Palm Beach film festival offers eclectic lineup
Festival to include filmmaker Q&A panels.
Looking for a break from the standard multiplex movie fare?
For five days next week, you can have that at the annual Palm Beach International Film Festival, which brings together a globetrotting variety of independent movies, as well as question-andanswer sessions with producers and directors, a filmmakers panel and a lifetime achievement award to singer/actress Connie Francis.
The festival opens Wednesday at the Cinemark Palace Theater in Boca Raton and at the campus of Keiser University in West Palm Beach. At the Cinemark Palace on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., the opening night film is “Despite The Falling Snow,” a Cold War-era romantic thriller starring Charles Dance and “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” co-star Rebecca Ferguson. Francis, whose theme song from “Where The Boys Are” is an iconic South Florida film moment, also receives her award that evening.
At the Keiser campus off Military Trail, the opening night film at 6 p.m. is “Foster Shock,” a documentary that takes a critical look at the state’s foster care system, made by area filmmaker Mari Frankel.
Other festival highlights:
■ A filmmakers panel at Keiser featuring film producers, directors and area news directors at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
■ A “Day of Shorts” presentation beginning at noon Saturday at Keiser featuring short movies and Q-and-A sessions with filmmakers.
Other films worth considering at the festival:
■ “Paris Can Wait,” starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin, about a woman who reconsiders her life during a trip from Cannes
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