Barry Levinson's "The Humbling" to Premiere at 2014 Austin Film Festival

Austin Film Festival’s Opening Night Selections to Include Richard LaGravenese Presenting The Last 5 Years and the US Premiere of The Humbling

Jon Stewart and Maziar Bahari to Present Rosewater as 2014 Closing Night Film

Edward Zwick to Receive “Extraordinary Contribution to Film” Award

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Austin Film Festival (October 23-30), the premier film festival recognizing writers’ and filmmakers’ contributions to film, television and new media, released their 2014 Opening Night and Closing Night selections, their Extraordinary Contribution to Film Award Recipient, and new programming announcements.

The Opening Night Film will feature the US Premiere of Barry Levinson’s The Humbling on Thursday, October 23rd, based on the Philip Roth novel, starring Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig.

Also kicking off AFF’s 21st anniversary, writer/director Richard LaGravenese will present the Jason Robert Brown musical adaptation of The Last 5 Years starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan.

Jon Stewart and Maziar Bahari will present Stewart's directorial debut, Rosewater, as the Closing Night Selection on Thursday, October 30th.

Edward Zwick will accept the Extraordinary Contribution to Film Award at the 2014 Austin Film Festival Awards Luncheon, held at the Austin Club. Previous honorees have included Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Danny Boyle, Oliver Stone, Sydney Pollack, and John Lasseter.

Zwick’s directorial credits feature About Last Night, Courage Under Fire, The Siege, The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond, Defiance and Love & Other Drugs, and the Academy® Award winning films Glory and Legends of the Fall. Producing credits include I Am Sam, Traffic, and Shakespeare in Love. Zwick most recently directed and produced Pawn Sacrifice.

Luke Wilson joins the 2014 Retrospective series, presenting The Pope of Greenwich Village alongside his short film Satellite Beach, which he wrote, directed, and starred in.

Scott Haze will present The Sound and the Fury, James Franco’s adaptation of the William Faulkner novel.

Austin Film Festival’s annual staged script-reading will feature the comedy Flarsky, by Dan Sterling (writer The Office, Girls, The Interview) in a live event co-presented by The Black List on Sunday, October 26th.

The full Film and Conference schedule is live on the AFF website, www.austinfilmfestival.com.

ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL:
AFF is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts, City of Austin Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Badges and passes are available for purchase online at www.austinfilmfestival.com or by calling 1-800-310-FEST.

AFF’s 2014 partnerships include Austin Film Society (in association with Rosewater), AGLIFF, OnStory, Texas Book Festival, Harry Ransom Center, Houston Cinema Arts Society, The New Movement, The Wittliff Collections, and many more.