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FILM INDEPENDENT ANNOUNCES WORLD PREMIERE OF RICHARD LINKLATER’S BERNIE FOR OPENING NIGHT AT 2011 LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL,

PRESENTED BY THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

– Phillip Noyce, Quincy Jones, Roberto Orci, Dustin Lance Black, Allison Anders, Frank Pierson, Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, and more join Festival programs –

LOS ANGELES (May 23, 2011) – Today the Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times^[1] and supported by L.A. LIVE, announced the world premiere of Richard Linklater’s Bernie as the opening night film for the 2011 Festival.  A “Remembering Sidney Lumet” conversation with Quincy Jones and Frank Pierson, as well as additional films and programming for its Festival Talks have also been added.  As previously announced, the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival will screen a diverse slate of over 200 feature films, shorts, and music videos, representing more than 30 countries.  The Festival is produced by Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that also produces the Spirit Awards.  Artists in Residence and additional talent and programming will be announced in the coming weeks.

Richard Linklater’s Bernie will kick off the Festival on June 16 at Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 L.A. LIVE.  The film is written by Skip Hollandsworth and Linklater, stars Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey, and is produced and financed by Mandalay Vision and Wind Dancer Films.  Black plays Bernie, the beloved mortician in a small Texas town.  MacLaine is the town’s richest, meanest widow, and even she adores him.  You can’t get anybody to say a bad word about Bernie—even after he commits a very nasty crime.  The film is available for distribution in the United States/Canada, with Graham Taylor of WME and attorney John Sloss handling domestic sales and Hyde Park International handling international sales.