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AFI film fest announces ‘Love and Other Drugs,’ ‘Black Swan’

Los Angeles Times reporter Amy Kaufman
By Amy Kaufman
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‘Love and Other Drugs,’ Edward Zwick’s new film about the intoxicating power of love starring Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal, will premiere as the opening night film of the 2010 AFI Fest. ‘Black Swan,’ Darren Aronofsky’s supernatural ballet drama with Natalie Portman -- already gathering a fair share of awards buzz -- will close the event, it was announced Thursday.

The respected local festival -- part of the American Film Institute’s program -- is celebrating its 24th year, and will be held in Hollywood Nov. 4-11.

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Both Zwick and Aronofsky are alumni of the AFI conservatory, as is the guest artistic director of the festival this year, David Lynch.

Zwick described the festival as ‘a kind of coming home,’ while Aronofsky said he was excited his film would screen at ‘his favorite theater in the world,’ Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

In a release, festival director Jacqueline Lyanga described the opening- and closing-night films this year as movies that ‘tell extraordinary stories from unique and very personal points of view.’

Last year, Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ -- which later earned an Academy Award nomination for best animated film -- opened the festival. Tom Ford’s ‘A Single Man,’ which landed Colin Firth an Oscar nod for lead actor, closed the event.

Last year also marked the first time the festival offered patrons free tickets to its screenings. Earlier this year, three of the festival’s top organizers quit, citing a diminished budget, according to a Times report.

-- Amy Kaufman
Twitter.com/AmyKinLA

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24 Frames
Amy Kaufman

Amy Kaufman is a columnist at the Los Angeles Times, where she writes a monthly A-1 column, “For Real With Amy Kaufman.” The series examines the lives of icons, underdogs and rising stars to find out who the people are shaping our culture — for real. Since joining The Times in 2009, she has profiled hundreds of influential figures, including Stevie Nicks, Kevin Hart, Joan Rivers, Michael B. Jordan and Lady Gaga. She also works on investigations and was part of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist team that covered the tragic shooting on the “Rust” film set. Her work often shines a light on the darker side of the entertainment business, and she has uncovered misconduct allegations against Randall Emmett, Russell Simmons and Chris D’Elia. In 2018, her book “Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America’s Favorite Guilty Pleasure” became a New York Times bestseller.

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