Viggo Mortensen stars in and directs acclaimed new film at Mary D. Fisher Theatre
The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of the acclaimed new drama “Falling” showing June 4-10 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
“Falling” features an award-winning ensemble cast, including Viggo Mortenson (who also directed the film), Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney and Terry Chen.
John (Viggo Mortensen) lives with his partner, Eric (Terry Chen), and their daughter, Mónica (Gabby Velis), in California, far from the traditional rural life he left behind years ago. John’s father, Willis (Lance Henriksen), a headstrong man from a bygone era, lives alone on the isolated farm where John grew up. Willis is in the early stages of dementia, making running the farm on his own increasingly difficult, so John brings him to stay at his California home so that he and his sister Sarah (Laura Linney) might help him find a place near them to relocate to. Unfortunately, their best intentions ultimately run up against Willis’s adamant refusal to change his way of life in the slightest.
During his stay at John’s California home, tension builds between Willis and the rest of the family. Willis’s abrasive nature, by turns caustic and occasionally funny, is aggravated by his memory loss, bringing past and present into conflict and causing old wounds and years of mutual mistrust between father and son rise to the surface.
As Willis and John confront the events that have torn them, including their differing recollections of John’s mother Gwen, the challenge they face is to find a way to forgive each other, to accept what has happened in the past and, most importantly, what is happening to them in the present.
We embark on a journey from darkness to light, from rage and resentment to acceptance and hard-won grace.
“A beautifully controlled drama about age, memory and forgiveness.” – The Wrap
“A masterful family drama taking a compassionate view of a father whose faults are impossible to ignore.” – The Hollywood Reporter
“Lance Henriksen gives the performance of his career.” – Variety
“Falling” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre June 4-10. Showtimes will be 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, June 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10.
Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.
Sedona Film Festival presents ‘The Human Factor’ premiere June 4-9
United States’ 30-year effort to secure peace in the Middle East in film at Fisher Theatre
The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of the award-winning new documentary “The Human Factor” showing June 4-9 at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
There was a time when peace appeared to be just within reach. What went so horribly wrong?
“The Human Factor” – a new film by Dror Moreh, Academy Award-nominated director of “The Gatekeepers” – revisits three decades of an Israeli-Arab peace process from a unique perspective: that of the American mediators. These are the peacemakers who shuttled between Middle East capitals, spending hours with the region’s political heavyweights – prime ministers, generals, ex-terrorists, diplomats, dictators and presidents. These mediators gained intimate knowledge of the individuals and stories which dominated daily news around the world.
For all those key figures – some working on the same issue for almost three decades – peace in the Middle East became a personal obsession, a mission which shaped their professional careers, affected their personal lives, and still occupies their minds.
The negotiators speak candidly about their experiences alongside never-before-seen, official White House photography that illustrates what really went on behind the scenes in rooms away from photo opportunities. Rich and exposing portraits of world leaders are portrayed as we learn what really went on behind closed doors in meetings between U.S. presidents, Israeli, Palestinian, and Syrian leaders.
What we observe, for the first time, are first-hand impressions of events that shook the world – not from the perspectives of the conflicting parties involved, or that of politicians who care about their legacy, but from senior civil servants, the negotiators. It is their function to observe, relate, maintain neutrality, and convince both sides of the pressing necessity to resolve decades of brutal violence and turmoil.
With the distance of time behind them, the negotiators forensically dissect and examine, now from a critical perspective, their own role as Americans in the process. Some of the most burning questions into these crucial issues are answered with remarkable candor and self-reflection. There is no other conflict in the world where the price of the diplomatic failure was so clearly evident. Today, in the complete absence of any Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and the very notion of diplomacy on the wane, the stakes couldn’t be higher and the need to learn from past mistakes couldn’t be more urgent.
“The Human Factor” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre June 4-9. Showtimes will be 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5; 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 6; and 4 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday, June 7 and 9.
Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.
