Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival 2019 will go large with IMAX ‘Cuba’ By BEN CRANDELL SOUTH FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL | SEP 09, 2019 | 3:03 PM A scene from the documentary "Cuba," which will be shown on the IMAX screen at the Museum of Discovery and Science on opening night for the 2019 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. (FLIFF / Courtesy) Now in its 34th year bringing offbeat movies and popular stars to South Florida, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival this year will go where it has never gone before with an opening-night showing of the travelogue documentary “Cuba” on the massive AutoNation IMAX screen at the Museum of Discovery and Science. The collaboration between the film festival and MODS is a natural, according to FLIFF president and CEO Gregory von Hausch. “It’s very exciting to have, for the first time ever, a partnership with the Museum of Discovery and Science, who like FLIFF, is synonymous with the city of Fort Lauderdale and enriches the community with culture and exceptional film,” von Hausch said in a statement. Tickets for all FLIFF screenings and events — including more than 150 films representing 25 countries — go on sale 11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 16, at FLIFF.com. Other highlights during FLIFF 2019 include appearances by two-time Oscar nominee Talia Shire (“Rocky,” “The Godfather”) and versatile veteran Karen Allen (“Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Animal House”). Both Shire’s “Working Man” and Allen’s “Colewell” are set in the heart of blue-collar America’s economic and social uncertainty. On the flip side, Joe Pantoliano (“The Matrix,” “The Sopranos”) and Marco Leonardi (“Cinema Paradiso,” “Like Water for Chocolate”) will appear at a closing-night screening of their whimsical Italian vineyard drama, “From the Vine.” The documentary “Gamble Rogers: Down at the Terminal Tavern” will be shown at the 2019 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. (FLIFF / Courtesy) FLIFF is always good for a music documentary, this time offering a profile of a famed Florida troubadour, “Gamble Rogers: Down at the Terminal Tavern,” which features Jimmy Buffett, Pete Seeger, Michael Peter Smith and Jim Stafford. Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood will open the festival with the Southeast premiere of “La Bolduc,” a biopic of legendary Quebec folk singer Mary Travers Bolduc. FLIFF’s Centerpiece film, on Nov. 9, will be the well-reviewed comedy-drama hybrid “Safe Spaces,” with star Justin Long (“Dodgeball”) and director Daniel Schechter on hand. The Popcorn Frights Film Festival will present a late-night screening of the 2009 horror film “Drag Me to Hell,” also featuring Long. A scene from "Safe Spaces," starring Justin Long, who will attend a screening of the film at the 2019 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. (FLIFF / Courtesy) Also during the festival, actor Peter Riegert, most recently a recurring character on the Netflix hit “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” will attend a tribute screening of “Animal House" (which also features Karen Allen). Diane Baker will attend films featuring of two of her best-known roles in Robert Castle’s thriller “Straight Jacket” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Marnie.” George Stevens’ “The Diary of Anne Frank,” which featured Baker as Frank’s older sister Margot, will get a pre-festival screening. Prolific character actor and comedian Kevin Pollak (recently on the small screen in “Billions” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) will be seen in the 1999 political thriller “Deterrence” and attend a showing of his new documentary, with Fred Willard, “Funny You Never Knew,” a salute to influential TV comics Imogene Coca, George Gobel and Martha Raye. As always, FLIFF will offer plenty of reminders that the I in the middle of all the Fs represents von Hausch’s interest in introducing global cinema and settings to local audiences. Directed by Peter Chang, who has done previous IMAX films on Jerusalem and America’s national parks, “Cuba” is an unabashed love-letter to the island. In an interview with Nerd Alert News in Denver, Chang said the shoot was an eye- opening experience. “I watched the films ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ and ‘Soy Cuba’ and was fascinated by a glimpse into a world of vibrant music, unique visual textures and interesting characters. The light has a beautiful richness to it, the proximity to the equator, the humidity and the weather patterns unique to the island cause the light to bring out colors in a cinematic way. “As a filmmaker it’s captivating. Around every corner, there’s something interesting to film. Most people don’t have internet or cable so they’re out on their porches or the street, playing dominoes, buying produce from passing vendors or playing music. There’s a wonderful sense of community.” Along with the screening of “Cuba,” opening night at MODS will include a Latin-themed party featuring music by Tito Puente Jr. For more information on the film, visit Cuba- film.com. The festival also will offer Florida premieres for four films from Argentina, all comedies: “Re Loca,” starring Uruguayan actor Natalia Oreiro, who will attend with director Martino Zaidelis, as well as “Las Vegas,” “Delfin” and “Initials S.G.” For more information on FLIFF 2019 and its schedule of films, parties and celebrity appearances, visit FLIFF.com. .