THE HOLDOVERS
Section: Special Presentations
Director: Alexander Payne
Writer: David Hemingson
Logline: Alexander Payne’s latest film focuses in the bond that forms between a strict professor at an elite boarding school, played by Paul Giamatti, and a belligerent student (Dominic Sessa) he’s stuck supervising over the winter holiday. Giamatti gives career-high performance as the risable teacher who delights in doling out punishment, and newcomer Sassa makes an immediate impression, revealing layers of complexity to his character’s rebellious nature.
Distributor: Focus Features
Premiere Date: Sept. 10, 2023
Panelists: Alexander Payne
Key Quotes: “The most unusual story is the casting of the high school kid, the actor’s name was Dominic Sassa, and after failing to find the right actor from auditions submitted from around the English-speaking world, the casting director and I found him in the drama department at one of the schools where we would actually be shooting, Deerfield Academy, and he’d never been in front of a camera before.” — Alexander Payne
“I didn’t really know anything about New England in general and Massachusetts in particular and I really dug it, I really dug being there. I liked scouting locations there, because when you scout locations you really meet a lot of people, enter a lot of houses, go to a lot of institutions … It’s what falls off the truck, but for me, what fell off the truck was all pretty groovy.” — Alexander Payne