Sedona Film Fest presents ‘Carmen on the Lake’ June 5
Bizet’s spectacular masterpiece performed on the stunning Bregenz Lake Stage in Austria
The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to present the Northern Arizona premiere of “Carmen on the Lake” from the magnificent Bregenz Lake Stage in Austria. There will be one show on Saturday, June 5 at 1 p.m. at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre.
Performed on the spectacular water stage of Lake Constance in Bregenz, George Bizet’s “Carmen” is a story of passion, destiny, and obsession.
The French composer’s opera is most famous for its Spanish melodies, including the Flower Song, Habanera, and the Toreador Song.
Experience “Carmen” like never before — recorded live on the floating stage during the Bregenz Festival. As with their previous spectacular productions, you can expect the staging of this classic tale to have an extravagantly original and innovative design, with the waters of the lake being used as an extension of the stage.
This production of “Carmen” is directed by Kasper Holten, Director of the Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, with the set designed by the British artist Es Devlin.
“Carmen on the Lake” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre Saturday, June 5 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15, or $12.50 for Film Festival members and students. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona. For more information, visit: www.SedonaFilmFestival.org.
Film Festival presents the ‘Mercury’ show and tribute Friday, June 11
Festival partners with Unify Sedona to bring the music of Freddie Mercury and Queen to the Sedona Performing Arts Center
The Sedona International Film Festival is proud to partner with Unify Sedona: A Rainbow Alliance to present “Mercury: The Story of Queen’s Front Man” live, on stage at the Sedona Performing Arts Center on Friday, June 11.
“Mercury” celebrates the music of Freddie Mercury and Queen — a band that rocked the world and the fame, decadence, tragedy and triumph that swirled around its leader.
We will rock you! “Mercury” is a “rockumentary”! It is not a look-alike sound-alike impersonation but a true story about Freddie Mercury’s life and music told and narrated and performed by a cast of five incredible musicians.
“Mercury” stars international opera singer and 6-time Grammy-Nominee Terry Barber who’s a former member of the Grammy Award group “Chanticleer”. Terry is considered the world’s best countertenor with a 4 octave range like Freddie Mercury. He’s performed for the Metropolitan Opera. Moscow’s Svetlanov Hall and at Carnegie Hall and his voice can be heard in every major record label with a variety of artists from Madonna to the London Philharmonic.
Terry and the band help the audience get to know, the rock legend up close and personal. It’s about fame, decadence, triumph and tragedy and a man who had it all and could never have enough. His music made the world shake, stomp, chant, and cheer and he helped a generation learn to rock!
“Mercury” band members and performers also include:
• Jonathan Cummings (Drums, Vocalist, Guitarist) performed and toured with Barry Manilow and is the creator of “The Troubadour’s Journey.”
• Grace Field (Vocalist, Pianist) is a member of the Grammy nominated and Tony Award winning “Broadway Inspirational Voices” and performs as a soloist for the “United Nations” and at Lincoln Center
• Lou Garret (Guitarist) performed 11 years with the first national tours of the Tony award-winning Broadway musicals “Wicked” and “Book of Mormon”. A veteran of Broadway performing in more than 15 different shows, he has been heard in “School of Rock”, “SpongeBob”, “Frozen” and “Kiss Me Kate”, to name just a few.
• Val Shaffer (Bassist) has performed alongside many of Los Angeles’ and New York’s most prolific musicians. He’s also played with the Riverside philharmonic, drummer Kofi Baker (son of Ginger Baker), and guitarist Jeff Medina of the Commodores.
This special event is co-sponsored by Unify Sedona: A Rainbow Alliance and the Sedona International Film Festival.
“Mercury: The Story of Queen’s Front Man” will take the stage Friday, June 11 at 7 p.m. at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, located at Sedona Red Rock High School, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road in West Sedona. Tickets are $45 general admission; $40 for film festival members and students.
Visit www.SedonaFilmFestival.org to order tickets online or for more information. Call the film festival office at 928-282-1177 to order by phone. The office is located at 2030 W. SR 89A, Suite A3 in West Sedona.
