Copyright Variety
The Hotel del Coronado lives in Hollywood history as the key location of Billy Wilder’s classic comedy “Some Like It Hot.” But for 10 years, the hotel and the island of Coronado have played host to a small but mighty film festival where fans can take in top awards season fare, talk to movie creatives and engage in a wide array of cinematic activities. “I’m just excited about the lineup. It was such a strong year for independent film as well as studio feature films,” says Merridee Book, CEO and artistic director of the Coronado International Film Festival. The fest, which runs Nov. 5-9, opens with Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire” on Nov. 6. The film’s screenwriter, Austin Kolodney, will receive the festival’s ScreenCraft Award and attend a Q&A following the film’s screening. The fest closes with Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value.” Centerpiece films include “The Secret Agent,” “Jay Kelly,” “Arco,” “Blue Moon,” “The Choral,” “The Tale of Silyan” and “Train Dreams.” CIFF also screens a full range of shorts, and programs panels with showbiz insiders. “Just the fact that they can blow your mind in, like, two minutes or 15 minutes is just astounding to me,” enthuses Book CIFF also celebrates indie filmmakers and screenwriters with its Jury Awards presentation on Nov. 7, awarding $20,000 in cash prizes to winners in several disciplines. There are also audience awards and prizes for student filmmakers. “As a film festival, as a nonprofit in an organization that champions storytellers, we need to be investing in those storytellers as well as recognizing their work,” says Book, who notes that the prizes are selected by a panel who work in the entertainment industry. Coronado has set a lineup of honorees including Beau Bridges, who will receive the Legacy Award; Delroy Lindo will receive the Leonard Maltin Award in recognition of his performance in “Sinners”; stunt professional Heidi Moneymaker (“Thunderbolts”) will receive the Trailblazer Award; costume designer Deborah L. Scott will receive the Artistry in Film Award in recognition of her work on “Avatar: Fire and Ice”; and music editor Adam Smalley (“The Morning Show”) will receive the Transcendent Award. “We’ve always honored below the line at our tribute, not just the celebrity presence. We love our celebrities! They’re great. But the heart and soul of the collaborative process of filmmaking is the below-the-line talent,” says Book. She also points out that the festival is “very big on female representation. That was something that was championed right out of the gate,” noting that the festival’s founder is a woman, Doug St. Denis. “We have our ‘Women on the Move’ panel that’s turned into an incredible sisterhood networking event, and a lot of relationships and connections have come out of that.” Beatles experts Tom Frangione, Chuck Gunderson and Bruce Spizer will lead a special program on the Fab Four and celebrate the 60th anniversary of the group’s 1965 concert in San Diego and their film “Help!” The documentary of Frangione’s 2022 SiriusXM interview with Paul McCartney “Tug of War,” will screen. The festival also is hosting the world premiere of Aaron Davidman’s “American Solitaire,” a film about a veteran dealing with gun violence in his community. Book notes that the military is important to the festival — Coronado is home to the Navy SEAL team. She hopes the film’s nuanced storytelling will move the audience as much as it moved her. “There are a lot of unseen battles that our veterans go through, that for those of us that didn’t serve, we won’t ever understand, and it’s a really remarkably transparent and honest film.”
