AFI festival will have worldly reach

The AFI Fest 2002, to be held next month, will feature 134 films from around the world, including 48 U.S. debuts and six world premieres.

The films, selected from among 2,080 entries, represent works from internationally known directors such as Korea’s Im Kwon-Taek, Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, and England’s Ken Loach as well as efforts by lesser-known first- and second-time directors.

Fifty-six selections will compete in three international categories: feature, documentary and shorts. Asian, European, Latin and American features will screen in noncompetitive categories. A “Made in Germany” program will also be presented along with four special screenings.

The festival, to be held Nov. 7-17 at the ArcLight Hollywood, is aimed at reflecting the diversity of Los Angeles as well as representing voices and visions from 37 different countries, according to director Christian Gaines.

“We strive to be a thorough festival of record for international cinema in order to make better films at home in the film capital of the world,” Gaines said.

“It’s especially important, more now than ever, to look to our counterparts abroad and learn from them,” he said.

Some of the highlights include Korean master Im Kwon-Taek’s “Chihwaseon,” a film chronicling the life of an artist; “Spider,” a film directed by David Cronenberg and starring Ralph Fiennes about a man overcoming a traumatic event early in his life; and two films by Australian Phillip Noyce, “Rabbit Proof Fence” and “The Quiet American.”

Other highly anticipated screenings will include: “Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary,” a documentary by Austrians Andre Heller and Othmar Schmiderer about the woman who served when she was 22 as the personal secretary to Adolf Hitler.

The festival will open with the U.S. premiere of “Antwone Fisher,” a film about the inner troubles of a grown foster-care child, marking the directorial debut of actor Denzel Washington, who also stars in the film. It will close with Almodovar’s “Talk to Her,” a drama centering on a nurse who cares for two coma patients. The U.S. premiere of Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat,” about the 1915 Armenian genocide, will be held at the festival’s Centerpiece Gala on Nov. 12.

The festival will also honor actor Michael Caine with a tribute hosted by critic Leonard Maltin. Six of the actor’s films will be shown Nov. 11-13 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Caine also stars in “The Quiet American,” to be shown Nov. 17 at the ArcLight.

The festival will be headquartered for the first time at ArcLight, at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood. Entertainment and live music will be presented in the ArcLight courtyard, while the films will be shown in five screening rooms upstairs. A “cinema lounge” will be dedicated for filmmakers and pass-holders.

Jury awards will be presented Nov. 15 at a private party and ceremony.

Tickets for the festival go on sale today. More information may be obtained by calling (866) AFI-FEST or visiting the festival Web site at www.AFI.com.