Woodstock Film Festival has added Tony Goldwyn’s comedy drama “Ezra,” starring Bobby Cannavale and Robert De Niro to its 2023 lineup.
In the film, which made its world premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, Cannavale stars as Max, a stand up comic who after recently blowing up his career and marriage is living with his father Stan (De Niro). When Max’s autistic son Ezra is expelled from yet another school, Max makes the controversial decision to take him on a cross-country road trip.
In addition to Cannavale and De Niro, “Ezra” stars Rose Byrne, Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg and Rainn Wilson. (Mister Smith Entertainment and CAA are handling sales.)
“I am so excited that the Woodstock Film Festival chose to screen ‘Ezra,’” says Goldwyn. “Woodstock is one of the coolest festivals in the country for a filmmaker. After such an enthusiastic reception at TIFF last week, I can’t wait to share this deeply personal film with another group of passionate film buffs.”
Additional titles recently added to WFF’s lineup include Matthew Heineman’s documentary “American Symphony,” Robert Kolodny’s “The Featherweight” and Brooke Berman’s “Ramona at Midlife”
As previously announced, the 24th edition of the fest, which runs from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1 in New York’s Hudson Valley, will kick off with Chloe Domont’s “Fair Play.” The erotic thriller about a power-hungry couple contending for power at a cutthroat financial firm, was acquired by Netflix for $20 million after debuting at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Additional WFF narrative feature titles include “I Am What You Imagine,” by Matthew Modine; Nicol Paone’s “The Kill Room,” starring Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson; and “The New Boy,” directed by Warwick Thornton and starring Cate Blanchett.
WFF’s feature documentary lineup includes several hit films that either debuted earlier this year at Sundance, Berlin, Toronto and Venice. They include: “Beyond Utopia” and “The Tuba Thieves” (Sundance), “Joan Baez I Am a Noise” (Berlin), “Defiant” and “Stamped From the Beginning” (Toronto) and “Hollywoodgate” (Venice).
James Ivory will take home the festival’s annual Lifetime Achievement Award for his string of film credits that “A Room With a View,” “Howards End” and “The Remains of the Day.”
WFF will also feature panels with filmmakers and industry vets including Sheila Nevins, Barbara Kopple, Modine, Mary Stuart Masterson, Dana Weissman, director of programs at the Writers Guild of America East, Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival and head of public programming, Bob Berney, CEO of Picturehouse, and John Sloss, founder and CEO of Cinetic Media.
This year’s WFF jurors include filmmakers Joe Berlinger, Heidi Ewing, Marshall Curry, Barbara Kopple, Ondi Timoner, and Ramin Bahrani, as well as Imagine’s Sara Bernstein and former Amazon Studios film executive Ted Hope.
