The Coronado Island Film Festival will screen more than 140 films Nov. 4 through Nov. 8 at the Hotel del Coronado and other island venues.
Organizers announced the full lineup for the 11th edition of the festival on Oct. 14, according to the Coronado Times. The slate includes award-season contenders, independent features, documentaries, shorts and a world premiere. Tickets and the full schedule are available at festival.coronadofilmfest.com.
Opening night on Thursday, Nov. 5, features I Play Rocky, directed by Peter Farrelly. The film follows Sylvester Stallone's fight to play the lead in the script he wrote. Closing night on Sunday, Nov. 8, brings Paper Tiger, a crime thriller directed by James Gray and starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller. Variety reported that NEON plans a theatrical release for Paper Tiger beginning Nov. 13, with a wide release Nov. 25.
Centerpiece screenings include Danny Boyle's Ink (Netflix) and Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut (A24). Spotlight selections include Behemoth! (Searchlight Pictures), Clarissa (NEON), Killing Castro (Lionsgate), Minotaur (Mubi) and Ray Gunn (Netflix), among others. Williston, directed by Adam Seidel and Jonathan Lipniki, will have its world premiere.
"This year reflects everything CIFF stands for: San Diego premieres of the season's biggest awards contenders, bold work from independent filmmakers, a slate that puts women's voices front and center, and panels that bring the industry's best into direct conversation with our audience," said Merridee Book, CEO and artistic director of the Coronado Island Film Festival.
The festival opens Wednesday evening, Nov. 4, with the Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala at the Hotel del Coronado. The gala includes a champagne reception, red carpet, dinner, awards presentation and an after-party.
A Harold Lloyd tribute called HAROLD! is set for Sunday, Nov. 8, at 10 a.m. in the John D. Spreckels Hospitality Center. The program features Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne Lloyd, film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, and a fully restored Lloyd masterpiece. CIFF historian Tim Ried hosts the event, according to the festival's HAROLD! page.
The annual Women on the Move panel and networking reception returns, alongside selections directed by women including All That Glisters, All My Friends Are Back in Brisbane and Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart.
The festival's ShortsFest spans 15 short-film tracks covering animation, documentary and emerging filmmakers. Screenings run Thursday through Sunday at venues including the Coronado Community Center's Nautilus Room and the Winn Room at the Coronado Public Library. A free community screening of the Emerging Filmmakers: High School track takes place Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. at the library.
An Oct. 6 Coronado City Council agenda item recommended authorizing the festival to use the Nautilus Room and patio for all five days and waiving the associated facility-use fees.
Industry panels cover topics including AI and streaming, screenwriting, casting, film financing and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, known as SAG-AFTRA. A Conservation and Science of Possibilities program, presented with the Salk Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, features The Right Whale: Tales of Resilience and Hope. The Culinary Cinema Series screens Top of the World, about Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the World Trade Center.
Jury Awards take place Saturday, Nov. 7, with $20,000 in cash prizes for filmmakers and screenwriters.
Upcoming community dates:
- Wednesday, Nov. 4 — Leonard Maltin Industry Tribute Gala, Hotel del Coronado (evening)
- Thursday, Nov. 5 — Opening night: I Play Rocky
- Saturday, Nov. 7, 1 p.m. — Free Emerging Filmmakers: High School screening, Coronado Public Library
- Saturday, Nov. 7 — Jury Awards presentation ($20,000 in prizes)
- Sunday, Nov. 8, 10 a.m. — HAROLD! tribute, John D. Spreckels Hospitality Center
- Sunday, Nov. 8 — Closing night: Paper Tiger
