Russell Crowe’s ‘The Water Diviner’ will open Newport Film Festival
“The Water Diviner,” Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe’s directorial debut, will kick off this year’s Newport Beach Film Festival, the event’s organizers announced this week.
The historical drama, which stars Crowe as an Australian man who searches for his missing sons after the Battle of Gallipoli, will screen April 23 at the Lido Live theater. While Crowe is not scheduled to attend the red-carpet opening, representatives from the Australian government and military are expected to make appearances, according to festival co-founder Todd Quartararo.
It was another festival screening of Crowe’s film that made it a prime candidate for Newport’s opening night.
“One of our team happened to see the world premiere of ‘The Water Diviner’ at the Dubai festival and felt it was an incredibly strong film,” said Gregg Schwenk, the Newport festival’s CEO and co-founder. “We kept looking at options for opening night and kept coming back to what an amazing movie ‘The Water Diviner’ is. We wanted to have an opportunity to show an incredibly well-crafted, powerful film with our audience in Newport.”
Festival officials also announced a number of spotlight screenings this week. The Friday Night Spotlights on April 24 will feature three British films — “Set Fire to the Stars,” “A Brilliant Young Mind” and “A Little Chaos” — along with the Western “Slow West,” the sports-themed “All-Stars” and “Divine Access,” a tale of a spiritual leader that stars Orange Coast College graduate Patrick Warburton.
Saturday Night Spotlights on April 25 will be the romantic drama “Jackie & Ryan,” the boxing biopic “The Bronx Bull,” the comedy “Slow Learners” and the Canadian film “The Passion of Augustine.”
The festival, which has traditionally carved out space for classic films, will showcase 1968’s “The Green Berets,” a Vietnam War film starring John Wayne, on April 25. The following day, a centennial tribute to Orson Welles, who died in 1985, will feature the 1952 Shakespeare adaptation “Othello” as well as “Fade to Black,” a 2006 thriller starring Danny Huston as Welles.
Other retrospective screenings will include a three-day series at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort from April 24 to 26, with 2000’s “Bring It On,” 1995’s “Clueless” and 1985’s “Back to the Future” screened on the beach. The 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic “La Bamba” will screen April 29 at the Lido Live.
The festival will also present geographical showcases to spotlight films from around the world. The Pacific Rim Showcase on April 27 will feature “A Hard Day” from Korea, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2” from China and “Twilight: Saya in Sasara” from Japan.
The European Showcase on April 28 will feature “Blowfly Park (Flugparken)” from Sweden, “Love at First Fight” from France, “Do You Remember Me?” from Italy and “Who Am I — No System Is Safe” from Germany.
On April 29, the Chilean “El Cordero,” the Brazilian “A Despedida” and the Mexican “One for the Road” will make up the Latino Showcase.
“Gold,” a dark comedy about a man who returns home for a testy family reunion, will be the Irish Spotlight film on April 26.
The full schedule for this year’s festival has yet to be released. The 16th annual event will screen films at several Newport Beach venues as well as the Regency South Coast Village in Santa Ana and the Starlight Triangle Square Cinemas in Costa Mesa.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call (949) 253-2880 or visit https://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com.