Athens, Ga. – Robert Osborne has selected the films for his fourth annual Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival, to be held April 10-13, at the Classic Center in Athens.
Osborne, the prime time host of Turner Classic Movies and columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, has picked eight classic films that, according to Osborne, “represent the breadth and variety of Hollywood, independent, and international classic cinema from the 1930s to the 1990s.”
The movies in the festival are: Young Frankenstein, Notorious, Journey to Center of the Earth, African Queen, Lawrence of Arabia, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, The Way We Were, and The King and I.
Nate Kohn, festival director and associate professor of telecommunications in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, is excited by the list. “Our festival is in its fourth year and Robert has gotten to know and love Athens. His film choices for this year are tailored to thrill local audiences,” he said.
Past festivals have brought guests Jane Powell, Louise Fletcher, Maximilian Schell, Pia Lindstrom, Patricia Neal, Parker Posey, Mickey Rooney and Fred Willard to Athens to discuss their films with Robert Osborne on stage after the screenings. Kohn expects that the upcoming festival will features guests of similar stature. “Look for an announcement of guests after the first of the year,” he said.
For the three-and-a half day festival in April, the 2,000-seat Classic Center theatre will be transformed into a world-class movie palace with the installation of a 60-foot motion picture screen and state-of-the-art 35mm projection and sound systems. Most prints will be pristine archival 35 mm prints from many of the major studios.
“Many of the films we’ll be showing at this unique film festival are ones people have probably seen before, but all are definitely worth a trip to the Classic Center for one primary reason: the chance to see them as they were meant to be seen-on a mammoth screen, in a communal experience,” said Osborne.
In addition, the festival will feature a panel discussion hosted by Osborne. Panelists will include University of Georgia scholars, festival guests, artists, critics and others. The panel topics will relate to the classic festival films and their various influences. The panel discussion will be free and open to the public.
All films, with the exception of the Friday matinee showing of Journey to the Center of the Earth, will require a paid ticket for admission. The matinee will be free and open to the public.
Passes go on sale Dec. 1, at The Classic Center box office, online at www.classiccenter.com or by calling 800/918-6393. Prices are $60 for a pass to all films and panel discussions or $45 with valid student or UGA Alumni Association identification. A limited number of passes that include the festival’s closing brunch will be available for $90 for the general public and $75 with valid student or UGA Alumni Association identification. Tickets for individual films will go on sale in Jan.
Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival is an annual non-profit event of the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu/osbornefest.
Established in 1915, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers seven undergraduate majors including advertising, broadcast news, magazines, newspapers, public relations, publication management and telecommunication arts. The college offers two graduate degrees, and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see www.grady.uga.edu.
Please note that films on the list are subject to change.