Embargoed Until February 13, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
“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.
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SVFF Media Contacts:
Chris Mullen
SVFF Director of Marketing & Communications
310-871-7250
Christopher@sunvalleyfilmfestival.org
Steven Wilson
B|W|R Public Relations
212-901-3920
Steven.wilson@bwr-pr.com
Carol Waller
CW Communications
207-720-3965
carol@cw-communications.com
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