festival, with American features, documentaries, international movies and special events, is set for Sept. 24-28, with events in Aspen and Carbondale.

The opening night film is “Flash of Genius,” the first feature by director Marc Abraham. Based on a true story, the film stars Greg Kinnear as an inventor trying to win back the rights to his invention, for the intermittent windshield wiper, from a car manufacturer.

Aspenite Lita Heller will be honored with a new Aspen Film award for community service to the arts. The award ceremony will be held in conjunction with a screening of the documentary “The Brothers Warner,” a look at the four siblings who founded the Warner Bros. studio. Director Cass Warner, granddaughter of movie mogul Harry Warner, is scheduled to attend.



Commemorating the 45th anniversary of “Peter Pan,” Filmfest will show the classic in its family-oriented segment. The screening will be an exclusive Colorado engagement, and will feature a new print.

Also in the features category is “Ballast,” a comic-drama about a broken family in the Mississippi Delta that earned Lance Hammer the best director award at Sundance. Foreign titles include “Teddy Bear,” by Czech director Jan Hrebejk; “Lemon Tree, an Israeli film that earned the Audience Award at the Berlin Film Festival; another Israeli film, “Waltz with Bashir,” a documentary of soldiers recalling the 1982 war in Lebanon; and the French drama “I’ve Loved You So Long,” starring Kristin Scott Thomas as a woman reunited with her family.




Documentaries include “Crimes Against Nature,” based on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s book about the Bush administration’s record on the environment; “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” about the women’s movement in Liberia; and “Stranded,” with survivors of a 1972 plane crash in the Andes recalling their experience.

Filmfest tickets go on sale Sept. 15. For further information, go to aspenfilm.org.

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