Posted by Larry Gleeson
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 2017 PALM SPRINGS FILM AWARDS
SOME GREAT FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
J: BEYOND FLAMENCO
Spain – 2016 – 87 minutes
Director: Carlos Saura
MODERN MASTERS
U.S. Premiere
In the vein of his sumptuous celebrations of flamenco, tango and fado, legendary filmmaker Carlos Saura’s latest music doc is a colorful and exhilarating exploration of the roots and variations of the jota, a rich and varied Spanish waltz and cultural touchstone.
Fri, Jan 6 – 2:00 PM – Annenberg
Sat, Jan 7 – 2:45 PM – Palm Canyon
Sun, Jan 15 – 7:45 PM – Annenberg
Purchase tickets HERE.
CAMERA STORE
U.S. – 2016 – 105 minutes
Director: Scott Marshall Smith
WORLD CINEMA NOW
Belated festive fare (sort of)… Set on Christmas Eve, 1994, Smith’s knotty-but-nice indie drama gives a welcome spotlight to veteran thesps John Larroquette and John Rhys Davies as two embittered camera-store clerks, railing against the dying of the light and venting entertainingly against their prison-like lot in life.
Fri, Jan 6 – 8:30 PM – Regal
Sat, Jan 7 – 10:30 AM – Mary Pickford
Mon, Jan 9 – 11:30 AM – Regal
Director, Scott Marshall Smith to attend.
Purchase Tickets Here
ASHES AND DIAMONDS
Poland – 1958 – 103 minutes

Director: Andrzej Wajda
FOCUS ON POLAND
This screening of the landmark Polish masterpiece is dedicated to Andrzej Wajda, who died last October. Set on “Victory Day,” May 8, 1945, the film follows the efforts of a resistance fighter, Cybulski, “the Polish James Dean,” to assassinate a Soviet-government appointee as the future of the nation rapidly takes shape.
Sun, Jan 8 – 1:00 PM – Camelot
Purchase tickets HERE
MEMORIES OF SUMMER
Poland – 2016 – 90 minutes
Director: Adam Guziński
FOCUS ON POLAND
U.S. Premiere

Summer in a provincial Polish town in the late 1970s. With his father away, it’s just 12-year-old Piotr and his beautiful blonde mother, cycling, swimming, playing cards together. But as the days go by, she starts going out at night… A subtle, nuanced and evocative coming-of-age tale.
Mon, Jan 9 – 4:30 PM – Regal
Sun, Jan 8 – 7:30 PM – Regal
Director, Adam Guziński to attend.
Purchase tickets HERE.
ZACMA: BLINDNESS
Poland – 2016 – 114 minutes
Director: Ryszard Bugajski
FOCUS ON POLAND

An intimate, metaphysical art-house drama, Blindness posits a 1962 meeting between a now repentant Julia Prajs Brystygier, aka “Bloody Luna,” the former head of Department V in the Stalinist-era Ministry of Information, and Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a man whose 1953 arrest she had facilitated.
Sun, Jan 8 – 7:30 PM – Camelot
Mon, Jan 9 – 7:30 PM – Camelot
Wed, Jan 11 – 5:00 PM – Camelot
Director, Ryszard Bugajski; Actor, Maria Mamona to attend.
Purchase tickets HERE.
DREAM VACATION PALM SPRINGS
VACATION PALM SPRINGS “DREAM VACATION” WINNER WILL RECEIVE:
* A Four (4) night stay for up to 4 people in a luxury 3-bedroom Palm Springs vacation rental home during the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Winner will also receive the following:

* Opening -or- Closing Night Screening and Gala Reception – 4 Tickets
* Festival Screening Passes – 4 non-transferable passes, good for all regular screenings
Enter NOW through January 16, 2017
Must be at least 25 years of age to enter this contest.
No purchase necessary.
One entry per person; employees of PSIFF are not eligible.
(Source:psiff.org)